Chapter 235, Armed Forces Prepare for War

The drastic changes of the vampires made Ryan lose his interest in the festival. On the contrary, the baron had to pass the Winter Veil festival hastily, and immediately put his energy into preparing for the battle.

A few days after the Winter Veil Festival, at the end of December, it snowed heavily under the leadership of Baron Jean in Brittany. The heavy snow not only heralds a bumper harvest after the Chinese New Year, but also declares that the Baron’s military preparations need to be temporarily Stop, the serfs are not yet strong enough to train in the heavy snow.

Paladin Alfred, Holy Grail Knight Ryan, and housekeeper Katzenberg sat on the balcony enjoying the snow, and a pot of delicious beef stew was placed between several large armchairs.

"Now there is good news, Ah Fu, the gathering of vampires is much slower than we thought. According to the reports from the scouts, the Red Duke's attempt to awaken the undead has failed many times, and many barren graves were washed away in the flood summoned by the lady. Ryan picked up his glass, thinking about this question: "Even with the most radical calculation, it will take three months for the Red Duke to assemble a large army, but I don't understand why he still does it so regardless of the cost." Looking to raise an army of... Katzenberg?"

"My baron." The butler was still dressed with a big bald head. He was wearing a leather jacket and held the wood elf's fruit wine in his hand. Seeing Ryan calling him, Katzenberg signaled that he was listening.

"If I give you three months, how strong can you build fortifications?" Ryan asked, "To be honest, do what you can."

"In three months, at most one wooden wall and wooden sentry posts can be built, and then some defensive facilities can be built, such as pits and trenches." Katzenberg calculated a little, and said the expected results: "Such a short period of time The time to build the stone wall is too much, my baron, and the cost of the stone wall is also terrific, so it will affect the spring plowing."

"Well, I understand." After thinking for a while, Ryan gave up his plan to repair the wall urgently. The undead army is different from other armies, and a mere wooden wall cannot stop these creatures.

"Good friend, are you going to fight vampires?" Alfred picked up the wooden bowl, which was filled with beef stew, prayed sincerely, and then ate the meat.

The lives of paladins are relatively poor. They need a lot of meat but often do not have enough money. Therefore, paladins tend to hunt for meat by themselves. For high-grade meat such as beef, Alfred can eat There were few opportunities, and the money he earned was used to build a house of worship in the town.

With Alfred's efforts to preach, the Justice Church began to have a place in Ryan's territory. Some serfs were baptized by Alfred. Among them, with Alfred's help, several children had been transferred Become a paladin.

"Yes, this war may not be so easy.

"Lane nodded.

"Since it is against undead creatures, please let me help you!" Alfred nodded seriously: "Justice is the nemesis of undead creatures. The holy water blessed by the Lord can cause considerable damage to undead creatures. I There are quite a few in the chapel, and I have them all."

"I won't say anything else, Ah Fu, let's fight side by side!" Ryan didn't refuse, there was no need for those lies between Alfred and him.

Outside the balcony, goose-feathered snow fell from the sky, and dark clouds as thick as cotton wool covered every corner of the sky. The Barony of Jean became a world covered in silver. The buildings and streets of Jean Town It was full of snow, many serfs were sweeping the snow, and groups of patrol soldiers walked past the walls of the town.

"Good friend, I have to say that under Estelle's training, the archer company has already looked a bit better." Alfred said casually: "Normally, a qualified archer needs at least one to two years The training can take shape, but you have found the easiest way."

"I never planned to train archers, Ah Fu, as you know, it takes at least a year or two for a qualified archer to guarantee a certain accuracy beyond fifty paces, and longbowmen like Bastogne That kind will take five to eight years to take shape." Ryan nodded, and he said softly: "But... the crossbow is different."

Yes, Ryan deeply understands that it takes a long time for serf archers to form an army with sufficient combat effectiveness. Bastogne's longbowmen start training from the age of 8-11, and their whole life is training time , the Duke of Berhemond stipulated that qualified serfs aged 12-65 in the territory should practice bow and arrow skills after praising the fairies of the lake on Sundays.

Ryan can't pull up an excellent longbowman in a short time, but he can pull up an excellent crossbowman army in a short time.

The dwarven hand crossbow made by the dwarf craftsman Deron Feinson is a weapon that satisfies Ryan. This kind of dwarf hand crossbow requires very little operation skills. Ryan knows that this is what the serfs need. , Loading, aiming, shooting, all in one go, simple and rude.

Sure enough, under Estelle's training, all the serfs in the Jean Archer Company were able to reload, aim, and shoot very proficiently in just over a month.

Ryan felt great after watching it, and it was enough to have this kind of fighting power.

The Barony of Jean now has 1 Holy Grail Knight, 4 Ranger Knights, 13 Knight Retinues, 85 Swordsmen, 201 Spearmen and 120 Crossbowmen. Compared with ordinary Baronies, Ryan The size of the army it has can be called huge.

Well, there are two accompanying wizards.

"My baron, His Excellency Francois sent someone to ask you if you need reinforcements?" The steward Katzenberg said softly: "He is worried that your place may become the front line, and, according to the report from the scouts, Berhemond Duke De also learned of the vampire's change, and he is also preparing for war."

"Apart from them? Besides Duke Bohemond and Duke François, are there any other Dukes who have responded?" Ryan suddenly remembered something, and he asked full of doubts.

"From the current point of view... No, the dukes must have received the information that the vampires are gathering the army, but only these two dukes responded. They are gathering the army. His Excellency Boderick, the Duke of Delo, has only begun to mobilize the army, and there is no sign of enlisting the whole people or intending to fortify the wall and clear the country." Katzenberg held the parchment in his hand: "The king has no new orders at present, this is three days ago information."

Ryan sighed softly. He probably knew why, except for Duke Winford and Duke Bastogne, the other Dukes had no specific actions.

This has nothing to do with being hostile to vampires, it has something to do with Ryan instead.

Because of the chivalry war against Arden Forest more than a year ago, almost all principalities lost thousands of troops in this war, although the loss of a few thousand people is not considered for the principalities. It hurt their muscles and bones, but it also stretched their original strength. Castles and territories everywhere needed enough troops to garrison. Under such circumstances, the dukes were a little hesitant about whether to call in more troops to affect the spring plowing.

Only the Principality of Bastogne and the Principality of Wenford, because of the right army led by Ryan, suffered not only small losses, but also captured a large amount of spoils. These troops that have experienced the baptism of blood and fire have become elites.

Only these two duchies have the ability to gather troops immediately.

"My Baron? How did you plan?" Seeing that Ryan did not answer, Katzenberg continued to ask.

"What do you think? Katzenberg?" Ryan deliberately tested his butler.

Katzenberg lowered his head, and he thought for a while: "My Baron, I don't think it's time to ask for reinforcements yet. Musilon's movements are unknown. Are the vampires really planning to go to war? Is the Red Duke's target targeting us? , according to the current situation, it is not clear, my baron, you are already feared by the king, you must be careful in your actions, unless His Royal Highness Mogiana or the king has given you an explicit order to lead the army, otherwise you should be more careful."

"Well, very good, what we have to do now is to assemble the army and prepare for war, but we must also keep a low profile and don't follow the truth." Ryan nodded again and again: "Wait and see if our Majesty the King, or His Majesty Mogiana How to react."

"Understood, my Baron!"

The barony was preparing for battle. Under Ryan's command, the soldiers gradually put on breastplates and better dwarven equipment.

These armies have begun to become semi-professional.

In Ryan's conception, the separation of soldiers and peasants is the first step in promoting his military reform, but now his financial resources are not yet able to support so many professional soldiers. What he has to do now is to make these soldiers semi-professional, The occupation of being a soldier will gradually be greater than their main occupation as a serf, that is, they are mainly responsible for army drills, training two or three days a week, and farming the rest of the time.

The baron's soldiers enjoy better food and higher status. More importantly, Ryan is the Holy Grail Knight, the lady's god-chosen champion. The serfs in his territory are extremely eager to dedicate their loyalty to the Holy Grail Knight. In the country, serfs are forbidden to believe in the fairies of the lake, so some special means must be used to attract the attention of the fairies of the lake.

The serfs were willing to believe that becoming a Holy Grail pilgrim or fighting side by side with the Holy Grail knight was an effective means. Therefore, in order to live a better life and be favored by the goddess, countless people signed up to join the army.

The baron encouraged the serfs to have a pious faith.

Time passed quietly while preparing for the battle. Mu Xilong's vampire army assembled slowly but resolutely. Under the powerful undead magic of the Blood Red Duke, the corpses in the tomb gradually recovered. The powerful Blood Knights and Dark Grail Knights attacked separately, severely damaging the Follow the guard posts along the way and the guard force of the Knight Kingdom.

Boderick, the Duke of Boldrow, who is only more than a hundred kilometers away from Mousilon, was the first to feel that something was wrong. The prince of Sea God Mananen and the champion of the gods had already begun to fully mobilize the principality's army to prepare for the possible threat of vampires. , but he is still a little undecided. The best way to fight against vampires is to fortify the walls and clear the fields, burn all the tombs, and clean up all the bones. The vampires cannot be replenished with blood and soldiers, and it will be a huge waste to control the undead army.

It is difficult for the Duke to make up his mind. If he really wants to fortify the wall and clear the country, he and his principality may not be able to recover for a few years.

And just as Mu Xilong's army of vampires gathered more and more, a positive signal finally came from the Kingdom of Knights.

The witch of the lake, Morgiana, left her tower. She brought a group of Holy Grail knights to appear in the Cathedral of the Fairy of the Lake in the Principality of Carcassonne. The witch of the lake declared that vampires are our common enemy, the knights of the kingdom Evil must be destroyed, for the lady!

So, as the snow melted in March of the following year, a war looked inevitable.

At this time, Morgiana, who was on the road, received a strange magical communication signal.