"Lord Earl, Sir Ron, they're back~" Outside the camp of Art, an excited guard shouted as he ran towards the camp. After hearing the news, the soldiers in the surrounding tents also opened the doors of the tents and walked out.

Art opened the curtain and walked out.

"Lord Earl~" The guard gasped as he said to Art, "Ron, Chief, they're back~"

"How's it going?" Art asked with concern.

"Except for one captive, the Lombards were wiped out!" The soldier said excitedly.

"Where are they?"

"We'll be at camp soon."

"Quick, take me to see it!" Art can't wait.

"Yes!"

As soon as Art and the others arrived at the valley mouth, Ron had already appeared in front of everyone with an ambush man.

"Sir!" Ron hurried forward when he saw Art, not bothering to wipe the blood off his face.

"How's it going?" Art asked.

"Master~" Ron stepped aside and motioned for Art to look behind him.

I saw the soldiers walking in the front with their heads held high in their hands, shouting slogans such as "victory".

Art nodded in satisfaction.

"Sir, we still have a captive. I wanted to kill him, but I figured it wouldn't be too late to bring him back for interrogation and then cut him down, maybe I could get some useful news out of his mouth. ”

Art turned his head to look at Ron and said, "You kid, your brain is spinning faster and faster." What about people? ”

"Bring it on!"

With Ron's order, two soldiers escorted the Lombard captive out from behind.

"Sir, it's him. This guy moves extremely fast, and if we hadn't sent someone to intercept him from behind, we wouldn't have been able to catch up with him. ”

"Phew! You shameless Burgundians are something, you only sneak up from behind, you are not real warriors! "The Lombard soldiers shouted insults in Lombard while struggling.

"Could it be that if you sneak in from the south, you are considered real warriors?"

"I~" The Lombard soldier was speechless, but his eyes were fixed on the Welsh Earl in front of him, who spoke fluent Lombard.

"Ron, take him down to good life first."

"Yes, sir."

"All of you go down and get some rest, thank you." Art turned to the other soldiers standing beside him.

"Lord Earl Xie."

…………

On the second day, Spencer's baggage team finally reached the garrison camp at the edge of the basin after a difficult journey. They were accompanied by the two hundred men of the garrison, as well as the craftsmen of the valley who had been recruited and the equipment needed to build the camp fortress.

Judging by the current situation, the Duke of Lombardy will not rest on his laurels. Art had to take the opportunity to gain a foothold in the south of the valley in order to have a basis for confronting the Lombards. If you want to garrison it for a long time, you must build permanent camps and fortresses against the enemy. This was one of the important reasons why the baggage team rushed to the south side of the valley.

According to Art's concept, most of the baggage troops arrived here first, and built a fortress camp against the Lombards based on the terrain of the valley mouth. In the event of a Lombard invasion, it will become the focal point of confrontation between the two sides. The area south of the basin serves as a buffer zone between the valley and Lombardy. However, in order to prevent the Lombards from completely blocking the exit from the valley to the south, a hundred soldiers and fifty crossbowmen who followed the Artes marched out of the southern part of the outpost until they reached the Lombard border in half a day. The majority of the baggage team followed, and built a strong fortress based on a narrow exit to the south.

The fort will serve as a nail in the arm for the Atte wedge in the northern border of Lombardy, as the southernmost outpost of the province of Wales in the valley.

A few days later, Art handed over the affairs of the south side of the valley to Colin and Hans, and he returned to the valley with his guards and most of the young mountain people, preparing for the later development of the south side of the valley.

…………

“…… Scott, how is the reclamation going? ”

"Back to my lord, everything is on track now, and we have reclaimed a lot of land along both sides of the trade road. However, since the spring ploughing has passed, a lot of land is idle there. Although there was no time to grow food, other seasonal crops did not fall. Scott spoke as he flipped the birch bark, glancing from time to time toward where Art had been seated.

On the first floor of the hall of the lord of the valley wooden castle, Art was discussing with various important officials of the government about the cultivation of various buildings.

"You are doing a good job, and the land that has been cultivated should be used flexibly, and you should not always think about growing food. Other crops that can be sown are planted first according to the principle of dividing and timing. This not only makes efficient use of the land, but also improves soil fertility. ”

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

"Now, I'll talk about the construction of the trade road." Art abruptly changed the subject. The dignitaries then sat up straight and listened.

"When I came back from the south side of the valley, I made a point to check on the construction of the trade road. The roadbed was well repaired, and the road was built exactly as originally required, fully accommodating three horse-drawn carriages passing in parallel. But at the current pace, it will take at least a year before the road is fully opened. It's a test for everybody. Art glanced around at everyone and continued, "Even so, the construction department still needs to hurry. Because the Lombards don't have much time left for us. ”

As soon as Art's voice fell, Cooper and the others looked at each other with gloomy expressions.

"Sir, what do you mean~" After a moment, Cooper asked.

"Let me tell you this, the Lombards have set their sights on the valley and are plotting to take it."

"What?"

"How is this possible?"

"What can I do?"

For a moment, the pots exploded on both sides of the table. Everyone was shocked by this sudden news.

"Everyone, be quiet!" Art said, holding up his hands. "Don't panic, everyone, this is just my speculation at the moment."

The crowd breathed a sigh of relief.

But that doesn't mean the Lombards won't come to the door. In view of this, we must take precautions as early as possible. ”

"Sir, just tell me what our construction department can do." Lawrence stood up from his seat and raised his voice.

"Lawrence, you sit down first." Art turned his head to look at Lawrence and continued: "I have sent the baggage team to the southernmost part of the valley, near the mouth of the valley half a day's journey from Lombardy, and ordered them to build a fortress on the basis of the valley to serve as the southernmost outpost of the entire valley. But time was of the essence, and the baggage team could only temporarily build a temporary fortress. Once the Lombard army invaded, the fortress could not be held for long. Therefore, while continuing to build the trade route, the Ministry of Construction sent a team of 500 people, plus a few craftsmen who were skilled in building houses, to go to the southern valley mouth with tools and corresponding supplies a few days later to assist the baggage team in building a strong fortress. Remember, it must be completed in the shortest possible time, I will only give you half a month. ”

Lawrence, who was sitting on the side, felt a little embarrassed and frowned. "My lord, I'm afraid it's a little difficult to build a fortress in half a month~"

Art suddenly turned grim and set his eyes on Lawrence.

"The future of the valley is at stake, and nothing can be taken lightly. In my opinion, half a month is enough. There are cliffs on both sides of the exit, so you only need to rely on the terrain to build a slightly simple fortress first, and solve the urgent need first. This will be further expanded and strengthened later. The men and horses of the baggage team have already begun to build, and the task of your 500 men is mainly to strengthen the fortress in the later stage, and the task is not too heavy. ”

"My lord, in that case, then I will return to the southern construction site tomorrow and gather a team of five hundred people to go south."

"Good. You tell them that once the mission is completed, I will pay them twice as much as before. In addition, the reclaimed land is allocated to them on a priority basis. ”

"Yes, sir."

The day after the meeting, Art hurriedly rode to the Beiguan Military Fort. The first was to check the training of the reserve regiment, and the second was to discuss the defense of the valley mouth in the south with Angus and other high-ranking officers. Once the Duke of Lombardy learned of Arte's intentions, he was bound to send a large army north to the valley to interfere with Att's plans. If it were someone else, no one would be allowed to stick a knife in their own door.

…………

"My lord, I'll go!"

"I'll go!"

"I'll go too!"

In the hall of the lord of the Beiguan Fort, a group of high-ranking officers rushed to the south of the valley to garrison themselves against a possible invasion by the Lombards.

This time, the guys were no longer as silent as they had been when they heard the news of the invasion of the Lombards.

These guys' careful thoughts, Art knows very well in his heart. First, because a reserve regiment of nearly 1,000 people has recently been added, and they are full of confidence. Moreover, everyone wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to accumulate military merits and strive for a promotion in their posts after the training of the reserve regiment.

After a few moments, Art said, "You all want to go, so who should I send?" Art pretended to be contemplative.

"Sergeant Major, who do you think would be better to send someone there?"

"This~" Angus felt at a loss, the Earl was obviously throwing the ball, wanting to throw this offending thing into his own hands. Looking at the expectant eyes of the officers, Angus was in a hurry. "My lord, you have always assigned tasks to them, and I don't have this authority. I think, it's better for you to decide~" Angus then lowered his head very low, deliberately avoiding Art's eyes.

"You~"

Towards the end of the military discussion, Art finalized the candidate. It was decided to send the deputy commander of the company, Bangda, to lead a hundred men to the southern valley to join Weez and others and garrison the valley mouth together.

After the crowd dispersed, Art and Angus went to the camp of the reserve regiment to inspect the training of the recruits.

The two walked down the aisle in the middle of the training ground, Ron and a few guards close behind.

Looking at the neat queue of recruits, Art nodded in satisfaction. I think that when I first trained Otto and Kazak and others, I had to repeat the training for more than ten days before I could barely satisfy myself. But now these recruits have become proficient in just a few days, which is not easy. This is mainly due to the current corps system and efficient training methods.

Prior to this, Yate specially ordered some instructors of the Military Academy to compile a training program for new recruits so that they could be trained in the future. The training syllabus is based on the military book and is compiled in combination with the daily training of officers and the actual situation on the battlefield.

With the standard training syllabus, the officers not only relaxed a lot, but also improved the effectiveness and progress of the training.

"Raise the shield~"

"Spike~"

……

On the training ground, the voices of officers and soldiers shouting were heard from time to time~

"Sergeant Major, this group of soldiers must step up their training. If the Lombards do attack, these people will be the only backup we can rely on. ”

"My lord, will the Lombards really attack the valley?" Angus was unusually worried.

Art glanced at Angus and moved on. "To be honest, I'm not sure if they're going to attack the valley. But one step ahead of them layout, it's always right. ”

Angus nodded, and then quickly caught up with Art's pace.

"By the way, I've brought back a lot of hunter-turned-mountain people from the south side of the valley this time, and you can form them into an independent team when the time comes. These people are good at hunting and hunting in the mountains, and you train on that. I'll have something else to use when the time comes. ”

"Hunter?" Angus was puzzled.

"That's right, these guys are very skilled, and they're all Lombards. If you train well, I'll have another use when the time comes. ”

Angus didn't ask any more questions, and said, "Don't worry, my lord, I will arrange it."

In the afternoon, Art hurried back to the valley with his guards to deal with the official documents left behind in recent days.

In the evening of the same day, one made Wade. The news of Burley's great annoyance reached his ears.

…………

"What? That bastard is alive! ”

Wade. In the hall of Burley's mansion, after learning that his men had failed to assassinate Art, and had their heads cut off and hung on the gate of the outpost, Walder. Burley was so anxious that he stomped his feet. Frightened, the knights of the Inner Palace, who rushed to report the situation, kept retreating.

"Lord Earl is angry~"

"Say, have you found out? If you dare to lie to me, I'll cut off the heads of you bastards right away! ”

Puff~

The knight of the inner house hurriedly knelt down, sobbing and begging for mercy. "Lord Earl, the two heads hanging from the door are indeed our men. And the soldier also said~ and said that the two were personally ordered by Art to be killed. ”

Wade. Burley clenched his fingers and gritted his teeth.

"Why is this bastard's life so big! I didn't kill him ten years ago, but I didn't expect him to escape death three times and twice ten years later. Waldbury muttered as he pondered how to continue dealing with Art.

Now the best opportunity to assassinate Art has been missed, and the only way to do so is with the help of the Duke of Lombardy. Now that guy's strength cannot be underestimated, and he can't eradicate it with his own strength alone. Only by waiting for the opportunity to provoke a war between the two countries and solving Yat with the help of the Duke of Lombardy can we prevent future troubles.

"It's time to add fuel to the fire to the Duke!" Wade. Burley thought silently in his heart.