The clouds are grey. An ominous sign for the battle if one believed in that kind of stuff. I look at the troops lines up. Because the battleground is mostly flat I do not have a great view. The most I have going for me is the fact that I am on my horse. 

“Your majesty, the Allonians are just outside of archer range. What are your commands.” A commander asks me. I go down the list of possible options but simplicity seems like the best solution. Let us pretend to be engaging in a normal battle before we reveal out trap. 

“Move the skirmisher line up. I want you to harass the Allonians.” The Allonian army seem to be mostly made up of line-men. They seem to have very little heavy infantry. “Have you scouted out their army?” 

“Yes, your majesty. They are mostly line-men with limited cavalry and archer support. Heavy infantry seems to be non-existent.” I do not think that their cavalry will be able to route our own cavalry. Without having to worry about rear charges I have a great advantage. 

“Shift the battle lines as I discussed earlier.” I order another commander. He immediately begins moving out to inform the troops. We can use the confusion of caused by the skirmishers to lure them into our hidden detachment. We will move up and shift to face the forest ever so slightly. 

The right flank begins to advance and slowly the middle and left flank follow as well. Each starting after the other has moved.  The goal is to angle it so that their right flank is placed next to our hidden detachment. 

I look out into the distance trying to glean whatever information I can. There army begins to move in the opposite manner of ours. Their left flank moves rapidly towards ours while the other flanks lag behind. It seems they have no intention to engage in battle. 

I rap my fingers on my leg. 

What to do... 

“Begin rapidly moving the center and left flanks to engage the enemy. Ensure that there are a mixture of crossbows and pikes covering the flanks.” I yell to the commanders beside me. They are stunned for a second but quickly act upon the orders. 

The messengers rush away to bring my orders to the troops. I look at the reserve troops. I have a bad feeling growing in my stomach. What is causing them to move the way that they do? If I was the opponent why would I want to meet with only a single section of my army? 

I pay attention to the troops as they meet. Slowly comparing their numbers. The Allonians should have less men than us in their line because they are smaller. Yet it seems at the point of contact they outnumber us... 

Shit! 

It seems I have been blind.

Concentration of forces. That is why they are moving in such a way. They have put most their troops on their left flank and are hoping to break our right flank. Because they have taken troops from the other flanks they want to decline fighting with them as long as possible. I need to ensure that the right flank doesn't break. If it does the battle is lost.

“Move some reserves to alleviate pressure from the right flank.” I order the commanders. “Also, get Luca out of the forest. They are not taking the bait.” 

I begin to rap my fingers even harder on my leg. My horse shifts slightly, sensing my mood. I stop rapping my fingers. Instead of doing nothing I should start changing my plans. I will probably need to be prepared to retreat. 

They say that plans are the first thing to go when a battle occurs. How right they are. 

Small droplets of rain begin to pelt my armor. 

Tap. Tap. Tap. 

What a rhythmic sound. 

“Your majesty, the center flank is about to engage the enemy.” A messenger informs me. 

All I need to do is break the weakened flanks. But... should the right flank begin to fail I need a plan of retreat. I look to the messenger and instruct him. “I want you to ask who would be willing to cover a retreat.” 

“But, your majesty!” A large number of commanders begin to protest. 

“Silence! I will not have the entire army be wiped because of some silly pride!” I yell at them. Incompetence is the gravest of sins. Not because the people who possess it are bad but because the consequences are too high. 

It is better to retreat and recover if defeat appears imminent. 

“Yes, your majesty. I will have it done immediately.” The messenger whimpers. 

I do not respond or say anything else. It seems that they can all tell that I am in a bad mood. It is not their fault but my own. I have failed them and am taking out my anger on them. I sigh. 

“Shall I order a retreat?” One of the braver commanders asks me. 

“No,” I respond. “We shall wait and see. Victory is not yet lost.” 

My confidence seems like just an illusion and I wonder if they can tell. Much like how a predator can smell blood. I look at the right flank. It seems to slowly be failing but the reserves have helped stabilize the situation. At least, for now it seems.

A/N: Sorry for not uploading yesterday. I redid the whole chapter because I believe this battle deserves so much more than just one chapter. The next chapter will be the battle from Hudson's POV. Originally the first part was Michael's POV and then the other half was Hudson's. This still remains the same but I have gone into much more detail and thus each POV has become a chapter of its own.

As always, thank you for reading.