Chapter 749 Grand Plan
After marching non-stop throughout the day, the Burgundian army finally arrived at a military fortress less than five miles away from the city of Avignon at dusk.
Yesterday, the Lombard knights who were stationed at the military fort heard that thousands of northern troops were heading towards Avignon. Without any hesitation, early this morning, the knight took his two dozen men and hurriedly fled south with all the food and supplies. In his opinion, the dozens of people in the military castle were just a decoration in front of the other party. Rather than die in vain, it would be better to retreat in advance with your brothers. Even if the lord wants to be held responsible for the lost position, he can just find a reason why hundreds of the opponent's forwards have arrived at the military fort.
After all, whether it was true or false, no one dared to go out of the city to find out in the face of the menacing Burangdians.
Before leaving, the knight and his men "visited" the fort residents who were still near the military fort one by one, and plundered all the valuables in their homes.
What is even more incredible is that in order to silence these untouchables forever, the knight ordered his men to set fire to the houses of these fortress residents.
This will not only destroy the evidence, but also make the Burgundians who pass through this place gain no benefit at all.
When Art and others arrived here, the entire upper part of the military fort had already collapsed, and the supporting fort wall below was turned black with coke.
The horses outside the gate of the military fort were placed around randomly. The abandoned carriages and debris scattered on the ground were enough to show the panic of the fort residents who were fleeing the war.
Matt took Ron and others up to a hillside more than 500 steps north of the military fort. Standing there and looking around, all the nearby wooden houses were burned to ashes by the fire, leaving only black spots of different sizes here and there.
Looking at the horrific scene in front of him, Art couldn't help but lament that the Lombard soldiers stationed here were so inhumane and didn't even spare the citizens of their own land.
Compared with them, the soldiers of the Welsh Legion were simply messengers of peace sent by God to save these ordinary Lombards.
Otherwise, once the weather gets warmer, diseases will inevitably breed. "
"Yes, sir."
Ron turned around and trotted down the hillside.
When the army first arrived near the military fort, there were some bodies half-scorched by the fire scattered outside the burned-out houses along the way. It is not difficult to see that these people tried to escape before being swallowed up by the fire, but the god of fate still failed to come to them.
· Whenever he saw these innocent civilians being exploited and oppressed by the nobles, squires and merchants when they were alive, and then being treated like grass and corpses in the wilderness after death, Art couldn't help but lament the difficulties and obstacles he had experienced along the way.
If he had not relied on his extraordinary wit to follow the trend in this dark Middle Ages, step by step, and climbed to his current position,
I am afraid that like these ordinary people, he would have become a stepping stone for the promotion of big shots.
Thinking of this, Art let out a long sigh~
From a wilderness hunter who lived in seclusion in the mountains to a frontier earl who now dominates an area, commands thousands of troops, and is famous in the southern continent, his life can almost be described as "legendary".
Unexpectedly, the vow he made when he knelt in front of the grave and sprinkled the cup of dirt on that snowy winter day had actually become a reality, and Art began to believe in his "destiny."
The vows he once made have now been fulfilled. Next, Art decided to use this as a basis to build his own country in this dark Middle Ages. Now, as an earl, he already has a foothold of his own. Coupled with the large amount of wealth accumulated over the past ten years and the huge amount of gold and silver recently harvested, with thousands of soldiers and horses under his command, the annexation of Lombardy is just around the corner.
In this medieval European continent where tigers and wolves were rampant, wars over land annexation were taking place every day.
No one would have thought that a small principality of Lombardy could not satisfy the appetite of this humble frontier count. In the secret letter received from Lord Galvin yesterday from Besancon, a list of important guests who came to attend the funeral was listed.
The secret letter specifically mentioned that the Duke of Swabia sent a special envoy to pay his respects. Lord Galvin did not even conceal the amount of property the other party carried. The Swabian envoy changed from his usual arrogance and appeared extremely humble and polite in front of the nobles of Burgundy.
Facing the Duke of Swabia's "act of goodwill", Lord Galvin was a little undecided, so he had to ask Art for his opinion in the letter.
After all, the Principality of Swabia has been trying to annex the territory of Burgundy for many years. The two countries have been in a state of hostility and defensiveness for many years, with almost no political exchanges. Even at the funeral after the Marquis of Ivrea died of illness, no Swabian figure ever appeared.
Now that Flanders was suddenly murdered by the Duke of Lombardy, during this special period of power change, the Swabians did not make any obvious moves on the border. Not only that, the Duke of Swabia also ordered people to bring several large carts of property to express condolences. Faced with this abnormal behavior of the Duke of Swabia, Lord Galvin felt extremely uneasy.
Looking at the entire kingdom now, Art is the most trusted person by Lord Galvin. Faced with this situation, Lord Galvin would like to hear Art's opinion.
When Art learned that the Duke of Schwa had blatantly sent an envoy to attend Flanders's funeral, he was a little surprised at first.
But later, when I thought about it carefully, I realized that the reason might lie with myself.
When news of the continuous defeat of the Lombardy Principality spread throughout Europe, Art's reputation also spread. A few years ago, no one paid much attention to a small kingdom. But now, it is this small country that is forcing the southern lion of Lombardy to retreat again and again. It is clear to everyone that the Lombards will have difficulty surviving the summer.
It would definitely not be a wise choice to form a grudge with the Burgundy Kingdom at this time. Not to mention that there is a powerful Dharma King behind the Hou Kingdom.
As the head of the leading powerful country in Europe, the King of France has conveyed to the outside world his desire to expand French territory more than once. The Holy Group that was destroyed not long ago is the best evidence.
The Burlindi Kingdom is like a sharp sword in the hands of the French King. Anyone who attempts to draw the sword at him will eventually suffer the most violent revenge. The Duke of Swabia, who has always been greedy, understands that the current Burlindi Kingdom is no longer the small and weak country it was many years ago. It is definitely not a wise move to form a grudge against the other party now.
But it was the Swabians' show of weakness that made Art's eyes light up.
Since ancient times, showing weakness and compromising are often rewarded by the other party's advancement. And Art is exactly this kind of person.
A few years ago, the Principality of Swabia united with the Principality of Lombardy in an attempt to divide and annex the Principality of Burgundy. Nowadays, the Principality of Lombardy is no longer able to protect itself, and Swabia will definitely not openly become an enemy of the Principality.
Once most of the territory of the Principality of Lombardy is annexed by the Principality of Burgundy, the former small country will suddenly become a powerful country comparable to the Principality of Swabia and the Duchy of Burgundy. By then, Swabia will become a piece of meat on Burgundy's lips ".My lord!"
Suddenly, Art's thoughts were interrupted by the messenger running all the way up the hillside.
"Sir, Sir Odo, the deputy commander of the legion, ordered me to report that a cavalry of unknown origin was found three miles ahead. The cavalry company has sent the deputy commander of the company, Jafar, with a squadron to drive them away."
"Ha!" Art smiled slightly, "We almost pointed our swords at their noses before we thought of sending troops to find out our march."
Facing the scouts sent by the Lombards, Art seemed very calm. Then he gave orders to the messengers.
"Tell Odo to send another cavalry squadron to catch up with me and drive them all back to the city of Avignon. If you want to run wild in my territory, there is no way!"
"Yes!"
"Wait!" Art called the messenger. "Also, ask someone to bring a message to Jafar. Be sure to capture a few tongues for me so that we can find out what is true in Avignon and see if they can really gather these five hundred private soldiers. Go ahead~"
"Yes, sir!" The messenger quickly ran down the hillside and soon disappeared into the military tent that had been set up outside the military fort."
It was getting dark, and in the wheat fields less than a mile away from the city of Avignon, a good show of chasing each other between the cavalry of the two sides was being staged~
""..—Quick! Catch the leading cavalryman for me and I will be rewarded heavily! "Jafar, the deputy commander of the cavalry company, waving his riding crop and roaring loudly, urged his men who were riding horses in front of him.
Seeing that the remaining ten enemy horses were approaching the temporary checkpoint outside Avignon, Jafar was extremely anxious. While urging his men to ride faster, he took out the riding bow from his back. At the edge of the wheat field, the leader of the Lombard cavalry squadron kept poking at the horse's belly. The pained horse kicked up mud and splashed everywhere.
He screamed and sped forward and rushed forward~
As he was about to reach the outskirts of Avignon, the cavalry squadron leader finally breathed a sigh of relief. So, he relaxed his vigilance and turned his head and glanced behind him. Unexpectedly, the moment he turned back, he met the eyes of a guy with dark skin and angry eyes. Seeing that the other party had no intention of stopping the pursuit, the captain of the cavalry squadron felt nervous and once again waved his whip and hit the horse under him hard.
The moment the riding crop fell, the cavalry squadron leader suddenly felt a sharp pain in his raised right arm. Before he could turn around, another shrill scream came from the horse beneath him~
The cavalry squadron captain flipped several times in the air and then hit the ground heavily. The huge impact made him faint.
When he woke up again, it felt like all the bones in his body were falling apart. The left side of his face, which was tightly attached to the ground, was wet, and his neck had no feeling at all.
with all his strength, the cavalry squadron leader yelled out these three words.
Suddenly, a big foot wearing buckskin boots appeared in his field of vision for a moment, and the voice coming from above quickly made him give up his fantasy~
"Lord Ja'far, this bastard is still alive!"