Le Song's plan was as follows:

If the fifty thousand troops managed to control the capital smoothly without encountering any significant trouble along the way, his own leading troops would not enter the city;

If the fifty thousand troops had no choice but to engage in battle, then with this number, they would not be unable to launch a counterattack;

If the battle reached a stalemate, Le Song would then have the ninety thousand troops stationed outside the city rush into the city, relying on the numbers and the strength of the soldiers to overwhelm the capital in one go.

Since the beginning of the war, Inran had always had the military advantage;

On the other hand, apart from the miscellaneous troops who had disarmed and surrendered, the military forces that the Mioran Grand Duchy could mobilize within the capital did not exceed thirty thousand;

This number was roughly equivalent to just half of the vanguard force.

War is nothing more than a game of power;

And in this game, quantity often determines the final outcome to a large extent;

Throughout history, examples of a small force defeating a larger one have been too few, as history is often created by the side with greater numbers and strength.

There was no need to doubt that at present, Inran held an overwhelmingly decisive advantage that seemed unshakeable.

Many soldiers in the army harbored the above thoughts in their minds, so they did not see this war as particularly dangerous.

Due to the lack of a sense of crisis, during the period of rest before besieging the capital, they privately discussed their future prospects.

"I plan to open a shop when I return."

"I am going to confess to that girl in the village when I return."

"The child is about to be born, and I will retire from military service after this battle."

...

After discreetly inspecting the camp, Le Song heard his subordinates zealously discussing raising death flags one after another and couldn't help but worry, feeling that something was likely to go wrong today.

Following his family tradition, with a serious mindset, Le Song divined his fortune for the day, and the results he obtained were very concerning.

Bad luck;

Very bad omens!

For nearly a decade, Le Song had not calculated such a disastrous result.

"At a time like this, my ancestors would certainly find a place to hide in advance, waiting for their fortunes to turn before reemerging."

Even though he knew the survival secret passed down by his ancestors, Le Song couldn't bring himself to use it.

In plain terms, his ancestors' main profession was fortune-telling, being a soldier was just their side job; however, Le Song was different. He had a responsibility as an Inran soldier and couldn’t evade it at this critical time.

It was nearing noon, and the army had finished lunch half an hour in advance, slowly gathering within the thousands of large camps.

Le Song understood that it was time, so he set aside the divining tools, stood up, walked out of the camp, and proceeded towards a temporary high platform where he could be seen by the entire army.

At this moment, Le Song couldn't help but wonder:

When his ancestors left their homeland to seek a living in the Eastern Continent, they probably never imagined that their descendants would establish roots in a foreign land in this manner.

Looking up at the sky, Le Song realized that today was just like yesterday, another cloudless day.

On such days, one felt an extra surge of vitality that made them especially eager to make a big impact.

Le Song lowered his head and met the gazes of the soldiers below, interpreting their meanings.

The soldiers wanted their commander-in-chief to deliver an inspirational speech on the spot to further boost morale.

Unfortunately, Le Song couldn’t meet their request.

He may not excel at impromptu speeches, or else he would have been working in propaganda behind the front lines. What was the point of being on the front lines then?

However, although he couldn’t deliver an impromptu speech, at least Le Song could say something.

Raising his right hand, fingers pointing in the direction of the Mioran Grand Duchy's capital, Le Song's legs came together, and his mouth opened at that moment, uttering just one sentence:

"All glory belongs to Inran; everyone, listen up, we are officially going into battle!"

At that moment, Le Song led the main force, departing from the campsite and advancing quickly towards the capital.

Simultaneously, under the leadership of Yanyan, the vanguard troops who had taken over the outer city area had already penetrated deep into the city;

Yanyan himself stood at the forefront of the troops, using amplifying magic to converse with the public king a hundred meters away.

Following orders, Yanyan was prepared to escort Dibiles' imperial consort away.

However, when he glanced at Wang Xiaole bound by ropes through the visual magic used by his subordinates, he began to feel suspicious.

"You old man, are you trying to fool me or just playing with me?"

Ignoring the insults, the public king quickly responded with a voice that contradicted his presumed age:

"Fooling? How could that be? I have never done anything against Inran; my loyalty lies with the Empire!"

"Stop lying! Old man, you claimed to have captured Dibiles' imperial consort, so why is there a woman bound to you instead?"

"Marshal, if you want the reason... well, it's because she is actually a woman."

"Why is that even relevant? Dibiles' emperor is a man, not a woman, right?"

"Since she is called 'Queen,' she must be a woman; I've lived for decades and never heard of any man calling himself a 'Queen.'"

"If the Queen is not a man, how could her consort be a woman?"

"I don't know, why did she choose a woman as her companion?"

"You old man, you obviously found a fake one! Since the Queen's consort is called 'Prince,' it must logically be a man."

"No, Marshal, in this world, many names often do not correspond to reality; for example, there really isn't a wife in wife cake."

"Why then is beef jerky made from beef?"

"Well..."

As the public king sweated on his forehead, he couldn't help but think:

Who knows why beef jerky is made from beef, the inventor didn’t even consult me when naming it.

Cursing Wang Xiaole in his heart, the public king, instead of continuing to wait, made up his mind:

"Forget it, there's no point wasting time..."

Currently, Wang Xiaole freed his arms bound behind him with a strong tug and informed the public king, "The time has come!"

In that moment of hesitation, the public king, upon hearing the sound of Qiuyan disguised as an ordinary soldier rubbing an iron object behind him, made a firm decision.

"Let's do it, anyway, there is no longer a place left for me in Inran."

The public king ordered his personal guards on both sides to give the signal, informing the waiting hidden soldiers in the crouching position for a long time to stand up all at once.

The thousands of impatient archers swiftly completed a series of actions from drawing arrows to bending their bows from high ground, aiming their deadly arrows towards the distance.

Witnessing the emergence of the ambush, Yanyan was convinced that the public king was his enemy.

"Looking at his scheming appearance, it's clear he's not trustworthy... Listen up, cavalry leads the way ahead, infantry follows from behind. Once we reach the palace gate, victory will be ours!"

At the moment of discovering the ambush, Yanyan remained relatively calm.

Instead of losing his composure, he made a rational judgment based on years of experience leading troops, deciding that the best course of action was to quickly storm the palace.

His request for the order of the soldiers' charge was also quite reasonable.

Cavalry could swiftly clear the way but was not suitable for siege warfare;

Infantry, while slower, was suitable for assaulting fortifications.

Leveraging the speed of the cavalry to eliminate potential obstacles along the way, Yanyan then brought the infantry closer to the palace gates and walls.

Although a barrage of arrows rained down from above, for the cavalry troops wrapped in iron and accelerated by magic, the resulting damage was limited.

After charging halfway, Inran's cavalrymen were only around fifty meters away from the palace.

Now, the real drama began.

Wang Xiaole raised a single hand, sending out magical ripples from his body that spread to the open ground in front of the palace.

Immediately, the ground quaked, transforming into a highly consuming swamp.

Being able to instantly alter the terrain within a hundred-meter radius and maintain the changed landscape for an extended period;

Such a feat could not be accomplished by the third-rate mages of the Mioran Grand Duchy, only Wang Xiaole possessed the ability.

In the next moment, the front row of cavalry charging at the forefront couldn't stop their mounts' reins, tumbling shoulder to shoulder into the swamp;

Soon, individuals surfaced in bubbles of mud and water, a scene depicting lives being devoured.

The weakness of the cavalry was exposed.

Wang Xiaole didn't use magic immediately so that the enemies would charge a few dozen meters, making it harder for them to react to the sudden change.

Furthermore, once the cavalry began charging, it became challenging to halt their advance;

After the entire first row of cavalry was wiped out, those following behind them experienced a chain reaction of despair.

In the midst of panic, many cavalrymen collided, some falling off their horses, quickly trampled by hooves into the muddy pit with no chance to rise.

Even those enemy cavalrymen who attempted to turn back now found no escape route.

The enchantment's range cast by Wang Xiaole encompassed the starting point of their charge, and unless their mounts were winged horses, there was no way to evade even if they turned around.

This wasn't the only pre-prepared "gift"; next, Wang Xiaole was about to start using his long-unused brain.