Ironvine Territory

Victor ordered the army to set up camp on the spot.

James and Ron had already cleared a campsite for the prisoners of war.

Victor instructed all units to have dinner immediately, get some rest, and depart again around midnight.

At first, the eastern nobles were all surprised to hear that they had to march in the middle of the night, and they all went to Victor to ask him questions.

Victor also explained that they did not have to participate in this battle; it was entirely voluntary. Victor would also leave some troops at the camp.

However, in order to gain merit in battle, these nobles decided to participate in the night raid as well. In order to participate, they had to select qualified soldiers from their own troops.

One by one, they hurriedly returned to their respective units to make preparations.

Afterwards, Victor, James, and Ron had a few more private conversations to learn about the aftermath of the battle that destroyed the Fourth Legion reinforcements.

"So you've already wiped out the remnants of the army you besieged at Jade Belt Mountain?"

James nodded, then pointed to the camp gate and said, "Look over there?"

It was only then that Victor noticed the direction James was pointing. There was a tall wooden pillar near the camp entrance, and it seemed that something was hanging from the very top of the pillar.

It was nearing evening, and the light was dim, so Victor couldn't see clearly. On a whim, Victor used his Perception Enhancement.

Victor's body trembled slightly. He focused his gaze on the top of the wooden pillar, and as his vision became clearer, he finally saw the shape of the hanging object.

"Ugh! James, you bastard!"

Enraged, Victor kicked James, but James, as if anticipating Victor's reaction, dodged the kick immediately.

"Victor, it's not my fault. Ron also gave me an idea, saying it's a custom of the Northern Frontier nobles that they must ensure that even in death, the most resistant enemies cannot find peace."

What angered Victor so much was that James and Ron had hung several heads on the pillar at the entrance. These heads were those of high-ranking officers of the Duchy Fourth Legion, who had been killed in this battle.

Victor asked sternly, "Are you sure these guys aren't willing to surrender? I'll make adjustments afterward. If I find out you've executed prisoners, forget about earning merit; I'll punish you severely."

James and Ron were not surprised by Victor's words, after all, Victor had always been very strict with military discipline, especially with prisoners of war, since many of the people and even the army in Two Rivers Territory were former prisoners of war.

"Victor, don't worry, these people are not prisoners of war, they are all die-hards."

James and Ron patted their chests and assured Victor.

Then James began to introduce Victor: "The tallest one is Bush Cavalry Regiment of the Fourth Legion, whom we trapped at Jade Belt Mountain when we returned to Jade Belt Mountain with prisoners of war and spoils."

I displayed the prisoners of war and captured battle flags from the Fourth Legion's reinforcements. At that moment, most of the enemy troops on Jade Belt Mountain knew that reinforcements wouldn't arrive, and they collapsed. Many soldiers ran down the mountain and surrendered to us.

But that Bush was extremely despicable; he directly killed some soldiers who wanted to surrender to us and forced some soldiers to charge down the mountain, trying to clear a path for him to escape.

Ron and I, of course, wouldn't let him off so easily. We personally led our troops up the mountain.

At that time, their remaining troops had lost their will to fight, and the Bush Regimental Commander was captured and executed immediately by Ron and his men.

After James finished telling the story, Victor believed it more. The fact that Bush Regimental Commander could command so many Cavalry under the orders of Legion Commander Ursus meant he must be Ursus's confidant. It was normal for such a person to become a die-hard.

"Where did those heads come from? I remember your battle report said you didn't capture the commander of this Fourth Legion reinforcement."

"That's right, we didn't catch up. I only caught his adjutant, and the First Regiment named Jindio got away."

However, all these heads came from his First Regiment, and those were all Battalion Commander.

After Jindio escaped, we surrounded one of their troops, as I mentioned in the battle report."

Victor nodded. He remembered that unit; they had initially refused to surrender, but James brought the banner of the escaped Regimental Commander, which finally made them surrender.

"In fact, only a portion of them surrendered. There was a fierce internal conflict over whether or not to surrender. The two Battalion Commander who originally refused to surrender were killed by the officers who wanted to surrender."

Those two heads belong to the two Battalion Commander, one named Jax and the other Ves."

Upon hearing this, Victor carefully examined the two heads and found them indeed contorted in grotesque expressions, suggesting they had died with great remorse.

"So these heads mostly belong to those officers, and you really didn't kill the surrendered prisoners of war."

James and Ron nodded quickly, and Victor was relieved to see this.

Victor asked curiously, "Since you also wiped out the remnants of that Jade Belt Mountain, did you recalculate your subsequent losses and achievements?"

"The statistics have already been completed. In this battle, we annihilated a total of nearly 8,000 enemy troops, including more than 3,000 Cavalry and nearly 4,000 infantry."

The fleeing Regimental Commander, Jindio, only took about four hundred Cavalry and an equal number of infantry with him; most of them had been lost.

We recovered over 4,000 horses of various types, of which only about 1,000 were warhorses, the rest being pack horses.

Including the captured supplies, there was enough to supply an army of 10,000, but food was somewhat scarce.

Based on our interrogation of the prisoners, we learned that the Fourth Legion had plundered enough grain from Ironvine Territory to supply the Duchy Army beneath Ironwire City for a year.

Victor was a little surprised. If James hadn't exaggerated, then the Ursus Legion Commander had at least 20,000 tons of grain in his hands, which was no small number.

Victor was determined to obtain this batch of food, which would greatly influence his subsequent operations.

"What are your unit's losses?"

James and Ron exchanged a glance, and Ron stepped forward to say, "Because of the previous defeat, we lost a large number of warhorses, and many units suffered heavy losses when they broke through in separate groups."

Ron paused, then continued, "Our Cavalry force currently consists of 2,400 Light Cavalry and over 260 Heavy Cavalry; this is our final strength at hand."

Victor stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and then asked, "I'm launching a night raid on the enemy tonight at midnight. We need to maintain silence and order throughout. You'll need to select a group of troops to come with me."

At midnight, when the weather was at its coolest, Victor stood on horseback at the camp gate, feeling a pleasant breeze.

Victor took out his pocket watch and, comparing it to the position of the moon in the sky, estimated the departure time.

When the cool breeze returned, Victor ordered, "Let's go!"

Thousands upon thousands of soldiers, their mouths gagged, their horses hoofs tethered, their flags lowered and drums silenced, carried torches in groups of ten, like a long black river flowing towards the direction of Ironwire City.

Over the past few days, James and Ron's Cavalry scouts and rangers have thoroughly explored the roads here.

Along the way, there are also many beacons set up during the day, some are piles of stones that can be placed, some are strips of cloth tied to trees, or some are signs directly stuck in the ground.

Thanks to the results of the previous battle, the Fourth Legion's Cavalry suffered heavy losses and were simply unable to stop James and Ron's scouts from scouting.

However, even with the most thorough preparations, unexpected events can still occur during nighttime marches.

Especially when splitting up the troops, in order for the main army to arrive at Ironwire City at the same time, Victor had James and his men design three different routes.

The three routes are different in distance and difficulty, but James can guarantee that the arrival time will be similar.

As the night raiding force split into these three routes, numerous problems arose.

During the day, Victor and his men could easily command each other using flags or drums, and messengers could conveniently relay information and orders.

But it was nighttime, Victor's army needed to split up and launch a surprise attack, so they could only rely on the command abilities of their officers at all levels.

This places high demands on officers, especially junior officers, even those at the higher levels of the army under Victor.

Victor could only muster a little over 8,000 troops this time, which was the limit; he couldn't organize any more troops.

Even including the armies of Lenster and Yellen, as well as those of the eastern nobles, the total strength was barely over ten thousand.

Victor left the remaining troops to Marvin would lead them slowly toward Ironwire City the next morning.

But for Victor, carrying out such a large army in a concealed night march was a very significant challenge.

Normally, a night march would require a great deal of fanfare, with every soldier holding a torch and drums beating continuously to ensure the army could march smoothly.

If it's a covert operation, the number of troops can't be too large. For example, Victor has led night raids on camps before, but the scale was at most only a few hundred people.

Even in the event of a nighttime military operation like those before, there would be virtually no need to conceal one's identity during the final offensive phase.

For example, when Victor and Alex raided Haiden City, the final stage involved setting fire to the military camp and creating chaos.

Therefore, having an army of tens of thousands lie low and march secretly with only a few torches, as was the case this time, was a huge challenge for Victor.

In a sense, Victor had actually lost command of the unit; the only ones who could truly command the soldiers were the lowest-ranking officers.

In this situation, one person can at most be in charge of a dozen or twenty people.

If a soldier were to drop his weapon and desert at this moment, the officers would not notice.

For example, the eastern nobles who participated in this night raid basically only brought forty or fifty soldiers, relying on themselves and their trusted knights to command them. Any more soldiers would not only be out of their capabilities, but they also lacked officers capable of commanding them.

Even so, these nobles were very confident in Victor's night raid. After all, they had witnessed Victor's combat prowess over a long period of time, and he had always achieved results. They trusted Victor's command abilities deeply.

This time, they came to the Southern Region not to loaf around, but to gain military merit and secure a place for their families in the new political landscape of the duchy after the Civil War. It can be said that they were extremely proactive.

After marching for more than three hours, James began to worry.

To make it easier for Victor to command, he assigned his best scouts and rangers to Victor's unit.

He thought he had become quite familiar with the roads here by now, but now he finds himself lost.

"Damn it, where am I?"

Just as James was fretting, a guard suddenly pointed into the distance and said, "Sir, do you see a light over there?"

Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing, but saw nothing; it was still pitch black.

James slapped him hard, saying, "Don't talk nonsense if you don't know him! There's clearly nothing there!"

The guard, clutching his head in grievance, said, "Regimental Commander, there really is a light! My eyesight is exceptionally good. You can see the difference in light and darkness over there. If you believe me, walk in that direction again."

Seeing this, the other soldiers, knowing their comrade's character, chimed in, "Regimental Commander, Dead-Fish Eyes does have excellent eyesight. Shall we move over there?"

James was quite decisive. Since they were already lost, they might as well choose a direction. Since this guy was so straightforward, they might as well trust him this once.

So James led his troops in that direction, groping their way forward for two kilometers in the darkness. Although they could no longer see any light, they were fortunate enough to find road signs and traces of their march.

However, James did not encounter any other troops, which made James very worried, fearing that he had gotten lost and fallen behind other units.

James quickly ordered, "No, everyone speed up! We have to catch up with our teammates!"

James's Guard Corps hurriedly said, "Sir, shouldn't we wait a little longer? Maybe more troops will catch up. Our current forces are too small. What if we end up at an enemy camp?"

Because they got lost, James's forces were reduced to only about a hundred men, a very weak force that worried James Guard Corps.

"Don't worry, our team is just ahead, everyone be bold."

If we arrive late and miss the first opportunity, our battle merits will be less than those of other units. You don't want to lose an acre of land, do you?

Hearing James say this, all the soldiers immediately perked up and quickened their pace. Seeing this, the Guard Corps had no choice but to give up trying to persuade them and they all hurried on their way.