Ironvine Territory (Fifty-three)

Ron chuckled and countered Kent's question, "That's not the only reason, is it?"

Kent's forehead started sweating again. He wiped his forehead with his sleeve a few times, then said somewhat awkwardly, "Regimental Commander, it's just this little thing, what other reason could there be?"

Ron stretched out his arm and gestured in front of Kent: "I may like to use my hands, but my brain isn't just for show!"

Seeing that his own Regimental Commander had already said this, Kent smiled wryly and said, "Don't blame the brothers. You know that everyone has been scattered to various villages for food during this period. The people of the Ironvine Territory are very kind. After they learned that we had come to support them, they provided the brothers with their best food."

Even though many villages and farms had their grain forcibly requisitioned by the duchy's army, they were still willing to save a little from their meager rations to feed our brothers and warhorses, just to drive the invaders away as soon as possible.

The brothers meant no harm; they just wanted to repay the kindness shown to the people of Ironvine Territory. That's why they were a little restrained during the battle. Please don't blame them."

Ron said irritably, "Kent, are you pretending to be a good guy in front of me? Do you think I'm the kind of cold-hearted commander?"

Upon hearing Ron's words, Kent knew he had gotten away with it. He smiled and said, "How could that be, Regimental Commander? I know the brothers were wrong, but this can't be blamed on you. If we're held accountable, our detachment will take the fall ourselves."

"Carry my ass!"

Ron kicked Kent in the butt.

"Since things have come to this, let's make it clean. You know our plan from here on out. To carry out the lord's orders, we have to turn this area upside down."

Kent, rubbing his backside, immediately replied to Ron's words, "Don't worry, it'll be taken care of perfectly."

After saying that, Ron waved to Kent, signaling him to leave quickly.

Kent, upon receiving the order, quickly turned to leave, but then Ron called out again, "Call your Military Judge over. You have twenty minutes to clean this up."

"Yes!"

Soon, the Military Judge of the Kent detachment found Ron. He was a tall, thin young man, completely different from the Military Judge Gutierrez, who belonged to the lord's Personal Guard, whom Ron had met before.

He walked up to Ron and bowed. "Regimental Commander, I am Wesley. May I ask what brings you here?"

Ron nodded. "Nothing, I just wanted to know if there have been any problems or violations of military discipline during this period when your detachment has been dispersed to various villages and farms."

As you know, we are fighting on allied lands, and the lord's requirements for military discipline are even higher than before. We must not cause any controversy, otherwise the lord will not let us off the hook."

"I understand, Regimental Commander Ron, but I can assure you that our warriors get along very well with the people of Ironvine Territory."

"Since you've said so, Wesley, of course I believe you."

Ron didn't continue the discussion on that issue, shifting the topic to gambling. "A little gambling is harmless, but excessive gambling is harmful. We must keep an eye on the soldiers in the army. Things have already come to this point; we can't let a single gambling incident ruin their military achievements."

"Yes, sir, Regimental Commander."

Seeing that it was almost time, Ron told Wesley to hurry back to the team.

Meanwhile, Kent had already dealt with the aftermath with his troops. He said to his men, "Our mission is going to be very difficult, and we probably won't be able to rest properly for a while. So I require you all to focus on the enemy and not stay behind."

The dozens of captured duchy soldiers were now buried in this land along with their troops.

Wesley discovered the incident after returning to his unit, but remembering what Ron had said, he could only make a note of it and report it later after the war.

After the battlefield was cleaned up, Kent found Ron.

"Regimental Commander, we're all packed and ready to go."

Ron asked, "How many spare horses do you have now?"

Kent, unsure why Ron asked that, cautiously replied, "Ah, not many, just over two hundred."

"Not bad! Looks like you've had a good haul. Give me half."

"Oh no, Regimental Commander, you can't do this! We're short of spare horses too!"

Ron said nonchalantly, "Don't be so discouraged, we'll give you credit later."

Hearing Ron say that, Kent felt relieved and stopped bothering Ron.

Ron then led Kent's troops westward to join other units in the upcoming battle.

Inside the Fourth Legion's camp beneath Ironwire City, a storm was brewing in the legion's council tent.

"What did you say?"

Ursus was horrified when he heard the intelligence delivered by the messenger.

Not only him, but the other officers in the tent and some of the nobles from the Allied Army were also very surprised. They stared intently at the messenger standing in the middle of the tent, as if they would kill him on the spot if he made any move.

The messenger, trembling with fear, spoke again, "Legion Commander the Ursus Legion, everything I'm saying is true. This is a letter the Governor entrusted to me to deliver to you. He instructed me to hand it to you personally."

Ursus looked at the disheveled messenger before him, pondered for a moment, and then had a guard take the letter and hand it to him.

Ursus opened the letter and frowned as he read it. The officers around him, seeing Ursus's reaction, were also curious about the contents of the letter.

They couldn't help but believe that this messenger might truly be from the Coalition of Nobles. If he was a real messenger, then what he had said before must also be true. Could it be that the southern front had really been lost?

After reading the letter, Ursus grabbed it and cursed, "The cunning Iron Vine Family! They actually took advantage of the Southern Coalition of Nobles's attack on the Yalori Valley to suddenly release a flood, resulting in heavy losses for the Southern Noble Coalition of Nobles and the Yalori Valley being destroyed by floods and mudslides."

Fortunately, Rusa acted decisively and calmly, managing to withdraw the main force of his troops in time, thus minimizing losses.

But after this battle, the largest passage on the entire southern front had disappeared, and the other passes of Ironvine Territory were even more difficult to conquer. We couldn't count on friendly forces on the southern front for the time being.

After Ursus finished speaking, the officers in the main tent immediately began to discuss it, and it became very noisy.

But when the messenger heard Ursus's words, he felt that they were not quite true. However, when he saw the cold look in Ursus's eyes, he immediately shuddered and dared not continue speaking.

At this point, an officer asked directly, "Legion Commander, since the Southern Front Forces are no longer able to provide timely support, and Ironvine Territory has received new reinforcements, should we retreat?"

Before he could finish speaking, another officer jumped out. "What are you up to? We'll be breaching the Ironwire City soon, and once we take the outer walls, it won't be long before we completely conquer the entire Ironwire City. If we retreat now, all our previous efforts will have been for nothing!"

"I don't want to retreat either. Isn't this asking the Legion Commander?"

"I think you're just scared. Do you even deserve to be a member of the Fourth Legion?"

Soon, the officers and nobles present were divided into two factions, arguing endlessly about whether to withdraw their troops.

Ursus ordered the messenger to be taken away and instructed the guards to keep a close watch on him and not let him see anyone.

After the arguing inside the tent gradually subsided, he finally spoke, "Alright, now that you've all heard the news, I don't intend to hide it from you. I won't consider withdrawing the troops for the time being."

The Grand Duke's army in the north is currently locked in a stalemate with the Northern Frontier Rebels, and His Majesty the Grand Duke is eager for us to break the deadlock.

"If we withdraw, not only will I lose my position as Legion Commander, but I might not even keep my head. As for what will happen to you, I don't know."

Upon hearing what the Ursus Legion Commander said, those who had previously supported the withdrawal immediately fell silent.

Ursus continued, "As for the enemy reinforcements, from what I understand, their strength is actually quite limited."

This enemy force, mainly composed of rebels from the Golden Sunflower Family of the Northlands, had previously fought a major battle in the Eastern Region. Although they defeated the Duchy's First Legion with the cooperation of the Great Oak Family, they suffered heavy losses and their current strength is not considered strong.

Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to defeat their Cavalry so easily before. Although their strength was average, their warhorses were really good.

"Thanks to their warhorses, our legion was able to muster so many Cavalry. We should really thank them."

After he said this, the officers in the tent all laughed. After the Legion Commander said that, they were no longer afraid of this War Department from the Ironvine Territory.