Building a Garrison

The Southern Marching Legion was marching out of the camp. Victor stood on his horse at the camp gate, watching the marching army and the Logistics Department and Auxiliary Troops still busy in the camp, lost in memories.

"Your Excellency, could you please give us a few more days?"

There's still so much left to pack up on the battlefield and in the camp, the temporary dock hasn't been fortified, and we clearly have so much work to do and a permanent base to build. We can't just give up halfway!

Lodan from the Logistics Department cornered Victor in his tent. During this period, the logistics units were the busiest in the Southern Marching Legion, besides the Medical Department Logistics Department. The combat units would at most pack up their equipment and go to rest after finishing a battle.

The Medical Department had to treat a large number of wounded soldiers. Chief Isaac worked for more than ten hours without rest. At his most intense moment, he performed 14 surgeries in one hour, relying entirely on energizing and fatigue-fighting herbs. The other doctors, interns, and caregivers were also extremely busy.

The Logistics Department were equally busy. On the one hand, they had to assign Auxiliary Troops to guard the prisoners, and on the other hand, they had to allocate manpower to recover supplies from the Allied Army camp. Fortunately, a large number of prisoners were captured in this operation, and by having these prisoners do hard labor, the efficiency of the supplies recovery work was improved.

However, after Victor issued the order for the troops to transfer, the Logistics Department did not have time to complete the final cleanup work. There were still many supplies in the camp that had not been packed up. Moreover, according to the original plan, this camp and the temporary dock would be reinforced and rebuilt to establish a medium-distance port in the eastern coastal area of the duchy, serving as a long-term base for supplying and transshipping the future ocean fleet of the territory.

When Lodan realized he couldn't complete the mission he had planned and there were too many supplies he couldn't recover, he simply came to Victor to complain.

Victor knew that Lodan was acting out of public interest, but the decision to send the army south immediately was his own, and it was also to serve the next step of the plan. He could not change this decision, but he decided to let Lodan come up with a solution.

"Lodan, first and foremost, the army must march south immediately. This is our most important task right now. Although you didn't participate in the battle, you can see that this battle was not easy for us. Nearly 20% of our entire fighting force was killed, and we only managed to defeat the Duchy's army with great difficulty."

We cannot afford to waste this opportunity. I must take advantage of the Duchy and the loyal nobles' inability to resist to suppress the entire Eastern Region. Only then can I free up troops in the next phase to continue south to help Count Lloyd complete the purge of the Duchy's forces in the eastern and southern regions.

If I cannot suppress them in time, those loyal nobles are deeply entrenched here and can easily muster troops to rebel. If we are tied down by them, how can we support our allies?

"But, Your Excellency..."

These words weighed heavily on Lodan. After all, his master was right; compared to the big picture, he only cared about some small things. But the thought of having to give up halfway through such a long period of work made Lodan feel heartbroken.

"However, Lodan, this battlefield should be quite calm from now on. If the Logistics Department can handle this work on their own, I can actually give you the authority to act expediently."

Lodan understood Victor's implication and immediately beamed with joy. "Viscount, rest assured, I know the army still has many important tasks to complete. Since we will have to divide the troops anyway, how about I take one unit to stay here and continue working on building the permanent camp, while waiting for Commander Sodoma's fleet, and the other Logistics Department will travel with the main force?"

"Okay, you can choose which troops to keep, but I can't leave you too many. After all, the main force also needs the support of the Logistics Department. You also need to prepare the army's supplies. Time is tight, the army will set off tomorrow."

"I understand, I'll make the arrangements right away."

Lodan received a satisfactory reply and left immediately. He also had a lot of work to do, such as preparing supplies for the army's deployment as soon as possible.

"Lord Viscount?"

Victor was suddenly interrupted from his reverie. He turned around and saw Michael.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking about something. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"My lord, we are about to depart. Steward Magnus has just arrived, and the army of Great Oak Territory is ready."

"Okay, let's go together."

Victor and Michael rode to an open space and saw that Steward Magnus was already waiting there with Count Black's carriage, surrounded by the Great Oak Territory's Personal Guard and Victor's personal guards.

"I've arrived, Steward Magnus, we can depart now!"

"Yes, Lord Victor."

At Magnus's command, the enormous chariot began to move slowly, pulled by the horses, gradually merging into the marching army.