After a few days of flickering words, Egil still hasn't made a final decision. The reason is that Biard's geographical location is a little cheating, and no matter which force he joins, he will become cannon fodder on the front line in an instant. So, although in my heart I thought about supporting Olaf III. But Egil didn't say that, it was completely a posture of not eating oil and salt, soft and hard. The messengers on both sides urged many times, communicated with their masters many times, and increased the price a lot—but they were all cakes.

Damn, two stingy bastards. Egil cursed, though he was as stingy as the other two.

After a week of stalemate, Count Felix finally couldn't sit still. For someone who has been able to grasp the big picture, the most hated thing is variables - like Egil.

Originally, Count Felix had a well-developed plan to attack Bergen before learning of Biard's existence, but these were all destroyed by Egil. All at once it was delayed by a week. If the other party is willing to surrender because of this, then for the sake of the face of the more than 2,000 soldiers he has, he cannot say that he will forgive him.

But, it seems, the guy named Ekir doesn't want to get his own forgiveness anymore.

Then, use force to subdue him!

Count Felix thought so. At the same time, he mobilized the army in his own territory. Except for a small garrison, and the navy to defend Denmark to the south, almost all of the rest were brought with them, a total of 27,000 troops, including 400 knights, 2,000 professional Viking warriors, 4,000 professional troops including shield spearmen, archers, light swordsmen, and light cavalry, and all other temporary conscripts—not even armor, and a spear and a shield were issued casually, and they could be driven into battle.

And yet, despite such a rudimentary army - it was still an army of nearly 30,000 men. Almost ten times more than Egil's army.

"Surrender. ”

So, Egil surrendered decisively. A letter with extremely humble wording was thrown directly at Felix. After that, the city gate was opened, and the labor army said three times.

And Felix was also very satisfied with Egil's understanding of current affairs, and thought to himself: Sure enough, it is the violent means that work the most. As a lord who pledged allegiance to him, Felix didn't embarrass Egil too much, just gave a little warning, and then gave a kind word of condolence - seeing that Egil governed his territory well, and the army was decent, Felix secretly stammered at the same time, but also put away a little contempt, and was a little impressed by this guy who surrendered without fighting a battle.

After all, in the European Middle Ages at this moment, one feudal and one building could represent the ruling structure of the vast majority of countries. Most of the army under Count Felix was provided by his vassals and the nobles who supported him as the Grand Duke of Norway. At this time, it was too serious to deal with Egil, and it was impossible to say that he was detached, but it was hard to guarantee that these guys would have some other ideas.

Coupled with the nearly five-meter-high stone wall and thousands of defenders, if you want to attack forcibly, you have to be prepared to pay at least 10,000 lives. This must also be a case of sending a large number of navies to blockade the other side's ports and completely cut off any foreign aid that the other side may receive. - Seeing that Egil took out a large amount of food to labor the army, Felix decisively cut out the siege in his calculations, waiting for the defenders to starve to death.

"So, I'm going to thank you for the future. ”

At the "grand feast" held by Egil, Count Felix was conquered by the legendary delicacy of salt. After drinking too much ale, he laughed and patted Egil on the shoulder.

In the evening, after arranging most of the army in the attached villages, Egil gave up his lord's mansion to Count Felix and went to the barracks himself.

"Eh, do you have any backbone?" After washing up a little, Egil was getting ready for bed when he heard the voice of the system elf in his ear.

"Che, do you want me to fight with him? There are nearly 30,000 people, nine times as many as me, nine times as much! This is because I have recruited another army in advance. ”

"However, if you insist on defending the city, the other party may not be able to do anything to you. ”

"If that's the case, then the farmland and villages outside the city will basically not be saved. And my serfs, yeoman farmers, and rich landowners in the country, all of them will be plundered. I can't afford to lose. ”

“...... So, you are really willing to let that earl ride on the head? Listen to me, do with him! With a small donation of a year and a half, you can pull out an army with far more than him. As soon as you grit your teeth and donate a ten-year lifespan, you can pull out tens of millions of troops, and it is not a dream to rush out of Europe and go to the world!"

"Long-winded, die. ”

Thus, after three days of rest in Egil's domain, Felix's army was strengthened again, and Egil sent 2,700 men—exactly a tenth of Felix's army—to attack the territory of Orev III.

Unlike Egil's army, this army, which was mostly conscripted peasants, looked like a pig's nest - no, it would be more accurate to say a garbage heap. The godless and timid peasant soldiers, the arrogant and invincible feudal knights, and the irascible Viking warriors...... It is not normal for a few people to die in the barracks every day.

The low-ranking ladies who were engaged in the leather and meat business, the hawkers who sold some messy things, and the wounders who pushed caravans and bought and sold bread and smoked sausages, also haunted the army from time to time. It makes the barracks disgusting with the miasma.

"Damn, I suddenly felt like it was a mistake to join this army. Seeing the chaos around him, Egil grumbled. At the same time, the barracks of his army were built as far away from the others as possible, and the other Norwegian nobles had little interest in cowards like Egil. So the tents on Egil's side were like completely forgotten corners, and no matter how noisy the barracks was, they remained silent.

Very cold silence.

After another day's march, Felix's army had advanced completely into the territory controlled by Orev III's side. After that, the light cavalry in the army scattered like locusts. Raid enemy villages, burn and loot, and then take food, supplies, and people back to your camp as spoils.

And Egil is very active about this kind of thing - anyway, he has the support of the system, and the looted ones that cannot be used for the time being, such as furs and iron tools, are directly sold to the system to make money. Population is a nuisance. So Egil was very "kind" and sold the population plundered by his patrol cavalry to other nobles at an extremely low price. While delaying the opposing army, he also slightly regained his evaluation among the Norwegian nobility. The Norwegian nobles, who had taken advantage of others, chose to forget his timid behavior and praised him for his generosity.

Of course, it is not known whether there are people who are called fools behind their backs.

Spread your hands. Whatever.

Also, on the night of this day, Egil arranged the guard posts in the barracks and prepared to go to bed—because he was now the only general in the whole force, so he was a little overwhelmed. He had to solve everything.

During the day, because of a few sheep, their own patrol cavalry and several other knights fought, and the two sides first sneered, then rose from mouth cannons to fists, and finally almost did not rise to the point of using knives.

"Damn ......"

Egir naturally knew that those sheep were indeed snatched by his own highly efficient patrol cavalry. The other party is just red-eyed, and he has reaped a lot of money. In addition, it is rumored that he has very little courage, so he will come up to fight.

In the end, Egil swallowed his anger and gave the sheep, plus two mules, two sheep, and two horses to apologize. After returning to the barracks, he calmed down the patrol cavalry, and then it was over.

Speaking of which, the reason why their own patrol cavalry can have such a good record is naturally due to the effect of the all-terrain completely error-free map produced by the system, coupled with the patrol cavalry produced by the system, the quality is a little better than that of other noble light cavalry. A patrol of fifty cavalry, just the right number of cavalry, can rob a small village......

However, this amount is a little insufficient for regular warfare. Fifty cavalrymen were formed in a group, and the same was a group of one hundred and fifty infantrymen...... This configuration is indeed very useful in battles with less than 10,000 participants on both sides. But in such a large-scale battle of tens of thousands of people, it is a little difficult to use.

So, Egil asked the system elf if there was a way.

"Eh, don't you know that armies can be divided and combined without limit?" the legendary system elf asked in surprise.

“...... You didn't say that. ”

"That's because you didn't ask. ”

Previous experience had taught Egil that arguing with the system elves was a complete waste of life. It's better to take advantage of this time to ask the system elf what the hell is going on.

"That is, the same class can be divided and combined without any limit - like a standard patrol cavalry, you can split them into fifty one-man cavalry units, or you can combine fifty standard fifty-man patrol cavalry into a large cavalry group of two thousand five hundred. Do you understand that? ”

"I see, so I don't have to worry about it. Egil nodded, and without a trace of doubt, he was ready to go to bed.

- But I can't sleep no matter how I go.

He remembered again that during the day, the knights and villains had the same virtues.

Egil is a very cautious and vindictive guy. So......

"Damn it. Someday — no, you can't wait for that day. ”

With the reward of the patrol cavalry, Olaf III decisively mobilized all the armies in his territory with a total of 25,000 troops at this critical juncture of life and death - especially the 800 chainmail cavalry, although they are slightly inferior to the knights of the real brand, but they are better in number, so the actual combat effectiveness is stronger than the knights on Felix's side......

At the speed at which the armies of both sides were marching, it would be almost two or three days or more—five days at the latest—before they could meet.

The combined armies of both sides exceeded 50,000 men, mobilizing almost the entire population and strength of the entire Norway. Arguably the largest battle in the region in recent times. A big war that will determine the direction of a country.

On that day, Egil decided to do something cute and change the course of the war......

;