Catalina continued, "I heard that the Marquis broke up the city guards, mercenaries, and ordinary slave soldiers and mixed them together to form a team, and let those stronger elite knights lead them."
"Where does such a team get its combat effectiveness?" Shi Hao asked.
"He used the golden axe to attract the city guards and mercenaries to fight for him, and he also promised freedom to the slaves. However, the most effective methods are still swords, spears and whips. In the past two days, many people lost their heads because of poor training performance. But no matter how much effort he puts in, it is impossible to train them into a whole in such a short time."
Xiao Chen said: "He doesn't need to train them into elite soldiers, as long as they can fight the simplest battles under the threat of swords. Siege warfare is different from field warfare. As long as they learn to throw things down from the top of the city, they will be useful soldiers."
Catalina said, "That's right. These people are now spending most of their time practicing defense near the city wall. In my opinion, he wants to follow the traditional defense method and let each team be responsible for a section of the city wall.
However, he does not know how our cannons work, and those who remain on the city walls will surely die miserably."
Wang Jiyuan said: "It's useless to just kill people. The key is to break through the city wall. But according to our intelligence, the walls of Suero are very high and thick, and there are many reinforcement arrays on them. After the last slave rebellion almost broke the city, the nobles in the inner city spent a lot of effort to reinforce the city wall. In addition, the city walls on this continent are generally higher and thicker than the ancient city walls in our place. It is not easy to blow them down with cannons."
Xiao Chen also said: "This does not take into account the problem of the defensive barrier. As the largest city in the western part of the kingdom, even if Suero's defensive barrier is not as good as the capital, it should not be much different.
Moreover, this barrier has not been activated for many, many years. Even Master Ikasa is not very clear about its details. We have no information whether it is an energy barrier, a physical barrier, or a double barrier like the one in the capital. We also don’t know how big the barrier itself covers, how strong its defense is, and how many crystals it has in reserve. In this case, we must be lenient with the enemy.”
"Maybe it hasn't been used for so many years and has fallen into disrepair and broken down a long time ago. You've analyzed so much here, but it's all in vain in the end." Shi Hao said.
"That being said, before we do anything, we'd better pray for good luck and expect bad luck." Xiao Chen said seriously, "We can't pin our hopes on the fact that our enemies are all unlucky."
"Based on the worst-case scenario, this battle will turn into a time-consuming siege. This will directly affect our plan for Heimuguan. If Suero is not taken, it will be like a nail in our back. Not only will our logistics channels be affected, but the enemy can also take advantage of the opportunity to counterattack us at any time." Wang Jiyuan looked at Xiao Chen and said, "Maybe you are right. We should think of a way to break the fortress from the inside."
Xiao Chen said: "Although Master Ikasa has remained neutral in this war in accordance with the usual style of the Spirit Eye Tower, he is actually on our side. I have contacted him several times before, hoping that he can communicate with Marquis Baldini, but the Marquis' attitude is very strange. He didn't refuse sternly, but he didn't give him a chance to talk either."
"Is it just like you said, he feels that he is not ready yet?" Shi Hao asked.
Xiao Chen shook his head and said, "I don't know. If Master Kasa's way doesn't work, I have to find another way to contact him." Xiao Chen asked Katarina, "What are the merchants in the outer city doing now?"
"After we spread the message, those who could leave naturally left. As for those who had families and businesses and couldn't leave, some wanted to smooth over their connections and hide in the inner city, while others thought that since we started out as a trade company, we wouldn't make things difficult for them, so they continued to stay in the outer city and prayed that the war wouldn't destroy their families and businesses." Catalina said.
"What do those who want to enter the city usually do?" Xiao Chen asked.
"Of course, we have to ask Marquis Baldini for help. The Marquis has also given a price. He only accepts a few types of hard currency, food, magic crystals, or warriors. Once the standards are met, you can enter the city. These matters are handled by his butler Avali." Catalina said.
"Is there any way to get in touch with this Avali?"
Katerina nodded.
"It looks like we can start from here." Xiao Chen said to Wang Jiyuan, "I will go alone this time."
"How can this be possible?" Wang Jiyuan and Catalina said in unison.
Xiao Chen pointed to his head and said, "I have never been alone."
———————
Xiao Chen and Catalina remounted their horses and headed for Suero, hoping to sneak into the inner city before the main group of troops arrived. Leaving with them was the head of the Second Regiment, Shi Hao, who summoned the Second Regiment's cavalry company. Together with Xiao Chen, they sped towards the outer city of Suero.
Shi Hao's cavalry company has 50 people. The captain of the cavalry company is Leo, a mid-level warrior, and there are four low-level warriors in the company. The goal of their operation this time is to intercept the nobles and merchants who are fleeing. Wang Jiyuan's order is that people can leave, but money and property must be left behind. If there is resistance, they will act according to their own circumstances.
"You say this is a cheap move, but it actually puts the problem on my head." Shi Hao said beside Xiao Chen.
"Captain, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. They've all attacked us, so of course we'll kill them all." Leo was a mercenary after all, and at a time like this, he had a ruthless aura.
Shi Hao said, "You know nothing! We are the Guards, not bandits. In a well-informed place like Suero, killing people at will will have a very bad impact. It will increase the difficulty of our future work nearby."
Leo curled his lips, "When the time comes, guns and knives will come and go, who will care so much?"
Xiao Chen said to Shi Hao, "You are now the commander of a troop. You must first be responsible for your brothers. You cannot afford to hesitate at this time. However, didn't you just say that you wanted to kill the chicken to scare the monkey? If you kill the chicken harshly enough, are you still afraid that the monkey will not obey?"
Shi Hao nodded and said, "That's the only way. I hope those people are smart enough and don't need me to cause a river of blood."
When they reached a fork in the road outside of Suero, Shi Hao's team separated from Xiao Chen and headed east of Suero. From Catalina's intelligence, they learned that the nobles and merchants who had escaped were going east to the capital. Shi Hao planned to block them on the only way to the east.
Catalina took Xiao Chen to the outer city of Suero, trying to find a way to contact the Marquis's steward Avali.