"...We must maintain the most basic relationship with the principality. Once Thorne City falls into a dead end, we have to count on our friends in the west to support us secretly..."
h "Next, deploy the defenses of various sections of the city walls. ..."
"It's not good, Lord Earl, it's not good~ It's not good~"
Bernard, who was convening the city garrison officers to discuss city defense matters, was interrupted by the messenger shouting loudly outside the lord's hall.
Thump~
Hunter saw the messenger stumble as he ran and stepped into the threshold of the lord's hall.
"Your Majesty, Earl, it's not good!" The orderly soldier endured the severe pain and got up from the ground while hesitatingly reporting the military situation.
"You bastard, why are you panicking?" Bernard saw this panicked guy and suddenly became furious and shouted at the messenger.
The messenger was so frightened by Bernard's scolding that he quickly lowered his head and didn't even have time to pick up the helmet that fell on the ground. The officers present were also frightened by Bernard's scolding and did not dare to move, but at this time they were thinking about what news the messenger would bring.
"Are you mute? Speak!" Seeing the messenger standing there motionless like a log, Bernard shouted.
"Report, Lord Earl, that a large number of enemies have appeared outside the east gate of the east city, and they are approaching Thorne City step by step." The messenger almost said the enemy situation word by word in a trembling voice, with a burst of tears in his mouth, and his eyes were full of panic, as if the enemies outside the city were rushing toward Thorne City like demons.
For this result, Bernard already had the answer in his mind. It's just that the speed at which the enemy arrived at Thorne City really exceeded his expectations. He originally thought that the miscellaneous troops outside the city, led by a small number of regular troops, could resist for a while anyway and buy more time for the defenders. Unexpectedly~ Just when Bernard was worried about the sudden news, the officers sitting around the long table had already exploded. Although they had been prepared, they were still shocked.
“Shut up!” Listening to the noisy sound in the hall, Bernard almost roared angrily at the people present.
Hush...
Hence. After a long while, Bernard adjusted his mood and said, "Why are you all panicking? The enemy has scared you so much before they even started attacking the city?" Bernard glanced at these guys coldly, all of them lowered their heads with fear on their faces. They dared not speak out in anger towards the old guy in front of them.
"Don't forget that the principality's 20,000-strong army failed to capture Thorne City for three months. Even that bastard Flanders wanted to capture Thorne City, huh!" Bernard sneered.
"Bah!" A mouthful of thick phlegm hit the small flag representing the Liberation Army on the long wooden table~
The great war described by Bernard took place during the time of the fathers of the former Ireyaf. In order to control the count, the duchy recruited nearly 20,000 people to attack the count, hoping to use force to force the old Marquis to surrender.
The army marched all the way to the Saône Province in the west of the County. However, due to the strong defense of Thorne City and the desperate resistance of the County Army, after several sieges, the Principality Army suffered more than 2,000 casualties. Seeing that so many troops had been spent to attack Thorne City for a long time, they changed their strategy and used siege instead. But the principality never expected that the old marquis had already stocked up enough food for five thousand soldiers in the city for two years. In the end, he had to retreat because the roads were blocked by heavy snow and supplies could not be transported.
This is where Bernard’s confidence lies. As long as there is sufficient food, grass and water in the city, he can consume his opponent alive outside Thorne City.
Hearing what Bernard said, all the officers present let out a long sigh of relief.
"Immediately send an order to the city defenders. Once all the retreating soldiers have entered the city, immediately close the city gates!" Bernard gave the order calmly.
"Yes! Lord Earl." The messenger quickly picked up the helmet on the ground and hurriedly ran out of the door~
………
Outside the east gate of Thorne City, the Liberation Army was chasing the enemy soldiers who were escaping towards Thorne City under the command of the frontline officer. These deserters were not the troops who retreated from the Western Army to defend Thorn City, but the defenders in the city who took the initiative to go out of the city to harass the Liberation Army camp.
Yesterday, after most of the Liberation Army arrived at Thorne City, they stationed themselves in a wheat field one mile east of the city. After the pursuit and suppression in recent days, the army on the western front was completely defeated and continued to shrink its troops all the way to Thorne City. When the Liberation Army pursued all the way to a mile outside Thorne City, Flanders ordered the entire army to stop the pursuit.
Flanders has been fighting with Bernard for several months, and he is very clear about the methods of that old fox Bernard. Facing the incoming army, Bernard must have set up many traps outside the city to kill and injure the Restoration Army approaching Thorne City. Flanders has been fighting for many years, and he has long been familiar with these conspiracies, and he will definitely not be easily fooled. But what he didn't expect was that not long after most of the Liberation Army was stationed outside the city, Thorne City sent an army composed of fifty cavalry and one hundred infantry to harass the army's camp and even tried to burn its own food and grass.
Faced with the enemy's provocation, Flanders did not sit idly by.
After the enemy succeeded in harassing the enemy for the first time, he came immediately for the second time. This time Flanders immediately sent a hundred cavalry to bite the small force all the way, and also ordered the army to be ready to attack the city at any time. Flanders planned to use the gap when the enemy opened the city gate to send cavalry to rush over and control the city gate, while he would lead his army to follow and try to capture Thorne City in one fell swoop.
Seeing that his own people were only a few dozen steps away from the city gate, he could quickly control the east city gate when the suspension bridge was raised. Looking at the cavalry getting closer and closer to the city gate, Flanders was ready to lead his troops to attack the city. Unexpectedly, an accident happened~
The front hooves of the war horse suddenly sank and he knelt down in an instant. The soldier on the horse was thrown out by the strong inertia and fell into a pit large enough to swallow ten war horses. His body was pierced by the densely packed sharp stakes inside, and he died after struggling for two times. Immediately afterwards, the cavalry behind them approached the trap step by step. In the blink of an eye, seven or eight cavalrymen encountered the same trap one after another and fell off their horses. Some of them were hit in the abdomen by the hoofs of the horses coming from behind, and they immediately vomited blood. The soldiers who escaped the traps and horseshoes just got up from the ground, but were shot to death by random arrows from the defenders on the city.
For a time, the cavalry chasing the enemy was in disarray. Dense arrows on the city wall were flying towards this side one after another, and from time to time someone fell to the ground...
At this time, the remnants of the attacking army had already approached the suspension bridge and were escaping inside one after another. However, most of the chasing cavalry were blocked by various traps half a mile away and could not get closer at all.
When Flanders saw this, he held the hilt of the sword tightly with his left hand. Seeing that he was about to succeed, he never expected Bernard to be so cunning. Facing the falling cavalry, Flanders had no choice but to order a retreat and look for another fighting opportunity.
"My lord, they have retreated." The officer standing behind Bernard pointed at the retreating Liberation Army cavalry and said. Bernard did not speak, but quietly looked at the large camp of the Liberation Army not far outside the city.
I saw secret tents lined up neatly, which could accommodate at least tens of thousands of people. Looking at the massive Liberation Army, Bernard couldn't help but take a breath. He did not expect that in just a few months, the strength of the Liberation Army would grow to such an extent. It is no wonder that the Western Army continued to retreat. Facing such a powerful enemy, it is not easy to defend Thorn City.
< < sincedie The group of people behind him also quickly chased after him.
………
The Restoration Army station one mile east of Thorne City. Art and his party set out from the Wells Corps station and successfully arrived at the Liberation Army camp after half a day.
"Cousin Art!" As soon as Art and others got off their horses, Flanders came out of the command tent and walked straight towards everyone.
After seeing Flanders, Art also rushed forward to greet him. "Your Majesty the Marquis!"
"Your Majesty the Marquis!" Leander was very excited when he saw Flanders, whom he had not seen for many days.
"I finally waited until you arrived, let's go, follow me in." After saying that, Flanders led everyone towards the army command tent. After Art and Leonde took their seats, Flanders ordered his servant to bring them a glass of wine.
"Your Majesty, Marquis, this time I specially brought you 30,000 pounds of food and 20,000 pfennigs, which are urgently needed by the army. I captured them when I attacked Fort Marsi. There are many soldiers in the Liberation Army, and I think you must be in urgent need of these things." Before Flanders could speak, Art presented a generous gift.
"Cousin Art, you are too polite." Flanders nodded with satisfaction after hearing this.
"Marquis, this is what I should do." Art quickly bowed and saluted.
"Okay, in that case, I will accept it. After taking Thorne City, I will return double to you."
This is what Art expected. Only by being loyal to Flanders at all times can he get more benefits from him.
A few people chatted with each other in the tent about the battles over the past few months. Flanders praised Art's achievements in capturing Fort Marsi and annihilating hundreds of Kodor soldiers. What made him even more happy was that he could force Count Codor to join his own camp, which relieved a lot of pressure on Flanders to unify the county.
After Art heard how Flanders reversed the unfavorable situation, changed from passive to proactive, and forced the Western Army to Thorn City step by step, he admired Flanders' diplomatic ability, military ability and commanding ability. He was far from being comparable to Flanders, and even felt that it was his greatest honor to serve him.
After a brief conversation, Flanders sent someone to take Art down to rest for a while, and ordered someone to prepare a dinner. He planned to take this opportunity to catch up with Art and the officers of the Liberation Army and discuss preliminary strategies to defeat the enemy. A military meeting will be held early tomorrow morning to study how to break through Thorne City at the minimum cost and completely annihilate the defenders inside, thereby ending this battle for succession.
After the dinner, Art took Ron back to the tent to rest. After marching for several days, Art was already a little tired. After the army arrived outside Thorne City, he rushed to the Liberation Army station to take orders without stopping, without even a chance to rest.
At this time, he was full of wine and food, and a feeling of sleepiness came over him. Art wrapped himself in a wool felt blanket and fell asleep. After a while, bursts of snoring came from the tent...