The sun was gradually setting, the forest was plunged into darkness, and there was a wolf howling in the distance, this is a lone wolf in the dark night in winter, hungry looking for food to fill his stomach, of course, this huge team of more than 6,000 people in front of him is not something it can provoke.

The Earl of Consville, who was dragging his aging body in the warm carriage at this time, poked his head out of the window and asked the people next to the carriage: "Rusmu, how long is it before we can reach Sutton, we must go to Sutton before the enemy's reinforcements arrive, and assist Viscount Lausas in his defense!" ”

It seems that he did not yet know the news of the frustration of the attack of the Viscount of Lausas, and was still thinking of relying on the town of Sutton to confront the Count of Loire.

In fact, it has to be said that his attention is quite good, and in a hurry, it is impossible for the Count of Loire to muster enough troops to defend Sutton, if it were not for the proximity of Baron Byer, and William's idea of marching with a climbing plow, his plan would have deliberately succeeded.

"That's right, Lord Earl, we are about three or four days away from Sutton, for we must rest at once, and the soldiers and knights, and the horses, are already hungry and tired, and if they don't get a good rest, I'm afraid they'll have to protest." Said his clerk, Rusmu.

"Alright, let the soldiers start camping, the previous sentry hasn't returned yet! Before we come back, send a few more sentries and ask Viscount Lausas to prepare some food first, we may not have enough food!" Censville said to Reciprocal Rusmu.

"Yes, my lord, I'll do it right away!" Rusmu agreed, then kicked the horse's belly and told the heralds to inform the whole army.

The tent had been set up, and the Earl of Censville had the clerk of Rusmu to gather his vassals, and the old earl had to advise him on some matters that followed.

"Lord Earl! The knights, their servants, and their horses are already very tired! Let's rest and march again tomorrow morning! On the other side, Viscount Cowen appeared beside the Count and said to him.

There are nearly five hundred people in the team, and there are only more than two hundred knights and nearly three hundred, and the others are all servants with or without war horses, of course, most of the servants have war horses, after all, after fighting with the Chekels, they get so many war horses at one time, plus William often sells some war horses at a low price in Denlenburg, so most of the servants have war horses, and the knights have more horses, and each knight has one or two horses.

War horses can't run all the time, which will definitely lose their strength, which will cause the precious war horses to become waste horses, so in fact, although they say that they are marching at a high speed, in fact, the war horses are just trotting in the snow, and sometimes they will even become walking, and riding horses to relieve the pressure and fatigue of the war horses.

The Earl controlled the war horse to stop at trot and began to consider what Viscount Curvin said, in fact, this did not rule out the possibility that Viscount Curvin wanted to frame William and make the knights march more slowly.

But the Count had to admit that Viscount Cowen was right, that the knights were already tired from noon to evening, and that rest was necessary.

"Alright! Another hour of marching, and an hour later encamping and resting! ”

Viscount Cowen seemed to want to say something, but he didn't say anything, and even if this situation delayed a little, it didn't really make much sense.

An hour later, the knights set up their tents and burned gas bonfires, while the servants kept vigil in batches to keep the camp safe.

After three days, William's wounds had healed a lot, and many soldiers between minor and serious injuries had also become minor injuries, and the nearly a hundred Manders infantry who were able to fight were undergoing some proficiency training every day, and the reason for the lack of physical training was that William was afraid that the enemy's reinforcements would suddenly appear, and the soldiers were tired from physical training and had no physical strength to defend the city, which was unimaginable, so their training was quite easy.

Of course, it was only the Menders infantry who were trained, and he was not qualified to command the soldiers under Baron Byer, but under the influence of William, Baron Byer also began to train his armed infantry all day long.

This also made his soldiers complain all day long, but their combat effectiveness began to slowly improve.

While William was sitting in his chair and urging the soldiers to train, a soldier guarding the city wall walked up to William and reported to him.

"What? A brigade of cavalry appeared outside the city? The enemy's troops were also withdrawn? William asked in surprise, "Are there any other troops besides the cavalry?" For example, infantry. ”

"There are no adults, they are all cavalrymen, oh no, they should be knights, because they are all wearing their own family crests, and the first one is a black lion banner with a red background with a shield!" The soldier reported.

"Red with a shield, black lion...... Isn't this the coat of arms of the count? Earl is so fast? Or is it only the knight who has arrived? William walked to the wall with a stomach full of questions, intending to find out.

In the face of these more than 400 people, the obviously hostile armed forces, the enemy outside the castle withdrew as early as before the knights arrived, because they were afraid that these more than 400 people would be like chopping melons and vegetables.

"Sure enough, it's the Earl!" William spoke, and Baron Bair appeared beside him.

"Open the gates! Let the Earl come in! William ordered, and the mechanism on the city wall that controlled the gate began to operate, the gate was pulled up, and the gate was slowly opened with a muffled sound.

"Welcome, Lord Count!" William and Baron Bair, with a few retinues and some knights, appeared at the city gate to greet the earl.

"But why did you arrive so early, Lord Earl? And, with only nobles and knights? William asked.

"Hehe, you don't know yet, the Earl of Surveysville set off early, he deceived our intelligence officers to send troops in advance, wanting to consolidate the fortifications after the capture of Sutton, but he didn't expect his tricks to be seen through by me!" The Count explained to the two of them, a look of pride on his face.

I see, William nodded, no wonder the enemy outside the city was expanding the camp, it turned out to be prepared for the arrival of reinforcements!

In this way, all the actions of the enemy are clearly explained, and when they see the arrival of the knight, they flee in a hurry, fearing that they will be destroyed.

"This time our troops are no less than the enemy, they brought more than six thousand, and I also have more than six thousand people here, so as long as we don't make big mistakes, we will at least have a draw, don't worry!" Speaking of the strength of the two sides, the earl was afraid that the people below would be afraid, so he spoke.

Under William's arrangement, the knights have found their own places, of course, there will be no serious single rest rooms, they are all row rooms or barracks, and only nobles have the treatment of separate rooms.

Sure enough, after nightfall, the enemy soldiers reappeared below the castle, and after a tentative attack, they knew that their plan had failed, and all that was left was to make an appointment, and such a surprise attack was useless.

The small castle guarded by three or four hundred knights was simply a piece of steel, which could not be gnawed, and even if it was sharpened with troops, it would take several days, and then the enemy's large army would have arrived, and the army would never be able to defeat the other party, so at this time the only choice for the Earl of Consville was to wait for the battle.

They came to play a step, and just this move made them one step away from victory.