The moonlight night is about to pass, the stars disperse, and a dark gray glow appears on the eastern skyline. The cool breeze blows through the wheat fields and grasses on the Po River plain, turning into droplets of autumn dew that are about to fall.

Suddenly, there was a shock all around. A pair of cowhide boots trampled down the dewy grass, followed by the second pair, the third pair, and countless pairs of boots...

The people on these boots are all soldiers wearing armor and holding spears, axes and swords. They belong to Count Von Biron on the frontier of the Principality of Lombardy. After being carefully selected, they quietly sneaked out of the city of Santia at 10:00 last night.

They marched non-stop all night long, taking advantage of the moonlight covering the Po River plain. They wanted to flank the Burgundian garrison before dawn and launch a surprise attack.

This army of 2,000 men is almost entirely infantry. They were all carefully selected by von Bilen, and they can basically be regarded as the elite of the Patriot Army.

Von Bilen accepted Art's invitation to fight and led his troops to go north for a decisive battle.

But he is not a playboy who has just experienced combat. Decades of combat experience have taught him caution and conspiracy.

He had fought against the black-robed army before and was well aware of the opponent's strength and treachery. Moreover, even Walderbury, known as the Earl of Hundred Wars, was defeated in front of the enemy's formation, so he was even more cautious.

Therefore, the posture of going north to meet the enemy is just a cover. It is impossible for Von Bilen to lead his army into the fighting place agreed by the Burgundians. He can think with his toes that the fighting place must have been dug into a trap by the Burgundians. He just waits

Let him drill.

So after arriving at Santia City at noon yesterday, he sent people to clear the internal blockade of information, and at the same time ordered to immediately select elites to reward them with gold and silver to promise military exploits.

As soon as it got dark, he personally led this elite infantry of 2,000 people to make a surprise attack in a detour.

According to Fon Bilen's idea, it would be best if he could successfully attack the enemy camp and annihilate the enemy in one fell swoop. Even if he failed to attack the camp successfully, he could arrive at a battlefield that the enemy had not expected one day in advance and fight the enemy in a decisive battle. At least he would be able to obtain

Battlefield initiative.

In addition to selecting the old and weak remnant soldiers who stayed in Santia City, there was also a light and heavy cavalry of about 500 cavalry. These cavalry will serve as the main force and lead the remaining 2,000 infantry to go north according to the agreed route, forming a horn with the flanking army.

, allowing the Burgundians to be attacked on both sides and unable to deal with it flawlessly.

As the supreme commander, Von Bilen naturally would not run on foot all night long like ordinary soldiers. Like the small number of cavalry in the night attack army, the horses under him were also hoofed and almost made no sound.

Von Bilen raised his eyes to look at the east, and then looked around at the densely packed troops walking through the wheat fields. Fortunately, this was a plain area, marching in the dark, and unable to use torch lighting, it was unimaginable to do it in other places.

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"Send the order to take a short rest and let the sentry come over to report the location." Feng Bilen ordered to the guard beside him.

As the low-pitched military orders were passed, the tired army that had been attacking all night stopped immediately. The soldiers slumped on the ground and quickly took out their water bags and poured food into their bellies. If it weren't for yesterday's heavy rewards and generous promises of military exploits, this would have been impossible.

After running through the night, these soldiers may have mutinied long ago.

Von Bilen took the corned beef handed by the guard, tore off a piece and threw it into his mouth, chewed it for a while, then raised the wine in the wine bag and drank it down.

"Back to your lord, Lord Earl, this place is on the edge of the Reach. Less than two miles ahead is Storm's End Castle, which is currently occupied by the enemy."

"Less than three hours to the west of Storm's End, there is the enemy's garrison camp. If we can move faster, we will definitely be able to break into the enemy camp before the enemy has breakfast."

The former military sentry commander reported the location to von Biron and asked: "Storm's End Castle in front may become an obstacle for the army to cross the border. If we bypass Storm's End Castle, we will need to run for an extra hour, and I am afraid that the soldiers' physical strength will be even greater by then."

If it is large, it will be disadvantageous in combat."

Von Biron waved his hand, "No need to take a detour, just send a small army to hold off the defenders of Storm's End. We have an army of thousands, but we still have to worry about the hundred or ten enemy troops!"

"Send the order, advance quickly, and arrive at the enemy camp before dawn. All the property gained in today's battle will belong to the officers and soldiers..."

............

Storm's End, a fortress guarding the gateway to the Reach in the Po Plains.

However, there has been no war in the Lombardy Po River plain for a hundred years, so the castle is not as strong as it seems.

After the Battle of Rock Castle, the Welsh Army left the border and marched south to conquer Lombardy. The two commanders Odo and Angus each led their troops to attack various military fortress towns near the mountain pass.

Due to the suddenness, Otto led 200 men to capture this military fortress with less than 30 troops in less than two days. The Lombard soldiers stationed there had long since abandoned the city and fled.

Today, this military fort is stationed by the Sap Company of the Southern Border Guards of the Legion of Wales. The commander of the garrison is Felix, Art's brother-in-law, now Baron of Wales and the palace's southern military adjutant.

In Storm's End, the original castle residents had fled with the defenders, and only two hundred infantry led by Felix and a dozen cavalry guards were left in the castle.

The small castle had more than two hundred troops stationed, and one or two thousand men could not defeat it in ten days and a half. But although Felix was young, he had been honed in battle for many years, and he was very cautious in marching and fighting.

So he divided his more than two hundred soldiers into four fifty-man teams.

The first team was scattered around the farms, mills, small villages and roads and bridges near Storm's End to guard and watch, the second team was stationed on the city walls to guard, the third team was stationed in the castle for rotation, and the fourth team was a reserve team under his personal control.

The four teams rotate every two days.

In addition, Felix also divided the work with two adjutants, taking turns to patrol every day to prevent the soldiers from slacking off and enemy sneak attacks.

Felix was on duty in the second half of the night today. He had just inspected the city wall and returned to his barracks. The bodyguard brought a plate of stew and a glass of beer and put them on the table. "Lord Baron, Adjutant Marr has already received the patrol.

You should eat something and rest quickly, we will have to patrol south after dawn."

Felix stood up and walked to the wooden frame with some bumps. With the help of his bodyguards, he took off his helmet, chain mail, iron hands, and combat boots. He returned to the table and devoured the meat, finishing the large plate of stew like a storm.

But just as he wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth and lay down, the siren of Storm's End was sounded.

Immediately, Mal, the night watch adjutant, knocked on Felix's door hastily, "Lord Baron, enemy attack from the south!"

Felix had already woken up. He stood up suddenly and opened the door. "The enemy situation?"

"The scattered sentries in the mill in the south of the city have just reported that a team is coming from the south. The sentries keeping watch outside the city have discovered the enemy troops, and the enemy troops have also discovered them."

"Seven of the eight soldiers in the mill were killed by enemy outposts. The soldier who escaped to report back was also stabbed and is about to die."

"It was too dark, and the soldiers who reported the news did not know the strength and details of the enemy's troops."

Felix's mind was racing. The military intelligence briefing he received from the General Staff at noon yesterday did not contain any predictions or warnings about the enemy's sneak attack on Storm's End. He really couldn't imagine where the enemy was coming from.

By the time Felix climbed up to the watchtower of Storm's End, wearing armor and holding a sword, the enemy force that had suddenly arrived had already appeared more than 200 paces outside the west wall of Storm's End.

Felix had a cold sweat on his forehead.

Outside Storm's End, hundreds of torches tore through the pre-dawn night. Under the light of the torches, there were thousands of soldiers.

After calming down for a while, Felix immediately ordered the entire army to prepare for war, preparing for the enemy to storm the castle.

However, Felix did not expect that just as he ordered to defend against the enemy, thousands of enemy troops outside the city actually turned around with torches and headed towards the legion's garrison camp in the northwest, leaving less than a hundred people on guard and surveillance outside the city.

"No! The enemy's target is not Storm's End. They plan to raid the legion camp!" Felix saw the enemy's intention. They knew that they had been seen by the defenders of Storm's End, so they simply stopped hiding.

Moving forward, we collected materials at the castle and made a torch. Using the torch, we brazenly bypassed Storm's End and raided the Welsh Legion garrison camp.

Felix couldn't just watch the enemy troops pass by Storm's End and raid the rear camp. He immediately ordered his bodyguards' cavalry and the second and fourth regiments of infantry to assemble and follow him out of the city to stop the enemy.

"Lord Baron, there are thousands of enemy troops. If they dare to walk past us with torches, they will definitely not be afraid of us attacking and intercepting them. What's more, could this be a trick by them to lure us out of the city?" Felix's adjutant

Mal blocked his imminent action.

"My Lord Earl ordered me to garrison Storm's End Castle. If we allow the enemy troops to pass through, once they actually attack the camp, we will be equally guilty." Felix is ​​determined to lead his army out of the city to stop the enemy, but he is also worried about the enemy's tricks.

, "After I leave the city, you immediately close the city gate. Unless the earl orders it, no one is allowed to open the city gate, including me!"

Mal is Felix's subordinate, and he knows Felix's mood at this moment, "Lord Baron, if you have to go out of the city to stop the enemy, let me lead the army out of the city. Storm's End guards the flanks of the army to prevent it from falling into the hands of the enemy. You are

Commander of the Storm's End garrison, I cannot leave you here. Besides, you are the Earl's brother-in-law, so you must not make any mistakes."

Marr's hidden meaning is that this time he goes out to the city to stop the enemy, his life or death is uncertain. If he dies in battle, it will be fine. If Felix is ​​captured alive and the enemy uses him as a shield, Art will definitely be afraid of him.

Felix is ​​no longer the impulsive playboy he once was. He slapped the former young hunter on the shoulder and said, "I'll leave the cavalry and two groups of infantry to you. Remember, fight and retreat, and you can't fight to the death with the enemy."

Felix immediately turned around and ordered to the captain of the soldiers, "Go and take out five bombs from the iron box in my barracks. If the war situation becomes extremely urgent, use these things to save your life."

"Lord Baron, we only have ten coins in total, and you still have to guard Storm's End~"

Felix raised his hand to stop, "Let's talk after today."

After a while, Mal, the deputy commander of Sap Company, led ten cavalry and more than a hundred infantry to rush out of Storm's End, broke through the more than a hundred enemy troops remaining behind, and bit the tail of the torch army...

At Storm's End, Felix clenched his fists and looked at the fighting in the distance, and shouted to the messenger, "Immediately send three people on fast horses out of the city, in three groups, to arrive at the legion camp before the enemy, and to warn the earl.

"
Chapter completed!