The military meeting in the command tent of the temporary garrison camp outside the stronghold of Shankou Village has ended. Art held a thin note in his hand, and there was a pigeon cage on the simple wooden table in the corner of the tent.
Ron stood aside and saw that Art had finished reading the characters on the note, and said: "Master, those two disguised messengers are indeed from the Earl of Longxia. They have seen you in Longxia City, and they can tell the details of my contest with the knight Leonde of the Earl of Flanders."
Att held the note and nodded slightly, then handed the note to Ron, "This secret letter was written by Sir Leander who defeated you. After the new king Flanders led the Longxia Army northward, the defense of the Longxia Territory was handed over to him. This time, it was he who led the 800 mountain people who stayed in the Longxia Territory to go north to the mountains to attract the attention of the Kodor army."
Ron took the note and glanced at it a few times, "I heard from the messenger that Lord Leander has been promoted to Baron and appointed as the commander of the remaining legion."
Matt stood up and walked slowly in the camp, his cowhide boots with spurs making a soft creaking sound.
The content of this secret letter is very simple. The Longxia Mountain Army has attracted the attention of the southern army of Cordor on behalf of the Welsh Army. Now they must evacuate, and the rest can only be handled by the Welsh Army.
Flender does not want the troops directly under him to participate in this battle that breaks the tranquility. He is worried that he will not be able to mediate in the future. Art understands this very well.
However, Flanders did not intend to really put Art and Wells into a desperate situation. Leonder sent two carefully trained carrier pigeons to Art. Once the Wells Army was in a dead end and could not escape, as long as the flying pigeons called for help, the Longxia Mountain Army would rush down the mountain to rescue them.
"Ron, give these two carrier pigeons to Spencer and let him feed them well. I hope we won't need them, but this is our escape route and cannot be cut off."
"In addition, the Longxia Mountain people will withdraw their troops tomorrow. The army will definitely return to defense immediately, leaving us not much time. "
"The ordering army has a good rest tonight, and will set off at dawn tomorrow morning, and the destination is Lior County."
"Yes!" Ron turned around and went out to convey the order.
The county town of Rior, a gem embedded on the edge of the southeastern hills of Codor.
Although it is also a county capital, the city of Riole is somewhat more prosperous than Tyniec. The entire outer wall of the castle and the inner castle are almost all made of stone walls. The houses and shops in the city are also tall and regular. The wide streets in the center of the city are even paved with stone slabs.
However, affected by the atmosphere of war, the city was also very tense. There were few merchants and pedestrians on the streets of the castle. The walls of the castle were filled with armored soldiers and the gates were closed tightly.
Obviously, it was the result of the bad reputation of the Longxia Mountain people.
Due to the sudden appearance of the Longxia mountain people at the edge of the mountainous area, most of the Leo County garrison was deployed to confront the border. At this moment, only 60 elite infantry and 100 newly armed peasant soldiers were left to guard the county.
While the defenders of Riol City were all looking toward the southwestern Longxia Mountains with their bows drawn, swords held, axes held, and spears on their feet, a cavalry group wearing the standard robes of the Codor army appeared on a high ridge half a mile east of Riol City.
The county guard who was staring southwest from the arrow tower on the east wall of the county city with eyes wide open unconsciously glanced eastward, and suddenly found a team of more than ten riders outside the east wall of the city stopped to observe the direction of the county city.
The guard exclaimed, "There is an enemy situation! There is an enemy situation!" Then he kept tugging on the cuffs of the guard beside him.
The guard beside him had obviously noticed the team not far from the east of the city, and he looked at the team with his hands and brows squinting.
After observing for a long time, the guard lowered his right hand on his brow, "Hey, what a fuss, those are our people. They just circled most of the northeast of the city."
The guard who exclaimed was a little suspicious, "I Why are our people sneaking around there? Go down and report it to the sentry officer! "
"Why don't you go by yourself? The arrow tower is so high, you don't think it's tiring to climb up and down? Go by yourself." Another guard refused.
"Forget it, we are our own people anyway."
The two guards were trying to avoid each other and relaxed.
But just as the two guards were trying to push away, a team consisting mainly of horse-drawn carriages appeared behind the cavalry outside the city... .....
At the front of the team, Jafar, the deputy captain of the Legion Cavalry, led a few light cavalry and rushed to Art, the leader of the team, to rein in the reins. "Sir, the cavalry has already sent out a sentinel. There are indeed not many defenders in Rior City. There are at most a hundred people on the four walls, and there are only a hundred defenders in the city."
"We have confirmed again that the fallow land in the northeast of the city is very hard and the carriage can pass through it smoothly."
Matt nodded and looked around, lightly kicked the horse's belly and ran towards a slightly higher ground. Ron led the guards and followed him on horseback.
Stop and look at the city of Riole at this time, which has begun to give warnings. More and more soldiers are stationed on the east wall of the city, and the figures of crossbowmen can still be vaguely seen.
"Send the order! The legionary cavalry is on guard a stone's throw away from the castle, ready to fend off enemy troops leaving the city at any time; the remaining teams quickly bypass Rior from the northeast and go north." Art issued the military order.
After a while, Angus, the deputy commander of the legion, personally led a cavalry team of more than 50 cavalrymen to leave the marching column, and approached the northeast of Riol in a cavalry line. When they reached a distance of more than 300 steps outside the city, they halted their horses and faced off with the defenders at the head of the city at a distance.
At the same time, the soldiers who were originally riding on the carriages all jumped off and formed an array in the open space beside the road east of the city.
However, while the defenders of the city of Riole were sifting chaff and waiting for the enemy to launch a sudden attack, the team in military formation, surrounded by more than fifty carriages, headed northeast through the fallow land.
The defenders of Rior City thought that the enemy was going to attack the north city, so they immediately adjusted their deployment. The crossbowmen and infantrymen on the east city were driven to the top of the north city wall to prepare for the battle.
Just as the Rior defenders were clenching their weapons with the determination to defend the castle, an accident happened again - the army marching in formation passed through the fallow fields and circled to the northern road, then all jumped on the carriages, and then rushed towards the north in a hurry.
As soon as the shadow of the carriage disappeared on the northern road, the dozens of cavalrymen three hundred steps northeast of the city also turned their horses and followed them...
The defenders of Rior City were stunned. For a moment, they didn't know what to do. They could only stand at the top of the city and stare blankly at the north.
"Oops! The enemy is about to raid our hinterland!" Someone screamed in surprise...
Art had no intention of capturing Rior, and he had no intention of capturing this place from the beginning.
If the Welsh Army accepts the order to capture Codor, Nayat must capture Riole and then La Paz step by step, and then move north step by step to capture all the traffic arteries and chokepoints along the way.
However, the raid battle is not a conventional battle that cannibalizes the enemy's territory. At this time, Art does not need a solid rear to support the frontline battle, so in order to insert the sharp blade into Kodor's heart as quickly as possible, he must abandon those strongholds that are difficult to attack and go around as much as possible.
So by the time the Rior defenders reacted, Art had already led the Welsh Army and ran far away on horseback.
"How is it? Have the defenders of Rio City chased them out?" Art asked Angus, who was returning from the rear, while controlling his horse to march.
Angus rode on horseback and took off the wineskin and took two sips. "The bastards just reacted. They sent about twenty cavalry to chase them, but Lusignan led the cavalry to beat them back. They killed three of the enemy's cavalry, and one of us died."
This outcome was not what Art had expected. Leo would definitely send someone to give them a symbolic chase, otherwise they would not be able to escape the charge of pushing the enemy deeper. "Okay! You continue to lead the cavalry from the rear. If there is a small group of pursuers, they will be defeated directly."
Matt glanced at the soldiers of the Welsh Legion sitting on the chariot beside him, looked at the road leading to the north of La Paz, and ordered Ron: "Ron, go to the front of the team and tell Odo, the leader, to speed up the pace. Tonight we will strive for two Stop at the northern border of the county. "
"In addition, you immediately send people to rush north, sneak into Marsi City, and tell the task force lurking in the city to prepare for the response..."
...
Although the provinces of Côte d'Or and Lucesne are close to each other, there is almost no connection between the two bordering territories due to the natural barrier of the north-south mountain range that runs from Besançon in the north to the north of Fort Sarp.
The reason why it is "almost" is that it must not be absolute.
This exception is Marsi (Army Fort).
If we talk about the war history of the Welsh Army, the battle between the northern part of Tyniec County and the Western Army in Saone Province (the Battle of the Northern County) is definitely worth recalling.
Hime Count Bernard secretly dispatched a lightly-armed army from the west through the western mountains of Lucesien Province to raid Tyniec, and they took this mountain road in Marsi.
Marsi is located at the foothills on the west side of the mountains. To the east of Marsi there is a winding and rugged mountain road leading to the southern part of Lucesien Province.
The most critical part of Yate's "Lightning Raid War" is to capture Marsi. If you look closely at the sand table map, you will find that Marsi is very close to Diguan Town, and is the best enclave to attack Diguan Town, the southern gateway to Kodor City.
Furthermore, Marsi is located on the edge of a mountainous area. The terrain is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack. The most important thing is that behind Marsi there is another rugged foothill trail leading to Lucesien.
This trail is definitely not suitable for large-scale army marches (the Western Army learned a painful lesson in the Battle of Junbei), but it is absolutely fine for escaping.
Since it is a dangerous place, and it is also the road where the enemy of the Côte d'Or Province, the Lucerne Province, may send troops, it is naturally heavily fortified. It is almost impossible for the Welsh Army to capture this place without carrying heavy attack equipment.
The strongest fortresses are often breached from within.
Art, who had long planned to open up the southern hunting ground, had of course already planted nails in Marsi...
…..
“Sneeze, who the hell is talking about me?” Stanley rubbed his nose and wiped the snot on the wall stone of Marsi Fort.
Stanley wiped his nose and turned around to yell at Oliver and Miller who were carrying willow baskets of stones on the stone stairs of the castle wall, "You guys, hurry up and lift all those stones, don't be lazy! Be careful and deduct your wages for today."
Seeing that several of his "laborers" had quickened their pace, Stanley turned back with satisfaction, then took out a wine bag filled with beer from his waist and handed it to the young officer of the Fort Marci garrison who was supervising the work on the fort wall with both hands in a flattering manner, "Thank you for your hard work, Commander. The weather is hot. Please drink beer to relieve the heat."
Evidently, the little officer of the garrison did not lack Stanley's flattery. He took the wine bag and took a sip with a slight smile, "Well! This beer is good!"
"I'll give it to you if you like it!" Stanley waved his hand, and the young officer hung the wine bag on his waist.
Stanley glanced at the steep terrain outside the fort wall, "Sir Commander, you said that this military fortress is strong enough, so it needs to be reinforced. Not to mention humans, even monsters will find it difficult to climb this fort wall."
The young officer had just received a benefit, and his attitude was naturally friendly. "Brother, since the Baron hired you to repair and strengthen the castle, it was natural for him to do so. This is the only way for the enemy Lucese to attack Kodore. We have to be more careful..."
Stanley nodded casually and glanced at the south...