Ironvine Territory (Seventy-Five)

The nobles readily surrendered to James and Foss, and they quickly learned about the camp from the prisoners, including the death of Regimental Commander Rick, the capture of the insane Ternesov.

James frowned as he looked at the large number of prisoners before him, unsure of what to do.

The fallen Regimental Commander Rick was too decisive. Seeing that his troops were no match for his own, he led his personal guards in a desperate charge and gave the order that all troops should lay down their weapons and surrender immediately after his death.

James was having a headache. This guy was dead, but he left them with this problem. There were at least six or seven hundred prisoners, including independent nobles and high-ranking officers at the Regimental Commander level. He really couldn't handle them. He couldn't just kill them.

But they couldn't be abandoned; they had to be kept under control. At least two squadrons were needed. However, James only brought his elite troops for the night raid, totaling only eight squadrons. Buffons, as the Detachment Commander, only had one squadron under his command. There simply weren't enough troops to guard them.

At this moment, Foss stepped forward and said, "Regimental Commander James, let us take these prisoners. I only have five companies. I'll keep my own company and one company. I'll leave the rest to you."

James quickly refused. "How can that be?"

But Foss remained adamant. "Please don't refuse. Your troops have more veterans and stronger fighting force, plus Cavalry, who should play a greater role. Leave this to me."

Seeing that Foss was so decisive, James had no choice but to accept his proposal. However, James wasn't that shameless. He promised Foss, "I will command your men well and will not let them suffer any additional losses. Also, all the credit for this battle is yours; I don't want any of it."

Foss was surprised by James's response and was about to refuse when James stopped him.

"It's settled then!"

After saying this James immediately rode away, and soon Foss's three squadrons followed James's troops northward.

This time, their opponents were the regular army of the duchy, which naturally had rules and regulations, and their camps were set up according to the regulations of the east and west battalions.

Basically, the large and small camps were separated and formed a defensive triangle with each other.

This method of setting up camps is very orderly, which allows chaos to be contained within each camp in the event of a fire or riot.

However, due to Victor's night raid, the offensive was exceptionally fierce, and this camp structure made it difficult for the Duchy Army to respond quickly.

Based on intelligence obtained from prisoners, James knew that the Second Regiment and Third Regiment of the Fourth Legion should still have intact battalions that had not been wiped out. He planned to take this opportunity to continue the offensive northward, penetrate deep into the camp, and eliminate these remnants.

Meanwhile, according to intelligence from the prisoners, there is a small side gate to the north leading into the inner camp, mainly used for clearing waste between the inner and outer camps. There should be very few defenders there now, giving James's troops a chance to directly attack the inner camp.

As for the inner camp gate, James decided against it for the time being. Although he had gained command of Foss's troops and his forces had suddenly swelled to a thousand men, he did not believe that these men could break through the inner camp gate.

After all, at least an hour had passed since the night raid began, and the sun was starting to rise. Even if the main force of the Fourth Legion was slow to react, they should be ready by now.

The inner camp is likely to be a tough nut to crack. With that Legion Commander named Ursus there, James doesn't plan to confront them head-on with his troops. The immediate priority should be to follow Victor's orders and quickly sweep away and eliminate those organized units to prevent them from escaping into the inner camp.

Soon, as James's troops advanced deeper into the enemy territory, the remaining soldiers were no match for them. Unable to contact their Regimental Commander or the legionary command in the inner camp, they naturally became lambs to the slaughter.

In particular, the way they built their camps meant that these remaining soldiers didn't even have a chance to escape the battlefield.

As the various units successfully broke through the enemy camp during the night raid, a large amount of intelligence, along with the reports from each unit, reached Victor.

Michael was reporting to Victor, summarizing several military reports, all brief battle reports and their locations from various units.

"Report! Four enemy camps on the eastern flank have been captured! Regimental Commander James is leading his troops to continue the pursuit!"

The five camps on the west side have also been captured by Lenster and Regimental Commander Ron. The two have gathered Coalition of Nobles and have reached the enemy's inner camp walls. They are currently in a standoff and request reinforcements!

Knight Yellen's troops have also arrived at their designated positions and are requesting permission to engage in battle!

"Have Lenster and his men regroup on the spot; they must not launch an attack."

Victor did not remain on the hillside at this moment. Instead, he stood in his Guard Battalion, also wearing a set of Heavy Infantry armor, and slowly advanced with the troops, issuing orders as he went. Baron Brown followed behind the troops with the heavy weapons.

"Furthermore, inform Knight Yellen that he is not allowed to request to fight again. He will have his chance to show his skills once my main force arrives."

When Victor led his troops to the designated location, Knight Yellen was already waiting anxiously there.

Upon meeting, Knight Yellen rode over and said, "Viscount Victor, you are far too late. There were no enemy troops here before, but now they have discovered our forces and deployed many archers. We have no chance to break through their walls now."

"Don't worry, just wait patiently, Knight Yellen. I brought some good stuff; these things won't stop us."

Victor confidently pointed behind him to Baron Brown and the carriages.

Knight Yellen was somewhat confused, but still chose to trust Victor.

Victor immediately issued orders. "Notify James on the east flank to launch an immediate attack on the enemy's inner camp, but be sure to proceed cautiously and steadily."

Inform Lenster and Regimental Commander Ron that their troops may attempt an attack on the enemy's inner city gates, but control the intensity and avoid excessive casualties.

Victor then looked at Yellen: "Once both sides launch their attacks, the enemy probably won't have much energy left to deal with us."

Looking at Victor's confident face, Knight Yellen was a little puzzled. Even if the troops on both sides launched an attack, the War Department on the opposite side would not leave, at most they would not be reinforced.

After giving his orders, Victor silently observed everything before him.

It was a massive wooden wall, made of logs of water spruce, a specialty of the dense forests of the Southern Region, extending to both sides in front of Victor, protecting the remaining Duchy Army within.

This type of cedar wood has a dense and corrosion-resistant texture, making it the preferred building material for houses and structures in the Southern Region, and it was widely used by local residents and nobles.

The huge camp in front of us was surrounded by walls made entirely of this type of cedar wood. Logs, each about 40 to 50 centimeters thick, were driven into the ground, making the camp walls exceptionally sturdy.

Seeing Victor staring at the wall in silence, Knight Yellen was somewhat worried. He had come here specifically to carry out the mission Victor had given him.

According to their intelligence, the terrain here should be a high ground. At first, Yellen thought that Victor sent them here to use the height difference to find a shortcut into the Duchy Army.

However, once he arrived here, Knight Yellen discovered that, due to the higher elevation, the walls here appeared to be even higher than those in other locations.

These tall logs are hard and difficult to cut even with an axe in a short time. They are also covered with a layer of river mud, so even burning them is ineffective.

Knight Yellen had originally planned to send troops to dig underground before the enemy discovered them, hoping to find a way to dig deep into the underground part of the wall to knock down the logs.

But Victor sent someone to inform him to hold his troops still, and as a result, the enemy discovered his forces and sent out a large number of archers and infantry to guard against them.

There was originally an opportunity to dig, but with the arrival of enemy archers and interference from the War Department, this method became no longer feasible.

Knight Yellen couldn't think of a better solution for the time being. He looked at the silent Victor and assumed that Victor didn't have a good idea either.

Just as Yellen was preparing to persuade Victor to abandon this location and instead redeploy troops to two other sites to find an opportunity to strike,

Victor suddenly called out to Michael, "Tell Baron Brown to bring out our secret weapon!"

"Yes!"