I only wanted to retire, but I ended up becoming an extremely popular character.

After the "Imperial Blade" legion left Segner town to attack the city of Sarlom.

Colonel Xavier left Lieutenant Colonel Horton with a thousand men to garrison the area.

If there were sufficient troops, Colonel Xavier would not hesitate to add more troops to the garrison in Segner.

However, his forces were already limited, and in order to capture Sarlom as quickly as possible, he had to concentrate his superior forces.

In order to alleviate the pressure on Xavier, Lieutenant Colonel Horton also insisted on not allowing Xavier to leave more troops in Segner.

Of course, having Lieutenant Colonel Horton around also saved Xavier a lot of trouble.

Horton quickly divided his troops into two groups: one group took over the fortifications left by the Holy Kingdom, repaired the artillery, and set up sentry posts.

Another team cleaned up the battlefield, moving and gathering the bodies of the fallen Holy Kingdom soldiers to ensure the roads were clear and to clear the firing line for any potential battles.

Lieutenant Colonel Horton gazed at the raging flames in the direction of Sallom, and the muffled sounds of explosions could be faintly heard.

He clenched his fists tightly, wishing he could be on the front lines right now, relieving some of the pressure on Colonel Xavier.

Colonel Xavier had too much on his shoulders.

This was not merely a siege battle, but a matter of the fate of the entire army and the future of the empire's western front.

He could only watch from afar.

The evening breeze, carrying a cool breeze, swept through the town, bringing with it a lingering smell of gunpowder.

Horton took a deep breath and forced himself to look away from the distance.

He knew that continuing to watch would be pointless and would only increase his anxiety.

He is a soldier, and soldiers need action and solutions to problems, not futile worries.

He turned around and walked firmly toward the temporary command post.

Under the oil lamp, the military map, which had been repeatedly rubbed and worn, was spread out.

Since we can't go to the front lines, let's find a way out on the map.

Perhaps he could discover a overlooked detail or an insufficiently considered battle plan, giving Xavier a slight but crucial advantage.

As night deepened, an unusual silence descended upon the town of Segna.

Horton's figure was frozen in front of the window, blending into the map.

This is the only thing he can do right now, and the most important thing he should do at this moment.

"Report, Lieutenant Colonel Horton! Something terrible has happened!" Suddenly, an Imperial captain rushed in through the door.

Because of the urgency of the situation, he didn't even have time to knock on the door.

This captain, named Mars, belonged to the "Imperial Blade" regiment and was one of Lieutenant Colonel Horton's longtime subordinates.

Although he was only in his early thirties, he had an unusually mature face.

His dark skin looked as if it had been repeatedly polished by wind, sand and scorching sun, and fine wrinkles were etched at the corners of his eyes early on. His whole person exuded a sense of vicissitude and composure that did not match his age.

Horton's heart tightened, and he quickly questioned Mars, "What happened?"

……

……

Night was falling on the southwest side of Segner town.

A cluster of depressions and shadows of ruins, close to the ground, silently and swiftly surged toward the side of the town.

The group of dark figures were clearly wearing the uniforms of the Holy Kingdom's army.

They made almost no extra sound; the only sounds during their movements were their extremely suppressed breathing and the rustling of their clothes.

They were spotted by an Imperial veteran guarding a defensive position just as they were getting close to the Imperial army's position.

The veteran's pupils constricted sharply, and his heart felt as if it were being gripped by an invisible hand.

The town of Segnar was originally deathly silent under the cover of night, with only the occasional breeze blowing through the ruins.

Suddenly, an old soldier who was carrying supplies looked up sharply, his pupils contracting sharply—in the creeping darkness ahead, countless figures could be vaguely seen silently approaching the position. Those figures were like ghosts growing from the night, already terrifyingly close.

"Enemy attack—! Those damned Holy Kingdom pigs have crept up here!"

The veteran screamed hysterically, his voice torn apart by extreme terror. Almost simultaneously, he raised his rifle, pointed it at the writhing darkness, and slammed the trigger.

"Bang--!"

A gunshot rang out like a thunderclap, shattering the tranquility of Segna town.

How could an enemy force of such size have gotten so close without being detected?

The soldiers on duty in the watchtower should have been the first to discover the enemy's presence.

But the watchtower was now pitch black and eerily silent.

There were no alarms, no gunshots, not even a cry of alarm, as if no living person had ever existed in that watchtower.

The instant the gunshots fell, a sudden burst of rapid gunfire erupted from the depths of darkness, like a torrential downpour.

Bullets swarmed like locusts, biting hard at the sandbags of the fortifications, kicking up clouds of dirt, hitting the remaining walls, sending brick fragments flying, and a few bullets grazed the street, striking figures who had not yet had time to react.

"The bastards from the Holy Kingdom have come up here!"

"Quickly! Organize a defense! Quickly!"

Gunshots, shouts, and screams rang out in an instant.

The Imperial soldiers, who were silently collecting the bodies of their fallen comrades and moving supplies among the streets and ruins, were stunned by this sudden blow.

Immediately, everyone dropped everything and ran frantically toward the nearest defensive fortifications.

Some people had only run a few steps when they collapsed and never got up again.

The soldiers already inside the fortifications immediately picked up their weapons and desperately fought back against the darkness that was spewing flames.

Bullets crisscrossed, forming a dense web of fire that drew countless blinding trails across the night sky.

A soldier, pinned behind fortifications and unable to lift his head, roared hoarsely, listening to the bullets whizzing overhead: "Where are our artillery? Where are our artillerymen? Have they gone home to take care of their children? Bomb those Holy Kingdom bastards to death!"

"Captain Mars has moved the artillery to the east side of the town, supposedly to guard against a flanking attack from the Holy Kingdom's army in Sallom."

"An Imperial soldier who knew the inside story responded from inside the fortifications."

"Where's Captain Mars? Those Holy Kingdom pigs have already come up here!" another soldier asked, frustrated.

"I heard he went to report to Lieutenant Colonel Horton!" a soldier shouted from inside the fortifications, firing a shot before retreating back inside.

"Damn it..." Although the soldier was furious, he could only curse the Mars family genealogy in his heart.

……

……

"The Holy Kingdom's army has reached our front lines!"

Captain Mars rushed into the temporary command post, his chest heaving violently, his voice hoarse from the rush.

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, a burst of gunfire erupted from the southwest of Segner.

The Imperial army and the Holy Kingdom have already clashed and entered a state of combat.

"The Holy Kingdom's reaction was so swift?" Lieutenant Colonel Horton clenched his teeth, his knuckles turning white from gripping his fist so tightly.

"I stake my name, Horton Williams', and my soldier's honor, on the fact that I will not allow the town of Segner to fall into the hands of the Holy Kingdom!"

He knew exactly what the fall of this town meant.

First, the Imperial army that captures the city of Sarlom will be cut off from supplies, and the front lines will be unable to receive material support.

If the Imperial army's attack on the direction of Saarlom fails, their retreat route back to Goldberg will be completely cut off.

Whether it was for Colonel Xavier, who entrusted his back to him, or for the thousands of Imperial soldiers fighting bloody battles on the front lines.

He absolutely could not retreat even a single step, much less allow the town of Segnar to fall into the hands of the Holy Kingdom's army.

"Let's go, Mars! Let's go and meet those Holy Kingdom scum!"

Horton grabbed the military cap from the table and put it on his head, then slammed his other hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist, turned and strode out of the temporary command post.

However, the scene before him as soon as he stepped out of the command post almost froze his blood.

A dozen meters away, at the shadowy entrance to a small alley diagonally opposite, stood an "old acquaintance" he absolutely did not want to see here—Major Curtis, no, he should now be called Captain Curtis!

Curtis's hands hung at his sides, and a thick, dark red liquid was slowly dripping from his fingertips.

Deeper into the alley behind him, several soldiers in Imperial uniforms lay motionless on the ground, their bodies contorted in extreme ways.

The armed guards who should have been stationed on both sides of the command post were nowhere to be found.