Winter Lord: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 66 Departure
Louis stood on an open space on one side of the camp, looking at the troops lined up in front of him.

The total number of knights was twenty elite knights, fifty regular knights, one hundred and three apprentice knights, and four hundred infantrymen.

This is the entire force he brought to Qingyu Ridge.

Needless to say, the soldiers and knights of the Red Tide Territory are well-trained and have high morale.

After a long period of training, the team's average loyalty to Luis is 150%.

The troops that Jon brought were also surprisingly well-organized.

His bright silver-trimmed light armor stood out in the crowd, with a group of fully equipped knights and infantry behind him.

It seems that Earl Harvey has indeed invested a lot in this youngest son, fearing that he might die mysteriously in the North.

There were also a few unfamiliar faces in the crowd.

Those were all stuffed in by Viscount Webster, Louis understood at a glance.

He had no badges on him, but it was clear that he came from a long-established noble family in the North.

Their role was clearly not just to provide support; their real task was to oversee Louis.

What truly caught Louis's attention was an elite knight named Bond.

He was taciturn, with a cold face, and his hand never left the hilt of his sword.

He's just a bit ugly, and doesn't look like 007 at all.

Although he appeared unassuming, Louis, with his daily intelligence network, knew very well that this man was a secret envoy of the Governor's Office.

If Louis does anything that betrays the empire, he has the right to act first and report later.

So Louis instructed Lambert and the other elite knights to keep an eye on him, lest he suddenly go berserk and kill himself.

While Louis was organizing the military train, Jon approached.

He waved the others away and asked in a low voice, "By the way, why did you volunteer to go to Qingyu Ridge, boss?"

Louis, of course, couldn't just tell him directly that he had a daily intelligence system.

"Reason?" Louis thought for a moment, but was too lazy to make one up. "Intuition, I guess. I felt there was an opportunity to make a contribution."

“I see…” Yorn had an “I understand” look on his face.

"So you did plant a mole within the Snowsworn, didn't you?"

Louis was slightly taken aback: "Huh?"

“Look, you were able to save me that day because you knew where I was, right? And you also happened to know that Hasker would go through the canyon, and this time you chose Qingyu Ridge.”

Yorn became more and more excited as he spoke: "As expected of the boss, he actually planted an informant among the Snowsworn. That's awesome."

Louis looked at him with a complicated expression, but didn't offer any further explanation.

Yorn patted his chest in relief and said, "Maybe I can get a big reward this time."

The tidying up work is nearing completion.

The troops were arranged in four columns, their iron helmets gleaming faintly in the sunlight, their fighting spirit barely perceptible in the air.

The horn sounded.

Louis mounted his horse, glanced around, and waved his hand.

"Let's go, destination: Qingyu Ridge."

…………

Before dawn, the northern border was shrouded in thick snow and fog, and the view was mostly gray and white.

Snow Shadow Highlands were shrouded in deathly silence, where the Snow Oath warriors from three strongholds had gathered.

A dark, twisted totem pole stands in the center of the wasteland.

Barnes stood on the totem platform, draped in an ice wolf skin.

Red battle markings extended from his forehead to his chest, and a Cold Abyss Battle Axe stood at his feet.

He was one of the descendants of the surviving nobles of the old Snow Kingdom, and he witnessed the night when the imperial cavalry trampled the Snow Capital and the snowfields were burned to the ground.

His brothers and sisters all died in the empire's purge, and he was the only one who escaped.

Thus, he became one of the founders of the Snow Oath Clan and one of the eight elders of the Snow Oath Clan.

Currently, he leads the Snowsworn in Snowpeak County.

He was extremely loyal to Hero, the leader of the Snowsworn, and saw him as the last hope for the bloodline of the Old King.

This time, Hiro personally ordered Barnes to launch a full-scale attack on Snow Eagle City, with no room for failure. Barnes looked down at the thousands of warriors below.

These people are not a rabble; they are all elites who survived the battles on the snowy plains.

They were clad in armor, some made of rough animal hides, others of gleaming iron plates.

Each piece of equipment is different, yet they all bear the marks of long battles.

The front row was a shield and spear formation, with spears bound with animal bones that gleamed coldly in the mist.

In the back row were wolf riders; a huge snow wolf stood silently on the wasteland, its blue eyes gleaming.

And then there's the most feared Mad Wolf Squad.

They were covered in black cloth and bone fragments, wielded short blades, and had the bloodstains of the ancient god of the Cold Abyss painted on their faces. They were the elite of the Snow Oath warriors.

The entire army had no military flag and no unified command, yet it maintained its own order.

They are waiting.

With just one command, it will crush Snow Eagle City like an avalanche.

Before the totem, the Cold Abyss Priest knelt, chanting ancient words in a low voice. His voice echoed through the wasteland, seeping into people's hearts like a nightmare.

They cursed the empire and recounted the demise of the Snow Kingdom in its ancient language.

"They burned down our homes, they killed our brothers..."

The soldiers pounded their chests and roared in unison, their voices rising in waves.

Barnes clutched the tattered old badge, his gaze sweeping over the crowd in the wasteland.

“You all recognize this,” he said in a low voice, “it’s the emblem of the Snow Country.”

He held the badge high, then let it fall to the cold ground.

“We once had our own country, a snow capital, a royal court, and a name.”

"It was the Iron-Blooded Empire that destroyed all of this, burned our homes, killed our loved ones, and trampled our dignity with their iron cavalry."

He paused for a moment, his gaze icy.

"We are those who avenge our oaths, not rebels, but those who bring ruin to our nation."

Now those southern barbarians are gathering their army again, intending to completely annihilate us.

"very good."

He reached out and grasped the Cold Abyss Battle Axe, its blade pointing south: "This time, we will launch a preemptive counterattack; we will take Snow Eagle City."

We must pay for this blood debt with blood.

As soon as he finished speaking, the soldiers cut their fingers and splattered their blood on the ground in front of the totem.

This represents their determination to destroy the empire.

Then the actual sacrifice began.

Several nobles and knights dressed in imperial attire were suspended upside down on the ice altar.

His mouth was stuffed with a rag, so he could only make muffled groans.

They were wounded, and blood dripped continuously into the grooves of the altar.

The Cold Abyss Priest walked up to them, gently stroking the cold stone surface while chanting an ancient incantation.

"Ancient God of the Cold Abyss, please bestow your blessing."

The ground trembled slightly, and a faint crawling sound came from under the ice jar.

The fog condensed, as if the air had been sucked away.

The prisoners' bodies began to shrivel, their blood seemed to be sucked away, black blood seeped from their seven orifices, and they eventually turned into skeletons.

An eerie blue flame ignited atop the totem pole, while a muffled, strange noise emanated from the ground.

The priest loudly translated the ancient god's "words": "God, it is permitted."

The soldiers erupted in cheers, shattering the silence of the world.

Barnes raised his battle axe, pointing the blade towards Snow Eagle City: "Let's go."

No flags, no drums.

The black, surging figure moved silently through the wind and snow, heading straight for Snow Eagle City.

(End of this chapter)