“Ron, how many soldiers of the guard have you selected?” Art asked Ron, who was standing in front of him, in the command tent of the temporary camp on the road leading to Wallonburg, the border fortress of Yona Province.
"Sir, we have selected six of the most elite soldiers, but their commanders are not very willing to let them go." When Ron selected and formed the bodyguards, almost all of them were elite soldiers with the strongest combat capabilities. Most of those soldiers had followed Art all the way from the patrol team, and had experienced almost all major and minor battles.
"Lusignan found me here, and he said that you have almost plucked out the hair of the Sentinel."
"Sir, the Guards all need to fight on horseback, and those who are good at riding on horseback are almost all in the Sentinel. Of course I have to go to the Sentinel to select."
"Ron, I think you have misunderstood me. The main responsibility of the Guard in the future is not to participate in battles. The Guard has five responsibilities. The first is to always be by my side as a personal guard, hold the military flag and bugle, and deliver military orders; the second is to serve as a support team when the legion soldiers are in a disadvantageous situation or need to provide combat support; the third is to serve as a military law officer. The team supervises the entire army, is in charge of military law, and punishes lawless soldiers; fourthly, because you are responsible for my intelligence network, the guard team is also responsible for collecting and organizing intelligence information. However, the collection of enemy information and military information is still the responsibility of the sentry team, because it is impossible for me to send the entire guard team out to collect enemy information during wartime. The fifth reason is to perform other tasks assigned by me.
"After understanding the above five main responsibilities, you should know that the bodyguard is not the main battle force. When selecting the bodyguard soldiers, there is no need to gather the elite soldiers around me to idle around. The most elite soldiers have been picked up by you, and the combat effectiveness of each team directly facing the battle will be reduced."
"You should choose those soldiers who are smarter, preferably proficient in writing. As for fighting on horseback, it is second, just being able to control a horse, and as the captain of the guards, you also need to train these guards, they can always become strong soldiers, and after returning to the valley this time, I A group of trained apprentices will also be selected from the parish school to join the guard. They are more suitable to become the main force of the guard. "We don't have many soldiers now, so you can first select four soldiers to join the guard, and one person from the sentry team is enough." Art adjusted.
"Master, I understand." Ron responded simply and prepared to turn around and leave.
"Ron!" Art stopped Ron who was about to open the curtain.
"I asked Ollie after you left that day, and she didn't mean to dislike or reject you. It's just that this little girl suddenly couldn't bear the huge trauma that the person she loved suffered. You don't have to feel bad about it. She said she would wait for you to go back." Art finally couldn't help but guide Ron's heart. He was worried that this closest personal attendant would accumulate heart problems.
Hon's right hand held up the tent curtain, looking back at Art from the side, and replied in a low voice: "Master, I'm fine. I will repay double the scars the enemy left on my face." After that, he left the camp.
Matt sighed softly, and all he could think of was the hideous scar on Ron’s side just now...
……..
Marching along the King’s Road for nine days, the temporary first company of the Palace Guards arrived at a small village west of Wallonburg, a border fortress in Yona Province, less than half a day’s journey from Wallonburg.
After hearing that the troops sent by the palace had arrived, the local army sent people to greet them, but the officers who greeted them showed no enthusiasm for the arrival of the reinforcements. It is not difficult to understand that the local army fought hard with the Swabian defenders and peripheral reinforcements in front of Walloon Castle for more than a month. They had already fought the hardest, hardest and most difficult battle. Seeing that the lost territory was about to be recovered, they sent a group of "old soldiers" from the palace to reap the victory. No one would be happy with this kind of thing.
Fortunately, Art also considered the feelings of the local army. As soon as he arrived near the battlefield, he invited the local officers who fought against the city to come to the camp to hold a condolence banquet for them on behalf of Earl Baldwin. He also presented three carts of wine, fruits and vegetables that accompanied the army to the local army.
At the banquet, Art hinted at his attitude. He and Charis, who did not lead the army, only wanted to attack the city and break the formation to regain the lost territory. All the trophies and other scattered military achievements captured in the battle would be handed over to the local army for disposal.
With Ater's statement, the attitude of the local army changed slightly and expressed its willingness to continue to assist the Palace Guards in the final battle to recapture Wallonburg.
The day after the banquet, Art marched his army near Wallonburg and sent out cavalry and patrolling sentries to survey the battlefield.
Chateau Wallonne is a plain fortress on the eastern border of the County of Burgundy. For more than ten miles, there are fertile fields rich in wheat and densely populated villages and estates. It is a fertile land.
However, ever since Swabia and the Counties of Burgundy declared war, Walloon Castle, an important border town, and its surroundings have turned into a wasteland. The war has not only caused casualties among civilians, but also the formerly vibrant farmland has lost its vitality and turned into a gray patch of overgrown weeds.
Not to mention the dilapidated scenes of villages and manors along the way, Walloon Castle, which has been ravaged by wars for many times, also had its walls collapsed and smoke rising from the sky.
"Lord Ater, Wallonborg is twenty-five feet high, with a circular fortress wall about three hundred feet long. It is entirely made of stone, with two gates on the east and west, and an inner castle in the fort. There were originally about sixty Swabian defenders. They had hoarded a large amount of food and defense weapons, and they also took over thirty young farmers nearby. We were driven in the city. More than 300 of us attacked Wallon Castle for more than 20 days. We destroyed three fort walls and killed nearly 20 defenders. We have cleared the traps, pits and trenches set up by the enemy outside the castle." A local army cavalry team leader who led the way on the battlefield briefly introduced the situation to Art.
"Are there any enemy reinforcements outside?" Art asked.
"If there had been no enemy reinforcements, we would have captured Wallonburg long ago, and we wouldn't have bothered the palace to send troops."
The cavalry pointed to the east and said: "There are Swabian garrisons in Aonan, Boufan, Berta and Bradyguey, which are two or three days away, and the number of enemy troops in several places is more than 2,000. There is also a Swabian cavalry team of fifty people that often patrols around Wallonburg. Our border towns of Genet, Medieres and Capulediere are garrisoned. The army is always on guard against the enemy soldiers in those places, and they don't dare to come to support the battle of Wallonburg."
Matt quickly asked Ron to get a map and looked at the location of the castle fortress on the rough map. "It seems that the Swabians have been well prepared. They have held back several possible reinforcements, leaving you with no strong reinforcements."
"That's right, of the three hundred troops we attacked Wallonburg, less than a hundred were elites gathered by the nearby lords. The remaining two hundred or so were all farmers who had just abandoned their farm tools and picked up swords. In the battle for more than a month, we have lost more than eighty people. And every day When we were about to capture Wallenberg, the roaming Swabian cavalry would harass us from behind. When we gave up the siege and turned back to deal with them, these bastards fled with less than thirty cavalry and were unable to pursue them. "
After listening to the introduction of the cavalry, Art looked around, lowered his head and thought for a moment, and asked the knight: "Do you have any good strategy for attacking?"
"Lord Ater, although we lack elite soldiers, we do have a lot of siege equipment. Although several nearby castles and fortresses failed to send soldiers to support the operation, they brought a lot of trebuchets. During this period, we mainly relied on trebuchets to smash the fort walls to attack the city. But Wallonburg is our own castle after all, and we still have to garrison it after it is recovered. Once we let The damage to the castle wall is too serious, and it will be very difficult for us to repair it in the future. Maybe the Swabians will have to attack us again before our wall is repaired~"
Matt scratched his head, "It can't work without attacking our castle, and it won't work even if it's damaged. It's difficult to deal with~"
"Ron, go back to camp and call for a military meeting from commanders above the squadron commander."
After giving Ron the order, Art turned around and said to the cavalry who was leading the way: "Brother, please go back and tell your commanders, asking them to come to my camp immediately to discuss strategies to break the city."
The cavalry took the order and jumped on their horses and left.
Matt asked Angus, who was following the battlefield survey: "Sergeant, you have also seen the battlefield, what do you think?"
Angus stared at the dilapidated Wallon Castle and said: "Earl Baldwin means to regain Wallon Castle as soon as possible. , we cannot be besieged for a long time, so it seems that we can only attack by force. Fortunately, the local army has destroyed the enemy's city defense. It should not be difficult to capture Wallon Castle. It's just that the cavalry patrolling the outside are really annoying. We must be prepared to stab them in the back when we attack Wallon Castle."
"I have the same idea as you. Let's go back to the military camp and discuss it with everyone before making a decision."
After that, he got on his horse and ran towards the garrison camp...
.........
At the end of March, the harsh winter began to recede, and a drizzle began to fall in the eastern border of Burgundy. The rain fell on the body, and a slight chill arose.
After a short period of repair and discussion, at noon on the second day after arriving at Wallonburg, Art led his army to line up half a mile outside the west gate of Wallonburg.
Yate was wearing a black hooded cloak, riding a war horse and standing at the head of the team.
Behind them are the guards led by Ron, and behind them are five squadrons of soldiers and a crossbow squad. They are also wearing improved cloaks with waterproof coating, and they are completely black.
On both sides of the array, there are several trebuchets of different sizes, manned by hurlers sent by the local army. There are more than sixty elite soldiers of the local army on both sides of the speculation machine, and they will also play a supporting role in the final attack of the siege.
Leaving more than 200 steps behind the siege army was the baggage team led by Spencer. They had set up a tent to provide first aid to the wounded, and several copper pots were set up beside the tent to heat hot water.
On the outskirts of the Wallonborg battlefield, a peripheral army composed of forty cavalry and more than 130 infantrymen, led by a border baron, was waiting to deal with the Swabian cavalry that might appear at any time...
Faced with the sudden appearance of a strange army, the Swabians in Wallonborg were also very nervous. The warning horn in the castle kept blowing, and all the remaining defenders in the city also boarded the fort wall.
Today’s battle will determine who is superior and who is inferior, as well as life and death.