It's late February, the weather is rainy, there are no concrete roads outside, and it rains for a few days, and the road is very muddy.

Ryan led the soldiers of the 1st Battalion, borrowing from the Barony of Archie, across the entire county of Marton, which was the hardest hit area, but fortunately, the local nobles were able to quell the rebellion, and they did not encounter the rebels along the way.

All the way, full of devastation after being swept away by the rebels, it was close to spring ploughing, but the land was still barren, and few people dared to come out to work.

Fortunately, it is in the south, and there is more or less some grain in stock, otherwise it will be difficult to survive this year.

This way, hundreds of miles away, they hurried away for more than half a month, this speed is said to be out of the spring, the level of thirty or forty miles a day.

Passing by an abandoned town, Ryan saw that the rain was about to get heavier, so he simply gave up and ordered the team to enter the town and set up camp, and wait for the rain to stop before continuing on the road.

The town looks like it's a small town, about the size of a few thousand people, but now there are basically no living people except for them.

Most of the buildings in the town were damaged, and many places were burned to rubble, and Ryan could basically make up the scene in his head.

A group of rebels rushed into the town to kill people and set fires, slaughtering or looting the people here, and although they didn't see any bones, the thought of them being against the cultists made sense.

Finding a relatively well-preserved complex, Ryan used it as a camp, and stationed his troops in a plum blossom shape around the central mansion in "teams".

Taking advantage of the fact that the rain had not yet become heavier, Allen commanded several teams of people to look for firewood in the deserted room, and arranged the accompanying carriages, war horses, and food baggage to take shelter in the room before personally leading people to patrol the surroundings.

No matter what time you can't be careless, every time Alan goes to a place to set up camp, he will personally go around to check whether there is an ambush, and at the same time, he will also take the surrounding terrain into his mind, in case of any accidents, he can take countermeasures.

Towards the end of the evening, the light rain finally turned into a torrential downpour, and the thick clouds in the sky made people feel unusually oppressive.

When Alan returned to the station with the people, bonfires had been lit everywhere, everyone sat around the fire, hung up the cauldron and began to cook, and there was already a faint smell of rice, which aroused the cravings in the stomach.

Suddenly, Alan seemed to have discovered something, and saw that the soldiers were all holding a bowl of steaming things, "sucking" and drinking something.

Curious, he walked over to take a look, and found something boiling in a cauldron, gurgling and bubbling, and the liquid was yellow-brown, and smelled indescribable.

When the captain of the garrison saw Allen coming, he hurriedly beckoned the soldiers to get up and salute.

Alan solemnly returned the salute and said curiously, "What are you drinking?" ”

"Report to the deputy legion commander, this is the ginger and green sugar water that the baron asked us to boil, saying that the soldiers are rushing on a rainy day, and the spring rain is cold and we are afraid that we will get sick, and drinking this can drive away the cold."

The captain replied with a smile, and said that he had someone fill a bowl for Alan and the others.

Alan raised his eyebrows, took a sip, there was a spicy feeling, but it was more sweet, it seemed that there was a lot of green sugar in it.

Not to mention, a bowl of ginger soup in the stomach, the whole person warmed up from the inside out, Alan couldn't help but sigh in his heart, in the past, when the army was marching and fighting, it was a luxury to have a bowl of hot water, where to drink this kind of good thing, only Ryan was willing to pay for it.

However, the effect was very significant, and the morale of the soldiers, who had originally complained a little because they were far from home, had a noticeable recovery, and the complaints turned into praise for the lord.

"Lord Lord, be merciful, don't waste it, remember to be vigilant, although it is raining raining outside, you can't take it lightly, whether it's resting or eating, it needs to be done in batches."

After putting down the bowl in his hand and checking the team's defenses, Alan walked to the Central Mansion, which was Ryan's temporary command post.

Levi, the chief of the guard, was dressed in heavy armor, with a horizontal sword hanging from his waist, and his henchmen were on guard outside, and when he saw Allen, he smiled and said, "Lord Allen, Lord Baron is waiting for you inside, saying that he wants to discuss the next plan." ”

Alan nodded, ordered his soldiers to wait outside, and then stepped into the lobby, which had been cleaned.

A large table was placed in the center with a map on it, and officers such as Ryan and Carvin were talking around them.

Dressed in a dark green leather cloak, she leaned against the pillar in the doorway with her arms crossed, looking a little bored, while the thief Gray Moth, who had once chased him around, crouched to the side, clutching his chest and muttering something.

Without asking, he knew that he must have been cleaned up by Xiyue again, since he left the territory, he didn't want to run away for a moment, but every time he was ruthlessly grabbed and beaten by Xiyue, he was already surprised.

He looked around and didn't find the strange magician Merlan, he was a little suspicious of Merlan's identity, but he wasn't a very curious person, and Ryan didn't take the initiative to say that he didn't ask.

"My lord, are you looking for me?" Walking over to the table, Alan gave a military salute.

Ryan raised his head and said with a smile: "You came just in time, come and have a look." ”

Alan approached, only to see Ryan pointing to the huge map made of cowhide and said, "We are now in the county of Yalen in the Gothic province, probably on the border with Martonshire, and there are only a few days away from the assembly point set by Viscount Chelse.

However, according to intelligence. Along the way, although the rebels have disappeared for the time being, there is a group of horse bandits looting and rioting everywhere, the lords here have long been martyred, and no one has been encircling and suppressing them, causing them to continue to grow, and now the specific scale is no longer clear.

The road is all flat plains, our team has a big goal, and carries a large number of baggage, if we meet them in the field, I am afraid that it will be a little troublesome, we discussed for a while, and planned to change the route and go up the river. I'd like to hear your opinion. ”

Alan frowned and thought, horse bandits are different from ordinary bandits, they are generally composed of some smugglers, organized and disciplined, raiding like the wind like locusts crossing the border, very difficult.

The scale of horse bandits is even more terrifying, if they meet on the plains, with their small number of cavalry can not be countered at all, coupled with the drag of foot soldiers and baggage, they will not be able to escape if they are entangled, and it will indeed be troublesome at that time.

They will be like a pack of hungry wolves, they will come up and bite when they have the opportunity, and sooner or later they will be drained and eaten up.

After thinking for a long time, he raised his head and said, "I don't think it's very safe to go up the river, there are often demonic beasts in this river in Yalun County, and if they attack the grain and grass, we will be very passive."

I suggest taking a detour from this road, taking advantage of these two baronies, although the distance is much longer and you still need to negotiate with the local nobles, but it is more safe. In case of encountering horse bandits, they cannot remain indifferent, after all, it is their territory. ”

Ryan and the others carefully considered the profits and losses, and finally adopted Allen's opinion, because of the habits of Ryan and Allen and others, so the entire Kanna officers established a sense of precaution, and then everyone began to talk about the battle plan for encountering horse bandits.

The discussion was raging, the rain outside was gradually cheerful, and the night was like a beast swallowing the whole town.

Not far outside the town, under the dark and rainy night, the sound of horses' hooves sounded, revealing the figure of a cavalry of hundreds of people, wearing robes and hats, with a variety of weapons in their hands, and the team was also very chaotic.

A one-eyed dragon shouted at a big man at the front of the team: "Chief, this rain is too heavy, not to mention us, these horses can't hold on, we have to find a place to shelter from the rain." ”

The leader of the team was a tall and strong middle-aged man, and he responded when he heard this: "TM's, this evil gate from the rain should find a place to take refuge, there seems to be a small town in front of it, we used to get together for one night, and we will go to grab TM tomorrow." ”

That's right, this is the horse bandit in Lane's mouth, who plundered like the wind, they went out to fight the autumn wind, and were about to go back after robbing, but they encountered this sudden heavy rain and had to find a place to hide, and their target was the town where Lane's team was located......

At this time, Ryan and the others had no idea that danger was approaching, and the soldiers had just finished dinner and were training in the house under the leadership of their respective officers.

Although they were on the march, they never stopped training, and they would practice every morning and evening.

Ryan climbed to the nearby clock tower and began to think about what to do with this rebellion, he was nothing in front of the rebels, and he would be bubbling up on the battlefield.

"Although I promised Chels to help him, my strength is really not easy to mix, or I should play the side ball and touch the fish?"

He rubbed his chin and thought, he didn't want to do this, but his strength didn't allow it.

Suddenly, his ears moved slightly, a purple fluorescence appeared, his hearing suddenly became extremely clear, and the sound of raindrops falling on the leaves was extremely real.

Through the noisy rain curtain, he heard the sound of horses' hooves stepping on the rain not far away, and there were faint shouts of excitement, and the number of people was in the hundreds.

Ryan raised a frown, and one of them rolled over and jumped, startling a patrol group like a boulder falling to the ground.

Without waiting for the officer to salute, he said simply: "Immediately notify all departments to extinguish the bonfire and stop the drill, keep quiet and ambush, there are uninvited guests coming." ”

The officer was stunned, and immediately understood that it was an enemy attack, so he hurriedly dispersed the soldiers under his command and notified the various stations.

Soon the various divisions moved in an orderly manner, the team assembled in the direction of the headquarters, the crossbowmen quickly seized the commanding heights, and the dark arrows perfectly blended into the night.

Soon the command post was made into an impregnable wall by 500 men, while the other 500 men were divided into two lines, waiting in ambush in the houses on either side of the mansion, like two large pincers sticking out.

Xiyue floated to the bell tower with her bow, which was the highest point in the town, and with her archery skills, she could almost hit every shot.

The gray moth originally wanted to take advantage of the chaos, but he was honest under Xiyue's glare, he was really afraid of this female tyrannosaurus.

Mei Lan, who had been missing, just came out to take a look, and then returned to the room as if nothing was wrong, not knowing what she was messing with.

"Who is it, rebel?" Alan asked puzzled, such a night battle under heavy rain, even the rebels are not so stupid, right?

"If I'm not mistaken, it should be horse bandits, at least three or four hundred horses, quite a few people." Ryan's face was full of lightness.

If he encounters such a cavalry in the field, he may still be a little flustered, but now it is a street fight, he is afraid of a bird, no matter how awesome your cavalry is, can you still charge in a group?

Soon, hundreds of horse bandits entered the town, and the one-eyed dragon sent people to look around a few times and said, "Chief, it looks like it has been deserted, and there is no oil and water to fish." ”

"Hmph, it's the right thing to shelter from the rain first, let the brothers find a place to make a fire to keep warm, and take care of the horses, these horses are more expensive than people." The strong man snorted coldly.

Since most of the buildings were burned down, they finally took a fancy to the area where Ryan and the others were stationed, and the horse bandits were impatient to get off their horses and want to go into the house to take shelter from the rain.

The one-eyed dragon walked in front, and as soon as he approached him, the one-eyed dragon suddenly trembled, and hurriedly roared: "There is an ambush!" ”

Ryan, who was about to hit them off guard, scolded secretly and hurriedly ordered the arrow to be released.

The crossbowmen who occupied the high ground had a natural advantage over them, and a rain of arrows passed through the rain curtain and enveloped them.

The horse bandits were reminded, and immediately pounced left and right, rolling without any image, after all, they were licking blood on the knife edge, and their reaction was very decisive.

"Grandma drops, quit out, quit go."

The one-eyed dragon held a page axe weighing hundreds of pounds, and while blocking the incoming arrows, he beckoned the horse bandits to retreat.

Xi Yue on the bell tower saw the opportunity, and a piercing arrow shot into the chest of the one-eyed dragon like a meteor, he felt something, and a deflected arrow pierced through his shoulder, and the axe in his hand suddenly fell to the ground.

Xiyue was about to shoot the second arrow, but she felt a sense of crisis, and hurriedly retreated backwards, and the next moment a big stone ball smashed down, but it was the leader of the horse bandits who made a move, and one by one the big stone balls slowly appeared around him, and then smashed into the courtyard wall of the command post.

The courtyard wall built of bricks and stones was suddenly smashed into several large gaps by the stone balls, and several crossbowmen instantly broke their bones and tendons, and they didn't know whether they were alive or dead.

The horse bandits took advantage of this opportunity to get on their horses and plan to withdraw from the town, but they only heard a commotion, and the doors on both sides of the house opened violently, and the five hundred soldiers who were in ambush came out together.

The team of horse bandits was in chaos in an instant, and all kinds of shouts and curses were endless, and Alan didn't bother to play any tactics at the moment, so he led the soldiers to press it together.

The one-eyed dragon clutched his shoulders and shouted fiercely, "Leader, go quickly, Lao Tzu will hold them back." ”

As he spoke, he led people to meet Allen's direction, and the leader of the horse bandits was about to be moved, but he saw the one-eyed dragon flickering and threw down the team directly and ran away from the gap in the encirclement.

For a moment, the air froze instantly......

(End of chapter)