Compared with the regular army, the aristocratic private soldiers are often far from each other in terms of organization and equipment, and the overall combat effectiveness is not at the same level.

They would also go into battle, but they would often only serve as vassals or reservists for regular legions, and any mature military commander would know that in most cases it would be best not to give much hope to private soldiers.

The warriors of Alpine Fort are also private soldiers by nature, but the need for political propaganda combined with their past success gives them a chance to prove themselves and join the Dragon's Claw Sequence as a combat unit.

The number of official soldiers in Gaoshan Fort was about three hundred, plus the miscellaneous men and auxiliaries, barely enough for a thousand-man team. Raising the freshly baked Ripper flag, he followed his lord to the city of Coron.

According to the solar terms, it is only early winter, but this year's climate is really cold, and the cold wind blows all day and night. Even Richard, who was the most frost-resistant, had to compromise a little and put on a sheepskin skack.

Occasionally, you can see frozen indigenous corpses on the road, often with a creepy smile on their faces.

Some of the sheep-headed auxiliaries were soft-hearted and tried to dig pits to bury the bodies of these poor people, but they often left only a white spot on the frozen ground with their heads, so they had to give up.

Hurt said that this unusually cold weather is called a white plague, and it has been an occasional occurrence in the wilderness in previous years, but it is rare to be violent this year. The cold wind was like a pinprick drilling into the cracks of the bones, and no matter how much clothes they worn, they could only barely keep out the cold, and many indigenous tribes were destined to be unable to resist it.

"This ghost weather is not suitable for war at all, and it's okay to eat barbecue in the house. Gunther was also dressed very little, but compared to the auxiliaries who were wrapped in rice dumplings.

"Yes, when war was declared, probably no one expected it to be so cold this year. "Richard was always at the back of the line to prevent anyone from falling behind.

Once the national war machine is activated, it is not so easy to stop until it has suffered enough.

............

What was once a wasteland outside of Cologne has been transformed into a vast camp, where several legions have assembled and waited for orders to attack.

More than 10,000 people will produce an endless visual effect, not to mention that there are far more than 10,000 troops assembled at this time. Standing on the outskirts of this huge camp, a group of dirt buns in Alpine Fort couldn't help but be deeply shocked - this was a big scene they had never seen before.

Beneath them was a wide road large enough for two carriages to run alongside, and the line of sight stretched out along the road, a huge group of tents that stretched from a short distance in front of them to the end of the horizon, and hemispherical white tents towered over the vast plain like mushrooms after rain.

I don't know how many soldiers are patrolling through it, and it seems to be orderly and have clear responsibilities. Occasionally, cavalry units kicked by, and horses' hooves rustled on the dead grass.

Richard even caught the Thunderbeast in it, although he knew that this five-bladed, scaly beast was actually gentle and slow-moving, and was a complete herbivore, and could only be used as a logistics beast in the army.

But the terrifying size alone, and the tremor of the hoofs as they landed on the ground, were enough to make people's hearts beat faster.

"That's a magician!" Nehru jumped up excitedly, pointing from afar at an old white-bearded man wearing a cloak and holding a wooden staff. There is a sense of belonging to one kind, after all, a normal elemental user in the wilderness is even rarer than a kobold who is not cunning.

- Hum Ha Er will automatically be excluded from the concept of "normal" by him.

"He is a priest of the Church of the Ice and Snow Goddess. Dracula corrected softly.

"Is that wooden staff a treasure?" asked the lord in a sneaky whisper.

Dracula closed one eye and looked at it for a moment, shook his head slightly and said, "It's a very ordinary thing, but the pendant around his neck is okay." ”

The arrival of nearly a thousand people from Gaoshan Fort has of course attracted the attention of the patrol team a long time ago. The leading officer slammed a fist at Gunther's chest, looked up at the Gangbarbarian, who was at least a head and a half taller than him, and grinned.

"Damn, you won't be a forbidden army, right? He looked at the obviously well-armored and the terrifying Sgar Walk on the carriage, and his eyes turned red with jealousy.

"We are the self-defense forces of the country militia. "Gangmanzi put his hands in his sleeves and wore a dogskin hat with drooping ears on his head, and he was as honest as an old peasant.

"Lie to the undead, where are you going?" The patrol leader kept stomping his feet, and a mouthful of hot air quickly turned into white mist and dissipated, probably because he was a little cold and couldn't stand it, so he simply took out a small wine bottle from his arms and took a sip.

"Come on, I can't bear it if I don't drink it this day. ”

"No, no, let's go to Dragonclaw, do you know where it is?"

"The famous Dragon's Claw, I know, of course I know. He rubbed his palms, "But, do you have any formalities?"

"This is my buddy, what other formalities do you need. Bédrick's ghost appeared out of nowhere, and the patrol officer obviously didn't see him for the first time, and said with a grin, "Bederick's buddy, that's trustworthy." He led the team to let go of the barricades.

"Go to the back office and get a few bottles of wine and report my name. Derick greeted him as he crossed the barricade, drawing cheers from the patrolmen.

"Bedry......" Richard snapped his fingers and motioned for the army to follow.

"Call me Baker, not by my full name, especially not by His Highness, I don't like to hear those stinky and long names. The two attendants beside Béderick and Richard were also old acquaintances, and they raised their hands to say hello in embarrassment.

"All right, Baker. The lord shrugged his shoulders and said as he walked, "I saw that there are priests from the Church of the Ice and Snow Goddess in the barracks, didn't I say that I had an unpleasant quarrel with them, didn't I feel any way?"

"How could it not be affected. Bédrik shook his head and said, "In previous years, one legion would be equipped with twenty priests, but this year, the Ice and Snow Church said that the talent training was poor, and there were only ten, but in fact, it was not unpleasant. ”

"I don't know what the old man thinks, but if I want to say that I am really crazy, I have to give the church eye medicine at this time. The old man in his mouth can naturally only be one person, that is, His Majesty Sagre, King of Pompeii, "This time there is less than half of the priests, and the battle will be difficult to fight." ”

Richard didn't know if he was really stupid or pretending to be stupid, the Church of the Ice Goddess was obviously too independent as a political force, and it was already somewhat beyond the limits of a secular king, and conflict was inevitable.

Bédric led the team of the mountain fort around the barracks, and finally stopped in front of a wooden fence gate.

"Our dragon's claw has arrived. ”