The news about the situation in the northern border battle had also been sent for your personal review. The armies of Salvia Kingdom and various countries could not break through the northern border defenses anytime soon. The prince told you to relax and take your time going there without hurry.
Elara looked at the calm and composed tone in the letter. She could not help but raise the corner of her brow slightly.
This was probably her first "formal conversation" with this uncle prince she had never met before, and it came with an army of two hundred thousand knocking at the door. The other side's attitude was strangely calm to the point of being almost eerie.
Elara finished reading the letter, paused for two seconds, then put it down. She led Damon and Egbert out of the Fu estate and continued to lead the army north toward Beichen County.
No matter what Commander Shu was thinking, as the ruler of Plumera Kingdom, was there any place in her own country she could not lead the army to in person?
The soldier waiting nearby did not stop her. Instead, he gave Elara a map of the northern border and told her the fastest route to Beichen County.
Elara held the map while having the System scan and record it. She chose the shortest and quickest path, walking and watching along the way.
Since Puppet Soldiers moved in, the northern border had almost completely broken away from Plumera Kingdom's control in over ten years. It developed independently under Commander Shu's command.
This area took up one-third of Plumera Kingdom's original territory. The most fertile and rich lands north of Plumera City were here.
As Elara moved along, it felt like entering the cities of other prosperous and thriving countries.
Compared to the more advanced and transformed Plumera City and Marigold City, the northern border looked a bit more rustic and old-fashioned.
But it had to be said, Commander Shu governed this place very well.
Along the way, Elara saw no signs of war or plague. On the official roads, simple-dressed villagers carried their goods. Some had children with them, and everyone looked lively and well-fed.
Seeing Elara and the two hundred thousand-strong army, the villagers were not afraid. They stepped aside calmly and waited for the army to pass.
The fastest way to Beichen County was a straight path crossing five large cities in the middle.
Elara led the army while watching. She saw well-developed city markets and wide, fertile farmlands on hillsides and by streams outside the cities.
For decades, this land had not suffered any war, chaos, or plague. It was well protected. The villagers looked full of energy, many smiling.
Elara took in all the scenery along the way. When she neared Beichen County, she found the whole county city was locked down. Only the people inside could leave; outsiders were not allowed in.
Elara led the army to the city gate and saw many villagers being helped by soldiers to leave the county one by one.
"During the war in the Northern Frontier, don't come back after leaving. Wait until the war ends and Beichen Commandery is no longer under lockdown. During this time, go stay with relatives or friends in other counties."
The soldiers helping the people moved patiently and spoke in a gentle, familiar tone. They repeatedly reminded the people not to return to Beichen Commandery casually for now.
The people bowed their heads in gratitude, then several families got on the carriages and headed to other counties.
This kind of harmonious interaction between officials, civilians, and soldiers was something Elara had rarely seen since arriving in this world.
She watched while walking toward the city gate.
The guard commander, who had spotted them from afar, immediately rode forward to greet them.
After confirming Elara's identity, the guard commander respectfully saluted and ordered the gates to be fully opened, allowing Elara and the 200,000 soldiers behind her to enter the city.
As soon as they entered, the peaceful and calm atmosphere disappeared instantly.
Beichen Commandery was the northernmost border county of the Plumera Kingdom. Less than three miles north of it was the northernmost checkpoint of the kingdom, Beichen Pass.
That was where fierce battles were taking place, under heavy attack by soldiers from other nations and the Salvia Kingdom army.
Once Elara entered Beichen Commandery, she could feel a tense and serious atmosphere that was different from outside the county.
With Beichen Pass under intense battle less than three miles away, Elara could almost hear the sounds of fighting from the battlefield.
Under these conditions, the county was under strict restrictions. Besides those leaving the city, there were hardly any civilians on the roads.
At the entrance of every street, many guards stood watch, closely monitoring everything and keeping order in the city.
Only with peace inside the city could the generals outside focus on the battle without worrying.
Her royal uncle was truly a person who understood warfare and strategy.
Most of the government offices in the county were already half-empty. Officials and generals had personally gone to the Beichen Pass battlefield, including Commander Shu, the county's lord who had written that he would personally receive her.
After listening to the guard commander's explanation, Elara directly led the troops to Beichen Pass.
As soon as they exited the northern gate of the county, the sounds of clashing weapons and fierce fighting filled the air.
Elara didn't even have time to look for her royal uncle. She immediately used light footwork to leap to the top of the pass and looked out at the intense battle.
It was easy to tell the difference between the Salvia Kingdom army and the Northern Frontier troops led by Commander Shu.
The northern troops wore silver-white armor, and their weapons and gear were slightly inferior to those of the attacking Salvia Kingdom army.
At the front lines of the Salvia army was a whole row of elite soldiers in heavy iron-shield armor.
Looking over the battlefield, there were more than ten thousand soldiers in iron-shield armor in the Salvia army.
Elara had previously used iron-shield armor to swiftly conquer the various nations.
Now, watching the Salvia troops charge at the Plumera Kingdom's northern army in this armor, she experienced the overwhelming strength of such gear from the other side.
The northern army suffered heavy losses facing these elite soldiers in iron armor.
But to Elara's surprise, the situation wasn't completely one-sided.
The silver armor worn by the northern troops seemed to be made of a special material. It was much lighter than bronze, yet it could withstand multiple strikes from the iron weapons.
And among the front lines where the northern army was fighting the Salvia troops, there were even soldiers wearing the same iron-shield armor.
There were very few elite soldiers with iron-armored shields in the Northern Frontier army, at most only a thousand.
In this era, iron weapons were still extremely rare. Even a second-tier nation like Gladiolus Kingdom couldn't buy them no matter how hard they tried. If Elara hadn't been able to produce them herself, those iron-armored shields would have been nothing more than a distant dream for her and Plumera Kingdom.
No one knew where her royal uncle got a thousand sets of iron-armored shields, along with other silver armors that could barely withstand attacks from them. If the enemy weren't a second-tier nation equipped with tens of thousands of iron-armored shields, then this elite silver-armored army alone would be enough for Commander Shu to sweep through the surrounding countries without a problem.
Her royal uncle truly lived up to his reputation after living quietly in the Northern Frontier for more than ten years. Just his name alone was enough to intimidate the surrounding nations.
But even so, Commander Shu's elite force of only a thousand iron-armored soldiers was still too few.
The Salvia Kingdom army was already very powerful. Even though only a hundred thousand troops were sent to Plumera Kingdom, they still included ten thousand elite soldiers with iron-armored shields.
Even though the Northern Frontier silver-armored soldiers were harder to kill than regular troops, the Salvia Kingdom army still managed to suppress the Northern Frontier army with their superior weapons and armor.
No matter how brave and fearless the Northern Frontier soldiers were, they still suffered heavy casualties after clashing with the Salvia forces.
Corpses of the Northern Frontier troops who were pierced by the sharp iron weapons nearly piled up into a new wall outside Beichen Pass.
The harsh red of the blood, broken limbs, and screams of pain filled the entire entrance of Beichen Pass.
War was equally cruel in every world and every place.
Even so, the remaining Northern Frontier soldiers still fought fiercely and bravely, willing to die to resist.
Behind Beichen Pass stood their city. It was their home. Their families and parents were all inside the city. If they lost this battle, not only would they die, but their wives and relatives would fall into a living hell, suffering humiliation and slavery.
So no matter how many had died, the Northern Frontier soldiers at Beichen Pass still charged forward without hesitation. No one retreated in fear. All of them defended to the death.
Even though their weapons and armor were no match for the Salvia Kingdom army, they used their flesh and blood to block the enemy's invasion, never letting Salvia or the allied armies climb the walls and break into the city.
Elara stood on top of the pass and saw everything. She raised her hand and made a charging gesture.
In the next moment, the two hundred thousand troops behind her raised their arms and shouted loudly, then quickly moved in squads to join the Northern Frontier soldiers' defense outside Beichen Pass. They reinforced the weakening resistance and stabilized the front line.
After merging with the larger army at the pass, they immediately began rescue efforts and a counterattack.
"Archers! Ready!"
Elara stood at the top of Beichen Pass. Her deep inner strength continued to pour out, and with it, her calm and cold command reached every soldier's ears.
Damon and Egbert also followed her orders and quickly moved to deploy their troops.
Among the two hundred thousand troops, there were twenty thousand archers carrying iron arrowheads.
They quickly climbed the walls of Beichen Pass, lined up neatly, leaned back, and pulled the newly produced reinforced bows from Plumera City's military department with great force.
The sharp iron arrowheads reflected a cold gleam in the sunlight.
"Fire!!"
Elara gave the command.
Thousands of arrows were launched at once.
The sharp arrows poured down like a violent summer rain, densely covering the invading enemy forces.
The armies of Salvia Kingdom and the other nations, who had been attacking more fiercely, were caught off guard by the sudden rain of arrows.
They hurriedly raised their shields to try to block the dense attack.
But after just a few seconds, they realized that aside from iron and bronze shields, all other materials couldn't withstand the arrows sharp as blades.
Many soldiers from Salvia Kingdom and the allied nations screamed in pain.
The fiercer their earlier attack, the more brutal their current defeat.
The momentum of the Salvia army was suddenly broken. Screams and cries of pain spread through their forces like a plague.
The elite ten thousand Iron Shield soldiers at the front, who were clashing with the Northern Frontier army, started to sense something was wrong.
The Northern Frontier troops were hard to cut down, but with enough strikes, they could eventually be taken down.
Yet just as they were about to finish off the front lines of the Northern Frontier army, a new group of soldiers in black armor emerged among them, gradually replacing the front lines at Beichen Pass.
These new soldiers were energetic, powerful, and moved swiftly.
Their armor and weapons were even tougher than the silver-white armor of the Northern Frontier army.
After several attempts, they couldn't break through the new armor, and their own momentum was being suppressed. In return, their armor was slashed open with just a few blows.
After dozens of Salvia elite soldiers in Iron Shield armor were struck down, the rest of the army finally realized what was happening.
The reinforcements from Plumera Kingdom were also elite troops wearing Iron Shield armor.
And whether it was just their imagination or not, Plumera Kingdom's new Iron Shield soldiers seemed to have sharper weapons and stronger defenses.
Otherwise, how could it be that they couldn't pierce their enemies, yet the enemies cut through them with ease?
The fierce Salvia Iron Shield troops were gradually overpowered by the elite reinforcements from Plumera Kingdom.
Among the two hundred thousand soldiers Elara brought, one hundred and thirty thousand belonged to Damon's unit, and seventy thousand were elite troops personally trained by Egbert.
Together, the two forces had more than twenty thousand soldiers equipped with Iron Shield armor.
Adding the archers who had climbed the walls and were continuously launching a rain of arrows, nearly forty thousand elite troops in Elara's army were wearing iron armor.
The remaining soldiers were all well-trained veterans who had fought in multiple battles.
With the fiercely determined Northern Frontier army joining forces, the battle situation at Beichen Pass was completely reversed in less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea.
The Iron Shield armor held by the Salvia army couldn't compare to the refined iron used in Elara's domestic military gear.
Taking advantage of Salvia's sudden disarray, the Plumera Kingdom forces launched a full attack.
Not only did they scatter and defeat the allied armies behind Salvia, but they also managed to cut down half of the ten thousand elite Iron Shield soldiers.
Five thousand elite troops from Salvia Kingdom were completely wiped out under the siege of the Plumera Kingdom's Iron Shield forces.
This siege that had seemed like a strong offensive from the enemy turned into a complete reversal and a major victory.
After losing five thousand elite Iron Shield soldiers, the Salvia general quickly gathered the remaining troops and retreated in a panic.
The soldiers of the allied nations, who had already been terrified by the sudden change in the battlefield, scrambled to flee along with their commanders.