Chapter 445 — The Day of Triumph

The meeting dragged on until sunset, and only when the lamps were lit were the various tasks regarding the takeover, control, and refitting of Boulder Fortress finally arranged in rough outline. Of all these arrangements, the most important was the question of who should next hold this vital northern gateway.

Gao Yang did not choose Philip and Byron, those two "veterans."

The loyalty and ability of the two knights were of course beyond doubt, but they were not suited to garrisoning Boulder Fortress. The First Combat Legion they commanded, as the Cecil main force, bore the weighty duty of maintaining security across the whole Southern Region and defending against the Dark Mountains — especially that second point, which Gao Yang would not dare relax for any reason.

In Gao Yang's eyes, the threat of the wasteland beyond the Dark Mountains far exceeded that of the human kingdoms to the north — though Boulder Fortress was a key gateway to the Southern Region, no matter how important it was, Gao Yang could not weaken the defense of the Cecil heartland for its sake.

Byron and Philip could not be tied down inside the fortress, and apart from them, the young generation of commanders currently cultivated in the Cecil heartland still lacked experience; among them there was no talent capable of shouldering such a burden.

In the end, Gao Yang chose an old knight from the Kant region — Wald Perrich.

With Philip's help, this deeply experienced knight had successfully transformed a troop of old-style noble retainers into the Cecil Second Combat Legion. Though the legion still had much in need of refinement, the old knight's ability had been demonstrated through the process, and what was even more precious was that Wald Perrich's capacity to accept new things and new ideas was unexpectedly strong. As the most senior knight in the Kant region, he actually learned the new weapon tactics and new military regulations faster than the young men, and even Philip had made a point of praising this to Gao Yang.

And beyond his ability, Wald Perrich's character was equally trustworthy.

The task of garrisoning Boulder Fortress and carrying out its refitting and modernization thus fell to the Second Combat Legion.

After the meeting ended, Gao Yang stood in the now-quiet hall, gazing at the map on the wall, sunk in thought.

The Northern Gate had been taken.

The royal capital would likely learn of this news soon, but given that the dukes of the Western and Northern Regions were currently bogged down dealing with the Eastern rebels, they would be powerless to resolve the crisis in the south. They knew the fighting strength of Boulder Fortress, and so could naturally estimate just how powerful the Cecil army that had broken it in a single day must be. As long as they were not fools, the two grand dukes would realize that in such circumstances, even if they scraped together a force, it would be utterly impossible to retake Boulder Fortress — it would only add to their losses. So the most likely response from the royal capital was to send envoys to make contact, seeking a temporary "stability."

And whether the royal capital sent envoys or sent armies, it was much the same to Gao Yang. All he wanted was a Duchy of Cecil undisturbed by outside interference and entirely under his control. He would shut this gate for the time being, isolating all forces that sought to lay hands on the Southern Region, and then quietly absorb and digest this vast territory that had just fallen into his grasp, making his foundation utterly secure and bringing it into a healthy phase of industrial operation. This process might take years — even with the pressure of the magic tide forcing him to accelerate everything, it could not be skipped.

The appearance of modern weapons would render traditional castle tactics obsolete, but this did not mean gateways like Boulder Fortress had lost their meaning; at least at the present stage, this northern gate would firmly guard the lands of the Duchy of Cecil.

The air nearby twisted slightly, and a shadow emerged from the air. Gao Yang turned to look toward the direction from which the shadow had appeared. "How are things outside?"

Amber helped herself to a water cup from the table beside her, gulping down more than half a cup of tea that had already gone cold, and only then began to report on the situation outside. "Everything is in order. The main force has completed the takeover, and the fortress's original garrison is now entirely confined. The Steel Rangers just dug the last batch of hiding fellows out of the mill in the western part of the city — all exiled knights from the old Southern Region. Their skills at fleeing and hiding have really improved considerably."

Gao Yan nodded. "And the civilians in the city?"

Amber grabbed another piece of pastry and stuffed it into her mouth, chewing as she spoke. "Martial law in the inner city, wartime curfew enforced — the civilians are of course all staying in their houses. But that lady knight called Margarita has already taken soldiers to read out the 'Proclamation of Pacification,' and she's distributed the supplies and medicine meant to reassure them. Both have proven quite effective; apart from being a little tense, the civilians in the inner city are keeping order quite well."

Gao Yang let out a breath. "Because we didn't bomb the civilian districts."

Boulder Fortress was a fortress-city — both fortress and city. Nearly ten thousand soldiers were permanently stationed there, and to maintain the fortress's operation and the army's stability, the central area of the fortress was a fully functioning town where, besides soldiers, a great many civilians also lived.

To prevent harm to the civilian districts, throughout the earlier bombardment the Cecil army had struck only the southern wall and the military installations behind the first wall. Even when Su Jilin and Luopeni carried out sabotage operations in the inner city, their targets for burning and attack had all been barracks, guard posts, mage towers, and the like. Though the civilian residential districts had suffered minor collateral damage during the process, compared with other places, that damage was almost negligible.

One could only say that the fragility of noble armies in this era had done Gao Song a great favor. Those conscripts, utterly lacking in discipline or conviction, had lost their will to resist almost immediately after the wall collapsed, which was why the Cecil army had been able to take the entire fortress with only limited bombardment — if the garrison of Boulder Fortress had been a force of tenacious fighting spirit and modern experience, if they had continued to resist after the wall fell, or even retreated into the inner city to fight the Cecilians street by street amid the intricate streets and dwellings, then this battle would never have been won so easily.

And the civilian casualties in the inner city would certainly not have been so light.

After she had finished reporting everything, Amber began staring fixedly at Gao Yang. She still held a pastry in her hand, crumbs still clinging to the corner of her mouth, but her gaze was utterly serious. Seeing this one's state, Gao Cen knew she had again run into something she could not work out, so he said casually, "If you want to ask something, just ask."

"How do you plan to deal with that Sir Marchi?"

"What kind of question is that — handle him as a prisoner of war, of course," Gao Yang waved his hand. "Send him back to Cecil, labor, reeducation, instill Cecil law into him, and then see whether he's willing to become part of Cecil, to become a law-abiding good citizen. In that case I can even preserve his noble title, though a 'new-style noble' basically keeps only the title and the annuity..."

At this answer Amber immediately wore a look of great disappointment. "Tch, I thought you'd give him special treatment."