"My lord, it seems that the rebels will not attack the city in the short term. It has been so long, and I have not seen any action from them."
Hand on the wall of the east gate of Thorne City, the bachelor advisor standing behind Bernard analyzed Bernard, who was staring at the rebel camp. Bernard didn't respond, just looked into the distance quietly. The bachelor advisor stopped talking and looked towards the rebel camp, wondering what his master was thinking at this time.
A few days ago, a secret message finally came from the cavalry outside the city. The letter said that they burned all the fifty carts of grain and grass that were transported to the rebels in the direction of Besançon a day's journey east of Thorne, and killed more than a hundred of the army guards and cart drivers, without missing a single one. Bernard was very happy when he heard the news. Seeing that the sharp knife he had secretly arranged outside the city had begun to take effect, the string that had been tense in Bernard's heart in recent days finally got a moment of respite. Immediately afterwards, Bernard sent a secret message, ordering the cavalry to continue harassing until the rebels' food and fodder were exhausted, forcing them to retreat.
It now seems that the reason why the rebels have not taken action against Thorne City is more or less related to the burning of food and grass. The fifty carts of food and grass were enough to consume ten thousand people for five days, which meant that the rebels had to postpone their attack on Thorne City for five days, and they could also get a chance to breathe. If the cavalry can continue to destroy the enemy's forage, when the rebels retreat, they will have a chance to win back the current unfavorable situation. As long as the Flanders bastard can be driven out of Besançon, it is not impossible to gain the support of the principality again. As long as you can let them see shining gold coins and fertile land in their eyes, you are God, and they will not hesitate to betray you.
～ 』 The soldiers stationed at the south city gate hurriedly ran all the way to the east city gate. Upon hearing this, Bernard moved his gaze from the rebel camp to the soldiers already standing behind him.
"What's the matter?" There was a hint of calmness in Bernard's tone, which made the soldier unable to believe his ears. I was already prepared to be scolded, but when I saw the old man in front of me being so polite today, I suddenly became a little uncomfortable. On weekdays, if a messenger comes in a hurry to report the military situation, the first thing he does when he enters the door is that he will be yelled at by this old guy with an extremely bad temper, and then he will report the military situation one by one.
"Are you mute?" Seeing that the messenger stared blankly at him without speaking, Bernard's voice suddenly became much louder, bringing the messenger back from his thoughts.
"Report, Lord Earl, there is a cavalry team of more than a dozen people coming towards Thorne City two miles away from the south city gate. Behind them, there are more than a hundred cavalry who have been chasing and coming this way." The soldier quickly reported the situation to Bernard.
"More than a hundred cavalry are chasing a dozen cavalry towards Thorne City~" Bernard muttered silently. According to common sense, those coming towards Thorne City should be our own people. "Could it be~"
"No! Follow me to the South City Gate!" After reacting, Bernard dragged his heavy steps and trotted towards the South City Gate. The messenger also gave chase along with the bachelor advisor and several officers.
The guy who was running at the front looked back in horror and waved his whip hard at the horse's back. The horse roared and sped up under the driving force of the cavalry. The others who were following closely behind also ran all the way, without even bothering to shoot arrows to stop them~
These guys who were desperately fleeing were the remnants of the cavalry that had just failed to attack the Welsh Army's food and baggage in the south of Thorne City and fled all the way. Seeing that the leading cavalryman was killed, these guys took advantage of the chaos and rushed north, heading all the way to Thorne City. After running not far, the cavalry behind him caught up with him.
"Your Majesty, that seems to be our cavalry." An officer standing at the south city gate recognized one of his men and looked at the dozen or so cavalrymen who were being chased by a large group of people all the way.
“Quickly, order the city guards to prepare to cover our people entering the city.” After confirming that it was his own men, Bernard quickly ordered the city guards.
"Yes, Your Majesty the Earl!"
At this time, a dozen cavalrymen were less than a mile away from the city gate, and all the archers on the city wall were already in place.
"Hurry, hurry up! We are about to reach the city gate. Pay attention to the trap ahead." The cavalry running at the front saw the suspension bridge that had been slowly lowered and said loudly to the people behind him.
When a dozen cavalrymen rushed into the area within half a mile outside the south city gate, they finally breathed a sigh of relief. They believed that there were traps everywhere around the city gate, and the cavalry behind them would definitely not follow them rashly. They all slowed down and headed towards the suspension bridge~
"They are coming!"
When he saw more than a hundred cavalry bypassing the trap outside the city and rushing towards a dozen cavalry who were almost approaching the suspension bridge, a cavalryman screamed in surprise. When a dozen people on horseback looked back, they couldn't believe that the enemy's cavalry had accurately bypassed the traps and was charging towards them.
"Run!"
"Follow me!" An officer leading the pursuit ordered the pursuit to continue.
"Archers, prepare!" At this time, the archers on the city wall had already begun to string their bows.
"Let go!"
At the command, more than fifty armor-piercing heavy arrows were fired at the enemy cavalry less than a hundred steps away from the suspension bridge. In the blink of an eye, four or five fallen horses had thrown away the cavalry on their backs.
“Hurry, cross the bridge immediately.” After the suspension bridge fell, the few cavalrymen in front had already run towards it. I saw the cavalry following behind huddled together, and several of them had been cut down by the enemy cavalry who were catching up.
"Why were those bastards able to bypass the traps outside the city?" Seeing the enemy cavalry easily bypassing the traps and rushing towards the drawbridge, Bernard, who was standing on the city wall, stamped his feet angrily and loudly questioned the officers guarding the city.
"Your Majesty, Count, so am I." Just as the city guard officer was hesitating and unable to explain, Bernard had already slapped him with a slap, making the officers and soldiers around him take a few steps back in fright.
"Your Majesty, the enemy cavalry is approaching the drawbridge!" Just as Bernard was finishing dealing with the careless officer guarding the city, the officer who had been watching the battle below the city suddenly said.
I saw seven or eight cavalrymen blocked on the drawbridge being hacked to the ground one by one by the enemy cavalry, struggling desperately to rush towards the drawbridge~ "My lord, if you don't close the city gate, those bastards will rush inside." An officer said uneasily.
Seeing the enemy's cavalry under the city wall resisting the flying arrows under the cover of shields, they had no intention of retreating. If these cavalry were to control the drawbridge, the consequences would be disastrous~
"Raise the drawbridge and close the city gate!" Bernard immediately ordered the city gate to be closed. Watching helplessly, the few cavalrymen who failed to enter the city were hacked to death by the enemy's swords.
"Retreat!"
Seeing that the suspension bridge had been raised, the cavalry under the city retreated under cover.
Looking at the retreating cavalry and the dozen or so corpses left by the enemy under the city wall, Bernard clenched his hands into fists and smashed them hard against the city wall, his blood gushing ~
"Go, call those guys who fled into the city to see me!"
After that, Bernard left angrily.
"You've done a good job, go back and clean it up first." Looking at the blood on the officer's face, Art said with concern.
After the officer went out, Art turned to Ron and said, "Ron, are the sergeants major back?"
"They were escorting the baggage team back. We lost five carts of food and grass, and there were some casualties."
Ate stopped talking and just walked around the camp. He already knew this result.
……………
After Bernard returned to his mansion, the few cavalrymen who had saved their lives were also brought up. The bad news that followed also hit Bernard hard.
He never expected that the enemy would react so quickly. As soon as he hit Flanders, the bastard sent someone to completely destroy his carefully arranged move outside the city. This is equivalent to cutting off one of his arms, and it will undoubtedly increase more difficulties if he wants to take the initiative in the subsequent struggle.
There are currently only 2,000 defenders in Thorne City. Including the people from Fort Tantino in the west, there are only 2,300 combat-effective men. If some of Thorne City's soldiers are secretly sent outside the city to attack the enemy's food and grass, then Thorne City's defense will be partially weakened. Moreover, Flanders must have heightened his vigilance now. If he wanted to stab him in the back again, he might not be able to succeed so easily.
At this point, the most important thing at the moment is to continue to consolidate the defense of Thorne City and be ready to face the siege launched by the enemy at any time. As long as he can firmly defend Thorne City, he still has a chance to counterattack.
Just in case, Bernard summoned all the officers guarding the city to the lord's hall and told them to be vigilant at all times to prevent the enemy from coming for a sneak attack.
In addition, he called the officers in charge of public security in the city and gave special instructions to the informants stationed in the city to keep their eyes open and beware of collusion between the rebels and people in the city. Once discovered, they would be executed immediately. The existence of these informants in Thorne City stems from the fact that Art led people to lurk into Thorne City and annihilated Assassin who was raising him in the city. This not only caused Bernard to lose the arm of the Dean family, but also suffered suppression from the church, and his power was greatly weakened.
In view of this lesson, Bernard ordered some people to be specially assigned to clean up the forces that colluded with foreign enemies in Thorne City. Even the big and small lords in the city had people around them for him to dispatch. At the cusp of this crisis, he no longer believed anyone easily. He could go to war with Flanders to fight for the power of the country, and others could stab him in the back for their own benefit. Having sat as the Minister of Finance for many years, Bernard knows very well that in the face of interests, some people can betray everything~