Late at night in early spring, a convoy quietly sneaked out from the main gate of Fort Sarp and entered the dense forests of the southern hills along the trade road leading to Provence.
This convoy carried four carriages and was escorted by ten fully armed soldiers. The carriages were covered with wheat straw and groceries, and there were four strong young guards in armor and weapons hidden in each carriage. Angus and Lusignan also each took two sentries from the sentry team to hide in the carriage.
After leaving Sap and entering the southern hills, Art and Ron left the convoy carrying weapons and food and sneaked into the dense forests on both sides of the commercial road in the dark, quietly falling to the left and right of the convoy.
Then the convoy went uncharacteristically, camping and resting during the day and driving in the dark at night. This way of traveling was extremely slow. It was not until dawn broke on the third day that the convoy moved into a hilly canyon twenty-nine miles away from Fort Sap.
On the top of the steep cliff on one side of the canyon, several black figures appeared in the gray-white morning field.
The second leader of the bandits, who was carrying a broad notch ax, put his hand into his crotch and grabbed a handful, and said impatiently: "Chief, let's do it! We have been following TN for two days. These bastards must have brought good goods. They camped and rested during the day and traveled at night. They even sent dignitaries to block off the surrounding areas in broad daylight to prevent us from approaching for investigation. They must be afraid of being robbed. If they did not carry valuables, those bastards How could such a pampered bastard suffer such hardship? "The news brought by the lame man must be true."
The bandit leader stared at the convoy that was about to pass through the canyon at the ray of light before dawn. The four carriages made deep ruts on the commercial road. They were obviously loaded with heavy cargo, and they were definitely not just loaded with wheat straw and groceries as they seemed.
The bandit leader spit out the chewed grass roots in his mouth and said: "This group of people is too cautious. We can't see the carriage clearly at night, and we can't get close to their camp during the day. We have been following them for two days, and we don't even know what the goods they carry are. This group of people is definitely not simple. I think we should be careful. Now we have finally gathered thirty or forty guys under our command. Don't be careless. "
The bandit leader suffered a disaster last year. At that time, he had just joined a large group of bandits with seven or eight bandits. As a result, he was beaten to a pulp by a group of black-robed soldiers when he followed the group of bandits to sneak attack on the grain transport convoy. Fortunately, he was very smart and retreated when the situation was bad. Otherwise, he would have become a pile of bones in the mud.
Since then, the bandit leader has been quiet a lot, but he will not provoke any caravan with elite guards. He only makes a living by robbing small traders and pedestrians passing by. Occasionally, he has the courage to lead people to sneak attack on some small settlements of three or five farmers, rape and plunder, and then sneak into the secret before the lord arrives with his troops. Among the forest hills...
Such days until the arrival of the second leader of the bandits next to me. The second leader of the bandits was a deserter who killed his commander and left the army with a few soldiers. He joined the bandit leader's team last winter. Because of his bravery, he was promoted by the leader to the second leader of the bandits. This guy was brave enough and had a dark heart. Not long after he joined, he led a few of his soldiers to attack a settlement of about ten households. He killed all the old and weak, plundered all their belongings, and forced the farmers to become bandits and the peasant women to become playthings. After this battle, the prestige of the second bandit leader soared, and the reputation of this group of bandits also grew.
Then the second leader, who became more and more courageous, led the bandits to attack small caravans and small settlements, and gained a lot. The group of bandits also grew larger and larger, quickly expanding from a dozen ragged minions to a group of nearly thirty bandits, each armed with a weapon.
The ambitious second leader persuaded the timid bandit leader to storm Fort Sap, the richest city within a hundred and ten miles radius. However, as soon as the bandits climbed up the wall, they were beaten violently by the guards and young leaders of the fort, leaving seven or eight corpses behind and returned in defeat.
The second leader was unwilling to give up. He stayed in Sapu for a long time and gathered a group of scattered bandits to form a larger bandit team. The number of bandits already exceeded thirty.
A few days ago, the bandit's informant in Sarp Castle came with the news that the only son of the lord of Sarp Castle was going to Provence for trade with a huge amount of coins and valuable goods. After discussion, the bandit leaders decided that they could not let these huge coins and goods slip away, not to mention that the shiny gold and silver coins were eye-catching. If Sarp Castle wanted to use the money to hire troops to come to Provence to suppress them, then they would not have a good life in the future. So they have to do it no matter what.
However, the second leader's proposal to lead an immediate attack was not approved by the bandit leader, because he noticed another news provided by Sapp's informant - a group of black-robed cavalry came to Sapp Fort. Although the informant repeatedly emphasized that they only came to Sapp to be engaged to the lord's daughter, the leader was timid about what happened to the group of bandits last year, so he was reluctant to make a decision...
"Chief, what do you think? Let's do it!" A minion holding a single-edged sword was also shouting from the side.
Just when the bandit leader was about to scold the talkative minions in a low voice, several birds chirped from the mountains, and then there was a commotion in the convoy at the exit of the canyon.
"You idiot, pick up the money and put it away quickly!!" Felix yelled at the guarding soldiers beside a carriage. Because the soldier did not pay attention to the stones on the road when pulling the horse, the wheels of the carriage hit the stones, and a small wooden box filled with silver coins fell to the ground, and the coins in the wooden box scattered all over the floor.
· Several guards of the convoy, as if facing a formidable enemy, hurriedly stepped forward to surround the carriage and guard it. The soldiers driving the carriage hurriedly put the coins on the ground into the wooden box.
Felix jumped off the horse, angrily ran to the soldier and kicked the clumsy soldier down, "You are looking for death! Pick it up and hide it quickly, if you miss one silver coin, I want your head!"
The soldier quickly got up from the ground, tremblingly put the coins on the ground into the wooden box, then put the wooden box back on the carriage, covered it with straw, and hid it again.
Felix pretended to look around, and after confirming that there was no danger, he turned to look at the gradually dwindling morning light outside the mouth of the canyon, and shouted to the convoy behind him: "It's almost dawn, go forward out of the canyon, and set up camp by the hill outside the valley!"
The convoy slowly moved forward out of the canyon and headed for the barren hills outside the mouth of the canyon...
…
“Chief, money! Money!! It’s all money!!! Do you believe it this time? I said these bastards have good things hidden in their bellies, so let’s go dig out their bellies!!” The second leader saw the scene on the canyon trade road just now, and his eyes almost fell out.
No matter how cautious the bandit leader was, he couldn't resist swallowing a piece of fat meat that had already been put into his mouth. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva and whispered to the bandits around him: "Let's go and check around. If there is no one following you, Today we gathered the guys to eat this piece of fat! With so much money, the guys can eat and drink without worries!"
Soon, several bandits following the lookout on the top of the slope slipped into the dense forest along the ridge to make sure there was no ambush behind the convoy...
In the dense grass on the top of the mountain on the other side of the canyon, Art and Ron were crouching here. It wasn't until the figures of several bandits left the mountain that Art moved his body a little, and then told Ron on the side: "Ron, I think the wild wolf has taken the bait. You will go back to the convoy in a while and tell the sergeant major that they are ready. It is estimated that the bandits will take the bait today." I will take action. I will follow the bandits and try to find out their lair. Even if they don't come by then, we can go straight into the wolf's lair!" After saying that, Art followed the bandits' tail and disappeared into the dense forest.
After seeing Art leave, Ron turned around and climbed down the hillside, running towards the barren hill where the convoy was stationed outside the canyon...
The convoy stopped beside the barren hill outside the canyon.
Angus got out of the straw on the carriage after getting the signal that no one was peeping around.
"Sir Angus, I have sent out sentries to guard the surrounding areas." Felix walked to the carriage and cleared away the grass all over Angus' body.
Angus stretched his waist, turned his head, and said to Felix: "Master Felix, hurry up and get someone to set up the tent. I heard your actions just now. Since Lord Art has sent out the "lure the enemy" signal, it means that the bandits are about to take action. "
Felix quickly ordered several escort soldiers to work together to set up three tents. Soon, the soldiers huddled on the carriages gradually entered the tents and continued to hide. A heavily armed soldier was posted around the barren hill where bandits might be peeping to ensure that the situation in the camp would not be seen by bandits.
Ron walked towards the camp from the canyon, and Felix hurried forward to greet him.
“What about Brother Ron? Where is Master Art?” Felix asked anxiously.
Ron said while staring at the carriage in the camp: "My master said that the bandits should take action today, so that the camp should be prepared to respond to the raids of the bandits at any time. The master is now going to track the bandits. He said that if the wild wolves refuse to enter, We rushed into its lair after finding the trap. "
"Great!!!" Felix couldn't suppress the excitement on his face. He fearfully walked on this business road in the dark for two or three days, but the bandits refused to take action. The guards under his command also complained a lot, especially those who were huddled in the carriage and unable to move. They were almost going crazy.
Felix took Ron into the camp and found Angus.
"Sir Angus, Lord Art has sent a reply. The bandits should take action today. He is now going to track down the bandit's lair, so that we can be prepared for the bandit raid at any time." Felix didn't know about battle formations, so the camping and outpost defense matters along the way were all arranged by Angus, and then Felix made the arrangements himself.
“Master Felix, you have three things to do now. One is to ask the surrounding sentries to be more vigilant, but appear to be relaxed on the surface. The other is to ask other exposed soldiers to guard the fire and grill the bacon to look relaxed. The third is to immediately send some food to the young guards in the military tent to fill their bellies. From now on, you should wear armor and weapons, and be ready to rush out of the camp and fight at any time. In addition, you'd better tell the soldiers and guards how much coins you will reward them for killing a bandit. Fighting in the wild is not as good as guarding the city. It requires bravery. Bandits work hard for money, and you must also make your guard soldiers work hard to kill bandits and receive rewards..."
Felix wrote them down one by one, turned around and left the camp to make arrangements...
............
In a dense forest ten miles northwest of where the convoy was stationed, more than thirty bandits were sharpening their swords in an abandoned settlement. Several bandit leaders were discussing the specific steps of the robbery in a ruined room that was about to collapse.
After a while of cursing and arguing among a few rude men, a simple and crude plan to attack the camp was formed.
The second leader of the bandits pulled off the ax from his back, stood on a rock, and shouted to the bandits who were busy in the ruins: "Guys, the leader said, set off immediately, we will make a fortune with the guys today!!!"