Across the misty morning fog, Tifeko Wimbledon could vaguely see the flag flying above the city.
He raised his sight glass and tried to identify the family crest on the flag. The sailboat and crown on the green base undoubtedly belonged to his sister, Garcia Wimbledon. This is also the most flags in the city.
The second most are the white flags, the high tower on the white cloth and the viper entwined on the tower, which is the emblem of the Balya family. Heh, he sneered in the bottom of his heart, and took refuge with the Queen of Clear Water, but he still hung the flag with the pattern of the tower, which is simply shameless. When I catch you, a traitor, I'll have to feed you the flag and swallow it, Count Balya. he thought to himself.
Finally, there is the towering lion with a red bottom, the same shameless Zita family. Tifeko was expressionless, but in his heart he had already sentenced Erin Zita to death, just like Tommen Barya. Of course, also eat the flag.
"Sir Naimen, raise the flag of the Kingdom of Greycastle!" Tifeko ordered.
"As ordered, Your Majesty." The Howling Knight responded, then rode his horse to the army behind him, "The king has orders, set up the flag!"
The new king turned his head and saw the flagpoles being raised one by one, the gray flags unfolded in the wind, the black pattern looked solemn, the huge tower and the long spears that fell on both sides and crossed each other, this was the king of the Graycastle. Signet. Any traitor will have his first guilty plea under this banner.
Upon receiving the news from Garcia, he immediately took countermeasures - mobilizing the troops from the eastern border and the capital to attack Eagle City. Although he felt a huge wave in his heart at that time, he remained calm on the surface, which gave the ministers who supported him a lot of confidence.
It took nearly a month to gather vassals and troops, a week to go to the east, and another half a month to get here. Tifeko finally arrived at Eagle City when the sun went down yesterday. Fortunately, Wangdu was not greatly affected by the Devil's Moon, and the road to the south would not be impassable due to the snow. On the contrary, the ground was frozen solid because of the low temperature.
His team is very large, mainly including his own personal guards, the Knights of the Royal City and the troops of Fran Cherit, Duke of the Eastern Border. There are as many as 6,000 people in the three groups, among which there are as many as 1,000 well-trained and well-equipped knights. According to reliable information, Garcia's troops were only less than 3,000 people, and most of them were free people from the Clear Water Port. Usually, it was okay to loot unarmed farmers and merchants, and it was impossible for a knight to fight head-on.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Gould, had raised objections, arguing that after the month of the demons was over, farming would be carried out everywhere, and that a large army would be detrimental to the harvest. Therefore, Tifeko did not ask the vassals to send serfs to fight, but called the free people in the territory, and they were responsible for the logistics. In this way, even if they fought in the southern border, they would not be left behind in spring plowing.
No matter what, Tifeko Wimbledon would never allow Garcia to stay in the South. Eagle City is not a strong city, its predecessor was a market, just in the middle of the surrounding towns. Later, with the development of commerce and trade, it gradually evolved into a city, which took less than a hundred years. In addition, in order to promote its pro-business image, the previous lords did not build impenetrable high walls. The three thousand civilian troops and the subordinates of the two earls combined are not a big army. The sooner countermeasures are taken one day, the better the odds of winning. If she was given the opportunity to completely integrate the entire southern border, it would be very difficult for him to defeat her.
After a night's rest, his men were full and ready to go. The sun gradually changed from orange to dazzling gold, the fog began to dissipate, and the earth-brown city wall also showed its true body-in the eyes of the new king, it was not a real city wall at all, at best, it was just a dirt slope. That's it. From the bottom of the slope to the top of the slope is a slope, without any siege ladder, you can climb up directly with your hands and feet. At the top of the slope, there is a circle of log fences with a height of more than one person, which can stop the refugees and robbers, but cannot stop the fully armed soldiers.
The people at the top of the city stood sparsely, apparently not ready to defend the city.
"Your Majesty, the cavalry in charge of tracking the South Gate reported that they had observed the movements of the large group." The Howling Knight ran back to the new king, Lemahui reported.
Tifeko handed the observation glass to Duke Fran, and said in a relaxed tone: "It looks like she wants to escape."
The latter watched carefully for a while, then nodded, "To be able to make up your mind so quickly is a decisive choice. Eagle City is not suitable for defending, she puts her troops in the city, and we will only wipe them out." The Duke said Here laughed, "As you expected at the battle meeting last night, she didn't expect us to come so quickly."
"We arrived at just the right time," Tifeko said. "Even if she wanted to escape, she couldn't do it at night."
"You're right, marching at night is a big no-no. If she really does that, without us taking the initiative, the team will not fight and collapse. And once the troops are scattered at night, it is almost impossible to gather again. Come, even if she escapes back to Clear Water Harbor, there is only one way to die."
"So my dear sister must wait until dawn before commanding the army to retreat." Tifeko looked at the Eagle City at your fingertips with satisfaction, thinking that what she had done had not exceeded her expectations. Garcia was too greedy for the symbolic status of Eagle City, and stationed his troops here—it was indeed easier to conquer the hearts of the southern nobles by occupying the mansion guarded by the southern border, but the benefits were also accompanied by crisis. He deliberately sent a feign army to go slowly on the road, and he first led the cavalry to the east, without infantry, and all the dry food consumed was transported by carriage. After arriving in the east, the duke will make up for the remaining troops, detour from the other side of the kingdom to the Eagle City, and the cavalry will block the road first, reducing the possibility of spies passing on news.
It is impossible for a large army to leave immediately. Garcia should have only received the news of the two or three days ago, and he began to retreat at dawn today, which can be regarded as a hasty move. It takes a day to retreat from Eagle City to Qingquan Town. No matter what, two legs can’t run on four legs. As long as she gathers a thousand knights to catch up with her team and chase after her, her ridiculous coalition will naturally collapse.
Regrettably, Garcia could still escape from her own hands. If she left 3,000 people behind and left alone, it would not be difficult for her to return to Clear Water Harbor alive.
It's going to come to her lair after all to end this farce, he thought.
"Your Majesty, then move on according to the plan we made earlier." Duke Fran said, "Will you wait for me to enter the city and go through the south gate to pursue it, or detour? If you detour, you have to walk a little longer. road."
"It's better for me to detour from the southwest," Tifeko thought for a while. "It is inconvenient for knights to move in the narrow streets, and Garcia may also block the streets with debris and obstruct the passage of troops. Detours even at night. An hour will not hinder the follow-up pursuit."
"Then I am off, Your Majesty."
"Be careful," Tifeke reminded, "Garcia will probably not leave any troops in the city, there are probably many traps. Also, beware of places with narrow streets and many private houses. As long as a group of dead men are ambushed, they can threaten to your safety."
"Hahaha," Duke Fran said with a hearty smile, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, when I went to war with your father, I cut off hundreds of heads with my own hands, and I have never been injured." He waved to the guards beside him. He waved his hand, "Honor, strike!"
The army behind them surged, and several streams of people walked out of the formation. Under the leadership of several knights, they marched towards Eagle City—the free people who were the pioneer troops, followed by the hired servants in armor. Soldiers are also the main force in this siege battle. The knights brought by the duke have all been concentrated under his command.
When the large force began to charge against the city wall, Tifek led the remaining knights and squires to the southwest.