Neither Victory nor Defeat

Before the troops on both flanks of the Duchy Army could move, the Northern Alliance Army had already completely flattened the Duchy's forward camp and was advancing towards the Duchy Army Main Camp.

The battle flag of this unit bears the emblem of the Iron Birch family, indicating that it is the direct line of the Iron Birch Family. The red and black stripes on the flag also signify that this unit is the Iron Birch Second Legion, Legion Commander Haines, the younger brother of Count Colt.

Viscount Haines rode his tall, powerful warhorse, his gaze fixed on the small camp before him, ravaged by war.

Although the camp was not large, it had become a living hell: limbs and blood were scattered everywhere; broken flags and weapons lay strewn about, as if telling the story of the fierce battle that had taken place there.

The air was thick with the nauseating stench of blood, and Haines's beloved horse snorted incessantly.

"Damn it, why are the Imperial Guard Legion soldiers in this squad so tenacious? Even though the other friendly forces have retreated, these guys are still gritting their teeth and continuing to fight us. How can they fight to the last man!"

Viscount Haines said through gritted teeth, "In order to break through this camp which is only the size of a small squad, the Second Legion has committed a whole battalion of troops."

In pursuit of speed, the Second Legion suffered heavy casualties, incurring more than double the usual number of casualties. On this small battlefield, the fallen corpses were mostly in the uniforms of the Iron Birch Territory.

Haines felt a growing unease. After attacking the forward camp, he discovered that the camp's structure did not match the information previously relayed by the Northern Alliance Army's spies.

Several smaller camps have appeared in the vanguard camps of the entire duchy. They are all similar in structure, with walls surrounding walls and trenches dug between them. The bottom of the trenches is also filled with a large number of sharpened wooden stakes. More than half of the casualties occurred when the walls were breached.

The Second Legion's operations started off well; the Imperial Guard Legion's will to resist was not very strong. After Haines's Iron Birch Second Legion broke through the outermost wall, the Imperial Guard Legion quickly retreated on its own initiative.

The Iron Birch Second Legion also launched a pursuit in Haines. The officers of the Second Legion were all veterans of the Iron Birch Family, expanded from the original Iron Mountain Fortress Garrison Corps. In terms of experience and combat power, they were no less than the Iron Birch First Legion directly under Count Colt and the Vanguard Legion under Alex.

They knew perfectly well that if they could seize the fleeting opportunity of the enemy's retreat, decisively launch a pursuit, and relentlessly pursue the enemy, it would undoubtedly be an excellent opportunity to inflict maximum damage on the enemy.

Faced with these soldiers of the Ducal Guard Legion who were actively retreating, how could they possibly give up such a rare opportunity so easily?

However, when the Second Legion launched its pursuit, it immediately encountered problems.

These small camps, built within the forward camp, were like fortresses, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and exceptionally sturdy. Moreover, these fortress-like camps were cleverly distributed along the route that the Imperial Guard Legion would inevitably take during their retreat.

These fortresses are garrisoned by a small but well-trained and well-equipped army.

Armed with powerful bows and crossbows, they stood ready to defend this formidable line of defense.

Each fortress complements the others, forming a clever yet deadly defensive formation.

This layout is extremely ingenious; once the enemy enters the firing range, they will be subjected to crossfire from multiple directions.

If these fortresses are ignored and the pursuit of the enemy continues, the soldiers of the Second Legion, who are close behind, will become perfect targets for the archers hidden in those fortresses, and will be helpless against them.

This was not only because it was necessary to pursue the retreating Imperial Guard Legion soldiers, but also to more effectively attack the Main Camp of the Duchy Army.

Therefore, the Second Legion must destroy these incredibly strong fortresses at all costs.

However, to Haines's surprise, the defenders inside these fortified fortresses displayed extraordinary tenacity and unwavering fighting spirit!

Faced with such a powerful and resolute enemy, even for an elite and well-trained force like the Iron Birch Second Legion, capturing any one of its camps, guarded by a small squad of soldiers, would be no easy task.

The Second Legion will have to pay a heavy price of losing at least two to three squads just for this fortified camp that has just been captured.

Moreover, the advance of the Iron Birch Second Legion was slowed down, and by this time, the Imperial Guard Legion that had retreated from the Duchy's front camp had completely shaken off the pursuit.

"Something's not right. The preparations are far too thorough. The duchy must have used a lot of manpower and resources to build such a fortified camp. How did they manage to do it so quickly? They just rotated their troops yesterday!"

Viscount Haines was completely baffled, but the battle was still raging, so he could only set aside his doubts and continue ordering his troops to advance.

Soon the army had completely crossed the Duchy's vanguard camp, and the small fortified camps were also swept away by the Second Legion. Although they were not easy to deal with, as long as casualties were not a concern, conquering these fortified camps was not a big deal.

At this moment, the Iron Birch Second Legion was facing the Duchy's central army Main Camp. Standing on high ground, Haines could clearly see that the central army Main Camp, which should have been orderly and heavily guarded, was now in chaos.

The central army Main Camp had its gates open, but due to the large number of people and the chaotic situation, the soldiers of the Imperial Guard Legion could only desperately push forward, trying to be the first to rush into the camp for shelter.

Just as Haines was about to give the order to attack, a messenger who had arrived at the battlefield from the rear announced Count Colt's orders to him.

After hearing the order, Haines exclaimed in disbelief, "What? We're withdrawing?"

Even though the Duchy's central military Main Camp was right in front of them, Iron Birch Second Legion was only a step away, Haines understood his elder brother's style of doing things. Even if it was a close brother, Count Colt would not forgive him if he disobeyed orders.

With the Duchy's central army Main Camp so close at hand, Haines had no choice but to give the order to retreat.

The order quickly spread throughout the legion, but it aroused strong doubts and dissatisfaction among many officers. Since Viscount Haines took over the Second Legion, he had been unable to gain the approval of these proud and fierce generals.

So after this incident, these battle-hardened officers went straight to Haines, wanting to confront him directly about why he had suddenly changed his strategic deployment.

Using his authority and power as Legion Commander, Haines forcefully suppressed the doubts of these people and firmly issued the order to retreat.

However, this brief period of chaos came at a heavy price for the entire legion—the loss of valuable time prevented follow-up troops from arriving in time, making the legion's retreat extremely slow.

Just then, the flanks of the Duchy Army began to shift, which was noticed by the officers and soldiers of the Iron Birch Second Legion.

The Duchy Army's pincer movement was extremely swift; Haines discovered that the Duchy Army on both flanks had completely outpaced the Second Legion and were about to complete the encirclement.

Although Alex was leading his Cavalry in an attempt to hinder the Duchy's right wing, the Duchy's Cavalry also came out in full force and became entangled with Alex's troops, failing to stop the Duchy's right wing.

Meanwhile, the other legions of the Northern Alliance Army had already carried out Count Colt's retreat order and joined up with Viscount Edmund's troops, and were about to leave the battlefield.

At this moment, everyone in the Iron Birch Second Legion realized that they were in a life-or-death crisis. If they were to be surrounded under these circumstances, they would have difficulty getting support from other units of the Northern Alliance Army, and they might be wiped out.

Just as Haines was hesitating about whether to abandon the follow-up troops, the enemy's Main Camp suddenly changed.

Suddenly, a troop of Cavalry charged out. Haines recognized the unit just by looking at the large banner held by the lead Cavalry.

It was the banner of the Ducal Guard Legion. Haines thought to himself, "This is bad." Just then, the knight leading the Cavalry unit drew a fire arrow from behind him, flicked it over the torch, nocked it with a hard bow, and shot it into the sky.

The bow is drawn as full as a full moon, the arrow flies like a shooting star.

As the rocket traced an arc through the sky, the sounds of horns and drums resounded throughout the night.

The central military Main Camp of the duchy was instantly brightly lit, as if a giant python that had swallowed its tail had suddenly raised its head and come to life.

The officers' commands, the soldiers' reports, and the clatter of weapons against armor filled the air. Warhorses galloped, swords and spears were drawn, and in less than a quarter of an hour, right under Haines's nose, a well-trained army charged out of the duchy's central army Main Camp.

Haines knew immediately that something was wrong. "Damn it, it's the main force of the Imperial Guard Legion."

This army is launching a pursuit at an extremely fast pace. As expected of a fresh force, they are moving very quickly. According to Haines's estimate, the Second Legion will be overtaken before it even crosses the forward camp.

Haines knew at this point that it was no longer a question of whether or not to abandon the follow-up troops. If he had to make the right choice now, the entire Iron Birch Second Legion might be wiped out.

Soon the Second Legion's formation changed. The troops in the rear stopped marching and formed a defensive formation on the spot in the ruins of the Duchy's forward camp, while the troops that had already crossed the forward camp increased their marching speed.

Viscount Haines' plan was simple: to deploy troops as a rearguard to ensure that a portion of the Second Legion could break out of the encirclement in time and avoid total annihilation.

The rearguard was personally commanded by Haines, the Legion Commander. Due to the previous chaos, his prestige as Legion Commander had been greatly affected, and he felt very guilty, believing that his hesitation had led the legion into crisis.

Moreover, Viscount Haines understood that if he did not set an example at this moment, these rearguard troops might simply scatter, causing the entire Second Legion to suffer as well.

Thus, a portion of the Second Legion, personally led by Haines, stayed behind to hold off the pursuing Ducal Guard Legion.

News of Viscount Haines's encirclement by the Duchy Army spread throughout the entire Northern Alliance Army Forces.

Upon learning that his third uncle was surrounded, Alex desperately tried to lead his Cavalry to break through the encirclement and rescue Haines.

Other Northern Alliance Army forces that had successfully disengaged from the battle also turned back to attack, but the Duchy Army displayed exceptional resilience in tonight's fighting, firmly holding off the Northern Alliance Army forces.

Alex launched several charges but failed to break through the encirclement. On his most recent charge, Alex could even see the Second Legion's banner, but ultimately he still failed.

But Alex never gave up, and in the end, Count Colt sent men to forcibly bring the nearly exhausted Alex back.

The battle in the ruins of the forward camp lasted for a day and a night. Finally, the shouts of battle ceased as the Duchy Army gradually withdrew to the Main Camp.

The Cavalry of the Northern Alliance Army were finally able to penetrate deep into the ruins of the forward camp, where they finally confirmed the battlefield intelligence.

Under Legion Commander Haines of the Iron Birch Second Legion, all three regiments that were surrounded were killed in action. Viscount Haines chose to commit suicide to avoid capture, but his body was mutilated by the Duchy Army, his body chopped up and thrown everywhere.

The Northern Alliance Army's Cavalry deployed a large number of men, but they were unable to find Viscount Haines' complete body and could only bury it as a mutilated corpse.

Upon learning of his younger brother's death, Count Colt's hair turned completely white overnight, and he aged several years. For this reason, no one dared to tell Count Colt the truth.

Alex, upon learning the truth, was overcome with grief and nearly fainted. He secretly swore to the Duchy Army that he would never let Viscount Borey and the Imperial Guard Legion go.

After this battle, both sides were exhausted once again and entered a truce.

Although the Northern Alliance Army withdrew most of its troops in time, the remaining losses still deeply pained Count Colt. One of its elite units, the Iron Birch Second Legion, was half-destroyed, and his own younger brother was killed in battle. In this battle, the Northern Alliance Army suffered a total loss of nearly 20,000 men.

The Duchy also suffered considerable losses. Although the Imperial Guard Legion's entrapment units were the two weakest regiments, they still suffered heavy casualties in the subsequent encirclement battles, whether it was annihilating the Second Legion, which was determined to fight, or resisting the Northern Alliance Army's relief attack. Their cumulative losses were comparable to those of the Northern Alliance Army.

Both sides claimed victory, but the Duchy Army won the war of public opinion with the death of Viscount Haines, which stabilized the morale of the troops that had been shaken by the defeat in the Southern Region.

When the battle report reached Victor, who had already returned to the Eastern Region, he learned that the belated report had led to another fierce battle between the two sides of the Civil War.

After reading the battle report, Victor could only comment, "It was a battle that ended in a draw."