The grounds of the Larrowans are littered with the corpses of Tisus' soldiers, and many more with the footsteps of those who chose to desert their mad general. Tisus chose not to have them pursued and executed of course. After all, that would be wasted resources, and he is limited on that at the moment.
And the moment will soon end. For in the distance he sees the fickle light of civilization. The Arcadians, weeks after finding out about Tisus' army's march from the north has decided to leave their a large garrison of 80,000 men at the shallow part of the Fiume River. A vital route that leads directly down the mountain range. Right now, due to desertion and attrition. Tisus' strong 100,000 has been reduced to a merely 74,000. He was now the outnumbered one.
But he had one thing going for him. The element of surprise.
They know of his march, but they don't know necessarily where he is. So he started planning.
Firstly, he knows that the Arcadians would not be able to properly utilize the bombers and have to rely on their infantry units. With that in mind he knows that they won't be able to drastically decrease his numbers before the swords start swinging.
But he also knows that he can't simply cross the river and attack them head-on. So he decided to plan and wait the next day.
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Panic was amok in the war-rooms of Arcadia. Firstly, Tisus and his army was slowly closing in on the lands of the peninsula; second, Lui-eya is more or less still in a comatose state, and lastly the conscript had landed their army's numbers to 240,000 men. At least 26% of the Empire's male population. If they would lose them all against Tisus, they would be in serious trouble in the war.
"Nonsense with the troubles against him! We could send an overwhelming number of forces his way! He won't be able to win against us!" Said Shua.
"I will NOT be committing all of my forces in an otherwise easily winnable war and lose a majority of my men." Replied Zoroan.
"Zoroan, please. You would NOT lose all of your men in one battle."
"I would not risk that, Shua. It's better if we slowly dwindle down his army until he's gone from our sights."
"So what do you suggest? To leave that garrison in Fiume to die?"
"They won't die. At the very least they would hold their ground and prevent him from passing it as much as possible."
"But what if they do, Zoroan. What if they do? Then what would you do? By that point we should throw all of our men towards him! What will he do then!?"
"He would still be able to do something!"
"Why are you so afraid of Tisus!? You haven't even fought him, we don't even know if his 'great' status is real or not. For all we know he could just be a false figure made by a dying em-"
A messenger barged inside the room, bearing news. "My lord!" He yelled out.
"Well, spit it out!" Astrian yelled towards the messenger.
The messenger panted and breathed. "The garrisons at Fiume are under siege!"
Everyone's eyes widened, murmurings among the crowd all say one thing, that Tisus has made his move. And he is moving quickly, like a wave continuously gaining more power as it hits the coast. There were other urgent matters at hand, but this is a direct attack on Arcadian lands now.
"Under siege!?" Yelled Lixus, "Should we not do something about this!?"
"We must send a relief force, now!" Astrian yelled out as the officers started moving out. And just like that, 160,000 men are underway towards the northern points of Arcadia. To find and fight Tisus.
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Back at the Larrowans, Tisus had the Fiume fort under siege. A reckless maneuver, considering he's the outnumbered force and the one in dire need of supplies. But he had an idea, and an idea it was.
A silent knock came late at night in the office of the commander of the Fort, Marcus Prius. It was a soldier who he had ordered to gauge the number of enemies in Tisus' disposal, to which they reported to be at least 70,000.
The commander smiled and ordered his men to prepare for a battle at the brink of dawn.