Rock Fortress, the inner city, a group of knights and soldiers in bright armor are walking through the wide streets of the town. Above this group, the flag of the Earl of Pompeii in the Holy Spirit Plain is flying in the air, and the golden and red embroidery on the flag is shining in the sun. Glowing with eye-catching brilliance, gorgeous and stylish.
Sir Maryland stood on the city wall of the inner city, looking down at the army marching in formation, and said softly after a long time: "This is probably the last batch of assistance we can count on."
"It's better than nothing," Viscount Carroll, who was standing beside Sir Maryland, said in a deep voice. "After all, the Earl of Pompeii knows what it means once this fortress is breached."
The team entering the city was not the cavaliers sent by the royal family, but the private army of the Earl of Pompeii. The appearance of this army meant that the Earl had finally sensed from the news that had been coming in recently. The urgency of the situation made a decision.
The Rock Fortress is located on the edge of the Earl of Pompeii's territory. In name, the land where the fortress is located belongs to the Pompeii family, but in fact this fortress is directly controlled by the royal family, and all the soldiers in the fortress are also directly loyal to the king. There are also his own farms, mines, and mills around the fortress. The Earl of Pompeii has no obligation to support or support the fortress, but obviously, the earl knows very well that once the fortress is taken down by the Cecil family, his Territory will be in jeopardy.
The news that "the ancestors did not follow the ancestral system" has long been spread through the southern nobles who took refuge in the fortress. The Earl of Pompey can't guarantee that Cecil's army will stop after taking down the Rock Fortress, let alone guarantee that the fortress will be defeated. Will Cecil's army plunder the surrounding area first to make up for the loss of the war? Although at the beginning, he seemed to believe that the Cecils had nothing to do with the Rock Fortress, so he felt a little bit at ease, but after Sir Maryland's After a lot of hard work, he finally sent his own army to support here, and this team was the only reinforcement that Jazz Maryland could bring.
"It's completely unknown how much combat effectiveness these veteran soldiers who are pampered in the Holy Spirit Plain can exert." Sir Maryland sighed, "But as you said, it's better than nothing. These people can at least operate the trebuchet, or hide Shoot bows and arrows behind the wall."
Viscount Carroll hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't hold back and asked, "Is there any news from the south recently?"
"I sent three groups of spies, disguised as merchants and hunters, and only one group came back," Sir Maryland said with a sinking face. "Now I can only confirm that the Cecilians are sending troops here, but the situation further south Can't find out at all... "
"They really didn't give up..." Viscount Carroll's heart sank, "They will come sooner or later."
Looking at Viscount Carroll, who looked ashamed and even terrified, Sir Maryland could only sigh helplessly in his heart.
He has great confidence in the fortress he is stationed in. Although he has heard many terrible stories about Cecil's army from these southern nobles who have taken refuge, he still has great confidence in his fortress. In his opinion, these The southern nobles were so terrified that the image of the enemy's terror had been infinitely magnified in their hearts. Sir Maryland was a man who had experienced many battlefields. He knew this kind of terrified people quite well, so he filtered out After the exaggerated elements in the noble's words, he was not intimidated by Cecil's army.
But that doesn't mean he'll take the threat he's about to face lightly.
The Cecils will not be "like gods" as described by the southern nobles, but they are definitely not a force that can be underestimated. Facing the menacing Cecil army, the Rock Fortress will surely experience a bitter battle. According to Maryland According to the deduction of the Jazz, the Cecil's "Sky Fire Explosion" should not be able to break through the magic barrier of the fortress in a short period of time, but the defenders of the fortress have no way to repel those Cecils who can launch continuous magic attacks from a long distance people.
The battle should turn into a protracted confrontation, or, in more depressing terms, a unilateral bombardment by the Cecilians of the Rock Fortress for an extended period of time, which would make it difficult for the defenders of the Rock Fortress to take the initiative.
Sir Maryland is not afraid of protracted and hard battles. What he is really worried about is the isolation and helplessness of Rock Fortress, and the deteriorating situation in this country.
As long as this deteriorating situation does not improve for a day, no matter how long the Rock Fortress can last, it will eventually be unable to persist.
He patted Viscount Carroll on the shoulder: "Go back, we need to relax, drink two glasses of wine to soothe our nerves."
They left the city walls and came to the hall of the castle area of the fortress.
As soon as he pushed open the door of the hall, Sir Maryland saw Viscount Marioland in a loose nightgown standing in the center of the hall with a glass of wine, talking with the maids in the hall, and not far away It was the Viscount Consco who was walking around. The latter's face was full of anxiety, and judging from his expression, he probably drank a lot.
"Oh! Sir! And my friend, Viscount Carroll," Mariolan raised his glass and said loudly when he saw the person who pushed the door open, "I pay homage to you. You really should try this."
"Olan, you drank too much." Carol frowned slightly, looking at this man who had become more and more misbehaving in the past few days, with a somewhat helpless tone, "And why are you wearing a nightgown in the hall?"
"This is inside the castle. Nightgowns can be worn anywhere in the castle..." Mario Lan laughed, "Don't worry, I'm quite awake..."
Viscount Consco came over and walked straight past Mariolan, who was already a little delirious. His eyes were full of sadness, and he was congested from drinking too much for many days: "Sir, there are southern ones..."
Jazz Maryland waved his hand without waiting for the other party to finish speaking: "There is no good news."
Viscount Carroll looked disappointedly at the two friends in front of him. One was dissolute and the other was depressed. The calmness and decency of the nobility had almost disappeared from them.
Not only these two friends, but almost all the other nobles who fled from the south to the fortress together were not much better.
These viscounts and barons gathered in the banquet hall, or drilled in the bars and brothels in the city, squandering the only money left on their bodies, wasting their worthless energy, eating and drinking, almost completely invisible. A little bit of hope.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but raised his head, looking for someone in the hall, and soon, the slightly thin figure of the Countess Ropeni Grande appeared in his sight.
The Viscountess just sat quietly in a corner, chatting with one of her knights in a low voice. Although she also had faint anxiety on her face, her calm look was completely different from others.
For many days, this situation also fell into the eyes of Sir Maryland. The high-ranking knight looked at the situation of other nobles in the hall, and couldn't help but shook his head and muttered in a low voice: "It's not as good as a widow..."
Viscount Carroll, who was next to him, heard Sir's muttering, but couldn't hear it clearly, but just as he was about to ask, the door of the hall was pushed open again.
A knight in armor hurried into the hall. The sound of the impact of steel boots and the ground echoed in the hall. The people around fell silent and looked at the knight who suddenly ran in with suspicious eyes.
"General! General!" the knight shouted loudly as he ran up to Sir Maryland. "A small group of refugees have come from outside the city. They claim to be from the Glenn region!"
Glen area
The southern nobles in the hall suddenly subconsciously looked at the Countess Ropeni Grand who was sitting in the corner, and in their sight, the Countess also raised her head and looked at Sir Maryland standing there with amazed eyes. The knight in front of him.
Sir Maryland saw this scene in his eyes, and then turned his head to look at the knight who reported the news: "Where are they?"
"In the barracks under the outer wall," answered the knight, "we have kept them out of the city and there is a troop of soldiers watching."
Sir Maryland nodded imperceptibly: This is a necessary caution.
The Cecils have obviously blocked the southern region. At least in the buffer zone between the Rock Fortress and the southern border, there are already blockades set up by the Cecils everywhere. The experienced spies sent by the fortress can't break through this layer. The blockade, people who can still escape from the southern region at this time... It is very suspicious no matter how you look at it.
"Bring them to the main hall," Sir Maryland quickly made a decision, and glanced back at the southern nobles who had gradually gathered in the hall. "Ladies and gentlemen, I invite everyone to go. Maybe we can finally get the southern aristocrats." clear message."
Soon, Sir Maryland and the southern nobles came to the main hall of the castle area, and shortly after they entered the hall and took their seats on the high platform, a small group of soldiers came in with a few ragged and scarred people.
Those few people had obviously gone through an ordeal. Their clothes were tattered, their bodies were covered with dirt and bruises, and their embarrassed posture reminded the southern nobles at the scene of how they looked like not long ago. Sir Maryland also secretly sighed, Then he asked aloud, "Who are you? You were brought here from Gulen?"
Most of the ragged people looked anxious and nervous. Only one person stood in the center and kept calm. It was a tall middle-aged man. Looking for someone in the hall, his eyes finally fell on the Countess of Ropeni Grande, and the middle-aged man immediately bowed to the Countess, with a choked voice: "Mistress, I finally see you! "
Ropeni Grant also recognized the person in front of her. She stood up from her seat and said in disbelief, "This is my housekeeper!"
"Ma'am, are you sure?" Sir Maryland looked suspiciously at the middle-aged man in ragged clothes and dirty face, "Is he really your housekeeper?"
"Of course I'm sure," Ropeni Grant responded immediately, and she scanned everyone present, "I didn't take a sip of wine!"
"Okay, I understand," Sir Maryland nodded, and looked at the middle-aged man standing at the bottom of the steps, "Mr. Steward, have you brought news from the South?!"
"They're here! Mistress, and all my lords, the Cecilians are here!" the butler said with a look of pain and fear in his tone, "They have already occupied Glenn Castle and Consco , Carroll area, they are coming this way!"