Early in the morning of the second day, Art was still asleep and was awakened by the sound coming from outside the tent.
"Ron! Ron!" Art stood up and rubbed his eyes. When he saw no one on Ron's bed in the corner, he shouted.
"Sir." Ron opened the door curtain and walked in.
"What happened outside?" Art asked in confusion.
"Sir, there were a few soldiers in the tent next door who didn't get up on time early this morning. When the people in the same tent went to call them, they found that all of them had bruised faces and bloody mouths. Not only were they breathless, but their bodies were also hard." Ron's words slowed down, and his face suddenly became ugly.
"What!" Art quickly got up from the bed, put on his armor with Ron's help, and hurried out the door.
“Hey, Master~” Ron said and ran out.
At this time, Flanders was already standing at the scene of the incident, and the soldiers beside him were telling what happened early this morning.
"...Your Majesty the Marquis, this is what happened. They were already out of breath when they were discovered." After the soldier finished speaking, he glanced at the corpses on the ground and then stepped aside angrily.
Flender approached the corpse, which was neatly placed on the ground and covered with linen. He slowly uncovered the linen cloth on the body and saw that the soldier's face was pale and putrid liquid was flowing out of his nostrils.
"Your Majesty the Marquis." Art called softly behind Flanders. Flanders turned his head and glanced at Art, his face gloomy.
“Mr. Marquis, what happened?” Art asked with concern. Flender's expression was serious most of the time, and Art was not surprised to see Flender's expression.
"Att, you're here just in time. Come and take a look at the corpses of these soldiers." Att stepped forward and took a look. The corpses were already smelly and in a miserable state of death. There were a few mosquitoes and flies buzzing on the linen cloth.
"According to other people's accounts, these people went to find water sources nearby because they had no water last night. After returning to the camp at night and falling asleep, they never woke up again."
"Not good!" Art was shocked. "Lord Marquis, please send someone to take out the water bags of these soldiers." A thought suddenly flashed through Art's mind: the water is poisonous.
Having been marching outside for many years, Art has always maintained a cautious attitude towards the enemy. Every time he arrived at enemy territory, Art ordered the soldiers not to drink the surrounding water at will. They had to wait until the accompanying army doctor checked whether the water was poisonous before allowing the soldiers to drink it.
"Come here, go inside and take out the water bags of these people." After Flanders gave the order, two soldiers hurried in and took out all the water bags beside the beds of these people.
"Your Majesty the Marquis, I still need a chicken, alive."
Flanders winked at the personal guard beside him. After a while, the water bladder and live chicken were placed in front of Art.
「Ron.」
Ron quickly stepped forward, grabbed the chicken's head, and opened the chicken's mouth with all his strength. I saw Art slowly pouring the water from one of the water bags into the chicken's mouth.
"Cousin Art, are you suspicious of water~" Flanders asked in a low voice.
At put down the water bag in his hand, carefully approached Flanders and whispered in his ear: "Your Majesty, Marquis, I suspect that the well nearby is poisonous."
"What!" Flanders' face gradually became serious after hearing this.
Matt continued: "It's just a suspicion at the moment, I don't have any definite evidence yet." As soon as Art finished speaking, the chicken that had just been filled with water broke away from Ron's hand and flopped on the ground, scaring the surrounding soldiers to take a few steps back.
“Master, that chicken~” As soon as Ron spoke, Art raised his hand to signal Ron not to speak, and just watched the reaction of the chicken quietly. After a while, the chicken no longer struggled as hard as it did a moment ago, and slowly fell to the ground, its body kept twitching, and the corners of its mouth began to bleed...
"The water is poisonous!" Seeing that the chicken had fallen to the ground, Art muttered silently. Art turned around and looked at Flanders, only to see Flanders folding his arms in front of him, his eyebrows furrowed, his eyes sharp, and a hint of murderous intent on his face.
"Your Majesty, Marquis, please quickly send people to control all surrounding water sources and strictly prohibit soldiers from drinking. That bastard Bernard must have poisoned these water sources a long time ago." Art continued.
Flanders was seen holding the hilt of his sword tightly and looking at the dead soldiers on the ground.
“Then how do we solve the water problem behind us?” Flanders expressed embarrassment. Without water, the Liberation Army could not survive more than seven days.
"Immediately send people to dig a well on the spot. There is a small forest to the south of the army camp. Not only is the terrain low, but there are trees to conserve water, so there should be water." Art was confident.
Flender glanced at where Art was pointing, no longer hesitated, and immediately sent people to deliver orders throughout the military camp.
………
At noon, the Liberation Army commanded the camp. Flanders ordered the senior officers of the Liberation Army to come to discuss strategies to break the city. In addition to the commanders of the various legions of the Liberation Army, the meeting also included Art Wood Wells, the commander of the Wells Legion and the Southern Border Guard Corps of the Countess, Viscount Leander, the commander of the Longchal Mountain Army, and the Viscount of Provence who led the troops north from Provence to help in the battle.
"Everyone," Flanders, who was at the head of the discussion table, said, "Currently, the Liberation Army and the various legions have surrounded the Western Army in Thorne City. Next, we must find ways to break through the city, annihilate those bastards in one fell swoop, and end this war completely." Flanders put his hands on the table and said with an unquestionable tone.
"My Lord Marquis, the walls of Thorne City are extremely strong. If the army attacks by force, there will probably be a lot of casualties." One of the officers said.
Flanders did not reject the officer's views outright. After many years of fighting abroad, he had indeed rarely encountered a city wall as tall and solid as Thorne City. Even the defense of the Besançon Palace could not keep up with Thorne City.
"You are right. A large army attacking Thorne City will inevitably cause heavy casualties. Such losses are not cost-effective." After finishing speaking, Flanders motioned to Art to express his opinion.
"Marquis, everyone," Art stood up and said, "Before the Wells Army (Southern Border Guard Corps) arrived in Thorne City, I had already sent people to Thorne City to prepare people to lurk in the city." When everyone heard that Art had already sent people to Thorne City, they all expressed admiration for his resourcefulness.
“But,” the topic changed, and the expressions on the faces of the officers suddenly became serious. "Bernard had already sent people to close all the city gates, and my people were unable to enter the city. Moreover, they found that the walls of Thorne City had been reinforced and were obviously much higher than before, which made it more difficult for the army to attack Thorne City."
"What if~" Art paused and turned to look at Flanders.
"Art, you don't have to worry about it, just say it." Flanders motioned to Art to continue.
"Your Majesty, if we have our internal agents in the city, there will be a greater chance of capturing Thorne City." The reason why Art said this was because he relied on this method to capture Fort Marsi. Moreover, Art has long known through secret channels that someone in Thorne City has secret contacts with Flanders, which means that Flanders has already had an insider in Thorne City.
Flanders could see through Art's thoughts at a glance, but he had no doubts about this guy, and instead admired him a little more. Because the two of them had the same ideas. At the beginning, Art took a small number of troops to lurk in Thorne City to assassinate Assassin, and brought several leaders to Paris to face the church's trial. This action dealt a severe blow to Bernard, and also boosted his own power to a great extent. More importantly, Art has a clear understanding of the situation in Thorne City and can familiarize the officers of the Liberation Army with the situation in the city before the army attacks Thorne City. After most of the troops rushed in, they wiped out the defenders in the city in one fell swoop.
"Yes, combining inside and outside is the best way to attack Thorne City!" Flanders was full of praise for Art's idea.
Another officer stood up and said, "Your Majesty, Marquis, where did we get the internal response?"
“This is what I’m going to tell you next.” Flanders signaled the personal guards around him to guard the door in person to prevent others from eavesdropping. Seeing Flanders being so cautious, the people at the table looked outside the curtain, then turned and set their eyes on Flanders, expecting to hear some important information from him.
"The reason why we kept it secret before arriving at Thorne City was because we were afraid that the news would be leaked." Flanders explained. "A few months ago, the lords of Thorne City secretly sent people to contact the Besançon Palace, hoping to serve the palace. Considering that Thorne City is extremely difficult to attack, I agreed to their request and secretly sent people to contact them. This is also an important reason why the Liberation Army was able to know the deployment of the Western Army's troops so easily and forced them to Thorne City step by step."
The people present suddenly realized that Flanders had already taken precautions and planted spies in Thorne's palace.
"Your Majesty, the Marquis, is brilliant!" The officers present all praised Flanders's methods.
"There is another problem. The surrounding area of Thorne City is full of traps and horse-blocking stakes. If the army wants to attack Thorne City, this hidden danger must be eliminated in advance." After yesterday's battle, Flanders's one hundred cavalry lost more than thirty people, and more than half of them died in the traps in front of Thorne City.
"Your Majesty, Marquis, leave this issue to me." Art stood up and accepted the order. Looking at Flanders' suspicious eyes, Art continued: "Many of our army are hunters, and they know more about these traps than ordinary people. It would be perfect to send them to clear the enemy's traps."
"Okay, Art, in this case, then this task will be handed over to you. You just need to clear a way for the army."
"I am willing to serve the Marquis." Art bowed and saluted. Flanders nodded with satisfaction.
After agreeing on the plan to attack Thorne City, Art took Ron and others back to the Wells Army's station to prepare for the next siege.