Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 446 - 445: Day of Triumph

The meeting lasted until sunset, and it wasn’t until the lights were lit that the arrangements for taking over, managing, and renovating the Phan Stone Fortress were finally roughly settled. Among all the arrangements, the most important was deciding who should guard this crucial northern gateway next.

Gawain did not choose Sir Philip or Byron Kirk, the two ”veterans.”

The loyalty and competence of these two knights were, of course, beyond doubt. However, they were not suitable for guarding the Phan Stone Fortress. The First Combat Corps they led was the main force of the Cecil Clan, responsible for maintaining the security of the entire southern borders and defending against the Dark Mountain Range, especially the latter, which Gawain dared not relax.

In Gawain’s eyes, the threat from the wasteland beyond the Dark Mountain Range far exceeded that of the human kingdoms to the north. Although the Phan Stone Fortress was an important portal to the southern borders, no matter how important it was, Gawain could not afford to weaken the defense of the Cecil Homeland for it.

Byron Kirk and Sir Philip couldn’t be tied to the fortress, and besides them, the young generation of commanders currently cultivated by the Cecil Homeland still lacked experience, and none of them was yet qualified for this heavy responsibility.

Ultimately, Gawain chose the old knight from the Kant Region — Knight Wald Peric.

This experienced knight, with the help of Sir Philip, successfully transformed a traditional noble private militia into Cecil’s Second Combat Corps. Although this corps still had many areas needing improvement, the old knight’s abilities had been demonstrated in this process. Even more commendably, Wald Peric’s acceptance of new things and ideas was surprisingly strong. As the oldest knight in the Kant Region, his speed in learning new weaponry tactics and new military regulations and thoughts was actually quicker than the young people, and even Sir Philip specifically praised this point to Gawain.

Besides his abilities, Wald Peric’s character was equally trustworthy.

The task of guarding the Phan Stone Fortress and conducting its renovation and modernization thus fell upon the Second Combat Corps.

After the meeting, Gawain stood in the now quietened hall, gazing at the map hanging on the wall, lost in thought.

The northern gate has been taken.

The royal capital might soon hear this news, but given the Duke of the West and the Duke of the North are currently exhausted in dealing with the Eastern Territory Rebels, they will be powerless to resolve the southern predicament. Knowing the combat strength of the Phan Stone Fortress, they can naturally estimate the strength of Cecil’s Army that breached it within a day. As long as they’re not foolish, the two dukes will realize that in this situation, even if they cobble together a force, it is simply impossible to retake the Phan Stone Fortress, and it would only lead to needless expenditure. So, the most likely response from the royal capital is to send envoys to make contact, seeking temporary ”stability.”

Whether the royal capital sends envoys or troops, it makes little difference to Gawain. What he desires is a Cecil Principality that is undisturbed by external forces and completely under his control. He will temporarily close this gate, isolate all forces intending to reach the southern borders, and quietly absorb and consolidate the vast territory that has just fallen into his hands, stabilizing his base completely and entering a positive stage of industrial operation. This process may take several years, and even with the pressure of the chaotic wave, which forces him to accelerate everything, this process remains indispensable.

The emergence of modernized weaponry will render traditional castle tactics obsolete, but this does not mean that portals like the Phan Stone Fortress are meaningless. At least in the current stage, this northern gate will firmly protect the lands of the Cecil Principality.

The nearby air shimmered slightly, and a shadow emerged from it. Gawain turned to the direction where the shadow appeared and asked, ”How’s the situation outside?”

Amber picked up a cup from the nearby table and gulped down more than half of the already cooled tea before starting to report on the situation outside: ”Everything’s in order. The main forces have completed the takeover; the original fortress garrison has all been imprisoned. The Steel Cavalry Scouts just found the last batch of hideaways in the mill west of the city—originally exiled knights from the southern territories. Their ability to hide and escape has indeed improved a lot.”

Gawain nodded: ”What about the civilians in the city?”

Amber stuffed a piece of pastry into her mouth and said while chewing, ”The Inner City District is under martial law, enforcing wartime curfew, so civilians are staying in their homes. However, that female knight named Margarita has already led soldiers to read the ’Pacification Announcement,’ and the supplies and medicines for appeasement have been distributed. These two things are quite useful; currently, besides being a bit tense, the order among the civilians in the Inner City District is quite good.”

Gawain sighed: ”Because we didn’t bomb the civilian area.”

Phan Stone Fortress is a fortress-type city—both a fortress and a city, where nearly ten thousand soldiers are long-term stationed. To maintain the fortress’s operation and the stability of the army, the central area of this fortress is a fully functional town, where, besides the soldiers, a large number of civilians also live.

To prevent accidentally harming civilian areas, during the entire previous bombardment, Cecil’s Army only targeted the southern city walls and the military facilities behind the first wall. Even when Soldrin and Luo Peini were carrying out sabotage in the Inner City District, their arson and assault targets were military camps, sentry posts, and Mage towers, and such places. Although the civilian district suffered slight collateral damage during this process, compared to elsewhere, the damage was negligible.

It’s fair to say, the fragility of the noble lords’ army in this era greatly helped Gawain. Those conscription soldiers, devoid of discipline or belief, almost immediately lost the will to resist once the city walls fell, allowing Cecil’s Army to capture the entire fortress with limited bombardment — if the garrison at Phan Stone Fortress were a force with strong fighting spirit and modern experience, and if they had continued to resist after the walls fell, even retreating into the Inner City District and leveraging its complex streets and residential areas to engage the Cecilians in street fighting, this battle would not have been won so easily.

The civilian damage in the Inner City District would also not have been so light.

After finishing all the reports, Amber started staring intently at Gawain, while still holding a pastry in her hand, with crumbs on her mouth. Her eyes, however, were serious. Gawain immediately recognized that she was puzzled over something again, so he casually said, ”Go ahead and ask whatever you want to ask.”

”What are you planning to do with Sir Maryland?”

”What’s there to ask—of course, treat him as a war prisoner,” Gawain waved his hand, ”Send him back to Cecil, labor, education, instill Cecil’s laws, and then see if he wants to become a part of Cecil, a good law-abiding citizen. That way, I can preserve his noble title, although ’new aristocracy’ basically only retains a title and annuity...”

Amber immediately showed a disappointed expression upon hearing this answer: ”Tch, I thought you would treat him specially.”

Gawain paused for a moment, slowly asking, ”Do you remember what I said in front of you and Wright last time?”

Amber thought for a moment: ”About the land nobility?”

Gawain nodded: ”That’s right, among traditional land nobility, there are ’good’ ones, who retain knightly spirit, practice true aristocratic virtues, and have commendable character. Sir Maryland is such a noble—but this still doesn’t change his essence as a land noble, and the limitations of his ’aristocratic virtues’. He is a respectable knight, but that’s not enough. On a personal level, I admire him, but as the leader, I must transform him without distinction.”

At this point, Gawain couldn’t help but laugh: ”Of course, Sir Maryland is different from those southern aristocrats—I believe that this knight will smoothly become aware, undergo transformation, and become a law-abiding and harmless ’new noble’. I see the shadow of Sir Philip in him. People like them, although rigid and hard to change, will reliably transform once they recognize the right direction, unlike those southern aristocrats who are beyond redemption—they might shout on the first day of collective labor about their willingness to pledge allegiance to Cecil, but even after shouting for ten years, I wouldn’t fully trust them.”

”Those traditional aristocrats...” Amber muttered upon hearing this and then stuffed the last bit of pastry into her mouth, ”Anyway, it doesn’t matter now, you’ve finally taken the northern gate you’ve been thinking about. Now the entire southern borders are entirely under your control, you have all the time to deal with those folks.”

”The entire southern borders? No, I haven’t controlled the entire southern borders yet.” Gawain’s lips curled up, his gaze fell beyond Amber’s face covered with crumbs onto the military map, onto the ”Lu An City” where Saint Lu An Cathedral is located.

That city lies in the northwest of the southern borders, already circled by a red circle.

Amber noticed Gawain’s gaze and looked at the map, suddenly showing a surprised expression: ”Are you going to... take action against those preachers?”

”No, surround them for a while longer,” Gawain shook his head, ”Saint Lu An Cathedral is not rocky ridges Fortress, physically destroying or occupying that cathedral would be a loss rather than a gain. To destroy the old Holy Light church’s foundation in the southern borders, the approach has to be psychological, which requires careful preparation.”

Amber keenly noted the ”old Holy Light church” term from Gawain’s words and smiled knowingly.

Three days later, the situation in rocky ridges Fortress had basically stabilized, and all registration and statistical work were completed. It was confirmed that Knight Wald Peric and his Second Combat Corps had achieved complete control over the fortress. Gawain then boarded the ”Aurora” warship powered by sea demons with Amber, Byron, Luo Peini, and others, leaving the fortress.

Meanwhile, thanks to convenient Magic Web Communications, the news of victory at the front line was actually transmitted back to Cecil Castle via wireless signal even before the army returned to homeland.

In Cecil Castle, inside the Administrative Office, Aunt Heidi finished her Magic Web Communication with Rebecca—after filtering through her overly enthusiastic and illogical chatter, she understood Rebecca’s request.

A moment later, she summoned Kamel.

Fully glowing with arcane magic, Kamel entered Aunt Heidi’s office, greeted her, acknowledging her lower-level mage skills but exceptional administrative abilities as ”Cecil’s Great Steward”: ”Good afternoon, Madam—Has the message from the front line been received?”

”Indeed, it’s a complete victory,” Aunt Heidi smiled and said, ”And Rebecca mentioned there’s something you need to do—it’s at the leader’s request.”

”A technical issue?”

”Sort of,” Aunt Heidi nodded, ”The leader decided to take advantage of this victory to conduct a large-scale broadcast test. Rebecca provided a plan to evaluate the actual performance of Magic Web Communications...”