Chapter 357: Besiege and Attack Reinforcements

December 31, 1199 of the Guangming calendar.

Night.

In another day, it will be the year 1200, and a new century is coming.

The camp of the Eagle Army is brightly lit.

In the Middles continent, the New Year is not a traditional festival.

But this expedition has been going on for nearly a year, and the last time they were stationed in the castle was three months ago.

So Raven specifically ordered the entire camp to relax and take a break.

Except for the soldiers who need to stand guard and patrol, every 10 people can get a small barrel of beer - about one cup per person.

It's not much, but it's enough for the soldiers to sit around the fire, eat stew, chat, and laugh loudly in this cold night.

When they are happy, they will dance around the campfire, and the melody of the song will sway with it. Under the flickering light of the fire, it is quite leisurely and happy.

The officers are the same.

Eric, Visdon, including Link Simon, Akori who had basically recovered from his injuries, and Lancha of the independent legion all gathered in the central tent.

The quota of wine for officers and soldiers is the same.

It's not that there are not enough supplies, nor is it a deliberate show of officers and soldiers being one.

In fact, as long as you can lead the soldiers to win continuously, they don't really care whether the commander gets more enjoyment.

In the previous life, the nephew of a certain emperor would rather let the meat rot than give it to his soldiers, but because he could bring one victory after another, his soldiers did not mutiny, but were quite popular.

This restriction is purely because drinking too much wine can easily cause trouble, and it is not subject to human will.

In contrast, the dishes at the banquet are much richer than those eaten by the soldiers.

Of course, due to seasonal restrictions, they are mainly some smoked and roasted meats, and the freshest ones are fresh fish chiseled out of the river ice.

The rarest thing is a few plates of lettuce with green leaves - this is rare in winter and is also the fastest to be consumed.

With his mouth full of crispy lettuce, Hyde chewed with his cheeks puffed up, making a crunchy sound, and then washed them down with half a cup of honey water. As a viscount, he burped without any grace, waved his hand and shouted:

"Are there any more? Bring some more!"

"That's enough." Raven was speechless: "A total of 4 pounds of lettuce were served, and 3 and a half pounds went into your mouth. It's not enough? You are from the Slater family, not the Bowina family."

Bowena means "bull" in the imperial language.

"You can't blame me for this." Hyde smacked his lips with a sense of unfulfilled desire:

"I've been living with you in the open air for three months. Now I finally get to celebrate. I can't drink properly, but you won't let me eat some food?"

At this point, he winked and lowered his head: "Otherwise, how about you let Eric go out and rob the opposite logistics troops once?"

Eric shouted: "I'm willing!"

"If I go out two more times, I can save up a set of enchanted armor for my son!"

As soon as these words came out, there was a wave of laughter, and everyone pointed at Eric and laughed and scolded him.

There was also a little sourness in his words.

During this period of time, Eric's heavy cavalry went out three times and intercepted three waves of supplies from Bolan City.

The wine, meat, and large pots of lettuce that everyone drank in the entire camp were all snatched back from there.

And Raven has always been generous in dealing with the spoils, so Eric has reaped a lot of rewards.

Not only did he pay off the loan he owed to Raven, but he also saved up a lot of wealth.

Raven also laughed, pointing at Eric's big and small eyes and said:

"If there is, you don't need to take the initiative to ask for it. Now that the news has come, I can send you out in the next second!"

Another burst of laughter.

Everyone clamored and toasted Raven together, and then continued to eat and drink.

The military camp pays the most attention to discipline, but if you really want to relax, it is also the most "unruly" place.

In the lively atmosphere, Hyde was also a little itchy: "Raven, otherwise, next time you intercept the opponent's logistics troops and let my people take action?"

"You have asked for me, you can't just leave me alone, right?"

At this time, I don't know who said:

"Yes, the wife of Viscount Hyde's family, you can't use her if you want to use her!"

The scene was silent for a while.

When everyone remembered the fact that Hyde had just got married, they burst into laughter that almost overturned the tent.

Several officers laughed so hard that their faces turned red, and they almost crawled under the marching table.

Hyde froze in place for a moment: "Raven, you don't care!"

Not long after he finished speaking, he laughed out loud and shook his head helplessly.

"A bunch of bastards!"

Raven was also a little amused, because he was also included in this joke.

The banquet continued.

But after all, it was in the military camp, and even if you relax, you can't stay up all night.

It was late at night, and the officers in the main tent left one after another. Those who needed to rest rested, and those who needed to stand guard stood guard.

Hyde bit half a piece of wind grass - that is, the root of radish - and sucked his teeth and said:

"To be honest, Raven, since you let me come, you can't let me fight a single battle, right?"

"I am unknown in the Battle of Thorn Ridge, a chapter that is destined to be passed down to future generations. You have to give me a chance to show my ability this time, right?"

"Then my historian and poet who accompanied the army, they brought them in vain!"

Speaking of the word "historian", Raven's face suddenly became a little strange.

After Hu Xia, who always said "my Lord", left, the person who took over his job found the manuscript of his "masterpiece". After reading it, he dared not keep it secret and handed it directly to Raven.

It gave Raven a big shock.

Without reading the manuscript, Raven would not know that his successive victories were actually due to the presence of such a "stunning think tank" as Hu Xia.

"Why, is there something wrong with what I said?" Hyde frowned.

"No, I just remembered something funny." Raven burned the manuscript after reading it, and had no intention of letting it circulate in the world. Of course, he would not mention this black history at this time:

"You can't do this job, let Eric continue."

"This will not be the last war, you have plenty of opportunities to show yourself."

Hyde frowned: "What's the difference? I admit that I am far inferior to Eric in personal strength, but it's just intercepting a logistics unit, what's the difficulty?"

"You still really can't fight." Raven smiled.

Now there are nearly 600,000 people in Bolan City. Every day, people and horses consume nearly 2 million pounds of food.

In one month, that is 60 million pounds.

Even if the defenders in the city carry more food, they will only eat up the food day by day.

So Raven adopted the tactic of "siege and attack the reinforcements".

Do not touch Bolan City, and focus on the logistics troops.

Mainly rely on the mobility and impact of heavy cavalry on the plains.

For the same distance, the heavy cavalry may only have walked half of the way when the heavy infantry ran back and forth.

Moreover, heavy cavalry can deal with opponents faster than heavy infantry, and bring a stronger sense of oppression.

Now the food gap of the defenders in the city is getting bigger and bigger, and the opinions of the nobles inside are not unified. If the delay is too long, it is possible that the nobles in the city will lead troops to support.

The troops going to plunder will be attacked from both sides and will suffer considerable losses.

Of course, Raven will win in the end.

But gods cannot be hurt.

Raven was able to force the 130,000 troops in Bolan City to not dare to go out with more than 10,000 soldiers, relying on the momentum of winning all the previous battles and having very little loss.

Once there is damage, the opponent may have the courage and spirit to fight to the death.

Raven is not afraid of a decisive battle, but since he can avoid losses, why bother himself?

After saying all this, Hyde still didn't quite understand:

"...Oh no, why is my scalp itchy, I need to grow a brain?"

With a leisurely smile, Raven turned and walked out.

Seeing that he didn't seem to be going back to his camp, Hyde couldn't help asking:

"Where are you going?"

"Secret!"

...

At the same time.

Unlike the joy in Raven's camp, Quentin, the Grand Marshal of the Principality of Eivor, looked quite haggard.

There were clearly three beautiful women lying beside him, all of them were noble girls from knight families, with delicate skin and slim figures. Although they were a little restrained in bed, that kind of immaturity was also a special taste.

If it were normal, Quentin would definitely be very happy, and it would be common for him to make a fuss all night.

But now, Quentin just felt extremely empty.

Standing up from the bed, wrapped in a nightgown, Quentin walked out of the room.

No mistake, one post, one content, one 6, one 9, one book, one bar, take a look!

As soon as he opened the door, he couldn't help frowning.

The smell was really bad!

There was no so-called public toilet in the Principality of Eivor, and defecation and urination had to be solved through the toilet.

But now, 600,000 people eat horse chews, and the four gates are closed, so the excrement in the city cannot be transported out at all.

There is no centralized storage location in the city.

Therefore, it is not difficult to imagine where those things are dumped - under the city wall, in a corner that no one often goes to, or under a haystack.

Then, their smell will flow through the vents and flow throughout the castle.

"Damn it -" Quentin covered his nose and cursed, and went to the study to light incense, and then he felt better.

Fortunately, it is still winter. If it were summer...

But if the current situation is followed, this war is likely to be delayed until then.

When summer comes, the ice and snow will melt, and the flies and insects attracted, the smell of smoke may even seep into the ground along the soil...

Quentin shuddered violently!

"I must find a chance to go back quickly!" Quentin said, and took out a pen and paper to write a letter.

The tip of the pen was suspended on the parchment, and it would not fall down no matter what.

How to go back?

The Battle of Thorn Ridge has spread throughout the Principality of Eivor.

No matter nobles or commoners, they all praised the courage of Fowler and the 2,000 soldiers, and the bards sang their praises.

The praise for Fowler was a yoke that fell on Quentin.

What Fowler couldn't understand the most was that it was okay for others to be fanatical, but Eivor VIII, a great Duke, was as easy to fool as the common people!

Could it be that his mind was still in the child stage like a certain man's characteristics! ?

Not only did he ignore his sister's opinions, but he also repeatedly ordered himself to go out to fight Raven.

Did I not want to go out?

Yes.

But it's not just me!

He was a great marshal, without any soldiers, and only brought some personal guards.

The real commanders were the three earls and one marquis.

Quentin has the right to speak, but if these four people really want to go to war together, he can't stop them.

But except for Frank, Gatugen's confidant and loyalist, who has been calling for war, the other three are just trying to smooth things over!

Inside and outside, he was tied to the stake, and he was almost on fire.

"Sir." Quentin's guard knocked on the door and walked in after asking for permission:

"Urgent report."

"..." Quentin sighed silently: "... Tell me, how much did you lose this time?"

It's nothing more than the loss of logistics supplies.

Quentin has even gotten used to it.

Tired, destroy it!

After all, it has been intercepted three times in a row.

The heavy cavalry marched like the wind. Every time we received the news, they had already run away with the carts and horses carrying the goods.

There was no time to stop them. When we arrived, we could only see corpses on the ground - more often, leather armor and weapons were discarded on the ground.

After all, facing 1,000 heavy cavalry charging, there are not many troops that can maintain their formation and not flee directly.

Quentin couldn't help but scratch his neck and felt a little itchy in his throat.

The green vegetables in the city have long been exhausted. These days, apart from meat and honey wine, no matter how much water he drinks, his throat is dry every day and his bad breath is a bit hard to get rid of.

It's all because Raven robbed his logistics troops!

Thinking of this, Quentin felt that the ulcer in his mouth was getting more and more painful.

There are many high-end and refreshing wines in the next batch of goods he ordered. If Raven robs them again...

Quentin's facial features were distorted.

But the words of the Royal Guard Knight made Quentin feel relieved: "My lord, the next batch of logistics troops are still on the way and have not been robbed."

"That's good..." Quentin nodded.

He wondered whether to send a few flying monsters to airlift the things he wanted.

But this idea was immediately driven out of his mind.

Not to mention, there are not many flying monsters in the city, and we have to keep an eye on the movements of Raven's main force.

Even if they can be transported, the city's supplies will not last too long.

At most next year - oh no, it should be June or July this year, the food in the city will be almost exhausted.

It's not a good thing to continue dragging it on.

Whether he likes it or not, he must fight this war, regardless of public opinion.

All of Quentin's power comes from Eivor VIII. If he is hated by him, then he, the child of the knight family, will be beaten back to his original form.

Quentin really doesn't want to experience the days of being ordered around by real nobles all day long, and even a baron riding on his head.

"Frank..." Quentin muttered.

Maybe it's time to meet him in private and have a good discussion.

At that time, I will support Frank and let him unify the military power and have a decisive battle with Raven.

If he wins, I, as the great marshal, will have great credit for commanding well; and if I lose, I can also have a target to blame.

"Sir, do you already know?" asked the captain of the guard.

"Know what?" Quentin was a little confused, then relaxed his brows: "Oh, yes, you said there was an urgent report before, what exactly is it?"

The captain of the guard took two steps forward and lowered his voice: "It's from Count Frank..."

As the marshal of the duchy and a close minister favored by Eivor VIII, Quentin not only controls the duchy's guards, but also controls the only intelligence force in the duchy - Wolf Kiss.

Now, every move of the major nobles in the city is under the surveillance of Wolf Kiss.

The captain of the guard began to talk about the intelligence he had collected. It was not long, but it made Quentin sweat on his forehead.

"Sir, this is a rare opportunity. Should we..."

Quentin pursed his lips: "No, don't act rashly."

The chief guard was a little anxious: "But sir, this is an opportunity to make the final decision..."

"I say, don't act rashly!" Quentin stared at the chief guard: "Although the merit is good, you have to be alive to get it."

"Also, don't tell His Highness the Grand Duke about this for the time being."

"If His Highness punishes me, I will take the responsibility!"

...