Even though it was merely a matter of pride, Kallen still had to instruct her brother to mobilize reinforcements to support the fortress at the fastest speed possible.

After all, no matter what, this was the face of the Revolutionary Army and also their bargaining chip to gain more benefits in the upcoming negotiations. Therefore, even if Kallen did not want this unnecessary battle to happen, she had to do something as the leader of the Revolutionary Army.

However, despite their swift mobilization of an elite force from Stansol City for reinforcement, regrettably, both the fortress and the reinforcements were defeated with the deployment of seven Mounted Knights.

If it weren’t for Perfikot’s order not to kill, these Flying Knights would likely have slaughtered everyone.

Because the Flying Knights were not only equipped with specialized Steam Armor capable of flight, but their armaments were also far superior to that of ordinary knights.

For instance, they carried 20mm grenade launchers with special drum magazines connected to ammo belts, and each Flying Knight could carry two drums with a hundred rounds each.

In addition, they had shoulder-mounted 75mm recoilless rifles, using pods for ammunition loading, with each pod holding five shells, and the Steam Knight could carry three pods.

As for the 12.7mm triple-barreled rotary machine guns, they only carried two hundred rounds and were meant as self-defense weapons for protection when necessary.

Such firepower, combined with the ability to fly, made a single Flying Knight equivalent to an armed helicopter from Perfikot’s original world, and placing such weapons on a battlefield where smoothbore and flintlock guns were still used, was indeed...

In summary, twenty minutes after Perfikot issued the orders, Weber had already returned with the other Flying Knights.

They landed, and aside from a faint smell of smoke, even the armor that had been polished to a shine didn’t have a single scratch.

This undoubtedly gave the representatives of the Revolutionary Army a massive shock since even if their men weren’t strong enough, they still couldn’t manage to leave any mark on the opposition’s armor?

But before these Flying Knights could speak, the representatives still harbored some unrealistic expectations in their hearts, hoping these Steam Knights feared the fortress garrison’s defenses to such an extent that they retreated without launching an attack.

However, when Weber opened his visor to report back to Perfikot, they knew their hopes were utterly dashed.

"Count, we have fulfilled our mission! As per your orders, we flew to the fortress, dispatched five knights to attack it, and have successfully taken it over." Weber gave a brief report of the mission to Perfikot, specifically mentioning the reinforcements sent by the opposition: "Furthermore, we noticed the opposition sent reinforcements, so we dispatched two knights to intercept them.

They had no weapons capable of attacking us, and the fortress garrison’s morale collapsed after we blew up the highest tower with grenade launchers.

If you hadn’t ordered us to refrain from killing, with all twelve knights involved in the battle, we could have wiped out the fortress’s two thousand soldiers in five minutes.

Even so, we still destroyed the fortress’s gate, towers, and some defensive fortifications within ten minutes and took over the command center.

During the occupation, some of the fortress garrison were injured for various reasons, but no personnel were killed."

"Well done, as a debut for the Flying Knights, you did well." Perfikot nodded slightly, satisfied with the achievements of the Flying Knights.

From Weber’s words, she could deduce that Weber hadn’t deployed all the knights into the battle. Out of a squadron of twelve knights, only five participated in the attack on the fortress, while two intercepted the Revolutionary Army’s reinforcements, with the remaining five essentially just observing.

Despite such circumstances, they could still seize a fortress within ten minutes without any killings, which was truly a battle of considerable significance.

As for why Weber took a total of twenty minutes, it was merely due to some flight time on the way.

After all, there was some distance between the fortress and the city; under normal circumstances, horseback riding would take about half an hour, but for Flying Knights, it was a mere five-minute journey.

Knowing the results achieved by the Flying Knights, Perfikot turned to the Revolutionary Army representatives: "Now that you have seen, the Empire has the power to crush you at any time. So will you choose to accept my gift, becoming an autonomous territory of the Empire?

Or do you still wish to reject my mercy, continue opposing the Empire, and be utterly crushed by me? The consequences are yours to decide."

Faced with what seemed like an ultimatum, Kallen appeared a bit indecisive. After hesitating, she spoke, "May we have some time? I need to consult with the others."

"In light of your previous politeness and genuine willingness to negotiate, I will give you 48 hours. After 48 hours, I will need a clear answer." Perfikot looked at Kallen, not overly pressuring the representatives of the Revolutionary Army.

————————————————

"Do we really have to surrender to the Empire? Is our endeavor to come to such a sudden halt?" one representative clenched his hat in his hands with unwillingness, filled with inexplicable grief and anger.

Kallen sighed and remarked helplessly, "I don’t wish for this either, but you all saw it too. The Flying Knights took only ten minutes to conquer the fortress in Stansol City, and this was while avoiding any killings. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

I can hardly imagine the dreadful consequences if the Steam Knights attacked with full force.

"For the revolution, we are not afraid to sacrifice!" The representative who had previously confronted Perfikot still wore a determined look, but his pale complexion and slightly trembling hands betrayed that his inner state was not as steadfast as it appeared.

"Indeed, we are not afraid of sacrificing, but our comrades’ lives should not be wasted in vain," Kallen persuaded the others with a touch of compassion on her face: "While yielding to the Empire isn’t our desired outcome.

If establishing an autonomous territory and obtaining autonomy is possible, it could be an acceptable compromise.

After all, our true goal has always been to liberate all who are oppressed; the fundamental purpose of the revolution is to overthrow feudal and capitalist control to create a new world where everyone is equal.

Establishing an autonomous territory could mean that our cause finally has a genuinely stable external environment, right?

Besides, everyone, I also hope you realize this: the end of the world is not just an empty phrase. If the Empire wasn’t dealing with the apocalypse, the Northern Territory Count wouldn’t have exercised such merciful ’non-lethal’ actions today, but would have brought the Steam Knights to utterly destroy everything."