After trying to convince the nobles of the entire Bright Star City to go to war, Cosimo Otovic finally pulled out a little bit of food, slaves, and weapons from the palms of their hands that could be used to arm the soldiers—these stingy and timid fellows, who had been frantically hoarding all kinds of necessities from the beginning of the war, frustrated the Otovik family who organized the defense, and could not even use the most basic daggers!

These greedy nobles, who were constantly looting and demanding wealth when they were dominating Otovik in Bright Star City, and took it for granted, were still doing the same thing when the enemy soldiers came to the city, and it was extremely stupid to let those soldiers starve and freeze while fighting the Turineites on the city walls with rudimentary weapons!

The greed of the nobility could not hide the strong will of the people of Bright Star City - to this day, Bright Star City still retains the tradition of training militia like all city-states, and all classes from commoners to nobles arm themselves according to their wealth, and in order to protect their homes and property, such armies often have extremely strong morale and will.

But the disadvantage is also obvious, the militia of any city-state cannot leave their homeland for too long, or even have to be disbanded after a long war. And those who like to live with a stable salary in the barracks become mercenaries to fight for mercenary groups of all sizes.

No matter how long the terrible night may be, it will eventually come to an end—when a distant ray of dawn sounded with the sound of a horn peculiar to the people of Turino, Cosimo Otovíc, who had not slept all night, walked up to the city wall wearily, leaning against the battlements and watching the black figures in the distance on the open ground, such as the swallow-tailed and heraldic banners of the forest, fluttering softly in the morning mist.

"It's today, it's all today. Cosimo, who was trembling all over, grabbed his cane, and his lips couldn't help but tighten: "Either fall or stand - the fate of Bright Star City will be decided today!"

............ "It looks like everything will end today." Whispering to himself, Edward knelt down on one knee, stuck his sword on the ground, closed his eyes and prayed silently - since the little priest Weber Alexander had taught him this ritual, perhaps the idea of "following the local customs" had made Edward slowly accept this way of praying in the style of Turine.

Slowly clench your fists, then your shoulders, chest, waist, legs, and ...... Hot blood flowed down all parts of his tense body, gently exhaling the turbid air in his chest, and the slightly damp breeze in the early morning lifted Edward's spirits.

Although he had not fully recovered, it made no difference to Edward - it was a miracle that he had been able to recover in such a short time, thanks to Angela, the little maid, who had not concocted the potions, and who were more suitable as butchers than savers.

Slowly standing up, before he looked back, Edward had already heard the steady footsteps behind him, and Landzel, who looked a little curious, rode on his horse, curled the corners of his mouth to look at him: "Is that the way you Turin people prayed just now?"

"Perhaps, from a priest. Edward replied casually, and Shrell Lightlane, who was on the side, walked over with his warhorse, and Edward turned on his horse: "That man may not be the bravest I have ever met, but he must be the most pious." ”

"Oh...... Devout priests are a rarity in these days - there is also a church in the city of Bright Stars that believes in some kind of 'true god', their high priest is of noble birth and more scheming than the fish seller, and this church already has several estates and shops in its name. Landzel shrugged his shoulders.

Hearing this, Shrell glanced at the "pseudo-believer" rather disdainfully, but Edward smiled indifferently and looked behind him - in the midst of the drums, thousands of hoplites and longbowmen of the Purple Sail Mercenary Regiment were ready, and the throwing spears in their hands glittered in the dawn sun.

Although the entire city of Bright Stars has been completely encircled and blockaded by the Turin Expeditionary Force, or even completely isolated, it is still a city with a population of tens of thousands, and according to Landzel, the Ottovik family can recruit at least 8,000 or more troops in the city, and the food in the city is enough for the treasury alone to last for more than three months.

Of course, Bright Star City is a southern harbor city-state after all, and whatever it stores is extremely perishable, and as long as the blockade continues, there will definitely be a terrible famine - but the expeditionary force can't afford to wait for three months, and must capture Bright Star City as soon as possible in order to end this sudden war and maintain the prestige of the Kingdom of Turin.

There are three of the most breachable walls in the entire city of Bright Star - the lighthouse of the harbor is one of them, but unfortunately it has failed, and the Otovik family in the city must have been on guard.

The other two were all on land - the walls hastily built during the civil war may have been strong, but they were certainly not built with much thought, and it was almost a matter of course that there would be loopholes: the walls built after the old gates had been sealed on the front and back of the wall, and were so fragile that they could be destroyed with a few rounds of stone cannons from trebuchets.

Therefore, Sir Leonardo decided to personally lead the knights of the expeditionary force to attack from there, and the brave Knights of the Sacred Tree and the fiery Southern Knights will become the sharpest knives, piercing through the gaps in the walls to crush the resistance of the Otoviks.

Defeated in the previous raid, Lusen Minest is in charge of leading the Kingdom fleet and the Surrendered Bright Star City Navy to attack from the port - until now, Rusen has not given up on his plan, after all, as long as he captures the lighthouse and the port fortress, the ownership of the entire Bright Star City is close at hand!

The Purple Sail Mercenary Regiment attacked from the western wall of Bright Star City - there is no doubt that this is definitely the defensive core of the Otovik family, concentrating the largest number of troops and various defensive measures. No matter how you start to advance together, you will inevitably lose a lot of money to get close to the wall that is at least twenty meters high!

And this is also the intention of Sir Leonardo - Landzel wants to be "rewarded" by first proving his loyalty to the Kingdom of Turin and his determination to betray the Otovik family.

Obviously, Landzer himself also understood that it was impossible to get Bright Star City without paying a price, so he didn't express any complaints about this arrangement, and accepted it very calmly - even inviting Edward Wetwood to "fight side by side" with him, almost asking him to spy on him!

Naturally, Edward also had nothing to refuse.

"I haven't thanked you for your help yet—if it weren't for your persuasion, I'm afraid that Leonardo wouldn't have trusted me so quickly. Landzel waved his saber very leisurely and looked at Edward with an imperceptible smile: "Please rest assured, I will never go back on what I promised." ”

"But that won't count until we capture Bright Star City. Edward shook his head lightly, and glanced at the purple-haired woman behind him with some hesitation: "Your brothers will go, why are you still here?"

"Why can't I be here?" the usually taciturn Shirell suddenly became more talkative, and even retorted to him: "I just do what I should do, and I will never regret what I want to do." ”

"I hope so. Edward, who bowed slightly, didn't ask anything more, slowly pulled out his saber, and nodded to Landzel beside him, and the leader of the Purple Sail Mercenary Regiment raised his scimitar behind him, symbolically slashing down at the city wall in front of him.

With the roar of steps, the golden spear forest that seemed to cover the entire wilderness surged like waves, and the drums were as steady as a rock, slowly but surely approaching Bright Star City.

The battle will begin at dawn.

(Thanks to duke777 book friends for the tip~!)