The Performance

Ricardo then stopped trying to persuade him and instead stood aside watching Hawk's performance.

Hawk became increasingly agitated, smashing tables, chairs, and furnishings all over the room.

Hawk picked up a wooden table and slammed it against the wall, shattering it into pieces.

Ricardo's eye twitched. This was a table made of top-quality Purple Gold Wood, which he had specially brought from Pumpkin Territory to decorate the city lord's mansion.

"Ah, the matching Purple Gold Wood chairs that go with the table, and that pure silver sculpture that weighs 8 kilograms, sir, please be gentle."

Ricardo felt terrible, both for the damage to these valuable items and for Hawk's incredible strength. He wondered if it was just his imagination, but not only Hawk's muscles, but also his strength seemed to have increased significantly.

The other five people were also frightened by Hawk's manic behavior. They wanted to leave the room, but every time they looked or faced the door, something would fly towards it.

Finally, Hawk calmed down and sat down in the only intact chair, saying to everyone, "From now on, you shouldn't question my orders anymore!"

All five shook their heads in unison. "We wouldn't dare, sir. If you say east, then east; if you say west, then west."

"Alright, from now on, I will assign you a squad of guards to protect you, is that alright?"

The five men fell silent again, but then Hawk drew his sword and stood up.

"Of course, I have no objection to the Legion Commander's orders."

"Me too!"

"Me too!"

The five men quickly nodded in agreement. They were very worried that Hawk might actually go crazy and kill them; their lives were the most important thing.

Hawk nodded in satisfaction. "From now on, no troops are allowed to go into battle without authorization. If anyone from the Duchy comes, treat them well. Understand?"

The group was shocked to hear this. Could it be that the Legion Commander was really going to surrender?

However, at this point, no one said anything more and just lowered their heads and silently accepted it.

However, Ricardo noticed that when someone lowered their head, the corners of their mouth seemed to curve quite wide.

Soon, the nobles' original guards were taken away by Hawk's men, Hawk had Ricardo arrange new guards for them.

Before Ricardo saw them off, Baron Lukaku said with a troubled expression, "Lord Ricardo, we know we may have angered the Legion Commander. Please persuade him that we are a member of the Northern Frontier Allied Army and should not easily change our stance."

The others quickly nodded in agreement.

Ricardo said coldly, "I am a retainer of Viscount Hawke, and I have no right to interfere with the Viscount's decision."

When Ricardo returned to his room, Viscount Hawke was holding the silver statue, tears streaming down his face.

"Ricardo, the statue's head is bent. Can you fix it?"

Ricardo finally breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Hawk's behavior. He was genuinely worried that Hawk's personality would drastically change, but thankfully, it seemed that the Viscount was still the same as before, still as stingy as ever.

"Sir, the statue is fine, we can just melt it down and make a new one. But it's such a waste that set of Purple Gold Wood furniture, it might only be good for burning."

Upon hearing this, Hawk immediately burst into tears. "Damn it! My valuable furniture, worth thousands of gold coins, I will make the duchy pay the price!"

Ricardo thought to himself, "It's not that expensive. Your Excellency, you're exaggerating prices again."

At that moment, Hawk suddenly asked, "Ricardo, have you found anything?"

Ricardo replied with a serious expression, "Baron Rubio's expression is a bit off, and Baron Lukaku's side is also strange, being particularly proactive. These two are more suspicious, and it's hard to say about the other three."

Fortunately, Your Excellency, you played along and arranged new guards around them. Even if anything unusual happens, we'll know immediately.

"It's not that simple, Ricardo. You know time is of the essence. We don't know when the Count's reinforcements will arrive, and we also have a traitor among our own."

If, during a moment when we are not on guard, this traitor suddenly opens the city gate, all of us will be wiped out.

If the mole really wanted to act, those few dozen guards wouldn't be enough to stop him!

"My lord, since we can't determine who the mole is, and we've already taken them under control, shall we...?" Ricardo made a chopping motion with his hand.

Hawk looked astonished. "No way, Ricardo, I was just pretending when I attacked. They are legitimate independent nobles from the Northlands."

Even with solid evidence, I would have to report to the Count for handling; how could I possibly take action myself!

Ricardo quickly knelt on one knee. "I'm sorry, sir. I was too reckless and didn't consider the consequences."

"Never mind, it's nothing. Ricardo, let's adjust the troop deployment while they're still too afraid to do anything."

Please write this down!

"Yes!"

"Lukaku and Rubio's four battalions went to the east gate, while the other three went to the west gate;

Our troops, the First Regiment with 4 infantry battalions, are responsible for the north gate, the Second Regiment 4 infantry battalions are responsible for the south gate, and we leave all our Cavalry and 2 independent battalions as Reserve Force.

"Yes, assign an independent battalion to be in charge of the security of the armory and granary. No one is allowed near here without my signed warrant."

"OK!"

"Repeat that!"

"Lukaku ..."

Hawk then sent Ricardo away to carry out his orders.

Hawk was left alone in the room. He muttered to himself, "I don't know if what I did was the right choice. If Viscount Victor were here, he would have done a better job than me."

A large Cavalry force was on its way, the sound of their hooves hitting the ground like muffled thunder, and birds and beasts startled from the grass beside the column scattered and fled.

At the very front of the procession, the flag bearer carried a flagpole with the military flag billowing in the wind, revealing the Iron Birch crest.

At this moment, several Cavalry rushed over from a distance and shouted from afar, "Your Excellency, there is an urgent military situation!"

A knight at the front of the column suddenly left the ranks, came to the roadside, reined in his horse, and stopped. Dozens of Cavalry followed him and left the main force.

The Cavalry who had shouted quickly approached, but were stopped by the leading Cavalry just as they were about to dismount.

"Speak directly about any military intelligence you have!"

"Your Excellency, the Duchy's Seventh Legion has arrived in Sextus County ahead of schedule, and White Earth City is under heavy attack from two enemy armies."

Upon hearing this, the knight immediately removed his helmet, revealing himself to be Alex. He reached out his hand and asked, "Do you have detailed military intelligence? What day did this happen?"

One of the Cavalry quickly handed over a letter, saying as he did so.

"We encountered a messenger seeking help a day ago. Considering the time, we should have been besieged for five days!"

Alex took the letter with a serious expression, opened it, and quickly slammed his fist on the saddle.

"Five days, damn it, White Earth City is not a fortified city. Even if it has been reinforced, it will not last long under the attack of two legions!"

"What are the Intelligence Department doing? Why didn't I receive any news that the Seventh Legion had arrived ahead of schedule?"

Generally speaking, the private armies of nobles are no match for the Duchy's Direct Legion. Except for some large nobles whose armies are better, most small and medium nobles' private armies have to fight against direct legions at a ratio of two to three.

The Fifth Legion the Allied Army, led by Viscount Hawke, consisted of only ordinary private armies, aside from his own troops.

So White Earth City was besieged by two legions, but the actual difference in combat strength was even greater. Alex did not believe that Hawk could hold out for long, which is why he was both surprised and angry.