Punitive Expedition Camp

Kallio won Victor's favor with his outstanding work, and Victor planned to give him more room to showcase his talents.

But Victor had more important matters to attend to, so Victor had to say goodbye to Kallio after inspecting Green Water Farm.

Victor led his troops to the northern border of Red Ginseng Territory. It was already evening, but fortunately, the troops carried enough supplies and provisions, so they simply set up camp there.

However, considering that the Main Camp of the punitive expedition was not far from here, Victor also organized a night patrol team for vigilance.

This night patrol force was modeled after the night scouts of the classical warfare era in Victor's previous life. It was also divided into long sentries and long sentries. It was used when attacking the Barbarian Tribes in the middle of the year. The long sentries had an activity range of 50-100 li, while the long sentries could reach hundreds of li.

The selected soldiers are all skilled in horseback riding, terrain mapping, Barbarian language, and stealth techniques. Some elite soldiers also need to undergo training in drug use (such as poison arrow making) and close combat.

Most of these soldiers came from Barbarian Tribes and could infiltrate them to gather intelligence, or even infiltrate enemy tribes for long-term infiltration. Each squad could map the terrain and record the enemy camp layout and troop deployment.

Among the guards Victor brought this time was a 10-man squad that Victor sent out to scout and patrol at night.

Just after Victor had set up camp with his troops, the squad sent back reconnaissance results: they had discovered a camp under construction about 16 kilometers to the northwest.

Victor immediately summoned the squad that had relayed the message, intending to question them in detail.

Soon, a soldier from the night patrol squad was brought to Victor's newly set-up tent by two guards. Victor recognized the soldier as someone he knew.

"Michael, it's you who came back to report."

"Yes, Your Excellency, I have returned to report. As the captain, I can provide a clearer account of the situation and can also draw maps."

Victor looked at Michael, who was dressed in black leather armor, nodded, and pointed to the map on the table, saying, "Michael, come over here and help me point out their location on the map."

Michael walked straight to the table and pointed to a location on the map with his hand.

"Sir, right here, we've found a camp. The location of the camp is very strategic, backed by a small hill, with a small outpost on the hill."

There's a river to the east of the camp; the only way to attack is from the north.

After Victor examined the location Michael pointed out, the information on the map matched what Michael had said. These maps were high-precision maps drawn by Victor's drafting team over the past few years.

Victor stroked his chin. It seemed that Count Black had been very careful in choosing the location, leaving no room for criticism. He wondered if it was intentional on his part to choose such a strategically advantageous and difficult-to-attack location.

Victor continued to ask Michael, "Approximately how many people are in the camp? What flags did you see?"

"The entire camp is quite large. Based on the number of tents, we estimate that it has more than 10,000 people, which is roughly the same as the number of the punitive force reported in the intelligence."

Ten types of Noble Crest arms were discovered, the largest of which was the Black Oak Banner, the banner of the Earl of Earl Great Oak. We also discovered that the Great Oak Territory's garrison was located in front of the camp.

"I remember the previous intelligence said there should only be 9 noble families, how come there's one more this time?"

Victor had Michael draw the remaining nine Noble Crest arms from memory, and Victor identified them. Fortunately, Michael had a good memory and remembered the main elements of all the coats of arms very clearly.

Victor found it strange. Logically speaking, Michael shouldn't have studied heraldry, so how could he draw so accurately? "How come you draw everything so precisely?"

"That's right, sir. I led my men directly to the small hill behind the camp and hid in the blind spot of the outpost to carefully observe the camp. I could see every flag very clearly."

"You've got some nerve, kid. Aren't you afraid of getting spotted by their sentries?"

"We didn't initially plan to get that close, but their camp was located on the west bank of the river, at a high elevation. The only high point nearby was that small hill, so we had no choice. Fortunately, under the cover of night, we were able to sneak up the hill on foot."

Furthermore, sir, we discovered that the punitive expeditionary force has very few patrols, and they all have fixed patrol routes. After figuring out the pattern, we took advantage of the gaps between the patrols to approach their camp.

However, this method can only be used by a small team of a dozen or so people, making it impossible to launch a surprise attack.

Victor nodded, feeling that this defensive patrol arrangement was as if they were letting people explore freely, with no intention of hiding the situation of the camp.

Victor then quickly located the additional noble family by using the coat of arms drawn by Michael.

"Isn't this the emblem of the Perilla Family? When did they go there?"

Victor was a little puzzled, but not surprised. After all, it was only natural that Baron Charles would abandon his defense of the territory and join the punitive expedition after the Vanguard Army was defeated.

"The entire camp's defense was primarily carried out by the Great Oak Territory's army. Count Black likely used the front of the camp to obscure the reconnaissance capabilities of other nobles."

In this light, the reason for this arrangement becomes understandable. Count Black likely knew I would send scouts, and by revealing this directly, he maintained mutual trust with me.

Based on the intelligence Michael gathered, Victor drew his conclusions.

"My lord, should we capture a few prisoners and gather more information about the punitive expeditionary force?"

"Not for now. I expect someone will come knocking on our door soon. You just need to carry out your guard duties."

If any troops exceeding 500 men are to move from the punitive expeditionary camp, report this to the camp. Smaller units should be ignored.

"Clear!"