“Now I would like to emphasize again the combat mission of our second team today. In this battle, our second team serves as the assisting team of the patrol team. If we attack a fortress, we will be responsible for making and erecting wooden ladders and cooperating with the first and third teams to climb the wall. Remember Alsburg’s The wooden fence is about ten feet high, and there is no moat outside the wall. Our team needs to make two wooden ladders about fifteen feet long. When building the wooden ladder, each combat team is responsible for one. The team leader builds the ladder and the two team members hold up shields. We will not follow until the first and third teams have climbed over the wooden wall. "
"If it is a field battle, our team will be the left wing of the patrol, the third team will be in the center, and the first team will be on the right wing. We are also the extreme left wing of the bandit suppression army. We must ensure that the left wing of the army will not be detoured and outflanked by the enemy after the battle begins..." In the camp of the patrol team at Fort Andermatt, Kazak was making pre-battle arrangements based on Art's deployment. In the open space in front of him, five black-robed soldiers holding short spears and round shields sat on the ground and listened quietly to the commander's words.
On the other side of the camp, Bass, who had an iron shackle on his waist and wore leather armor, had finished his pre-war deployment. He walked among the soldiers, checking the weapons and equipment and water and food bags of several soldiers one by one, and said: "After breakfast, everyone rests in place and waits for the order to set off. Check the weapons again, polish your short spears, polish your swords and hammers and axes..."
…
In the military tent, Art was putting on the iron-inlaid leather armor captured from Wincheston Manor with the help of Ron.
Hashfully dressed, Art gave orders to the two guards in the tent.
"Ron, it takes two days to march from Andermatt to Alsborg. Although the Baron has arranged for sentries, we still cannot take it lightly, so you and Jason are also responsible for sentinels near the marching team, especially when passing through woods, hills and tall grass. You must carefully detect and beware of ambushes. The ones who captured Alsborg were not simple bandits. I am worried that they will ambush the advancing army."
"Jason, give the order to clean up the military tent, and then go see if Otto's breakfast is ready."
Jason left the military tent and walked towards the temporary kitchen next to the camp...
Compared to the tense and orderly atmosphere of Camp Ater, Andermatt Castle was a mess. Baron Antayas's city guards and knights' retinues still had some basic military discipline, but the peasant soldiers who were temporarily recruited to serve did not take into account any orders and prohibitions. They were usually busy farming the fields and had no time to participate in training. In addition, they were forced to participate in the battle of recapture as cannon fodder to serve as arrow targets and shields, so their enthusiasm was very low. When it was time to march and start, everyone was in a panic. There were even two peasant soldiers who refused to leave the military fort and fight with the army despite being beaten and scolded by the knights and captains. The other peasant soldiers also felt dizzy and had stomachaches for a while, running around in the military fort and stalling. It wasn't until Baron Antayas became angry that he dragged out the two leading peasant soldiers and beat them up with sticks before the other peasant soldiers gradually became more honest.
The "conquering army" that was originally scheduled to set off at sunrise in the early morning did not drag its long tail out of the military fort until the sun heated up its scalp...
Matt had been waiting outside the fort for half a morning with the patrol team ready to go, so much so that he wanted to rush in and chop off the heads of a few peasants and soldiers who were causing trouble.
Odo accompanied Art and looked at the disheveled peasant soldiers at the back of the team, carrying scythes, wooden forks, clubs and hammers, and dragging their feet lazily. He spat and said bitterly: "Sir, follow me. It’s really uncomfortable to fight with this group of people. These bastards are worse than Lucese’s labor brothers.” After saying that, he returned to his team, ordered the soldiers to stand up, and then followed Art, who was riding a black horse, to join the march.
………
The peasants and soldiers did not "disappoint" Art. The team had just marched three miles when a team of about a hundred people formed a formation of nearly half a mile. Many of the peasants and soldiers trailing behind the team were looking around and trying to get away.
Baron Antayas had to send a small group of armed castle guards to the rear of the group to drive away the peasant soldiers who were afraid of death and chased the marching group.
The morning passed just as the marching team formed a slightly tighter formation, and the peasants and soldiers began to clamor for a rest and meal...
By the time the team reached the edge of a forest, the sun was almost setting on the horizon, and it was only fifteen miles away from Andermatt Castle. Seeing that the sky was dark, Baron Antayas had no choice but to order to set up camp in the woods ahead and light a fire for cooking. The peasants and soldiers who had been ordered dispersed in a hurry, gathering firewood and lighting fires in groups, and started cooking with the old wheat rations they received from the baron.
The knights ignored the peasants and soldiers under them. Fortunately, Baron Antayas was still a man who knew military affairs and sent several sentries and a team of sentries to patrol around.
Sir Druid rode to Art's camp and said to Art, who was directing the team to set up military tents and assign shifts: "Lord Art, the Baron asked you to send a cavalry to accompany us to scout around the camp, and then invite you to go to his tent to discuss matters."
Att arranged for Jason to ride a horse and follow the Druid's men to scout, and then led Ron towards a large military tent in the center of the woodland.
A quarrel has begun in the tent. It is nothing more than a fight between peasants and soldiers under a few knights to grab a few firewood or a flat and dry camping site. The knights, who have always been competitive, feel that those good things should belong to themselves...
Baron Antayas was sitting at the top of the tent, his face becoming increasingly gloomy. A depressing day of marching had already made him angry, and now his knights were still quarreling over a few dead branches and a camping ground.
"That's enough, please be quiet." Antayas shouted angrily.
The two knights, who were blushing from the argument, stared angrily at each other and each retreated to their positions.
The fiefs and manors of these two knights are adjacent to each other, and frictions due to boundary issues are always inevitable on weekdays, but at this time, it would be ignorant to start a dogfight.
At heard the quarreling in the tent stopped, he opened the curtain and entered the tent to stand at the end.
Hentayas saw that all the officers had arrived, cleared his throat with a cough, and said: "Today's march exposed too many problems. I doubt that I can count on those bastards under your command to take back Alsburg for me, but I Let me warn you first, if I can't take back Als this time, don't think about it. I will take back your fief before the palace takes back my fief." Baron Antayas was angry and everyone in the tent was a little nervous and fearful.
Chloe, the middle-aged knight standing on the right side of the head, saw that the atmosphere was not right, and hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Sir, it's not that everyone is unwilling to perform their duties, it's just that the peasants and soldiers are recruited temporarily, and there is indeed no military discipline, but the knights are really trying their best to maintain the discipline of the soldiers."
Baron Antayas still has some respect for Sir Chloe. After all, Chloe survived the battlefield with him. The old subordinates who came, and this time Chloe did bring the young peasants and soldiers from the fief and two knights' retinues, so Baron Antayas went down the steps, calmed down, and said: "You are all knights with a glorious history. You or your ancestors have fought on the battlefield for the monarch. God has given you bravery and allowed you to enjoy the honor of Lord, so you should faithfully fulfill your promise as a knight."
Baron Antayas caught a glimpse of Art standing at the end and said: "In other words, you should learn from Patrolman Art. He was only invited to help with the suppression, but his army has shown good military discipline in the past two days, and I believe their combat effectiveness is also amazing."< br/>
Him As soon as the Baron finished speaking, there was a burst of contemptuous laughter in the tent. It was obvious that these knights were dissatisfied with the military discipline recently shown by this civilian officer and his patrol team. They did not think that the military discipline of an army had much to do with its combat effectiveness.
Matt was a little embarrassed, but he didn't want to argue with them on this occasion.
In addition to emphasizing restraint on the military and maintaining fighting spirit, the military meeting that night did not have any substantive content, and the whole night was silent.
The next day, the knights were indeed much stricter on their peasant soldiers. Under the threat of the sticks of the knights and retinues, the peasant soldiers packed up the camp early and started to rush to Alsburg. There was basically no desertion or delay along the way, because the baron had ordered the druid knights to kill the peasant soldiers who dared to slack off on the spot.
The large team that accelerated their march arrived in a dense forest one mile away from Alsburg before sunset. Through this dense forest was a fertile land at the foot of Mount Poge. Alsburg was built on the north side of a small hillside, overlooking this fertile land. Alsburg is an important gateway into and out of the Boze mountains, so although it is only a village, it has wooden walls and two arrow towers for soldiers to stand on for defense.
While the night was still dark, Art took Odo and a few people to the edge of the dense forest to survey Alsburg. As Lawrence introduced, Alsburg is indeed a wooden fort that is easy to defend but difficult to attack. It is built on a gentle slope at the foot of the mountain. Large siege equipment cannot be pushed up smoothly, and the defending side can throw arrows and stones from a high position. What's even more deadly is that the news of this army's suppression has long been spread to the bandits. Many deep pits were dug in front of Alsburg and antlers were set up to block horses. The gate and wooden walls of the wooden castle were also obviously reinforced.
Odo looked at Alsburg in front of him, shook his head and sighed: "My lord, I'm afraid this Alsburg is not so easy to recapture. How many soldiers do we have to lose to capture this place?"
At did not answer Odo's question but turned back to the camp...
In the military tent of Baron Antayas, Art reported on the defense situation of Alsburg they had seen and his estimate of the possible loss of troops in the battle to capture Alsburg.
"Art, I know what you are saying. Last year, I returned twice in front of Alsburg. I know it is not easy to capture it, otherwise I would not have recruited almost all the troops in my territory to come here." Baron Antayas stood up from his seat, walked to Art, and asked with a slight contempt: "Do you want to leave? Don't forget that you have collected my salary."
Of course, Art never thought about leaving. He explained: "Lord Baron, although I am not a knight, I also have my own honor and dignity. If I were afraid of death, I would not bring my soldiers to you. I just think that since we may lose many soldiers by attacking Alsburg head-on, why don't we think of other ways?"
Baron Antayas asked curiously: "Other ways. ?"
"Yes, sir, since Alsburg is very difficult to attack now, let's not attack Alsburg."
"If we don't attack, do you expect the bandits to come out and surrender? Even if we don't attack the city, we can't afford to consume food."
"Sir, what I mean is that there is no need to attack the wooden castle, let's do this..."
…………