It was mid-May, when frictions between Art and the Lombards continued, and a secret letter was sent to the valley by flying pigeons from Besançon in the north. The person who sent the message was not Flanders, Marquis of Burgundy, but Galvin, Art's father-in-law and the palace finance minister.
In the Earl's office on the first floor of the Lord's Hall, Art, who was sitting on a large leather chair, slowly opened the secret letter just sent by Ron~
"Bernard, his former son Robert and his mother were entering London. After the Duke of Bardie was suddenly attacked by bandits in a dense forest, all the belongings he brought with him were plundered, and none of the three people were spared..."
This is the core content of the secret letter. The rest of the text is Galvin's instruction to Art not to leak the secret. So far, apart from Flanders' confidants in the Longxia Legion, only Galvin knew about this shocking news.
“The Marquis finally took action against Bernard~” Art sighed softly.
Flender has hinted to Art before that once the time is right, he will look for opportunities to get rid of Bernard, Robert and others. If they were kept, Flanders would never feel secure on the Iron Throne. Art knew in his heart that Bernard and others would die sooner or later. However, the news came somewhat suddenly.
At stood up and stretched his muscles, then took some wine to moisten his throat. Then he kept walking back and forth in the office room.
Although this news would come sooner or later, it came so quickly that Art was a little overwhelmed. On the one hand, Bernard, who almost killed himself several times, has been eliminated and no longer poses any threat to Art. It stands to reason that he should relax. But there was a trace of worry in Art's heart, and he was not happy at all.
Since Flanders got rid of Bernard and others, he must have made careful thoughts and careful arrangements. But Bernard had previously been extremely powerful and had inextricable connections with many noble businessmen. Now that he is dead, it will definitely cause an uproar again. This is definitely not a good thing for the recovering Burgundy Kingdom. Moreover, Lombardy and Swabia are eyeing the Burgundian Kingdom, which adds more instability factors to the Burgundian Kingdom, which is itself surrounded by enemies on both sides.
Now that things have come to this, Art is powerless to change anything. The most important thing at the moment is to seize the opportunity to build the territory. Once everything is on track, it will be the time for Art to open up his own world.
On the second day after Art received the secret letter, the Duke of Lombardy far south was furious after hearing a piece of news that deeply disturbed him~
…
"...Shame! It's simply a shame! That bastard sent all the troops to the border and you only found out that you actually asked him to build a fortress in just ten days~" The Duke of Lombardy pointed at the nose of the officer who came to report the matter and scolded him loudly in the inner court office. His face was livid and his body was shaking because of the inefficiency of his men in doing things.
"Sir, please calm down, we are following your instructions. If there is no news from the soldiers who went to the north of the valley to check within ten days, we will send troops to find out the situation. When our soldiers have just approached the mouth of the valley, They have blocked the only road into the valley~"
Pa～
The Duke of Lombardy raised his right hand and waved it hard at the officer, and the sound of slapping flesh echoed in the office room.
"Your Majesty, please spare my life~" The officer quickly fell to his knees with a thud, bowing his head and begging for mercy.
"Why do we have useless people like you in our army! Come here, take this incompetent bastard out and chop him down!" The Duke of Lombardy finally made up his mind this time, and decided to kill the chicken as a warning to the monkeys, and use this hapless officer in front of him to enforce military law.
Immediately, several guards with swords walked in from outside the door, picked up the officer who was still kneeling on the ground and kept begging for mercy, and dragged him out.
"Your Majesty, please have mercy, please have mercy!" The officer's desperately shouting voice gradually disappeared outside the gate.
A moment later, the Prime Minister of the Lombardy Palace walked in slowly under the guidance of the guards.
Looking at the Duke of Lombardy who was facing away from the door and looking at the simple map made of sheepskin on the wall, the Prime Minister of the Palace stopped at the door and waved the guards to leave softly.
After a while, the Duke of Lombardy turned around.
"When did the Prime Minister stand here? Why was there no movement at all?" The anger on the Duke of Lombardy's face was still there, his expression was still serious, and his brows were slightly furrowed.
"The Duke was shocked," the Palace Prime Minister said apologetically, "I see that the Duke is so obsessed with the map on the wall that I really dare not disturb you."
The Duke of Lombardy sighed, stretched out his hand to signal the Palace Prime Minister to sit down and talk, and he also walked to the chair and sat down. Then the waiter brought in two glasses of wine.
After taking a sip of wine, the Duke of Lombardy revealed the purpose of calling the palace prime minister. "There is only one thing that calls you here today." The Duke of Lombardy turned to look at the map on the wall. "According to reports from spies, the Count of Wales has occupied the only entrance to Lombardy in the south of the valley, and built a strong outpost in just ten days. He is putting a knife in my eye!" The Duke of Lombardy began to become excited again.
“What?” The palace prime minister hurriedly put down his wine glass. "Your Majesty, Duke, so that guy has already reached out to our territory first?" The palace prime minister couldn't believe it.
"Hmm~" The Duke of Lombardy nodded helplessly.
"In this case, that guy must have big plans." The Prime Minister of the Palace stroked the beard on his chin, thinking about the true purpose of the Earl of the Southern Territory.
"Is it possible that the little bastard still wants to annex my land in Lombardy!"
"Your Majesty, the Duke, now he has come to our doorstep to run wild, and his intentions must be big. We have to be on guard~"
"Then in your opinion, we should now What to do? "
The Prime Minister of the Palace stood up from his seat, walked to the Duke of Lombardy, bowed his head, and said: "Your Majesty, in order to avoid long nights, we must pull out the fortress he built on the border of Lombardy before the guy in the north can gain a foothold. And take the opportunity to advance all the way to the north of the valley..."
The next morning, the Duke of Lombardy summoned the important officials of the palace together to discuss how to drive Att, Earl of Wales, away from the entire valley, and then go northward to begin to annex the territory of Burgundy step by step.
Increasing the territory of one's own country is the lifelong pursuit of every ambitious ruler. Although the Duke of Lombardy was ambitious, he lacked understanding of this opponent he was dealing with for the first time.在他决定拔掉靠近伦巴第领土的那颗钉子之时，就已经注定了他会无功而返……
…………
在伦巴第军队开始有所动作的时候，潜伏在城中的特遣队员将这一消息通知了在索伦堡的奥利弗。 Later, a secret letter was sent back to the valley from Lombardy~
In Art's study on the second floor of the wooden castle, after learning that the Lombard army was being mobilized and assembled, Art flew a pigeon that night to notify the company captain Colin and others who were defending in the south of the valley.
Yat's order has three points. The first is to further strengthen and heighten the fortress before the Lombard army arrives at the southernmost fortress, and make corresponding preparations to defend against the enemy. The second is to send some troops out of the valley to monitor the whereabouts of the Lombards. Once the Lombard army attacks, they will immediately notify the garrison. The third is to send most of the soldiers from the camps near the basin to the front line, leaving only a small number of troops stationed at checkpoints and camps.
Just in case, Art ordered the remaining troops of the Welsh Army to prepare for the expedition and support the frontline soldiers in the south of the valley at any time.
“…Sir, there are only two hundred people in the southern valley. Can they withstand the Lombard army?” Ron suddenly asked after handing the letter to Bob and returning to Art’s study.
Att used a quill pen to mark official documents on the paper, and smoothed the wrinkled paper from time to time. After a while, Art signed his name at the end and was about to pick up the fire paint and pour it on the paper.
"Sir~" Ron had already handed over the paint.
咚～
As the sound of the seal falling on the paper came, the exclusive seal of the Earl of Wales was left on the solidified fire paint.
Matt blew on the wet ink and put the paper into the drawer under his right hand.
"What did you ask me just now?" Art suddenly spoke.
"Sir, what I want to say is that our two fortresses in the south of the valley only have about two hundred people in total. If the Lombards attack in a large scale, how can they withstand it?"
"Pour me a glass of wine first." Art said calmly.
"Sir~" Ron held the wine glass in both hands and handed it to Art.
With a slurping sound, Art drank it all in one gulp.
"You said that situation would only happen when both sides were attacking and defending a city. Think about it, our two fortresses were built at the entrance of a canyon that can only accommodate one carriage. Even if the enemy wants to build a siege ladder, they can only build one at a time. Moreover, the terrain in the canyon is narrow and the army cannot deploy at all. As long as our people defend the enemy from danger, no matter how many Lombards there are, it will be useless."
Ron rubbed the back of his head and thought for a moment, then said: "No wonder you are not panic at all, sir. It turns out that you have known for a long time that the Lombards would not be able to break through our fortress~"
Art smiled slightly and said nothing.
………
At the end of May, a Lombard army of up to 500 people marched out of Milan in a mighty manner. Ten days later, the Lombard army was constantly harassed by small groups as they approached the mouth of the valley.
In order to interfere with the speed of the Lombard army's advance, Colin specially sent a team of about ten people out of the valley, using shrubs and dense forests as cover to continuously attack the flanks of the Lombards. The more important purpose is to wait for an opportunity to burn the enemy's food, grass and baggage. Since the northern part of Lombardy had not yet been cultivated and there were no trade roads for carriages to travel, except for the part carried by the soldiers themselves, the rest was mainly transported by mules and horses. Once there is a lack of food and grass, the Lombard army will retreat on its own.
Despite the plan, this small force did not seize the opportunity to burn the Lombard army's supplies. When the Lombard army marched, they carefully protected their food, grass and baggage. In addition to the cavalry escort, there were also many elite infantry accompanying them. Because the cavalry has good vision, they have a clear understanding of the surrounding situation. The raiding team tried many times to get close to the food and grass, but all ended in failure.
The Lombard army is different from ordinary second-rate armies. This team of 500 people marched in an orderly manner, unlike those peasant soldiers who were chaotic and without any order at all. Historically, the Lombards were proud of their strong military and martial arts, which is why in the many years of war between the Lombards and Provence, the latter's territories and cities were always captured.
On June 5, the Lombard army finally arrived at a flat open space south of the valley mouth. Then they set up camp there and prepared siege equipment. In addition, some troops were also sent to the vicinity of the valley entrance to check the defense situation of the troops stationed there.
Shoo~
When a Lombard soldier was just a stone's throw away from the mouth of the valley, a light arrow flew out from above the fortress and landed just in front of the soldier.
"Raise your shield!" a leading Lombard soldier ordered in Lombardy.
Immediately, the other soldiers immediately took out the shields from their backs and placed them directly in front, guarding against flying hidden arrows.
"These bastards move pretty fast~" Bury muttered, hiding behind the crenel.
"Sir Colin, it seems these guys want to test our defense situation." Hans glanced outside the wall, turned to the company captain Colin and said.
"That's right! These Lombards are really good. Not only are they quick to react, but they also have good shields and swords." Colin was full of envy.
This is not surprising. Compared with the weapons and equipment of the Welsh Legion, the Lombards are obviously a higher level. As a military and economic power, the Lombards were good at using high-quality fine iron to make weapons and armor. The most famous is undoubtedly a complete set of Milanese plate armor. Regardless of its workmanship or performance, it is far from comparable to ordinary armor. Art had previously ordered the Valley Weapons Workshop to build a pair of Milan plate armor. Although the quality was similar to the Milan plate armor produced by the Lombards, the cost and time-consuming were almost twice as much. This shows that the strength of the Lombards is extraordinary.
As he was speaking, several Lombard soldiers holding shields had already approached.
"Sir Colin, they have arrived."
One of the soldiers observing through the hole reported.
Colin then looked out and saw that the Lombard soldiers had changed from three abreast to two abreast (the road became narrower the closer to the valley entrance).
"People above get ready!"
In a blink of an eye, seven or eight soldiers above the fortress had already lifted the stones that had been prepared.
Seeing that the Lombard soldiers had appeared ten steps away, Colin immediately gave an order. "Smash it with me!"
Suddenly, seven or eight rocks flew out from the fortress and hit several Lombard soldiers holding their shields near the outer wall, knocking over three unlucky guys on the spot. Due to the shields as cover, the Lombard soldiers were not killed or injured. After getting up from the ground, he immediately organized a counterattack.
"Cover!" one of the leading Lombard soldiers said loudly in Lombardy.
“What are they talking about?” Bury yelled, looking out.
After a while, the Lombard soldiers stabilized their position, surrounded their shields in a semicircle, and covered their heads with shields.
"Let go!" As a Lombard voice came out, the shield covering it opened instantly, and a heavy armor-piercing arrow shot towards the top of the fortress.
"Sir Bury, be careful!"