………
"Sir Kazak, are we still chasing?" Bangeda, the deputy commander of the first company of the first division of the Welsh Army, who followed Kazak in pursuit of the Kodor people, asked.
Kazak and others, who had been chasing the remaining troops of Kodor for two days, had now reached the hillside five miles south of Diguan Town.
"We can't pursue any more. Ahead is the town of Diguan, the gateway to Codor City. The enemy's situation is unknown. If we chase rashly, we may encounter an enemy ambush."
"Then we can let the Count of Codor escape so easily."
"The order given to us by Your Excellency is to continuously disrupt the remaining troops in Kodor, find the right opportunity to attack the garrison in Diguan Town, disrupt their deployment, and wait for the arrival of the follow-up army. Now that our first phase of the task has been completed, the main target now is the garrison in Diguan Town. As for the Count of Kodor, we will have a chance to deal with him sooner or later!"
"Now it seems that this is the only way." Bangda said helplessly.
"Send the order to set up camp here tonight. In addition, send a few sentries to follow quietly and get a feel for the situation outside Diguan Town." Kazak ordered.
…………
Diguan Town is located in the plains one day south of Kodor City. It is also located on the western trade route of the country, but compared with Fort Marsi, its status is naturally slightly inferior. It does not have as important a strategic position as Fort Marsi, nor does it have the geographical advantage of Fort Marsi connecting the north and the south. But as the southern gateway of Kodor City, this place is naturally not comparable to ordinary towns.
The entire city is located in the plain area south of Codor City. The surrounding terrain is flat and the land is fertile. It is an important grain-producing area in Codor Province. The western business road of Boguo runs from the south gate of Diguan Town to the north gate, and then extends towards Kodor City. To the east of the castle are large tracts of wheat fields. Often, hawkers trying to evade commercial taxes would make a detour from the wheat fields to the east and go to the town of Diguanxi to go to the city of Cordore. Due to the increasing number of people walking, a special platform was gradually set up on the eastern trail, and seven or eight Kodor soldiers were stationed here to prevent small traders from sneaking around to Diguan Town.
To the west of Diguan Town, a wide river extends from the west to the southwest corner of the city wall of Diguan Town, and then flows from south to north along the west wall. Therefore, this river has become a natural barrier to the west of Diguan Town.
Looking at Diguan Town from the hills in the distance, the city wall is fifty feet high and is made entirely of huge stones. The joints between the stones are almost impossible for ants to crawl in and are airtight. There is a watchtower at the southeast corner and southwest corner of the city wall for observing the surrounding situation. Below the watchtower is a concave platform made of stone for lighting smoke.
………
At this time, the sky around Diguan Town had darkened, and a hint of coolness gradually drifted over the soldiers on duty standing in the watchtower in the southeast corner...
"It's really cold tonight." Another soldier said upon seeing this.
“Yes.” The soldier who was shivering from the cold agreed.
"Hey, Dylan, look, someone seems to be coming over there." A soldier pointed to the dotted torches in the distance and said to the trembling soldier.
br/>
「打开城门！」
「打开城门！」
……
不到片刻的功夫，一行人已经来到了迪关镇南门口。
"Who are you?" Yuri, the city guard knight standing on the city wall, asked the people below looking at the tattered clothes and stinking of the guys below.
"In front of you is Lord Mormont N. Fayek, Count of Kodor Province. Hurry up and open the city gate to let us in." The people below roared loudly.
"You guys who look like beggars dare to have anything to do with my Lord Count. I think you are spies sent from the south. You want to sneak into the city, but there is no way. Get away from me immediately, otherwise your lives will all be taken care of here!" the city guard knight said harshly.
"Yuri, do you remember my voice?" At this time, a familiar voice came from under the city wall, and he looked up towards the city wall.
"You, you are the Count!" The knight guarding the city stammered, relying on the familiar voice and the barely recognizable face of Count Codor, illuminated by the torch under the city wall.
"Open the city gate quickly, open the city gate quickly..."
...
"Your Majesty, Earl, how did you become like this? If I hadn't heard your voice, I would have really..." Seeing Count Codor sitting silently on the big leather chair in the lord's hall of Diguan Town, the city guard knight immediately took back what he had said.
At this time, Count Codor was unkempt, his dirty clothes exuded a disgusting smell of sweat, and the boots on his feet were worn. He looked like an old beggar begging along the street.
Count Codor sat alone on the big leather chair, saying nothing. He never imagined that he would be in such a miserable state. A few days ago, he led a mighty army of more than a thousand people and marched south in an attempt to take back Fort Marsi and drive out the lonely army that was deeply entrenched. Unexpectedly, just a few days later, a group of untouchables led by a down-and-out nobleman would be beaten and fled. In the end, only about thirty personal guards and less than sixty remnants fled back to Diguan Town, looking in such a mess that they could not look back.
Looking back on those days, as one of the few lords in the county who was good at running trade and land, he provided a large amount of money, food, weapons and other important materials when the former Marquis Ireyav got rid of the rule of the duchy, which can be said to have made great contributions. Because of this, as the founding hero of the county, Ireyaf gave himself the province of Kodor as a fief, and he became the earl of the province of Kodor, which was a great success. Thanks to his many years of management, the Côte d'Or Province has a prosperous population, abundant warehouses, and prosperous commerce. However, with the beginning of the Succession War, wars broke out in the country. In the end, the province of Kodor was not immune and joined Bernard's Thorne court. As both sides gradually fell into the quagmire of war, more and more manpower, financial and material resources were invested. This directly led to the decline of business and the desolation of the land...
Thinking of this, Earl Codor couldn't help but shook his head. At this point, there was nothing he could do and he could only ask for help from the Thorne Palace immediately to resist the Wells Army's attack on the city of Kodor.
Hence, Count Codor did not bother to change his dirty clothes, and immediately walked to the side hall, picked up a quill, and started writing quickly on a small piece of thin sheepskin...
"Come here!" After finishing writing, Count Codor shouted to the guard at the door.
"Sir." The guard quickly came in from the door.
"Send this secret letter immediately to the palace of Thorne via flying pigeons."
"Yes!" After saying this, the guard ran towards the door.
Count Codor only stayed in the town of Diguan for half a day, leaving a leading baron and more than fifty remaining soldiers to help defend Diguan and collect the broken troops who fled back. He and his bodyguards quickly ran back to the city of Kodor to hide...
…...
In the Earl's Mansion of Bernard in Thorne City, officers were walking back and forth. In the count's official office, an officer was reporting to Bernard on the battle situation on the front line.
…My lord, the Liberation Army has launched a full-scale attack, and the battle line has advanced thirty miles to Thorne Province. Two counties and six castles on the border have fallen into the hands of the enemy. More than 300 people from Thorne's army have died in the battle and more than 200 people have been captured, including three leading barons and a viscount responsible for assisting defense on the border. These are the battle reports returned from the front line in recent days. "
Bernard listened to the report with a cold face, his eyebrows were knitted together, and his hands were vigorously rubbing back and forth on the armrests of the big leather chair.
After the officer finished his report, he held his breath and did not dare to raise his head.
"Is there any news about the reinforcements from the Principality of Burgundy?" Bernard asked coldly after a while.
The officer was sweating coldly and looked up at the bachelor advisor (strategist) beside Bernard.
"Your Majesty, the reinforcements of the Principality are deployed in the west, but they have no intention of crossing the border to support us."
The bachelor advisor beside Bernard hesitated for a moment, and whispered to Bernard, "Your Majesty, I received a letter from a friend in Paris yesterday. The letter stated that I am afraid that the Kingdom of France is going to attack the Principality~"
Bernard wiped his face, sighed, and leaned back on the high chair.
"Sir?" the officer asked softly.
"Everyone, please step back." Bernard said with his eyes closed.
"Sir, do we have any backup~" The officer wanted to ask again.
"Get out of here!" Bernard screamed.
The officers and bachelor advisors quickly retreated angrily upon seeing this.
As soon as the two of them exited the official room, Bernard's bodyguard burst in with a piece of paper in his hand.
"My lord, Count Codor has sent a secret message."
Bernard suddenly opened his eyes and stood up, took the small cylinder with the note handed over by the officer, and said in his mouth: "The old guy finally wrote a letter. Did he kill those barbarians in the south and lead the army to return for reinforcements?"
Bernard took out the note and looked at the news on the note with joy: The Kodor army was defeated, send troops to aid the city of Kodor quickly!
"Sir, has the city of Kodor captured Marsiburg?" the officer asked hurriedly.
With a thud, Bernard fell to the ground.
"Come quickly!" Seeing Bernard lying limp on the ground, the officer shouted to the soldiers outside the door.
Bernard opened his eyes and said nothing. After a while, the doctor left. Bernard called in the officer waiting outside the door.
"Do you have any news from the people sent to Tyniec?" Bernard's lips turned white and he stared at the officer and asked.
“Back to the Earl, judging from the time, there should be news in the next two days...”
…