It was the middle of May, and in the midst of the constant friction between the Artes and the Lombards, a secret letter was sent by a pigeon from Besançon in the Northlands to the valley. The messenger was not Flender, Marquis of Burgundy, but Galvin, Arter's father-in-law, the court's chancellor of the exchequer.

In the Earl's Office on the first floor of the Lord's Hall, Art, who was sitting on a large leather chair, slowly opened the secret letter that Ron had just sent~

"Bernard, his former son Robert and his mother were raided in a dense forest after entering the Duchy of Lombardy, and all their belongings were plundered, and none of the three were spared......"

This is the core content of the secret letter, and the rest of the text is Galvin telling Art not to leak the secret. So far, apart from Flender's henchmen in the Midsummer Legion, only Galvin knows about this shocking news.

"Lord Marquis has finally done something to Bernard~" Art sighed lightly.

Flender had previously hinted to Art that he would look for an opportunity to get rid of the likes of Bernard and Robert as soon as the time was right. If he kept them, Flender would never feel at ease on the Iron Throne. Art knew in his heart that sooner or later Bernard and the others would die. It's just that the news came a little suddenly.

Art got up and moved his muscles, then took the wine and moistened his throat. Then he walked back and forth in the office.

Although the news would come sooner or later, it came so quickly that Art was a little overwhelmed. On the one hand, Bernard, who had almost killed himself several times, has been eliminated and no longer poses any threat to Art, so it stands to reason that he should relax. But there was a trace of worry in Art's heart, and he was not happy at all.

Since Flender got rid of Bernard and the others, it must have been carefully thought out and carefully arranged. However, Bernard was previously powerful and inextricably linked with many aristocratic merchants. Now that he is dead, it will inevitably cause an uproar again. This was not a good thing for the recovering Princedom of Burgundy. Moreover, Lombardy and Swabia were eyeing the princely state of Burgundy, which added more instability to the princely state of Burgundy, which was already a two-sided enemy.

Now that the matter has come to this, there is nothing Yat can do to change. The most important thing at the moment is to seize the opportunity to build a territory, and once everything is on the right track, it will be the time for Art to carve out a world of its own.

On the day after Art received the secret letter, the Duke of Lombardy, far to the south, was furious when he heard a news that deeply disturbed him~

…………

“…… Disgrace! It's a shame! That bastard sent all the soldiers to the border, only to find out, and even let him build a fortress in just ten days~" The Duke of Lombardy pointed to the nose of the officer who came to report the matter in the inner court office, and scolded loudly, his face was blue because of the incompetence of his subordinates, and his body trembled uncontrollably.

"Your Majesty, we are all following your orders, and if the soldiers who went to the north of the valley to check do not hear from them within ten days, we will send troops to find out the situation. By the time our soldiers approached the valley mouth, they had blocked the only road into the valley~"

Syllable~

The Duke of Lombardy raised his right hand and swung it vigorously at the officer, and the sound of slapping flesh echoed in the office.

"Lord Earl, spare your life~" The officer quickly fell to his knees with a thud, and kept turning his head and begging for mercy.

"Why did I raise you pieces of waste in my army! Come on, pull this incompetent bastard out and cut it down for me! "The Duke of Lombardy finally relented this time, and decided to make an example of the monkey, and wanted to use the unlucky officer in front of him to suppress military law.

Immediately, several guards with swords walked in outside the door, and dragged the officer, who was still kneeling on the ground and begging for mercy, to be dragged out.

"Lord Duke, spare your life~" The officer's desperate shout gradually disappeared outside the gate.

A moment later, the Lombard Prime Minister walked in slowly, guided by the guards.

Looking at the Duke of Lombardy, who was facing away from the gate, looking at the simple map made of sheepskin on the wall, the Prime Minister of the court stopped at the door and waved the guards away softly.

It was a long time before the Duke of Lombardy turned around.

"When did Lord Gong Xiang stand here, why didn't there be any movement at all?" The anger on the Duke of Lombardy's face was still there, his expression was still serious, and his brows were slightly furrowed.

"Frightened the Duke," said the Prime Minister apologetically, "I see that the Duke is so obsessed with the map on the wall that he dare not disturb you. ”

The Duke of Lombardy sighed, stretched out his hand and motioned for the Prime Minister of the court to sit down and speak, and walked to the edge of his chair and sat down. Then the guards brought in two glasses of wine.

After taking a sip of his drink, the Duke of Lombardy told the purpose of the court's prime minister's call. "There is only one thing that calls you today." The Duke of Lombardy turned his head to look at the map on the wall, "According to the spies, the Earl of Wales has taken the only entrance to the south of the valley near Lombardy, and has built a strong outpost in just a dozen days. He's sticking a knife in my eye! The Duke of Lombardy's emotions began to get agitated again.

"What?" The Prime Minister hurriedly put down his glass. "So, Lord Duke, that guy has already put his hand on our territory first?" The Prime Minister of the palace was in disbelief.

"Hmm~" The Duke of Lombardy nodded helplessly.

"In this case, that guy must be not small." The Prime Minister of the palace touched his chin and beard, thinking in his heart the true purpose of the Southern Earl.

"Could it be that little bastard still wants to annex my Lombard land!"

"Lord Duke, now that he has come to our doorstep to spread wilderness, he must have a lot of plans. We have to guard against it~"

"So what should we do now, in your opinion?"

The Prime Minister of the palace got up from his seat, walked up to the Duke of Lombardy, bowed his head, and said, "Lord Duke, in order to avoid long nights, we must uproot the fortress he built on the border of Lombardy before that guy in the north has a firm foothold. And take the opportunity to advance all the way to the north of the valley......"

The next morning, the Duke of Lombardy summoned his court officials together to discuss how to drive Ate, Count of Wales, out of the valley and then north, beginning to annex the territory of the Princedom of Burgundy.

Increasing the territory of one's own country is the lifelong pursuit of every ambitious ruler. The Duke of Lombardy, though ambitious, lacked knowledge of the opponent he was dealing with for the first time. By the time he decided to pull out the nail close to the Lombard territory, he was already doomed to nothing......

…………

As the Lombard army began to move, the task force embedded in the city informed Oliver in Sorrenburg of the news. Subsequently, a secret letter was sent back to the valley from Lombardy~

In Art's study on the second floor of the wooden castle, after learning that the Lombard army was being mobilized and assembled, Art flew a pigeon that night to inform the company commander Colin and others who were defending far south of the valley.

Art's command had three points. The first is to take advantage of the arrival of the Lombard army at the southernmost fortress, further strengthen and raise the fortress, and prepare accordingly to defend against the enemy. The second is to send some men out of the valley to monitor the whereabouts of the Lombards, and immediately notify the garrison once the Lombard army is attacking. The third is to send most of the soldiers in the camps near the basin to the front line, and only a small number of men and horses can be stationed at the outposts and camps.

Just in case, Art ordered the remaining men and horses of the Wells Legion to be ready to go out and support the front-line soldiers on the south side of the valley at any time.

“…… My lord, there are only two hundred men in the valley to the south, can they withstand the army of the Lombards? After handing over the letter to Bob, Ron asked suddenly when he returned to Art's study.

Art used a quill pen to read the official documents on the paper, and from time to time the crumple paper was laid out. A moment later, Art signed his name at the end and was about to pick up the fire paint and pour it on the paper.

"Master~" Ron had already handed over the fire paint.

Boom~

With the sound of the seal falling on the paper, the seal of the earl of Wales remained on top of the solidified fire paint.

Art blew on the ink that had not dried, and placed the paper in the drawer under his right.

"What did you just ask me?" Art spoke suddenly.

"Sir, I mean to say that our two forts on the south side of the valley have only about two hundred men in total, and if the Lombards attack, how can they resist them?"

"Pour me a glass of wine first." Art said unhurriedly.

"Master~" Ron handed the wine glass to Art in both hands.

With a snorting sound, Art drank it all.

"You said that would only happen when both sides attacked and defended a city. If you think about it, both of our forts are built on the mouth of a gorge that can only accommodate a horse-drawn carriage. Even if the enemy wants to build a siege ladder, you can build up to one at a time. Moreover, the terrain in the gorge was narrow, and the army could not be deployed at all. As long as our men are in danger against the enemy, no amount of Lombards will help. ”

Ron touched the back of his head and thought for a moment, and said, "No wonder you didn't panic at all, master, you already knew that the Lombards would not be able to break through our fortress~"

Art chuckled lightly and didn't speak.

…………

At the end of May, a Lombard army of 500 men marched out of Milan. Ten days later, the Lombard army was constantly harassed by small groups of troops on their way to the valley mouth.

In order to interfere with the speed of the Lombard army's advance, Colin deliberately sent a squad of about ten people out of the valley, using shrubs, weeds and dense forests as a cover, constantly attacking the Lombard flank. The main purpose was to wait for an opportunity to burn the enemy's grain and grass. Since the northern part of Lombardy had not yet been cultivated and there were no trade routes for horse-drawn carriages, the transport of grain and grass was mainly carried by mules and horses, except for the part carried by the soldiers themselves. As soon as there was a lack of food and grass, the Lombard army would retreat on its own.

Despite this plan, the small force did not seize the opportunity to burn the food and grass of the Lombard army. The Lombard army guarded the grain and grass when it marched, and in addition to the cavalry escort, there were many elite infantry accompanying them. The cavalry had a good view of the surrounding situation. The raiding team made several attempts to get close to the grain and grass, but failed.

The Lombard army was different from the average second-rate army. This contingent of five hundred marched in an orderly manner, not in the slightest confusion like those peasant soldiers, and there was no order at all. Historically, the Lombards took pride in their strong armies, which is why in the wars between the Lombards and Provence over the years, the latter's territory was always captured.

On 5 June, the Lombard army finally reached a flat clearing south of the valley mouth. He then set up camp there and prepared siege equipment. In addition, some men and horses were sent to the vicinity of Taniguchi to check the defense of the garrison there.

Sou~

As a Lombard soldier approached a stone's throw outside the valley, a light arrow flew out from above the fort and landed right in front of the soldier.

"Raise your shield!" A leading Lombard soldier commanded in Lombard.

Immediately, the rest of the soldiers took out the shields on their backs and placed them in front of them, beware of the flying arrows.

"These bastards, they're quite fast~" Burry, who was hiding behind the battlement, muttered.

"Chief Colin, it looks like these guys are here to test our defenses." Hans glanced out of the wall, turned to Company Commander Colin.

"That's right! These Lombards are really not bad, not only are they quick to react, but the shields and swords in their hands are also good things. Colin was full of envy.

It is not surprising that compared to the armament of the Wells regiment, the Lombards were clearly a notch higher. As a military and economic power, the Lombards were adept at crafting weapons and armor from high-quality fine iron. The most prestigious is the complete set of Milanese plate armor. Both in terms of workmanship and performance, it is far from being comparable to ordinary armor. Art had previously ordered the Valle Arms Workshop to create a pair of Milanese plate armor, which was similar in quality to that produced by the Lombards, but more than twice as expensive and time-consuming. This shows that the strength of the Lombards is extraordinary.

As he spoke, several Lombard soldiers with shields had already leaned in.

"Chief Colin, they're here."

One of the soldiers observing through the hole reported.

Colin then glanced out, and the Lombard soldiers had gone from three people to two (the road narrower the closer you got to the valley).

"The people above prepare!"

In the blink of an eye, seven or eight soldiers above the fortress had already lifted the stones that had been prepared for a long time.

Seeing that the Lombard soldiers had appeared ten paces away, Colin immediately gave an order. "Smash me!"

Suddenly, seven or eight rocks flew out of the fortress and smashed into several Lombard soldiers who were raising their shields close to the outer walls, knocking over three unlucky fellows on the spot. Thanks to the shields for cover, the Lombard soldiers were not killed or wounded. After getting up from the ground, a counteroffensive was organized.

"Cover!" One of the leading Lombard soldiers said loudly in Lombard.

"What are they talking about?" Bury shouted as he looked out.

After a short time, the Lombard soldiers stabilized their positions and surrounded their shields in a semicircle, covering them with shields above their heads.

"Put!" With a Lombard voice, the shield covering it instantly opened, and an armor-piercing heavy arrow shot at the top of the fortress.

"Lord Bury, be careful!"