“I heard that there are rebels everywhere outside the city, with tens of thousands of troops, surrounding Thorne City like an iron barrel.” I saw this guy talking as he picked up the peas on the plate and stuffed them into his mouth.
"I've also heard about it. I have a neighbor's son guarding the city at the south gate. He said that there are not only rebels outside the east gate, but also a group called the Welsh Legion in the south. They are also devils who kill people like mowing grass. They are all densely packed outside the city. I see this time, so... I'm afraid Encheng's army can't resist it. "
"Hush! You don't want your life. If the soldiers outside hear about it, your life will be lost."
While a few people were talking, seven or eight soldiers patrolling outside the door walked over with spears in their hands. They were so frightened that they quickly closed their mouths and buried their heads.
In a tavern in Thorne City, a few bold city residents were sitting together drinking and chatting with nothing to do, talking about the current situation around Thorne City.
At this time, there were only a few pedestrians on the street outside nervously walking through the road begging for food. Most of them were beggars and homeless people in the city. Since he had no place to stay, he would pick up food thrown away by wealthy people in the streets and alleys to fill his withered stomach. Those who were bolder joined the Western Army and worked hard as a third-rate unit to make ends meet.
Most of the shops on both sides of the street have sealed their doors tightly, and the family is hiding in the house and does not dare to come out. Hearing the occasional noise coming from outside the door, he just glanced outside through the gap in the window.
Ever since I heard that the rebels from the east were heading towards Thorne City, many residents in the city took advantage of the opportunity they could get out of the city with their families to escape. Some of the empty houses were occupied by homeless people and beggars in the city. It is always more comfortable to live in a house that can protect you from the wind and rain than to sleep outside in the wind~
………
Seeing the large number of people outside the city, the Thorne soldiers guarding the city could not sit still. Most of these people's purpose of joining the army is to have food to eat. If they are lucky, they might even be able to get a part-time job as an official. Never would he have imagined that he would be in a situation like today, surrounded by tens of thousands of people outside the city and inside the city. He was always on tenterhooks, fearing that the enemy would invade the city and kill him.
"Look at the rebel camp, there must be at least tens of thousands of people." On the east wall of Thorne City, a soldier pointed at the camp of the Liberation Army and said to his companions.
"They claim to have an army of tens of thousands. I think this formation is almost 20,000." Another soldier analyzed.
"Real or false! I heard that there are many members of the Longxia Legion among the rebels. Those guys are a group of devils who kill without blinking an eye. Now they are all surrounding Thorne City. What should we do?" The soldiers were filled with anxiety and their bodies were shaking slightly.
"Is the Longxia Army really that powerful?"
“Didn’t you see how embarrassed the so-called elite guys sent by the Earl to the front line were when they fled back to the city? All of them were missing arms and legs. I don’t know where the momentum before they went out went.” Thinking of those Western soldiers who suffered at the hands of the soldiers of the Longxia Legion, this guy felt a spasm in his stomach.
"Let's "patrol" somewhere else, be careful not to get killed by the hidden arrows shot by those guys. "
"Yes, yes, let's go quickly~"
…………
"The team behind quickly follow up~"
To the west of Besançon, in Saône Province, a day's journey away from Saône City, a 100-person grain transport team is walking all the way to the west.
This grain transport team consisted of fifty carriages, all filled with grain and grass covered with linen. Each carriage was equipped with a driver, and there were about twenty servants in the middle of the team. There were one or twenty light armored infantry guards armed with short spears and shields on both sides and at the rear of the convoy. At the head of the team was an officer on horseback, followed by several soldiers holding short swords.
This grain transport team just came out of the nearby county town that was already controlled by the Liberation Army, and continued to transport grain and grass all the way west to the Liberation Army's camp outside Thorne City. Since everything along the route has been controlled by the Eastern Front Army, it is basically safe. Therefore, there were less than a hundred soldiers escorting the grain and grass, and all of them were light armored infantry, led by a baron.
If the east and west armies were fighting here before, it would have been impossible for a hundred soldiers to escort more than fifty carriages filled with food. Because both sides understand that food and grass are the guarantee of the army, they often send heavy troops to escort them. Now, the Western Army has all retreated to Thorne City, so the Liberation Army Command Camp believed that there was no need for a large group of people to escort grain and grass, so they transferred most of the people who originally escorted grain, grass and baggage to outside Thorne City to participate in the siege.
The baron, who was riding at the front of the team, was very satisfied with the task assigned to him this time. This guy was a leading baron under Baldwin, and he had fought on the front line before. Seeing that the Western Army retreated step by step into Thorne City, the final siege was bound to be dangerous and life-or-death uncertain. So Baldwin transferred him from the frontline troops and transferred him to a baggage officer, responsible for the transportation of food and grass for the army. This was a safe and lucrative job. The leading baron was filled with joy and hurriedly took office the next day.
Looking at the large green grass in front of him, the leading baron was in a good mood, and he was humming an unknown country tune~
But he would never have thought that the fifty carriages of food and grass behind him had long been targeted.
………
“Lord Viscount, they are coming.” A soldier who had just rode over from the other side of a low hill in the distance dismounted and came to an officer riding a tall horse to report the enemy's situation.
"How many people are there?" the officer asked.
"There are about a hundred people in total, including more than fifty coachmen and handymen, the remaining more than eighty are light armored infantry, and there is an officer on horseback at the front." The soldiers reported the details of the enemy one by one.
"Okay! Listen to me clearly, rush up and kill them all, and burn all the food and grass for me." The officer said to the people behind him. I saw the soldiers behind him, all holding long swords, hanging shields on their backs, and carrying war horses. They numbered three hundred in number.
"Yes!" Everyone responded and accepted the order. Then he headed in the direction of the convoy.
………
“My lord, Baron, I always feel that there are people around us staring at us.” The soldier following behind said uneasily to the leading baron who was riding a horse and humming a ditty.
"You bastard, didn't you see that I was happy, sir? It's really disappointing. The enemies are all in Thorne City. Where did the enemies come from?" As he spoke, the leading baron swung his riding crop onto the helmet of the talkative soldier. The soldier stumbled backwards in fright. When he was getting up, he saw a dark group of people rushing over behind him.
"Enemy attack!"
This shout startled the other soldiers, and the coachman also tightened the reins and controlled the horses.
“You bastard, you still dare to scream.” The leading baron turned around again and was about to whip the soldier who got up. Just as he raised his whip and wanted to swing it at the soldier, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a large group of people rushing over from the other side of the hillside, less than 500 steps away from the convoy.
"Enemy attack! Get in formation!" The leading baron ordered loudly while already pulling out the long sword from his waist. When the other soldiers saw the cavalry charging towards them, they immediately took off their shields in a panic and gathered around the carriage that had formed a circle.
Just one charge from the enemy smashed the weak circular shield into pieces. In the blink of an eye, three hundred light and heavy cavalry had surrounded the grain transport team.
“Kill me!” Seeing that his own people were surrounded, the leading baron who was escorting the grain and grass ordered to rush out. The soldiers who were desperately resisting immediately formed a circle and surrounded a simple "city wall" with their shields, trying to resist for a while in this way.
The cavalry team was ordered to destroy the grain and grass. Seeing that it was difficult to break through the opponent's defense for a while, the leading officer no longer wanted to fight and immediately ordered people to throw the kerosene they carried with them into the shield formation, while others burned the grain and grass.
"Fire oil!"
A soldier in the shield formation shouted. The others were so frightened that they didn't know what to do.
As the clay pot filled with kerosene burst, the leading officer fired the ignited arrow into the shield formation. Suddenly, I saw flames soaring into the sky, and the sparks flying on the soldiers had ignited their cotton armor, and bursts of screams continued to be heard~
On the other side, all the carriages filled with grain and grass were also in raging fire, and the army's driver and handymen had already fallen into the flames...
Looking at the enemy soldiers rolling on the ground and the burning grain and grass, the leading officer's face showed the joy of victory.
Sure enough, after a while, the infantry shield formation surrounding the carriage began to disintegrate, and the soldiers in the shield formation began to collapse and escape...
"Charge up and kill them all!"
< br/> In the light of the fire, there were screams everywhere...
………
On a small hill not far outside Thorne City, Flanders was standing on the top of the hill with his officers and a group of officers, looking at Thorne City.
Early this morning, Art sent someone to report that he had sent someone to mark the trap outside the east gate of Thorne City clearly during the night, and recorded the location of the trap on parchment and ordered it to be sent over as well. The trap outside the south city gate is still being investigated.
Flender was very satisfied with Art's performance and gave him a credit in his heart. After the trap outside the south city gate is completely clear, the Liberation Army and the Southern Border Guard Corps will send out the information and attack Thorne City at the same time.
At this time, the sun has slowly set over Thorn City, and there is still some dazzling sunlight shining from the west, making it difficult to open one's eyes~
After returning to the Liberation Army's camp, Flanders summoned a group of officers and ordered them to prepare siege equipment immediately, and attack the defenders of Thorn City immediately after the intelligence was sent out.
Just as the military meeting was ending, everyone was walking out of the army command camp one after another, and the messengers had already dismounted and headed towards the command camp.
"Report to the Marquis." When the messenger saw Flanders coming out, he quickly ran forward to report the military situation.
"Yesterday afternoon, the army escorting grain and grass from Besançon was intercepted a day's journey from the city of Thorne. More than a hundred people, including servants, were killed, and all the grain and grass were burned."
Hearing that the grain and grass were intercepted and the soldiers were killed, Flanders's eyes opened wider and wider, and the messenger quickly lowered his head in fear.
"Where are those who burned the grain and grass?" Flanders' tone was full of anger, and he wanted to go and tear those bastards apart immediately.
"Back to your Lord Marquis, when the patrolling cavalry discovered our people, we learned from a seriously injured soldier that they were attacked by a cavalry of about 300 people. The injured soldier was later sent to a nearby military camp by the patrolling cavalry and was later treated ineffectively. The cavalry followed the tracks of the horses' hoofs for a whole day but could not find any trace of those people. At this time, Flanders, who had originally planned to lead a large army to attack the city, had to postpone his plan to attack the city after hearing that his grain transport team was attacked. If all that cavalry is not wiped out, the enemy will definitely attack from behind when the army attacks the city, and they will be attacked from both sides. At that time, the Liberation Army will face the unfavorable situation of fighting on two fronts.
"Immediately go to the south of Thorne City and inform Lord Ater, asking him to come immediately to command the army and command the camp. I have important matters."
"Yes, Lord Marquis."