The weather in Monroe on April 4, 1330 in the 1330 calendar and 176 in the Krant calendar, was not sunny as usual.

Tropical storms are a common occurrence for the inhabitants of coastal countries near the Moby Gas Inland Sea. The vast inland sea, though not as vast as the outer sea, is still powerful enough to form a destructive storm.

This is partly due to the thick masonry of the houses, but the usual storms don't start until mid-May and June, when the temperature rises to a high level, but this time it's just April, and the sky is already cloudy.

Experienced old men could tell that the coming storm was not very large, and since Monroe was not the closest to the coast, there would be only strong winds and torrential rains.

Even so, it has affected the lives of many people.

The displaced inhabitants of Monroe Territory, half of the city-state's population could not be fully accommodated even in the capital city of Xilin, and were confined to makeshift tents made of linen and wood, and they would face a greater threat if heavy rains came. In addition to this, the consumption of food for such a large number of people is a considerable problem, with cassava being the main food source in Krate being cassava, which is generally not harvested until October, and rice, which is not ripe until summer, even early rice.

It was not harvest season, and the merchants who were transporting grain had stopped their traffic due to the tense atmosphere, and the residents who were running towards Xilin were full of the hope that there would be food for them in the royal capital, but they did not expect that the army carrying the grain to Monroe would make the supply here quite tight.

Under such circumstances, the Wang family's personal guard troops, who rushed back in a hurry, not only did not bring back the food, but also directly launched a search among the fleeing people. Along with the previous series of events, the residents of Monroe, who have been going unwell, naturally broke out into resistance.

It's like a stormy sky. The scene on Xilin's side is chaotic, and how to deal with this must be a headache for Herman - but let's turn the camera back to Monroe.

In order to hurry back to Xilin, the mighty army traveled lightly, leaving behind a large amount of supplies and equipment. However, Herman also took a large number of elite soldiers with experience in using them, and the only people left here were two mage apprentices, the intermediate court mage Leseman, and a team of elite soldiers, except for the people at the security post and Henry Mira.

Herman clearly wanted to meet the serious challenge with the best possible force, but the result was that the more than 500 junior soldiers were not led by a sufficient number of veterans. Fortunately, both Henry and Vega were quite experienced in this, and they directly appointed that team of elite soldiers to become the captains of each team, and then asked the veteran among the junior soldiers to directly promote it as a deputy team.

Not only that, but at the suggestion of the sage, they also made great changes in their equipment. First of all, he seized the time to collect a large amount of lead, from various ornaments to the lead sand left by the elite soldiers of the Monroe family, and then put it into an iron spoon to burn it directly, and finally poured it on the surface of the shield to form a temporary magic resistance.

This technique made the eyes of everyone who has a discerning eye shine. Lead that is poured on the surface without professional treatment can be easily broken by various physical attacks, but if it can be used to form a shield wall, it can be used against the kind of suicidal attacks that rush up and release spells.

Henry placed the team in the third column, the first being a group of ordinary soldiers and the second being the archers. Theoretically, they would fend off their opponents first, while the archers would take the opportunity to attack, and then spread out and run to the top of the shield wall next to the third column when they showed signs of pulling out the rings. But to be honest, with the inferior qualities of these junior soldiers, although the plan is like this, the actual situation is likely to be to abandon them as cannon fodder, and take this opportunity to let the soldiers with lead-covered shields go up to neutralize the magic and kill the other party.

Henry and Vega, who are tied for command, know this in their hearts. But they didn't say it explicitly, just quickly formed a line and then vigilantly pushed in the direction of the Duke's Palace.

Even if the team of five hundred people was assembled in a dense formation, it had covered a considerable distance, and Vega and Henry were slightly ahead, and their group was riding war horses. Together with the three mages, they were much taller than the soldiers walking next to them.

-- This is not a boring theory for commanders to show domineering majesty or something, it is just a simple necessity of the situation.

If you've ever tried to see what lies ahead in the midst of a crowd, you'll understand. Suppose the people who are the commanders also take the walk. Then they must not be able to have a definite idea of the situation - because they cannot see anything but the heads and shoulders of the people in front of them.

From time to time, fools who don't know anything about warfare think that a commander who walks at the head of the line on a tall horse is stupid and arrogant. Because it seemed to them that it would be easy to attract the attack of enemy archers. But what they didn't know was that if the commander didn't take the risk and could only communicate the situation on the battlefield through the soldiers next to him. At the beginning of the battle, there will not even be a chance of victory.

A good commander doesn't have to be genius-genius, but he will be able to see what is going on and get his troops to the right place at the right time. When the commander is killed, the leaderless soldiers who don't know what to do usually fall into defeat in the confusion - back to the point, the mighty procession leads from the avenue of the northern city to the Duke's Palace, but before they can get there, someone stops in the middle of the road.

It was already the site of a desolate slum, and the soldiers carefully pointed their shields and spears at the various crooked alleys, lest the ambushed troops suddenly come around from the flanks.

"The left and right flanks are scattered. Vega shouted loudly, and the captain of the elite soldiers in charge of that side immediately dispersed with dozens of people, and they scattered towards the middle of the alley, vigilant for the side attack of the home team.

"Shield wall, up!" the gray-haired middle-aged man shouted again. The soldiers in the first column on the wide avenue immediately formed a formation, and they looked very rusty. In the final analysis, this point is related to the years of war in the five countries.

Years of continuous warfare can indeed turn the most rusty soldier into a skilled veteran, but only if he survives to the end of the war. For a war-torn region like Crant. Dead people are a common thing, even skilled veterans are no exception, as for the remnants, some have become elite soldiers, some have become knight squires, others have become mercenaries, and there are very few who have become skilled veterans after a hundred battles but still stay at the level of ordinary lower-level soldiers.

Add to that the fact that the infrastructure cannot be properly built due to the fact that all human and financial resources are spent on the war, there is no one to teach, no basic knowledge has been learned, and the equipment is rudimentary—these are a lot of conditions. Although Crane was as aggressive as any other kingdom in the region, the combat effectiveness of the ordinary soldiers here was not much higher.

The jumble of shields was assembled as they went, and it took them to lift them to the same height—everyone's hands trembled, for as they finally saw what their opponents were as they drew closer.

The last rays of sunlight reflected off the surface of the silvery plate, and then the entire sky was covered in dark clouds.

The rain is coming.

Many of them tightened the wooden handle of their shields and swallowed.

The first enemy to bear the brunt of the front between them and the Duke's palace was a whole group of heavy cavalry, although there were only more than ten horses, but hundreds of kilograms of war horses with knights in full plate armor and more than two meters long cavalry spears, the impact of running was enough to break through the shield wall of three or four layers......

"Don't go any further!!" said Medlow. It's getting darker. Henry heard a sigh from beside him, and he turned his head, Vega holding his forehead.

It wasn't just Henry who had made improvements to his equipment before, the Sage was a stranger after all. There is only one thing we know about the deployment of troops here. The sheriff who had lived in Monroe all his life knew far more about the situation here than him, and this naturally included the subordinate knights in the Duke's Palace.

"Weather...... Vega shook his head, and the weapons he had his men prepare were made of boiling grease in clay pots. Cork plugged the outside and covered with a sleeve made of hemp rope, at the end of which was a long rope. After spinning in a manner similar to a catapult, it is thrown far away with centrifugal force, breaking and allowing grease to flow out when it touches the ground.

This is then ignited by the archers in the front row using rockets.

A horse is an escape animal. In other words, when frightened, they will naturally turn and run away. Although the knights' horses have undergone rigorous training, allowing them to sprint and attack at the behest of their masters, and will not run away easily on the battlefield, most of them will panic when attacked, especially by fire.

It was quite common to use fire against small groups of heavy cavalry in tight terrain, and Vega knew all this, as did Medlow. However, he still chose to go because the change of weather provided great convenience, although the masonry roads would also become slippery when it rained, making the sprinting of the horses very dangerous, but their chances of victory were quite good if they could not use the fire attack.

"Throw the oil out. Vega hesitated, but Henry gave the order.

"You don't need to catch fire, you just can't charge them. The sage hit the nail on the head as always, and the sheriff reacted at once, the sticky grease was the same as rain, but stronger, and if you threw them out and spread them on the pavement, the horses would fall if they charged.

"Lose!" he shouted, and his men immediately threw out more than thirty crockpots.

"Bang bang!" the crisp cracking sound echoed, and Medlo on the other side seemed to realize this, he shook his hand in annoyance, then dropped his rifle and dismounted.

"Detour! Walk!" In addition to him and a dozen other knights, Medlow had more than a hundred elite soldiers behind him, plus those lost before, apparently this was all that was left of Duke Monroe's family, and the elite soldiers followed his instructions one by one through the narrow alleys to Henry's left, and the soldiers there began to panic, and Vega shouted loudly: "Flank back, don't engage the enemy." Approach the main formation!"

His judgment was obviously correct, the strength of the left flank was only a few dozen and only a few elite soldiers. It's no wonder that more than a hundred of Monroe's elite soldiers and the knights who lead the whole body armor are immortal.

"Retreat, retreat!" shouted the captain of the elite army in charge of the area. Several longbowmen opened their bows and fired several arrows, forcing Monroe's elite soldiers to raise their shields and slow their pace. The vanguard of the main formation began to move to the side, and Vega struggled to direct the soldiers to meet the flanks, but the low-quality and dull-headed junior soldiers were still slow to react.

"Damn it!" the sheriff roared and drove his horse forward, the scene was very chaotic, crowded with people, and the side had to move left and right to make room for the flanks, and the soldiers in the rear retreated too far in the confusion to separate the leading troops.

But it was no coincidence that both sides were in motion and could not judge the other's position through the houses, so Medlow led more than a hundred elite soldiers to rush out from between the troops on both sides.

"Hell!" the chief knight had just run after the flanks when he found himself in a surrounding. On the ever-changing battlefield, plans are always unable to catch up with changes, and he was about to retreat, but Vega, who realized this, could not let go of this opportunity.

"Surround them, raise the shield wall!" shouted the sheriff, the chaotic formation changing as his words changed, and the disorganized soldiers, though still uncooperative, managed to surround their opponents. Medlo's situation suddenly became more difficult, the number of opponents on both sides was more than two hundred, even if they gathered forces to focus on one place, because the soldiers and equipment on this side were better, they still had a chance to cut through the opponent's line, but if they turned around and attacked one side, they would inevitably be attacked by the other side.

If you focus on one side, you will be hit by the enemy behind you. This would have to lead to a counterattack. And once the counterattack is carried out, the chances of dispersing the forces to penetrate the line will be greatly reduced. If we had divided our forces from the beginning of the different way of thinking, it would have been extremely disadvantageous for our own side, which had a small but refined army, to face the enemy on two fronts.

The chief knight was entangled in the choice of tactics, but he did not hesitate to give orders.

"Shield Wall!" was lined up in a neat formation under his roar. The two sides were locked in a standoff, and all the remaining forces of Duke Monroe's family, trapped in the center of the encirclement, were like a trapped beast with teeth and claws - Vega rode over.

"Knock knock knock...... The sound of horses' hooves echoed over the red masonry pavement, and the sheriff watched them from above.

"Surrender. Vega spoke flatly. The knights and the elite soldiers looked at him together, and although they were wearing helmets, most of them could see the look of indignation in their eyes.

"......" the sheriff glanced at. Most of the elite soldiers were familiar faces to him, although the knights in plate armor were covered with face armor. But he could also recognize several people from the noble ornaments on it.

"You guys......" he sighed, then suddenly changed to an angry face in the next second.

"What a bunch of bastards!!"

The very characteristic roar of Vega drowned out the voices of everyone else, and both the opponent and his own side turned their attention to the gray-haired middle-aged man.

The sky was a dull gray, the sunlight could only shine through a few gaps, the air was very dull, and the heavy rain was coming--and among them, the haggard and decrepit sheriff straightened his back, and in an instant, many of the elite soldiers and even knights of the Monroe family felt that they had returned to more than a decade ago.

"Lawrence, dead ......"

"Because the woman, who took Mary and Ann, forced him to do it. ”

"He's dead...... And it's saddled with infamy!!"

The rain was falling drippingly, and Vega's voice was thick and full of air, with an inevitable tremor.

"All of you know him. And it's not just him, the people who died a few days ago, those people are all your companions who eat together every day, train, and entrust your life and death in the battle of life and death!"

"The lives of these companions, just like that, for the sake of this boring, boring politics, boring conspiracy are all gone!"

"Don't you think there are enough people dead! Do you want to stain this city that you swore to protect with more blood!"

"Bastard, the soldiers I taught are not such bullshit virtues!!"

There is no need to tell any empty truths, and there is no need to count the dark past of the Monroe family one by one to make pale accusations. Vega just scolded the opponent who should have been fighting for life and death in Vega's way, and his personal style of action has not changed for more than ten years, and many people remember the past - naturally there are entanglements and doubts in their hearts, why all this is like this, and what is the meaning of their own sacrifice and that of their companions - The elite soldiers and knights are not stupid, and they can't be blind to the various situations they have had during this time, but the other party is their own employer and their own lord, so they can only obey.

――But is that all there is to it?

- Is there no choice but to obey, or is it just that you don't have the courage to resist and question?

"Take up arms and make enemies of me. The rain grew louder and louder, ticking down on the masonry pavement, but louder than that were Vega's words that hit the heart word by word.

Or ask yourself yourself, ask yourself if you really agree with this behavior. ”

"I know you all wonder what has happened to the city-state since the death of Archduke Aubrey, and what the lord you have sworn allegiance to is up to. “

"Confused. Vega's last words were said by looking directly at Medlow.

"What is the point of their deaths? ”

The "......" knight chief gritted his teeth and made a "gurgling" sound that clearly echoed in the air around him, and his hands trembled uncontrollably, which directly caused the plate armor he was wearing to start making a slight metal collision sound.

"Ridiculous, ridiculous!" the young soldier who supported Medro during the duel between Vega and Medlo some time ago pointed at Vega with a little trembling and said with little confidence, but the sheriff who had been despised by him in the past just glanced at him, and made the young man who was not confident subconsciously take a few steps back.

"This is the choice before you......"

"If you can still have a clear conscience and not have the slightest doubt that you want to die for such a master, then continue to point your weapons at us. ”

The rain was pouring down, and Vega said. (To be continued.) )