"It's unbelievable that Brooks' army was defeated by a group of mercenaries. ”

"Don't underestimate mercenaries, mercenaries are real soldiers compared to improvised farmers, they fight all year round, take other people's money, and fight for others. Those mercenaries, they may have spent their entire lives in killing, and the troops we have recruited seem to be numerous, but in fact, many of them may not even kill people. They longed to return to their farms after the war and sow seeds. In essence, each lord's standing army is very small, so it is normal for the kingdom's army to lose in a duel between the kingdom's army and mercenaries with the same number. ”

"But Brooks' legion is much larger than Errengrad's mercenary army!"

"Hey, old friend, you must know that local battles are never won by numbers, the quality of soldiers, the desire to fight, and discipline are all very important, an army composed of farmers and craftsmen, it may only have a one-tenth of the death rate, and it will all collapse, and an army composed of knights and noble mercenaries of the kingdom, it may fight to the last man and hold his position, this is the gap. ”

On the Late Winter Trail, Rhodes and his old neighbor, Lord Varrell, talk about the rebels defeating the regular army of Kislev. They had received information two days earlier that the Ice Queen had sent Marquis Brooks to lead a Kingdom army recruited from Kislev to Errengrad, only to encounter a group of Bloody Mercenaries hired by the Ellengrad Noble Alliance on the way. A fierce battle ensued, and although Marquis Brooks bravely commanded his troops to fight the mercenary group, the kingdom's army was defeated.

When the news reached the Bandagar Palace, the Snow Queen was furious and withdrew the Northern Coalition besieging Erlengrad to stop the menacing Bloody Mercenaries. At the same time, the queen personally summoned a powerful blizzard on the dome platform of the Ice and Snow Palace, temporarily blocking the advance of the mercenary group.

If nothing else, the Northern Coalition will arrive at Wintermark in two days' time, join up with Brooks' defeated army, and attack the Bloody Hand Mercenaries once again.

Such news would be extremely unfavorable for the lords of the North, as it would mean that they would probably spend the entire spring south of Kislev, and the peasant soldiers would not be able to return to their homes to farm, and the land would miss the best time to plant. After all, women can't be expected to do much. They can do well in handicrafts, but they still need men in sowing and plowing.

However, this was not a problem for Rhodes, because he was originally a professional army, and none of the farmers in Blackhammer Fort were brought out, so he didn't have to worry about delaying the farming.

"It does make sense, but then again, old friend, you have been very eye-catching lately, the entire Northern Coalition knows that the Grand Duke is at odds with you, listen to my advice, it's better to keep a low profile, it's really more energetic, we are not people's opponents." ”

"I know, but you know, sometimes people can't help themselves. ”

Rhodes returned.

"Well, what about my daughter?

Varrell turned his head and squinted at Rod.

"Caroline ......"

Rhodes was about to reply, when suddenly, the large group stopped. No one knew what was happening ahead, only the silence......

The bleak sunlight shone through the gaps in the trees in the dense forest, creating a faint halo. The silence is suffocating.

Suddenly, the white bear roared wildly.

"There is a situation!" Seeing Spirit Bear's reaction, Rod knew for the first time that trouble was coming.

"Black Hammer Fort infantry, raise your shield!"

As soon as the words fell, the humming sound of countless arrows flying came from the dense forests on both sides. With the loud roar of rolling stones, the long and narrow marching procession was in disarray! Obviously, no one would have thought that the legion would be ambushed here.

"Damn, didn't the mercenary group go to Kislev?!"

The lords cursed loudly, and even Cohen was momentarily blindsided.

There was no time to command, and in the next second, countless arrows hung over the coalition forces like a torrential downpour. Ignited boulders tumble down the slopes of the woodland on either side. For a time, the flames soared into the sky, and the arrows rained down.

"Total Defense!"

Rhodes hurriedly jumped off his horse, and while issuing an urgent order, he took off the round shield hanging from the saddle and put it on top of the head of the old lord Varel, and an arrow just fell and was bounced off by Rod's round heavy shield. Varel, Lord of Heidelberg, turned pale with fright, and hid in Rhodes' shield with a big belly.

On both sides, the firelight kept coming, and those rolling boulders were like hell horses, raising huge sparks and dust, and rushing into the crowd at a great speed, and a whole row of soldiers was crushed to the ground by the boulders, turning into piles of bloody meatloaf......

In the air after the high temperature atomization, a banner of bloody hands and skeletons flickered.

"Brothers, hold the battle line for me! Whatever emerges from the darkness next, keep me in formation!"

Rhodes shouted as he squeezed into the shield and stood with his men. He wants to stand with his warriors, no matter how dangerous it is, and the morale cannot be broken!

Arrows rained down on the crowd in waves, only to bounce off the Norska shield wall when it hit, either stabbing into the shield without damaging the soldiers behind it. The unsuspecting soldiers of the north were shot and killed, and the arrows pierced them and crucified them in place, and the soldiers who were not directly shot were also injured one after another, bleeding profusely, and even trampling on each other...... There was a crowd of people around, everyone was bleeding from their faces, and they were screaming in horror.

"Steady!"

Standing in the middle of the ranks, Rhodes kept shouting and ordered his soldiers to stand in their positions, no matter how chaotic the outside world was, the shield wall could not be dispersed! If necessary, those of his own who tried to break into the shield array would also be killed!

However, there was an uncontrollable scene on the chaotic battlefield, and a flaming boulder rolled down from the forest heights, smashing straight into the Norsca force with surging flames.

The distance is not far, the scorching heat and the trembling ground are thrilling, even if the group of soldiers under his command have rich combat experience, but the flesh and blood can't resist the falling boulder after all, I saw that the boulder shattered into two rolling stones, one large and one small, after hitting an old tree, and continued to roll down the slope, the flames raged and burned all the grass along the way to ashes. At the critical moment, Rhodes saw Caroline in the chaos, and he didn't need to shout himself, only to see that the Frost Witch had already begun to cast a spell.

She slammed her staff into the ground, a frost spell in her mouth nervous. A cold wave began to spread from the end of the staff, and the ground around Caroline quickly turned into a hoarfrost. As the spell was pronounced faster and faster, the frost magic grew stronger, and the hoar frost on the ground spread out at an alarming speed, freezing the charred earth along the way, and swooping down on the boulder that was tumbling down.

Rod's eyes widened, only to see that under the gray sky, the roaring flame rolling stone and the frost path on the ground were approaching each other, the moment the ice and fire collided, the flames on the rolling stone exploded a fire wave several meters high, igniting the dead branches on the trees, and the thin snow instantly turned into a mist wave and dispersed, however, after the strong shock wave, the rolling stone still did not stop rolling. It's like a nightmare horse that has lost its flames, and although the fire is gone, it can still kill its opponents by sheer crushing.

Rod had already tightened his battle axe, and as a last resort, he could only order his men to spread the shield wall to avoid the falling boulders. However, Caroline is still trying, she stretches out her hands, quickly recasts a spell, and casts the Ice Maiden's kiss with all her might(1).

The cold wind mixed with the snowflakes of the end of winter erupted from the hands of the Frost Witch, and the rolling boulder was gradually frozen by the frost after clump, as if countless pairs of ice hands dragged the boulder, preventing it from continuing to roll, and finally, at the moment when it was about to hit the Frost Witch, the tumbling boulder was completely frozen on the ground, like a huge ice stone connected to the ground! Caroline exhaled heavily, and a drop of sweat dripped down her forehead......