When: December 7 - 5 a.m.

Location: Plain of the Roses, in the territory of the royal city of Pullen.

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Stamped, a sound of horses' hooves sounded. The scout cavalry, sent out by Alex, soon returned with intelligence.

In front of Alex's tent, the knight on horseback rolled over and dismounted, the long sword straddling his waist collided with the bright armor, making a crisp sound with every step he took.

When the two sword-wielding guards guarding the tent saw the knight, they all knelt on one knee and bowed their heads respectfully.

"Knight Commander John, the general is waiting for you inside." The two guards said at the same time.

The knight in heavy armor in front of him was John, the deputy head of the Honorary Knights, a knight of the Praetorian Guard with a noble chivalry and a diehard loyalty to Alex.

John nodded, he was wearing a heavy helmet and mask, so no one else could see his expression clearly.

Striding into the big tent, the cold outside the tent was immediately dispelled by the fire burning inside the tent, and the whole body became warm. As the curtain was lowered, the wind whistling outside the tent dissipated.

General Alex and his lieutenant Kane, as well as a commander wearing a red helmet, Byx. The three men sat beside the fire, stretching out their hands to warm themselves while discussing something.

General Alex's face looked much better than before, when he first came to the island of England, the general almost fell ill because of the water and soil, but fortunately, the weather was not much different from when the Danes were fighting, and they were also fighting in the ice and snow, so the soldiers and generals quickly adapted to the weather.

"John, you're finally back." As soon as Alex and the others saw John coming back, Alex immediately stood up and greeted John.

"Sorry, I'm late. There are so many eyeliners in Pullen that it's almost impossible to get close to them quietly. “

John took off his heavy helmet and let out a deep breath, although this hard helmet made of fine iron was very defensive and beautiful, but the only unpleasant thing was its excessive weight. If you carry it to battle for a long time, coupled with a heavy armor, even a strong man may not be able to support it.

Handing his helmet and unmounted armor to the knights who stepped forward behind him, John walked to the fire in a light civilian suit.

"General, I'm worried about you."

"It doesn't matter, the trickiness of the Pullen people is something we already know deeply these days. To be honest, it was really surprising that the Puron people had so many eyeliners that there were fifteen batches of surveillance a day just in this place that was more than thirty miles away from the royal city of Pulen. “

Alex waved his hand to show that he didn't care, and when he talked about the density of the Pullen's surveillance, a helpless smile appeared on his face.

"Fifteen batches a day, all the staff set off lightly on fast horses. And he was not afraid of being discovered by us, and rushed straight towards our camp with a large banner, and did not stop until he was almost within range of the archers. “

Alex said: "There is no doubt that the Pullen people are demonstrating against us. They were not afraid of our coming, nor were they afraid to declare war on us, and even sent such a large number of sentries every day to show us that they had formed a cavalry force. Of the two options of monitoring and warning, the meaning of warning is even stronger. “

Adjutant Kane nodded and said in agreement: "General, although the Pulon people are now forced to divide their forces to defend the two cities, the whereabouts of their elite troops are still unknown. No, at this moment we are suddenly attacking, do you think they will risk exposing themselves to start a war against us? “

"Whereabouts unknown? I don't think so, Kane, on the contrary, I think the Pullons are already telling us what they want to do next. “

Alex sat next to the fire, his eyes narrowed slightly, looking at the flames flying and jumping in front of him.

"I'm afraid, that's what they're targeting."

Alex pointed, then turned to look at his knight chief.

"That's right, John?"

Knight John nodded with a serious face, according to his years of experience in and out of the battlefield, the essence of the Puron people's undisguised surveillance behavior is a kind of "pre-war announcement".

"As you say, General. And the Puren people are demonstrating to us while telling us that they are not afraid and afraid of us. Knight Chief John said. "Although the Puren people are now facing the danger of a three-way siege, they are not afraid, and even take the initiative to send troops to demonstrate against us. What a bunch of arrogant guys. However, in this way, we can also judge that the king of Pullen must be a cold and arrogant king. ”

Alex patted John on the shoulder, the firelight shining on his face with a smile on his face.

"Exactly, my venerable knight. So we're going to have to be on full guard for the next few days. ”

However, unlike General Alex and Captain John, Adjutant Kane thinks that their ideas are a little lacking. At least in Kane's view, the Pulon did not have the capacity and strength to carry out such a high-risk military operation.

Kane retorted, "General, are you too arbitrary? The Purons are now unable to defend themselves, and with their forces it is very difficult to protect their royal capital. If you still take the initiative at this time...... Aren't they afraid that their backs will be attacked by Robert's forces who came at some point? ”

"Oh? Kane, what do you think? ”

Alex has many shortcomings, but being good at listening to other people's opinions and opinions is one of Alex's best strengths as a high-ranking general. Being good at listening to other people's opinions, analyzing the intentions and information of the other party from other words and then judging them, and then judging them in combination with their own opinions, distinguishing clear advantages and disadvantages, and then making military arrangements based on this, is the military way that Alex has adhered to for many years.

Kane, who was familiar with Alex, did not hesitate, he immediately stood up and said his thoughts with a serious expression.

"Although I don't know how much the strength of the Pulen people is, according to the reports of various intelligence, there should be a small number of people, and it is their limit to support two or three thousand people. However, on our side, there are more than 5,000 troops on land alone, and a fleet of more than 1,000 navies at sea, but there are two territories to be guarded by the Purens. Their royal capital city and the harbor city of Pandora, even if they split half of their forces, would be overwhelmed, not to mention that it would be self-defeating to attack first in such weather. ”

"Does the general remember a time when he was in the Black Forest in Denmark and something was very similar to what he is now?" Kane asked.

Alex touched his chin and nodded.

This happened to Alex 10 years ago when he was conquest of the Vikings for the Empire.

It is said that it was late at night, and Alex's army was stationed in the camp to rest. And just as all the soldiers were resting and regrouping, the Vikings suddenly came out of the darkness and howled and killed almost all the soldiers stationed at that time.

However, when the battle was over, the Vikings suddenly discovered that the soldiers stationed were sparse and mainly light infantry, and the famous heavy infantry phalanx and iron cavalry of the Holy Roman Empire were not here. The Viking leader sensed that something was wrong, and almost at the same time there was a sudden cry behind him.

"Oh my God! It's on fire over there! ”

"Huh? Isn't that location our walled city?! ”

"Damn!! It's the black smoke of war! Those Imperial soldiers are attacking our camp!! ”

"Here's the trap!! Come back!! ”

Under the leadership of the leader, the Vikings quickly returned to help, but they were blocked on their way back. The archers, who were arranged by Alex to be on the way, always appeared suddenly from time to time to strike at these Vikings, delaying their advance.