Chapter 190: Eagle Claw Castle's Calculation
When the enemy stays, we harass them; when the enemy retreats, we pursue them - this is what Vendatil and Raphael are doing now, but they are not doing it very well.
Because at this time, the cooperation between the girl ranger and the rangers gradually became problematic.
Even though they cooperated very well when they were being chased before, in fact there was still a huge gap between the members of the Horn Summoning Rangers and the Noldor elves.
Although these Noldor female rangers are young, they are at least seventy or eighty years old and have had some conflicts with humans.
The Rangers also had some relatives and friends who died at the hands of the Noldor.
After all, there are still grudges between the two sides.
In a tense situation where they are both being chased by the enemy, the two teams will put aside their hatred and work closely together. This is entirely because no one thinks too much at this critical moment...
Vendatil's brave rescue of Raphael set an example and motivated the young rangers to offer their support. When the beautiful Noldor girls took the initiative to protect the rangers, the rangers of course had to behave like men.
However, when the enemy began to retreat, they began to pursue and harass the enemy, that is, when the situation was not so dangerous, both sides would think of the past hatred again...
Of course, they did not engage in internal strife at this time. The previous cooperation had already played some role, and at least they still maintained the posture of friendly forces.
However, when harassing the enemy, Wendatier and Raphael's teams were clearly divided into two parts, and each side fought on its own, with no coordination at all.
This makes the pursuit and harassment less effective.
When the wind is against you, you work closely together; when the wind is favorable, you fight alone... This is probably the inevitable situation when you cooperate for the first time.
In fact, whether it is the Noldor elves or the Horn Call Rangers, their archery and range are far superior to the Ravenstern Rangers, and their riding skills and horse endurance are also far superior to those of the Ravenstern Men - the Long River geldings and the Gatu horses both have extremely strong endurance and are very adaptable to the environment of the Gatu Grassland.
Although they outnumbered the enemy by nearly ten times, they did not suffer much loss, and no one was killed in the battle. Only some people were injured. It was certainly not easy to die when harassing the enemy outside of their range...
However, due to poor coordination, the two teams not only failed to form a joint force, but also often affected each other, and even had different intentions - the girl rangers cared more about how to avoid losses, while the rangers cared more about how to increase the results of the battle...
The result was that the rangers were chasing and shooting arrows sparsely, but the female rangers would not chase too close and fell behind.
The rangers' harassment alone could not cause much damage to the enemy. The ranger girls were far away, but they were chasing after them...
In this case, it is easy to see that they are luring the enemy...
The commander of the Raven Stern could naturally see it as well.
Therefore, even though they were harassed repeatedly by the rangers, even though dozens of Noldor girls were just a few hundred meters away, and even though this force consisted of less than a hundred people, the Stern Crow Realm troops still resolutely withdrew.
So this mission to lure the enemy ultimately failed, but fortunately no losses were caused.
The mission was not completed and the enemy retreated to the camp. Wendatil and Raphael could only return to the lord first.
"How's the battle going, you two?"
The lord watched them come back and saw that there was no enemy behind them. He knew that the large army might have waited in vain, but Leon was not disappointed and there was even a smile on his face.
"My lord, I'm sorry to disappoint you. We failed to lure the enemy, so I captured him alive."
Raphael seemed quite unwilling to give up. What he cared more about was obviously that he had failed to complete the task of luring the enemy, so he captured a forest ranger who was shot and wounded during the previous pursuit, as an extra gain.
"Disappointed? Not really. I'm glad you're all safe. Thank you for your hard work, Raphael. Of course, remember to learn from your experience... If you can't even lure the Noldor girls , then it's definitely not the enemy's fault..."
Leon shook his head. It didn't matter if the mission failed, as long as the Noldor and humans could start cooperating. He didn't expect the two sides to have a perfect performance the first time they cooperated.
"Lord Leon, it's not the enemy's fault... We didn't coordinate well. But I think the situation is okay, we will succeed..."
Only Vendatil knew that Leon was not only asking about the enemy situation, but also about the situation of the Noldor fighting together with humans, so she thought it was okay.
From the performance of the rangers, she did see hope for the coexistence of the Noldor and humans, although it was not perfect.
"Very good, Vendatil, I think you should talk to Neuer about your experience working with human forces..."
It was rare that Wendatil could say "there was no cooperation". The lord smiled and asked Wendatil to go to Neuer to convey the influence, then turned his attention to the prisoners.
The ranger that Raphael captured belonged to Count Stephen - the Count of Oldenburg who had previously killed the raiding team led by Andonga.
Earl Stephen is also the current supreme commander of the Raven Stern army.
The captives were not stubborn, and the lord easily learned from them the intention of Earl Stephen - he set up camp on the grassland north of Fletcher Village in order to prevent reinforcements from the eastern border to Lion Lake City.
They are basically all cavalry, more than a thousand cavalry, and their combat purpose is just to keep an eye on the eastern region here.
The main purpose was to prevent the large army of the Fierce Lion Kingdom from attacking from the eastern border and cutting off the food supply and return routes of their main force.
The main force of the Stern Crow Kingdom had about 4,000 people, all of whom were heading towards Lion Lake City. They were indeed going to Lion Lake City to "suppress the rebellion" and had no intention of heading to the eastern region.
These more than a thousand cavalrymen camped thirty miles north of Fletcher Village, which was indeed enough to block the reinforcement route of the eastern border of the Kingdom of the Fierce Lion.
Due to the existence of this detachment, no army could successfully march hundreds of miles to the Lion Lake City area unless they annihilated this Crow Cavalry.
Otherwise, they might harass us all the way, cut off our retreat, or attack Fletcher Village and Brave Shield Castle, or even break into the heart of the kingdom.
But it is not easy to kill thousands of cavalry on the grassland, and Earl Stephen does not seem to be an impulsive person. He can even restrain his troops from chasing the Noldor girls - most human lords may not be able to resist such temptation.
As soon as Raphael approached, the Raven Territory cavalry swarmed out. This was actually because Earl Stephen made a slight misjudgment. He thought that his more than a thousand cavalry should be able to quickly kill this small team of less than a hundred people.
Count Stephen didn't expect this small force to be so elite...
In fact, Earl Stephen was also arranging his tactics based on the principle - he would fight if the battle was easy, and retreat if the battle was difficult. If a large army wanted to go to Lion Lake City, he would harass them all the way; and if the army of the Kingdom of Fierce Lions left the eastern border in large numbers, he would go directly into the heart of the kingdom from Fletcher Village.
Anyway, the overall intention is to nail down the troops in the eastern part of the Kingdom of Sarleon and ensure the safety of the main force of Ravenstern.
However, the first pursuit resulted in the loss of nearly a hundred people, so Stephen will definitely be more cautious.
In fact, it is quite troublesome to encounter an opponent with clear goals like Earl Stephen on the battlefield.
Because his strategic intentions and tactical logic were simple and clear, and he did not hide them from anyone - this meant that everyone in his troops knew the overall tactics and were less likely to make mistakes.
Moreover, his camp was located in an uncovered grassland, so a surprise attack was impossible. The only way to deal with such an army was to fight a tough battle.
However, Le Ang has always been unwilling to fight tough battles, so this is the most troublesome type of enemy for Le Ang.
But fortunately, Leon had no intention of dealing with the main force of the Crow Stern Kingdom. Since the Crow Stern Kingdom was trying to suppress Lady Ursula's rebels, the lord had no intention of getting involved. Wouldn't it be better to wait for the Crow Stern Kingdom and the rebels to be mutually defeated before taking advantage?
In other words, the lord does not need to worry at all. He just needs to repel Earl Stephen and ensure the safety of Fletcher Village.
So Leon led his troops and slowly approached Earl Stephen's camp, preparing for a head-on battle. He did not seek annihilation, but only needed to defeat Earl Stephen.
…
Changhe Town.
In the end, Granlon did not kill Fothert because he received news of the attack of the Stern Crow Army. This was a letter from Lord Kaedron of Eagle Claw Hold.
He received the news basically at the same time as Li Ang.
If Fothert was killed at this time, it would be like helping the Kingdom of Raven Stern, and Lion Lake City would most likely be captured. So Granlon released Fothert and took the Lion Lake City Flag Guard and Fothert back to Lion Lake City.
Following the same logic as the Lord who used foreign enemies to make the Noldor and humans fight side by side, Fothert and Granlon also decided to fight side by side at this moment - Granlon's Lion Lake City Flag Guard must defend their homeland, and Fothert must also unite all the forces that can be united at this time.
When there is a common enemy, both hatred and power disputes can be temporarily put aside.
Of course, someone still had to mediate, and their middleman was Lord Keldren of Eagle Claw Castle, their common ally.
Kedren's family had many marriage connections, and the baron himself had a wide circle of friends.
Fothergill is his nephew, and it was Kaedren who brought Fothergill back from the Stern Crow Realm, so their relationship is naturally needless to say.
Granlong and Kaedren have been friends for many years. In his letter, Kaedren advised Granlong to put aside their grudges and unite against external foes, and acted as a middleman to bring them together. Naturally, Granlong made a wise choice under the circumstances.
Fothert pulled out most of the troops from Lion Lake City, and Granlong took away his flag guard, leaving only a strong-looking ragtag army garrisoned in Changhe Town.
The combined forces of both sides numbered nearly three thousand people, and were heading towards Eagle Claw Castle where Kaedren was.
Eagle Claw Castle is the front line facing the main force of the Kingdom of Raven.
…
Northeast of Lion Lake City, Eagle Claw Castle.
In fact, there are no eagle claws in Eagle Claw Castle, and the appearance of the castle has nothing to do with an eagle.
The castle was not built on a high mountain, but near the Lion Lake Inland Sea, and there were no large numbers of birds of prey such as hawks and falcons living here.
The name Eagle Claw Castle actually comes from the establishment of a very famous knight order hundreds of years ago.
The Falcon Knights.
This castle was once the garrison and training camp for the Falcon Claws, a sergeant of the Falcon Knights.
The Falcon Knights were founded in the 94th year of the Pendor calendar, which was more than two hundred and sixty years ago. At that time, the Kingdom of Pendor ruled the entire continent, and it was a glorious era when various knightly orders flourished.
The Order of the Falcon has a very distinctive feature - they allow and encourage women to join the order and become Falcon Knights.
In their day, this was a remarkable thing.
In fact, the Order of the Falcon was also the first knightly order to allow women to become knights.
Moreover, when this order was recognized by the Charter of Valides, a new clause was added to the charter specifically for the legal establishment of the order - allowing women to become knights.
Yes, it was the Falcon Knights that significantly improved the status of women in the continent of Pendor.
This was mainly because among the five founders of the Falcon Knights, there was a female knight with an outstanding record. Her name was 'Valera' and she was well-known to everyone in the continent of Pendor.
She is an idol admired by countless women.
This female warrior was the most dazzling hero of that era. Her strength on the battlefield and her adventurous deeds have always been talked about by all the Pendor people.
She was the first and only female pioneer lord in Pendor to successfully establish a territory. Eagle Claw Castle was her pioneer territory, and she eventually became a countess.
This is a woman who rose from an adventurer to a count entirely through her own ability. In the era when the Kingdom of Pendor ruled the continent, the status of women was not as high as it is today. To be able to achieve this, Valera is indeed a unique legend.
This is mainly due to her outstanding fighting ability.
In her era, her strength on the battlefield could even be described as 'invincible'.
Any knight who looked down on women would most likely face Valera's challenge. No matter how glorious a man's record was, she would challenge him one by one.
After battle after battle, people found that no man could withstand her lance.
In the end, no man dared to stand in front of her one-on-one.
After that, Valera joined the 'Falcon Adventure Group' and led the group to fight in the south and the north, defeating the invading Misty Mountain Barbarians several times and saving various towns in the north of Pendor many times.
The large-scale heretics that appeared around Lion Lake City, as well as the horse thieves who were entrenched on the grassland at that time, were all eliminated by her.
Later, after the Falcon Knights were officially established, Valera became a pioneer lord. She built Eagle Claw Castle and began to train sergeants for the Falcon Knights - 'Falcon Claws'.
Falcon Claws are sergeants affiliated with the Falcon Knights, which can be regarded as Valera's own independent armed force, and only recruits women.
Due to Valera's influence, many women who were recruited into Falcon Claws eventually became Falcon Knights. Valera fought for women to have the same status and opportunities as men in that era.
When she was training the Falcon Claws at Eagle Claw Castle, the Jatu had not yet come to Pendor, so Valera searched the continent for bandits and robbers - in order to train them in actual combat.
As a result, from the vicinity of Eagle Claw Castle, to the vicinity of Lion Lake City, to Cliff Rock Bay and other places - she patrolled a full circle along the inner sea of Lion Lake with Falcon Claw.
Under her reputation, bandits were no longer seen in these places. After she returned to Eagle Claw Castle, no bandits dared to approach the Beibu Gulf. Even the Red Brotherhood of Lion Lake City retreated and disappeared.
It can be said that the entire continent was in awe of her at that time. No one dared to be an enemy of Countess Valera, and even the Valides Charter did not dare to impose obstacles on her.
Therefore, at that time, many women were proud to be a member of the Falcon Claws. The status of the Falcon Knights was once comparable to that of the two major national knight orders, the Griffin and the Lion.
The rapid prosperity of the Lion Lake City area was largely due to the deterrent power of Valera's Eagle Claw Castle and the Falcon Claws she led. During the decades when the Falcon Claws were stationed in Eagle Claw Castle, this area could be regarded as the safest area in the continent of Pendor.
Under the same conditions, people would certainly prefer to go to places with good public security.
Since Eagle Claw Castle was a strictly managed female soldier camp and people could not move in at will, many people stayed in the nearby Lion Lake City, which quickly made Lion Lake City a prosperous city.
But things in this world are unpredictable and ever-changing.
The Lion Lake City and Eagle Claw Castle, which once had the best public security in the entire continent, have now completely changed...
Today, Eagle Claw Castle is filled with rogue knights and gangs of gangsters.
The Eagle Claw Castle, which was once avoided by bandits and robbers, has now become the headquarters of evil forces...
The current Lord of Eagle Claw Castle, Baron Kaedren, has established a private army corps in this heroic place, mainly composed of these rogue knights who are capable of committing almost all kinds of evil.
This was the legacy of Duke Alma - Duke Alma was a man of his words, and he did give all the power he had gathered from the Red Brotherhood to Kedren.
More than a hundred rogue knights, and they led more than a thousand underworld gangsters from all over Sarleon.
Perhaps Baron Kedren was the first noble lord in Sarleon to support Lady Ursula, but he did not make it public to anyone.
The reason why he supported Ursula was probably quite simple - Ursula slept with him personally.
In fact, Ursula herself was in Kedren's bedroom, and the two of them only had one nightgown between them...
"Kedren, the army of the Kingdom of Raven Stern will probably be here soon. When will Fothert's troops arrive?"
Lady Ursula, with her breasts exposed and wearing a loose nightgown, left the bed and walked to the window to pour a glass of wine.
This is the highest point of Eagle Claw Castle. There are wine utensils on the windowsill. Looking out of the window, you can see the calm sea under the moonlight in the distance.
"My dear, you shouldn't say these things at this time..."
Kaedren sighed, walked naked behind Lady Ursula, hugged Ursula from behind, put the cup in her hand to his mouth and took a sip.
"Kedren, I am now wandering around without a fixed place to live, and my brother wants to kill me... I will never feel safe at any time! Is it certain that Fothert's troops are coming?"
Ursula sighed, and the woman in her thirties kept looking at the inner sea of Lion Lake, handed the cup to Kaedren, and put her arms around her shoulders.
"Don't worry, dear... Fothert has already come to Eagle Claw Castle. The 'Grand Duke of Lion Lake Territory' has gathered an army of nearly 3,000 people together with Granlong. They will stop your brother's army..."
With a smile on his face, Kaedren said confidently: "As for us... we don't need to fight against the troops of the Stern Crow Kingdom at all. At dawn, we will split up and go to Lion Lake City and Changhe Town. Your followers can probably take over Changhe Town. Using Changhe Town as a bargaining chip, King Ulric will have no choice but to form an alliance with you to deal with the Stern Crow Kingdom. You have enough time to rebuild the Falcon Knights in Changhe Town..."
