Ironvine Territory (Thirty-one)

As dusk approached, Suas and Portland finally received the reinforcements sent by the Coalition of Nobles.

Upon receiving news of the arrival of reinforcements, Suas and Portland personally led men to the outer gate to welcome them. Seeing the fresh, well-armored troops, the two finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the camps inside the valley had only sent a few waves of messengers to conduct routine checks since morning, which they had dealt with, their strength was far too weak compared to the Ironvine Territory's large army in the Yalori Valley.

From the perspective of the guards on the outer wall, the army of the Coalition of Nobles came directly to the foot of the outer wall, and Suas and Portland, as the first and second leaders of the rebels, rode forward to greet them.

"Welcome, esteemed lords. We, as loyal subjects of the Duchy, are deeply entrenched in enemy territory. We are overjoyed to finally see the Duchy's army."

Suas put on an extremely excited expression, while Portland, standing to the side, felt goosebumps all over as he watched this mean-spirited old man utter such words.

The leading officer of the War Department was Sir Gregory, a subordinate of Rusa, who was among the first troops to be relieved of their posts as Viscount Rusa's representative.

The other officers were subordinates of some nobles in the Coalition of Nobles. After all, they were still unsure whether Suas and his rebel army were reliable or not, so they dared not come in person.

Sir Gregory was very polite to Suas and Portland, bowing to them directly. "I am Gregory, who came on the orders of Rusa. Your willingness to surrender the city walls shows your loyalty to the duchy. Now that we have arrived with our troops, we can relieve you of your duties."

The two of you can also take your troops away from the outer wall and rest for a while. Tomorrow morning, Rusa will lead the main force here to launch an attack on the Ironvine Territory army located in the valley.

Your unit has been temporarily designated the Cornwall County Independent First Regiment, and we hope you will achieve new successes in the upcoming battles.

After this battle, Rusa will also write to His Majesty the Grand Duke, recounting your achievements."

Although Gregory spoke politely, Portland was somewhat displeased after hearing it; you're just a knight, not even a nobleman.

They demanded the surrender of their defense zone right away, offering no reward whatsoever, just the title of an Independent Regiment. Were they trying to fob us off like beggars?

And it's so late now, is he going to lead his troops away from the city walls and camp in the wilderness?

However, he was stopped by Suas just as he was about to speak. Suas knew that Portland was young and impetuous, and as a proper nobleman, he would definitely not be willing to follow orders. But Suas could also see that the Coalition of Nobles was still wary of them, and it was not the right time to escalate the conflict.

"Sir Gregory, what do you think? It's getting late, and if we leave the city walls, we won't have time to set up camp."

How about we give up half of the city wall and invite you to move in together, so we can complete the troop rotation tomorrow morning?

Sir Gregory and the other officers exchanged glances and quickly replied, "Sir Suas, you have a point, but our orders are to take over the entire city wall tonight. If you do this, we won't be able to explain it to our superiors."

"Please be lenient. After all, our army is composed of people loyal to the Duchy, and Baron Portland is a legitimate baron of the Duchy. Please don't discourage them."

Suas pleaded earnestly, tugging at Portland's sleeve. Portland reluctantly bowed his head and begged along with him.

Knight Gregory looked troubled, but Portland was indeed a legitimate baron, and sacrificing the outer wall this time would certainly have earned him merit, so it wasn't easy to offend him.

He thought for a moment and then said, "How about this, you two? After all, we brought a regiment of troops this time, and we need a lot of barracks to be set up there."

After you vacate the defensive line, how about you squeeze in with our troops in the barracks inside the city walls for a bit, and then leave the outer walls early tomorrow morning?"

After hearing the story, Suas and Portland felt it was acceptable.

Gregory's army then began to enter the city, and Suas and Portland cooperated by directing the Independent Regiment soldiers to leave the defensive line, giving up a large number of barracks.

Although there was some chaos during the troop change, it was completed relatively smoothly under the control of both commanders.

When night fell, the Gregory Knights imposed a curfew to ensure that the situation here would not be discovered by those inside the valley.

That evening, Portland, Suas, and several officers from the Independent Regiment gathered for a meeting.

"Regimental Commander Suas, they've gone too far! They even forcibly seized the armory, which contains a lot of our troops' weapons and equipment!"

"Not only that, my troops were in charge of the arrow towers, and those guys just drove my entire force away. They kept all my Heavy Crossbow, saying they were for the arrow towers, but I brought them with me."

"Yes, what's going on with the Coalition of Nobles? All they sent were knights and officers. We've accomplished so much, and not a single noble showed up. Instead, they came to rob our supplies and equipment."

Many people complained to Suas about what happened during the defensive switch today.

After everyone had finished complaining, Suas spoke up, "I'll go see Rusa myself first thing tomorrow morning. Let's be patient tonight; there's still a curfew. Keep our troops in check."

Portland stood up after hearing this. "Fine, I'll listen to you, but if you don't give me an answer by tomorrow, I'm not going to keep going."