Army on the Move

With both sides ceasing hostilities and taking a truce, martial law was completely lifted in White Earth City and Sextus County.

News of this sudden battle spread rapidly within the duchy, sparking heated discussions among various factions within the duchy.

In the north of the duchy, an endless army was marching, with at least tens of thousands of soldiers blotting out the sky and displaying extraordinary momentum.

The army melted all the snow that had not yet melted on the grassland, and the land they had traversed became extremely muddy.

At this moment, a transport wagon located behind the army kept getting stuck in the mud. The driver and the Auxiliary Troops, who were made up of serfs, were struggling to lift the wagon and pull the horses out of the mud.

"Old Pete, stop pulling your stupid horse, just give it the whip. That's the only way to deal with beasts."

"It was a bearded Auxiliary Troops who was leading the chanting of slogans," he said.

The coachman, Old Pete, was very reluctant to part with his horse, but if he delayed the army's march, he would be whipped, and there might be even more severe punishment.

After being persuaded, old Pete disregarded everything else, gritted his teeth, picked up the whip, and lashed his beloved horse with red eyes, making the horse neigh pitifully. He pulled hard on the tow rope and pushed forward, while the Auxiliary Troops also worked together to push the cart.

Just as they finally pushed the carriage out and were catching their breath, a troop of Cavalry suddenly passed by them.

The Cavalry must have been in a hurry, because they were running very fast. As they passed by, their horses' hooves sank directly into the mud, splashing mud and water all over the Auxiliary Troops and drivers.

The bearded Auxiliary Troops wiped the mud off his face and cursed, "A bunch of madmen, running so fast, are they going to get sick?"

The other Auxiliary Troops echoed, but they didn't dare to speak as loudly as the bearded man, since they were just serfs while the bearded man was a Freemen and Squad Leader.

Old Pete then took a cloth bag from the carriage, took out a handful of soybeans, and fed them to his horse, stroking its mane tenderly as he did so.

A few minutes later, the Cavalry arrived at a high ground. Before they could even run up the hill, a large group of black-armored Cavalry surrounded them.

A man ran out from the approaching Cavalry, raised a small flag, and shouted, "I am Lord Alex's messenger, with urgent news for the Count!"

The black-armored Cavalry saw the emblem on the small flag and silently retreated. Then, the man gave a few instructions to his teammates and dismounted alone, running up the small hill.

This small hill is in a good location, right on the edge of the main road. It is mostly made of bluestone and has been cleared of snow and ice.

Standing here, one can clearly see the entire army, but the messenger paid no attention to this and continued running upwards with his head down.

After running only a few dozen steps, the messenger saw the large flag erected in the center of the high ground. The black flag had golden tassels and the emblem of the Iron Birch was painted on it.

Under the banner stood a dozen or so men, all clad in armor and exuding an imposing aura. The man in the center of the crowd, surrounded by admirers, was none other than Count Colt.

The messenger ran to a spot a dozen paces from the banner and knelt on one knee. "Count Excellency, I am a messenger of Viscount Alex, and I am here on his orders to see you off."

After speaking, Count Colt held up a silver letter tube with both hands, waved his hand, and a black-armored knight walked up to the messenger, took the letter tube, walked up to Count Colt, and handed the letter tube back to him.

Count Colt opened the mailbox, took out the letters inside, and began to read.

The people around him kept their eyes fixed straight ahead, watching the Count closely.

A moment later, Count Colt put down the letter and handed it directly to the person next to him. "Haines, you take a look first, and Edmund too... everyone take a look."

The men around Count Colt were all Legion Commander and their deputies of the Northern Alliance Army. They took turns reading through the documents.

Haines, Alex's third uncle, stroked his goatee as he spoke, "Alex did a fantastic job. He successfully saved White Earth City and the Fifth Legion headquarters. Otherwise, we would have been in a very passive position if the Duchy had successfully launched a surprise attack."

Edmund nodded in agreement, "Yes! Viscount Alex did a great job. He was calm and decisive in the face of crisis. This time, he repelled the Duchy's Fifth and Seventh Legion, which can be considered as us taking the initiative."

"Count lord, I think we should immediately announce this to the entire army, so that everyone understands the utter vulnerability of the Duchy Army."

At this moment, another Legion Commander with a full beard spoke up to refute, "It was just a repulsion. The enemy's losses were not much greater than ours. It's hard to say who has the advantage."

At this point, publicizing battle reports is pointless.

"Count lord, let's stick to the original plan. I'll lead the troops ahead to reach White Earth City as soon as possible, to see if we can coordinate with the Vanguard Army and Viscount Hawke's Fifth Legion to inflict further heavy losses on the Duchy's two forces."

Then some people raised objections, arguing that since the duchy had already been defeated, there was no need to continue the relentless pursuit; it would be better to proceed steadily and cautiously, step by step.

The heated argument among the legion Legion Commander startled the messenger, who kept his head down, as he knew these matters of national importance were not for him to hear.

At this moment, Count Colt clapped his hands a few times, attracting everyone's attention.

"There's no need to argue. Now that Alex has stabilized the situation in White Earth City, let's continue marching according to the original plan."

According to intelligence, the Duchy's follow-up forces are not far from Sextus County. Delock, your troops continue to speed up and head towards White Earth City.

"Just rendezvous with Alex, but there's no need to continue the pursuit."

The bearded legion Legion Commander replied, "Yes, Count Excellency."