Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords.

Chapter 252 Red Viper

In previous years, the highland sun at the end of June was scorching hot, scorching this southern region.

But now it is mid-May and the temperature in Cologne has only just risen enough to allow people to wear thick woolen sweaters. However, at night, the huge temperature difference still makes people gather around the fire and are reluctant to leave.

But no matter how reluctant he was to leave the warm house, after receiving the news from his men, Olorun had to shake off his mistress, slowly put on his leather armor and hung up his sword.

"Are you going so late? Can't you wait until dawn?" The mistress in white said frankly with some dissatisfaction.

I'm afraid anyone would be dissatisfied if they stopped halfway through.

"What can I do if those damn northerners attack me? And that damn Lion Hunter Knight, why don't they just stay in that remote place in the wilderness?" Olorun cursed, but he laughed at this time: "But it's fortunately because of them that I can earn so much commission."

Olorun is the leader of a mercenary group, and he has 5,000 brothers who follow him for a living.

Normally, he works for some nobles or takes on missions for caravans. Of course, he occasionally plays the role of a robber and robs some small mountain villages.

Therefore, despite the fact that there were many of them, their status was still low, not even as high as that of a knight, and they were hated by many nobles.

But he didn't expect that such a huge pie would fall into his hands like this.

Originally, he was wanted by the nobles of the Western Territory because he looted a village in the Western Territory. In order to avoid the limelight, he came to the Southern Territory, but he did not expect that the Duke of the Southern Territory would actually summon him.

And promised him that as long as the war was over, he would not only receive a large commission, but also be made a baron.

If the former still made him consider whether or not to join the fight between the two dukes, then the reward for the latter directly filled his heart with greed.

"The Lion Hunting Knight has a terrifying reputation. I heard that the number of people he has killed alone could fill up an entire town." The curvy mistress spoke of the rumors she had heard from the streets, with a hint of fear on her face.

"Haha, he's just a young boy. I've heard about his deeds in the West." Olorun said with disdain: "Even in front of me, the Red Viper, he has to kneel down and lick my eagle."

The reason he was able to become the leader of such a large mercenary group was all thanks to his unfathomable and venomous gun skills. He even killed a giant monster in a one-on-one situation.

Therefore, he had no fear of this Lion Hunting Knight, not to mention that he was said to be a mercenary in the West.

Most likely he is just a lucky guy.

"Boss, that old guy has been urging us for quite some time."

At this moment, the mercenary outside the door wearing leather armor and a pointed helmet spoke again.

"When I come back, I'll let you lick it first." The red viper smiled and grabbed Naizi fiercely before turning away.

He headed towards the walls of Cologne with a few of his confidants, and when he was hired by the Duke, he was sent to guard the western wall of Cologne.

Cologne is located on a plateau, surrounded by vast fields. From the city wall, one can even see the shores of Lake Cero in the distance, so the entire field of vision is unobstructed.

Now in these fields, white tents are popping up like mushrooms after rain, densely packed, brightly lit by torches, stretching to the end of the sight.

"This horrible weather is not suitable for fighting. We should stay indoors, play with women, and drink hot mare's milk."

A gust of cold wind blew, and Olorun couldn't help but shiver, and immediately started cursing.

"Don't forget our contract, Olorun. Only by defending the city walls can you obtain everything we promised you."

A calm and peaceful voice came from behind. Olorun turned his head and saw the familiar face. He smiled and said, "It's Master Panto. Do you have any instructions for me?"

"The enemy has already reached the city. According to the officers' speculation, they may launch an attack tomorrow, or the next time you urinate." Panto was wearing a loose robe, with no expression on his fat face. "So, what you should do now is to hold the city wall instead of playing with that damn bitch!"

Originally he was just a castle scholar, responsible for managing some affairs and teaching the descendants of the Iseli family. Now he is over fifty years old and his hair is completely white. Logically, he doesn't need to work so hard in the middle of the night, but now that Damon has taken the senior officers away, he can only serve as the temporary garrison commander of Cologne.

After all, we can't count on a woman like Penny and the little duke who is only thirteen or fourteen years old.

"Lord Panto, you are really too worried." Olorun was not angry, but said with a smile: "The wall of Koren is 28 blades high. Unless the group of northerners on the opposite side grow wings, it is impossible for them to reach the wall in a short time."

"Who knows?" Panto said noncommittally.

Just looking outside the city worriedly.

To be honest, no one expected the war to turn out like this.

At that time, facing the Grand Duke of the Northern Territory who was heading south, they all agreed that even though the Southern Territory's military strength might be inferior, this gap would be eliminated because of the geographical advantage.

The only outcome for the other side was to leave a large number of corpses on this land, and then have to retreat to their own doghouse in embarrassment.

But no one expected that the main force that had been deployed at Blackrock Castle would suddenly be led south by Damon, and they have not returned until now.

And now the opponent has been winning streak all the way, and has reached Cologne in just over a month.

After the soldiers were withdrawn, Cologne was left with only the city guards, temporarily recruited mercenaries, and conscripted militia.

The nobles in Cologne denounced this dereliction of duty every day, regardless of the risk of being killed by Damon.

Some soldiers even felt that such resistance was meaningless and disappeared the next day. It was not until they caught a dozen soldiers who had slacked off and skinned them in front of everyone that they put a severe end to this bad habit.

Otherwise, they would probably surrender before the fight even started.

All this was too absurd. This was a war concerning his own life, but Marshal Damon ignored it.

To put it bluntly, although it seemed that the young duke inherited the title, most of the nobles in the North actually supported Daemon, and it was this rogue knight who had the real say.

But now the other party seems to have completely forgotten all this.

Panto also sent people and messengers to inquire, but the only message he received was to hold on, without any news of support or preparation to return.

So now after the defeat of old Marquis Cross of Blackstone Castle, Panto had to start thinking about how to guard Cologne with Cologne's 10,000 city guards, 20,000 conscripted militiamen and 10,000 hired mercenaries.

Finally, a conclusion was reached - that is, unless Damon came back to help, or a meteorite fell from the sky and hit the Northern Legion, the city of Coron could not be defended.

Therefore, what he was thinking about now was no longer the defense of Cologne, but what he and Penny's people should do after Cologne fell. Frankly speaking, he was just a bachelor who was proficient in some political affairs, knowledge and medical skills, and knew nothing about military affairs.

Even the famous general, the old Marquis Cross, failed to defend Blackstone Castle. He didn't think he could defend Colen just because the city walls were half as high.

"Olorun, the Duke of the West has already told me through letters what you did in the West." Panto looked at the leader of the mercenary group and decided to give him some eye drops to make him work harder in the next defense of the city: "So you should know the consequences of losing this war."

Olorun's face suddenly turned ugly, and the light in his eyes flickered.

……

When I stood on the hillside again, I looked out through the telescope at the city of Cologne ahead.

Levi couldn't help but feel very sad.

It seems like just yesterday when the man, the beast and Leah escaped from Cologne, but now, when you count carefully, it has been almost a year.

He is no longer a lonely soldier, but now a famous Lion Hunting Knight and Lord of High Cliff Castle, with a territory of nearly 10,000 people and thousands of elite soldiers under his command.

In the sky above the city of Cologne, several snowbirds of the ice and snow wizards were circling back and forth, flying high or circling low from time to time, always keeping a certain distance to avoid being shot down by the opponent's spellcasters or crossbows.

"Sir, do you think we can take this city?" Leighton stood in the grass nest where new buds had already sprouted, looking at the twenty-eight-blade-high city wall of Cologne, his face full of worry.

As a native of the wilderness, it had not seen too many fortified cities or deep moats. According to its thinking, it originally thought that Blackrock Castle with its thirteen-blade walls was already a big city, but now it found that it was not the case at all.

If facing Blackrock Castle just makes one feel like a frog in a well, then facing Colen, whose walls have twenty-eight blades, one feels completely insignificant while the world is vast.

Even though the distance was far, the huge aura still hit me in the face.

"We have to fight even if we can't win." Levi retracted the telescope and looked towards the team camp behind him.

There, countless military craftsmen were assembling ladders and siege vehicles overnight.

According to the officers' calculations, even if carrying the siege equipment manufactured in Blackstone Castle would slow down the marching speed, it would still be much faster than rebuilding it in Cologne.

Therefore, it was unanimously decided to bring these siege engines with them, and they only needed to be assembled and strengthened before they could be used.

"Are our catapults and crossbows ready?" he then asked.

"My lord, including Count Montvert's, we have a total of five catapults and twelve crossbows, and dozens of barrels of kerosene, which is more than enough to support a battle." Leighton said.

Levi nodded.

When he discovered pine wood in the wilderness, he sent people to collect it and made it into kerosene.

Because it is too rich in oil and easily self-ignites, this kind of pine wood is only found in the cold north and is almost non-existent in Derby.

This thing's effect is far inferior to alchemical creations like wildfire, so it's not a military banned item. No one would criticize him even if he used it.

To be honest, no one expected the war to last this long. They imagined that everyone would have to go through a hard battle to capture Cologne, but the fact was just the opposite. It could be said that they had it too smooth along the way.

The only loss was that half of the spellcasters were ambushed by Cross. As for the thousands of soldiers killed by wildfire, considering the Northern Legion of more than 200,000, it was only a small loss at most.

Faced with the Northern Legion heading south, the Bone Fortress in the south suddenly faced a crisis, and Damon had to go south to provide assistance.

To be honest, they felt that God was blessing them. Even the lord couldn't help but pray in his heart that the Goddess of Holy Light would bless them.

Because it was really too much of a coincidence, otherwise, according to normal development, they would probably still be fighting hard in the town of Kalia, and there is no way they could have reached Cologne now.

"I don't know how Tina is doing in Highcliff Castle without me, the Lord, and whether that little thing Buji is having a tantrum, and whether the wheat has been harvested."

"Did the trolls rebel? Did the trolls work hard on ironmaking?"

Having been away from home for too long, the lord couldn't help but begin to feel a little homesick, and his heart was filled with a lot of worries.

However, Gaoya Castle is too far away. A raven has to fly for a week, and no raven can fly back to Gaoya Castle from here.

The lord made up his mind that he must get a few magic stones of communication after this incident. When he really misses home, he can chat with Tina on the phone for a long time.

……

Early in the morning of the second day when the Northern Army was fully stationed outside the city of Cologne, countless captives from the Southern Territory were driven to the open space in a state of anxiety.

They had nothing in their hands and were wearing tattered cotton-padded clothes. They wondered if it was because they had eaten too much in the past few days that the Northerners didn't want to feed them, a bunch of parasites, and were ready to drag them out to be beheaded en masse or to be used as cannon fodder.

Just when they were feeling nervous, the noble said that he would spare their lives. They were in disbelief until the other party repeated it again. Then they were overjoyed.

As for the fact that they had to go south to the Bone Fortress or something like that, they didn't care at all.

Sis listened to all this in silence. When the old Marquis Cross was executed by the enemy, he became the commander of this defeated army.

He had vented his anger at first, but no matter how bloody his hand was, it couldn't change the established facts.

Old Marquis Cross is dead. Even if their defeated army still has 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers, they are now just prisoners and are useless in the current situation.

The only hope is to go south and reunite with Marshal Damon to turn things around.

Therefore, after handing them several carts of supplies pulled by old horses and broken swords and guns, he commanded the team to continue moving south, without even looking at Cologne, and marched towards the Bone Fortress.

Thousands of armored cavalry sent by the Northern Legion followed them coldly until sunset, when they turned back in the afterglow.

For Florina, these more than 30,000 people had already suffered a defeat and their morale was low, making it difficult for them to regroup and continue attacking the North.

Not to mention that the enemy didn't even have leather armor, only cotton clothes and broken weapons. They were not even as good as the militia, and could be defeated by a cavalry charge.

Therefore, instead of wasting rations, it would be better to release them to the Bone Fortress to consume more demons, which would also help her restore her reputation.

(End of this chapter)