Lord of Winter: Beginning with Daily Intelligence Chapter 866 - 466: Shocking News (Part 2)

But they underestimated one thing, the war prowess of Emperor Kaelin.

In the first few weeks, the Imperial Army was forced to defend.

The Federation’s mercenaries relied on mobility and numerical advantage to probe continuously, even cutting off several supply lines at one point.

Just as the border nobles were preparing to compromise again, trading land for time, Kaelin took over command.

Without rushing to counterattack, he first compressed the lines, using the near-stubborn organization of the Imperial Legion to pin each army in its rightful place.

No matter how the Federation’s mercenaries interspersed and harassed, those legion soldiers in outdated plate armor never retreated.

Then, at Sunset Canyon, Kaelin completed the first perfect counterattack.

He deliberately showed weakness, luring the Federation’s main forces into the narrow terrain and cutting off their retreat in the dark.

By the time the mercenaries hired with Gold Coins realized something was amiss, the canyon exit was already sealed by the Imperial heavy infantry.

From that moment, the situation reversed.

The Imperial Knights Legion began to advance. Step by step, like an old sword sharpened anew, slow but unstoppable.

The border was pierced, supply lines laid in reverse, the front line thrust deep into the heart of the Jade Federation, the Jewel Corridor.

The Federation panicked, and thus a large number of alchemical beasts were deployed to the battlefield.

Sewn Beasts, forcibly stitched together from various Magical Beasts’ limbs, were pushed to the front as flesh-and-blood tanks.

Slaves infused with unstable potions were turned into self-exploding puppets that only charged forward.

The battlefield became dirty and chaotic, like a plague tainted by Gold Coins.

But these things did not stop the Imperial Army.

Just the day before, the Jade Federation finally wagered their still-immature trump card.

The Federation released three "prototype alchemical dragons" at once.

They are not real dragons but monsters pieced together from various things.

The first’s torso came from a mountain giant lizard, with a restless alchemy furnace forcibly stuffed into its thorax.

The second retained the skull of a dragonling but was sewn with a composite wing membrane of bat and pterosaur, shading half the sky when wings spread.

The third was most grotesque, with four hind limbs from different Magical Beasts, its gait chaotic, yet kept in a frenzy of charging instinct by forcibly injected potions.

The stitching lines of their scales were distinctly visible, green preservative fluid dripped down the bone seams, evaporating in the air with a pungent alchemical stench.

Their roars were not unified, sounding more like the howls of several different creatures crudely mashed together, making one’s skin crawl.

The battlefield went completely mad at that moment, and many Knights realized for the first time that the Federation had gone insane.

Yet Kaelin did not retreat; he urged his horse forward, drew his sword, the blade casting a cold light under the torches.

"Those are not dragons." His voice was not loud but firmly overshadowed the monsters’ screeches, "Follow me and slay these blasphemous beasts."

The order was issued extremely quickly.

The Personal Guard Cavalry split into several groups, feigning a frontal assault to lure the dragons to dive.

Ballistae and grapplers acted simultaneously, thick hook ropes with iron spikes nailed into the wing roots and shoulders.

The first dragon lost balance in mid-air, its alchemy furnace shook out of order, its spewed flames burning through its own wing membrane instead.

Kaelin personally led the team to cut in, alchemical petroleum was splashed, torches were thrown.

The blaze erupted between scales and potions, the instinctive fear of fire overcame the alchemical control, and the dragons’ movements showed an obvious delay.

"Now!"

Lances aimed at the joints, the sound of breaking bones was distinctly audible.

The second dragon broke its hind limbs upon landing, rolled frantically, the third attempted to take flight again, but was forced closer by Kaelin on horseback, a spear piercing through the nerve bundle at its neck.

What followed was no longer a battlefield, but a slaughterhouse.

The Fighting Spirit Knights gathered, using axes, swords, and fire to dismantle these struggling amalgamations piece by piece.

The muffled blasts of alchemy furnaces echoed repeatedly through the night, green flames shot up to the sky and extinguished swiftly.

When all was over, only three giant twitching carcasses remained on the battlefield.

Kaelin dismounted, stepped onto one of the pseudo-dragons’ skulls, and forcefully pulled out the longsword, green mucus dripping down the blade.

The surrounding Imperial Knights were silent for a moment, then erupted into nearly wild cheers.

He pointed the sword tip towards the distant direction of Jade City: "Creatures piled with money have no soul."

Victory brought fervor.

The Imperial Army occupied a prosperous mining town and held a victory feast that night.

Torchlight illuminated the square, wine and spoils were continuously brought out, young officers gathered around Kaelin, eyes blazing with passion.

In a corner of the feast, Duke Remont sat alone.

He held a glass of fine red wine produced by the Federation, yet never drank.

He was acutely aware that something had changed.

Previously, all military orders required his signature — logistics, provisions, bounties... the lifeblood of the Imperial Army was firmly grasped in his hands.

Now, Kaelin was starting to issue orders directly to the legion commanders.

The young generals had no objections to this. They preferred to follow the Prince who could lead them to victory rather than a Duke who existed only in ledgers and Gold Coins.

Remont could clearly feel his purse being slowly emptied.

He looked at the high-spirited Kaelin, the unease in his heart coiling like a viper.

"The wolf cub has grown up, once he swallows the wealth of the Jade Federation completely, the first throat he wants to bite through..." Remont tightened his grip on the glass, "Will probably be that of his benefactor."