**NOTE FROM AUTHOR**
Good news guys,It's been like 24 hours since I'm hospitalized, my condition is still not bad so I'm given permission to use my phone in the hospital, which means that I will be releasing chapters, like one chapter a day? Since I'm young and healthy(no underlying health conditions) they put me to a regular bed so that's that lol...
**NOTE END***
"I wonder how his highness is doing?" Florestine mumbled and dreamily stared into the glass window in her office...
She was the owner of Alexis' businesses and had to manage everything since he was currently leading an army, it was a lot of work but she felt that it was worth it.
Florestine then sighed, the news about the war has reached the ears of the masses of the Empire...
There were celebrations every week when the reports were announced to the public, more and more territory was being taken rapidly by the military which turned the already proud civilians into mindless patriots!
Because of this, the city was looking very beautiful as almost all the buildings in the city had a flag or two hanging from the pillars or roofs...
"Your highness..." She sighed in frustration, he was missing in her bed for almost one and a half months... she needed him!
Especially when he wore the military uniform, she almost drooled remembering him and really wanted to be-
"*cough* Calm down..." She chanted and breathed in and out and decided to go back to work.
-●-●-●-
The Lunar military base that was established close to the Satellian force was visited by Alexis who rode his horse...
By the time he got there, the soldiers were already waiting for him and stood in two lines forming a Guard of honour.
He then entered the Officers tent and quickly greeted the Generals inside as the soldiers outside went back to doing their daily chores...
"Gentlemen!" Alexis nodded with a smile as the Generals kneeled.
"WE GREET HIS HIGHNESS!" They shouted in unison as he smiled wryly.
"Rise" He ordered them and got closer to the table which had the map nailed into it.
"How is the progress of the tunnel?" Alexis asked the Generals who grinned.
"Your highness, we might be able to finish the tunnel off within this week!" One General said excitedly as Alexis smirked.
"Very good work... How are the attacks from the Satellians?" He then asked curiously.
"Your highness, the Satellians have developed explosive cannon rounds... we had casualties but they are manageable!" The same General answered.
"Most of them don't hit us, but the shrapnel is thrown at us..." Another one said.
"And lately they have been seen with rifles, but no need to worry, your highness! Their rifles are less accurate and the range too is quite low... they use a lever type mechanism unlike our bolt action mechanism." The same General informed him.
'hmm... impressive for a Nation that wasn't given information!' Alexis thought and listened to the reports intently.
"I see... well I would like to inform you all that our Howitzers are already being transported!" Alexis stated and chuckled seeing their faces...
"HAHAHAHA!" The Generals laughed and turned to each other to celebrate victory.
"But do remember that our main goal is not to destroy the Fort, but to take over it..." Alexis reminded them as the men nodded immediately.
But before he could say anymore words, countless metal bells rang all over the base as soldiers and Generals alike, tensed and moved around...
"Your highness, Get into cover! It's an artillery barrage from the enemy!" The Generals warned and escorted Alexis towards the trenches, they were dug two meters deep, the ground was covered in wood planks and sand.
"Does this happen regularly?" Alexis asked them once the group has reached cover, they nodded and answered.
"Atleast twice a day, Your highness..." They responded, the first shells went off infront of them as they ducked subconsciously...
The explosions boomed as they all felt their eyes ring.
The barrage stopped after an hour of shelling at the Lunar base. Most of them did not reach the base but some did, they caused the most damage as many were killed and destroyed tents and such...
By the time the officers got out of the trench, the soldiers were already moving about and helping each other to clean away the debris and carry the dead.
"Sirs! The casualties are at two thousand five hundred and thirty, as of now are at five hundred and twenty seven dead and two thousand and three wounded!" A soldier came forward and reported with a grave tone.
'527 dead... 2003 wounded... But we have around four million soldiers here.' Alexis mused and let the soldier go.
"Tell the soldiers to hasten the tunnelling!" He ordered the Generals who nodded and left.
Alexis then walked over to his horse that was grazing on the grass, quite far away from the base...
'How the hell did it go there?' He twitched an eyebrow seeing the horse glance at him and huff.
-●-●-●-
"Generals! We should charge them now!" A young Satellian General urged his colleagues to attack the invading forces...
"That's impossible, young man..." One General grunted, he emphasized on the word "young" as if he disdained him, the General was older than his counterpart and had a grim expression.
"Indeed... we only need to delay them, the rest will be upto the Capital!" Another voice resounded as the young General grit his teeth.
"We can route the enemy! Won't this give us more time?!" He shouted angrily and glared at them.
"Route them? Go back to the Academy you fool!" The Older General mocked him.
"...wha!?" The young General sputtered on his words and realised what was going on...
"I see... This is why we are losing, while the Lunar empire has moved on, you all are still stuck in the mud... still following old ways, thinking that just because you are older than me, you are correct and I'm wrong, right? Isn't this what everyone is thinking?" The young General muttered coldly as he looked down.
"You bastard! How dare you mock us!" The older General shouted at him and clenched his fist to attack the young man, he was stopped by his friend before things got heated up...
"Truly the young have no respect for the elderly..." Another old General shook his head wryly as the others nodded.
The Young General scoffed when he heard it and looked at them as if they were beneath him, which seemed to infuriate them further...
"Look at you all... When I speak of the truth you deny it and make me the villain, I'm leaving... the Lunar forces will come when we least expect it! Mark my words, you all will regret not attacking them, then..." The Young General shrugged and walked away, only to be stopped by the Oldest of them all.
"*sigh!* Son, please stop and tell me, what is your plan, or rather... what was your plan?" The oldest General asked him solemnly.
"Sir! If we charge them now while they are checking their logistics, it would make them panic... it wouldn't do much but they will be surprised. That is the first advantage, the second is their range..." The young General explained politely.
"Their range?" The older man asked him curiously as the young General nodded with a wry smile.
"They will kill the front row, this will be a bit disturbing but we can use the dead bodies of our soldiers as cover and then cha-"
"IMPOSSIBLE!"
"SUCH DISGUSTING METHODS!"
"WHERE IS YOUR HONOUR?!"
He was interrupted by insults from his seniors who frowned at his words.
"Honour is nothing in the face of a strong enemy! we have to use everything possible!" The young General shouted.
"SILENCE!" The oldest man in the tent shouted at his Generals whom were getting a little unbridled and motioned the youngest one to continue.
"Our troops maybe lesser than theirs, but when we get to them, they will definitely retreat! We have more close combat forces which will devastate their armies... It will kill most of our troops but the main objective is to send the enemy away from our lands!" The young General said eagerly, hoping the old man would listen to him...
"...young man, everything that you said was true, but aren't you being too optimistic? In a situation like this, we cannot afford to lose men! Your plan may have worked in a battle, but not in a long conflict such as a war..." The old General spoke softly and apologetically.
The young General nodded slowly and walked away.
He heard the muffled laughter coming from the tent and sighed.
Since nobody believes in him, why should he care? They will definitely die... something told him that! Even if his plan contains the loss of many troops, he was sure they would be refilled within a few years which was enough to develop their weapons and to take revenge from the Lunar empire...
But since nobody is willing to listen, he will plan his escape from the imminent disaster awaiting the Fort!
-●-●-●-
The Fort made by the Satellians was many things but penetrable, it stretched out to hundreds of kilometres and was guarded by hundreds of thousands of troops...
The walls of the fort reached forty metres high and was dark gray in colour, legends say it was carved out of a massive rock but Alexis didn't care about those minor things.
He just needed the fort to be his!
The tunneling was completed, the soldiers had drill a hole through the massive wall that was submerged into the ground due to it's immense weight...
They had to use high level magic spells that drilled the stone finally reached the soil right below the ground, this feat required the help of ten Divine tier mages that were sent from the Empire under Alexis' orders.
The ten Divine mages also confirmed that the entire tunnel was right under the Satellians' feet!
Preparations were complete, now all he had to do was send in his troops through the tunnel and surprise the defenders...
-●-●-●-
The atmosphere in the base was tense, throughout the week, they have been attacked aggressively by the Satellians and lost more soldiers, but that wasn't the main reason... they were informed of a plan to take over the fort!
"Gentlemen, with this drink... we will become victorious in the war! You all will be hailed as the heroes, including the soldiers, who fought and sacrificed their lives for the betterment of the Empire..." Alexis said and held onto his glass containing wine.
"For a more powerful and safer Empire, and to finally take over the continent which my ancestors had been trying for so long... Long live the Empire!" Alexis cheered with a grin and gulped the wine.
"LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!" The Generals cheered and drank the wine aswell, sighing at the taste of the red liquid...
On this day, the fifth month of the Lunar Calendar, the Lunar Empire started it's first major offensive against the Satellian Empire.
The force of over two million soldiers dug through the walls of the Fort, which was called the "Heaven's box" by the Satellians, and ambushed the shocked Satellians by digging through the floor and attacking from the ground...