Chapter 791 The ground soldiers divided into two groups
"Remember Troy Floyd, the young business guild leader in Tira City?" Art's fingertips tapped the handrail lightly.
Odo leaned forward and replied: "Remember! He was the son of the guild leader who was killed by Dylan Hawke, the original lord of Tira City."
"Yes, that's him. Guess what I learned from him the next day?" Art deliberately let it slip. The two looked at each other, and then shook their heads.
"Dylan Hawke also has a younger brother named Kane Hawke! And he is the lord of Arachisburg—""
"What?" Odo was shocked.
"Sir, what do you mean, the cavalry that attacked us tonight was sent by this guy named Kane Hawke?"
Matt stood up, looked at Angus, and said to him: "I don't think any farmer with a sickle would be stupid enough to take the initiative to pick out a group of hungry wolves that have been eyeing him for a long time ~ Unless this group of hungry wolves has a huge hatred for him."
After saying that, Art turned around and said to Angus: "Sergeant Major, take the remaining men of the cavalry company early tomorrow morning, go north along the marching route of the large army, and check out the details of this guy for me. He can sneak attack us for the first time, and he will definitely attack us next time. Take the opportunity to inquire about the defense around Arechis, and start attacking immediately after the army arrives!"
Angus stood up suddenly, his face filled with excitement.
"Don't worry, my lord. If we encounter the men of the cavalry company, even if they don't die, they won't be much better!"
At nodded slightly, then turned to look at Odo, "Give me the order, after Earl Balian's men leave tomorrow, I will We set off immediately, trying to reach Arechis earlier than scheduled, and fight quickly! "
"Yes, sir!"
In the early hours of the morning, it was dark in a dense forest half a day's walk northwest of the army camp. The bright moonlight shines through the scattered tree crowns and onto the dead branches and leaves on the ground, leaving patches of light scattered in every corner.
Southeast of the dense forest, large plains and low hills are scattered in an orderly manner. Under the moonlight, they appear gray and white, in sharp contrast to the darkness in the dense forest.
After a while, black shadows suddenly appeared on the gray plain, rushing towards the dense forest. Along with the black shadow came bursts of dull sound of horse hooves and the crisp clanking sound of metal collision.
As the black shadow gets closer and closer, the figures of dozens of cavalrymen become clearer and clearer under the moonlight.
The vibrations caused by the rumble of horse hooves soon spread along the ground to the forest, causing the birds and animals that came out to move around at night to panic—
"Hush!"
The cavalry at the front suddenly reined in the horse just before approaching the edge of the dense forest. The horse under him suddenly stopped with its hind limbs at the moment it received the owner's command, and slid out a clear trace on the grass.
The thirty or so war horses following closely behind made the same move one after another, instantly raising a cloud of dust.
The neighing of the war horses passed through the dense forest and echoed in this deep and dark place. The frightened birds and the animals on the ground let out shrill screams almost at the same time and fled quickly.
"..Lord Baron, let's spend the night here tonight." In the darkness, a cavalryman said to the leader. The baron raised his head and glanced at the dark forest in front of him, then looked back at the empty plains and low hills behind him, "Dismount!"
Immediately, more than thirty cavalrymen dismounted and tied their horses to a tree trunk nearby. Take off the saddle bag and take out the wine and dry food from it.
After a while, there was a sound of tearing food from the surroundings. After burning more than ten carts of food and grass of the army in the southeast, the cavalry, which was ordered to harass the enemy, had been attacking continuously for several hours.
At the beginning, the opponent's hundreds of light-armored infantry pursued for a distance, but as the distance between the two sides became farther and farther, the cavalry quickly got rid of the tail and fled all the way to the mountainous area in the northwest, quickly disappearing into the darkness~
"Lord Laika, what should we do next?" The knight sitting on the ground uncorked the wine naan and handed the drink to the baron.
This guy named Laika took a few mouthfuls of the wine naan and swallowed the bacon and bread in his mouth.
"Ah, it feels good!" the Baron roared, wiping the remaining juice from the corner of his mouth and wiping it on his trouser legs.
"What to do?" The baron looked proud, "Of course I bite them and seize the opportunity to tear off their flesh piece by piece!"
Hence said, the baron stuffed the bacon in his hand into his mouth, tore off a large piece, and chewed it with relish——
Last night, Kane Hawke, Lord of Arachisburg, had himself His confidant, Baron Leica Tierno, called to his study and ordered him to mobilize more than thirty cavalry to go south to harass the Burgundians heading north from outside the city of Tira, buying time for Arechis to strengthen his defense, and at the same time, taking the opportunity to burn the opponent's weight and food.
As a vassal who has served the Hawke family for many years, Laika has been waiting for this opportunity.
Ever since the city of Tira was occupied by the Burangdians, and the news of the unknown life and death of Lord Dylan Hawke reached Fort Aletchi, Laika has been waiting for the opportunity of revenge. When Kane Hawke gave him this task, the Baron accepted it without hesitation.
Early this morning, Laika left Rechis with more than thirty brave and skilled cavalry, and went south along the trade road, searching for traces of the Burangdians.
It was not until dark that the Burgundian scouts sent to the north were discovered near a village. In order not to alert the enemy, the group of people bypassed the village, avoided the sight of the scouts, and reached behind them.
After dealing with the hidden sentries placed by the enemy around, the group of people quietly reached the edge of the camp, looking for fighters under the cover of night.
At that time, the Burgundian camp had been basically completed. However, due to the excessive weight of the radiators they carried, a large number of carriages gathered at the gate of the camp and were unable to be sent in. Coupled with the opponent's lax defense, Laika decided to take the opportunity to burn the grain and grass piled outside the camp gate to teach the Burangdians a lesson.
Following Laika's order, a dozen cavalrymen suddenly took out the kerosene they carried and rushed forward. The cavalrymen holding bows and arrows behind them were responsible for lighting the fire.
It wasn’t until they appeared in the enemy’s field of vision that the enemy reacted. The cavalryman who rushed at the front immediately threw the kerosene cans in his hands and hit the carriages in the middle. The seven or eight cavalrymen who followed later saw that the other party had reacted, and threw all the kerosene cans in their hands in panic. Except for five or six fire oil cans that hit the wheels of several carriages, the rest hit the ground.
The enemy's chief officer who was attacked immediately evacuated the large number of carriages crowded outside the camp gate, and then led his men to charge towards his own cavalry.
Seeing that the time had come, Laika immediately ordered the archers to light arrows and shoot at the carriages covered with kerosene. Seeing the raging fire swallowing up the piles of grain and grass, Laika rode away with satisfaction.
Him The success of this night attack greatly increased his confidence.
After sleeping one night at the edge of the dense forest, the group packed up their things and left here early the next morning, heading northeast to hit horses. Baron Leica Tierno, who was in charge of this operation, planned to bite the opponent's tail tightly and wait for an opportunity to tear off a piece of flesh from the enemy... At dawn, according to yesterday's march plan, Count Balian took the lead in leaving the camp with the 8,000 Provence frontier troops. After the team traveled north along the trade road for five miles, they then headed towards the large wheat fields in the northwest. After passing through the wheat fields and continuing north, we came to a low hill. As long as you walk north for half a day, you can enter the endless plains.
On the right side of the plain, mountain peaks with ravines and rivers separate the two sides.
On the east side of the mountain peak is the nearest road to Milan. In addition to several military castles and towns, there are also dozens of villages and manors scattered along the way.
Even though the war continues, the local peasant women who are old and have to stay here still bring their farm tools and go to their fields to start the annual spring plowing. In the early morning, when the farmers in the wheat fields are plowing their wheat fields, a heraldic flag fluttering in the wind suddenly appears on the business road not far away~
Immediately afterwards, a large number of soldiers marching in neat lines appeared in people's sight -
In the middle of the group, under the wolf's head coat of arms holding the flag high, the commander of the Southern Expedition, Earl Art of Wales, riding a maroon war horse, looked with interest at the farmers working in the wheat fields on both sides, and nodded slightly at the old woman who looked at him from time to time.
And these farmers, who had already been weighed down by the heavy farm work, did not have the slightest fear in their eyes. They just looked at these strangers walking in front of them with no expression on their faces.
In their opinion, whether it is the private soldiers of the local lords or the foreigners from the north, they will drain all their money and food. Apart from exploitation and oppression, all that is left for them is death.
Ron, an officer of the Earl's Guard, followed Art closely, looking at the large wheat fields covered with weeds around him. As the son of a former farmer, he couldn't help but said to Art: "Master, it's such a pity that these wheat fields are just abandoned here!"
"Yes, sir. Although I am a laborer and have never worked in the fields, I have heard people say that the food grown in this acre of land is enough to feed a family of three. This is still in a remote wasteland like Lucese. If it were placed here, I think it can feed at least five people!"
Att breathed a long sigh of relief and sighed: "Yeah, it's a pity that there are such good wheat fields. Nowadays, most of the young and strong farmers here have been recruited into the army by the Milan court, or unfortunately died in the process of fighting with us. It's no wonder that there are only some old and weak women and children left in the fields."