Aftermath of the Battle

Victor led his guards along the middle of the battlefield. Each guard looked around anxiously, their hands glued to their sword hilts and bowstrings, none daring to relax.

Although there are no enemies left on the battlefield who dare to resist the Golden Sunflower Family, and most of the prisoners of war have had their weapons confiscated, a fierce battle has just taken place here, and as the lord's Royal Guard, we must be on high alert.

In addition, Victor's command in this battle was truly brilliant. Although the initial bloody battle was extremely fierce, the post-battle statistics showed that their own losses were less than 10%, which was something no one had expected.

All the soldiers on the battlefield looked at Victor with reverence, and whenever Victor passed by them, they would all give the young lord a military salute.

Victor kept returning the greetings as he walked, his arms aching from holding them up so much, and his teeth aching.

As far as the eye could see, there were rows upon rows of prisoners of war, and mountains of confiscated armor and weapons. Just as Victor had observed at the beginning, the Vanguard Army was composed of private armies from the Olive Territory and the White Asparagus Territory, and it could be said that both their equipment and soldiers were excellent.

Unfortunately, they were just a little lacking. Their equipment was a little inferior; their crossbows, used for long-range firepower, didn't have the same range as those produced by the Mesopotamian arsenal, and their soldiers' armor wasn't as sturdy or durable. Their strength was a little lacking; the combat experience of their regular army couldn't compare to that of the Mesopotamian warriors, and their cavalry's horses and horsemanship weren't as good as those of the Mesopotamian cavalry who had fought against the northern barbarians. Most importantly, they were a little unlucky. Victor felt very fortunate to have found a suitable tactic and a suitable battlefield.

Ron rode up to Victor's side. He had already removed his two layers of armor, and his armor was soaked with sweat. Victor frowned and hurriedly said, "Where's your cloak? Put it on quickly. I have a rule in the Heavy Cavalry code that you must pay attention to keeping warm after removing your armor. You are a veteran of many battlefields, why do I have to remind you of these things!"

Ron was about to say something when Victor snapped him back. Luckily, his personal guards handed him a cloak, Ron quickly put on.

After getting dressed, Ron asked with a fawning smile, "Viscount, this battle was fought so brilliantly. I thought we were going to collapse, but the enemy suddenly broke down, and we only suffered a little over 300 casualties in total."

Victor looked at Ron speechlessly. "It's nothing, just following the old ways."

"What's the name of this formation?" Ron was puzzled by Victor's answer and quickly asked, "Then you can tell me the name of this formation, I want to use it sometime."

Although Ron didn't understand what Victor meant by "the wisdom of the ancients," at least in the military science he had studied, there was no such example mentioned.

"Hmm, let's call it the Crescent Moon Formation!" Victor said after a moment's thought.

"Crescent Moon Formation! What a fine name. It is indeed as beautiful as a crescent moon, yet deadly!" a voice suddenly interrupted.

Victor and Ron turned to look in the direction from which the sound came.

They saw Holmes standing to the side on horseback with two well-dressed middle-aged men.

Seeing Victor's puzzled expression, Holmes quickly reported to his viscount, "My lord, these two are Isolde Viscount Olive and Viscount Leo Viscount White Asparagus."

Victor immediately understood, and he politely gave the two viscounts a noble salute.

"My two viscounts, today's defeat was not due to a lack of skill. I was simply too well prepared. Had it been a different time and place, I might not have been a match for you two."

Viscount Isold's face was filled with mixed emotions. He said with a wry smile, "Viscount Golden Sunflower, don't underestimate yourself. I admit defeat in this battle. You defeated our Allied Army with inferior troops and suffered negligible losses."

"It's truly fortunate for the Golden Sunflower Family to have you; I can't even imagine what your future achievements will be like."

"You flatter me. If you two don't mind, could you please help persuade Baron Red Ginseng?"

It's too late now, I don't want my soldiers to continue fighting!

"I understand. Let's give it a try!"

After saying this, Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo rode off towards Red Ginseng Castle. Holmes, seeing this, quickly led his men to give chase. Since they were his prisoners, he had to keep an eye on them; if they escaped, it would be his fault.

Victor also sent Ron with a small squad of Cavalry to help Holmes protect the two important prisoners.

An hour ago, Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo had reached their limit, with Holmes and his infantry phalanx trapping their last remaining troops.

However, Holmes did not issue an order to attack. He had learned from the prisoners of war that there were two big fish among the remaining soldiers in front of him. In order to avoid hurting these two big fish, he planned to persuade them to surrender.

Holmes recalled Victor's instructions to him before the battle, "Your task is to block the retreat of the defeated army. I don't ask you to kill or capture many enemy soldiers. I just want you to capture Viscount Olive and Viscount White Asparagus. Their existence is important to our subsequent plans."

Although with Count Black's help, we should be able to hold off these enemies more easily, but I don't want to owe Count Black too many favors; debts of gratitude are the hardest to repay.

"Holmes, if you can capture these two high-ranking nobles of Boler County, I can use ransom negotiations to buy time until winter, thus avoiding battle with the punitive expedition."

"My lord, rest assured, I, Holmes, will not let even a rat escape. If I fail to capture these two, you may hold me accountable!"

Holmes shouted directly, "Are they Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo?"

As established nobles, Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo, no matter how cunning, still possessed the stubbornness of old-school nobles and would not shy away from such issues.

"Yes, I am Isolde Olive, and this gentleman next to me is Leo White Asparagus. What do you want?"

"My lords, my Viscount Golden Sunflower would like to invite you to visit our territory. Please do not refuse."

"Moreover, enough people have died today; it's really not suitable to continue the killing. Many of your loyal subordinates are still fighting. Why don't you two join us in persuading them, at least giving them a chance to return home alive?"

Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo exchanged glances. Although they had considered the possibility of being persuaded to surrender after being surrounded, Viscount Isold did not want to surrender. However, Holmes's words made him start to think about his men.

At this moment, Viscount Leo patted Viscount Isold on the shoulder. "Isolde, I think he's right. Enough people have died. Since we can't bring our men to victory, we should at least bring them home alive."

After hearing this, Isolde hung her head and finally whispered, "Then let's surrender!"

The surrounding soldiers breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this; at least they had survived today.