On the second Wednesday of April, it rained profusely, and the little warmth that had just risen in early spring was extinguished by the wind and rain that lasted for two days.

The two armies inside and outside Wincheston Manor were facing each other nervously, outside the manor were the elite of the Western Frontier Army with nearly three hundred numbers, and inside the manor were the elite of the Wells Legion with more than one hundred people.

Art stood on the wooden wall on the north side of the manor, letting the rain fall on his cloak, which was smeared with a special local plant juice to repel water and became a must-have for the legionnaires.

Otto, the adjutant of the legion who was accompanying Art, took off his hood, glanced at the Western Army camp more than three hundred steps away, and said, "My lord, it seems that they will not force an attack today, and it is estimated that they are still waiting for the baggage team behind."

"What do you say they think? With three hundred men to attack our five hundred, where did they get their confidence? ”

After the convoy was annihilated, the Western army marched towards Wincheston Manor early the next morning.

But before the team could get close to the manor, they were placed in seven or eight of the traps and potholes along the northern route.

After hastily preparing and began to storm the outer wall of the manor, only to be repulsed by the gōng nǔ arrows that suddenly appeared on the outer wall as soon as the western army carrying the wooden ladder to the castle approached the manor.

So for the next two days, they died down, and waited steadfastly for the team sent from the north to come to the outside of the manor with food supplies and siege equipment.

"My lord, our brigade has arrived at Lane Manor, did you order them to attack, and we will attack these three hundred chickens in one fell swoop." More than 300 people from the remaining six banners of the Wells Legion have arrived at Ryan Manor, and they can rush over as long as Art gives the order.

Yate was noncommittal, staring at the Western Army camp outside the manor, and asked, "Do you think you can defeat those Western Army?"

"Yes!" Otto replied in the affirmative.

"Then what a price we have to pay."

Odo was dumbfounded in an instant, if he let the Wells Army fight with this Western Army in the field, he had a great chance of winning, but his own casualties would definitely not be small.

"What do you mean?"

Art dusted off the drops of water from his cloak and replied, "I don't know who gave them the confidence to run here empty-handed to die." They can't hold out for long, and they ordered the sergeant major to continue to stop the baggage team in the north for me, with the army of Lane Manor hanging, the western army outside the wall will definitely not dare to withdraw and run to the north to meet the baggage. Without supplies from the baggage detachment, their soldiers could only eat. If they have the courage to plunder in the county, then the county garrison will have something to do. ”

The Western Frontier Army is indeed in a difficult situation.

From the first failed attack on Wincheston Manor, they were already doomed to not being able to "regain" the lost ground.

Wincheston Manor's exterior walls were more fortified than they thought, and it was difficult to take them without siege engines.

However, the baggage team sent by the Count of Bernard, consisting of one hundred earl's personal soldiers and two hundred servants, was blocked by a cavalry team and several elusive special teams in turn, and there were constant traps along the way, and the surprise night attack was unexpected, and the baggage team had been on the road for four days in the short two-day journey from the southern border of Luces to the county town of Tiniez, and every night there were mentally broken laborers who escaped, and more than a dozen large and small grain carts had been burned.

The most helpless thing for the Western Army is that they can't do anything about it. When the baggage team did not arrive two days after the deadline, the Western army was ready to send a large team to the north to meet them, but an army of 300 people suddenly appeared in the southern lane manor of Winchester, this army was in a posture of pounce and bite at any time, as long as the western army dared to move, maybe the 300 soldiers of the lane manor would stab them in the ass with the more than 100 defenders in the Wincheston manor.

The most deadly is the lack of food and grass in the western army camp, two days ago they bravely led the army to loot a small manor north of Wincheston, as a result, the garrison corps of the county of Tignats immediately reorganized the army, a desperate posture to go out of the city and the western army, and Viscount Pierre immediately ordered all the lords of the county to prepare to assemble for battle, plus the county of Tinets is the direct territory of the Marquis of Ivrea, and the western army is not like bandits who can rob and run, so it is too risky to start in the territory of Tignets.

I thought that a pack of wolves had entered the chicken coop, but now when I arrived at the place, I found that it was the sheep that had fallen into the wolf's den, and the western army could only compress the daily rations again and again, hoping that the baggage team in the north could overcome many difficulties to transport the grain baggage here.

As for the rhetoric of capturing Wincheston Manor in one fell swoop, no one mentioned it again, and they could only hope that the baggage team would come to replenish the supplies, and then surround it for ten days and half a month to give an explanation to the superiors before withdrawing their troops......

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

Fifteen miles north of the county town of Tiniez, the corpses of the cavalry raid a few days earlier had been collected and buried by the Western Army, but the dried blood stains on the ground had been washed into bloody mud by the rain for days.

Hundreds of common farmers from nearby villages, attracted by the "high" salary of one fennig a day, carried iron hoes, shovels, ploughing oxen and horses, and heavy ploughs to carry out their best work - digging soil.

Centered on the North-South Expressway, the surrounding half a mile has been covered with deep pits and large holes, and many ravines of different depths have been dug into the farmland, and even the farmland wasteland farther away from the road has been artificially blocked......

On the top of a boulder beside the road, Lei Doan, who had just returned, was beside Angus, looking at the farm tools and hoes that the farmers kept waving, and couldn't help but say: "Lord Angus, this is the first time I have seen a war with a hoe and a plow, and now I have a lot of experience."

"It's a common occurrence for us. Your Excellency once said that it is not too much to deal with the enemy's schemes, no matter how sinister. ”

"Give orders to the soldiers who are guarding around you, keep my eyes open, we can send men to attack their baggage, and they may also attack our farmers."

Redogan was ordered to jump off the boulder and run to his men who were on guard around the "construction site......

Art didn't know the strength of the Western Frontier Army, so when he sent the army north to face the battle, he transferred the newly returned Lei Doan and his "warriors" to the North for backup.

No, Angus brought this group with him when he was ordered to take charge of the northern blockade.

Stanley's task force and Lusignan's cavalry were tasked with sneaking up on the baggage caravan, while Angus was personally responsible for digging traps and potholes in the way of the baggage caravan to stop their southward progress.

There have been two such interceptions, but this one was the most pompous, as Angus not only got all of Redogan's men back to their old jobs, but also paid for many farmers from nearby villages to help dig traps and obstacles.

For the roadblocks dug today, it was impossible for the baggage team to fill them in a day's time, and besides, it was impossible for the cavalry and task force to let them fill the hole with peace of mind......

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

In the wasteland beside the road on the north side of Wincheston Manor, there was a bleak makeshift camp made of dead weeds and rag blankets.

The sky was rainy, the feet were stepping on the mud, the damp firewood was not easy to burn, and it took a long time to make a choking smoke.

The soldier who lit the fire choked on the smoke and coughed, and his eyes were blood-red, "tmD I've had enough!" If you soak it again, it will turn into mud, so you might as well rush up and die under the wall! ”

The soldier kicked away the smoke of the firewood, and the only spark was extinguished by the muddy water on the ground. Squatting beside the fire were a few Western soldiers with rags and felt blankets washed away by the rain, they rolled their eyelids and glanced at this guy who was out of control, and then lowered their heads and continued to recuperate.

They had not been fed or drunk for days, and they were cold and hungry and did not want to lose their temper and expend their physical strength like this fool.

The rest of the people in the camp are no better, except for Viscount Sauron's personal guards and knight officers who can barely eat enough in the past few days, the rest of the soldiers can only eat a meal of thin soup and wheat cereal every day, and they don't dare to loot around without food in their stomachs, so everyone naturally has no motivation, just find a place that can barely shelter from the wind and rain and hide.

Frustration spreads day by day, and an atmosphere of unease hangs over the makeshift camp.

As the commander of the Western Army, Viscount Sauron, who was already aware of the imminent mutiny of the soldiers, he once again convened the officers to discuss countermeasures.

"Albon, you are the lieutenant of the legion, tell me what you think." Sauron asked the baron leader, who was sitting beside him with his head bowed, to suggest a countermeasure.

The baron of the leading soldier bowed his head and replied slowly, "My lord, we are now mired in the quagmire, and we may be annihilated if we move a little. I think we should pull out the foot that was stuck in. ”

The adjutant put it mildly, he meant that the Western Army was in a desperate situation and it was time to escape from this trap.

A man who looked like a knight took over the topic and said, "Now that we have stepped into the quagmire, how can it be so easy to get out, if we are not careful, the wild dogs in Lane Manor will rush out and bite us." ”

"Why don't we ~make peace with Baron Art~?" The lead knight asked tentatively.

"No way!" The commander Viscount Sauron and the commanding lieutenant Albon rebuffed in unison.

Albon and Sauron glanced at each other and said, "We must not make peace with Art, it doesn't matter if we can win this battle or not, but if we make peace with our opponent in private, Count Bernard will definitely not let us go in the future."

"Adjutant, do we have to find a way? My soldiers are on the verge of collapse, and if I hadn't tried my best to suppress them, I'm afraid they would have mutinied. The knight was so anxious that his eyes were about to bulge.

The other officers at all levels in the military tent also nodded yes and discussed one after another.

Sauron's head was so big that he had scolded the mongrel who had given Count Bernard advice to the Western army to raid Tignez ten thousand times. If it weren't for the rotten attention of the earl's advisors, who thought they were proficient in military strategy, he would not have led an elite western army to tremble like a wild dog in the rainy mud of the southeastern mountains.

Taking a long breath, Sauron eased the anger in his heart, "Give me peace!" ”

The chatter and bitterness in the military tent slowly stopped.

"Herald! Secretly packed up the camp, set up camp in the middle of the night, and went straight to the north to join the baggage team! ”