Black Pine Territory (2)

Viscount Perez arrived at a military camp with his knights. An officer reported to him, "Your Excellency, the First Infantry Battalion is ready and can depart at any time."

Viscount Ross nodded to him. "Thank you for your hard work, Arman. You and your squad have always been so trustworthy."

Arman grinned and said, "Viscount, the First Infantry Battalion has always been a reliable bulwark of Black Pine Territory. Neither Barbarians nor other nobles can bring us down."

Viscount Perez looked at the sky; it was already past four in the afternoon, Sun had already moved to the west. "It will be setting in a little over two hours. After dinner, you can set off directly."

Arman pounded his breastplate with his arm. "Understood!"

Arman turned and left.

The knight standing to the side also bowed his head and asked, "Your Excellency, should I also go and prepare for the Cavalry to depart?"

"There's no need to go so early. In any case, the troops from the Two Rivers Territory will most likely stay near the logging camp and docks tonight, so let's continue according to plan."

"Your Excellency, I did not expect the army of the Two Rivers Territory to advance so quickly. Aren't they worried that we might launch a sudden attack on them?"

"Raman, didn't you notice? Their troops have a very clear objective; they haven't even considered attacking our villages and towns."

Raman asked in confusion, "Isn't it because Young Master Markut said they don't want to completely break ties with us yet?"

"You've been with me for so many years, how could you still have such a naive judgment as Markut?"

"That's because they were too careless. They weren't even afraid of having their logistics supply routes cut off by us."

Viscount Perez shook his head.

"We all know about Viscount Golden Sunflower's performance in last year's battle. He and his men are not the kind of people who get carried away easily. The reason they dared to do this can only mean that they are very familiar with our troop deployment and are very confident that we can cut off their logistical supplies."

"Damn it, no wonder there have been so many more caravans coming to the territory since the young master started trading timber. There must be spies from that Viscount Golden Sunflower among them."

"Your Excellency, send my Cavalry contingent into battle. I will attack their supply depot."

Viscount Perez sighed. "There's no need. I have a lot of faith in you, but no matter how good your Cavalry is, they can't fight on the water. Their river fleet is very powerful, Black Pine Territory has no force that can rival them."

If they can't destroy their fleet, their logistical supplies will continue to be delivered to them.

Therefore, we must let them into the heart of Black Pine Territory, leave the banks of the Great Fish River open, and use the Black Forest as a natural barrier to fight them.

Otherwise, we have no chance of winning; they are not as easy to deal with as simple-minded Barbarians.

Raman scratched his head, as if he had just thought of something, "Fortunately, they don't burn, kill, and plunder our people and villages like the Barbarians do, otherwise the brothers would have already lost control and rushed out to fight them to the death."

"Yes! That's why I said this battle will be very difficult."

Viscount Perez knew that the soldiers of Black Pine Territory were not so determined to fight against the forces of the Two Rivers Territory, especially after they learned that the Two Rivers Territory army had not attacked the villages and towns.

At this time, Santos's troops had captured a river dock in Black Pine Territory, and the entire fleet was unloading the personnel and supplies.

Santos stood on the dock, looking at the forest not far away. Countless tall trees were arranged closely together, like a tall, dark green wall that stretched endlessly to the horizon, giving people a strong sense of oppression and mystery.

A voice suddenly said, "This is the famous Black Forest of the Northlands. Although I knew that this forest extending from the Frost Fury Mountains was very spectacular, I did not expect it to be even more breathtaking in reality."

Santos seemed startled and turned to look at the newcomer. "Minister Orlando, when did you arrive?"

Orlando said expressionlessly, "Just now, when you were directing the troops to disembark and assemble..."

Santos rubbed his temples. "Minister Orlando, please let me know next time you suddenly appear. Even I can't accept you speaking out so abruptly."

"Okay, I'll be more careful next time."

Santos sighed as he looked at Orlando's insincere attitude. He had known Orlando since their days in Golden Sunflower Territory.

Back then, Orlando was just a minor manager in Powell's caravan. Although he wasn't talkative, he wasn't as insensitive as he is now.

Since Orlando became the head of the Intelligence Department, he has become rigid and gloomy, perhaps due to his work.

"Minister Orlando, thank you for the Intelligence Department's help this time. I didn't expect that there were so many intelligence personnel in Black Pine Territory."

"If it weren't for the intelligence you provided, Black Pine Territory wouldn't have organized any defensive forces. I estimate we would have had to disembark and march overland earlier, which would have been a huge waste of time."

"This is just our job, and it was also a plan made in advance by His Excellency the Viscount, taking into account the current situation."

"However, I still need to ask you to contact Lord Macut as soon as possible. The Viscount assigned me the task of sending troops to Black Pine Territory and also sending a letter to Lord Macut."

"There's not much we can do for now. Our informants told us that Lord Macut has been placed under house arrest by his father, Viscount Perez. Many informants and intelligence personnel tried to pick him up at the airport, but they were all captured by the soldiers of Black Pine Territory. We can only stop contacting him now."

"It seems that Viscount Perez is very determined. There's a high chance we'll have to fight. Does the Intelligence Department have any other information they can provide me?"

Orlando shook his head. "We've provided everything we can. Half of Black Pine Territory's territory is located in the forest plains inside the Black Forest, and their army is also stationed there, making it really difficult to gather more intelligence."

"The Intelligence Department has done a good job, but according to the information we have so far, Viscount Perez is planning to use the same tactics they used against the Barbarians against us. They plan to use their familiarity with the Black Forest terrain to send light infantry to harass us, lure the Barbarians into splitting their forces, and then send Cavalry to launch a surprise attack through the forest paths."