Chapter 752 Surprise Attack in the River Valley
After driving all night, the already hungry group of peasants and soldiers immediately became energetic when they heard this, and walked faster towards the cottages ahead. But these guys never imagined that this would be the last full meal that many people would eat before they died.
In a patch of weeds a few hundred steps away from the team, two pairs of ghostly eyes watched their every move.
When all the peasants and soldiers walked to the cottages on the river bank, they threw their luggage and cooking utensils on the ground, and then started making rice in a wheat pot, completely unaware of the danger behind them. In the grass, in the corner of their eyes, The thin man with scars said to his companion: "Quick, go back to the squadron leader immediately and tell him that the Lombards have stopped and it's time to take action."
In the blink of an eye, a flexible figure jumped up from the grass, glanced at the Lombards in the distance, and soon disappeared at the end of the commercial road. In a dense forest less than half an hour away from the Lombards, a squadron of the first company of the Welsh Army was hiding here and waiting.
After eating and drinking, the exhausted soldiers wrapped themselves in felt blankets and fell to sleep. The whole night's pursuit almost exhausted their energy.
Since the Lombard peasant-soldier team in Avignon fled overnight, this squadron has been biting the opponent's tail and following closely behind them.
If it had not been for the order of "only pursue, not fight" issued by the legion commander Art, the squadron leader in charge of the pursuit would have been tempted to cut off the heads of several Lombards and express his anger.
It’s not that the squadron leader was picking on the weak, but that the fleeing peasants and soldiers kept accelerating day and night without ever stopping for a moment. The squadron soldiers who had been following these guys chased them all the way non-stop, without sleeping a wink all night.
I thought that the other party would find a place to rest and drink their horses at dawn, but these hateful guys seemed to never get tired, and they walked for half a day in one breath. This made the squadron leader sigh with emotion at the unmatched endurance of these farmers when they fled for their lives.
There was no other way, so the squadron leader had no choice but to send two soldiers with good foot strength to follow the Lombards all the way, while he and the remaining men rested in this dense forest to replenish their strength.
Except for a few soldiers standing guard around the perimeter, the rest were already snoring loudly~
Pop!
Suddenly, there was a crisp sound of branches breaking not far away.
"Who!"
The squadron leader, who was leaning on the tree trunk and sound asleep just a second ago, suddenly woke up. After taking a deep breath, he stood up from a half-crouched position, lying on the edge of the moss-covered boulder behind him. After a while, he looked towards the dense forest path that curved southward. After a while, the branches on both sides of the path began to shake violently~
At this time, the squadron leader held his breath and had already put his right hand on the hilt of his sword.
After a while, a fir tree lying across the path was pushed aside by a big hand stretched out from the other side, and a familiar figure appeared in the squadron leader's field of vision·
Seeing one of the soldiers he sent to follow the Lombards return, the squadron leader finally breathed a sigh of relief and put the half-drawn long sword back into its scabbard.
Seeing the squadron leader walking towards him, the soldier who reported the news quickly stepped forward, "Tell the squadron leader that the Lombards stopped in a village next to the valley in front, and were burying pots to make rice."
The corners of the squadron leader's mouth raised, "Ha! Those bastards can really run, they have all reached the valley. "So he immediately turned around and shouted to the rest of the soldiers lying on the ground resting behind him, "Everyone, get ready to go!"
Before leaving the dense forest, the squadron leader hurriedly sent someone to report to Colin's company not far from here, intending to take this opportunity to defeat the Lombard peasant soldiers in one fell swoop and prevent them from joining the mercenaries heading north.
On the top of a gentle hill less than two hours away from the river valley, Obote rode his brown-black horse and glanced at the wide commercial road extending to the south from time to time, but the deserted road made him frown frequently.
When he heard last night that the Lombard peasant soldiers stationed in Avignon secretly abandoned the city and escaped under the cover of night, he was so angry that he broke the wine glass he was holding on the spot.
The originally great opportunity to make meritorious service slipped away in vain, and he really felt unwilling to do so. If it hadn't been for Art's military order, he would have led his soldiers to chase the Lombards overnight.
When the legion ordered him and Colin's company to pursue the 500-person peasant and soldier team, the opportunity to make meritorious deeds was lost again. Obote was so excited that he could not sleep a wink all night. As soon as it dawned, he summoned his peasant soldiers and set off with the soldiers of the first company, looking for the escape route of the Lombards to pursue them.
One night passed, and Obote and others never found the shadow of the other party. The squadron responsible for chasing the Lombard army did not send anyone to report the specific location of the enemy.
Just when Obert felt a sense of annoyance, good news suddenly came from the foot of the mountain·
"..—Brother Obert, you are finally here!" At this time, the company captain Colin, who had learned the news about the Lombards, hurried forward and said excitedly: "There is news about those bastards."
“Where?” Obote opened his eyes wide, full of expectation.
· Colin pointed to the parchment map spread on the haystack, and pointed at the location of the villages along the river, "Here!"
· Obote glanced at the position between the people and the enemy on the map. distance, and then said happily: "Great, as long as we hurry up, we can arrive at the village in less than two hours and catch them off guard."
The sudden good news swept away the gloom in Obert's head and heart.
Without a moment's hesitation, the two men immediately decided to set off and annihilate each other while the Lombards were still resting in the village.
At noon, the sun hangs in the sky like a fiercely burning fireball, scorching every inch of the land.
The calm river surface is sparkling, and from time to time clouds of mist rise and float into the distance.
On the bank of the river, the Lombard soldiers who were full of wine and food were staggering one by one, lying on the withered yellow grass and sleeping soundly. A whole night of escaping left them physically and mentally exhausted. Except for a small group of soldiers standing guard not far away, the rest were already snoring like thunder.
Leader Viscount Saul originally planned to continue on the road after a short rest, find a military fort or market town further south that is suitable for defense, and wait for the arrival of reinforcements.
But the group of peasants and soldiers who had been complaining for a long time gave up and clamored to get some sleep before continuing on their way. The territorial barons around him also held the same view. In desperation, Sol had no choice but to agree to everyone's request and rest on the spot for half a day before continuing.
Fortunately, no northerners were found on the way south, otherwise Thor would not have agreed to stay here to rest.
After setting up the defense of the camp, Saul found an uninhabited abandoned house and lay down. After an unknown amount of time, Saul vaguely heard a cry of killing coming from the camp in his sleep.
When he dragged his exhausted body to the door, the sight before him was something he would never forget.
An army of unknown origin raised their swords and rampaged through the camp, and began to kill the Lombards in the camp indiscriminately.
In the blink of an eye, several unlucky guys had already fallen to the ground~
The marching tents scattered everywhere were lit by torches, and within a short while, the entire camp was shrouded in billowing smoke.
The Lombard soldiers who were fleeing in all directions let out bursts of mourning, and screams and calls for help came and went.
Before a subordinate baron suddenly appeared in front of Thor, a heavy armor-piercing arrow penetrated from the back of his neck, and the huge impact caused his body to rush towards the leading viscount. Thor stretched out his hands to resist this guy. When he looked up, the scarlet arrow was less than a punch away from his forehead.
Cough~
There was a coughing sound in the Baron's throat, and soon the blood spattered from the wound hit Thor's face like raindrops, leaving a warmth with the smell of blood.
Slowly, the Baron's shoulders slowly slipped from Thor's hands. When his body touched the ground, the armor collided with the ground, making a muffled sound.
Saul had just come to his senses when a burly enemy soldier with a short-handled battle ax in his hand was already roaring towards him~
Years of battlefield experience allowed him to react quickly.
I saw him turn around and walk quickly back into the house, put on his bucket helmet, picked up the long sword leaning on the wall, threw away the scabbard, and quickly walked out of the house.
At this time, the big soldier had rushed to Thor, raised the battle ax in his hand and made a diagonal slash, which was powerful enough to cut Thor in half.
But the Viscount, the leader of the army, who was very capable in combat, easily dodged the opponent's fatal blow by bending down, and the moment he turned back, he swung his sword and pierced the guy's thigh.
Looking at the big man's unbearable pain, Thor laughed and said, "Hey, big man, didn't your mother teach you not to bully older people?"
When the big man heard this, his blood immediately surged, and he endured the severe pain and rushed towards Thor again.
In the past few battles, this young peasant soldier from the reserve regiment used the battle ax in his hand to make three Lombard soldiers lose limbs. Now he couldn't even subdue an old guy, which really surprised him.
Looking at the bloody footprints under him, the big soldier decided not to tangle with this guy anymore, so he turned around and ran away.
But as soon as he took two steps, Thor caught up with him.
In the panic, the big soldier tripped over a stone and fell to the ground. However, the fierce aristocratic officer had already rushed forward, raised his long sword and chopped off his head~
clang~
In desperation, the big soldier raised his battle ax in front of him to protect him, and the long sword in Thor's hand struck a spark on the ax head.
Just when Thor was about to raise his sword and thrust it into the chest of the big soldier again, he was suddenly thrown away by a powerful force. When he tried to get up from the ground again, a short knife was already pressed against his neck."