Lynd rode his horse into the crude camp built by the routed Bloodshoe Brotherhood, where the First Cavalry Regiment was clearing bodies.
Counting the wounded in the camp, they had eliminated a total of one hundred and seventeen enemies this time.
Although they had completely wiped out the bandits in the camp, Lynd was not satisfied with the performance of the First Cavalry Regiment this time.
After Honor had infiltrated and dealt with all the sentries and guards, the First Cavalry Regiment only needed to quietly sneak in and deal with the sleeping people in the camp.
Yet, they couldn't even complete such a simple task smoothly, instead alarming some bandits and even allowing them to get their weapons, thus giving them a chance to resist.
Although these hastily resisting individuals were ultimately no match for the fully armed First Cavalry Regiment and died at their hands, several cavalrymen were still injured, one even losing a hand, a needless loss of combat power.
Such a result naturally did not satisfy Lynd; through this test, his evaluation of the First Cavalry Regiment was 'average,' not yet reaching 'excellent,' and requiring long-term training to change their combat habits.
Judging from this, if the First Cavalry Regiment was like this, the Second Cavalry Regiment and the Guards would probably also need some time to train.
Originally, Lynd had planned to lead his subordinates to fight by fighting after entering the area east of the Mander River, starting with clearing the smallest bandit groups.
But now, it seemed he needed to change his plan; at least until the cavalry adapted to the new fighting style, he must focus on training and supplement it with combat.
Lost in thought, Lynd had already arrived in front of the main building of the camp.
Compared to the other haphazardly constructed buildings in the camp, the main building was clearly in better condition; judging by the foundation, it should have been a watchtower-like structure previously.
Upon entering, the first thing he saw was a pile of coins, covered with indentations and bloodstains, indicating that a battle had taken place here.
Brynden Rivers, who was cleaning the coins, saw Lynd arrive and immediately stepped forward to report the situation.
It turned out that the current leader of the Bloodshoe Brotherhood was sleeping on this pile of money at the time.
When the First Cavalry Regiment approached, they accidentally caused a pile of money to collapse, making a noise, which startled the leader, ultimately preventing the First Cavalry Regiment's stealth assassination from being completely successful.
Lynd looked at the pile of coins; although the sheer volume of money piled up was visually striking, in reality, there wasn't much money.
Apart from the top layer of less than a hundred gold dragons, the middle was all silver stags, and they were all inferior coins with blackened surfaces and severe wear.
As for the copper plates at the very bottom, there was no need to mention them; a rough estimate put the total value of this pile of coins at most just over one hundred gold dragons.
However, Lynd quickly realized that his judgment was somewhat subjective; the twenty thousand gold dragons from the championship prize had given him a false impression that money was worthless, so much so that over a hundred gold dragons were completely disregarded by him.
But in reality, let alone such bandit groups, even for the regular armies under a great lord, one hundred gold dragons was a very large sum, enough to comfortably support several hundred people for several years.
"Everyone who participated in the battle this time will be rewarded five silver stags; those who killed enemies and those who were injured will receive an additional five, and the one who lost a hand will get twenty silver stags," Lynd instructed.
"Also, ask the one who lost a hand if he is willing to continue fighting for me. If he is, once his injury heals, have the blacksmith forge him a prosthetic hand and transfer him to my side as a personal guard."
"Yes," Brynden Rivers responded.
Lynd then asked, "During the battle just now, did anyone loot anything?"
Brynden Rivers paused, then nodded and said, "Yes, almost everyone did."
Lynd heard this, was silent for a moment, and said, "Once everyone has gathered, have those who looted turn over everything they took, then give them ten lashes, to be carried out in the middle of the camp where everyone can see, executed by the Second Cavalry Regiment."
"This…" Brynden Rivers hesitated, seemingly wanting to persuade Lynd.
Lynd turned to look at his cavalry captain and said, "This is an order."
"As you command, My Lord," Brynden Rivers lowered his head and replied.
Immediately after, Brynden Rivers announced Lynd's rewards, and cheers erupted in the camp; clearly, for these low-ranking soldiers, no amount of Honor could compare to the excitement brought by money.
However, they did not know that there would be punishment later, and it was uncertain if they would still be as happy then.
About half an hour later, the Guards, the Second Cavalry Regiment, and the Quartermaster Corps also arrived outside the camp.
Although the camp was crude and many buildings leaked, it was much better than being exposed to the rain, and cheers also rang out from their mouths.
With the influx of more people, the camp cleanup accelerated significantly.
All the trash in the camp was cleared out, and the bodies were stripped and piled outside; no additional burning was needed, as the wild beasts inhabiting this land would dispose of the bodies.
The Quartermaster Corps repaired the leaky houses, then began clearing the spoils of war and preparing hot food, while the Guards took over the camp's defenses.
Subsequently, at a series of commands, everyone gathered in the open space in the middle of the camp.
At this time, observant individuals noticed that apart from a few individuals like Brynden Rivers, all of the First Cavalry Regiment stood in the center of the field, without weapons in their hands, their heads bowed, their faces filled with panic, completely lacking the initial smugness of having received rewards after a great victory.
Lynd walked out of the main building, raised his hand to signal for quiet, and then, facing the crowd before him, said loudly, "I know you were all accustomed to fighting and looting at the same time, where whoever grabbed it kept it; this is a tradition of war, and no one disputes it.
But I apologize, I do not like this tradition.
In my view, when you fight, you fight honestly and kill the enemy.
Your deserved rewards will naturally be distributed after the battle according to military merits.
Do not take what is not yours; these are my rules, and I hope my people can abide by them."
With that, he paused, observed everyone's reactions, then turned to the First Cavalry Regiment and asked, "Have all the looted items been returned?"
The First Cavalry Regiment didn't know how to answer, looking at each other, while Brynn stepped forward to answer for them, "Reporting, everything has been handed over!"
At this moment, someone from the First Cavalry Regiment grumbled discontentedly, "Since we looted these things through battle, why can't they be ours?"
The person shouting had initially been hidden in the crowd, but what he hadn't expected was that when he shouted, the rest of the First Cavalry Regiment collectively looked at him and then moved away from him, leaving a clear space around him, making him stand out.
The vast majority of the First Cavalry Regiment were individuals who had come to Kingswood with the Highgarden contingent this time.
When Lynd was assigned to the scout team, they had all worked with Lynd and had been under his command, so they were very familiar with Lynd's personality and habits, which is why they obediently accepted Lynd's punishment.
However, there were also a few mercenaries in the First Cavalry Regiment who had been hired in Kingswood.
They clearly knew very little about Lynd, were accustomed to freedom, and did not know how to restrain their tempers, so they directly questioned him when they felt dissatisfied, and this person was one of them.
Being singled out in such a way, the mercenary's face couldn't help but show a look of panic, but he still bravely took a few steps forward and stood before Lynd.
"You said the things you looted through battle should be yours," Lynd looked at the man calmly and said, "Then, according to you, if someone stronger than you took something from you, it should be theirs, right?"
The mercenary froze, opened his mouth, and didn't know how to answer.
"Scarface," Lynd called out loudly.
Scarface Mike walked out from the crowd and saluted Lynd, "my Lord."
Lynd pointed at the mercenary and said, "He is yours.
What you can take depends on your skill."
"Yes, my Lord." Scarface looked at the mercenary with a sinister grin and walked over.
The mercenary seemed to be afraid, lowering his head and not daring to look at Scarface.
But just as Scarface reached him, he suddenly pulled out a dagger hidden in his sleeve and stabbed towards Scarface's chest.
However, Scarface had already anticipated the opponent's movement, agilely dodging the mercenary's attack, while simultaneously smashing his spiked iron gauntlet heavily onto the mercenary's neck.
The sharp spikes instantly pierced into the opponent's throat, leaving a gaping hole when pulled out.
The mercenary fell to the ground, blood continuously gushing from his throat, his body trembling, and he soon stopped breathing.
The surrounding people watched all of this in silence, no one making a sound of protest.
Scarface crouched down and searched the mercenary's body, finding the silver stags that had been given as a reward and some of his own money.
"My Lord, these things should be mine, right?" Scarface was about to put the items in his pocket when he seemed to remember something and quickly asked Lynd.
"I just said, he is yours. What you can take depends on your skill." Lynd looked at Scarface, then at the others, and said, "I'll say it again: when you fight, fight seriously. You won't be shortchanged on your deserved rewards. I don't want there to be a next time." He paused, and seeing that no one spoke, he nodded at Scarface and said, "Begin now!"
After he finished speaking, the punished members of the First Cavalry Regiment exchanged glances, then voluntarily took off their clothes and stepped forward.
The members of the Second Cavalry Regiment also stood behind them, each holding a whip, and under Scarface's command, delivered ten lashes.
After the execution, the First Cavalry Regiment members turned and glared at their executioners behind them, then were led to a building for simple treatment.
The conflict between the First Cavalry Regiment and the Second Cavalry Regiment had undoubtedly emerged, which was not a bad thing for Lynd, and was also his purpose in having the Second Cavalry Regiment carry out the execution.
The weather in the following days was rainy, as Brynn had predicted, and the contingent was confined to this camp.
Lynd's emphasis on provisions proved effective; even when trapped, these hundreds of people at least had nothing to worry about regarding food.
Although confined to the camp, it didn't mean these soldiers could be idle and do nothing all day.
Even if it rained heavily outside, they had to complete the training plan Lynd had set.
Fortunately, such days did not last too long; after the fifth day, the weather began to improve, and the rain became intermittent.
By nightfall, the sky was clear of clouds, and the stars were clearly visible.
"It looks like tomorrow should be a clear day; I hope it won't be too hot." Brynden Rivers looked at the sky, not joyful about the end of the rain.
His years of outdoor experience taught him that after heavy rain, a clear day would be much muggier than a typical clear day.
"Have the Quartermaster Corps prepare more water; fill everyone's canteens," Lynd instructed, then asked Jon Bulwer, "Have all the supplies been packed?"
"They've been packed; we can set off directly at dawn tomorrow," Jon replied, then asked, "My Lord, do we really not need to burn the camp?"
Lynd shook his head and said, "No need; such a good camp should be kept for use."
"Are we coming back?" Raul looked at Lynd, puzzled.
"I think he means others," Brynn vaguely guessed Lynd's thoughts and explained for him, "This camp is in a mountain hollow, surrounded by hills, so its concealment is very good. Those bandits roaming this land, upon seeing such a good, ownerless camp, will surely move in and use it as a stronghold. We just need to check in here periodically to frequently harvest a batch of bandits, without needing to search everywhere." "So, it's a bait," Raul said, realizing.
At this moment, Scarface, responsible for camp security, walked in from outside the camp, escorting a shabbily dressed captive in front of him.
"My Lord, this fellow was sneaking near our camp.
When we found him, he tried to escape, but we caught him." Arriving before Lynd, Scarface forcefully pressed the captive to the ground, then reported to Lynd.
The captive looked at Lynd in panic and explained, ''Ser, I'm not a bad person. I'm just a farmer from nearby who got lost in the rain and ended up here."
"A farmer? How could you be a farmer?" Scarface punched the captive hard on the head, then ripped off the cloth wrapped around his wrist, revealing a scorpion tattoo on his arm, and said, "I've never seen a farmer with a Poison Scorpion Society mark tattooed on his hand."
The Poison Scorpion Society had existed for over a decade; initially, they were entrenched around Kingswood, specifically ambushing and robbing passing merchant caravans there.
However, with the emergence of the Kingswood Brotherhood, they were driven out of Kingswood and could only remain in the mountainous hills north of Bitterbridge, mainly robbing merchants on the Rose Road in that area.
Compared to the complete Bloodshoe Brotherhood, the Poison Scorpion Society did not have many members, only over a hundred, and in the intelligence provided by Varys, they were considered a small to medium-sized bandit group.
Seeing his identity exposed, the captive no longer argued, lowering his head, making his expression unreadable.
Lynd instructed Scarface, "Scarface, he's yours. Before dawn tomorrow, I want to know why the Poison Scorpion Society sent him here, and where their stronghold is. In short, everything he has in his head, I want you to dig it out."
"Yes, My Lord." Scarface's face showed a ferocious grin, his eyes filled with excitement.
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