A fierce defensive battle ended. Art took over the command from Odo and began to treat the wounded, arrange repairs, and deploy city defenses in Tal Fort.
The twenty or thirty main soldiers and peasant soldiers who participated in the defense of the outer wall during the day retreated from the top of the wall and entered the inner fort and the wooden hut at the base of the wall to repair. There were comfortable thatched grass beds and warm broth and wheat paste waiting for them.
The garrison on the outer wall was replaced by two reserve teams and working farmers in the fort. There would be no large-scale enemy attacks at night. The main task of the garrison on the outer wall was to prevent enemy night attacks and harassment.
The corpses of the defenders who died in the battle on the fort wall were buried in an open space under the back wall of the Tal Fort. The corpses of the beheaded enemy soldiers were all thrown down the wall after stripping off their weapons and armor and searching them clean. The enemy soldiers sent laborers to carry these corpses back. Art did not kill the enemy laborers who carried the corpses.
It was already dark, and Art, wearing armor and hanging his sword, carefully inspected the outer wall of Tal Fort. Everywhere where enemy night attacks might occur, he would repeatedly tell the guards on duty to be cautious and not to be careless. He also asked several guards on duty to throw burning firewood under the wall at regular intervals.
After inspecting the defense of the outer wall, Art took a look at the waiting platform on the right wing from a distance. When he saw Bass on the waiting platform holding a torch and looking around for sentries, Art felt relieved. Then he went down the wall and entered the wooden house under the wall to personally check the treatment of the wounded soldiers...
It was not until late at night that Art returned to the inner fort with a tired look on his face and summoned several team commanders to summarize the lessons learned from today's battle and arrange the next city defense matters for Tal Fort...
………
Siege the city, and after the setback in Tal Fort, Baron Jeffrey finally came to his senses.
In two rounds of hasty attacks, Jeffrey's soldiers were killed and seriously wounded more than 30 people, and most of these dead and injured soldiers were his elite infantry, including five borrowed guest soldiers. Even his bodyguard Piquel, known as the most powerful man, was missing. It is said that he was pushed off the inside of the outer wall of the Tarburg, and then no one saw him again.
Geoffrey's camp outside Tarburg was filled with howls of ghosts and wolves. Most of the wounded soldiers were hit by arrows and short spears. The doctors and handymen in the camp were treating the wounded soldiers. As the weather got hotter, wounds were prone to rot and maggots. Most of these seriously injured soldiers could not be saved. ...
Bypassing the handymen who were making pots for cooking, passing through the soldiers lying around, and dodging the sentries patrolling the camp, an "Eagle Eye" who went out to spy on the military situation walked into the military tent where Baron Jeffrey was discussing with several knights.
This "Eagle Eye" was a Swabian spy who took a detour and sneaked into Glalu County a few days ago to inquire about the defense of Talburg. He spent several days in disguise in Glalu County to find out the defense strength of Talburg garrison.
"There are actually more than a hundred defenders in Tarburg???" Baron Jeffery was surprised after hearing "Eagle Eye"'s report.
More than half a month ago, Swabian spies tried to approach Talburg to detect the enemy's situation, but were driven away by the sentinels sent by Talburg. Since then, Swabian sentries have almost never been close to Talburg. However, before the "Southern Suppression of Bandits", Jeffrey's sentry had successfully approached Talburg and concluded that After concluding that the number of garrison personnel in the fort was about thirty, after the attack on Biltenburg, and including the released prisoners, Jeffrey guessed that the number of people in the fort who could serve as defenders was about fifty. Now "Eagle Eye" reported that there were actually about a hundred people garrisoned in the fort, which made Baron Jeffrey unbelievable.
"Yes, my lord, according to the memories of the people of Glaru County who have seen these defenders, there were about eighty enemy troops and army laborers who came from northern Burgundy to garrison Tarburg more than a month ago. Later, they released twenty prisoners from Bülten. During this period, a caravan came to Tarburg, but left again a few days ago, so a rough estimate is that there should be more than a hundred people in Tarburg." The spy "Eagle Eye" once again confirmed the strength of the garrison in Tarburg.
Hundreds of people were gathered to fight a fierce battle for a day, but they did not even know the number of the opponent. This made Baron Jeffrey feel ashamed, and his purple face turned white from holding back, "Asshole! Who was responsible for that sentinel inspection of the number of troops in Tarburg? Drag that bastard out and chop him down!!!"
After a long while, no one answered.
"Who is it?" Baron Jeffrey shouted sharply.
Seeing that Baron Jeffrey was about to get angry, the captain of the guard quickly stepped forward and said softly to the baron: "My lord, that time it was your inner knight Sir Greif who personally sent out the sentinel~"
"It's that bastard again!!" Jeffrey smashed the pottery cup in his hand to pieces. He hated the guy who had neglected his duty so much that if Greif hadn't been killed, Jeffrey would have chopped off his head himself.
There was silence in the tent. After a while, Jeffrey regained his composure and said: "No wonder those bastards in Tarburg dare to provoke Biltenburg. It turns out they have so many people hiding there. Misguided! Misguided!!" If Baron Jeffrey knew that there were so many defenders in Tarburg, he would not rush to attack Tarburg in anger anyway. At least he would have to carefully plan and prepare before leading troops to Tarburg.
"It's useless to say anything now. Let's discuss the next plan. The storming is not feasible for the time being, so we will think of other ways..."
There was a discussion in Baron Jeffery's military tent...
At took the parchment letter and unfolded it. He laughed a few times after reading it and called the soldiers to summon several commanders for discussion.
After a while, Odo and others came to the inner castle where Art was resting. Art read the contents of the letter to several people.
“In short, that guy Jeffrey gave us three options. The first option was to let his wife and children go and evacuate Talburg with the property we captured, and he promised not to pursue us; the second option was to let his wife and children go and hand over 70,000 pfennigs, and he agreed. Withdraw troops; the third option is that we continue to defend Talburg, and he said that the Swabian army will capture Talburg and slaughter all the defenders. "What do you think?" Art put down the letter in his hand and raised his head to ask everyone.
Kazak looked resentful, "How does this guy look like he has been defeated? We asked him to bring money to ransom people, but he acted like he was convinced of us. I told him that we don't need to pay attention at all. Let's see how many soldiers he has for us to kill." Kazak was obviously inspired by yesterday's two rounds of defensive battles and was full of confidence.
“I also feel that there is no need to show weakness to the enemy. We are currently at an advantage and the enemy cannot capture Talburg yet. But what I am most worried about is the enemy’s siege. Food in Talburg can be supplied for about seven months, but if the enemy is besieged for a long time, sooner or later the food in the military fortress will be exhausted. And if Swabia continues to attack the tower Once Jeffrey has enough troops and equipment, he will definitely attack Tal Fort. We don’t know whether the walls of Tal Fort are strong, but the enemy still knows it~” Odo did not object to Kazak’s point of view, but he considered it more from the perspective of the consumption of materials to defend the city and the enemy’s backup force.
Matt turned to Tuba and asked, "What do you think?"
Tuba touched the hilt of the sword at his waist and replied resolutely: "Sir, the main purpose of our expedition this time is to kill the enemy and build meritorious deeds. If we just leave like this, it would be better not to come out in the first place."
After a few people finished speaking, Art made the tone: "Since you all basically have the same idea, let's continue. If we keep it, our baggage can still hold on for several months, and the enemy cannot really mobilize a large army to besiege Talburg for half a year. Not to mention that the war in the north is imminent and Swabia is unable to mobilize the army. The hundreds of county soldiers in Glalu County will make Jeffrey a little afraid. If we can withstand a few more enemy attacks, it will be us who propose the conditions. "
Matt cleared his throat and ordered, "Listen, you guys, from now on Tal Fort must be strictly guarded. The enemy may attack by force or sneak attack. No matter which way we must be fully prepared. Otto, you must control the ordnance and food supplies in the military fort, not only to ensure the food and drink of everyone in the military fort, but also to ensure that the food and supplies can last for more than half a year."
"Those who are from The craftsmen brought back from Biltenburg should be treated favorably, provide them with sufficient food, let them strengthen the fort, repair weapons and equipment for us, and tell them that as long as they serve in Tarburg for half a year, I can restore their freedom. As for Baron Jeffrey's wife and children, they should be taken care of and provide them with more delicious food and enough clothes. I will keep them for great use. "
In the next two days, Jeffrey's army did not attack Tal Fort again.
During this period, the enemy tried several times to capture the waiting platform on the right wing, but the traps along the way and the arrows and rolling logs and rocks coming from both directions of the waiting platform and Tal Fort made Jeffrey's army lose a few lives each time before returning in vain.
· Baron Jeffrey, who recognized the reality, began to plan the siege in detail.
First of all, he made a posture of besieging Talburg for a long time. On the one hand, he sent people to the west to set up checkpoints to block the road connection between Talburg and Glalu County, so that Glalu's army could not support Talburg. On the other hand, he sent people back to Bierten to collect food, wages, supplies, and army labor. He also reported the battle situation in Talburg to Teblen County City and once again requested to send troops for support. Then Jeffrey began to strengthen the camp set up outside Tal Fort, and sent laborers to cut down wood to make siege equipment. At the same time, he continued to send people to persuade Tal Fort to surrender...
…
Angus's team, which was roaming in the dense forests around Tal Fort, was still lurking. When the enemy launched a large-scale attack on Tal Fort two days ago, this team was lying in ambush on a hilltop less than half a mile away from the enemy's rear line to observe the battlefield. Once the defenders on the outer wall of Tal Fort fell into an absolutely passive situation, this team would make a surprise attack from behind the enemy, forcing the enemy to turn around and extinguish the flames on their butts. However, the defenders of Tal Fort were in an advantageous position from beginning to end, so Angus never made a surprise attack on the enemy's rear line.
In the past two days, several teams were separated from the enemy's camp to set up defenses around Tal Fort. The enemy attempted to block Tal Fort's connection with the outside world.
Angus's team started to take action at this moment. They constantly harassed the enemy, or rushed out from time to time to kill one or two enemy sentries and then suddenly disappeared into the dense forest on the hills. They also set up several traps on the enemy's patrol route. Or they fired a few cold arrows at the enemy camp in the dead of night to light a fire. In short, Angus' team has not stopped since the enemy planned to set up camp for a long siege.
Baron Jeffrey was not too bothered, and angrily sent two of his knights and a dozen elite soldiers to clear out Angus's team. However, Angus and Ron and others ran around in the hills and dense forests to deal with the encircling enemy troops, and even ran to They plundered the manors and villages in the southern part of Bierten. This mysterious trick caused Baron Jeffery's knights, who were used to fighting in grand battle formations, to worry. After wandering around the hills and dense forests for several days, they had to give up the pursuit and return without success.
Less than half a day after the enemy gave up the pursuit, Angus, who had disappeared in the dense forest for many days, returned to the vicinity of Tarburg with Ron and the seven others, and began a new round of harassment...
………
Outside the battlefield.
Eight days ago, Glaru County received a private message from the commander of the Tarburg garrison. The letter stated that the Talburg garrison had raided Biltenburg a few days ago, captured the wife and children of Baron Jeffrey of Biltenburg, and told Viscount Herreth that the Swabian army was about to send troops to attack Talburg, so that Glaru County could prepare for the battle.
This sudden letter almost made Viscount Herreth, the head of the County of Glaru, choke to death. When he was still worried about the Swabian army's upcoming large-scale attack on the County of Burgundy, the guy from Talburg who didn't know the heights of the world actually dared to take the initiative to provoke the lion; once the Swabian army invaded in anger, the guy from Talburg could roll up his rucksack and run away, but the situation in County Glaru behind Talburg would be miserable.
Out of desperation, Viscount Herreth ordered the entire county to enter a state of war. The gates of the county were closed tightly, and the manors and villages in the county felt like they were facing a powerful enemy. After a week of intense defense, the Swabian army did not even step into the border of Glaru County... It was not until yesterday that Viscount Herreth thought of sending someone to Talburg to have a look. However, the sentinel was still more than ten miles away from Talburg and was driven back by the enemy sentry.
Viscount Herace, who was initially frightened, calmed down and began to actively prepare for the challenge, and tried to get in touch with Talburg...
…
One day ago, Count Baldwin, the deputy minister of the palace in Besancon, received an urgent letter. The letter was sent back by the "Eagle Eye" horseback sent by Burgundy to the Principality of Swabia. The letter said that a week ago, an army of several hundred people on the southwest border of Swabia marched towards the territory of Burgundy. The goal of this army was Talburg, a military fortress that had been abandoned for many years.
On the day when this urgent military message reached Count Baldwin, two caravan stewards who claimed to be from Tarburg brought a private letter to the Deputy Prime Minister, Art, the commander of Tarburg garrison. In his private letter, he reported that he raided outpost settlements in southern Bilten and designed to deceive the defenders before capturing Biltenburg. Along with this private letter, several pieces of precious porcelain and several large gold cakes obtained from the war were also sent to the Earl's Palace~
“This guy is very brave and has very dark tricks, but I like him very much!” Count Baldwin read the private message, picked up a set of exquisite porcelain, looked at it carefully for a while, and then commented on Art.
Later, the army of the Count of Burgundy, which had been gathering at the border for several months, took the initiative to launch a full-scale attack on the eyeing Swabian army. The "camel" of the war that had been backlogged for more than half a year was crushed by the last "thatch" called Talburg...