Inside Talburg’s inner fort, Art scooped pea and wheat porridge from his bowl with a wooden spoon while giving instructions to the several managers of the accompanying merchant caravan seated at the table regarding the caravan’s upcoming arrangements: “Cooper, Sartre, Lawrence, you will depart first thing tomorrow morning. Baron Geoffrey has already begun conscripting and assembling troops in the Bilton Fort jurisdiction. It’s estimated that the enemy will attack Talburg in the next day or two, so you must leave as soon as possible, otherwise you won’t be able to.”
“This time, I need to keep all the Soldiers to defend Talburg, so the merchant caravan’s escorts will have to rely on yourselves. In a moment, Odo will select five loyal and reliable fellows from our own laborers, arm them, and assign them as caravan guards. Additionally, I’ll hand over the three small merchants I brought back to you; they’ve already decided to follow me. This time, four more wagons have been added to the accompanying merchant caravan. If you are concerned about insufficient escorts for the caravan members, you can recruit more along the way, but you must recruit trustworthy individuals.”
“We’ve hit Swabia where it hurts this time; they will undoubtedly use all their strength to remove Talburg as a thorn in their side. Talburg will face a crisis for some time to come, so your caravan’s outing this time has three main objectives.”
“Firstly, transport the captured supplies to the North to sell, then purchase a batch of siege weapons and send someone to deliver them back to Talburg, especially lamp oil, arrows, and crossbows. If you can recruit a group of brave warriors willing to come to Talburg to defend it, that would be even better. Count Baldwin’s conscripted farmers and laborers’ service terms are almost over, and I cannot guarantee I can keep all of them. If these dozens of people leave, Talburg will lose a significant portion of its defensive strength.”
“Secondly, deliver two personal letters for me to Count Baldwin and Bishop Olov. In the letters, I have reported the situation in Talburg and our achievements over the past month. I hope Vice Minister can commend us. Also, take those three sets of porcelain and five large gold ingots to Vice Minister and tell him these are spoils of war captured by the farmers and laborers he sent. Vice Minister is a sensible person; he will understand my meaning. If Vice Minister asks what Talburg needs, tell him we hope to be allocated a batch of siege weaponry, and it would be best if he could strictly order Glarus County to send troops to assist in defending Talburg; there’s no need to send anything to Bishop Olov for now, just deliver the letter to him.”
“Thirdly, send someone back to Valley Wood Fort to check on things. We’ve been out for nearly two months, and Scott has been holding things together alone over there. I’m worried, so send someone back to check, and bring some supplies back with them.”
The three managers of the accompanying merchant caravan listened carefully, noting down each of Art’s task assignments for the caravan.
Old Butler Cooper, after noting down the tasks assigned by Art, brought up the wagons he had been thinking about, “My Lord, there are still quite a few four-wheeled wagons hidden near the cave to the southeast. We haven’t found an opportunity to transport them away before. I’d like to try to get those wagons back while Swabia’s attention is focused on Talburg.”
Art took a sip of porridge, looked up, and said, “I do want to get them back. Those wagons are all iron-clad, four-wheeled, double-harnessed wagons used for transporting military supplies. It’s truly heartbreaking to leave them in the wilderness. But the road to the east is blocked now; we can’t transport them back, can we?”
Cooper leaned closer to Art and said confidently, “My Lord, I have a way. About a hundred miles southwest of Biertun Fort, there’s a small trade route. Few merchants travel that way normally, but if you go another hundred and twenty miles southwest from that road, you can reach Andermatt Fortress directly. We can use that route to bring the empty wagons back to Valley Wood Fort.”
Art asked curiously, “How do you know that?”
“The three merchants you brought back occasionally detoured along that road to avoid transit taxes. They are familiar with the route.”
“But that route isn’t peaceful at all~”
“My Lord, we can ask Baron Antayas for help. At worst, we’ll give him some hard-earned money.”
Art considered for a while and felt that this method was better than letting those wagons rot in the wild forest, so he agreed to Cooper’s method. “Do this last. I will write a letter to Baron Antayas, and you will also bring a generous gift to Baron Antayas. As long as there is no war in Andermatt Fortress, I think he should help with this.”
Cooper smiled and nodded in agreement, then brought up another matter, “My Lord, since we are sending someone back to Valley Wood Fort, shouldn’t we also send a message to Lord Galvin and Miss Lottie? Although they are not yet engaged, I imagine they are worried about you being away on campaign.”
Art had always focused on military matters and indeed hadn’t considered everything thoroughly. After hearing the Old Butler’s kind reminder, he realized he had forgotten about his future father-in-law and fiancée.
“Yes, yes, we should. Then you should also bring some gifts for Lord Galvin and Miss Lottie for me. Have Scott arrange for someone to deliver them.” Art’s face was slightly flushed.
After the managers of the accompanying merchant caravan left, Art sent for Angus and Roan, who had just returned to Talburg for rest after finishing their harassment mission.
Angus was a bit down because of a minor leg injury, but Roan was very excited because, in the harassment battle two days prior, he alone had killed two enemy scouts. Although the Soldiers participating in the harassment paid the price of one dead and one injured, the six of them killed five enemy Soldiers and successfully forced back over twenty Swabia enemy Soldiers who had come to clear traps and scout military intelligence along the way, delaying Swabia’s plan to attack Talburg by several days.
Art put down his wooden spoon and walked over to Angus, squatting to examine the injury on his leg. “Sergeant, it seems you are a lucky man blessed by the Holy Lord. If this rhomboid heavy arrow had been off by even half a finger, your leg would have been crippled.”
Angus replied sullenly, “It was my carelessness. I didn’t expect a hunter to fall into a trap set by his prey. To drive the five of us away, the enemy actually sent twenty elite Soldiers. It was all my mistake that led to our brother’s death. My Lord Art, I should act alone from now on. I truly don’t want to lead troops.”
Art patted Angus on the shoulder and comforted him, “Sergeant, you don’t need to ask for a reduction in pay. The death of the Soldier this time was not your mistake; you don’t need to be punished. Besides, it’s impossible for there to be no casualties in military campaigns. If you hadn’t been leading Roan and the others, perhaps we would have lost more than one brother.”
Roan also repeatedly spoke words of comfort to Angus.
“The enemy will soon launch a major attack on Talburg. Currently, there is a slight surplus of Soldiers garrisoned in Talburg, and I have also said that we will not defend Talburg to the death. Tomorrow, the accompanying merchant caravan will leave Talburg and return to Besançon. The caravan is also an invisible force defending Talburg. With luck, they will bring back a batch of siege weaponry and recruit a group of mercenary guards to come to Talburg. However, this force cannot be effective immediately, so I have decided to dispatch another army to the outskirts of Talburg to serve as Talburg’s outer defense force.”
Hearing this, both Angus and Roan perked up.
“This outer squad doesn’t need too many people, eight will suffice, and its main tasks are three.”
Art paused, letting the two remember.
“The first task is to continue harassing the Swabia army. If the Swabia army intends to besiege Talburg for a long time, they will certainly have to transport supplies via the eastern wagon road. There is only one main road around Talburg that can transport large quantities of supplies, but this area is full of hills, dense forests, and small paths. This squad can appear from any location along the enemy’s supply line to carry out harassment.”
“The second task is to act as Talburg’s external support force. When Talburg is under siege, it’s too risky for the fort to launch an active sally, so when Talburg is under heavy attack, you must harass the enemy from behind.”
“The third task is to serve as a messenger between Talburg and the outside world. When important military intelligence needs to be sent out from Talburg, we will raise wolf smoke on the inner fort tower, and then you will go around to the hill behind Talburg. We will send the letters to you with crossbow arrows. We will discuss the specific pick-up location later. Furthermore, if Talburg comes under an undefendable attack, you must rush to Glarus City to seek assistance.”
“I want to entrust this small squad to the two of you to command, with Sergeant as the main officer and Roan as the deputy. You can choose the Soldiers for the squad yourselves, whether they are Soldiers, farmers, or even laboring prisoners of war. In addition to carrying necessary weapons and armor, the squad’s Soldiers must also carry enough food and supplies. For a long time to come, you will be maneuvering among the hills and dense forests with the enemy. The enemy will certainly send troops to clear you out. You must lead everyone to respond flexibly. Whether it’s setting traps, laying snares, firing cold arrows, or setting ambushes, use every trick that can kill the enemy. Temporarily put aside your honor as warriors and bite your prey like wild wolves!”
………
While Talburg was busy preparing its defenses, a large-scale military assembly was also being organized in Biertun Fort within Swabia.
Ever since Biertun Fort was captured, Baron Geoffrey had fallen into a complete frenzy. He simultaneously requested the county seat of Teblen to dispatch troops to attack Talburg, and on his own initiative, issued an urgent conscription order from his fief. All able-bodied males between seventeen and thirty-five years old in Baron Geoffrey’s territory were required to bring food and weapons and equipment to assemble at Biertun Fort; Baron Geoffrey’s wife’s family not only provided 20,000 fenny in military funding but also dispatched eighteen elite infantrymen for Baron Geoffrey to command.
Including the “bandit suppression army” that had not yet been disbanded from last time, Geoffrey had assembled a “military force” of over two hundred men within a mere five days. This included five Knights, twenty cavalry (including Knights and their retainers), sixty infantry, fifteen archers, thirty armed farmers, and over eighty accompanying laborers. This assembly almost completely drained all the resources within Baron Geoffrey’s territory, with even the troops defending against mountain bandits and vagrants in the southern village forts and estates being completely pulled out.
Baron Geoffrey was a military noble and had participated in some large and small battles with his father, but the shame of his castle being captured and plundered, and his wife and children being taken captive, made him unable to wait for detailed planning and preparation. On the sixth day after the fall of Biertun Fort, Baron Geoffrey disregarded the “postpone attack” order sent from the county seat of Teblen and directly led his hastily assembled army of over two hundred men and a small number of quickly manufactured siege weapons along the wagon road towards Talburg…
………
Ten miles east of Talburg, half a mile ahead of the “Western Expedition Army,” ten scouts led by Sir Bayard, the newly appointed Internal Affairs Knight and Attendant Captain, were scouting the hills and dense forests within an arrow’s shot on both sides of the road. A few days ago, when clearing the traps and roadblocks set by the Talburg defenders, a few harassing enemy Soldiers would occasionally rush out of the hills and dense forests on both sides of the road, or a few cold arrows would be shot. Now that the main army was advancing, they had learned their lesson and sent scouts ahead to occupy various hills and dense forests to ensure the army was not subjected to sporadic harassment.
Just above a clump of weeds on the northern side of the dense forest where Bayard stood, eight Talburg Soldiers were lurking.
“Sergeant, should we go and harass them?” Roan, who had been lying in the grass all morning, gently stretched his limbs and asked Angus, who had been staring intently ahead.
Angus pulled out the grass root he had been chewing for half a day and quietly replied to Roan, “They’ve learned their lesson and are scouting very carefully now. If we force a harassment, we might get entangled. Anyway, My Lord Art has prepared enough arrows and rolling stones for them in Talburg, so let them go and have a hot meal.”
“Guys, retreat!” With that, Angus led the way, crawling backward, and in a short while, eight figures disappeared into the dense forest on the other side of the hill…
Two hours later, Talburg welcomed its first batch of enemies since its reconstruction and garrisoning.
Art, standing on the inner fort tower of Talburg, had not expected Baron Geoffrey to bring an army of hundreds in the first round of attack.
Looking at the enemy troops covering the wagon road in front of Talburg, an uncontrollable excitement surged within Art.
Since establishing the Patrol Team, the enemies he had faced were mostly scattered troops or mountain bandits and vagrants, and the battles he participated in and commanded were mostly sneak attacks and harassment. But this time, he would face an army led by a Baron and Knights head-on. Although he had the protection of walls and fortifications, commanding such a formal battle still made him a little nervous. A correct decision would leave enemy corpses below the city, while a wrong decision would burden him with human lives. Regardless, many bones were destined to be left here.
According to Art’s prior arrangements, the first round of Talburg’s defense would be led by Odo. Odo had stationed two temporarily formed Soldier squads and two farmer squads (including eight archers) totaling twenty-four people on Talburg’s outer wall directly facing the wagon road, under the specific command of Kazak and Tuba; the left, right, and rear sides of the outer wall were rugged and difficult to attack, so only three people were assigned to defend each; on the inner fort tower, two farmers and four laborers operated the trebuchets; and the side platform of Talburg was defended by Bass with seven archers (temporarily assigned).
Inside Talburg, apart from two temporarily formed combat squads (including Soldiers, farmers, and laborers) kept as reserves, all other personnel (prisoners, laborers, serfs) provided assistance to the Soldiers defending the outer wall. From transporting arrows and rolling stones, delivering weapons to treating the wounded and preparing food, they were responsible for everything. Even at critical moments of the siege, these people had to pick up the Soldiers’ weapons and join the fight.
Upon reaching Talburg, the enemy Soldiers did not conduct pre-battle rest. After only an hour of hasty preparation, the first probing attack began.