Ironvine Territory

Since James had already made up his mind, Jackson stopped trying to persuade him. After working together for so many years, he knew his Regimental Commander well. Sometimes he was a bit frivolous, but he would never let anyone down when it came to important matters.

As for the previous defeats, they weren't due to his command; the enemy's preparations were simply too thorough.

After confirming that Jackson would stay behind with the team, James first withdrew the main force to the forest at the foot of the mountain, leaving Jackson to deploy a small number of troops at several key points on the way down the mountain.

However, James did not leave with his troops. He planned to lure Bush into leading a team to test the breakout, and then launch a counterattack to completely dispel Bush's idea of breaking out on his own initiative.

The remnants of the Fourth Legion Cavalry Regiment on the mountain also noticed the changes in the enemy below, discovering that only a small squad of enemy cavalry remained blocking the way.

Many soldiers and officers approached Bush, hoping to persuade the Regimental Commander to lead them in a breakout, but Bush was cautious and believed it was just a trap.

The enemy wouldn't retreat without a reason, especially since he had only recently sent out a request for help. The Fourth Legion's reinforcements wouldn't arrive so quickly, so it could only be a trap.

However, the other soldiers and officers were not persuaded and still believed it was an opportunity. Under their encouragement, many soldiers also proposed breaking out, and the remaining troops on the mountain split up.

Seeing this situation, Bush didn't have many options. Although he was the Regimental Commander, he only had one battalion under his direct command. The other battalion was drawn from other regiments by the Ursus Legion Commander, and it would have taken him some time to fully take control of it.

But this time, the surprise attack stunned him before he could establish his influence in the regiment. The entire regiment suffered a crushing defeat and heavy losses, which greatly affected his reputation. Even some of his own troops voiced their opposition.

In the end, Bush had no choice but to allow the troops who wanted to break out to try.

He comforted himself by thinking that if the troops successfully broke through, he could follow them.

Thus, the group of over two hundred people who were willing to break out quickly gathered and prepared to rush down the mountain, bypass the woods below, and run to the main road leading to Ironwire City.

However, Bush was quite considerate. Although he lost control of the troops once again because of these disobedient soldiers, he still considered himself the Regimental Commander.

Bush led a contingent to provide cover for the breakout force, and soon Bush led this force to attack a key downhill route, while the breakout force charged down another route.

Shortly after they set off, the remnants of the army on the mountain were spotted making unusual movements, but the troops guarding the main road down the mountain voluntarily gave way.

Bush hadn't expected to get down the mountain so easily, and he was hesitating about whether to make the charade real.

Suddenly, a large army rushed out of the forest; it was the main force commanded by James, which had been hidden in the forest below the mountain.

Upon seeing this force, Bush immediately led his men back up the mountain. Because they ran too fast, James's troops couldn't catch up, while the other team that had taken the initiative to break out encountered a crisis.

They were overjoyed when they saw the Southern Marching Legion Cavalry clearing the way, believing that their reinforcements had arrived and that the enemy had abandoned their siege.

With this conjecture, the troops became very bold and charged straight down the mountain. But as they prepared to go around the forest, a troop of Cavalry suddenly rushed out of the forest.

This force attacked directly from the flank, leaving no time to react. In addition, the force that took the initiative to break out was simply a rabble.

The officers were at odds with each other, and the soldiers didn't know who to listen to. This was the end for the unit.

Some wanted to resist, while others wanted to run away, but by then they had already wasted too much time.

James's ambush force charged straight into the ranks of this remnant army, completely stunning them. After a volley of attacks, the breakout force was reduced by half; apart from those killed in action, the vast majority simply abandoned their weapons and fled.

James was also surprised to see this scene from the bottom of the mountain. He did not expect that the remnants of the army on the mountain would be lured down so quickly, and that they had basically no will to fight.

However, James's ambush force only managed to ambush this one unit. Bush's probe force had been very cautious, and as a result, he retreated safely back to the mountain.

On the mountaintop, Bush witnessed the fate of the troops who had disobeyed his orders. Bush was not happy, after all, it was his own troops who had suffered losses.

Seeing the scattered remnants of the army, Bush even sent men to bring them back, and James's troops did not insist on annihilating them.

Having suffered such a loss, Bush's remaining troops had no choice but to abandon their plan to break out and wait patiently for reinforcements on the mountain.

By observing the view from the mountaintop, James determined that the remaining troops there had given up on the idea of breaking out, and James knew that his plan had succeeded halfway.

He led his troops back into the forest. This time, he didn't linger. He bid farewell to Jackson and led his troops away through the forest trails.

After James left, Jackson followed James's advice and, apart from assigning a small number of troops to continue guarding the main road down the mountain.

He also arranged for people to hide in the woods, riding horses and dragging branches back and forth to create the illusion that a large force was hidden in the forest.

However, the remaining troops on the mountain no longer cared about what was happening down below, and focused on preparing to build defensive facilities on the mountain, hoping to hold out until the arrival of reinforcements.

More than an hour later, James led his team out of the forest and soon encountered a group of their own scouts.

The squad leader of the scouts saw James and immediately saluted, saying, "Regimental Commander, what brings you here?"

James returned the salute, looked at the sergeant, and asked uncertainly, "Are you Kro?"

"It's me, the Regimental Commander!"

The young sergeant was overjoyed; he hadn't expected the Regimental Commander to remember his name.

"I remember your Squad Leader Bulka! Where are his men now? Take me to him."

"Yes, please follow me."

Kro took the lead, guiding James with his group.

As for why his Regimental Commander was here with so many troops, Kro didn't ask any questions; he simply carried out the order.

They traveled about 5 kilometers and came to a fork in the road, where James met Bulka, the captain of the scout team.

Upon seeing James, Bulka asked the same question, "Regimental Commander, what are you doing here?"

James didn't elaborate, simply stating, "There's a new operational plan. I need to gather information on potential enemy reinforcements. You'll take your squad and, along with two other squads, expand the reconnaissance area."

"After encountering the enemy, send me a message as soon as possible, you can do that, right?"

Bulka immediately accepted the order and led his squad westward.

James found an open space near the fork in the road and let his troops rest for a while.

Around 2 p. m. that same day, news came back from Bulka; the messenger was none other than Kro.

"Regimental Commander, our captain asked me to bring this back."

After finishing speaking, Kro handed James a very simple scroll, without even a letter tube.

James opened the scroll and began to read. The information inside was simple and clear: a mixed infantry and cavalry force had left the enemy camp in Ironwire City, with a total size of about 7,000 to 8,000 men. They were not carrying heavy weapons and were currently marching eastward. They were expected to arrive near Jade Belt Mountain by noon tomorrow.

James was overjoyed to have obtained the information he wanted. He immediately instructed Kro to return and tell Bulka to be careful and to ensure he had information on the enemy forces' location.

James planned to lead his Cavalry forward to find a suitable location to ambush the enemy early the next morning.

However, James did not intend to defeat the enemy reinforcements. He only had about 1,500 men, and with that number of troops, he would be lucky to hold off the enemy force.

James's real trump card came from elsewhere; he had already sent someone to inform Ron, instructing Ron to bring his troops here to meet him instead of going to Jade Belt Mountain.

James planned to first slow down the enemy's march and wear them down, then launch an attack to repel the enemy's reinforcements once Ron arrived.

Then, they used the spoils of war to sway the remaining troops on Jade Belt Mountain and intimidate them into surrendering.

The plan was actually quite simple, James was fairly confident about it. As long as Ron arrived in time, the plan would be mostly successful.

A fierce battle had just taken place in a mountain camp, and after one side was completely defeated, things had calmed down again.

Ron stood in an open area next to the camp, interrogating several trapped soldiers.

"Where is your captain? Just tell me quickly and I'll spare your life."

The soldier being questioned had likely just experienced a fierce battle and was still terrified. He didn't quite hear what Ron was saying, only repeatedly pleading, "My lord, please spare my life."

Ron was having a bit of a headache. These soldiers from the Great Oak Territory, who had taken up arms on the spot, weren't very good at fighting, but their leader was cunning. He had set up several camps in the mountains, playing hide-and-seek with him.

Ron originally didn't intend to pay any attention to these people; he planned to take the troops he had already assembled and go directly to meet up with James.

But just as he was about to leave, he heard that this bandit Cavalry force was quite large, with a squad leader in Squad Leader, and had gathered three or four hundred men. In particular, after they broke away from the main force, they took away a lot of equipment and supplies.

When Ron heard about this, he naturally didn't intend to give up. They had been defeated before and had to order their troops to break out in different directions, at which time they were forced to abandon a lot of equipment and supplies.

Although the troops are not lacking in the Cavalry's personal weapons and armor, they are still short of consumables such as arrows, and even medical supplies are not enough.

Ron thought that if he could get his hands on this batch of supplies, he could solve these problems, so he led his troops to come to him.

Ron's initial idea was good; he even planned to send an officer from Great Oak Territory to persuade the officers of this group, but he didn't expect the guy to be so uncooperative.

Perhaps determined to become a bandit, he not only injured the officer sent to contact him, but also led his own troops into the mountains.

Ron naturally couldn't let this guy go, but when he chased after him, he discovered that the remnants of the army had already set up operations in the mountains. They had cooperated with the mountain people to establish several hidden bandit camps to evade Ron and his troops.

At first, Ron was at a loss, but fortunately, he had some local guides in his group who helped him find some mountain people and trick them into revealing one of the bandit camps.

Ron led a raid and wiped out the bandits who had come from the Great Oak Territory's private army.

He spared many prisoners, intending to extract information from them about the location of the remaining camps and the whereabouts of the former Great Oak Territory private bandit leader.

Seeing that the first soldier was not cooperating, Ron did not want to waste time. He made a gesture, and the guard behind him stabbed the bandit who was still repeating the same sentence to death with a sword.

"I don't want to waste time. I expect you to answer my questions honestly. Answer what I ask, and if you don't know the answer, admit it. Don't lie to me."

Ron looked at the few remaining bandits who were now silent with fear, and uttered these words.

Soon, a bandit shouted, "Lord Ron, I know where that bastard Hank is, and I'm willing to take you there!"

Ron turned to look at him. "You know me?"

The bandit soldier quickly replied, "I was among the first batch of Cavalry selected from Great Oak Territory, and I learned Cavalry tactics from you back then."

Ron scrutinized the man. Although his clothes were filthy from the battle, he was indeed quite tall, with a thick beard and strong arms. He certainly fit the profile of the man he had selected when training Cavalry in Great Oak Territory.

"How did you end up getting involved and joining them as bandits? You were supposed to be in the first batch of training, so you should at least be a squad leader by now."

The soldier said with a wry smile, "I didn't want to either, but Hank kept saying that we had been defeated, that you two had both died, and that we couldn't fight the Duchy anymore; continuing would only lead to our deaths."

Moreover, Hank was a notorious thug in Sunset City; many soldiers had been his underlings or had heard of him.

He had many supporters, and several soldiers in my village were familiar with him. After being persuaded by them, I followed them without really understanding what was going on.

If I had known that you two were still alive and that the army hadn't disbanded, I definitely wouldn't have gone along with his nonsense.

"I sent officers to him before to persuade him to return to his unit. Why did you help him attack the officers I sent?"

The soldier was surprised. "What officer? We haven't seen any of them!"