"Oh, I can't buy horses. I didn't expect that the imperial capital is so short of horses. We have been collecting everywhere these days, and we have spent twice the price to get these dozens of pack horses. They are all used by adults to pull carts." Farea complained while fiddling with the bonfire.
Josk said: "We thought too well, thinking that we could buy mounts when we arrived in the imperial capital, but we forgot that the Antinac Kingdom is not a place for horse production, and the Second Highness needs a lot of horses to organize six legions. This caused a shortage of horses. We walked over and did not expect to walk back.”
"Today we only walked more than 30 miles for a long time. Tomorrow, we will probably be able to walk 60 to 70 miles a day. This is not good for us. I am used to galloping horses in the north. I really feel that such a long-distance march is as slow as a snail. My lord, why don't we go to the houses of the nearby lords to buy carriages to speed up the march. Anyway, Hilovas Island will also be developed and constructed, and these carriages can also be used for transportation." This is the idea of El.
After leaving the imperial capital for a long time, Farea ordered to camp on the spot when it got dark. The five hundred soldiers of the Guards Battalion were well-trained and settled down quickly. Instead, several family knights began to complain around the bonfire. People like El, Jim and others had always marched on horseback in the Northland, and they were not used to walking on their own legs. When I came here, I could sit in the carriage that escorted the prisoners of the second prince, but this time I won't have that kind of treatment when I go back.
Lorist bought thousands of books in the imperial capital this time and wanted to take them back. Although there were more than 20 carriages, they were packed full of these books except for food and supplies, and there was not even a spare horse. Even Lorist could only travel on foot.
"Okay, tomorrow we will change direction and walk towards the Dorni River, and we will reach Samba Town after another day. There is the big ferry of the Dorni River. We will go there to find a boat and go back by boat. We will go along the river to this much It only takes two days to reach Qilin Port after the city of Mesgo goes ashore, and we can board the boat and return to Hilovas Island." Lorist looked at the map and made a decision.
"Then should we still buy a carriage when we pass through those territories?" El asked.
"Forget about the carriage, it's okay to buy a few horses, and let your guards ride them as scouts. If there is any danger, you can issue an early warning." Lorist said.
"Ha, my lord, our 500 troops are considered elite, which lord of the Antinac Kingdom has the guts and strength to provoke us?" Everyone laughed.
This is true. Now the lords and nobles of the Andinak Kingdom are all subdued by the Second Highness, and most of the lords' family armed forces have been integrated into the reserve army. It is already very good to have a garrison team of one hundred people in the territory. Just like what Karitoke said, as long as it wasn't the Legion of the Second Highness, the 500 soldiers of the Guards Battalion led by Lorist could walk across the kingdom.
"My lord, why can't we transport horses here from the Northland to sell? I think this is a good business." Schwader asked.
"Hehe..." Lorist touched Schwader's hair: "It's good that you can think of this, and it's a good business, but you've overlooked the most important point, who is the other party doing business with? Second Highness He really needs a large number of military horse mounts, but he has no ability to pay. The 300,000 army has already made him do his best, and he has no extra gold coins to pay the bill. The only thing we can get when we transport the Northland horses is his IOUs, He'll promise to make up for us when he unites the empire..."
"Okay, let's go to rest early. Schwader, boil some hot water for everyone to soak their feet. We have to walk all day tomorrow." Lorist said.
I had nothing to say all night, and continued on the road the next day. I only got seven mounts in the four territories we passed along the way, and five of them were fifteen or sixteen-year-old horses. El smiled bitterly: "My lord, we bought this horse for the purpose of returning home. Do they age?"
In the evening, he arrived at Samba Town, which is the territory of the Earl of Santos. I heard that the Earl is now the commander of the Third Legion of the Royal Guards, and he is stationed at the border of the Kingdom of Ridleys. In charge of the management of Samba Town is his trustworthy housekeeper named Old Sonny.
Butler Sonny treated Lorist very respectfully, no matter which earl had five hundred family soldiers in standard equipment, he should be respected. He introduced to Lorist that Samba Town is a very important inland river crossing in the Kingdom of Antinac, mainly because it can transport a large amount of food, grass, logistics and other materials to the front line along this river, that is, the Kingdom and Switzerland. The border of the Kingdom of Delis saves a lot of human and animal power consumption on the road.
Therefore, supplies such as food and grass that Lorist needs to replenish can be replenished here, and some carriages can also be bought here. As for the inland river ferry that Lorist needed to reach Domesgo City, Butler Sonny said that he could help connect them and find a captain in charge of the transport fleet to see if he could do anything.
When he heard that Lorist was willing to pay 800 goldfords for his soldiers and more than 20 carriages, the captain named Horison immediately turned red, and ordered his soldiers to reload the grain and grass that had been loaded on the ship overnight. He was moved to the shore, and more than a dozen empty boats were turned around to prepare for a trip to Domesgo City.
When Lorist asked Captain Horison whether doing so would affect the transportation plan of the frontline grain and grass, the captain replied nonchalantly: "It's okay, it's very common to delay ten and a half months on the road. Back and forth to Domesgo The trip to the city is only seven or eight days, and it is just enough to transport back some of the supplies accumulated there, and no one will criticize it."
When the Captain Horison heard El complain that the Antinac Kingdom could not buy horses, he laughed and told Lorist and El that you hadn't found a way. He volunteered to take Lorist, El and others to the camp of the transport convoy, and soon Lorist reached an agreement with the person in charge of the transport convoy. One hundred and twenty riding horses are in the hands of the people. Although they are not very good war horses, they are more than enough to pull carts in battle.
Captain Horison didn't go in vain, and the two hundred goldfords fell into his pocket again, but he had to free up four more empty ships to transport the more than one hundred horses.
El asked him curiously: "How can you explain to the higher-ups that there are so many less horses in the transport convoy?"
Captain Horison laughed: "There are too many excuses, such as death from illness, falling into the water, unaccustomed to the water and soil, startled horses, etc., he can find 120 non-repeating reasons for these 120 horses to get them out of the transport. It will disappear from the team's roster without any suspicion, and it will disappear without a trace within a month. As for the missing horses, he can make a report and replenish them from the logistics department. I have to take out most of it and share it with others... "
El was silent for a while, and after returning to the camp, he quietly said to Lorist, "Lock, I understand why you are not optimistic that the 300,000 troops of the Second Highness can unify the empire. 10,000, even with a 600,000 army, it cannot be done..."
Four days later, Lorist and the others arrived in Domesco City. After delivering the remaining 500 Goldfords, Lorist shook hands with the smiling Captain Horison and said goodbye. Then he made a big purchase in Domesco City. After a while and rest for a day, they set off for Qilingang. In just one and a half or two days, the team will be able to reach Qilingang and sail out to sea.
In the evening, Jim, who was acting as a scout, came with two guards to report: "My lord, there is smoke and dust rising from behind. It seems that a large cavalry is coming. It is estimated that there are about 3,000 horses and horses. They will arrive in about ten minutes. Here. Should we get out of the way?"
Lorist and the others looked back, and sure enough there was smoke and dust in the distance behind them.
Farea rushed back: "My lord, no, this is coming towards us. The smoke and dust filled so quickly, it means that these cavalry are charging with all their strength, and there is no one else on this road except us, so these cavalry are charging It goes without saying that our goal is that we... ”
Lorist pointed to a small mound next to the main road: "Go up, the carriage is in front, surround the outside, take a defensive position, hurry up, everyone."
The mound is not high, only 20 to 30 meters, and there are sparse miscellaneous forests on it. As soon as it moved to the top of the mound, the cavalry in the distance arrived. Sure enough, they came towards Lorist and the others. Seeing that Lorist and the others had climbed the mound, they also slowed down and began to set up guards around the mound. It seemed that their posture was to trap Lorist and the others. on the mound.
Dolles chopped off a tree as big as a bowl with a sword, and two soldiers came by and took the tree bar away, which was used as a defensive refusal. Wiping the sweat off his brow, Dolles asked Lorist, who was also chopping trees nearby: "My lord, the cavalry below are wearing the standard equipment of the Royal Guards, did the Second Highness send them here to keep us to do it?" hostage?"
Lorist smiled wryly and shook his head: "I don't really know. The Second Highness is a hero, so he shouldn't be so unwise. I defeated the great swordsman who was protecting him in front of him, so he should Clearly, if you send cavalry to deal with me like this, there is no way to keep me. Even if you kill all of you, it will be difficult to trap me. Once he turns against our Norton family, he will definitely usher in our family's armed forces. Counterattack wave after wave. Under such circumstances, he doesn't have to dream of unifying any empire, and he is lucky if he can withstand our attack. So I don't understand what went wrong to make him go to war so much... "
Farea and Josk came over: "My lord, we have surveyed the terrain of this mound. The road leading to the road is a slope, and it is also the easiest way to go up. We are now arranging all the carriages in this direction, forming the first A defensive front. The next step is to place horses and dig trenches, which should be able to withstand the impact of the opponent's cavalry.
On the left is a cliff more than ten meters high. Neither cavalry nor infantry can climb up here, so there is no need to arrange guards for the time being. The right side is also a slope, with different heights. Infantry can still come up, but cavalry cannot ride horses. I have already deployed a squadron of 100 people in this direction, so there should be no major problems.
There is this small forest in the back. We need to cut down more trees. One is to clear the shooting area, the other is to use trees to build a few tree walls, and the third is to prevent the enemy from attacking us by using the cover of the woods. But there is bad news, my lord, there is no water source here, the water we carry with us can only last us for two days at most, if the enemy launches a fire attack, we will turn into roast pigs..." Farea said seriously .
Josk added next to him: "My lord, I just estimated that the enemy should be a cavalry brigade of about 2,500 people. Except for the cliff on the left side of the mound, they are arranged in a semicircular defense line in the other three directions. It seems that they are going to trap us on the mound. I suspect that they are waiting for the follow-up infantry to arrive before attacking. My suggestion is that Sir, it is best to break through first, and let us guard here to hold off the enemy. As long as Sir returns to the family territory , the enemy will not be able to carry out any plots and schemes."
Lorist shook his head: "I brought you out, and I will definitely bring you back together. I don't have the face to run back to the family territory by myself. El, when it gets dark, take Jim down the cliff on the left , Grab someone alive and come up to ask about the situation."
"Yes, my lord." Al replied.
The sky was full of stars, and there were clusters of fires on the top and bottom of the mound. Whether it was the armed forces of the Norton family on the top of the mound or the cavalry of the Royal Guards below, many fires were lit to prevent the enemy from breaking out or launching an attack in the dark.
But this was not difficult for Al and Jim. They slipped down the cliff from the enemy's attention, and quickly took a prisoner and slipped back.
In front of everyone, Al used a sharp dagger to cut a thick branch into chopsticks, threatening the captive that he would cut him off as a branch if he told him that he would not tell the truth.
The frightened prisoner quickly revealed everything.
"What! You said that you came to entangle us under the order of the commander of the army, Earl Aslan? Wait for him to lead two infantry brigades and come to encircle and suppress our Norton family's armed forces? It will take him another two days to get here?"
The matter has become clear, it is the Earl of Aslan, the elder brother of the Viscount Aslan who was beheaded by Lorist, and the Earl of the Golden Knight Aslan, who is the head of the Royal Guards, privately dispatched troops to hunt down Lorist. Rist and his party. Fortunately, Lorist changed his marching route and took a boat to the city of Domesgo, causing Earl Aslan to chase in the wrong direction, otherwise he would have encountered a massacre three days ago.
Now the cavalry of the following brigade received orders to entangle Lorist and the others, and wait for Earl Aslan's two infantry brigades of more than 5,000 people to arrive before encircling and suppressing them. Earl Aslan left quickly, not knowing about Lorist's defeat of the great swordsman Clemento. He was very confident that with the 7,500 infantry of the three brigades in his hand, none of the more than 500 people like Lorist could escape.
"Flop" Lorist spat out the grass roots he bit into his mouth: "Since he wants to play, let's play with him."
It's still dark, but dawn is coming to start the day.
A small troop of cavalry patrolling the bottom of the mound looked up at the top of the mound. Through the faint firelight above, they could see the blurred figures of the guards of the besieged Norton family and the points of their spears illuminated by the fire.
"Let's go, go back to the camp, we can change the guard." The leader of the team said.
There was the sound of running water behind him, and a few horse neighs. The team leader didn't care too much: "Can't you guys get off your horses and take a urinate, you're such slackers."
Then he smelled a trace of blood. No, he turned his head quickly, and what caught his eyes was a sharp blade gleaming with cold light...
Everyone was stunned, watching Lorist kill him with a single strike from the last ride of the patrol, without even making a sound from the enemy. Then Lorist flew on the horse, drew his sword and handed the body to Al and Jim who followed him, and they gently placed the body on the ground. The three-person team just fought from the back to the front. The most surprising thing is that the enemy didn't notice it, and none of the killed enemies made a sound. The quickness and accuracy with which Lorist drew his sword made everyone who was lying in ambush in the grass shudder.
This is the fourth patrol cavalry team of about 20 people, and they have already harvested more than 80 horses.
"Okay, everyone get on the horses, and those without horses follow to cover up. We will rush into the enemy's camp and remember to set fire. If there is fire here, Farea will also start to act immediately."
The cavalry of this brigade set up five camps in three directions of the mound, with about 500 people in each camp, and also dispatched a cavalry squad of more than 20 people to patrol around the mound non-stop, but they did not expect Lorist and the others slipped down from the cliff of the mound to fight back.
"Kill!" Lorist rushed into the first camp on the far left first, followed by Josk, El, and others, who resolutely carried out Lorist's strategy. The first was to set fire, the second was to control the mount, and the third was to kill.
Two silver knights were killed by Lorist's spear in succession. The cavalry in the first camp collapsed. They ran towards the second camp with disheveled clothes and hair, and Lorist rushed in after them. The second camp started killing and killing.
At this time, the patrolling cavalry of the three camps from the third camp to the fifth camp had reacted, and 120 cavalry gathered together and rushed to the second camp for reinforcements. Unexpectedly, they were only halfway through the charge, and there was another shout of killing behind them. Farea led 400 soldiers from the Guards Battalion and rushed into the fifth camp. The cavalry who hadn't mounted their horses were no match at all, and the fifth battalion collapsed faster.
The second battalion was also breached. Lorist was rushing hundreds of cavalry fleeing barefoot to the third camp. At this time, the fourth camp was also attacked by Farea and others.
At dawn, Farea happily rode his horse and rushed to Lorist's side: "Great victory, great victory! My lord, we broke through five battalions in one night, and all the enemies who didn't escape became prisoners, and most of their horses fell into our camp." hand."
"Are our casualties large?"
"About half of the soldiers in the Guards Battalion were killed or injured. One hundred and forty-seven people were killed and more than 120 were injured. It was mainly the cavalry that gathered in a group at the end that caused us so many casualties. After all, the Guards The soldiers of the Battalion are used to defensive warfare, they are not good at sneak attacks like this..." Farea said.
"Let's clean up the battlefield first, I still have to think about whether or not to give Earl Aslan a welcome gift when he arrives in two days..." Lorist said viciously.
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