OBS Chapter 682 Intervene
Chapter 682 Intervene
Under the sky above Rhône, the banner of Midland replaced Yoda's banner, unfurling in the wind.
The fire in the city had not been completely extinguished yet; lingering smoke and the smell of burning filled the air, and craters left by shelling were everywhere, with piles of broken walls and tiles.
Most of the original houses collapsed, and scattered weapons and broken armor could be seen on the streets. The city could not accommodate a large army, so the main camp had to be set up on an open space outside the city. Tents were laid out in rows, and soldiers walked back and forth. Occasionally, the sound of weapons clashing could be heard.
In Count Yuris's tent, the light was dim. He sat at the table, holding a military merit certificate in his hand.
The document, written by the heraldic officer, meticulously records the contributions of each unit in the siege of Rhône, from the initial probing attacks of the vanguard to the main force's full-scale assault, and then to the supply support from the follow-up troops. Every unit that participated in the battle was recorded in detail.
As long as he agrees, the document will be sent to Windam by fast horse, becoming an important certificate for the king's bestowal of honor.
His gaze slowly swept across the documents, his face expressionless as he passed over the familiar names of the noble units, but when his eyes stopped on the line for "The Eagle's Regiment," his brows furrowed little by little.
He watched for a long time. The tent was so quiet that he could hear the wind blowing through it, and occasionally he could hear the coughs of soldiers and the soft clinking of weapons in the distance.
Finally, he tossed the document onto the table, the paper sliding across the surface and landing with a slight thud at the feet of the herald.
The herald officer, who had been standing by, barely daring to breathe, quickly bent down to pick it up. He glanced at the contents of the document, then looked up and saw Yuris's tense jawline and gloomy face. His heart skipped a beat, and he instantly understood that the Earl was extremely dissatisfied with the document.
He stood still, leaning slightly forward, and spoke very softly, afraid of offending the other party.
"Your Excellency, is there anything else in this document that needs to be revised?"
Yuris didn't even look up; his tone was cold and hard, leaving no room for negotiation.
"Remove some of the Hawk's credit, keeping only their basic contributions in the war, and delete everything else."
The herald officer nearly dropped the document in his hand; his fingertips trembled slightly.
He hesitated for a moment, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead, but he still forced himself to speak.
"But sir, the Eagle Corps' achievements in this document were confirmed by General Laban and other generals who participated in the siege. We also checked the battle reports of each unit, and every item was based on evidence. If there are such big changes, should we inform the generals first?"
These words were like a fuse; Yuris turned around abruptly, his eyes filled with rage, and his voice suddenly rose, causing the canvas on the top of the tent to sway slightly.
"Who is the commander of this army, Talaban or me? Just do what I tell you to do, stop talking so much!"
The herald clerk shrank back, his shoulders trembling slightly, and nodded hastily, startled by his anger.
"I'll go make it up right now!"
After saying that, he practically fled out of the tent. When he lifted the curtain, he almost bumped into a soldier passing by outside. The soldier was stunned for a moment and was about to greet him when he saw the officer of the insignia running quickly toward his own tent without turning his head.
Yuris remained in the tent, his chest heaving violently, his breathing becoming heavy.
He knew that the Eagle Band had indeed made great contributions in the siege; those mercenaries were at the forefront, tearing apart Yoda's army's defenses and even killing General Yoda inside the city.
But the Eagle Band is not the regular army of Midland, nor is it a force led by nobles. They are just a group of mercenaries of humble origin. If they were to take so much credit, where would the nobles and regular army of Midland put their faces?
Who will take these legitimate troops seriously in the future?
What he wanted was the dignity of the Midland nobles and the orthodox authority of the army. The brilliance of the Band of the Hawk was too great and would only overshadow these, and might even shake the status of the nobles in the army.
The herald returned to his small tent, quickly pulled the tent flap tight, spread out the documents on the table, and frowned at the section on the Group of Eagles' achievements.
These are all genuine achievements, and now we have to delete them all and come up with a reasonable explanation, which is really not easy.
He bit his pen, his brows furrowed, and after thinking for a long time, he slowly began to write, erasing the key achievements of the Eagle Corps one by one, leaving only vague descriptions such as "participated in the siege and made some contribution." He also added some insignificant details to the merits of other noble units, trying to make the document look more reasonable.
After finishing writing, he read it over several times to make sure there were no flaws before taking the revised document and entering Yuris's tent again.
"Your Excellency, it's been revised."
Yuris took the document and read it word by word. His gaze lingered on the section about the Band of the Hawk for a long time until he was sure that the Band of the Hawk's contribution had been minimized and that they were no different from those minor, insignificant units. Only then did he nod in satisfaction.
"Okay, that's settled. Make a new copy and give it to me."
The herald officer breathed a sigh of relief; his back was already soaked with sweat. He quickly bowed in agreement, turned around, and hurried away, but he still felt uneasy, as if a stone was pressing on his heart.
He knew the document contained lies, and that the soldiers who had fought so hard should not be treated this way, but he was just a lowly heraldic officer and dared not disobey the count's orders. He could only sigh silently in his heart.
As time went by, the reconstruction of Rona slowly began. In addition to their daily patrols to prevent the remaining Yoda troops from launching sneak attacks, the soldiers also helped clear the ruins and occasionally found some usable items from the broken walls.
The smell of burning in the city had faded somewhat, and occasionally one could see some surviving residents returning to their homes and building makeshift shacks on the ruins.
The members of the Eagle Band are still stationed in the city, with their tents pitched in the northwest corner, some distance away from the camps of other regular troops.
These days, they haven't received any news about military achievements. Every day, besides training, they help clear the ruins, and life is a bit dull.
Occasionally, one could hear soldiers from other units discussing that the rewards would definitely not go to them, these "ragtag troops," and those harsh words felt like needles pricking their hearts.
Inside the Hawk Band's tent, Gorgas paced back and forth restlessly, clutching a dagger in his hand and occasionally poking the ground, leaving small dents in the soil.
"Damn it, we put in the most effort, we led the night raid, and we killed General Yoda, but this Yuris won't even see us, and we haven't even received any official confirmation of our military achievements."
His voice was loud and full of complaints. Everyone else in the tent remained silent, their faces also showing dissatisfaction.
Even the usually composed Jiedu couldn't help but sigh. This siege had resulted in the loss of most of his scouting team, including several brothers who had fought alongside him through thick and thin. Now, he couldn't even get the recognition he deserved from the nobles above.
"Griffiths, why don't we just leave Midland and go to Yoda's side? With our record, they'll at least give us a general's rank. It's better than being humiliated here."
Golcas complained to Griffith, who was sitting quietly to the side.
"If you ask me, it would be better to go back to Governor Doldoregoron. He gave us so much money and treated us much better than we do here. At least we wouldn't be looked down upon like we are now."
Gorkas kept reminiscing about his wonderful life in Dordore, muttering to himself, when suddenly a small pebble hit him squarely on the forehead. The force wasn't heavy, but it was enough to make him wince in pain.
"Ouch, that hurts so much!"
Gorkas rubbed his forehead and looked in the direction the pebble had come from, where he saw Casca standing there with an angry expression on her face.
He immediately said angrily:
"Casca, what are you doing now!"
Casca pursed her lips, her eyes filled with complex emotions. She had thrown the stone out of anger, after all, Griffith had just escaped from that hellhole. But she couldn't say these things directly, as that would be very detrimental to Griffith's plans.
Just then, Griffith slowly rose to his feet, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the tent, his eyes filled with a reassuring certainty.
"It will be soon. Although Count Yuris has a bad attitude towards us, I think someone will appreciate us soon. Our contributions will not be buried forever."
His voice wasn't loud, but it calmed the atmosphere in the tent considerably. Although Gorkas was still somewhat dissatisfied, he didn't continue complaining. He just snorted and sat down to wipe his weapons.
A week later, in the study of Wyndam Palace, King Midland sat in a large chair with two documents on the table.
Sunlight streamed through the window and fell on him, but it didn't make him feel much warmth.
He picked up one of them, a military merit document revised by Yuris. The handwriting was neat, but it revealed deliberate favoritism everywhere.
His gaze swept across the page, and when he saw the name of the Band of the Hawk, he only glanced at it briefly before casually putting it aside, his face expressionless.
Then he picked up another document, which was secretly sent by General Laban. It was sealed with coded wax and detailed the performance of the Band of the Hawk in the siege: how they broke through Yoda's blockade in the dead of night, how they risked their lives to cover the subsequent troops entering the city, and even the number of enemies killed was recorded clearly. Finally, he pleaded with the king to give the Band of the Hawk an appropriate reward so that those who had made contributions would not be discouraged.
The king looked for a long time, and finally let out a long sigh, his voice tinged with helplessness.
He knew his younger brother Yuris all too well. Yuris had been instilled with the idea of the supremacy of nobility since childhood, and his heart was filled with the dignity of the Midland nobles and the regular army. He felt that irregular forces like the Band of the Hawk should not receive much recognition, and even felt that their existence was a desecration of the nobility.
But the king knew in his heart that dignity was earned through battle and accumulated through victories. If he could not win battles, he would not be able to protect the country, and he would not even have a foundation to stand on, let alone any dignity.
Although the Band of the Hawk came from humble beginnings, they were capable of fighting and winning battles. This was the kind of force that Midland truly needed.
He put down the documents and looked up at little Hoss standing to the side.
"Little Hoss, you now draft a document."
Little Hoss stepped forward, bowed in agreement, and had already prepared paper and pen in his hand.
"Order Count Yuris to lead those who have contributed to this battle back to Wyndam as soon as possible to receive their rewards."
Little Hoss nodded, responded respectfully, and turned to prepare to draft the document.
The king's gaze returned to the two documents, and he had already made up his mind.
He would not allow those who truly deserved merit to be overlooked. He had to give the Band of the Hawk their due recognition, not only to reward them, but also to let everyone who served Midland know that merit would be rewarded accordingly.
Midland needs victory, but even more so, it needs people who know how to win, and the Band of the Hawk is just that.