In the hall of the Inner Fort in Fort Marssy, the morning light shines through a small window on the stone walls that have recently been blackened by smoke and fire. A group of high-ranking officers of the Welsh Legion sat around the long table that had been burned out of large gaps, and Otto, who was standing on the left side of the wooden table, rubbed his bloodshot eyes and continued with great strength: "Ladies and gentlemen, we still have to rely on the dangerous place of Fort Marsey to defend against the enemy. The baggage team has already counted all the grain and grass materials in the city, which can last at least a month and a half according to the calculation of the most tragic battle and the greatest consumption. But we had to use Fort Marcy as a stronghold, so it was clear that the little food and grass in the fort was not enough. Therefore, yesterday evening I have sent a baggage team to the surrounding villages to collect grain and grass before the enemy soldiers have yet to press the border. Otto blinked and continued, "But the area around Fort Marci has been looted by the enemy many times, and the Lord has strictly ordered that we cannot be forced to levy as we did when fighting in enemy territory, so we cannot hold on for a long time according to the danger, so we use the fortified city as a stronghold, and passive defense and active attack are the key to this offensive and defensive battle of Fort Marcie."

Odo looked around at everyone and said, "Everyone, this is the combat plan studied by the Chinese army, let's talk about your opinions, and let's discuss how to fight the next few tough battles."

As everyone exchanged their heads, Dennis, dressed in a squire's regular costume and with a short sword at his waist, stood up, "Lord Odo, can I say a few words?" ”

Otto glanced at Dennis. This guy is the ideological and political officer of the Wells Legion, and he will usually play tricks to encourage the soldiers to charge into battle, or praise how brave and clever the legion chief is, and everyone here sincerely admires Yat, but no one has the almost shameless praise of Dennis.

In an army that is mighty by force, it is difficult for such a person to gain the respect of the officers.

However, Odo is the deputy commander of the legion after all, and since Art has made every effort to promote this ideological and political officer, he is not easy to be biased, "Of course," Odo responded, "Dennis, you are the political officer of the legion appointed by the adults, and you can be regarded as a high-ranking officer, and you can talk about any ideas in the military council." ”

Dennis was affirmed, and with a happy brow, he took out a note from his waist and unfolded it, and his face was full of dense text symbols.

Wei Yu, who was next to Dennis, glanced at the note, his face full of disdain.

Dunnis didn't care about any of this, he was definitely a bachelor's wise man in front of this group of rude officers, and he considered it his greatest strength.

"Ahem," Dennis cleared his throat, "Lord Odo, sir, I have nine suggestions for this siege of Fort Marci and the fierce battle that is coming. "Dennis began to speak, the kind of long speech.

"The first point, the question of morale"

"In addition, I would like to add two points to the first point"

While the officers at the long table in the hall were discussing battle strategies, at an official table in the side hall where half of the leg had been cut off with a broad axe, Art was holding a thin quill pen dipped in ink and writing densely on a narrow strip of paper.

Thanks to the long-term military council system, the "general staff" of the Welsh regiment has now begun to take shape, and the officers led by Odogangus and Kazak have become the part-time staff officers of Arte, who are both the executors and planners of the battle.

Normally, the Chinese command camp would be convened by Otto or Angus and Kazak to discuss a feasible battle plan, and then submit the plan in written form to Yate for review and execution.

On the one hand, this staff system can share the pressure for Art, allowing him to spend more time thinking about the future direction of the Wells Legion and the future direction of the Bowes Civil War, and on the other hand, it can also make every military decision as feasible as possible after considering multiple parties, so as to win the battle while reducing the battle loss rate of the Wells Legion as much as possible. At present, the scale of the Wells Legion is not large, and according to the current development trend of the Wells Legion, it will definitely expand step by step in the future, so this staff system evolved from the military council system will play a more important role.

The dense text symbols had filled the note, and Art inserted the quill back into the inkwell, blew on the undried ink stains, and let out a long breath. Then he picked up the brass bell of the table and shook it, and Art's guards heard the bell and pushed the door open and walked in.

"Your Excellency?" The guard cupped his fist with one hand and bowed down to Art.

Art rolled the note in a circle, stuffed it into a small round wooden cylinder, and handed it to the guards, "You give this letter to Bob and let him send it back to the valley with the flying pigeons we brought out." ”

The soldier took the wooden tube, a little embarrassed, "My lord, Lord Bob said that the carrier pigeons we brought out of the valley have just been trained, and I am afraid that they are not safe enough to transmit military information." If there is an emergency, let me rush back to the valley to pass it. ”

Art waved his hand, "No, this letter is just a letter I wrote to Madame and Cooper and their home, and there is no military information. ”

"Besides, those pigeons have been trained at a great cost to us, and if we can't even fly back this little distance, then we can just cut the stewed pigeon soup. We can also use this pigeon to train and test these pigeons, and they will be of great use when it comes to the crisis. ”

"The cost of training and raising each of these carrier pigeons is almost faster than that of the infantry, and stewing pigeon soup is really luxurious." The pro-soldier said with a smile.

"Go ahead and tell Bob that he must take care of the pigeons, especially the two sent by the Midsummer Legion."

The guards turned to leave, Art rubbed his fingers and prepared to pour himself a glass of wine, and just as he was about to pick up the wooden glass, Matthew, the captain of the guard squad and herald, pushed open the side hall door.

"My lord, Chief Stanley is back, and some of them are injured." Matthew has not yet arrived.

Art put down his glass, "The attack on the enemy camp failed?" ”

"No, no," Matthew hastened to explain, "they have successfully attacked the enemy camp, burning all the enemy's food and hay, and the wounded soldiers were cut by the enemy soldiers as they evacuated. No one was killed, though. ”

"Chief Stanley, after they successfully attacked the camp, they pretended to evacuate, and then sent people to quietly return to monitor the enemy camp in the middle of the way. It is said that the enemy tried desperately to extinguish the fire, but finally saved half of the grain and grass baggage. It was not until the early hours of this morning that the army began to camp again, apparently preparing to rush towards Fort Marsey. ”

Just as Matthew was reporting to Art about the enemy's movements in the south, Colin, the captain of the second company, who was responsible for establishing an outpost defense northwest of Marsieburg, hurried back to the city with his horse amid the sound of horses' hooves. Because in the early hours of this morning, the enemy outpost south of the city of Kodor had reached the outer line of the Wells Legion. There have been sporadic fighting between small groups of troops on both sides......

…………

The western trade route of the country runs from the south of Kodor to Fort Marsiburg, which runs north and south of Kodor......

Before the battle for the successor began, the trade route was full of merchant carriages and accompanying merchant escorts and merchant travelers from all over the country to the north and south.

At this time, the trade road that winds through the mountainous and hilly terrain of eastern Kodor from a slightly higher place, all the way to the south, miles of mud and gravel paved with gravel has been trampled under the feet of the iron hooves of the mile-long army of northern Kodor that is slowly marching in the direction of Fort Marsey, raising a cloud of dust flying in the sky.

"You bastards, you run faster than anyone else when you eat, how can you be like a pig now. Hurry up and follow me, if it spoils the Earl's business, I think you have enough heads to cut off." As he spoke, he kicked the ass of a soldier beside him, accompanied by a burst of angry scolding from the greasy mouth. The Kodor soldier in brown linen fell to the ground with a stumble. Seeing the commander's hideous facial expression, the Kodor soldiers didn't care about the pain, quickly got up and ran into the team, and continued to move with the large army......

This was the baggage of the southern encirclement of the northern army of the Welsh Corps, which had occupied Fort Marsi, in the south of the province of Kodor. According to the order of the command camp of the central army in the city of Kodor, the army of Kodor went south was divided into outpost troops, cavalry teams (divided into heavy cavalry and light armored cavalry), bow and crossbow teams, heavy armored infantry, light armored infantry, and baggage teams (including doctors, carpenters, craftsmen, etc.) and various miscellaneous servants who transported grain and grass and made siege equipment for the army, totaling more than 1,200 people, including more than 20 people in the Chinese army's command camp guards, and more than 300 light and heavy cavalry alone. The outposts had already engaged in a number of sporadic battles with the Welsh legion's soldiers who had gone to the northern outposts, with both dead and wounded.

At the end of the line was the baggage team led by a knight and two probationary knights.

According to the order of the Chinese army commanding the camp, the southbound army marched at a distance of half a mile between the various divisions, and this 1,200-strong march was several miles long in the mountains and hills.

Although the province of Kodor is not a strong military province, except for the hilly areas in the southeast, the territory of the province of Kodor is mostly a large number of fertile farmland, and there is no second place in the whole country that can have hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile land except for the Saône province under the jurisdiction of Bernard.

Coupled with the important trade routes in the western part of the country, the richness of the province of Kodor can be imagined.

Since receiving an order from the court of the province of Thorn asking the province of Kodor to send troops to surround and annihilate the rebels who have penetrated deep into the Forte of Kodor, the Count of Kodor has ordered the lords of the entire province of Kodor to recruit troops to prepare for war, and go south to exterminate the wolves, tigers and leopards that have begun to bite their bones......

With the huge taxes paid by the peasants and caravans in his own territory when they passed through the western trade routes, even though the province of Kodor had sent a large number of soldiers to the north to assist Bernard in his resistance to Flanders in the Eastern Mirror, the Count of Kodor still gathered a thousand-strong army in his territory, including many mercenaries who joined because of the shiny gold coins.

There is no shortage of well-equipped professional soldiers and officers in the Kodor Legion, these people belong to the private soldiers of the lords in various places, and their combat effectiveness should not be underestimated. There are also a considerable number of professional mercenaries, these people are guys who take money and sell their lives, living a life of licking blood from the knife edge. As the saying goes, when the cannon goes off, there are ten thousand taels of gold. Wherever there is war, there is the shadow of these mercenaries.

Except for a few elite soldiers, the Kodor Legion can be described as a mixed bag. From a child as young as fourteen or fifteen years old to a gray-haired old man over fifty, everyone who could move was drafted into the army. Some peasants who had eaten a meal yesterday were still working in the fields with farm tools turned into one of the members of the crusade against the rebels in the south with a scythe in hand.

Perhaps the Kodorians naively thought that with such a large army, even a roar would scare the southern barbarians into peeing their pants.

Not far behind the Kodor army was a group of vendors selling merchandise. Wherever the great armies are encamped, they are sold. Among them are the low-quality beer and all kinds of fruit bread that the soldiers like. There were even scantily clad street women who mingled with the thirsty Kodor soldiers in the bushes to earn a few meals.

For several days, these men followed the Kodor soldiers. It was not until about two days or so from Willsburg that the men were finally driven away by the guards to prevent them from infiltrating the spies of the Welsh Legion.

…………

The stone steps leading north and south of Fort Marsey led to the tower, and the Welsh legionnaires who ran down to carry boulders, rolling logs, and fire oil were busy......

Since the Chinese army commanded the camp to hold the city defense, a group of officers led their soldiers to carry boulders and fire oil and other materials to the city wall. In less than half a day's effort, the corners of the walls of the south and north gates of the important Marsy Fort were already filled with large and small stones and pots of fire oil. These things are about to harvest the lives of the Kodor soldiers in the next battle of Fort Marsey......

Standing on the walls of the northern city, Art held the knight's sword at his waist in his right hand, his fingers rubbing the hollow cross of the hilt. As the sun sets, Art's left face is red from the setting sun, and his skin is stained with sweat. Art didn't notice that the sweat stains on his face had gathered into golden liquid, dripping onto the shoulders of the long-sleeved chain mail that glistened in the setting sun......

"My lord, the sergeant major said that I have something important to discuss with you."

Art's thoughts were pulled back by Ron, who trotted all the way from under the walls.

"Well, Ron, what do you say?"

Ron wiped the sweat from his forehead and said again, "The sergeant major said that he had something important to discuss with you, and he is waiting for you in the lord's hall, as if there is an important military information from the north. ”

Art glanced to the north, then strode with Ron towards the Hall of Lords......

…………

The Battle of Fort Marsey is about to begin......