Chapter 235: A Paper-Talking Master

A very childish game.

No, it's a very childish tactic.

Liszt sighed after his move. Even after fighting for decades, the Marquis’s tactical mind still revolved around charging—charging from behind a hill, splitting into two wings to charge together, or taking turns to charge. It seemed that in knightly warfare, charging was the only option, with the only difference being how to charge.

"Liszt, you shouldn't do this. This is a forest, true, and it can hide people. But the forest will also hinder your charge. You should choose an open area for an ambush. The slope behind this area is a good place for an ambush."

While pushing his knights forward to continue the charge, the Marquis advised Liszt not to hide his knights in the forest.

"Then, I'll move to the forest on the other side of the river and wait until your knights cross halfway. Then I'll charge, wiping out the knights on the shore and blocking the rest from retreating. Would that work?" Liszt didn’t overly dwell on whether the forest could hide knights.

He didn’t choose to ambush behind the slope either. Instead, he took a few knight figurines from the forest and placed them in the woods by the river.

The Marquis stroked his chin: "That could work, but why not ambush behind the slope? The slope is the best place for knights to charge from."

"But it’s also the easiest to detect… So, can I take out half of your knights crossing the river?" Liszt reached out and removed a few knight figurines.

"Fewer, even fewer. I can escape with some." The Marquis took back one figurine, thought for a moment, and then took another.

Liszt didn’t mind and continued his simulation: "Your knights can’t cross the river, so they will definitely retreat to the other side of the Red River. Then my knights in the forest on the other side can gather and charge again, driving your knights back. Can I take out more of them then?"

As he spoke, he pushed out the knight figurines he had left in the forest and took a few of the Marquis’s knight figurines.

"This…" The Marquis was taken aback, "So the few knight figurines you left earlier were intentional? You set up an ambush here?"

"Yes, so now your knights are in disarray and will continue to flee. My knights can gather and pursue yours, right?"

The Marquis felt a bit uncomfortable: "Indeed."

"So you have three options now: split your forces and escape, retreat through this valley…"

Before he finished, the Marquis interrupted: "You can’t split your forces and ambush here; otherwise, your troops will be too scattered and unable to charge effectively."

"Of course, I don’t plan to ambush here. You have three options: split your forces, retreat through the valley, or find your main force. If you choose the first, I can chase you all over the mountains, catching as many as I can; if you choose the second, you’ll be far from the battlefield, and I won’t need to worry; if you choose the third…"

"I choose the third. My knights will start retreating from this plain. How will you respond?"

"Of course, I’ll fall back to the castle. The Viscount of Valiant isn’t the main battlefield. The decisive battle is between you and Lord Figo. I just need to hold the castle, acting like a nail in the Red River Plain. I can attack the supply lines between you and Marquis Rodrigo’s knights when advancing, and bolster Lord Figo’s strength when retreating."

Liszt spoke fluently.

He had already outmaneuvered the Marquis in three consecutive local knight battles, and his theories and tactics were making the Marquis doubt himself.

"Liszt, why do you have so many… strange ideas in your head?" The Marquis frowned, looking at the battle simulation, "Why don’t you keep your knights around the castle to protect its safety? Your strategy of splitting and ambushing is very risky."

"The castle of the Viscount of Valiant has no natural defenses, and the knight force is insufficient. If your follower, Viscount Jonas, can keep him trapped in the castle, his role will be nullified, and Lord Figo will lose a limb. Therefore, abandoning the castle to act proactively is necessary. Even if the castle falls, this knight force can still join Lord Figo."

He hadn’t fought in real battles.

But when it came to theoretical warfare, “armchair general” Liszt felt he could dominate the world! He had read *The Art of War* by Sun Tzu and *Thirty-Six Stratagems*, and was a regular on World War II forums. His brain was filled with guerrilla warfare tactics that were at odds with the mainstream of this world, and he feared scaring the Marquis by sharing them.

But he had already scared the Marquis.

From the Marquis’s tactical arrangements, it was clear that he had initially dispatched Jonas Stone to trap the Viscount of Valiant in the castle, thus losing strategic significance.

This allowed the Marquis to gradually erode Lord Figo’s strength, eventually forcing Lord Figo to engage in a decisive battle on the Red River, which he aimed to win.

By establishing dominance on the Red River Plain, he could smoothly plunder vast resources and minerals.

If the Viscount of Valiant’s knights, despite their inferior numbers, defeated Viscount Jonas, they could quickly reverse the Marquis’s advantage, allowing Lord Figo to avoid a hasty decisive battle and drag the Marquis into a stalemate on the Red River Plain until he was worn down.

At that point, the Marquis would have no choice but to retreat.

"Hmm." He carefully analyzed Liszt’s tactics, finding them somewhat fanciful but unable to refute them. Finally, he pushed aside a pile of figurines and abruptly changed the subject, "Jie La is already outside. Let’s continue the simulation later. First, let me see Jie La."

Liszt smiled: "Of course, as you wish."

A servant brought in a jade box containing Jie La, opened it, and the drowsy Jie La yawned awake. Upon opening her eyes and seeing a face, she was startled and slapped it reflexively.

Of course, she didn’t hit the Marquis.

A sky knight’s reflexes were far beyond those of a small sprite.

The Marquis even poked Jie La’s belly: "A very healthy and lively little one. Congratulations, Liszt. In Flower Town, you’ve done an excellent job."

"I only did a small part."

"I heard your magical beast, Hiddleston, ate a bloodline fruit and evolved into a high-level magical beast?"

"Yes, would you like to see it? It’s outside Tulip Castle, being looked after by my servant." Liszt said, "I know very little about magical beasts, so I’m not quite sure what level Hiddleston is at."

"Let’s go downstairs and take a look."

They went downstairs.

Hiddleston was basking in the sun, unafraid of people and not prone to attacking. Seeing Liszt appear, it immediately jumped up, wagging its tail and coming over.

Liszt grabbed the fur on its neck to keep it still for the Marquis to examine.

The Marquis circled Hiddleston twice, sensing for a while before speaking: "It is indeed a high-level magical beast. Besides the restrictions on casting spells, there are other criteria for determining the level of magical beasts… such as the speed of absorbing magic and the intensity of blood boiling."