Free Web NovelChapter 1149: Chapter 1084: Military Camp
The iron gate of the camp’s fence slowly opened, and Count Steleifen didn’t even bother to call out a greeting, striding straight inside.
The few knights who had originally been accompanying the army were guarding the door of the main wooden cabin; seeing Count Steleifen arrive, they all stood up in a rush.
But the Count paid them no mind at all, sprang up the steps, and headed straight for the backyard.
"Legion Commander Kennard, are you still not sending troops? Our rear town of Shovel Town is under siege!"
Kennard saw Count Steleifen barge in without even having himself announced, yet he wasn’t angry.
He pulled Liu Ying off his body, hitched up his trousers, and waved her away before slowly opening his mouth: "What does Your Lordship the Count mean by that?"
"Shovel Town, you don’t know about it?" Steleifen strode over to the wall and yanked down the map pinned there. "Shovel Town happens to sit right on Yellow Fang Path, the route to our grain-producing area."
At the words "grain-producing area," Kennard’s expression grew serious.
There weren’t many stable grain-producing areas left near Sk Wolf Castle; to its southeast there was a large spread of estates and villages that could steadily produce grain.
Steleifen’s Steward was over in that region and likewise held considerable control there; the army’s grain for the next half year all had to come from that side.
Kennard had been puzzled before, but once he looked at the map, he suddenly chuckled: "Your Lordship the Count worries too much. Shovel Town has no walls. They’ve been attacking for so long and still haven’t taken it—chances are it’s just a feint, they’ll withdraw soon."
If it were someone who didn’t understand military matters, they might already have been tricked into leaving the city by Steleifen.
But Kennard was a long-serving commander, very clear on grain and geography.
Even putting aside that Shovel Town hadn’t fallen yet, even if it were taken, it wouldn’t have much effect on the grain supply for Sk Wolf Castle.
Given the number of soldiers outside in Wonyu City, there was no way they could control the grain transport.
If the land route couldn’t be used, could they not just use the waterways and ship it in from Waterwheel Lake?
This was nothing but an excuse from Count Steleifen.
Seeing his lie exposed, Steleifen’s face flushed red. "Legion Commander, going out to wipe out bandits is a war that benefits us above and wins the hearts of the commoners below. I just don’t understand how it can be that we don’t go out?"
"Such is the military order of Lord Puzilio." Kennard took Count Steleifen by the arm. "I can’t very well disobey it."
"We’re already in a state of war. They’ve come knocking on our very door." Steleifen jabbed a finger at Kennard’s nose and cursed, "If Shovel Town falls, you’ll bear an inescapable responsibility, do you understand?"
Even with someone pointing at his nose and cursing, Kennard’s smile didn’t diminish in the slightest; he simply held his wine cup and smiled at the Count.
Count Steleifen felt as if he’d punched into silk—slippery, catching nothing, nowhere to put his strength.
After tangling with him for half the day, Count Steleifen came with a flushed face and left with a livid one.
Watching him leave, Kennard’s smile gradually faded.
He first drained the wine on the table in one gulp, then shouted into the cabin: "Call your sisters over too, I’m in a very foul mood right now."
But Kennard hadn’t had even a full day of leisure before someone came in to report that Steleifen’s manservant was waiting outside the gate.
"Again?" This time Kennard was truly a bit angry. "How can he still not understand this logic? Is Steleifen the only wise, sagacious, benevolent one in the world, and everyone else a fool, an idiot, a half-wit?"
Seeing Kennard swearing, the servant could only bow under the spray of spittle, waiting for a chance to speak: "As for Count Steleifen’s manservant outside the gate..."
"Go ask him what it’s about, who has come to visit. If it’s still about sending troops, tell him I’m not here."
"Yes."
This time the servant hurried back quickly, but this time, there was another person following behind him.
Seeing that person, Kennard no longer dared remain seated and hurriedly stood to greet her.
"My lady Countess, what brings you here?" Kennard did not dare underestimate this lady; after all, her family name was Oslar.
The noblewoman’s hair was coiled atop her head with jewels, a veil of fine gauze held up by horn frames covering her hair and face, and one could only faintly see that she had been crying.
"Legion Commander Kennard, please set aside past grievances and, for my father’s sake, save my husband."
"Count Steleifen?" Alarm bells rang in Kennard’s mind. "What has happened to him?"
After hearing the lady explain what had happened, Kennard first comforted her and told her to set her mind at ease, promising that he would definitely handle it.
In the end, he even escorted her himself from the main cabin all the way out of the camp.
By the time he returned, several Knight Commanders had already gathered around; they had all heard the news.
After running into a brick wall with Kennard, Count Steleifen had, in a moment of recklessness, taken several dozen cavalry and nearly a hundred infantry to charge off toward Shovel Town in an attempt to lift the siege.
The result was that not only did they fail to break the siege of Shovel Town, Steleifen’s little force was badly beaten by that cavalry, and he himself was instead surrounded.
Instead of returning to the main cabin, Kennard simply sat down on the steps and began sketching a map in the sand on the ground.
"You already know the situation." Kennard’s twig moved across the dirt. "No matter what happens to Count Steleifen afterward, we now have to send troops." freёwebnoѵel.com
Leaving aside the face of that noble lady, Steleifen himself, as the local Count, was the designated logistics chief.
If he was captured, there’d be no way to find a replacement, whether in terms of face or in practical function.
"Before this, the reason we didn’t send troops was due to Lord Puzilio’s military order. As you know, the Holy Alliance officers are assisting the Five-City Alliance, and quite a few local nobles have joined them.
In terms of hard strength, there’s no way we’d fear them, but if they play dirty, resort to splitting us up and hitting us in parts, we aren’t as flexible as they are; we could very well take losses.
This expedition against Wonyu City is mainly to make a name for ourselves and build up momentum, to cut off one of the enemy’s arms first.
So this first battle must be a sure victory, and must be won—and best of all, won under Lord Puzilio’s command.
This is not because I’m gutless, but because that’s what was agreed at the war council."
The Knight Counts might not fully understand the war councils of these big figures, but they didn’t dare act rashly.
Several wars had eliminated a large number of the kingdom’s elite; those who remained, even if still capable, were bound to have some self-doubt—"Am I really just a scrub?"
Compared to the aggressive arrogance when suppressing the Holy Alliance and the farmers before, the Leia Army now emphasized one thing above all: steadiness.
"But now we have no choice but to send troops. Otherwise it’ll be hard to explain ourselves both to the Regent and to Lord Puzilio."
Kennard drew a rough terrain map in the sand, then tapped one of the pebbles with his twig. "Here is Shovel Town, currently under siege by the rebels. According to the Rangers’ reports, it should be the infantry from Wonyu City.
As for those elite cavalry on the outer ring, they ought to be the Knights and Armed Farmers who have thrown in with the Five-City Alliance, and their combat power is no joke.
Count Steleifen, meanwhile, is in this foothill valley. The terrain is fairly steep, but I doubt he can hold out for many days."
"Then what are we still talking for?" a knight interrupted. "Let’s just hit them and be done with it!"
"It’s not that simple." Kennard shook his head. "There are nearly ten thousand troops massed around Wonyu City. If we leave the city and they come by boat to attack, what then?"
That was the reason Kennard had all along refused to march too far from the city.
These elite cavalry were clearly prepared; their goal was to lure him out of the city so they could seize the chance to strike.
If he really marched out, he would be walking straight into their trap.
"Then what should we do?"
The several senior officers immediately began chattering, offering suggestions.
"We could tie dummies on the walls to confuse the enemy."
"Or we could burn the harbor. Even if they have boats, they won’t be able to land."
"Burn your ass. Kill a thousand enemies to lose ten thousand of our own, is that it?"
Kennard tapped the brick-paved ground with his twig, drawing everyone’s attention back.
"I already have an idea about this. The area around Waterwheel County isn’t like the Thousand River Valley, crisscrossed with swamps, gorges, and rivers—it’s basically all plains." Kennard’s twig tapped the ground. "So I’ll lead a thousand elite cavalry out, and the remaining soldiers, while I’m on campaign, will withdraw into the inner castle and stand on strict defensive."
"A fine plan, Lord Kennard."
"But I have one condition." Ignoring the flattery, Kennard leaned on the twig and swept his gaze left and right. "No matter whether we manage to rescue him or not, if anything happens at Sk Wolf Castle, the entire force is to retreat and rush back immediately, without fail."
"All right, we’ll seal it with a slap!"
The senior officers spat into their palms, slapped hands, and then each went off to mobilize the cavalry.
By afternoon, more than a thousand cavalry had all assembled.
The spearheads on the swallowtail banners flashed with a biting cold light, clustering like a flock of blue-feathered migratory birds.
Riding his warhorse to the very front, Kennard rubbed his cheeks before putting on his beaked iron helmet.
"Move out!"
