Ciri's appearance made Duke Darcy's eyes suddenly light up. He was about to say something, but then his expression froze.

Even though he had rich experience in court struggles, he almost lost control of his facial expression at this moment.

First he saw the Skellige people, and the iron crown on Easter's head.

Secondly, he saw the fully armed dwarves and Barclay, who was the military leader of Mahakam.

When did Xintra gain the power of these people? How wrong was the previous assessment of Xintra's power!

He heard the lion of Cintra say, "This is the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Army of Nilfgaard—Duke Adar ep Darcy. He is a veteran of three dynasties of the Nilfgaard Empire and an old noble. The current emperor, Emhyr var Enreis, overthrew the usurper and ascended the throne again with the help of a group of old nobles including him."

Damn it! How did the Lion know this news? Is there a spy from the North inside the Empire?

"Although the Eastern Army has been defeated by me, the intelligence in his head will definitely be of great benefit to us. I hope you can analyze it with me."

Wait, wait, the Eastern Army Group collapsed?

Impossible! Even if I was captured, there were plenty of senior officers in the barracks who could replace me!

Even if the officers of each legion fight on their own, if they can't go deeper into Aedirn, they can at least turn the whole of Rivia upside down!

"Even though I've heard you say this, I still want to marvel once again... But your action is too risky, Lan. You are the Duke now..."

As Lane continued to narrate, everyone's eyes were focused on Duke Darcy as if they were playing with a monkey.

What made Duke Darcy uneasy was that, except for the dwarves who still had disbelief in their eyes, the others, when they heard the lion's description of the process of capturing them, had only amazement and... a sense of rightness in their eyes?

What does this mean? What does this mean?

"Well, then, what's next..."

Lan strode forward towards Duke Darcy, his steel greaves stepping on the floor, making "stomping" sounds.

Every kick made Duke Darcy's heart contract suddenly. He was unable to think and even his body was shaking uncontrollably.

In his messy thoughts, Duke Darcy saw a hand emitting a familiar light in front of him.

"Tell me all you know, Lord Darcy."

…

Strictly speaking, Nilfgaard's first invasion of the North was not a failure.

Before, the Empire sent troops to Cintra in the hope of opening the gateway to the north by conquering Cintra, thereby creating a broad troop transport route for Nilfgaard's hundreds of thousands of troops to be deployed to the north; at the same time, it was also to plant a solid nail for the Empire in the north, set up an advance fort, and transform the "Kingdom of Cintra" into the "Cintra Province", so that the Empire could seize the initiative in subsequent wars.

In addition to this general strategy, Emperor Emhyr also has a little idea that he has not told anyone else - to bring back his daughter, Princess Cirilla, and completely incorporate the ancient blood that "has the power to conquer the world" into the Nilfgaard royal family.

Today, although the tenacious resistance of the remnants of the army and the people has prevented Cintra from being completely conquered, the territory actually controlled by the people of Cintra is less than one-third or even one-quarter of the original amount.

The territories occupied by the Nilfgaardians were also sufficient for Nilfgaard to transport its troops.

The entire Cintra can provide Nilfgaard with a smooth road; although the incomplete Cintra can only be regarded as a narrow bridge for Nilfgaard, it is much better than the previous situation where there was no way to go, and it also gives Nilfgaard more tactical options.

This led to the subsequent "Battle of Soden". It was also because of this that the imperial talents had the confidence to order the Eastern Army Group, which had only tens of thousands of infantry, to force a crossing of the Yaruga River with light equipment, because the troops stationed in Upper Soden could provide them with support.

Today, the Nilfgaardians call the land they occupy "Southern Cintra", while the land occupied by Lann and his people, centered on the town of Brokilon, is called "Northern Cintra".

This kind of address made the people of Cintra in the conference room frown.

"Cintra is Cintra, and there can only be one Cintra in the world." Mossak said in a cold voice.

The others were whispering to each other, trying to analyze the strength of Nilfgaard revealed in Duke Darcy's words.

"What is Nilfgaard's battle plan for the next phase? How many armies are there? Their numbers and composition, as well as information about the commanders. How much do you know?"

Lann continued to increase his magic output, hoping to learn more about the enemy.

Duke Darcy continued to reveal confidential military information in a daze.

"The Empire's army is now divided into three groups: the Western Army Group, the Central Army Group, and the Eastern Army Group."

The Eastern Army led by Duke Darcy was mainly composed of the [Black Infantry Regiment], with a total of 60,000 troops. The warlock troops used magic to temporarily freeze the Yaruga River, abandoned the necessary baggage and quickly attacked Livia. The original plan was to temporarily rest in Livia, then go north to annex Leiria and Aedirn, and advance towards the Pontar River Valley to provide right-wing cover for the main force of the Central Army.

The Western Army, also known as the Cintra Army, was led by Duke Joachim de Witte of the Empire. It had a total of 30,000 troops, mainly light cavalry and infantry. Its mission was to maintain the results of the war in Cintra and ensure the logistics channel of the Empire. After the full outbreak of the war, it would march north to capture the remaining small countries such as Cintra, Verden, and Bugru, and provide left-wing cover for the Central Army.

The main forces of the three armies are the Central Army Group, led by Nilfgaard Field Marshal Menno Kuhoon. The main forces are the [Fourth Cavalry Corps] composed entirely of cavalry and the [Third Corps], which is a mixture of infantry and heavy cavalry. The number of legions stationed in Upper Soden is now close to 50,000. The total number of fully staffed corps is actually more than 100,000, but because they are passing through "Southern Cintra", Marshal Menno abandoned most of the infantry to save time. Now the logistics are all provided by the troops stationed in Upper Soden after the [Battle of Soden Mountain] and the Western Army Group.

The goal of the Central Army Group was to launch a blitzkrieg on Soden and completely open the door to the north. Then they would attack Temeria, planning to capture all the major port cities in the North, including Vizima and Mapori, within half a month, and at the same time harass Novigrad to cut off the main trade and transportation routes in the North.

After completing these plans, they would advance to the Pontar River Valley at the junction of the four major countries, occupy the shallowest middle section of the Yaruga Canal, and join up with the Eastern Army Group.

…

As Duke Darcy was talking incessantly, a black-haired officer among the generals brought by Marshal Vissegerd immediately walked to the sand table of the stone table and piled up the chess pieces carved with black suns in Cintra, Upper Soden and Rivia according to the number Duke Darcy had mentioned.

Another brown-haired officer grabbed the dyed sand and outlined the Nilfgaardian marching route. Everyone's eyes followed the route and focused on the Nilfgaardian's target.

The Pontar Valley was the site of the original Northern Conference and was known as the "heart of the North." If it fell into the hands of the Empire, the four major countries in the North would basically open their arms to Nilfgaard and no longer have any strategic terrain advantages.

Unfortunately, the plan was very good, but the reality was very harsh. The Eastern Army Group had been destroyed by Lann, the United Kingdom of Lyria and Rivia, and the Kingdom of Aedirn.

Although the Eastern Army Group could still play a restraining role on the two kingdoms in the short term, it was impossible for it to continue advancing northwards, and if it wanted to ask for help, it might even be rejected by Marshal Menno.

"That is to say, the main force we are facing now is the 30,000-man Western Army in Cintra. If we attack these 30,000 people, we cannot ignore the nearly 50,000 cavalry in Upper Soden. That's a force of 80,000 people..."

Everyone's expression was grim.

"Lan, when you came back, what was the situation in the east like?"

Lann thought for a moment: "The Eastern Army was defeated in the first battle. Perhaps 20,000 of the 60,000 troops could be left. But Mi Wei and his troops suffered a devastating blow at the beginning. Perhaps only half of the 15,000 troops of the United Kingdom could be left."

"But the good news is that Aedirn has chosen to fully participate in the war. They didn't contribute much before, but they only lost about 4,000 soldiers in the first wave of the offensive. If we calculate based on the 40,000 troops in their heyday... after completely dealing with the Eastern Army Group and removing the troops guarding the homeland, there should still be about 20,000 people who can participate in the subsequent wars and provide us with support."

"That's about 25,000 to 28,000 people, who can join us in attacking Soden later."

The black-haired officer swept away one-third of Livia's Black Sun chess pieces on the sand table in one breath, and then piled a small number of Eagle Square Chess pieces and a large number of Aedirn Three-Color Rose Chess pieces on Livia.

From this perspective, the Eastern Front finally has the advantage in terms of military strength, and since they are pursuing a defeated army, the losses will be small, and they can retain a large number of manpower after the war.

"Then it's our side, the Western Front." Marshal Visekid stroked his beard.

"We now have 5,000 Cintrian soldiers. 3,000 of them are cavalry. They are all elite soldiers that I gathered from various vassals when I went north. I have been training them while I was dormant in Bruge."

"The other two thousand are infantrymen. They haven't been trained for a long time, but they are far more than ordinary conscripts. They are high enough to serve as guards in an ordinary small country."

"Most small countries can't even muster 2,000 levies." Lann joked, motioning for the black-haired officer to pick up a few lion-head chess pieces and place them in the north of Cintra.

Letho and Vesemir looked at each other, and finally the old witcher laughed and motioned Letho to come forward.

"We led a thousand of those new recruits to form a guerrilla force to disrupt the logistics of the Nilfgaardians." The leader of the Snake Faction pointed to several places on the map, "Here, here, and here."

Those were complex terrains such as hills and forests. Every time Reso pointed to a place, the black-haired officer would place a lion chess piece there.

Then it was Skellig, represented by Easter. He looked at the black-haired officer. As an old man from the Calanthe era, the officer immediately bowed his head to Easter, holding a dragon boat-shaped chess piece in his hand.

"Seven thousand men came to Skellige."

This number is not large, as Skellige is a mountainous archipelago with a sparse population. However, those who can go to the battle are all elite warriors who have been sailing on the sea for many years. In history, there was even a record of two hundred islanders defeating two thousand black soldiers - of course, at sea.

"We will now split our forces into two groups. One will harass the Imperial Army along the western coast of Cintra, and the other will follow the Yaruga River and prepare to enter the battlefield on the mainland."

The black-haired officer immediately placed the dragon boat chess piece where Easter said.

"We still have three thousand Kovir [Free Corps] heading south from the north, and they will arrive in two days." Mossak added.

The black-clad officer took out a few chess pieces that symbolized the royal family of Kovir. They were shaped like an iron arm with metal edges and were placed in the sea area north of Cintra.

"Finally, we have ourselves. Together with the young men, we can form 5,000 Mahakam heavy infantry." Barclay stepped forward and pointed in the direction of Mahakam. "It will take us a long time to get here. Do you have any sorcerer groups that can open a portal? Or should we just wait for the decisive battle in Soden?"

"After the battle, we will split into two groups. The group I brought here will return the same way, and people like Sieglin will follow you back to Cintra to settle down?"

Lann was thinking and did not answer Colonel Barclay's words. The black-haired officer placed several hammer-shaped chess pieces at the foot of Mahakam Mountain. In the past few days, the dwarves with weak mobility could not walk much.

"Then the total number of people we have counted now is 20,000." Marshal Vissegerd frowned, "It is much less than the 30,000 Nilfgaardian troops in Cintra. But the good news is that we are all elite, with more diverse arms and more flexible tactics. Moreover, we are fighting on home soil, so our morale is high."

Finally, the black officers placed a large number of black military chess pieces in the south outside Cintra. These were the troops of Nilfgaard that were stationed outside and had not yet had time to move north.

"The Nilfgaardians now probably still think we only have 5,000 troops, or even less. I suggest taking advantage of their unpreparedness and launching a blitzkrieg attack."

The marshal took the lead in proposing his battle plan, signaling his brown-haired officers to mark out the military routes.

"After we drive the southerners out of Cintra, the cavalry stationed in Lower Soden will be isolated and helpless. Soden is a mountainous area. We can go to Upper Soden via Bruges. From a high point, their cavalry won't be able to exert much advantage, and their heavy armor will become a burden."

"Or we don't need to send anyone ourselves, and can write directly to King Fertestei of Temeria. With the detailed strategy of the Nilfgaardians and knowing that we have become the next target of the Imperial Army, he will definitely send troops to support us."

"Then we will join forces with the Aedirnians, the Livians, and the Lyrians to attack these bastards in black clothes and drive them all into the Yaruga River."

Marshal Visegid gnashed his teeth and said, "After this battle and suffering such a huge loss, the Nilfgaardians will never have the courage to go north again!"

As for how to defeat the Western Army Group with 30,000 troops in Cintra with only 20,000 troops, no one doubted this.

Only Barclay, who had just arrived from Mahakam, looked around and showed doubt at first, but then he found that he had an incredible expression on his face and seemed particularly out of place.

"Are all Cintra people... so confident?" he muttered.

This plan was the most satisfactory to the people of Cintra. First, they would recapture Cintra, then attack Nilfgaard from both sides, trapping the enemy, and finally annihilate the enemy as completely as possible.

Just thinking about it makes the people of Sintra feel refreshed.

But Easter drew everyone's attention back, raising objections and pointing out a fatal flaw in the plan.

"It's too risky."