Prisoner Camp

"... That's how the whole battle went."

"Your Excellency, we are very sorry to have wasted such a great opportunity and failed to annihilate all these enemies."

After James and Jackson returned with their troops, they personally went to Victor to report on the entire battle and apologize to Victor.

Although Victor had already obtained all the information from the messengers, he still preferred to learn about the commanders' thoughts and strategies during combat from them, and to get some specific details from them.

After listening to James and Jackson's introductions, Victor gave them both encouragement.

"Very good, you have done an excellent job. Remember the task I initially assigned you was to eliminate the Blacklin family's forces, which were overconfident in their strength. You have accomplished this task very well."

As for the additional War Department eliminated, they can be considered unexpected gains. This time, our losses were negligible, and we eliminated nearly two enemy regiments, which can be said to have greatly reduced the pressure on us in the next phase of the operation.

"Don't worry, both of you. I will speak to Count Colt about your outstanding performance."

James and Jackson were deeply moved after listening. In fact, after introducing the battlefield situation and some details to Victor had proposed several countermeasures, all of which were mentioned by Victor in his previous lectures.

They both felt that if they had remembered these details, they could have achieved even greater results in this battle. They were even more ashamed of their negligence, believing that their performance did not live up to Victor's high regard for them.

Seeing the ashamed expressions on their faces, Victor knew they wouldn't forgive him anytime soon. Victor sighed; sometimes, having overly competitive subordinates was a happy kind of trouble.

Victor left the two men to do the post-war analysis themselves, while he went directly to see the captured Blacklin.

"Viscount Trik, I'll trouble you to rest in my camp for a while. I'll arrange guards for you and select a few servants from the prisoners of your territory. Please bear with the simple things in the camp."

Victor looked at the young nobleman, who was about the same age as him and was in a state of panic, and suggested that he choose servants from the prisoners himself.

Upon hearing Victor's words, Trek's expression indeed relaxed considerably, and Viscount Trik also felt a glimmer of hope. He hurriedly said, "Viscount Victor, it was my mistake to be your enemy this time. I overestimated myself and obeyed the orders of the Duchy and Count Black. Please spare me."

"After I return to my territory, I will guard the gates firmly, never leave the territory again, and will not participate in the duchy's conscription."

After listening to Trek's words, Victor just smiled and didn't give him any reply, "You should rest for a day first. After you've rested, I'll have my men take you to the prisoner-of-war camp."

After saying that, Victor left, leaving Trek alone. Trek watched Victor's departing figure, wanting to say something but not daring to utter a word.

Trek stayed in the tent all day, and when it was time to eat, someone would bring him food.

It wasn't until the afternoon of the next day that a young officer found him, saluted Trek, and said, "Lord Trek, I am here on the orders of Viscount Victor to take you to the prisoner-of-war camp to select servants. You may choose five people. Please follow me!"

The young officer was quite rude to Trek. Although he spoke politely, Trek could clearly sense the man's hostility, since he hadn't introduced himself or used all the proper honorifics.

Trek wasn't a particularly outstanding person, but he had at least received a formal aristocratic education. Now that he was at the mercy of others, he dared not act out or indulge his petty temper.

Trek obediently followed the man to a camp. This camp was noticeably different from other places in the area. It was surrounded by fences and simple arrow towers. Many soldiers from the Golden Sunflower Territory were patrolling and on guard here.

When Trek saw this scene, many gruesome images flashed through his mind: rivers of blood and corpses everywhere.

After all, in his understanding, prisoners of war would only waste food, and no one would treat wounded prisoners of war.

Upon entering, Trek was greatly surprised to find the camp very clean and tidy. Although there were many wounded prisoners, they had all clearly received treatment, with bandages and medicine on their bodies.

Seeing that the wounded were being cared for, the other prisoners relaxed considerably and became very obedient in front of the guards.

In particular, Trek came to an open space with many rough wooden chairs and a long line of prisoners standing nearby.

Just as Trek was wondering what these people were doing, a voice called out to him, "Viscount, are you alright?"

Trek turned his head toward the direction of the sound, and tears immediately streamed down his face. "Uncle Lynn, are you alright!"

That man was none other than Knight Lynn, who had fainted in the previous battle. He was now only wearing a cloth robe, his entire left arm and left leg were wrapped in bandages, and he was standing in the ranks with a large wooden stick in his left hand.

Their voices also attracted the attention of the other prisoners, who were likely regular soldiers of the territory and mostly knew Viscount Trik.

After confirming that the person in front of them was their viscount, they all left the group and surrounded him.

"Your Excellency, are you alright?"

"Your Excellency, can we still go home?"

"Your Excellency, have you come to rescue us?"

Trek looked at the prisoners who had surrounded him, some big, some small, some old, some young, but all with hope in their eyes. For a moment, Trek was speechless and stood there, stunned.

Just then, the agitated crowd was suddenly dispersed, and a squad of soldiers came over, carrying whips and sticks to drive them away.

Even Knight Lynn, who had been standing outside and unable to squeeze into the crowd, was knocked down and kicked a few times by the soldiers. Seeing this, Trek panicked.

"Stop it, all of you!"

The young officer who brought him there looked on with a mocking expression when he saw this.

Trek ran over, stood in front of Lynn, shielded Lynn behind him, and shouted at the soldiers.

"Who are you people? Can't you see he's wounded?"

However, after shouting, Trek was stunned because the armor worn by these soldiers was still imprinted with the Blacklin family crest.

Just then, the soldiers also saw the faces of the people who were stopping them from committing violence.

"It's Your Excellency the Viscount!"

"Yes, it's Viscount Trik!"

Upon hearing this, Trek immediately realized that the soldiers in front of him were soldiers from the Blacklin territory.

He shouted in a fit of rage, "You are soldiers of the Blacklin family! How can you treat your own comrades like this? Don't you know who you just attacked?"

The soldiers exchanged bewildered glances, perhaps stunned by Viscount Trik's words, after all, the man before them was their lord.

At this moment, the prisoners who had just been dispersed regrouped, their eyes blazing with fury as they stared at the group of soldiers.

Meanwhile, the soldiers of the Golden Sunflower Territory guarding the prisoners also noticed the situation and a squad of soldiers rushed over.

However, the young officer who brought Trek stopped them from getting closer, and watched with great interest as Trek confronted the group of soldiers.

Just then, the captain of the squad, perhaps noticing the situation around him, took off his helmet and threw it away violently.

The helmet slammed into Trek's chest, sending him staggering.

At this moment, the captain finally revealed his face; it was none other than Eagle Eye, who had previously betrayed the Blacklin Camp's defensive vulnerabilities.

Eagle Eye stepped forward and shouted at Trek, "I don't care if you're a lord or a nobleman, you're just a prisoner like us now."

If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be prisoners here, and so many of our comrades wouldn't have died in battle. Look at the wounded brothers around us; it's all because of your selfishness.

We were forced to fight against the powerful Viscount Golden Sunflower, and this is how we ended up in this state. What right do you have to criticize us here?

We just wanted to survive; we did nothing wrong.