It took two weeks to reach the coast. A third of the 7th was now relegated to patrolling their newly opened corridor, to stop both enemy supply routes and enforce a fog of war behind the bulk of Irinian forces. He left Augen take control of these forces.

  Alisson led the remaining twenty-thousand soldiers against individual pockets of Irinians, starting with the smallest and then making his way up to the largest, where the 5th would hopefully realize what was going on and support him.

  “My comrades, my brothers…The harpies were just an exercise.” Alisson paced before a large formation of soldiers of the first battalion. “This is where you will test your mettle – Where we will either be made fools of or where we will be made heroes of – Endeavor to instill in Irine the foolishness or standing in the 7th Army’s path. Leave no room for mercy in your heart.”

  With that, Alisson launched forth the first of many battles. The first was against an Irinian force roughly the same size as Alisson’s, a rear-line of resting soldiers. If the 7th couldn’t handle this, then the war was already lost. It was an insignificant battle, but it was still the first.

  The 7th attacked during the night, and with speed and ferocity, overwhelmed the enemy’s encampment, slaughtering all of them. It wasn’t really a fight – They had the total element of surprise. This would soon be lost, but Alisson acted quickly, ambushing and attacking isolated rear units as much as he could before they realized what was going on.

  Finally, an army group roughly twice Alisson’s size was keen enough to sense what was happening, and turned and sallied forth at Alisson. The only problem was, that they foolishly believed it was a ploy by the 5th, and left themselves completely open to attack from the front.

  The 7th buckled against these veteran Irinians, and saw what would be their bloodiest battle for the foreseeable future. Alisson kept commanding despite the losses, despite the buckling battle lines that threatened to collapse at any moment.

  That all changed when the enemy was suddenly annihilated, and routed. Out of the dust and the blood and the smoke, came marching a relief force by the 5th. It seemed their commander was worth half a damn. Alisson rode out to meet them, and confirmed that it was a shock-battalion that had sensed something was off, and charged forth out of their battle lines. Alisson rode with them back to their defenses, what was the main line of the 5th’s defenses, seeking to converse with the general.

  He saw as he rode the damage to the environment; the once verdant forests had been reduced to barren deserts of swirling dust, stained with blood and corpses. Several trenches were abandoned between the two lines of battle, that Alisson now crossed over.

  He entered the 5th’s command tent to a confused looking general.

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  “The 7th?! What are you doing here?”

  He entered the 5th’s command tent to a confused looking general.

  “Closing this theater.” Alisson answered.

  He gave his name, extending a hand to her.

  “General Gryphys.” She nodded.

  Her face was dirtied and stained with old blood stains. The armor of her soldiers were in tatters, but they were clearly veterans that, pound for pound, were probably more capable than the 7th because of their experience. However, they were clearly tired from months of constant fighting.

  General Gryphys was like Alisson in her out of place appearance, sporting long, braided blonde hair and bright eyes.

  “What do you intend to do, Nuam?”

  “I will continue to hammer the Irinian’s soft metal against the 5th’s reliable anvil.” He locked eyes with her. “And then, I will push into Irine properly.”

  “W-what!? Are you crazy?”

  She looked worried. Alisson smiled and had to spend some time to reassure her. They briefly exchanged plans and troop movements before parting ways – Time was of the essence. They needed to kill as many Irinians as possible while they had this advantage.

  There was one piece of information that General Gryphys gave to him that he took note of.

  “The 87th Southern Expeditionary Army, led by Count Barindough Nariseer Iquaintseer. They’ve thwarted us at every opportunity…Every time we think we’ve won, they swoop in from the backlines and…They’re good. Watch out for them.”

  The 87th. Alisson would do well to remember.

  The 5th, now armed with the knowledge that the Irinians were being squished by two Sidonian armies, mounted a massive counterattack, one last effort to finish their long fight, placing their trust in Alisson.

  The 7th continued their campaign with impunity. Within another few weeks, organized Irinian aggression against the 5th had ceased. Many had slipped through the 7th’s grasp, but it was to be expected. The rough estimates for casualties weren’t incredible, but they certainly weren’t disappointing. One-hundred-thousand was the rough guess on the number of Irinians they had slain – with perhaps another hundred-thousand having escaped and routed.

  This was thanks to the combined efforts the 5th and the 7th, and along with their supply lines being cut – It didn’t leave the Irinians much choice. Most groups that escaped the encirclement were disorganized, but some were entire organized units that had wise commanders that saw the writing on the wall. The 7th had lost a couple thousand by contrast, and about double that were wounded, but would heal with time. For their first major action, the 7th had done well, and already, later battles had proved easier going thanks to the 7th attaining veterancy.

  Casualties for the 58th and the 51st were still at a nice low zero. Alisson would endeavor to preserve these elites.

  Alisson handed off clean-up operations to the 5th, and made preparations to march as quickly as possible to capitalize on this strategic encirclement. Grphys wished him well, and had a little present for him.

  She knew that Alisson was giving the 5th a break – And so asked her men if any would want to volunteer to continue the fight under Alisson’s command. Some five-thousand veterans of the 5th army joined up, which easily replaced their older loses. Alisson left it up to Augen and Hoffman to distribute these new troops across the 7th as they saw fit.

  Once reorganization and supplies were in check, Alisson set off, into Irinian territory. He would be sure to release the captured Harpy prisoners, to stoke terror across Irine.

  ***