On the early morning of the eighteenth day when Burgundy and Swabia officially declared war, Talburg was still holding on.

In the past eighteen days, Jeffrey's army never stormed Tal Fort again, and the number of enemy troops outside Tal Fort gradually increased. The enemy soldiers injured in the battle to storm Tal Fort twenty days ago were sent back to Bill.

Tenberg was recuperated and treated, and the forty peasant soldiers and fifteen craftsmen who were again forcibly recruited were sent to the enemy camp outside Talburg together with their craftsman apprentices.

In the next ten days or so, the enemy camp outside the fort looked like a large carpentry workshop. Fifteen craftsmen and dozens of laborers were busy day and night in the camp. Six long wooden ladders equipped with iron hooks had been completed.

A large counterweight trebuchet and a shield-top battering ram have basically taken shape through the work of the craftsmen, and will be ready for use in three or two days.

"It seems that Jeffrey is planning to capture Tal Fort." Odo accompanied Art and looked at the enemy camp that had been busy for more than ten days on the hillside. He couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

and worries.

Except for the base of the wall, which is made of stone strips, most of the outer walls of the Tal Fort are made of mixed civil and wood structures. Such walls cannot withstand the strong impact of boulders thrown by heavy trebuchets. Once the enemy's trebuchet is completed,

, under the bombardment of several waves of boulders, the outer wall of Tal Fort will inevitably collapse, and the defenders who have lost the protection of the wall will face face-to-face hand-to-hand combat.

Art looked at the enemy camp down the hillside with a serious face. Although he guessed that the enemy would continue to besiege Tarburg, he did not expect that Baron Jeffrey could make such a heavy counterweight in such a short period of time.

Trebuchets and shield-topped battering rams.

??In the nearly one month since Tarburg was under siege, Art received an urgent letter from the county town of Glaru through the Angus team wandering around. Art knew about the Countess of Burgundy and Shi

The Duchy of Wabon has gone into full-scale war, and the Duchy of Burgundy to the west has also dispatched troops to assist the Duchy of Burgundy as scheduled. Now that a large-scale campaign has begun in the north, the war pressure on the southern border should have been reduced. After all, here

It is not the main battlefield. More troops should go north to gather for battle, but Baron Jeffrey seems not to be affected by the war in the north at all, and just puts all his energy into Tarburg...

Art came back to his senses and replied: "I never thought about defending Tal Fort in the first place, because this place cannot be defended at all."

Odo didn't know what Art planned to do, but the worry in his heart did not lessen. "Sir, I think their siege equipment will be completed soon, and they will probably launch a large-scale attack in the next few days."

, what else can we do except defend desperately?"

Art chuckled lightly and turned to look at this man who was a few years older than him. During the past two months he was stationed at Tal Fort, he not only had to assist Art in commanding operations, but also trained soldiers and managed chores. He had brown hair and

My hair actually started to turn white.

"Odo, are you afraid?" Art asked.

Otto didn't hesitate at all and replied firmly: "Sir, I am alone and have no worries. If my head falls off, I will not blink an eye. I just think that I have just laid a foundation with you. If I die like this,

In the abandoned military fort, I feel somewhat unwilling."

?"As long as you are not afraid of death, only those who are not afraid of death should survive." Art said something puzzling.

?"Odo, light the smoke to summon Angus back, and then select fifteen soldiers who are agile and courageous enough. Jeffrey can't calm down anymore. We will take action tonight." Art explained to Odo.

After a few words, he walked down the outer wall.

Baron Jeffery is really losing his composure. The county town of Tebrunn has issued two orders to urge him to move westward and occupy the city of Glaru, an important place on the southeastern border of Burgundy within a month, so as to form a deterrent to the northern lowlands.

, or immediately withdraw from Talburg and send troops north to support the Northland Army, which has begun fierce fighting.

Of course, Baron Jeffrey didn't want to go to the north. Large-scale battles were taking place there every day, with countless soldiers killed and injured. Moreover, his wife and children were still imprisoned in the dungeon of Tal Fort, so it was necessary to capture Tal Fort as soon as possible and march westward.

Jeffrey was the best choice. For this reason, he did not hesitate to force all the craftsmen in the Bilten area to come to the Talburg camp to make siege equipment, in order to accumulate strength and capture Talburg in one fell swoop.

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

In a small cave five miles southeast of Tarburg, the team led by Angus and Ron hid here for three days, and the eight people in the team were reduced to five.

In the twenty or thirty days since they left Talburg and formed an army alone to harass the enemy, the Angus team had killed and wounded eleven enemy soldiers, and the Swabian enemy who had established a firm foothold also continued to send out small groups.

Elite soldiers wiped them out. During these twenty or thirty days, although Angus led everyone around and hid, the team still paid the price of killing one person and seriously injuring two others. The brothers who died in the battle have been buried on the spot.

The two seriously injured people were quietly sent to Galalu County for treatment.

In the small cave, Angus and two soldiers built a small bonfire and cooked broth. In the past ten days, in order to prevent the enemies from discovering their traces, no one had dared to light a fire to cook for fear of the dangers caused by the bonfire.

The thick smoke exposed the team's position. Fortunately, it was still hot and they didn't have to worry about getting cold. However, after eating hard bread and bacon for more than ten days, everyone was already complaining.

In the past day or two, the enemy soldiers stopped searching and chasing, and Angus led the remaining soldiers to find this small cave. They built a small bonfire in the cave and cooked some broth and bread crumbs.

He picked up the small copper pot and drank a big mouthful of broth bread. Angaston felt a sense of relief in his stomach. He handed the copper pot to another soldier by the campfire, and then planned to go out to replace Ron who was on guard outside.

Jason and I came back to have some hot soup.

As soon as he got out of the cave, Ron ran back in a hurry.

"Sergeant Major, smoke is rising in the direction of Talburg! The master is calling us!"

Angus quickly got out of the cave entrance and followed Ron to the top of the hillside above the cave entrance. Looking at the two pillars of wolf smoke rising high in the distance, he wondered if Tal Fort had been attacked.

"Ron, call Jason back for a few sips of hot soup. We'll pack up immediately and prepare to go back to Tarburg." After that, he turned back to the cave and directed everyone to start packing weapons and supplies.

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

In the inner castle of Tarburg, Art summoned several commanders to discuss an important matter.

?"Sneak attack on the enemy camp?" several people exclaimed at the same time.

?"Yes, sneak attack on the enemy camp." Art said firmly.

"The enemy's heavy siege equipment is almost completed. If we wait for them to use those equipment to attack the outer wall, we won't even have the strength to fight back."

"But now that the enemy is on guard, they have set up high fences in their camp, and sentries are patrolling the camp all the time. How can we sneak attack the enemy camp?" Kazak questioned.

"I know, so I went to Baron Jeffrey today to propose Kaicheng's surrender." Art said the incredible word "surrender".

Several commanders were stunned into silence for a moment.

Art smiled and answered everyone's doubts, "Of course it's not a real surrender. Now that Baron Jeffery has heavy siege equipment, he must feel that he is sure of victory. Surrendering now is the easiest thing for him to believe and the easiest thing to make him relax."

of......"

…………

After breakfast, the gate of Talburg, which had been closed for nearly a month, opened. After lowering the simple suspension bridge, Art rode a war horse and led a soldier carrying his blood-eyed howling wolf heraldry flag and walked slowly towards the enemy camp.

Stopped just a stone's throw away from the enemy camp.

After a while, Baron Jeffrey rode a black horse out of the camp and walked towards Art, accompanied by two guards.

This was the first peaceful meeting between the two army commanders since the attack on Bültenberg.

"Dear Baron, I request a peaceful negotiation with you." Art stood on his horse and bowed slightly towards Baron Jeffrey.

Baron Jeffrey was a true nobleman. He had all the qualities of a nobleman. Although he hated the despicable guy in front of him, he still politely responded, "Sir, I guess you are leaving the city to surrender."

Right?"

Art looked back at Talburg behind him, shook his head and said, "No, no, I'm here to negotiate with you. As you can see, Talburg still stands here like a rock."

Baron Jeffrey sneered, pointed to the siege equipment in the camp behind him, and said: "In front of them, Tal Fort is just a pile of sand. I don't need to negotiate with you. If you refuse to come out, I will go in."

"

Art looked like his little trick had been exposed, and said with a hint of frustration: "Well, I have to admit that I can no longer hold on to this kind of military fortress in front of these behemoths."

Art adjusted his sitting posture, looked into Jeffrey's eyes and said: "Baron, I have decided to return your wife to you soon. I guarantee to God that your wife has not suffered any grievances in Tarburg.

"

Art's words aroused Baron Jeffrey's nerves, and his most important purpose in besieging Talburg desperately was to rescue his wife and children.

?"You know the current situation, if you let my wife and children go~" Jeffrey paused.

"You have no intention of releasing my son!!??" Jeffrey asked.

?"Lord Baron, I am not stupid enough for you to not take care of me at all. If I don't have a shield in my hand, how can I safely leave my back to the enemy?"

"Shameless!" Baron Jeffrey spat on the ground.

"Lord Baron, let's talk about the conditions. I have already planned to abandon Talburg. The two smokes you saw are to tell Glalu County that Talburg has been lost, so that they can prepare for the Swabian army's attack.

.My sincerity is very high. If you can consider my conditions, you will occupy Tarburg without spending a single soldier, and then drive straight into Gelaru County~" Art said with sincerity on his face.

"Conditions? The trebuchet and battering ram behind me are the best conditions!" Baron Jeffrey felt relaxed, but he would not be stupid enough to negotiate terms with Art immediately.

?"Lord Baron, please calm down. Of course I am afraid of the siege equipment you forged. Even the strongest castle cannot withstand their destruction, but you may pay the lives of many soldiers for it. And it will also affect your only son.

His safety." Art turned into a rogue again.

Baron Jeffrey felt angry for a while, and it took him a while to squeeze out a sentence from between his teeth: "Tell me the terms of your surrender..."

…………

Odo listened to the "negotiation" and Art, who returned, stated the conditions of the negotiation and raised questions, "The enemy will retreat twenty miles to allow us to safely evacuate with all the supplies, and we will also be given 20,000 pfennigs for 'departure military expenses.'"

~Isn’t this condition too outrageous? The enemy has the upper hand now, so they won’t agree to this condition, right?”

"They did not agree. Instead, they asked me to hand over the money they "plundered" from Biltenburg."

Art said with a smile: "It is normal for the enemy not to agree, but it is abnormal for us not to mention it like this. The more greedy we appear, the more the enemy will believe that we really intend to surrender."

"After some debate, Baron Jeffery agreed to lead his army to retreat ten miles east. After we handed over 30,000 pfennigs to Jeffrey, we could safely evacuate with the remaining supplies. As a condition, I promised to

After a safe retreat early tomorrow morning, return the only son to him, and promise not to destroy all the fortifications of Tal Fort, and hand them over to him completely together with the flanking platform, so that not only will he not have to lose a single soldier in the battle,

He can also get a military fort with complete fortifications. He has no reason to refuse such an offer, so the enemy will gradually withdraw from the stronghold at noon today."

Art stood up from the armchair and ordered: "Odo, call the officers above the leader of each squad combat team and the fifteen selected elite soldiers to the inner fort to inform them of my plan and give strict orders.

They are not allowed to spread the news. The rest of the soldiers, peasants and soldiers continue to defend the city, telling the laborers to prepare to pack up and pretend to retreat. You will be responsible for the Tal Fort. You not only have to pretend to be about to retreat to dispel the enemy's doubts.
To be continued...