Chapter Five Hundred and Twenty Second: Winning the City on a Winter Night
"What's the next step?" After the battlefield was cleaned up, Ryan, Fedmund and Jerrod gathered together. Fedmond breathed a sigh of relief: "Earl Ocasson and his attendants may die.
No one can escape, either by force or by force, and as long as the army crosses the Graysmoray River, there will be no problem in capturing the Spire Palace with the help of dwarf artillery."
"There is definitely no problem in capturing the Spire Palace. The key point is that we must defend it." Jerod immediately put forward the opposite opinion. The paladin shook his head repeatedly: "No, this siege cannot rely on dwarf artillery.
"
"Jerrod is right, we cannot rely on the dwarf's artillery to attack the Spire Palace this time." Ryan nodded, and he took two steps. The effect of Morgiana's magic was fading, and the muddy swamp began to cause trouble for the knights:
"If we really want to blow the Spire Palace into ruins, then we won't be able to hold on to this castle until reinforcements from Mousilon arrive."
Speaking of this, Fedmund had to nod in agreement.
The army assembled this time cannot be considered to be very large. Because Ryan launched the attack in advance, the agricultural population cannot be moved casually. This can easily affect spring plowing. The principalities participating in this war have only sent part of their standing armies, and there are
The total number of retired knights and knights' retinue was only 6,000.
The undead in Musilon don't need to be produced very much. That city, Lane, can conservatively estimate an army of 20,000 undead.
In this case, fortified city artillery is very important. The vampires seriously lack long-range weapons. Facing the dwarves' heavy artillery, they can only be passively beaten.
"We have to capture the castle and can't use artillery. Even if Earl Ocasson and his attendants have been eliminated by us, I think we still need some special methods." Fedmund gradually became more mature under Ryan's guidance.
Understanding the plan, he said to Ryan: "Sir Ryan, we can't attack by force, then..."
"We need this." Ryan took out a ring.
This ring was taken by Ryan from Ocasson's body. It has the Ocasson family coat of arms: "The plan to quickly seize the Spire Palace is here, but this time we may need to aggrieve our dwarves."
friend."
"It doesn't matter, we just need to toast our dwarf friends with a glass of wine afterwards." Sir Gerald put the knight's sword into the scabbard. The paladin said with a smile: "There are still enough gifts for these dwarf friends."
Most people won’t care about it.”
The knights of Britannia originally knew very little about dwarves. Fortunately, Ryan was here to help. Now most of the knights in the south of Britannia have had experience in dealing with dwarves. They are stubborn and petty-minded.
Guys who love to hold grudges also have many ways to deal with it.
"Without further delay, we will immediately escort the prisoners to join Her Majesty Morgiana!" Ryan said no more, he immediately ordered: "Quick!"
"yes!"
…………I am the dividing line between loving and holding grudges…………
In February, the weather was cold and the cold wind was raging everywhere. Especially after an inexplicable large sleet and hail hit the entire castle in the morning, the once prosperous castle seemed to have been looted and lost.
got angry.
The Spire Palace is not a particularly large castle, and its defense cannot be said to be particularly strong. However, there are many troops stationed here, and because the vicinity of the Spire Palace is all fertile swamps, enemies who want to attack here must endure a very slow attack.
Advance speed and swamps brought a lot of changes.
Mathhubard, Duke of Mousilon, was well aware of the importance of the Spire Palace. He sent many troops of the living to protect it and asked them to obey Count Ocasson's orders.
At the gate of the city, a guard chief was inspecting the defense. The guard chief was wearing a set of chainmail and a breastplate on his chest. He was very well-dressed. In addition to this standard equipment, the guard chief
He also put on a warm animal skin cloak outside.
Even so, he was shaking from the cold.
"Sir, this damn weather, it was raining, snowing, and hailing just now, and now the sun is rising again." A guard said to the guard chief. His face was covered with many pockmarks and chickenpox, and it was just like
Like the residents of Musilon, his face also looked malnourished.
But this is considered a good life among the residents of Musilon.
"The devil knows what's going on with this weather!" The guard chief lit a fire inside the city gate. On the fire was boiling a bowl of thick frog broth, adding some mushrooms and wild vegetables. For the residents of Mousilon,
It is already supremely delicious.
Since there are many swamps in Mousillon, people here have also learned how to obtain necessary supplies for survival from the swamps. People here have learned to pick various fungi and wild vegetables for food, and their meat is made from frogs, snails and birds.
host.
Therefore, there is a unique occupation here in Mousilon, that is, swampmen. They are professional snail catchers and frog hunters. They enjoy a certain status protected by lords in Mousilon. Women who marry these swampmen are called
The baby wives are responsible for washing the snails and frogs, and most of them carry small baskets on their backs to collect herbs.
"Ah! It's so cold! When can I wait until my shift!" The guards complained privately about the weather, and the smell of frog broth coming from the city gate made the two serf guards unsteady and almost leaning on their own
Only when you stand on a spear can you stand up straight.
"Stand still!" the guard chief yelled impatiently: "Now is the most tense time. Those knights from the south will attack you from time to time. There must be no time to relax!"
"Yes! Sir!" the guards secretly cried out, and they had no choice but to shout yes, otherwise they would be punished.
After a while, the guard chief finished eating the delicious frog soup. He said strangely: "There is indeed something wrong today. First of all, the weather has changed. At this time, the sentries and scouts by the river should have reported back
News, but we haven’t received any news yet.”
"Your Excellency, Earl, has been out hunting for the winter for a long time, right?" the guard asked.
"Winter hunting? You despicable guys, what do you know? This kind of winter hunting is normal for two or three days." The guard chief looked contemptuous and said directly: "Don't use your ignorant speculations to speculate on the actions of the earl.
, don’t you want to live anymore?”
The guards stopped talking.
About twenty minutes later, a caravan drove towards the Spire Palace from the main road, attracting the attention of the guards.
This caravan is very large, with more than 20 carriages and more than 40 people. The carriages are filled with various grains and barrels of wine. The wheels press the ground and create deep rut lines. The leader
A human businessman was wearing a fine linen garment and a bearskin coat.
The guards immediately surrounded the caravan: "Stop! Please show the customs clearance documents!"
"I am a caravan member of the Estalia Merchant Alliance who has signed a trade contract with Count Ocasson." The human merchant took out a business contract and customs clearance documents, which were signed with Count Ocasson's name and ring.
Seal: "According to the trade contract, we have shipped the grain."
"Yes." The guard chief took the document and looked at it carefully.
There is no problem. Count Ocasson does import grain from the merchant alliance in Estalia. Everyone in the Spire Palace knows this. The guard chief also knows that the count himself has been stocking grain recently and is ready to defend the Spire Palace.
Prepare.
But this was the wrong time! The guard chief thought that it was just a coincidence that this group of businessmen had arrived? Why did they arrive as soon as the count went out hunting?
Thinking of this, the guard chief still refused to let the caravan pass. He signaled the guards to rush forward: "Wait a minute! Is the food in your car really food?"
"Grain, vegetables, meat, and wine." The human merchant shrugged: "If you don't believe me, just check it out."
"Come on!" This was what the guard chief was waiting for. With a wave of his hand, the guards rushed forward and began to inspect all the carriages in the caravan. The guards lifted the oilcloths, opened the bags, and carefully inspected the contents of the carriages.
Fifteen minutes later, the guards reported to the commander one after another.
"Yes, sir, the carriage is full of grain, vegetables and meat!"
"Are you sure?"
"We are sure!" Dozens of guards said: "The carriage is really full of food."
The guard chief nodded. He thought that the earl really wanted to buy a large amount of grain. Since it was all grain, there was really no problem.
He turned his attention to the last few carriages. The last few carriages contained many wine barrels. The barrels were quite large, almost as tall as a person: "What about this one?"
"This is ale, sir." The human merchant said calmly: "The count asked us to send more ale."
Is there ale in the trade contract? The guard chief walked to the barrel and opened the lid. The aroma of wheat and beer immediately came out, and the aroma was strong.
"Sir... maybe there is something wrong with this ale? Can we?" The guards couldn't stand the smell of the ale. They all said to the guard commander with salivation: "We have to try to see if this is true.
Mai Bar!”
"Idiot! What time is it now and you are still thinking about ale all day long!" The guard chief turned red with anger. He loudly ordered his men to get away and told the guards who wanted to drink secretly to get away. He smelled it carefully.
He stretched out his finger and dipped a little wine to taste it. After confirming that there was no problem, he ordered to let go: "Okay, you can pass, but after placing your things and paying the money, you must leave immediately! You are not allowed to stay in the castle for a long time!"
"You know, do you think we are willing to stay here?" The human businessman was also tired of the entangled guards of the Spire Palace. He complained: "If your earl was not willing to pay a lot of money to buy it, who would be willing to come to Mu
This hellish place, Xilon? Do you think I look like a **?"
The caravan finally received permission, and more than twenty carriages entered the castle under the guard of a large group of guards.
The reputable merchants did not break their promises. They did what they promised and immediately left with their men after delivering the goods and collecting several bags of coins. The caravan only entered the castle and left the castle thirty minutes later.
Before leaving, the guard chief counted the number of people one by one. The number of the caravan entering the castle was fifty-three, and it was also fifty-three when it left. They were under the surveillance of a large group of guards the whole time.
Before the human merchant left, the guard chief came up to apologize: "I'm sorry, Estalians, it's not that we intentionally made things difficult for you, it's just that the situation has been tense recently, the southerners may attack at any time, and the count himself is not here...
…”
"I understand, as long as the money is in place, everything will be easy..." The human merchant did not care, and the caravan left.
Over and over again, the sky gradually entered dusk. The cautious chief guard ordered the castle guards not to relax their vigilance at any time, and he returned to the tower to rest.
The Spire Palace gradually entered a quiet atmosphere at night. Winter nights were particularly cold. Except for a small number of guards with torches who continued to patrol, most people fell asleep.
At midnight, in the warehouse of the Spire Palace, there was a large amount of grain and various vegetables, and there was a strange movement in the meat warehouse.
There was movement in those huge wine barrels.
The lower part of the wine barrel was opened, and a thick arm stretched out from the barrel. Belega, the king of the Eight Peaks Mountain and the king of the Angland clan, exhaled and turned on the switch of the wine barrel: "Huh~ OK
It’s time, boys, it’s time to get to work!”
"Oh oh oh!" Dozens of large wine barrels were all opened, and a large group of dwarves emerged from them. Most of them were wearing simple armor and holding one-handed axes or hammers after hearing the king's order.
, these dwarves walked out of the wine barrel, and they muttered: "Damn it, how could Earl Lane let the noble dwarves do this!"
"That's right, I actually have to be transported into the castle in a wine barrel. This is disrespectful to the dwarves!"
“It’s so crowded and there’s no ventilation!”
"And you can't wear heavy armor!"
The dwarves complained to each other and shouted their own dissatisfaction.
They are Angland's sworn personal bodyguards, Belegar's personal bodyguards.
These large wine barrels have mezzanines. The dwarves hid in the mezzanine of the wine barrels and were secretly transported into the castle. There was ale on the outside of these large wine barrels, but there were dwarves on the inside. Because of this, these wines
The barrel looks very big.
"Okay, guys, Brother Lane promises two barrels of malt liquor and five pounds of pork per person when things are done." Belegar stroked his beard, and the King of the Eight Peaks raised his Hammer of Angrond: "He also promised to support us.
A lot of money is spent to expand the brewery!”
The dwarves were silent.
"There is no way. Brother Lane really needs the help of the dwarves, so let's give him some face!"
"For the sake of beer and good meat, let's help him this time!"
"We can't do it without the help of the dwarves. Brother Ryan is forced to do so! We understand, we understand."
The Oath of Angrond's bodyguards expressed their generosity to the dwarves, and they were ready for action.
"Halfer, you take people to the military camp and set fire to it, causing the whole castle to fall into chaos. Slude, you take people to follow me and let us open the city gate and let Brother Ryan's army in." Belega signaled to Ann.
Grande's sworn guards gathered together. Belegar, who was good at attacking cities, ordered the sworn guards to be divided into two teams. One team went to attack the military camp and set fire to it, leaving the guards with no time to react. He himself led people to directly attack the city gate guards.
.
"yes!"
"Okay, guys, come with me and let's have a blast!"