By the time Blake Hubble, torch-bearing, led the remaining 300 or so Turin soldiers into Fort Clarifolia, the battle was over, and the newly assembled Dominican defenders emerged from the inner fort and screamed and slaughtered in the castle's courtyard.

The sergeants who controlled the large and small towers of the entire castle set up heavy crossbows on the city walls, and shot all the guys who tried to raise their bows and arrows to fight back by the moonlight, especially those who held battle flags or dressed like generals were given "special favor", and the remaining defenders were not surrounded and divided in the courtyard, waiting for this group of completely collapsed defenders finally couldn't bear it anymore and decided to surrender, but what awaited them was an even more cruel order - no one left alive!

The Silver Blood mercenaries carried out this order with great "enthusiasm" - Edward promised them that all the wealth they had stolen from the dead would be theirs, and that he would not take a single copper plate for himself. Looking at the crazy appearance of her subordinates, although Shirrell wanted to say something, she didn't do anything to stop it in the end, after all, even if she was the head of the mercenary group, she couldn't object to the "money-making" actions of her brothers, not to mention that she had Edward's consent.

As for the Knights of the Sacred Tree and the soldiers of the Garrison of the Metropolis, although they were quite disgusted with these "poor and crazy" mercenaries, even Blake Hubble only stood by to prevent accidents—looting from the enemy on the battlefield was a normal thing, and even the most obedient to the teachings of the Radiant Cross would not object to such a move.

"You demon, demon!" "Damn Turin dog, you're all going to get retribution!" "Look, sooner or later someone will avenge us............ Standing on the tower and staring down at the Dominic soldiers who were screaming and cursing him, Edward neither smiled nor felt disgusted.

It's just a necessary means, since he wants to garrison this castle that will be attacked at any time, then reducing the danger factor is the first thing to do, Edward is not sure that this group of captives will be able to stay in the dungeon obediently and motionless when they are besieged, so becoming dead is the safest way.

Just as Edward was about to take a breath, he found that the sky seemed to begin to clear, and the fog around him began to gradually dissipate, and a golden day on the horizon in the distance was extremely dazzling under the dark moonlight—it was dawn.

The Turin soldiers, who had fought all night, raised their heads one after another, looking at the slowly rising sun in the distance, and their expressions were a little distracted. Blake Hubble walked over to Edward with little Goodwin asleep on his back - the little squire tilted his head when he heard the screams, unconscious.

"We lost eight soldiers, plus two dozen wounded - a fairly easy victory. Blake placed the sleeping little Goodwin on the ground, paused, and said, "No wonder Sir Leonardo takes you so seriously, Adjutant Edward Witwood." ”

"This is just the first battle, we still have a battle to fight. Edward curled the corners of his lips, "But thank you for the compliment, Sir Blake Hubble." ”

Glancing at the rising sun in the distance, Edward turned and raised his sword in his hand, looking down at all the soldiers under the walls who were looking at him, and laughed softly.

"I said that even a goat could break through the gates of Fort Clarion, right?" Edward's mouth rose and he shouted to the soldiers of Turin who were also laughing, "Now that Fort Clarion is ours, let the Flame Goshawk banner be raised here!"

.................. When little Goodwin woke up from his sleep, the first ray of light that pierced his eyes was the flagpole that reflected the tower, and the two flags of the flaming goshawk and the black tree on a white background on the top of the tower were hunting in the sea breeze, as if proudly proclaiming the ownership of this ancient fortress.

Some of the stunned little squires got up from the battlements of the city wall and looked around, and the whole castle was full of busy figures—sergeants in black overalls on a white background patrolled the walls and outside, and the deep roar of Lord Blake Hubble was much louder than a trumpet.

The mercenaries from the West Coast were carrying all kinds of supplies in the courtyard of the castle under the orders of the purple-haired woman named Shirel, repairing the stairs of the city walls and the gates that had been breached last night as much as possible with tools such as hammers and nails, and many men with longbows and heavy crossbows standing guard on the watchtowers.

In the distance, the warships were already anchored a short distance away from the beach, and soldiers from the garrison regiment were pushing flatbed wagons to carry supplies and food up the mountain road

The whole castle was full of life, and little Goodwin couldn't help but wipe his eyes when he touched his head...... So, did Lord Edward really take the castle, and the island was already the territory of the expeditionary force?

"Why, it's surprising that we won the battle so easily?" a playful voice came from behind him, "It seems that you still don't have enough faith in me, little Goodwin." ”

"Lord Edward?!" Little Goodwin turned his head in shock, and saw Edward holding his shoulders and looking at him with a somewhat playful smile, which reminded him of his performance last night, and scratched his head a little embarrassed: "I'm sorry to disgrace you, and I didn't think about why I was so ......"

"That's okay, your battle isn't in this kind of place - no one is going to rebuke a squire who doesn't even know how to hold a sword. Edward patted little Goodwin on the shoulder as if encouragingly, "I'll teach you when I have some free time, but now I need you to help me do something else to make up for your poor performance last night." ”

"What do you have to command?" asked little Goodwin at once when he heard this. Edward walked up the tower, motioning for him to follow, and the somewhat confused squire followed.

"We have more than 300 soldiers—not much, but with these veterans and a castle in difficult terrain, I am confident that I can hold this place even if two thousand or even three thousand Dominicans attack us. Edward stood on the city wall and looked at the convoy of supplies from the beach in the distance: "But ...... The premise is that we have enough supplies. ”

"We have enough food for about two weeks, and the castle is about enough to last a while. Arrows for ballistas and bows, spare swords and spears, and even medicines...... All are seriously scarce and difficult to replenish, and the battle is bound to last a long time. Once the Horn Fort is besieged by the enemy, there will be no chance to replenish the supplies. ”

Little Goodwin nodded thoughtfully, staring at the battleship in the distance: "Do you mean to ask me to go to Sir Leonardo again for more supplies?"

"No, I'm afraid he doesn't have much supplies in his hands. The last replenishment was in Seahorse Harbor, and the cost of maintaining an expeditionary force of thousands to besiege Bright Star City was quite huge - although we did seize the opportunity, it would definitely not be a day or two of fighting to capture the city. ”

"So I want you to go to a place where supplies are more abundant and closer - just like thirty years ago, it was also the bridgehead and base camp of the Kingdom of Turin for its attack on Dominica, and now every day there are dozens or hundreds of wagons loaded with all kinds of supplies to assemble there, and then take a boat with the soldiers with them to the garrison of the expeditionary force. ”

Little Goodwin finally understood, "You want me to ...... To Fort Hague?"

"You are the only one in the best position to make such a request to Viscount Otto Kwyn on my behalf, and I am confident that you will be able to convince him to support us—as you know, I am not going to have a penny at my disposal. Edward chuckled a little self-deprecatingly, "Maybe Master Otto is willing to give me a blank note?"