"Your Majesty, Sir Ron, they are back~" Outside Art's camp, an excited guard shouted loudly as he ran towards the camp. After hearing the news, the soldiers in the surrounding camps also opened the camp doors and came out.
At heard the sound, he opened the door curtain and came out.
"Your Majesty, Count~" the guard said to Art while breathing heavily, "Sir Ron, they are back~"
"What's the situation?" Art asked with concern.
"Except for one prisoner, the Lombards have been wiped out!" the soldier said excitedly.
"Where are they?"
"We will arrive at the camp soon."
"Hurry, take me to see it!" Art couldn't wait.
「Yes!」
As soon as Art and others arrived at the mouth of the valley, Ron had already appeared in front of everyone with the ambush team.
"Master!" When Ron saw Art, he hurriedly stepped forward, not caring to wipe the blood off his face.
"How's the situation?" Art asked.
"Sir~" Ron immediately stepped aside and motioned for Art to look behind him.
I saw the soldiers walking at the front holding their heads high in their hands and shouting slogans such as "Victory".
Matt nodded with satisfaction.
"Sir, we also captured a prisoner. We originally wanted to kill him, but I think it's not too late to bring him back for interrogation and then chop him up. Maybe we can get some useful information out of his mouth."
Matt turned his head and glanced at Ron, and said: "You kid, your mind is spinning faster and faster. Where are the people?"
"Bring them up!"
Following Ron's order, two soldiers escorted the Lombard prisoner out from behind.
"Sir, it's him. This guy moves very fast. If we hadn't sent people to intercept him from behind, we would definitely not be able to catch up with him."
"Bah! Who are you shameless Burgundians? You can only sneak attack from behind. You are not real warriors!" The Lombard soldiers struggled and shouted insults in Lombardy.
"Could it be said that just because you sneaked in from the south, you are considered a real warrior?"
“I~” The Lombard soldier was speechless, but his eyes were fixed on the Earl of Wales who spoke fluent Lombardy in front of him.
"Ron, take him down first and keep him safe."
"Yes, sir."
"The rest of you, please go down and have a good rest. Thank you for your hard work." Art turned and said to the other soldiers standing aside.
gerskov constellation in on the Earl of Xie. Accompanying them were not only the provisions and baggage of the two hundred people stationed in the camp, but also the conscripted valley craftsmen and the equipment needed to build the camp and fortress.
Judging from the current situation, the Duke of Lombardy will definitely not give up. Art must take the opportunity to establish a foothold in the south of the valley to have a basis for confrontation with the Lombards. If you want to station troops here for a long time, you must build permanent camps and enemy fortresses. This is one of the important reasons why the baggage train rushed to the south of the valley.
According to Art's idea, most of the baggage team arrived here first, and relied on the terrain at the valley entrance to build fortresses and camps to resist the Lombards. Once the Lombards invade the territory, this place will become the focus of confrontation between the two sides. The area south of the basin serves as a buffer zone between the valley and Lombardy. However, in order to prevent the Lombards from completely blocking the exit from the valley to the south, one hundred warriors and fifty crossbowmen who followed Ater would advance out of the south of the outpost and reach the Lombard border, half a day's journey away. Most of the baggage team followed and built a strong fortress based on a narrow exit in the south.
This fortress was to serve as a nail in the wedge between Atre and Lombardy to the north, and to serve as the southernmost outpost of the province of Wales in the valley.
A few days later, Art handed over all matters in the south of the valley to Colin, Hans and others, and he returned to the valley with his bodyguards and most of the young mountain people to prepare for the later development of the south of the valley.
A lot of land has been cultivated. But since the spring plowing has passed, a lot of land has been left idle. Although there is no time to plant food, other seasonal crops have not fallen." Scott said as he turned over the birch bark and glanced at where Art was sitting from time to time.
On the first floor of the Lord's Hall of the Valley Wooden Castle, Art was discussing with important government officials about reclamation and construction.
"You have done a good job. The land you have reclaimed should be used flexibly. Don't always think about growing food. Other crops that can be sown should be planted first according to the principle of division and time. This not only effectively utilizes the land, but also improves soil fertility."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Now, let me talk about the construction of trade roads." Art suddenly changed the subject. All the dignitaries immediately sat up straight and listened.
“When I came back from the south of the valley, I checked the construction status of the trade road. The roadbed was in good condition, and the road was built in full compliance with the original requirements. It can fully accommodate three carriages passing in parallel. But according to the current progress, it will take at least another year for us to complete the road. Get through. This is a test for everyone." Art looked around at everyone and continued, "Even so, the Construction Department still needs to hurry up. Because the Lombards don't have much time left for us." As soon as Art finished speaking, Cooper and others looked at each other with dark expressions.
"Sir, what do you mean~" After a moment, Cooper asked.
"Let me tell you this, the Lombards have set their sights on this fat piece of meat in the valley and are plotting to seize it."
"What?"
“How is this possible?”
“What should we do?” Everyone was shocked by this sudden news.
"Everyone, please be quiet!" Art said, raising his hands. "Don't panic, everyone. This is just my current speculation."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"But this does not mean that the Lombards will not come to our door. In view of this, we must take precautions early."
"Sir, please tell me what our Construction Department can do." Lawrence stood up from his seat and raised his voice.
"Lawrence, please sit down first." Art turned his head and glanced at Lawrence before continuing: "I have sent the baggage team to the southernmost part of the valley, close to the valley mouth half a day's journey from Lombardy, and ordered them to build a fortress based on the valley mouth as the southernmost outpost of the entire valley. But time is tight, and the baggage team can only temporarily build a temporary fortress. Once the Lombard army invades, that fortress will definitely not be able to hold on for a long time. So. While the construction department continued to build the trade road, it sent a team of 500 people, plus a few craftsmen who were good at building houses, to bring tools and corresponding supplies to the south valley entrance in a few days to assist the baggage team in building a strong fortress. Remember, it must be completed in the shortest possible time. I only give you half a month. "
Sitting aside, Lawrence felt a little embarrassed and frowned. "Sir, it may be difficult to build a fortress in half a month~"
At suddenly had a serious look on his face and turned his gaze to Lawrence.
"This is related to the future of the valley and cannot be underestimated. In my opinion, half a month is enough. There are cliffs on both sides of the exit. We only need to build a slightly simple fortress based on the terrain advantages to solve the immediate needs. We will use this as a basis for further expansion and reinforcement later. The men and horses of the baggage team have already started to build it. The task of you five hundred people is mainly to strengthen the fortress in the later period, and the task is not onerous. "
"Sir, in that case, I will return to the southern construction site tomorrow and gather a team of 500 people to go south."
"Okay. Tell them that once this task is completed, I will give them twice the wages compared to before. In addition, the reclaimed land will be allocated to them first."
"Yes, sir."
The day after the meeting, Art hurriedly rode to Beiguan Army Fort. The first was to check the training situation of the reserve regiment, and the second was to discuss the defense situation at the southern valley entrance with Angus and other high-ranking officers. Once the Duke of Lombardy learns of Art's plan, he will definitely send an army north to the valley to interfere with Art's plan. If it were anyone else, they would definitely not allow anyone to insert a knife at the door of their home.
This time, these guys were no longer as silent as before when they heard the news of the Lombard invasion.
At these guys’ little thoughts, Art knew very well. First, because they have recently added a reserve group of nearly a thousand people, they are full of confidence. Furthermore, everyone wants to take this opportunity to accumulate military merit and strive for promotion in their positions after the training of the reserve regiment.
After a while, Art said: "You all want to go, so who should I send?" Art pretended to be thoughtful.
"Sergeant major, who do you think is better to send to lead the people?"
"This~" Angus felt at a loss as to what to do. The earl was obviously throwing a ball, trying to throw this offending matter into his own hands. Seeing the expectant looks in the officers' eyes, Angus was quick to think. He said: "Sir, you have always been the one assigning tasks to them. I don't have the power. I think it's up to you to decide~" Angus then lowered his head very low and deliberately avoided Art's eyes.
At the end of the military meeting, Art finally decided on the candidate. It was decided to send company deputy commander Bangeda to lead a hundred people to the southern valley to join Weitz and others to garrison the valley entrance.
After everyone dispersed, Art and Angus went to the camp of the reserve regiment to inspect the training of the new recruits.
The two walked down the aisle in the middle of the training ground, followed closely by Ron and several guards.
Looking at the neat queue of recruits, Art nodded with satisfaction. I remember when I was training Odo, Kazak and others, I had to practice one movement repeatedly for more than ten days before I could barely satisfy myself. But now these recruits have become very skilled at it in just a few days, which is not easy. This is mainly due to the current legion system and efficient training methods.
Previously, Yate specially ordered some instructors from the Military Academy to compile a training syllabus for new recruits for future training. The training syllabus is based on the military manual and is compiled based on the officers' daily training and the actual situation on the battlefield.
With the standard training syllabus, officers not only feel a lot more relaxed, but also improve the effectiveness and progress of training.
…
On the training ground, the shouts of officers and soldiers could be heard from time to time~
"Sergeant, these soldiers must intensify their training. Once the Lombards really attack, these people will be the only backup we can rely on."
"Sir, will the Lombards really attack the valley?" Angus was extremely worried about this.
Matt turned his head and glanced at Angus, then continued moving forward. "To be honest, I'm not sure whether they will attack the valley. But it's always right to plan their plans one step ahead."
Angus nodded, and then quickly followed Art's pace.
"By the way, I brought back a lot of mountain people with hunter backgrounds from the south of the valley this time. You will form them into an independent team when the time comes. These people are good at hunting and finding prey in the mountains, and you will start training based on them. Then I will have another use."
"Hunter background?" Angus was puzzled.
"Yes, these guys are very skilled, and they are all Lombards. As long as you train well, I will have another important use when the time comes."
Angus asked no more questions and said, "Don't worry, sir, I will arrange it."
In the afternoon, Art hurriedly returned to the valley with the guards to deal with the official documents left behind in recent days.
In the evening of the same day, a piece of news that greatly annoyed Walder Burley reached his ears.
……………
"What? That bastard is alive!"
In the lobby of Walder Burley's mansion, after learning that his men failed to assassinate Art and instead had his head chopped off and hung on the gate of the outpost, Walder Burley stamped his feet anxiously. The inner knights who came to report the situation were so frightened that they kept retreating.
please, Sir, have you ever found out?' "Lord Earl, the two heads hanging on the door are indeed ours. And the soldier also said that those two people were killed by Art himself."
Ward Burley squeezed his fingers so hard that he gritted his teeth.
"Why is this bastard's life so dangerous! I didn't kill him ten years ago, but I didn't expect that ten years later he would be allowed to escape death again and again." Wadbury muttered, while thinking about how to continue to deal with Art.
Now that the best opportunity to assassinate Art has been missed, he can only rely on the power of the Duke of Lombardy. Now that guy's strength should not be underestimated. It is absolutely impossible to eradicate him with his own strength. Only by waiting for an opportunity to provoke a war between the two countries and using the help of the Duke of Lombardy to deal with Art can future troubles be avoided.
"It's time to add more fire to the Duke!" Walder Burley thought silently in his heart.