The small hill ten miles south of the valley where the river turns is bustling with activity.

On a cliff about six feet high on the west side of the hill, a "tragic" offensive and defensive battle was going on, the defending side was six soldiers of the first squad of Bath, and the attacking side was a dozen soldiers of the other three squads. Despite the constant use of their shields to block, the "siege" soldiers were all covered in dirt.

More than 20 steps under the "city wall", the sentry cavalry soldiers also used arrows wrapped in rags to throw at the "city wall" under the leadership of Ron......

More than 100 steps outside the "siege" battlefield, the new healer Thomas and the "housekeeper" Spencer were treating the wounds of several soldiers.

The healer Thomas cleaned the wounds of the soldier in front of him who was smashed by a clod of dirt and tied a rag to stop the bleeding, he glanced at the "battlefield" that was "killing" not far away, and asked Spencer who was boiling water curiously: "Hey, the housekeeper, what are you doing here?" A good soldier has to be tortured like this, and he has injured so many people before he even goes to the battlefield, I have never heard of such a training method. ”

Spencer threw the firewood in his hand to the ground, tilted his head and said to the healer: "Old fellow, I told you not to call me the housekeeper, my name is Spencer!!"

The whitebearded healer shrugged.

Spencer glanced over there and continued: "Speaking of my lord, it is remarkable, it is said that he is a descendant of a declining nobleman, who has been to the Holy Land, participated in the holy war and seen the big scenes, of course, his training method cannot be equal to ordinary people, this is called ~uh~ It is called~ The blood shed during training is the life left during the battle~"

Spencer carefully recalled again: "Hmm! That's right, that's what it means. ”

The whitebeard doctor chewed on what Spencer said, shook his head and continued to bandage the wounded soldier: "What kind of strange reason is this, the soldier has gone to see God long ago after all the blood is shed on weekdays, then there is still a chance to go to the battlefield~~"

Spencer couldn't answer for a moment.

The white-bearded healer continued, "I said, man, how did your sturdy man come to cook in the room? The food you cook isn't good, is it? ”

Spencer's self-esteem was trampled on again, and he stood up and retorted, "You dead quack, the food I make is not delicious, you have the ability to go hungry." Besides, I'm not a man, I'm a treasurer, a doctor, and a soldier, do you think ordinary people can do it??? ”

The whitebeard doctor smacked his lips and stared at Spencer, who was sparkling in his eyes, "Do any job~ That is, do odd jobs~"

Spencer's face became more and more unkind, and the whitebearded healer saw that his fists were clenched, and quickly said: "Don't forget what Lord Odo said, you are now my apprentice, if you dare to beat me, I will tell Lord Odo immediately."

Spencer couldn't get angry, so he carried the barrel and walked to the river, muttering in his mouth, "The old immortal's mouth stinks, no wonder he was driven here~"

…………

On the side of the "offensive and defensive battlefield", Art stood on the edge of the cliff and stretched his bow to aim at the "siege commander" Odo who was organizing soldiers to raise shields to cover and set up ladders to climb the city, Odo was busy directing soldiers to cover the city, and he forgot that his head and body had been exposed to the shield, and when there was a pain in his chest, he suddenly realized that he had lost his shield, and he beat his chest in annoyance, but according to the prior agreement, he was already "killed in battle". Thus a fierce "offensive and defensive battle" ended with the death of the attacker's commander......

…………

In the clearing under the hill, the soldiers of the patrol team sat crookedly on the ground, nibbling on rye bread with a bowl of broth.

Yat's voice sounded in the sucking and chewing sound of the soldiers: "Today is the fifth time we have trained the attack and defense of the castle, as everyone has experienced, any castle is not easy to capture, during this time, the attacking and defending soldiers have tried various ways, and there are not many that can be forced." Of course, battering rams and trebuchets can play a greater role in siege, but a strong castle cannot be collapsed by a few stones or a piece of heavy wood, not to mention the reason for the siege weapons themselves, do you think that the defender of the city can allow the enemy to use these siege equipment with peace of mind? Today we use clods of earth and light arrows wrapped in cloth, and on the battlefield we use rocks and rolling logs and fire pots to heat oil............"

“…… Therefore, there are two effective ways to attack and defend a fortified city under normal circumstances: first, for the besieging party, it is a siege, the defending side is besieged in the city, and the food and materials cannot be continuously replenished, and after a long time, the materials are scarce and morale is low, so it is naturally impossible to defend the city. Like the cities of Aosta and Fort Kalk in the Aosta theater, the Lombard army did not force the siege, but surrounded and cut off supplies from the outside world, starving the defenders of the city to death. The second is to break into the interior of the castle. Just like in our battle to retake Alsburg, send an elite army to infiltrate the fortified city, disrupt the enemy's deployment from within, and then echo it inside and out. ”

Art picked up the wooden bowl and took a sip of hot soup to moisten his throat, and continued: "Then in the same way, as the defender of the city, if you want to hold the city, you also need to do two things, one is to ensure that the food and materials in the city are abundant, and the soldiers are well-armed and well-armed. But if the enemy is besieging the city, then it is necessary to ensure that there is one more meal of food in the city than the enemy. The enemy army is also a human being, and usually the conscripted army is reluctant to stay and fight after the end of military service, if the defending side can hold out until the enemy's military service expires or the food runs out, it is a victory. When a castle is too strong, the enemy will definitely try to sneak into the city and cause chaos, so we must strengthen patrols to deal with sudden enemy situations......"

The soldiers nodded as if they didn't understand, but the leader of the fourth squad, Tuba, closed his mouth and put down the utensils in his hand, and asked softly: "My lord, then if I am the attacker, how can I let the defenders run out of food?" Conversely, if I am the defender, how can I guarantee that the enemy will be starved of food? ”

Art turned his head and glanced approvingly at the new squad leader, and said loudly to everyone: "Tuba is a good question, both the offensive and defensive sides want to exhaust each other's food and supplies, so how can it be done?" For both the offensive and defensive sides, they must learn to build support outside the city, just as the Kalk Castle held by Baron Berrion is a support for Aosta; Similarly, the roadside manor outpost outside Kalkburg was a support for the Lombard army. One of the functions of the Cark Fort was to harass the food of the Lombard army, and the main purpose of the roadside manor was to cut off the food transportation of the Kalk Fort, in addition, to send cavalry or infantry to attack the enemy's supply areas, as we saw in the ruins of the villages in the Aosta theater............"

……………………

When the valley is bustling, the valley is also busy.

The army is about to set out, and Mubao is also preparing for this expedition, from military rations, bread, bacon, to robes, cloaks, military boots, to wooden bowls, wooden spoons, buckets, all necessary utensils and materials must be prepared. Fortunately, in the past six months, the patrol team has been fighting non-stop, capturing a large number of grain, cloth, tools and raw materials purchased from outside and returning to the wooden fort, plus two craftsmen, Cooper and Old Bard, and a group of half-grown children and peasant women drawn from the wooden fort, after a month of rushing production, the materials for the army to go out are basically ready-30 sets of black robes, cloaks, belts, boots, water bladders, tableware, 30 sets of modified saddlebags, 35 oak shields, 40 long (short) spears, 15 broadswords and 20 short swords, Ten long and short battle axes (page hammers, chain hammers), fifteen sets of armor (leather armor) helmets, one hundred and fifty rye bread weighing about one pound, a thousand pounds of husked wheat carried with the army, six military tents, wooden saws, shovels and other tools, and a four-wheeled carriage.

The old carpenter's wife picked up a skeleton made of air-dried rattan, covered with thick linen and a small amount of cowhide, plus two cowhide shoulder straps, similar to a saddlebag, and asked Emma, who was sewing a needle and thread: "Emma, isn't this a saddlebag for mules and horses~ Can it be carried on a soldier's body?" ”

This thing, known as the marching rucksack, was designed by Yat. Some time ago, when marching southward for a long distance, the soldiers carried personal cooking utensils, bedding, dry food, and scattered materials were casually wrapped in rags and hung on short spears or tied around their waists. After returning to the wooden fort in the valley, Art personally commanded Emma and a few skillful peasant women to sew more than 30 simple "marching knapsacks" with reference to the backpacks of their previous lives, which were actually saddlebags hanging on horseback with two shoulder straps, but the frame was made of rattan, the capacity was much larger, and a few more sheaths were sewn on the knapsack, so that the soldiers could tie the individual weapon shield that could not fit into the knapsack to the knapsack and carry it. However, as a soldier wearing sharp armor and carrying heavy loads, this kind of backpack can only be used to carry a small number of personal items such as tableware, dry food, grinding stones, and clothing, of course, shields and helmets can also be tied to the backpack to carry, but other baggage must be taken care of by special soldiers so as not to affect the soldier's combat.

"My man said, don't underestimate this thing, this thing looks like a saddlebag for an animal, but it can hold a lot of things, and it is firm and easy to carry on the back, and it will not affect the soldiers' marching and fighting. You say how come we never thought of putting things that animals are used on people, Lord Art is such a strange man....." Emma wrapped the thick thread in her hand into a solid knot, and picked up a knife to cut off the extra thread......

In the carpenter's workshop, Bud is using homemade dyes to paint the cloak and wooden shield with Arte's black-background blood-eyed howling wolf coat of arms with the help of several peasant women.

In the wooden castle warehouse, the old butler Cooper was also busy. The newly joined down-and-out merchant Salter has entered the role, and Cooper is taking Salter to pick goods in the treasury that can be sold at a high price in the north, raw silk and satin, spices, tea, salt, and other goods are of course the first choice, and then wine, linen, olive oil, dried fruits and other goods, according to the plan discussed in advance, this time the caravan with the army only carried five carts of goods, so the goods taken away were to be selected repeatedly.

As the only person in the valley who could read and write the general language, Salter enjoyed a high salary, and soon after he joined, he was appointed by Art as the steward of the wooden castle, enjoying the same salary as Lawrence and Scott. The salary was nowhere near as good as what Salter had earned in the past, but now that he was penniless, he was lucky to have this well-paid and decent job.

"Old steward, I have seen our carriages, which are basically wood-wheeled carts without inlaid iron, and if you use a single horse to pull goods for long distances, you can pull up to 800 pounds of goods at a time, and if you can pull goods with two horses or mules, you can pull 1,500 pounds at a time. No matter how heavy it is, the carriage will not be able to bear it. Now there are not many horses and livestock in the wooden fort, and we can only use single horses and mules to pull goods, so we will not bring heavy goods for the time being. Salter said to the butler who was counting the goods as he wrote and drew on the birch bark with sharpened charcoal.

The old butler looked at the goods piled up in the warehouse, and said to Salt: "Salt, you are a business traveler, you have the final say on these things, I just help you count the goods." ”

Salter glanced up at the old man, who was respected by everyone as the great butler of the wooden castle, and his self-esteem and sense of honor were greatly satisfied, he was not despised in the wooden castle of the valley because of his status as a merchant, on the contrary, because he was literate and literate, he could always be recognized by others, and if he could really make enough money to make him turn over in the future, he planned to stay in this place for a long time.