Faced with the tangible threat of Roman, the nobles of The Crownlands, who were usually scheming against each other, managed to unite for once, gathering an army of over 9,000 soldiers along with their camp followers near Antler Keep.
This force was primarily composed of troops from various noble houses, mixed with mercenary knights, mercenary companies, reinforcements from other regions, and conscripted militia.
Due to the lack of a unified and comprehensive logistics system, and with these nobles bringing along their families, they essentially requisitioned food as they marched.
Bandits pass like a sieve, soldiers pass like a fine-tooth comb.
The residents near Antler Keep understood this saying all too well; the commoners even had their rations stolen. To survive, many had no choice but to flee overnight into the territory under Roman's control, which, in turn, provided the Herrenburg Army with detailed intelligence.
Fili watching the residents of Antler Keep in the camp, who looked like starving ghosts reincarnated, couldn't help but tremble with rage, her young face drained of all color.
"Those bastards! How could they rob their own subjects? What about the duties of a lord? Where did the oaths they swore when they received their lands go?"
A nearby logistics officer advised, "Lady Fili, this is the norm for lords; a lord like Lord Roman is the exception."
Fili was stunned. Reminded by her subordinate, she suddenly recalled that she, too, had once gone hungry like this, and everything had only changed after she met Roman.
The young girl thought to herself, "Have I unknowingly started to align my thinking with Lord Roman's?"
Fili looked at Roman in the distance, who was conversing with soldiers and generals and visiting the fleeing refugees, then looking at the uniform and orderly Herrenburg Army soldiers, she couldn't help but smile.
"Lady Fili, why are you smiling?"
"I am celebrating victory. With Lord Roman's leadership, we will surely win!"
This left the logistics officer confused, but Fili walked away with a light step to continue her work.
After several days of marching, the Herrenburg Army finally arrived in the vicinity of Antler Keep on a beautiful, sunny afternoon, where the coalition of The Crownlands was waiting for Roman.
"Fili, release the ravens and coordinate with the scouts to determine if there are any reinforcements. Notify the engineer corps to set up the ballistae and prepare all types of military equipment!"
Seeing the enemy forces advancing, the Herrenburg Army soldiers quickly formed infantry phalanxes, while the cavalry stood by on the flanks.
The front of the entire phalanx was the first line of defense, composed of infantry armor soldiers and two giants, closely followed by the spear phalanx, with various archers and crossbowmen and two giant archers in the center.
In addition to the first row of infantry armor soldiers, there were also heavy-armored soldiers prepared on the flanks and rear of the Herrenburg Army to prevent any cavalry from breaking through.
Under the command of officers and signal flags, the Herrenburg Army soldiers advanced steadily in their phalanx formation toward the coalition of The Crownlands.
The vanguard of The Crownlands coalition was composed of mercenaries and heavy-armored soldiers, but when they saw the Herrenburg Army soldiers clearly, their blood ran cold instantly.
The infantry armor soldiers were fully armed, with over 90% of their bodies covered in armor plates, and even their eyes were protected.
Moreover, these soldiers advanced in perfect unison following the commands, like a silver wave slowly crashing down upon them.
In contrast, the coalition side, not belonging to a single system, had trouble even following orders, and their formation marched crookedly.
But before they could even think about how to survive, the Herrenburg Army's formation suddenly stopped, and the vanguard opened up gaps, revealing heavy ballistae positioned behind! The two ranged giants and the giant captain also brought out their long-range weapons.
Giant arrows flew out instantly, smashing fiercely into the coalition's vanguard. Even though these men were equipped with the finest plate armor, the attack power of these weapons far exceeded the limits of what the armor could withstand, and several mercenaries were instantly sent flying.
The coalition's phalanx developed several gaps, but the Herrenburg Army's offensive continued. The bows equipped by the giants were made by Scholar Tom using a special oil blend.
Compared to the primitive straight bows made by the giants, Herrenburg had manufactured shorter recurve bows; the giants loved these bows, and some of the elders could even perform rapid fire.
The first wave of attacks kept the coalition from even raising their heads. After struggling forward, the coalition and the Herrenburg Army closed to within 90 meters of each other.
At this moment, the archers on both sides had entered effective range and began firing arrows at each other.
However, the Herrenburg troops in contact had an 80% armor rate, and the Herrenburg archers had teammates covering them. After a round of volley fire, the center of The Crownlands coalition began to falter.
Seeing the enemy formation wavering, Roman ordered the cavalry units to launch an assault from both flanks.
To counter the impact of the Herrenburg cavalry, the coalition also dispatched cavalry units, and a large number of noble knights joined the battle.
But the moment they made contact, the knights of The Crownlands were stunned, because Roman had directly dispatched 500 Ironmen, and the coalition's heavy cavalry, including all their knights, did not even outnumber Herrenburg's.
In addition to these heavy cavalry, the Herrenburg Light Cavalry were also harassing from the flanks, constantly disrupting the coalition's formation, and sometimes they would throw White Flame oil pots at close range, directly burning the enemy, man and horse alike.
By the time the knights of The Crownlands had left a trail of corpses and, trembling with fear, charged in front of the Ironmen, they suddenly discovered something unusual about the enemy's weapons.
During training, the Herrenburg heavy cavalry discovered that holding a lance with both hands left their defense vulnerable, but taking one hand off to hold a shield made the lance difficult to operate.
Therefore, the blacksmiths forged a type of round shield that could be strapped to the arm, allowing the Ironmen to hold the lance with both hands while using the shield to protect their heads and chests.
The moment the Ironmen collided with the knights of The Crownlands, a teeth-grinding sound of clashing steel echoed across the battlefield.
The noble knights were, after all, experts who had undergone long-term military training, and they managed to unhorse several of the Herrenburg heavy cavalry upon first contact, but they were subsequently surrounded by other Ironmen and the Light Cavalry from the flanks, and were pierced to death, both man and horse.
But even more fatal was Roman; the knights of The Crownlands were caught up in the fight and forgot about Roman's existence.
As the coalition's heavy cavalry pressed forward, Roman took to the sky and flew directly above the coalition's heavy-armored phalanx, unleashing fire and thunder.
The coalition's cavalry formation was instantly shattered, and the Herrenburg cavalry rapidly weaved through, skewering the noble knights.
After resolving the trouble with the cavalry, Roman quickly turned and arrived above the first row of the coalition's infantry, scattering White Flame onto the soldiers and directly shattering the defense line of The Crownlands coalition.
Subsequently, Roman, trailing fire and lightning, transformed into a mass of White Flame and smashed into the coalition's main tent, the immense impact knocking over the various lords who were in the middle of a discussion.
Roman channeled the White Flame into the ground, causing it to erupt around the main tent in a circular ring of fire and spread outward.
All the soldiers around the main tent were engulfed in a sea of fire, which also isolated the central area.
Roman looked at this group of high nobles; they were all from the lordly families of The Crownlands, some of whom Roman knew, and others he had never seen before.
"My lords, the battle is over. Do not put up any futile resistance. Surrender."
With dragon horns, dragon tail, dragon wings, and dragon scales covering a large area of his skin, Roman stood among the lords in this appearance.
Everyone was still thinking about whether to resist and how to fight, but a young heir roared and swung his sword at Roman.
The dragon-kin of Harrenhal ducked to dodge the slash and seized the opportunity to draw his warhammer, turning and striking with a single blow that exploded the opponent's head.
As blood and brains splattered out, the battle began.
Swinging, smashing, parrying, Roman began to slaughter these lords. Even though he wanted to control his strength to keep them alive, nothing went as he wished.
In the end, Roman simply gave up on this thankless idea and began to attack with full force.
By the time Fili followed the Herrenburg soldiers to the front of the main tent, Roman was slowly walking out of the circle of fire, behind him a mass of twisted steel and flesh.
After a brief silence, the Herrenburg soldiers erupted into thunderous cheers; they had achieved such a victory in their very first large-scale battle.
Fili quickly stepped forward to check Roman for injuries and happily said, "Lord Roman, we have won!!"