They circled the hills, went north via the trail, and spent the night in a hidden cave. At dawn the next day, the four of Ate arrived near the newly built military fort built by the Lombards.
Leaving one person to hide and take care of the horses, Art led Ron and the remaining personal guard to the grassy hillside less than a hundred steps away from the side of the military castle and lay down in the grass.
The location of this military fort is very dangerous. It stands on a hill. The river extending from the northern mountainous area flows quietly in front of the military fort. A wooden wall that is being built stretches out from the completed military fort, crossing the river and cutting off the river and the road downstream.
The military fort is almost a pure stone structure. Although it is not very tall, and a rough estimate can only accommodate thirty or fifty people, its terrain is dangerous and high, and its walls are hard. It will definitely not be easy to attack by force.
Although the wooden horizontal wall does not look strong, it is supported by a military fort, and it will take a lot of troops to push it. Moreover, even if the wooden wall is knocked down, the army will not dare to go south directly. After all, the military fort is the real deterrent.
Watching the carriages carrying food and weapons into the military fort, Ron couldn't help but cursed with envy: "The Lombards are really a bunch of rich bastards. Such a strong fortress has been built in this remote mountainous place. The stones for building the city are probably brought from outside the mountains. The most important thing is that it's only been more than a month, I'm afraid it's like this If we go down, they have to build the military fort under our South Pass. "
"Sir Ron is right. If we estimate that if there are enough supplies and weapons, even if there are fifty troops stationed in this military fort, I am afraid we will have to kill more than a hundred soldiers before we can conquer it." Another guard beside Ron also sighed.
Att didn't say anything. He never intended to expect his opponents to turn into a bunch of idiots waiting to be beaten. The Lombards' reaction was also expected.
If this military fortress is not a way for the Lombards to hide their presence, it is not a bad thing for Art. The fact that the Lombards can build a city here at least shows that they have no intention of taking the initiative to attack for the time being.
This way he can have enough time to prepare.
The posture of lying on the ground and raising his head was very tiring. After looking at it for a while, Art felt his neck was sore. Fortunately, he turned over and lay down instead. He took a grass root in his mouth and chewed it. He told the two people beside him: "You should remember the terrain, city defense, number of garrison troops, baggage and supplies, etc. When you go back, write a detailed military report and send it to the Military Affairs Office Staff Department so that they can plan in advance."
Ron quickly took out a hardwood charcoal stick and a palm-sized piece of papyrus from his arms, and roughly drew the terrain and defense map near the military fort, while another personal guard stretched out his neck from time to time to take a look at the number of garrison troops in the military fort.
After a while, only a small piece of chewed grass root remained in the trampled grass on the hillside...
did not leave anything but a small piece of chewed grass root in the trampled grass on the hillside...
did not leave any trace of chewed grass roots.
One side of the rushing river is a steep cliff cut by God with a giant axe, and the other side is a river bank that is less than a hundred steps wide at its widest and more than thirty steps at its narrowest.
At the narrowest point of the river bank, a high wooden wall has been built. Now the garrison is strengthening the high wall with stones collected from nearby every day. The high wooden wall is about to become a stone city wall.
In addition to the rapid river, only the gate of the high wall, which can only accommodate two carriages driving side by side, can pass through.
More than twenty steps behind the high wall, there is a slightly wider open space with Nanguan Military Fort embedded in it.
Although the Nanguan Army Fort is as famous as the Beiguan Army Fort, the scale of the military fort is really incomparable.
Beiguan Army Castle is the headquarters of the Welsh Legion. The permanent army can reach 500. If it is crowded, it can accommodate more than a thousand people.
But Nanguan Army Fort is different. It is not easy to build a fort on the river bank less than a hundred steps away and to be able to squeeze a hundred or ten people inside.
In a small room on the third floor of Nanguan Army Fort, two beds made of wooden boards are next to each other. A small wooden table is squeezed between the beds. On the wooden table are some clothes and food scraps piled messily.
Hans wrapped the tattered wool felt blanket tightly around his body, but he still felt a little chilly. After sneezing so loudly, Hans couldn't help but curse, "Damn river bank, damn canyon, cold, cold and damp."
Hans wanted to curse a few more words, but Bury, who was holding the pottery bowl in both hands, kicked open the door. Bury was obviously very scalded by the steaming soup in the pottery bowl. As soon as he entered the door, he quickly put the pottery bowl on the wooden table.
“Let’s see if I can get you. I have to pick up stones from the river on a cold day. Now I’m lying on the bed pretending to be dead, and I have to serve you, you bastard.” Bury spat into his palms that were reddened by the spilled soup, and kicked the edge of the bed a few times while cursing.
That's right, this is the commander's barracks of Nanguan Army Fort.
The military castle is too small, so Commander Hans and Adjutant Bury can only squeeze into this small room together. This is not bad, at least it is a double room, which is better than those ordinary soldiers crowded into a room with more than a dozen people.
"Who asked you bastard to take care of me? I can't die." After sneezing, Hans turned around and cursed back at Bury, then struggled to get up, picked up the pottery bowl and took a sip.
Poof～
"Bah! What is this? Why is it so painful? Berry, you bastard, do you want to poison me and then take over as the commander of Nanguan Army Fort!"
Bailey glanced at the guy in front of him, "You still need to be poisoned in your current condition. You will go to see God in a few days."
Today I went to the rear camp, and Mr. Scott personally brought supplies. I heard the doctor in the camp said that this stuff can cure livestock, so I brought some back to treat you."
Barry said, taking out a piece of wheat bread from his arms and throwing it in front of Hans. "It's a bit bitter, but it won't kill you. Take a few sips to get rid of the taste."
"I said you get up quickly. Winter is about to come, and there are still many things that need to be done. Yesterday, Greno took people to the southern outpost to investigate again. The Lombards' shift has been completed. I'm worried that the Lombards will take action soon."
Speaking of the military situation, the two people suddenly changed again.
Bury sighed and punched the bed board hard, "If it weren't for the Military Administration's strict order not to attack, I would have to take people to attack it, even if it makes them slow down."
Hans had pinched his nose to drink the soup, and after his distorted facial features recovered, he said: "Okay, the officers and lords of the Military Administration must have long-term considerations, we will just hold on to the military fort."
“Greno is familiar with the surrounding terrain. Please tell him and ask him to lead people to patrol the surrounding trails before it snows. Those that can be sealed must be sealed, and those that cannot be sealed must be set up with traps and pits. The Lombards must not be allowed to bypass the South Pass and raid the rear camp. There are many people living there. There are very few citizens. "
"Also, let the guys work harder and try to reinforce the high wall with stones before it snows..."
The two were discussing military affairs, and suddenly a warning horn sounded outside.
「个杂种！难道是伦巴第人突袭？快，扶我起来，布置防御。」
............
「好样的！反应很快！身处边境战线，就得时刻处于迎敌备战状态。」
Entering the high-walled city gate of Nanguan, Yat praised the defenders who had not yet relaxed from their tense war readiness state.
After finishing the investigation of the newly built military fort of the Lombards in the south, Ate and the others went around the secret path provided by the Lavati City task force to Nanguan Military Fort.
The defenders saw four men galloping on horseback, thinking they were Lombard outposts, so they blew their horns.
"My lord, why did you appear in the south?"
"How I appeared in the south can't be explained in a single sentence. But Hans, why did you sweat profusely and turn pale when you saw me?"
Hans, who had put on his armor, was sweating profusely and his face was a little pale, but maybe he was so excited that he forgot that he was bedridden a moment ago.
Before he could answer Art's question, Hans suddenly felt his vision go dark and collapsed to the ground.
Matt looked puzzled, but Bury quickly reported to him that Hans had jumped into the cold river to pick up stones in order to obtain stones for repairing and reinforcing the high wall a few days ago. He was aroused by the cold water and fell ill.
Yate looked up at the towering canyon. It was early winter, and there was no daylight here, so it was really cold and easy to get sick.
"Hurry and send your commander to the rear camp for medical treatment."
"Ron, when you return, tell Farnaz to ask the government hospital to prepare some medicines here and send them regularly with the supplies. In addition, sufficient supplies of winter clothing and firewood for heating must be provided."
"By the way, let me tell the brewery to provide a special portion of ale to Nanguan Army Fort in winter. The amount should not be too large to make them drunk."
The lake basin, the camp behind Nanguan, is called the lake land.
However, the desolate lake basin a few years ago has now been built with a simple wooden military camp as the core, and a settlement group composed mainly of native mountain people and newly transferred people from the new territory.
There are fifty soldiers stationed in the wooden military camp, and they are exchanged with the garrison stationed in the Nanguan Army Fort once a month.
In addition to being reconditioned, these soldiers who were replaced were also responsible for training more than 200 militiamen selected from surrounding settlements. These militiamen belonged to the newly formed "reserve regiment" and were directly under the jurisdiction of Bath's Wells Garrison Corps in the Military Affairs Office's establishment list.
Around the military camp, two new village settlements with a population of about 500 people were built around the lake.
Among the more than a thousand people, more than a hundred are the citizens of the old knight Christopher, and the rest are the newly arrived citizens who were sent here by the government to reclaim the land a few months ago.
Now that the wars in various places have been calmed down, the recruitment of refugees has basically disappeared. Coupled with the early settlement, these thousand people are also the last batch of new troops.
Yate's sudden arrival made the place really excited.