There is no such concept as "killing the general and capturing the flag" in this era.

First of all, "beheading the general" itself is not an option in war. In today's continent - at least in the North - fighting is very polite.

Most of the time, the generals of both sides would choose to gather their troops, get ready, and then charge to see who would be defeated first; if a noble leading one side accidentally fell off his horse and was captured, he would be fed and well-fed by his enemies, who would then write a letter back to their country to ask for a ransom; after getting the money, they would send the noble back in one piece.

After all, they are aristocrats.

This is also related to the harmonious atmosphere in the North. Wars are often started just for minor disputes. There is no life-and-death dispute between nobles. If a general is killed, a feud will start. The surrounding countries and even the four major countries in the North will intervene to mediate at this time, because they don't want the war to disrupt their peaceful and enjoyable life.

Simply put, the "war" in the North is actually a fight between kings, a bloody "game". From this perspective, Henselt, the King of Kaedwen who is determined to swallow up the land of Aedirn, is actually one of the few people who has a "correct" view of war.

That is why the North was collectively confused when it first faced Nilfgaard, a militaristic country that fought to the death with real weapons. The North and the South did not fight in the same way as the old times.

In addition to the fact that there was no "killing the general and capturing the flag" in this era due to the courtesy of tactical choices, there were not many people in this era who had the ability to "kill the general".

Among normal humans, "Ten Enemies" are legendary heroes praised in epics; among abnormal superhumans, mentor-level druids stay in the forests of Skellige or travel around, high-level warlocks put on airs in the palace and never go to the battlefield, and the power of the priests is sometimes effective and sometimes not - and even they can only barely show courage in front of an army of hundreds or thousands of people. Once they encounter an army of tens of thousands, they have to immediately open a portal and run away.

Otherwise, it would be a fight to the death, and no one could be sure whether this place would become their burial place.

This is the upper limit of the supernatural power in this era. Humans are the rulers of the continent. Kings are all mortals, and warlocks can only serve as advisors without any real power.

With these two factors combined, when facing the approaching army of Nilfgaard, the reactions of Queen Midi and Demave were "how to kill as many enemy soldiers as possible to defeat the enemy", rather than "how to use clever methods to cause the enemy's defeat".

Now Lann proposed a "clever method" - of course, it was not "clever" when you think about it carefully, it was still very reckless, but it still broadened the horizons of the two northern kings.

But judging from their reactions now, they don’t seem to support Lann.

"Lan En, you..." Queen Mi Wei hesitated, "I know you can fight ten people alone. I have even seen it with my own eyes, but the situation is different now..."

Even Demave's tone softened: "Lannister... maybe I pushed you too hard. With your status, you don't need to say such things. Perhaps we can discuss some other ways..."

Demave does hope that Cintra will contribute, but not in this "mutual destruction" way. At this stage, the North cannot afford to lose the Lion of Cintra!

Queen Mi Wei had already begun to signal to the demon hunters and attendants behind Lann: Listen to what your duke is saying! He wants to bring his personal guards on the battlefield - or even without his personal guards - to charge from his own central army to the front line and into the enemy's central army! Is this something that someone who understands military affairs can say?

Where are the ministers of Cintra? Hurry up and stop your dukes!

As Queen Mivi anxiously waited, Geralt and Kolgrimcorn exchanged glances and shrugged; Milva and House looked at each other and sighed; Saskia looked at her companions' reactions, with an expression of excitement and anticipation on her face; the other Cintra servants and guards looked straight ahead and remained calm, as they were used to it.

Queen Mi Wei was stunned.

Lan En chuckled: "Don't worry, I am confident in proposing this plan; and I said it before..."

Lan En looked at Mi Wei and De Ma Wei whose expressions kept changing: "I need your cooperation."

…

Without going into how Lann communicated his tactics with the two northern rulers, let us temporarily shift our focus to the front line.

Livia.

Rivia and Cintra are really similar in many ways: they are both located on the front line of the North, they both have charismatic queens who like to lead their armies in person, and even their capitals are directly named after their countries.

The capital of Sintra is "Sintra" and the capital of Livia is also "Livia".

At this moment, Nilfgaard's black army surrounded the city named after the country, like a dark cloud looming.

"If we take down the city of 'Livia', then we will have truly conquered Livia... By the sun, the time lost is much slower than planned!"

Adar Aipu Darcy rode on his black horse and watched his soldiers rushing towards Livia one after another, but he was not satisfied. He continued to shout at his deputy to pass down orders and speed up the pace of the attack.

As the Duke of Nilfgaard, Adal was dressed quite elegantly even on the battlefield. He wore a blue fox and black sun emblem, a noble-style pleated collar military dress, and only leather armor underneath. He didn't wear plate armor not because of any special considerations, but simply because he couldn't walk after putting on the armor.

Adar was a senior official who had served in three dynasties of Nilfgaard, and he secretly supported the young Emhyr's return to the throne. However, Emhyr, who had a strong desire for control, was wary of the senior officials in the country, so he arranged Adar to the front line, and now he is the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Army Group; Adar was dissatisfied with the emperor because of this, and he himself had long been tired of the endless wars of the Black Sun Empire.

However, Adal did not know how suitable he was for this job at this time. He thought he was a court official who was good at scheming, but in the original history, Nilfgaard rested for three and a half years after signing a peace agreement with the North. Then, under the leadership of Adal, the Eastern Army captured Rivia in four days, and then captured Lyria at lightning speed; after Queen Miev retreated northward to Aedirn for help, Adal defeated Aedirn’s army in four days, occupied the capital of Aedirn, Vengerberg, and continued to pursue the fleeing Demave and Miev.

This forced Demave to even seek political asylum in Temeria, and he said sadly, "The army I have accumulated throughout my life was beaten to pieces in just two weeks."

However, the ongoing war did not give Nilfgaard time to recuperate, and the fact that Aedirn and Queen Midge were in a certain relationship caused the Eastern Army led by Adal to encounter considerable resistance in the early stages of the war. Although it was still unstoppable, it was far less impressive than in history.

The shouts from the city of Rivia shook the sky. Although they were surrounded by enemies that outnumbered them by several times, the people of Rivia were still determined to fight. In the eyes of the people of the North, the people of Rivia were backward and barbaric, but as mentioned before, they were very similar to the people of Cintra.

But in this real world, willpower cannot create miracles. The shouts of killing in the capital soon weakened.

Even with the elite strength of the Black Army, it was unusual for them to capture the enemy city so quickly, but A'dar seemed confident. He waited patiently outside the city wall for a while, and soon saw the scene he had been waiting for.

With a "woosh", the city gate that was about to fall apart slowly opened in front of Adar, and the black-clad soldiers escorted a group of Rivia's nobles to the commander.

They came to surrender on behalf of the Livian court.

Suddenly, an old man in the front of these Rivia nobles rushed out of the team, and the black-clad soldiers immediately turned their weapons on him. But A'dar raised his hand to stop his men's actions, allowing them to approach him until they were ten steps away.

"Duke Darcy." The old man also wore an exaggerated ruffled collar, a green brocade robe, and leaned on a cane. "As you can see, I gave convenience to the black army as agreed. Then, are you..."

"Earl Caldwell." A'dal called out the old man's name and title. "Of course, according to our agreement, we will support Prince Wilm to take the throne. And you will continue to be his teacher and continue to teach him how to become a 'correct and qualified' king."

Hearing Adar's promise, Earl Caldwell's fat face showed a happy smile. He leaned on a gold-inlaid cane and stood up straight among the black army, as if he was the winner.

A'dal's expression was gentle. He didn't hate these spineless traitors. On the contrary, he loved them. These spineless people allowed A'dal's court intrigue to be applied on the battlefield, allowing him to achieve more brilliant results than the veteran generals and gain more say in Nilfgaard.

Although Caldwell was still arrogant, Adar could still tolerate it. He needed Caldwell to be alive and well so that he could continue to use his political tactics in the subsequent wars.

However, Adar's face soon darkened. He looked at the capital of Livia in front of him and asked a key question: "Earl Caldwell, where is Queen Miwei?"

Earl Caldwell's face turned pale for a moment, and he swallowed his saliva. "His Majesty left for the border between Lyria and Aedirn two days ago... He must have gone to ask for help from Demave III..."

"Two days?" A'dar repeated the word. "Two days, ha!"

The commander-in-chief of Eastern Nilfgaard suddenly raised his voice: "Just two days! You can't even hold back that slutty woman Mi Wei! Do you know how much energy your incompetence will cost us! Ah!"

The hand of Earl Caldwell, who was leaning on his cane, suddenly went limp. He stepped back a few steps and spoke in a hoarse and greasy voice:

"I'm sorry, Duke Darcy...but you, you can't talk to me like that. I'm your friend, a respectable person, not your subordinate..."

Adar's fierce face suddenly calmed down. He looked at Earl Caldwell with elegant eyes and nodded gently, "Yes, yes. Then as your friend, I would like to point out a mistake for you. It would be a favor to you, okay?"

"Thank you very much...what's the favor?"

Adar showed a standard smile that conformed to court etiquette, and he looked to the side, where other important officials of Livia were. Many of them were cursing at Caldwell's rebellion.

"You shouldn't have revealed our relationship in this situation. You need to maintain the image of a loyal minister to manage Livia for me... Now poor Prince Wilm is going to lose a group of old ministers..."

Adar waved his hand violently, and the black-clad soldiers immediately obeyed his command. The steel in their hands pierced the bodies of the ministers of Livia. Some of them waved their hands frantically and wanted to ask Caldwell for help, but it was useless.

Since the soldiers shed their blood, the nobles of Rivia have also dyed the capital red.

"Look at what I have done for you, Lord Caldwell. This is the first gift in return for my help to you. Do you like it?"

Earl Caldwell's face turned paler and paler. "Duke Darcy... there are many of my friends and 'our' friends here. I cannot achieve the results we have today by myself..."

A'dal interrupted the fat old man: "No, Lord Earl, you can do it, and you will continue to do it for us and for Livia."

Looking at Earl Caldwell who bent down again, A'dal walked up to him with a proper smile and patted him on the shoulder: "Now, take me to see Prince Wilm. He must be in the city, right? I don't have much time. I hope you have persuaded him in advance for me - for the people of Rivia, for peace and so on."

Earl Caldwell wiped the sweat from his forehead and nodded tremblingly.

However, before A'dar and his "friend" could enjoy the victory, a dull horn sounded suddenly behind them.

…

“Woo——”

A'dal turned around suddenly. The sound was an enemy attack!

Immediately, a messenger came on horseback and shouted loudly before he got close: "General Darcy, the enemy is coming from the north!"

Adar was not surprised but delighted when he heard this. He quickly climbed up the city wall of Rivia to get the telescope. The scene in the distance suddenly shortened as if it was right in front of him.

The Nilfgaardians did not intend to enter the city and counterattack by relying on the city walls. Instead, they were better at field battles. Amid the sound of horns, the black-clad soldiers, who had not achieved enough military merit in the siege, quickly began to re-arrange their troops and prepare to face new enemies.

"Let me see... There are a lot of flags, it's the coalition army. Aedirn is at the back, and has distanced himself from the troops in front... Oh, they are all coalition forces, is this internal discord?"

"The Black Eagle Flag... It's Mi Wei, for sure. She came back early after hearing the news of the fall of the capital. It's a pity that she came too late, but she ran too fast, and the gap between her and the Aedirn army is too big, Mi Wei..."

After seeing the enemy's composition clearly, even Adal couldn't help but get excited. Nilfgaard's Northern Expedition so far had only achieved the capture of Cintra and Lower Sodden. Today he would be able to surpass this record!

"Wait... why is there a cavalry unit ahead of us? They are so far away from Mi Wei's troops?" A'dal suddenly made a new discovery. "The flag is... the Three Lions of Cintra?!"