Chapter 754: Chapter 56 Commendation Chapter 754: Chapter 56 Commendation The sentinel on the watchtower had seen a cavalry troop charging toward the main gate from afar.
The alarm bell rang, and the armed defenders hurriedly made their way to the battlements, while the civilians who were digging trenches outside the fortress swarmed toward the gates.
This was a small fortress standing just outside of Niutigu Valley, no more than fifty meters in length and width.
It was surrounded by two layers of earthen walls, with the main wall two meters higher than the inner one, which barely reached one meter, and there were only two gates, front and back.
For a moment, the soldiers wanted to go out, and the civilians wanted to get in, causing a blockade at the gate that was impassable.
“Where did the Herders cross the river?” Captain Thomas, frazzled and desperate, climbed the battlements and bellowed, “Don’t block the gate! Let our men out first!”
The civilians were bent on seeking refuge inside the fortress and ignored him.
Thomas stomped his foot hard, “Make way! Let them come in first!”
The soldiers stepped aside, and the crowd flowed into the fortress like a tide, packing the small enclosure to the brim.
Thomas was anxious, but then he heard the sentinel on the watchtower shout, “Captain! It’s the military council banner of Montaigne, the Civilian Protector!”
Thomas looked toward the approaching riders and saw a blood-red banner fluttering on the tip of a spear, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.
The legion’s company banners were blue with four quadrants, while the Herders used a green horse-tail banner.
In all of Iron Peak County, only one person carried a blood-red banner—brought back from the Great Wilderness, it was a unique personal military flag.
Thomas jumped down from the battlement and started to reassure the civilians. His forehead was still sweating when he heard a thunderous roar from outside the walls, “What the hell is going on? Thomas! Bart Xialing! Get out here!”
When Winters arrived at Niutigu Valley, it was already midday, the day after the ambush.
He was very unsatisfied with the condition of the Niutigu Valley fortress. From the time he heard the alarm bells to when he reached the outside of the fortress walls, there were still a large crowd of civilians congested at the gates, not yet accommodated inside.
With people crammed at both front and back entrances, Thomas was at a loss until he finally climbed over the wall in an embarrassing exit.
“Where’s Bart Xialing?” Winters asked with a stern face as he approached Captain Thomas.
Thomas answered swiftly, “By the riverbank, second company is monitoring the barbarians’ movement.”
Winters pointed at the disordered fortress, his anger barely contained as he questioned, “If I were a Herder, would you still be alive?”
Thomas was at a loss for words.
Without saying another word, Winters rode around the wall of the fortress.
Thomas stood there, not knowing what to do, as Xial dismounted sympathetically and patted the captain on the back.
Xial whispered to Thomas, “The captain is here to commend you. He’s happier about your victory than if he had won the battle himself.”
“Why did the Centurion come himself?” Thomas asked softly, “What about Revodan?
“Don’t worry, Captain Mason is in charge there.”
During their conversation, Winters had completed a circuit around the fortress and returned to the main gate.
“A hundred paces?” Winters asked.
“Yes!” Thomas replied, saluting: “It’s a hundred paces wide and long.”
“Too small!” Winters dismounted and pointed out the issue bluntly, “It’s fine for housing two companies, but how could it accommodate all the nearby civilians? Didn’t anyone consider the future when building this fortress?”
Thomas stood there, crestfallen.
Winters intended to scold him further, but then he remembered none of his captains had received complete military training.
Constructing a standard military fortress with double walls and a trench was, in fact, an overachievement on their part, after observing, learning by themselves, and putting it all into practice.
A few more words of reprimand, he feared, might destroy the self-confidence and dignity of these “self-taught” commanders.
“You fought well in this battle.” Winters sighed inwardly as he produced a commendation, “Have the fallen soldiers been gathered? Where are the wounded? I have brought Father Caman with me.”
Thomas, with tears he could not hold back, received the commendation.
Winters’ sudden arrival caused a bit of a commotion, but it settled down quickly.
Thomas and Bard Xialing explained in detail the course of the ambush.
“We were planning to move after the warhorses were delivered.” Bard Xialing lamented, “The barbarians on the opposite bank are cunning, only sending ten horses at a time. Our men were hiding under the riverbank, and they wouldn’t have withstood a careful search.”
Winters studied the map, using a compass to measure, “How many horses do the Herders on the other side have?”
“At least five or six hundred.”
“Five or six hundred? That’s extravagant!” Winters cast aside the compass, a trace of regret in his voice: “Oh, I can’t even muster a hundred horses right now.”
“How come?” Thomas asked, puzzled, “Didn’t we just get more than two hundred horses from Lieutenant Bard?”
Just mentioning that gave Winters a headache, “All taken by Lieutenant Chelini and Lieutenant A… without even a word to me.”
Amid complaints between Civilian Protectors, a humble captain dared not say much.
Andre and Tang Juan, with more than a hundred cavalry and over five hundred horses, had left without looking back, heading west. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel⸺fire.net
Winters silently accepted the decisions of Andre and Senior Tang Juan. This was not his war alone; everyone had their own duties.
Winters perked up and asked the two captains, “How did you know the Herders would cross the river at Pangtuo Forest?”
“It was all the second captain’s idea to arrange concealed sentries on the opposite bank,” Thomas swiftly replied, “Otherwise, we wouldn’t have won this battle.”
Thomas and Bard Xialing were two captains Winters valued the most. The latter was flexible in thinking, always with unusual ideas; the former was generous and amiable, able to command respect.