Att received news of the small-scale battle that took place at the mouth of the valley south of the valley the next day. In addition, he did not make too many arrangements, but only told Colin and others to proceed according to the original plan - neither allowing the enemy to break through the Taniguchi Fortress, nor taking the initiative to provoke the opponent. In short, with just one sentence, he firmly controlled the southern valley entrance in his own hands.
There are two reasons why Yate arranged it this way. First, the entire valley is a legally recognized territory of At, and it has the right to send troops to garrison the southernmost mouth of the valley. No matter who provokes it, it is an invasion of the earldom of Wales, and the troops stationed at the mouth of the valley have the responsibility to defend against the enemy.
Second, the main purpose of garrisoning troops is to defend territory and territory. They must not take the initiative to attack other countries’ armies (at least not now) or occupy other countries’ territories for any reason. Once troops are sent into other countries, it is very likely that the opponent will seize the opportunity and provide excuses. Not only will this not gain support, it will become the target of public criticism and trigger a series of diplomatic dilemmas.
In addition, Art also organized some soldiers with woodcutter and hunter backgrounds that he had previously recruited from the old knight Christopher, and also arranged for about twenty soldiers to join these people who were familiar with the valley. They will be divided into two groups, each with about 20 people, and will explore along both sides of the valley until they reach the boundaries on both sides of the valley, and set up boundary markers at the boundaries.
This is a countermeasure adopted by Yate to prevent other neighboring countries from interfering in the valley on the grounds of unclear borders in the later period. Once the boundaries of the entire valley were established, Art had both a legal and a factual basis. If other countries' troops cross the border rashly, it will be regarded as an invasion of the earldom of Wales. In this way, when the two armies are fighting, the Welsh Army is fighting a just battle to defend the lord's territory, and can get the support of other countries, so as not to lose the support of the people.
Of course, Art would naturally report the "minor friction" between the Welsh Army and the Lombard Army to Flanders, the Lord of Burgundy. Although Flanders will not openly send troops to support, it will never sit idly by. After all, the Province of Wales guards the southern border of the Burgundy Kingdom.
After Flanders received the secret letter from Art, Art quickly received a reply. Flanders made it clear in his letter that the war between the Welsh and Lombard armies must be conducted within the controllable limits of Art. His core ideas are consistent with Art, and he will never take the initiative to provoke. If the Duke of Lombardy uses this as an excuse to launch a large-scale war against the Kingdom of Burgundy, the Kingdom of France's intervention will become a trump card in Flanders' hands. Because with the current strength of the Principality of Lombardy, it is simply vulnerable to the strong military and economic strength of the Kingdom of France
With Flanders's secret support, Art felt confident.
At present, it is almost impossible to continue to hide the things in the Nameless Valley. Therefore, in Art's opinion, instead of letting the Duke of Lombardy reveal the secret of the valley, it is better to spread the news in advance so that the Duke of Lombardy will be unable to get off...
A few days later, the news that the Duke of Lombardy sent troops to invade the territory of Burgundy spread like wildfire and began to spread in Provence, Swabia and the Principality of Burgundy. Of course, this is another conspiracy of the Art Envoy, whose purpose is to use external forces to force the Duke of Lombardy to retreat.
When the Duke of Lombardy, who was far away in the court of Milan, learned the news, he was very angry.
………
“…Tell me what you think about this matter?” The Duke of Lombardy, who was sitting in the hall with half-closed eyes and squinting at the ministers, said, pressing his forehead from time to time.
The people below were talking a lot, not knowing what to do for a while. In the past, the Lombards had always found excuses to invade other countries. After occupying the territory of other countries, they would then announce why the opponent had violated the previous contract. Therefore, Lombardy unilaterally announced that the occupied territory would become part of its own territory. Other weak countries were hampered by the power of the Principality of Lombardy and dared not speak out in anger, so they had no choice but to be slaughtered.
Now, the situation has reversed. Not to mention Lombardy's unknown start, just the opponent's combat effectiveness should make the Lombards awe-inspiring. What's more, the opponent had also prepared for a rainy day, took advantage of the danger and occupied the narrow mouth of the valley in the south of the valley closest to the Lombardy mainland. At this point alone the Lombard army was lost.
"Your Majesty, based on the current situation, I'm afraid we have no choice but to temporarily withdraw our troops. We will look for opportunities in the future." The Lord Privy Seal, who was sitting in the middle on the left side of the hall, thought for a while and finally spoke.
As soon as he finished speaking, the military minister of the Lombard court immediately objected, saying: "If we don't eradicate that bastard completely before he has a stable foothold, once he really opens up the north and south sides of the valley, Lombardy will be controlled by others everywhere."
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
Other ministers immediately agreed, wishing to annihilate the garrison in the valley immediately and get rid of them quickly.
"Everyone, please be quiet." The Duke of Lombardy said, "You fight on one side and retreat on the other. Each of you has your own reasons. But have you ever thought that if you let that bastard go, he will definitely become my number one enemy in Lombardy in the future!"
"This~" Some of the ministers of the Lord and He were speechless.
“What, do you have any doubts about my words?”
Everyone stopped responding.
“Immediately send an order to Paul who is attacking the valley in the north, asking him to capture the fortress that has extended into our land within ten days.” In the view of the Duke of Lombardy, those places should belong to him by rights. "Once we take the valley into our pocket, those gossips will disappear together. Because everyone knows that as long as the meat is eaten in Lombardy's mouth, it will not be spit out no matter what!"
A trace of murderous intent appeared on the Duke of Lombardy's face, but more of it was that he was complacent about owning that strategically important valley.
Just when the Duke of Lombardy thought that his army would live up to his trust, many corpses of Lombard soldiers had been left on the small battlefield at the mouth of the valley in the south...
…
"...Hurry! Prepare the fire oil!" In the southern fortress of the valley, the Lombard army tried to approach the outer wall of the fortress for the fifth time. Every time the ladder was put up on the edge of the wall, it was easy to pour fire oil on the fortress. The moment it came into contact with the sparks, the attacking Lombard soldiers were instantly engulfed by tongues of flames ~ "Report!"
"Sir Viscount, two of our people were burned to death on the spot, and the other one was not rescued in time on the way back, so~"
"They are all useless. They can't even take down a mere fortress. They deserve to die! Go and send me another team of troops to top it up. Don't let those bastards in the fortress breathe. I don't believe it. My five hundred troops can't withstand a defensive line composed of just a few dozen people."
“Yes, Lord Viscount!” The soldier took the order and left.
A moment later, another messenger ran in and handed a secret message to the leading viscount...