At 9 p.m. on 29 September, a ghostly cavalry contingent quietly left the huge square inside Carlisle Castle. Pass through the two gates at the base of the watchtower, located in the middle of the southern wall, and come onto the town road outside the castle. Swiftly northeast, crossing the Eden River and the defensive line to the northeast of the town, the horses galloped like arrows toward the village of Rockcliffe, less than six miles north of the town.

As the party reached the village of Rockcliffe on the banks of the Eden, Isabel Walton, the commander of the cavalry squad at the front, found that large tracts of arable land had been artificially abandoned. As for the cause of the desolation, it is naturally related to the imminent Anglo-Soviet war.

The cavalry squad silently entered the dead village. However, they soon discovered that the village seemed to be shrouded in endless darkness, with no light to guide them in the darkness of the night. Although everyone knows that this is a border village in England, the whole village has an inexplicable sense of weirdness.

"Where have all the people here?" Alfred Walton, the squire riding down the road, struggled to control his heartbeat, and whispered a question to the jazz beside him.

"There's going to be war here. If you were a farmer who lived here, would you still dare to live under the nose of the highlanders? Sir Alex Ferguson, wearing a helmet and his face protected by a visor, said coldly.

At this moment, Sir Ernest, who was walking in front of the line, stretched out his arm and pointed to a glowing spire building in front of him, "Isabel, let's go from that side, there is a road to the left of that Catholic church. ”

Isabel under the silver humanoid mask stared at the spire of the church, "Well, let the others follow, don't be left behind." ”

Guided by Ernest, the cavalry squad passed by a local Catholic church in Rockleaf and left the cemetery-like village. Then, in the darkness of the night, they came to the clearing, which flowed from west to east on the south bank of the Eske River, which flowed inland from west to east.

"Isabel, we're about two miles from here and we're about to reach the Anglo-Soviet border. There is a river called the Sark River, and on the other side of the river is the village of the highlanders Gretnaglin. Sir Ernest, who was on horseback, pointed to the path across the Eske River to Isabel through his visor.

"I see, Sir." Isabel looked at the river Eske in front of her from left to right, and her mind showed the terrain as depicted on the simple military map of the castle guard.

After a moment's thought, he turned his head and glanced at Sir again, "If there is an army of Highlanders in the village of Gretnagreen, do you think we should walk quietly under the highlanders' noses, or should we get rid of all the highlanders in the village first?" ”

Ernest thought about it and looked at her, and said an ambiguous solution, "Go directly through the village to Dumfries, and on the way back, you will probably disturb the army in the village." If we kill some of the highlander knights and sergeants now, I am afraid that there will be a lot of delay. ”

"Well, Sir, let's get the main task done first. The highlander army in the village can be easily eliminated when you return. ”

"If this is the case, Isabel, then we are to follow the banks of the Eske, avoiding all the villages and roads of the Highlanders."

"That's it. Sir, stop calling me by my name, you can call me Eriniaus. ”

"Erinius?" Ernest subconsciously repeated in a whisper.

"Stupid, it's Nemesis." Isabel's mouth squirmed behind the humanoid mask and she cursed with a smile. He turned his head to look at Baldwin, the guard behind him, and gave an order, "From now on, let everyone follow me and Sir along the riverbank as fast as possible." If you encounter a highlander, you are not allowed to engage them. ”

"Yes, Your Excellency."

At this time, the Eske River has become very calm after experiencing the high tide in the evening. Due to the high and low tides over the years, the waves and currents of the river have deposited large amounts of sediment on both sides of the Eske River, creating large areas of low-tide sandy shoals. As the sand deposits on the shallows increase, the soft and water-filled shallows make it easy for people and horses to get caught in them.

Isabel led the team to drive the horses cautiously into the shallows, wading across the Eske River, which was already deeper than the horses' legs. After reaching the other side of the river, again cautiously cross the sandy shallows. As everyone sat on horseback and raised their legs to shake off the water and mud from the outside of their boots, she ordered the group to move west along the riverbank to avoid the Scotsman's village.

About an hour later, the knight squad galloped along the riverbank in the darkness of night to a place just over two miles from the town of Annen. Isabel ordered the team to stop, then jumped off her horse and observed the deserted field. Sir Ernest also jumped off his horse, crouched down and examined the fields on either side of the country road in the faint moonlight, and whispered, "Nemesis, judging by time and distance, we are now probably to the south of the town of Annen, near the riverbank. ”

"Anen? I remember Sir Thomas saying that if the Highlanders attacked us, they would allow Dumfries' army to pass through Annon all the way to the border. Isabel thought about the place of Annen as she spoke.

"Yes, the Highlanders are the closest way to take the road from Dumfries, and Annen."

"Sir, I think we should go to Annon to investigate, the Highlanders must have troops stationed outside the town of Annen."

In fact, the Scots did station some artillery, cavalry and infantry units in Annaen. By order of James V, the artillery units equipped with bronze cannons were to be stationed in the village of Gretnagreen in a few days, so that the inaccurate stone-shooting bronze cannons, which were only used to attack the English forts, could be put in place before the attack began.

Isabel and her reconnaissance team were now standing in an uninhabited clearing southeast of the town of Annen, with a small number of light cavalry units stationed to the west of her, south of the town of Annen, to reconnoiter and counterattack the enemy. To the north of her, to the east of the town of Annen, artillery and units of spearmen, halberders, and archers were stationed to protect the artillery.

As she led the scout team on her way west, trying to enter the town from the south of the town, she discovered something unusual, with some Scottish light cavalry units stationed on the banks of the Annen River, which flowed through the town of Annen.