Heart of the Castle

Chapter 277 The Great Army Suppresses the Territory, Li Wei Falls from the Sky

Tang Na and the others hurriedly withdrew from the Green Castle, and then the horn sounded again, and the entire siege force retreated away from the Green Castle, stopping only 500 meters away, and rearranged their formation .

The cavalry who did not participate in the siege battle were deployed at the rear of the entire army as a new force. Dragonson rode a tall horse and stood at the forefront of the cavalry, with a banner painted with the Iron Fist coat of arms flying above his head. Flying, murderous.On the other side was a phalanx of long spears composed of militiamen. The gleaming stainless steel spear heads shone with a chilling cold light against the sunlight.The line of defense composed of heavy infantry was mixed with the first row of spearmen, and the tall erected shields formed a solid barrier of wood and steel.Three flags fluttered above the infantry phalanx, including the blood-stained sword that was doomed not to go into battle.

Sir Grace's strider banner was also displayed, and his archers surrounded him, forming three horizontal rows in front of the infantry phalanx.After experiencing many battles, these archers have become mature. They adjusted the bowstring leisurely, took out long arrows from the quiver behind them, and then inserted them all in front of them.

After hastily bandaging the wound, Tang Na put on his armor again and appeared in front of the formation. The trauma on his body did not weaken his strength so much as it aroused the anger of this strong character ex-adventurer.He didn't ride a horse, because after all he hadn't received the training of a knight's charge, and he might as well use his bear-headed battle-axe instead of using a lance that wasn't very handy.

There was a faint sound of thumping drums in the distance, and the bronze trumpets echoed each other. Tang Na squinted his eyes and looked towards the opposite side, and saw countless figures and flags swaying on the hills in the distance. Most of these people were It was infantry, and only the captain leading the soldiers rode on horses.There are not many knights with family flags fluttering around them, but they are very separated, both on the left and the middle, and it seems that there are many people.

"The greedy guys who deserve to go to hell have come out!" Dickway cursed and walked over, standing shoulder to shoulder with Donna. "Master Tang Na, this time we may have a tough battle."

"Who are all the people here?" Tang Na asked.

"I can't recognize them all, but I can see five or six," Dickway replied, pointing his hand to the left. "That side is the badge of chains and shackles of the Darda family, the side next to it is the oak tree banner of the Sherwood family, and the gray tower of the Gauchak family..."

Dickway's voice suddenly stopped. Donna turned his head to look strangely, and found that the expression of this brave high-ranking knight became very stiff, and the muscles at the corners of his mouth twitched, but he couldn't speak.

"Master Dickway, what's the matter with you?"

Dickway's whole body was shocked, and he finally came to his senses, and said in a voice that was hoarse due to nervousness: "Lord Donna, Lord Cedric, the lord of Winterwind City, is here too! Look, that's his white wolf flag."

"Cedric, Lord of Winterwind?" Donna was no less astonished than Dickway, "Is that the white wolf who is known as the commander of the northern border? Cedric?"

"It's him. The lords north of the Dusk Forest all follow his lead, so this time, we're in big trouble!" Di Kewei watched the white wolf banner gradually approaching, and the anxiety on his face became heavier.

Tang Na was not so pessimistic. He looked at the troops encircling from the left, center and right, and slowly expressed his judgment. "These people have come from a long distance and are exhausted. It seems that their formation is not very neat, and they are not elite soldiers." The more he said, the more he felt that his judgment was correct. "Moreover, it is impossible for the troops of the surrounding lords to work for Sir Ridvan. It is not like we have no chance."

The Roaring Bear's judgment was not wrong. The troops assembled by the surrounding lords were large in number, and they looked mighty from a distance, and their momentum was astonishing.But as they approached, it became clear that their training and equipment were not very good.Not to mention leather armor, many spearmen didn't even have a helmet. They only wore thick coats that were so dirty that they couldn't see the color clearly.On the other hand, most of the knights under the little lords are just quasi-knights who have not realized the seeds of battle energy. They cannot wear knight armor, and they can be regarded as relatively powerful elite cavalry at best.

Only the troops under the white wolf banner on the front can be called a strong enemy.

Hundreds of elite soldiers in white thick leather armor tightly clustered under the white wolf banner, like a pack of wolves closely following the wolf king.These soldiers are all wearing fur helmets in the shape of wolf heads, with a bunch of wolf fangs hanging on their chests, and the thighs and arms that cannot be covered by the thick leather armor are painted with oil paint. They don't look like soldiers, but a group of savages .

But when he saw these people appearing on the hillside, Dickway clearly showed a nervous expression.

"White Wolf Guards, and there are hundreds of them! Lord of War Barud, is Lord Cedric going to swallow the Viscountdom in one go?"

The so-called white wolf guards are the most elite guards under Cedric, the lord of Winterwind City. There are only 200 people in them, but they are the foundation for him to be called the Great Commander of the Northern Territory.Most of these people were born as hunters in the mountains and forests. They were tough and ferocious, and they were handy with both long knives and long bows. Even elite soldiers were no match at all, let alone poorly trained militiamen.

The appearance of the White Wolf Guards made everyone who recognized them nervous. This troop never appeared easily, and every appearance represented the determination of Cedric, the lord of Winterwind City, to win!

Sir Grace, the sniper archer, suddenly strode forward, and the banner of the striding hunter followed closely behind him until it appeared at the forefront of the battle formation.Immediately afterwards, the tall and thin sharpshooter took off the silver fir longbow from his shoulder, squinted his eyes and looked at the opposite side, then took out a long silver arrow from the quiver at his waist, put it on the bowstring, raised the bow, aim.

This action caused a burst of laughter among the troops of the lords, and even the knights with ruthless faces fell forward and back together.

"Benevolent Father God, please save the soul of that guy on the other side, he is hopelessly insane." A small real estate nobleman almost fell off his saddle laughing.

"That arrow can fly half the distance at most, just enough to make a mark for our cavalry to charge." Another knight also said with a sneer.

Only those who stood under the banner of the White Wolf did not laugh. Cedric, the lord of Winterwind City, was one of them. This long-renowned commander of the northern border looked about 50 years old, but his burly body was still like a tree. He is as strong and powerful as an old oak tree, and the eyes under his helmet are as sharp and astonishing as a falcon. He is wearing a heavy white armor, and a long-handled battle ax is carried across the saddle. Both the armor and the battle ax are full of various All kinds of scratches and wounds reveal a taste of battles.

"Baroque, what does that man want to do? Can he really shoot arrows here?"

Beside Cedric, a tall and thin man squinted his eyes and looked at the other side, shook his head in disbelief and replied. "Even the best archer of all time, Lord Hastings next to King Arthur, would not be able to shoot an arrow from more than 300 meters away. This person can't even try to do it."

"So he's playing crazy and trying to disrupt our morale?" Cedric's stubby beard twitched.

"No, he's a really good shooter, I can see that, but..."

The tall and thin man's words were interrupted suddenly, because a silver light flew up from under the banner of the stride hunter, with a shrill howl!

The trajectory of this long silver arrow was low and straight, and it shot to a distance of about 300 meters before it penetrated obliquely into the ground.Only a dozen meters away from the vanguard's flag, the soldiers walking in the front let out a cry of surprise, and stopped in unison.

Laughter suddenly faded away, and many people looked at the long silver arrow stuck on the ground with incredulous eyes, and then followed its trajectory forward.Those who made the loudest laughs just now are all red-faced and embarrassed. They carefully looked at the companions around them, but found that no one noticed their embarrassment. Arrows attracted.

This is simply an impossible thing. The ground that the silver long arrow penetrates is not the wet and soft swamp around the Green Castle, but a very hard hillside mixed with stones.The opponent used a flat shooting method, which was still lethal at a distance of 300 meters, which was unheard of.Ordinary soldiers were certainly astonished, but the shock received by the White Wolf Guard under the command of Lord Cedric was even greater.

Only those who are also proficient in archery skills can have a deeper understanding of this matter.The white wolf guards are all good at holding bows, and of course they know better what it means to have a range of 300 meters.

In the intervention army composed of many lords, there are not too many archers, but there are many spearmen who do not need much training.Among all the archers, the White Wolf Guard's longbow had the longest range, which could reach more than 100 meters. In other words, the intervening army had to bite the bullet and move forward for 200 meters before launching a counterattack.Even if the opponent only had such a sharpshooter, the troops of these lords would have to pay the price of more than a dozen lives.

This is obviously impossible, because under the banner of the striding hunter, there are at least 40 archers holding longbows. As long as they have half the ability of the sharpshooter just now, they will be an important force for the intervention army. A very terrible blow.

After this arrow, the troops approaching from three directions stagnated. At the same time, many messengers were busy running around like hummingbirds. It seemed that there were great differences among the lords.

Under the white wolf banner, Lord Cedric met with the envoys of other lords with a very ugly expression. Because these people complained like noisy sparrows, Lord Cedric's face became more gloomy.

"Your Excellency, Commander, we are here to support you at your call. If the opponent is an ordinary person, we can naturally fight with you, but I have to say that the person who can shoot the arrow just now is not flesh and blood at all. A mortal, but Santa Morata possessed him!" A knight with a black eagle painted on his shield said loudly, with a trace of lingering fear on his face exposed outside the helmet.

"That's right, fighting with troops with such sharpshooters, everyone can't guarantee whether his head will be cut out." A quasi-knight who didn't have his own family badge shouted.

"Let me say that we should send envoys to negotiate with them. After all, we have a large number of people." The suggestion of an elderly knight with a gray beard aroused everyone's agreement, and Lord Cedric frowned. .

"What else can we negotiate now?" The commander-in-chief of the northern border said viciously: "We are now setting foot on their land, and we have nothing to discuss with them."

"Everything is negotiable, Your Excellency the Grand Commander." The old knight insisted: "No matter how you say it, our numbers have the upper hand, and they should choose to give in."

"Since it is a negotiation, we must also make some concessions, so that there is no way to get all the land that originally belonged to Viscount Lane." A young knight standing next to Lord Cedric interjected, with a stick pinned to his chest. A coat of arms with a green snake coiled around it.

"If it takes a bloody battle to get the land from the neighbors, then our Sherwood family would rather not." The answer of the old knight caused many people to whisper.

These small lords gathered their troops to take advantage of the fire and see if they could get some territory, not to face a troop that seemed difficult to mess with.When the elder knight of the Sherwood family said this, many people nodded in agreement.

Lord Cedric suppressed the flame of boredom in his chest. According to his temperament, he really wanted to split the old guy in front of him from head to toe with a long-handled battle ax, but he also knew very well that if he did this, It seems that the intervention army with a large number of people is bound to cause an infighting.So he could only spit to the side, and then
A knight rode his horse from the middle camp where the white wolf flag was waving. Instead of holding a weapon, he held up a small triangular flag. It seemed that he was an envoy sent to negotiate.When passing the long silver arrow nailed to the ground, the emissary obviously had full horse speed and was ready to resist the flying arrow at any time.

Of course, Sir Grace did not intend to shoot the arrow at the messenger. On the one hand, killing the messenger is obviously against the knight's practice, and on the other hand, this target seems to be of little value.The sniper archer looked at the messenger with a sneer, until he was only 20 meters away from the infantry phalanx, and then raised his voice to ask the person why he came.

"I am Knight Breven of the Ulli family. On behalf of Lord Cedric, the Great Commander of the North, I have come with twelve other lords to talk about peace with you brave knights." The envoy saw that it was the The formidable sharpshooter posed a question, immediately reined in his horse, and, leaping from his horse, answered.

"Peace?" Donna said in a low voice with a hint of anger, "You came to our land with fully armed soldiers to talk about peace?"

The envoy glanced at the Roaring Bear wearing heavy khaki armor, and was secretly surprised at his majestic figure and the crossed double swords emblem pinned to his belt.He bowed slightly to Donna in respect, and then described his mission.

"The Great Commander of the Northern Territory, the Lord of Winterwind City, His Excellency Cedric, the Sword Lord of the Kingdom of Arthur, and the twelve surrounding lords, all received a letter of help from Sir Lidwan, the Lord of Greencastle, which described what happened in Ryan. A shocking incident in the viscount's land..."

"There is only one shocking incident here, and that is Sir Lydwan's reneging on the oath he once swore." Donner interrupted coldly.

The messenger raised his face arrogantly, "The great knight commander, please listen to me. Your Excellency Cedric believes that there are many doubts about Viscount Lane's death, but Levi Ston, as a mere trainee servant, can actually To succeed as the military leader of the Viscounty Land is obviously a violation of the law of nobility."

"So he brought you here to uphold justice for us?" Knight Dickway said in a bad tone.

"That's it." The tone of the messenger's reply was also stiff.

"Viscount Lane was assassinated by the accuser lurking in the territory, and fell to his death. We have reported this matter to the Kingdom Envoy, and it is not up to Lord Cedric to question it. Lord Levi Ston, as the most prestigious person in the territory at that time, Hero, there is nothing wrong with temporarily presiding over the military power of the territory, and there are precedents for this." Sir Grace explained, "As for Sir Lidwan, he not only broke the oath that everyone made at the beginning, but also sent troops to attack The village hijacked the Kingdom envoy, causing casualties to several innocent farmers, and his appeal letter does not have any credibility."

"Your Excellency Cedric doesn't think so." The envoy refused coldly, but he immediately saw the downcast faces of several knights, and thought of his mission, so he eased his tone.

"Of course, Lord Cedric is not an arbitrary and unreasonable person." This sentence made Sir Grace snort coldly, but the messenger deliberately ignored the offense. "Since you also have your reasons, let me tell you about the peace conditions that Cedric Your Excellency brought to you."

Tang Na's lips moved slightly, just as he was trying to tell the messenger not to waste his time talking, his palm suddenly jumped, and then the scar left by the soul blood oath became hot, which surprised him.

"Let him finish, Donna, blood of my blood." A familiar voice sounded in Donna's ear.

It's Levi Stern!

Tang Na's heart jumped wildly, Mr. Li Wei finally got news!And it's nearby!

"...Stop all hostile actions against Sir Lidwan, Lord of Greencastle, and temporarily hand over the territory beyond half a kilometer near the Viscount's Castle to the joint control of Your Excellency Cedric and the twelve lords until the king's capital orders A new appointment." The messenger's words silenced everyone, shocked by the arrogant attitude and unreasonable conditions.

Sir Grace's teeth were chattering. He took a step forward and was about to sternly refuse when Donna's voice sounded from behind him.

"This condition is a bit excessive, and we cannot accept it."

The words of refusal that Tang Na said were very relaxed, and there seemed to be no trace of anger.Dickway looked at him suspiciously, wondering if the Grand Knight Commander had thought of betraying Li Wei.Although Sir Grace did not doubt Donald's loyalty to Levi, he raised his eyebrows with some doubts.

The envoy could hardly contain the excitement in his heart, because the peace conditions he proposed were just a pretense of extortionate prices, and the real bottom line was far from revealed.Now that the tone of the Grand Knight Commander has revealed the meaning of looseness, of course he will not mess things up.

"Then, regardless of Sir Lidwan, Your Excellency Cedric has requested a 25-kilometer territory on the eastern border. This can always be achieved, right?"

"If he insists, he can get a piece of territory, but it's not that big." When Tang Na said this, the corner of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.

"How much territory can your Excellency Cedric get?" The envoy felt the other party's relaxed attitude and hurriedly asked.

"He can get a territory of two meters!" A boy's unique clear voice came from the sky, and then a violent wind suddenly blew downwards, causing the messenger's body to shake, and the mount let out a panicked long hiss. , almost broke the reins from his grasp.

A beast that was bigger than an ordinary lion swooped down from the sky, then flapped its wings several meters above the ground, and landed slowly.On the back of the beast sat a young knight with a long sword on his waist, stared at the messenger with cold eyes, and said word by word: "I heard that Sir Cedric is quite tall, so Depending on the situation, maybe you can give him half a meter more!"

(End of this chapter)