Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters
Chapter 1178 - 19 The Great Alliance Moves Forward (3)_2

Chapter 1178: Chapter 19 The Great Alliance Moves Forward (3)_2

Seber asked without turning his head, "Are the prisoners’ words reliable?"

"They were all questioned individually, and their answers were quite similar, so it shouldn’t be collusion."

Seber made a sound of agreement and then asked, "How much do they know about the situation inside Maplestone City?"

"They know nothing," the junior officer replied, "According to them, they haven’t even set foot in Maple Fort, they just stayed a night in Maplestone City and left quickly. However, they say Maple Fort sent reinforcements of one battalion to join their original five battalions, making a total of six battalions heading to Green Valley."

Seber calculated mentally, six battalions roughly amount to three thousand men, which basically aligns with the information he observed.

"So, these people are not from the New Reclamation Legion—the reinforcements from the Grand Council have arrived." Colonel Seber sighed deeply and asked his subordinates, "Did you send someone to Green Valley to report the latest enemy situation to Captain Montaigne?"

The junior officer answered softly, "No."

Seber turned his head, his gaze sharp, "What do you mean?"

"There’s another piece of intelligence from the prisoners," the junior officer said slowly, "You need to decide whether to inform Captain Montaigne."

"Stop wasting time! Speak."

"The troops of the Grand Council arriving by land to Maplestone City only include the so-called Sixth Legion’s five battalions." The junior officer licked his lips hesitantly and said, "According to the prisoners, the other five battalions of the pseudo-government’s Sixth Legion came by ship..."

A myriad of possibilities exploded in Seber’s mind: "By ship? When did they arrive? Where are they now?"

"Unknown," the junior officer admitted honestly, "They only know that the other five battalions came by ship to the Newly Reclaimed Land."

Seber’s head began to ache, he cleared his mind of distractions and stared coldly at his subordinate, "Take the prisoners’ intelligence... no, deliver the prisoners to Captain Montaigne! Go now! You go personally!"

The junior officer was intimidated by the stare and quickly saluted in agreement.

"Don’t go yet." Seber called his subordinate back and pointed to the officer on the chestnut horse at the bottom of the hill: "The identity of the enemy’s reinforcement commander, did the prisoners reveal it?"

"Reportedly named Felter, Alder, a Major."

"Alder Felter." Seber frowned, pondering for a while, "I’ve never heard of it, doesn’t sound like a name of the Paratu people."

"He’s not one of us Paratu, but a Provincial Guy," the junior officer explained, "Originally came to train fresh recruits for the pseudo-government, and now he’s joined the expedition."

Seber chuckled lightly, "I see... Did you bring your troops?"

"Yes," the junior officer nodded emphatically, "Four tents, twenty-four cavalry, all waiting behind."

"How many veterans?"

"Half."

"Then we can give it a try." Seber opened his mouth, vigorously moved his jaw, revealing two sharp teeth. He instructed his subordinate, "Your squad is under my command. You take the prisoners to Green Valley and report the latest military intelligence to Captain Montaigne."

The wind brushed across the fields hiding ferocious beasts, yet making their forms even harder to detect.

"Provincial Guy." Seber Carrington stared intensely at the officer on the chestnut horse at the bottom of the hill, "Today is just your unlucky day."

...

Behind was Maplestone City, ahead lay Maiqiu Town, with gentle rolling mounds on both sides, and a provincial road beneath his feet swirling with dust.

Facing frequent harassment and provocation, and surrounded by unknown enemy conditions, Major Alder Felter could only endure the frustration, bowing his head and rushing on.

He ran back and forth, personally confirmed the losses of the light cavalry detachment: less than a day since departing from Maplestone City, half of the light cavalry attached to him were lost, and the remaining had lost all morale.

The honorary officer in charge of commanding the light cavalry stood before Major Alder Felter with a guilty face, unable to say a single word.

Major Felter sighed, ultimately refraining from harsh words because he knew that the current situation wasn’t entirely the fault of this newly trained honorary officer.

Small enemy cavalry’s harassment continued, with hoof beats and gunfire occasionally ringing out from both sides of the road.

Major Felter had no choice but to order to ignore them and continue marching.

There was no choice, if he were to stay alert or react aggressively, the march speed would be inevitably slowed, playing right into the enemy’s hands.

Major Felter, participating in real combat for the first time in Paratu, immediately grasped the differences in the art of war of the Kingdom of Galloping Horses compared to the densely populated, water-grid networked Federated Provinces.

Fortunately, Maiqiu Town was just ahead; once inside a fortified town, the harassment by small light cavalry would become meaningless.

"Don’t slack off!" Major Felter stood by the roadside, loudly encouraging the troops, "Once we reach Maiqiu Town, you can rest to your heart’s content."

The soldiers responded with silence to the Major’s speech.

Major Felter knew he wasn’t good with words, so he waved his riding whip and headed towards the front of the ranks.

After rounding a sharp curve at the bottom of a slope, he suddenly heard the sudden clatter of hooves.

Major Felter looked up as a small squad of cavalry leapt from the reverse slope of the hill, charging straight at him like arrows.

...

[Mirror Lake County]

[Green Valley Town]

The troops of Iron Peak County didn’t stay within Green Valley Town, instead setting camp on a vacant field outside the town.

Prisoners were also taken outside the town for individual interrogation and identification.

Aside from the company guarding the north and south gates, only Xial led the military police into Green Valley Town to confiscate the assets and properties of the New Reclamation Legion.