Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Winters didn't head straight back to Revodan; instead, he made a brief stop on Tuo Song Street to regroup his troops.

Andre and Bart Xialing, who were herding the horses, were the first to return.

More than seven hundred Kai horses were divided into several herds, each led by an extremely energetic groom.

Just by walking briskly, the herds could kick up clouds of dust, and when they ran, the sight was even more impressive, a magnificent spectacle to behold.

"Damn, we struck it rich!" That was the first thing Andre said when he met up with Winters.

The former, with tears welling up in his eyes, grabbed the latter's shoulder, as if he was about to break down in tears.

The spoils from the military horse farm in the southern hills far exceeded Winters and Andre's wildest imaginations.

Mont Blanc County wasn't famous for its horses; it was the Thunder Group County further east that was known for producing fine steeds—Thunder Group, as in "a thousand horses marching, their momentum like thunder."

So Winters didn't have high expectations to begin with.

If he could get a hundred horses, he would be completely satisfied.

If he managed to get two hundred, then it was time for a grand celebration.

But Andre brought back more than seven hundred Kai horses in one go, plus several hundred foals of varying ages.

The larger foals followed the mares while the smaller ones that weren't able to travel long distances were transported by wagon.

It wasn't just horses; even the grooms were bound and brought over by Andre.

Without the grooms, Andre's people alone couldn't have handled such a large herd of horses.

Thus, a curious sight unfolded across the Iron Peak County landscape: nervous grooms herding horses while Iron Peak County Cavalry watched over the grooms.

Poor bald middle-aged man had saved diligently for years, only for others to reap the benefits overnight.

"Ugh, this is so boring! They're all mares." Andre was extremely disappointed. "It's such a waste to use them for war; there's not a single proper warhorse among them!"

Look at that—the terrifying nature of human greed.

Not long ago, Andre couldn't stop smiling about capturing three military horses.

Now that he had taken more than a thousand horses in one go, he started to sigh and lament.

Winters, on the other hand, didn't harbor any discontent; he was too busy being ecstatic about the windfall of over a thousand horses.

But managing such a large herd also worried him: "Winter is coming. We need to quickly prepare a place and forage for the herd to hibernate. Over a thousand horses, big and small... we probably won't be able to take care of them all."

Andre remained as optimistic as ever: "Let's just have Senior Mason take care of them."

Lieutenant Chelini had always been one to "ride, not tend."

"Just having Senior Mason might not be enough," Winters said with a knowing smile. "Let's call Bard too."

Captain Montani was also of the "ride, not tend" persuasion.

And just like that, the burden was lightly pushed aside; the captain and the lieutenant were carefree and went merrily to see the foals.

...

After waiting for a day on Tuo Song Street, Winters' centurions and soldiers gradually came to meet up with him.

The troops that had been scattered were now reassembled into a whole again.

The soldiers' bodies were extremely weary, but their fighting spirit was even stronger than when they had set out.

"How did it go?" Winters asked his other centurion, Gail.

"Want to sleep." The other replied honestly. "Want to eat meat."

Winters laughed heartily, "Back in Revodan, we'll slaughter pigs and sheep!"

He had sent out twelve iron arrows and only nine had returned.

Three arrows might come back, or they might be lost forever.

Leaving behind some men on Tuo Song Street to remain on standby, Winters took one last long look towards Mont Blanc County, then set out once again.

Instead of heading straight back to Revodan, Winters led his troops on a detour to Hammer Fort—the current location of Iron Peak County's infantry battalion, where they successfully rendezvoused with Mason, Juan, and Moritz.

It wasn't because Winters wasn't in a hurry to return home—he was practically going crazy thinking about Anna.

But the chaos after the battle was more troublesome than the fighting itself: injured needed treatment, the battlefield needed to be cleaned, seized materials had to be inventoried, and soldiers' merits urgently needed recognition.

All of the above weren't considered major issues, because the military had its own procedures to deal with them.

What troubled Winters most at the moment was nothing other than—the prisoners of war.

"Don't say thanks," Lieutenant Tang Juan said, cockily resting his leg on a table. "I didn't help you fight for your sake, so you don't have to bother with sending gifts to thank me. A few horses or some gold will do."

"I really appreciate it, Senior," Winters said, his expression complex.

The original battle plan was to contain the enemy forces of Mont Blanc County and repel the enemy forces of Vernge County.

Winters executed the containment mission in the east perfectly.

But in the west, Tang Juan had turned the engagement into a complete encirclement battle.

Zibeer's forces were completely annihilated, with some soldiers dying, some escaping, and more than thirteen hundred being captured.

There might still be a bit of defensive force left in Vernge County, but their field units had been thoroughly wiped out.

Vernge County was now like an egg stripped of its shell, exposing its vulnerable insides.

On the surface, Vernge County was completely at Winters' mercy.

In reality, north of Vernge County lay the direct jurisdiction of Maplestone City—the heart of the legion.

In other words, the road to Maplestone City was now open, and the heart of the legion lay bare to the edge of Winters' blades.

And the last thing Winters wanted was to provoke the New Reclamation Legion.

The New Reclamation Legion was a cumbersome, large, and bureaucratic machine, but once it felt its life was in danger, its retaliation would be swift and fierce.

"Well, that settles it! It's all been fought anyway." Winters, now resigned to his problems, laughed and saluted Tang Juan and Moritz, "Senior, Lieutenant Colonel, surrounding a thousand men and defeating two thousand, that was a beautifully fought battle!"

Lieutenant Colonel Moritz silently sipped his drink.

"Like you don't know who commanded it," Juan's expression was just as cold, but he couldn't hide the amusement in the corner of his eyes. "That was quite satisfying. Even as a senior officer in Vineta, I would never have the chance to command forces of that scale."