Ironvine Territory (Seventy-Two)

However, James was also a little worried. They had lost their way, and if he blindly continued on his way back to the camp where he started, he would be laughed at to death by Ron and Victor.

Fortunately, none of this happened. Just as James and his men had traveled a little further and turned into a dark grove of trees, a group of soldiers suddenly appeared in front of them.

Both were startled. James quickly waved the torch in his hand and shouted, "Who is it? Password!"

"A man with a gag in his mouth!"

"Horse hooves wrapped!"

Seeing that the passwords matched, James immediately asked, "I'm James, the Regimental Commander the First Regiment. Which unit are you from?"

"James, the Regimental Commander? I'm Buffons from the Fourth Detachment!"

The officer leading the group of soldiers also came over, and James looked closely and recognized him as Buffons, the Detachment Commander of the Fourth Detachment under James' command.

James immediately became anxious. He remembered that Buffons' troops were behind him, so how did they end up in front of him? Were they really turning back? Wouldn't he, James, the Regimental Commander the First Regiment of the Southern Marching Legion, become a laughingstock?

Fortunately, after James questioned Buffons carefully, he learned that their current location was not where they had already passed, but rather that the main army was not far ahead.

James may have walked too fast at the beginning, missed the road signs, and took a detour.

"Regimental Commander, my unit has been trailing behind the main force, so we haven't lit many torches. We can't tell which way to go, and it's too dark to see the road clearly, so we dare not ride our horses."

We were just following the road signs the whole way. If it weren't for your torch, I would have thought we had fallen far behind.

Buffons said with relief.

However, James became a little anxious upon hearing this. He had fallen behind because of the detour, and he wondered if the main force had already engaged the enemy. So James quickly said, "Buffons, let's hurry up and go together."

"Yes, Regimental Commander."

The two joined forces and continued their journey. After traveling for a while, James and his men finally spotted the main force.

Just as James was about to lead his men to catch up with the main force, he spotted another familiar face.

"Baron Brown, what are you doing here?"

A group of soldiers were parked by the roadside, busy with something, and the leader was Baron Brown.

"James, weren't you supposed to be at the front of the main force? What are you doing here?"

Baron Brown seemed surprised to see James, James, not wanting word of his getting lost to spread throughout the Southern Marching Legion, quickly changed the subject. "Baron Brown, what are you doing?"

Baron Brown seemed quite troubled as well. When James asked him, he replied directly, "I was assigned by Viscount Victor to escort these precious items, but unexpectedly, a problem arose just before we reached the enemy camp."

Baron Brown pointed to several carriages parked by the roadside and said, "Look, because we were traveling in complete darkness with few torches, several of our draft horses were injured and had broken legs. These carriages are now unable to move."

James looked at the carriages and realized why Baron Brown called them "big treasures"—the carriages were carrying several Bed Crossbow.

"This is the only heavy weapon we brought on this trip south. Due to transportation issues, it was left at the very back and hasn't been used since we entered the Southern Region."

I thought that this time I could participate in the night raid and at least have a chance to perform well, but I didn't expect this kind of problem to occur again.

James also glanced at the draft horses tied to the roadside and immediately noticed that each of them had a broken leg. As the commander of the Cavalry, he knew all too well what was going on; these draft horses were ruined and probably wouldn't live much longer.

Baron Brown also noticed James's gaze. "They're all lame, they probably won't live much longer, I'll just leave them tied up here."

There's no time to deal with it right now. If it's still there when we return after the war, we can process it and use it as military rations.

Baron Brown was also a native-born Northern Frontier nobles. Although he cherished his warhorses, he also had the Northlands' unique idea of making the most of everything.

Horses are no longer useful in war, but they can still be used for other purposes. Their hides can be used to make leather goods and clothing, and their meat can be eaten. Many of the special dishes that have been passed down in the Northlands are made with horse meat. Victor also used his team of chefs to recreate many of the delicacies from his previous life, such as horse meat sandwiches.

However, James had no intention of discussing how to prepare horse meat dishes with Baron Brown. He directly summoned Buffons: "How many spare warhorses does your unit have?"

Buffons probably guessed what James was planning and quickly said, "This time, for the night raid, I only guaranteed one horse per person. However, during the march, several men fell and were injured because they couldn't see the road clearly. They probably won't be able to participate in the next battle, so their horses are essentially idle. There are a total of six horses."

When the Cavalry marched at night, they dared not ride horses. The horses were placed at the rear of the column and looked after by designated personnel. They were led by the head of the column. Now that several soldiers were injured, their warhorses were naturally freed up.

James nodded. "Six horses. That makes eight carriages in total, excluding draft horses. Warhorses aren't as well-suited for pulling carriages as draft horses; two warhorses are equivalent to one draft horse. So we're still short ten horses."

He quickly asked Baron Brown, "Do you have any extra harnesses for your carriage?"

Baron Brown overheard James and Buffons' conversation and, understanding their meaning, quickly said, "We have enough harnesses. I can gather four more horses, and you just need to arrange six more."

James quickly ordered his men to check the horses at the back of the column to see if there were any spare horses available.

"Regimental Commander, there are only 5 empty warhorses, we're short 1," his Guard Corps reported to James.

James frowned, then said, "Use mine!"

After saying this, James, without any objection from his men, walked to the carriage and helped put harnesses on the warhorses.

After working for more than ten minutes, the group finally managed to pull the carriages back onto the road.

"James, thanks to you." Baron Brown thanked James.

"It's all minor. I can't wait to see our Bed Crossbow unleash their power on the battlefield. Those country bumpkins in the Fourth Legion would probably be scared out of their wits."

Then James bid farewell to Baron Brown and led his troops onward. As they marched, James noticed his Guard Corps hesitate and said to him, "Speak your mind. Don't whine like a woman."

"Regimental Commander, your warhorse was a fine steed given to you by the Viscount. Isn't it a waste to just throw it away like this? Won't the Viscount be angry when he finds out?"

James was about to get angry when he heard that it was just this little thing, but then he thought that the Guard Corps was worried about him, so he decided to be nicer and explained, "The Bed Crossbow that Baron Brown transported this time were arranged by the Viscount himself. Because of an accident, they couldn't get to the battlefield in time, which may affect the Viscount's battle plan."

If I didn't see it, it wouldn't matter. But if I did see it, I certainly couldn't pretend nothing happened; I would definitely do everything in my power to help Baron Brown transport those Bed Crossbow to the front lines.

As for the warhorses the Viscount gave me, if he knew I used them for this, he would probably send me more, maybe even a few more. Besides, it was just for pulling a cart once, so it probably won't have any impact."

Warhorses are very sensitive and intelligent animals. They undergo special selection and training before they can be used as warhorses. Making them temporarily serve as draft horses may directly cause them psychological trauma, making them unwilling to be warhorses that carry riders into battle.

Seeing that James said that, the Guard Corps thought it made a lot of sense, so he quickly shut his mouth.

And so, James continued on his way and finally caught up with the main group, and met Victor.

"... And so, I helped Baron Brown get his carriage back on the road."

"Well done, James. These Bed Crossbow are very useful to me. Although we can win without them, the losses would be too great."

Victor praised James a few times, "And don't worry, I'll find a way to get you another warhorse. This time, I'll personally go to the Iron Birch Territory to pick out a warhorse for you that's just as good as, or even better than, Grape's."

"You said it yourself, so I'm taking it seriously."

James is very happy.

Victor looked at James, who had a happy expression on his face, and smiled helplessly. His childhood friend was still the same as before. He said, "During this night march, in order to prevent everyone from being exposed, I strictly controlled the use of torches and also prohibited shouting. Now the entire army is seriously out of sync because of this."

"It's not just you, several other units have also lost contact, they're probably lost too."

"What should we do then? Should we wait for them a little longer?"

Victor shook his head. "It's already past three in the morning, less than two hours until dawn. We don't have much time left."

"Ironwire City is just ahead, and the enemy camp is right below it. There's no need to wait any longer; let's launch an attack."

"What about those stragglers? How many of them are there?"

"The entire Fifth Regiment of Foss, along with the troops of Knight Yellen, and several private armies of eastern nobles, add up to more than 3,000 men!"

James was shocked to hear this. The entire night raid force numbered only ten thousand, and now a third of them had been lost. This night raid was originally intended to be a fight against overwhelming odds.

According to previous intelligence, the Fourth Legion and the Coalition of Nobles that cooperated with him still had at least 3 men. Originally, the troop ratio was 1:3, but now it is 1:5, and the gap has become even more disparate.

James quickly advised, "Victor, let's wait a little longer. What if they're coming soon?"

Victor said firmly, "I knew they would come, because I've already given them the orders."

James immediately chimed in. "When the battle begins, attack the area with the brightest fire and the most enemies!"

"That's right, so don't worry, they'll arrive once the battle begins and join us in the fight."

And so, James was persuaded by Victor and personally led his troops to the front lines.

James was riding a horse when Victor gave James a new warhorse for temporary use.

This was the first time James had ridden this warhorse, and it shook its head restlessly, trying to neigh, but its mouth was tightly bound by a drawstring, so it could only shake its head back and forth.

James held the reins with one hand and stroked the horse's mane with the other, soothing it. The horse seemed to understand and gradually calmed down.

James and his troops were currently stationed on a small hillside, not far below which lay the brightly lit camp of the Duchy Fourth Legion.

At this moment, the Guard Corps, who had been holding back all the way, finally spoke up and asked James, "Regimental Commander, when do we launch our attack?"

"Of course, we'll wait until the lord gives the order!"

Just as the words of James were put to a close, fireworks signaling the final offensive rose into the sky and exploded with a deafening roar.

The sound of war drums instantly resounded across the land.

The Southern Marching Legion's night raiding force surged down the hillside like a flood, sweeping towards the Fourth Legion's camp.

A few minutes earlier, in a tent in the center of the Fourth Legion camp, the Legion Commander the Ursus Legion was reviewing documents.

An officer entered the tent; it was Ursus's adjutant. Seeing the Legion Commander still working so late, he said with concern, "Legion Commander, we've just captured the Ironwire City. You haven't had a good night's sleep for days, and you're still working so late today. Why don't you get some rest?"

"Thank you for your concern, Slyde."

However, there is indeed not much free time right now. We have only captured the outer city. Count Lloyd has successfully withdrawn a considerable number of troops back to the inner city. It will be a long time before we conquer the entire Ironwire City!

What's more, that bastard Jindio directly wiped out most of our Cavalry force.

Thanks to him, we lost a large number of Cavalry, especially scouts and rangers, and the enemy Cavalry was also frantically slaughtering our remaining scouts.

I want to kill him right now. I've lost intelligence about areas 10 kilometers away from Ironwire City, and I don't know how far the enemy is from our camp.

What if the enemy suddenly appears before us on a forced march tomorrow? I must adjust the camp's layout as soon as possible to prepare for their attack.

If necessary, I plan to abandon most of the outer camps and retreat the main force to the outer city of Ironwire City.

Anyway, we have enough food; at worst, we can hold out until the noble troops from Hampshire arrive."

"Legion Commander, I don't think the situation is that serious. Besides, we've gathered another batch of Cavalry today, so we now have a Cavalry force of four or five hundred men."

"Send them out again first thing tomorrow morning. Even if they can't deal with the enemy Cavalry, they can still gather intelligence on the enemy and confirm their exact location."

Just as Slyde finished speaking, a loud bang was heard, and the two quickly ran out of the tent to see what had happened.

As soon as they stepped outside, they heard the thunderous sound of war drums, followed by a continuous barrage of battle cries.

Ursus's face turned deathly pale instantly.