Ironvine Territory (Thirty)

This youthful-looking young man was none other than Portland Ironvine, the younger brother of Baron Bolton Portland, who was killed by Count Lloyd. However, Portland and Baron Bolton were not blood brothers; their relationship was quite distant.

Bolton's father was the brother of Count Lloyd, and Portland's grandfather was the brother of Lloyd's grandfather, but this did not affect the brotherly bond between Bolton and Portland.

Perhaps because they both lost their parents at a young age and were raised by relatives, coupled with the fact that Count Lloyd's biological children were not very friendly to these two collateral brothers, the two of them huddled together for warmth and got along better than biological brothers.

When Portland learned that Bolton had died in Silver Maple City for betraying Count Lloyd, he showed no outward reaction and even condemned Bolton's betrayal.

But deep down he felt very sad, because he had known from the beginning that Baron Bolton wanted to betray Count Lloyd, and he even agreed with Bolton's actions.

Portland kept a low profile; when the Ironvine Territory launched its offensive against other southern nobles in Cornwall County last year, he actively responded to the call and joined the battle with two small squads of soldiers left to him by his family.

For his meritorious service in that battle, Count Lloyd gifted him a squad of weapons and equipment and helped him replenish his losses, giving him a private army of three squads.

As a result, the Ironvine Territory was at a disadvantage in this year's battles. Portland finally felt that the time was right, so he took the initiative to emerge and began to secretly seek allies who could betray the Iron Vine Family with him.

He soon found this Suas, Suas had once been a wandering knight. For a rare reason, the former lord suddenly died of a serious illness, leaving no heir, which led to the duchy reclaiming the territory.

Afterwards, Suas became a wanderer. When he passed through Raspberry Territory, he was subdued by the former lord Sebas and became a knight of Raspberry Territory, jointly in charge of the Raspberry Territory army with Koli Colley.

However, this Knight Suas was indeed exceptionally talented, and Baron Sebastian used his abilities to make Raspberry Territory the perfect nail for guarding Ironvine Territory.

However, Suas was a loner and treated his soldiers harshly. Although he was talented, he was not popular in Raspberry Territory, except for Sebas, who valued him highly.

Later, due to a sudden illness, Suas was convalescent at home for a year, during which time he was forced to give up his military post, and the military power of Raspberry Territory was entirely in the hands of Knight Koli.

Finally, during the military operation at the end of last year in the Ironvine Territory, Sir Koli used his military power to help Baron Cohen kill Baron Sebastian. Suas was still recovering at this time and was powerless to do anything about it.

Although he was a confidant of Baron Sebas, Suas was unable to avenge his benefactor, a fact that tormented him for a long time and made him increasingly gloomy.

In order to wipe out the Iron Vine Family, Silver Maple City deployed two squads of secret guards in the Ironvine Territory. These secret guards quickly contacted Suas and Portland, who harbored resentment, as well as some other opposition figures, and brought them together.

It just so happens that both of them led their troops into the Southern Front Forces at the beginning of this year. When Lenster and Ferri were in charge of the defense of the Yalori Valley, they also brought their troops to join the valley defense force.

All of this was also orchestrated by the Iron Vine Family. Suas was originally a key figure to watch. Both Baron Cohen and Koli Colley knew Suas well and knew that he would not accept Baron Sebas's death so easily.

So, in addition to sending troops to fight at Viscount Ferry's request, they also provided Viscount Ferry with a list of unstable elements within the Raspberry Territory, with Suas at the top of the list.

Viscount Ferry initially intended to arrest these people directly, but Count Lloyd stopped him, believing that they could secretly monitor them and use this opportunity to lure out the opposition within the Iron Vine Family and eliminate them all at once.

Things proceeded smoothly thereafter. Not only were Suas, Portland, and some other opposition figures exposed, but it was also an opportunity to learn that some Silver Maple Secret Guard had infiltrated the Ironvine Territory.

After Count Lloyd decided to abandon the Northern Defense Line, he simply sent these guys directly to the Southern Front Forces. To prevent them from having any doubts, no vassal families' troops were left in the entire Ironwire City; all the vassal families were transferred to the southern front.

These opposition members and their troops were deliberately brought together by Lenster and Viscount Ferry to form a rebel-controlled force, with Suas becoming its Battalion Commander.

Of course, this unit also had an informant sent by Lenster, disguised as a member of a small family who also harbored hostility towards the Iron Vine Family.

After Rusa contacted the Silver Maple Secret Guard and asked them to find a way to break through the valley's defenses, this force became the core of their plan, and soon the Silver Maple Secret Guard began to frequently contact this force.

However, Lenster and Viscount Ferry had been following the strategy set by Count Lloyd, waiting until they had enough troops before launching the plan. Therefore, they had not given this force an opportunity and had kept it in other camps, preventing it from entering the interior of the Yalori Valley or joining the battle on the outer walls.

However, once Victor arrived with his Southern Marching Legion, Viscount Ferry and Lenster had enough troops to carry out their plan, so they transferred this force from other camps.

During this period, they were not allowed to enter the inner valley camp, but went directly to the outer wall for troop rotation.

However, these events did not arouse the suspicion of Suas and others, or rather, they were blinded by the opportunity to take revenge on the Iron Vine Family.

During this time, Lenster also used his informants to lure out the Silver Maple Secret Guard, intending to eliminate them in advance to prevent them from interfering with the subsequent battle.

However, the process did not go very smoothly. After all, even Suas and his men did not know that Silver Maple City had sent two squads into Ironvine Territory, which also caused trouble for Lenster. If it weren't for Victor, Lenster might have died in this ambush.

Fortunately, although the plan was not without some setbacks, it did not go too far. After taking over the defense of the outer wall, Suas and his men immediately began their plan.

To be on the safe side, Suas also began to purge his own troops, including some of Portland's soldiers, who were all killed by him. Little did he know that all of this was being watched by the informant, whose plans had never escaped Lenster and his team's notice.

The messenger sent by Suas also brought back Rusa's order, informing them that the Coalition of Nobles's troops were on their way to the outer wall and would arrive soon. In the meantime, Suas's troops were to hold the outer wall firmly.

Portland believed that Rusa was lying to them, and he was so angry that he even wanted to kill the messenger.

After all, according to the initial agreement, as long as they opened the gate, the troops of the Coalition of Nobles hidden outside the valley would enter the valley to fight alongside them against the Ironvine Territory army inside the valley.

But the Coalition of Nobles's troops are still on their way, and it's unknown how long it will take them to arrive.

Suas was not as excited as Portland. He knew the Coalition of Nobles well and knew that Rusa was a cautious man, so his choice was not surprising.

He said directly to Portland, "Portland, be patient."

Upon hearing Suas's words, Portland could only suppress his anger.

Afterwards, under their command, the entire force began to adjust and deploy a defensive line towards the interior of the valley.

During this period, most of the troops were in a state of fear and anxiety, terrified that their rebellion would be discovered. However, no troops from the valley came to suppress them until the arrival of the Coalition of Nobles.