"My lord, the man you are looking for is here."
At night, in the inner room of Earl Bernard's mansion, the manager of the mansion reported to Bernard, who was reading the frontline battle reports under candlelight. Bernard looked up and said nothing. The manager of the mansion withdrew wisely.
After Bernard finished handling his business, he rang the bell on the table. After hearing the sound, the manager of the mansion carefully opened the wooden door of the inner room and brought in the people who had been waiting outside for a long time.
"Your Majesty, Count." The manager of the mansion greeted him and motioned for the man behind him to step forward and obey the order. I saw an officer wearing long-sleeved chain mail, leather boots, and a broad sword at his waist walking forward.
"Sit down." Bernard motioned to the officer to sit on a bench on one side, and ordered the steward of the mansion to bring in two glasses of wine.
“I urgently transferred you back from the front line for one thing.” Bernard said directly.
The officer hurriedly retracted his hand that had just touched the wall of the cup, and immediately stood up, looking straight at Bernard.
It is most appropriate to leave this matter to you."
"Thank you, Lord Count, for your trust."
"Sit down and talk." Bernard pointed his fingertips and motioned for the officer to sit down.
"As you can see, the situation is now very unfavorable to us. The strongholds in the east were pulled out one by one by the Liberation Army like teeth, and Thorne's army also retreated step by step. Moreover, the sentinel reported yesterday that the Welsh Army in the south sent me The attacking troops were swallowing it up one after another, and they were less than two days away from Thorne City. Soon, Thorne City would be surrounded by them as airtight as an iron barrel, and it would be difficult to get out." Bernard slapped his hand on the table with a look of embarrassment on his face.
"Your Majesty, the Earl, you want me to lead people to stay on the outside and cooperate with the defenders in the city to defend Thorne City?"
"Charlie, I really saw you right. You understood my plan as soon as I told you." Bernard nodded with satisfaction, and his face was no longer so ugly. Compared to the bravery of other officers, he admired the brains of the guy in front of him more.
The officer also had a proud face, secretly pleased that he had guessed Bernard's intention, and quickly stood up and bowed.
Bernard took a sip of wine and stood up, pacing back and forth in the inner room.
"Charlie, your mission is to lead three hundred cavalry to secretly hide outside Thorne City while the frontline troops are slowly retreating, waiting for opportunities to burn the enemy's food and baggage. And when they attack the city, go around to the rear to harass, disperse their forces, and cooperate with the city's defenders to defend against the enemy. Once the time is right, we should cooperate inside and outside to eliminate those bastards under Thorne City." Bernard revealed his detailed plan.
"Your Excellency, Count!" The officer was full of praise for Bernard's plan.
"There is enough food and grass in Thorne City to last for more than a year. We can afford it, but they may not be able to wait. You must seize the opportunity to burn their food, grass and siege equipment. Once there is a shortage of food, they will naturally retreat, and then it will be our turn to fight back." Bernard clenched his fists loudly, wanting to smash the bones of the Liberation Army.
"Don't worry, Lord Count, I will make those traitors pay with blood."
"Very good!" After saying that, Bernard ordered the steward of the house to deliver a bag of small gold coins to the officer.
Hbit "Take this money and tell your men that after the event is completed, more shining gold coins will be put into their pockets~"
H Seeing Bernard's generosity, the officer took the money bag and thanked him profusely.
"Okay, you go back and prepare immediately. Remember, you must retreat secretly and never be exposed."
"Yes, Your Majesty the Count." The officer slowly exited the inner room holding the heavy purse.
On the second day, Bernard summoned the officers responsible for defending the city in Thorne City and all the lords from all over the country to the hall of his Earl's Mansion to arrange the internal and external defenses of Thorne City.
According to the current battle report, the enemy will arrive outside Thorne City in at most two days. From then on, the combat method will change from positional warfare to defensive warfare, and the key to success in defensive victory lies in the solidity of the city defense and the sufficient supply of grain, grass, baggage and water in the city.
As the palace of Thorne Palace, after the beginning of the War of Succession, Bernard ordered people to repair and strengthen Thorne City, so that he could retreat to Thorne City to defend himself when the situation was unfavorable to him in the future.
The reinforced walls of Thorne were sixty feet high and nine feet thick. The moat outside the city was cleaned to a depth of twelve feet and a width of eighteen feet, with sharpened wooden stakes inserted in it. Once a man or horse fell into the river, there would be no chance of survival. The moat and the city gate are connected by a huge wooden suspension bridge. The surface of the suspension bridge is covered with a thick layer of iron. If people and horses want to enter, they need to have several guards in the city gate slowly lower the hinges connecting the suspension bridge through the winch fixed in the city wall. Two square holes were opened next to the winch, which were guarded by four soldiers holding crossbows to prevent the enemy from destroying the drawbridge and approaching the city gate. Several city gates have been reinforced again. The inner and outer sides of the heavy oak doors have been firmly fixed into one body by craftsmen with iron bars. Seven or eight thick logs have already firmly supported the beams above the oak doors. There were several carriages filled with boulders parked under the city walls on both sides of the gate. When the city gate was about to be lost, the carriages filled with boulders were pushed directly up to block the gate. In addition, the half-mile area outside the moat has been covered with various traps in advance, and there are horse-blocking stakes at regular intervals to prevent the large group of people from advancing.
At this stage, many counties and fortresses east of Thorne City have been removed one by one by the Liberation Army, clearing the way for the march into Thorne City. The large and small estates and fortresses in the south were also controlled by the Welsh Army heading north. Currently, in addition to the strategic location of Thorn City, which is still in Bernard's hands, there is also a castle on the west side of Thorn City on the road leading to the principality, which has become the last card in Bernard's hand.
In order to prevent Thorne from being isolated in its defense, Bernard sent three hundred of his soldiers to Fort Titanium, fifteen miles west of Thorne. As the most important castle to the west of Thorne City, although the walls of Fort Tantino are slightly lower than Thorne City, their strength is no less strong than Thorne City.
This castle was built by the former Marquis Ireyaf when he was resisting the principality. As an outpost in the west to resist foreign enemies, Marquis Ireyaf spent a lot of money on this castle. With Fort Tantino as the core, two medium-sized stone fortresses were built three miles apart on the north and south sides. A fortress can accommodate fifty soldiers, plus thirty handymen and servants. A total of more than 300 troops can be stationed in the four forts. In addition to the 300 soldiers and more than 100 servants in Fort Tantino, there are a total of 500 regular troops in Fort Tantino. There are sufficient weapons, food, grass and water inside, enough for more than half a year's consumption.
This is Bernard's last move. He will never give up Thorne City, which he has worked hard to manage for many years, unless he has to. Once the city of Thorne falls, Fort Tantino will serve as a life-saving straw for Bernard and his son Robert to go west to the principality to seek political asylum.
"...Everyone, once Thorne City is besieged, food, grass, baggage and water sources will become the top priority. Therefore, before those bastards are around, we must immediately send people to collect all the surrounding food and baggage into the city, and never leave a grain of food for them." In the hall of the Earl's Mansion, Bernard continued to elaborate on his views.
"In addition, I secretly destroyed all the water sources around Thorne City, so that they can never get up after drinking it!" Bernard slapped the table hard, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
"My lord, do you mean to poison the water source?" an officer asked.
"You don't have to worry about this. I've ordered people to add several more troops in the city, which is enough for us." Bernard said calmly.
"Okay~" Everyone expressed their admiration for Bernard's plan for a rainy day.
"How are the large crossbows made by the craftsmen ready?" Bernard asked.
"Back to your lord, according to your instructions, we have already prepared twenty sets of large crossbows and placed them around the city wall." An official in charge of armaments replied.
"How powerful is it?"
"Back to Lord Count, after our testing, the large crossbow arrows are enough to kill the enemy's light and heavy cavalry and heavy armored infantry at a distance of 1,500 feet."
"Okay! As long as they dare to come, use what you have in your hands to make the outside of the city a graveyard for those bastards!" After Bernard said this, he took a sip of the wine on hand, wiped the remaining juice from the corner of his mouth, and continued to ask.
"How is the construction status of the trebuchets?" As a defensive battle, Bernard did not stop at the literal meaning. He had already ordered his men to build eight large trebuchets and a dozen small trebuchets to deal with the siege troops outside the city.
"Back to Lord Count, all the trebuchets have been built. According to your instructions, the focus is on the east and south directions, ready for use at any time."
"Very good." Bernard was very satisfied with the performance of the armaments officers. "This time it's up to you."
"I am willing to serve the Earl."
“Have the main troops on the front line withdrawn?”
“Back to your lord,” an officer stood up and said, “According to your instructions, the main troops on the front line have gradually returned to the city for defense. There are currently less than a hundred regular troops on the front line. They are leading the farmers and refugees recruited a few days ago to resist the Liberation Army on the front line, buying time for the rest of the troops to retreat. "Very good!" For those farmers and refugees who risked their lives to block the Liberation Army on the front line, Bernard would not feel sad at all. To him, those people were worthless.
"Now, I order," Bernard suddenly looked serious. "All the city defenders shall arrive at the designated positions according to the previous deployment, and be ready to resist the enemy's siege at any time!"
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
Everyone followed the order and left.