Intelligence Roundup
"Bang!" Ron put down his longbow.
The arrow struck its target moments later, and the wounded barbarian rider fell from his horse, motionless.
Ron slowly rode his horse to where the barbarian rider had fallen. After a careful inspection, he saw that the barbarian's left chest had been pierced by a heavy arrow shot by Ron, and both his front and back bronze armor had been penetrated.
Ron bent down and pulled out the heavy arrow, the shaft of which was three centimeters thick, like a short spear.
Ron's longbow and arrows were specially made. He was tall and had incredible strength, so ordinary bows and arrows were useless to him.
Victor went to great lengths to acquire this set of bows and arrows. The bowstring was made of Ironvine, a semi-metallic plant. The vine strands were rolled together like steel wire, making them extremely resilient. They were typically used as bowstrings for Bed Crossbow, and they were very suitable for Ron to use.
After pulling out the arrow, Ron poked the corpse with his longsword to make sure it was dead. He then ordered his men to take the body away, while he led away the warhorse that had lost its knight.
Ron, leading his warhorse, returned to the main force. Jackson was checking the battle damage and results and directing the soldiers to pile up the corpses of the Iron Bone Tribe's barbarian riders.
Ron casually tossed the reins of his warhorse to a soldier and walked up to Jackson. "I've already chased down 15 of them. There shouldn't be any left to escape," Jackson said, flipping through the parchment in his hand. "That's enough. This Iron Bone Tribe Cavalry consisted of two hundred-man squads, a total of 186 men. We've found them all. Apart from the eight we captured alive, the rest of their bodies are here."
"Light the fire!" Jackson ordered the soldiers to set the pile of corpses on fire. Because they had been doused with Fire Oil beforehand, the fire quickly blazed up, and soon the stench of burning corpses filled the air.
"Damn, the wind has changed direction." Ron pulled Jackson to a new upwind position, avoiding the choking smell.
"The Viscount has ordered all traces to be removed. That should be enough, right?" Jackson asked Ron.
"They're all burned to ashes, so there won't be any problems," Ron replied nonchalantly. "At worst, we can just dig a hole and bury them after they're all burned."
After separating from Victor, Ron and Jackson, leading the First Cavalry Detachment, quickly found traces left by another small caravan.
They followed the hoofprints and spent more than two hours catching up with the Iron Bone Tribe and the caravan detachment. By then, the Iron Bone Tribe's Cavalry had already begun fighting with the caravan's guards, but they didn't expect another Cavalry to be chasing after them.
In a single encounter, the Iron Bone Tribe's forces were overwhelmed by the First Cavalry Detachment, which had a numerical and qualitative advantage. After realizing that victory was impossible, the Iron Bone Tribe's barbarian cavalry scattered and fled under the leadership of two Centurion.
Ron and Jackson simply dispersed their pursuit based on their squadrons, and spent more than half an afternoon wiping out all the barbarian cavalry.
It was already evening, so Ron simply ordered everyone to set up camp and rest, waiting to return to Wood Fort Town with the remaining members of the caravan and prisoners early the next morning.
That evening, by the campfire, Ron talked to Jackson while eating roasted horse leg with a small knife.
"How are the battle losses?" Ron handed Jackson a piece of meat.
"Two died, one was seriously injured, and the rest suffered minor injuries and are not in serious condition."
"How could anyone die? These barbarians from the Iron Bone Tribe have been exhausted for days. They only bully the caravan guards."
"When we were capturing the Centurion, we were careless. One of us was stabbed to death by the Centurion, another was seriously injured, and the third was surrounded and killed by several people because we chased too far ahead."
"Damn it, I'm going to go and give that Centurion a good welcome now. As long as he doesn't die, that's all that matters." Ron made a move to get up.
"No need. We've captured two Centurion alive, and the one who injured someone has already been beaten to death by the brothers."
"That's good, but it's a pity we're missing one person, so we can't ask for information."
"It's not a big problem. I was right there when the soldiers were beating him up. I asked them questions as they beat him up, and I took notes of all the information. It can be used for comparison."
"To be honest, these tough barbarians are different from ordinary grassland barbarians. They're similar to Iron Hoof and Blood Scorpion Tribe. Although they lack stamina, their combat skills and experience are not bad. It would be great if I could have a battle with them."
"Captain Ron, if we wait a few more days, we can probably have a good fight. Putting aside the Blazing Fire Tribe, the Iron Palm Tribe is quite extraordinary. It should be the core branch of Iron Bone."
"How so, is there anything different about this core branch?"
"I got the information from that Centurion. The core of the Ironbone Army, a 10,000-strong unit, was the best equipped and best trained. It was the same unit we saw during the final battle, and they called it the Iron Bone Golden Cavalry."
Ron recalled the scene and nodded, "That Cavalry with full bronze armor was indeed extraordinary. Their aura was different. However, while bronze armor looks good, its protective properties are not as good as iron armor."
"It's already quite impressive that the Barbarians could gather ten thousand sets of bronze armor. They also don't have the means to purchase or manufacture high-quality iron armor. Don't interrupt me, I haven't finished yet."
"Alright, go on."
"This Centurion said that after Ironbone was defeated, several groups of core members and elites of the tribe were separated and sent to several branch tribes with supplies, in case Ironbone headquarters was completely wiped out and there was still a chance to make a comeback. Iron Palm Tribe was one of them."
"However, he didn't know which specific tribes were the core branches. They only learned about this after carrying out this mission. The Iron Palm Tribe's Thousand-man squad was modeled after the Iron Bone Golden Cavalry, and its elite level is not much different. Do you think it's enough to have a good fight?"
"That is indeed a tricky situation. We need to make sure Victor is well prepared for such a Thousand-man squad. If we don't get this information, even if we win, we will suffer a great loss."
"Captain Ron, we don't need to think too much right now. With Lord Victor here, he will definitely be able to solve these problems perfectly. We just need to take these prisoners and intelligence back and hand them over to the lord."
"You're right, Victor will take care of everything. Let's go on a patrol, and when we're done, let everyone get some rest. We'll set off at dawn tomorrow and get back to Wood Fort Town as soon as possible."
The First Cavalry Detachment set off early the next morning and returned to Wood Fort Town by noon. Jackson led his troops back to the camp, and Ron delivered the intelligence and prisoners to the Operations Staff Department, personally handing them over to Victor.
Upon receiving the intelligence, Victor immediately arranged for the General Staff to interrogate all the prisoners, then compare their testimonies to ensure the intelligence was accurate before compiling and reporting it to him.