Chapter 195: The robbers were robbed
Aldfred has been removed from his position as Knight Commander of the Lion Knights and is now just an ordinary Lion Knight; Leofurvan has also lost his position in the Royal City Guard.
Brunus would not use the Lion Knights and the Royal Guards to fight a siege war. These were the king's direct troops... He dismissed the two barons from their posts, leaving them with only their own conscripts to earn their keep.
However, after forcing them to attack the city and announcing their dismissal, Duke Brunus never mentioned anything else, not even a word of reprimand, as if nothing had happened...
However, Aldfred and Leofurvan were both smart enough to know that this actually meant that Duke Brunus was giving them a chance - their old leader did what he should do according to the king's wishes, but also gave them a chance to change sides.
So the two of them worked extremely hard when attacking the city, and it looked like they had some deep hatred with Kaedren.
They also knew that after crippling their own troops, they would no longer pose any threat to the king, and the king would definitely let them go, and at least their territory and lives would be saved.
They are all nobles who understand the rules of the game.
Brunus did not embarrass them any more, and after taking control of Lion Lake City, he gave them another chance—he asked them to take their remaining troops and seize all the property of Lion Lake City, including Kedren’s property…
Of course, the Duke must make sure his hands are clean. Things like private looting must be done by people who are not clean to begin with...
Then Brennus led a team of lion knights into the lord's hall.
Kaedron saw Brennus coming in and planned to save himself at this moment...
"Lord Brunus, my brother-in-law, we are both vassals of the kingdom! I even abandoned my own territory to take back Lion Lake City for the kingdom! And I have already raised the flag of surrender, why do you have to attack..."
Kaedren now really looks like a loyal minister, although his hands are a little shaky.
"Come on, Kedren, Madam Ursula has sold you out, no one can save you..."
Brennus found a random chair and sat down. He looked kind, but he had a sword in his hand.
"My cooperation with Ursula is only a temporary measure, just to allow the traitor Fothert to resist the army of Ravenstern... I can do my best to repel the Ravenstern to prove my loyalty!"
Kaedren tried his best to explain, intending to portray himself as an undercover agent who sacrificed his territory to save his country.
But Brennus shook his head gently and smiled: "Kedren, these are not actually important. I just want to ask you one question... You have slept with Lady Ursula, right?"
Duke Brunus obviously knows his brother-in-law very well...
Kaedren was stunned. After a few seconds, a stiff and miserable smile appeared on his face: "Ha...haha...yes, I slept with her...many times...I understand..."
"I know it... His Majesty is now engaged to Lady Ursula - of course, this is only part of the agreement, and the marriage will take effect only after the agreement is reached. But even so, His Majesty will not tolerate you..."
Brennus waved his hand and said, "You should be thankful that I am here, Kaedren. I will give you the honor of a glorious death in battle... I promise that your family will be fine..."
Several Lion Knights walked over and took Kaedren out of the lord's hall.
Kaedren was taken to Eagle Claw Castle.
Brennus's legion did not stay in Lion Lake City for too long, as he still had to repel the Ravencrows.
However, he took away all the valuable gold and silver in the warehouse of Lion Lake City and sent his own private troops to take them back to his territory, Cliff Bay.
There is a reason why Qiaoyan Bay is so rich...
In order to increase their gains, Barons Aldfred and Leofurvan took their remaining troops to plunder the civilians of Lion Lake City - but the two barons also put all the loot into the carriages under Duke Brunus that were returning to Cliff Rock Bay.
Anyway, there will always be some bad soldiers with poor military discipline when the army enters the city. Anyway, these bad soldiers are not the men of Duke Brunus...
The troops that Brennus brought to Eagle Claw Castle were the Lion Knights, the Royal City Guards, and the remnants of Kaedron's men...
Kedren was not mistreated, and no one even watched him.
He led his troops in the front, and there were about four hundred people around him, including levies, rogue knights and gangsters.
Kaedren was no longer trembling, and if nothing unexpected happened, in three hours, he would launch an assault on the enemy in the most heroic way...
People are always afraid of the unknown future, but when they know what will happen in the future, many people will no longer be afraid.
Kaedren was not so afraid now, even though he was about to be used as cannon fodder and die.
Because only in this way can his family be saved.
He is now just silently missing his son, Lord Montvoy.
Kaedren knew that he was going to die. He trembled before because he was afraid that he would die in the name of rebellion, and his whole family would be ruined.
However, Brennus gave him a chance to die gloriously as a vassal of the kingdom - to throw away his life to fight the enemy to death. Such an act was enough to prove that his actions of capturing Lion Lake City, taking back Fothert, and contacting Ursula were all "expedient measures".
His only mistake was sleeping with Ursula.
In this way, he would still be a vassal of the kingdom, and with Duke Brunus as his witness, no one would say that a man who died bravely on the battlefield was a traitor.
Then his son will be able to inherit his position, his family will not be affected, and he may even be rewarded by the kingdom...
After all, Brennus was Kaedren's cousin-in-law, so he did give him face.
However, three hours later, when they arrived near Eagle Claw Castle, they saw a scene that they could not understand...
The troops of the Kingdom of Ravenstern are arrayed north of Eagle Claw Keep;
The Jatu cavalry, which is slightly larger than the Ravenstern Kingdom's troops, is located east of Eagle Claw Fort;
And the flag of Fothergill was flying over Eagle Claw Castle.
The three parties formed a strange tripartite situation.
Seeing this scene, Brunus naturally did not dare to act rashly, and he also stopped his battle formation to the west of Eagle Claw Castle.
As a result, the battle situation here turned into four camps arranged in a "品" shape, with Eagle Claw Fort in the middle of the "品" shape.
Now the Eagle Claw Fort really looks like an eagle claw...
In fact, the Lord is also near Eagle Claw Castle at this moment, and can be considered as the little finger that makes up the Eagle Claw...
However, the four forces probably don’t know that he is here, because he is hiding in the woods several miles away with his team.
These Jatu people were naturally led here by Leon.
No matter what Zakar's plan was, he drove Zhuda's tribe to the south or west of the grassland - this was not a good thing for Leon or the entire Sarleon Kingdom.
Zhuda's tribe seemed to be driven away helplessly, but they were a group of hungrier wolves, and the lord certainly would not sympathize with them...
On the contrary, he was going to kill them.
Why was Zhuda's tribe expelled to the southwest of Jatu Grassland by Zakar?
This is of course because their behavioral logic is different from that of Zakar - compared to Zakar, Juda's tribe is more of a destroyer and looter, they have never thought about establishing any order, Juda's name is called 'Destroyer'.
Perhaps Juda's tribe really didn't want to fight with the Sarleon Kingdom now, but if they were allowed to settle in the grasslands between Eagle Claw Fort and Fletcher Village, it would be a disaster for everyone in the kingdom - they would have no choice but to plunder the Sarleon Kingdom, and the frequency and intensity of the plunder would definitely be far greater than before!
If the Juda tribe that was driven to the south was not eliminated now, Leon's Fletcher Village might not be habitable in the future, and the entire eastern and northern parts of the kingdom would probably have to face constant war for a long time.
Therefore, Leon planned to take advantage of the fact that the army of the Kingdom of Crow Stern was still in Eagle Claw Castle, and use the troops of the Crow Stern people and Fothert to wipe out Juda's tribe.
They are all enemies anyway, so letting enemies fight enemies is the most cost-effective deal.
This can not only resolve the crisis of the kingdom, but also make the Noldor elves willingly obey his orders, and also gain more benefits from it - Leon is a rebel, he has the right to occupy the rebel territory he conquered alone!
The information provided by the captives brought by Dumbledore is very important. Juda's tribe was driven here. They were waiting for the war in the west to end and did not want to fight any big battle easily.
In other words, they actually brought a lot of household items and cattle and sheep with them.
With their families and property in tow, this kind of people is indeed not suitable for fighting a large-scale war, even though the Jatu people seem to have a large number of people and a powerful military force.
Therefore, the Jatu people would not easily attack a force that reached a certain size, and would not attack at this time - the Jatu people were not rich to begin with, and would certainly not abandon their property. They would not launch an attack before they had secured a safe place to settle down.
This means that the Lord can deploy his troops at his leisure without worrying about the Jatu suddenly attacking Fletcher or Fort Braveshield.
For example, several cavalry teams, each with more than 200 people, could infiltrate the outskirts of the Jatu camp to set fire and loot.
Yes, just like what the Jatu did to people from other countries….
The grasslands in August are lush with vegetation, making it the most suitable season for setting fires.
The fire was lit successfully because it was not intended to kill the enemy, but only to burn part of the grassland and drive the Jatu people westward.
The Jatu people must protect their tents and cattle and sheep. The defenders have no choice whether to fight or not. They have to fight even if they don't want to!
This is the advantage of having sufficiently elite troops. Even if they are divided into several teams and fight independently, they still have sufficient combat effectiveness and execution efficiency.
In addition, whether it is the Noldor or the Rangers, including the Griffin Sword Mercenaries, they are all cavalry, and they have sufficiently reliable leaders.
Moreover, Leon also contacted Yongdun Castle to participate in this large-scale arson operation.
When Baron Leofric received the lord's plan, he looked at the letter Leon sent him with exclamation marks all over his face.
"He always asks me to set the fire... It seems like he has a lot of experience in doing this kind of thing... Robbing the Jatu people? That's new..."
But despite what he said, he still quickly organized a cavalry team to participate.
As a result, several cavalry teams set out from Fletcher and Brave Shield Castle and headed for the outskirts of the Jatu camp area.
These cavalry teams each had a size of more than 200 people and went to various directions of the Jatu camps, including the west.
The lord himself is on the west side of the Jatu people, in the female soldier unit of the Griffin Sword Mercenary Group.
At first, these Jatu people ignored the several cavalry units outside, but cautiously gathered their forces in the middle of the camp to guard against surprise attacks.
But soon after, the Jatu people discovered that smoke was rising from the south, north and east at the same time, and the smoke was getting more and more, gradually becoming one...
The tents of the Jatu people were distributed relatively widely, which was a characteristic of nomadic people. They would not gather their tents together in a cluster, but would keep a certain distance between them. More than a thousand tents covered a large area.
Therefore, it was impossible to burn down their tents with fire, and the Jatu people would not think that the fire was intended to burn them to death.
But when they saw such a continuous fire, they had to avoid it first - once the fire on the grassland became large-scale, it would be difficult to put out manually. After all, the place where they camped was not on the river bank, but thirty miles away from Tongtian River.
Plus, the wind on the grassland is unpredictable, it could blow in any direction...
In order to avoid loss of their cattle, sheep, horses and other property, they had no choice but to run away.
Of course, grassland is not like forest. The fire will eventually die out and will not burn down the entire grassland.
And even in burned areas, new grass will grow in the spring, and it may even grow better than before.
So this fire was not a life-threatening threat. It was just to make the Jatu move westwards, away from Fletcher Village - to prevent the Jatu from attacking Fletcher Village in the future...
These Jatu people deployed their forces on the periphery, then began to move westward, dragging their tents.
Although they knew that the fire was set by people from the Kingdom of Sarleon, the Jatu people believed that this was just to force them to leave. In fact, the Jatu people could understand that they were too close to BraveShield Fort and Fletcher, and people were worried about their attack, so it was normal to set a fire to drive them away.
Given their size, they didn't think the Sarleon lords would actually attack them.
But after walking westward for a few hours, the Jatu people discovered that the cavalry teams were not just there to set fire...
At this time, the fire line in the east had become one and was still not extinguished, and there were always fires burning on the north and south sides of the Jatu migration team - the cavalry on three sides had been setting fires all the way!
Not long after, huge roars were heard in the west - Amy was using the sound of her muskets to convey messages, and they had already led the Jatu people to the expected location.
Afterwards, the Noldor cavalry and rangers on the flank began to harass the Jatu people, not only trying to slow down the speed of the Jatu people's camp migration, but also causing great damage - such as throwing torches to drive away the sheep, cutting the ropes of the carriages, setting fire to some of the tents, and killing a few people in the process.
To the west, which was the front of the Jatu people, the Lord and Amy were leading their troops to block the front, apparently trying to prevent the Jatu people from escaping the coverage of the burning line.
So, the Jatu gathered their warriors and divided the troops into hundreds. Dozens of hundreds began to drive away the surrounding cavalry and use their horns to call for support...
They want to protect their property.
The Jatu people seemed to have become the Horn Summoning Rangers at this moment, and the Horn Summoning Rangers and the Noldor elves were now enthusiastically doing the work that the Jatu people used to do...
Murder, arson, robbery, and looting.
It also includes kidnapping women - in fact, it is not called kidnapping, but rescue, because the women chained to the tents are all women from Sarleon or Raven Stern.
However, the long-term life of slavery had caused all the light in their eyes to disappear, and most of the women even showed no reaction when faced with the rescue efforts of the cavalry.
But there were still many women who stood beside the tents, holding up the belts that bound them, and waited for the Noldor or the rangers to cut off the belts with their swords.
Soon after, women were fleeing everywhere, cattle, sheep and horses were running everywhere with their ropes cut, and gradually, some of the tents were set on fire.
The Jatu people finally realized that if they didn't kill these teams, all their property might be destroyed...
Moreover, the Jatu people have discovered that most of those who have been harassing and robbing them along the way are their greatest and long-time enemies - the Noldor elves and the Horn Summoning Rangers.
They also saw many Noldor maidens and many women.
It was the Jatu people who had always robbed these people, but I didn't expect that this time the robbers were robbed instead...
So the Jatu people no longer used the horn summoning method of the hundred-man team... Anyway, the property losses were already great enough, so they might as well fight a good battle and capture these Noldor girls and women, maybe they can make up for the losses.
All the Jatu people began to disperse, intending to use their expertise of 'chasing, pressing and surrounding' to gather the enemies together and then launch a siege.
But just when the Jatu people made up their minds to kill these cavalry teams, another roar of muskets rang out, and all the cavalry teams suddenly scattered and quickly gathered in the west.
At this time, the fire line in the east was still spreading - Baron Leofric had been chasing behind and setting fires. No matter which way the wind blew, he was always making sure that there was always a fire line burning to the east of the Jatu people. This was the task Leon gave him.
This was mainly to ensure that the Jatu would not turn around and attack Fletcher and Fort Valiant.
Leon's troops gathered in the west, which was exactly what the Jatu people wanted - they wanted to gather all these troubles together and destroy them.
Thus began a pursuit inevitably to the west, with the Jatu of the Juda clan sending out most of their fighting force.
Leon's troops fled westward, and the Jatu people pursued them all the way. Baron Leofric, who set fire from behind, took in the fleeing women and cattle and sheep along the way, and made a lot of money.
But after chasing them to a place about 40 to 50 miles away from Eagle Claw Castle, the Jatu people lost the trace of Leon's troops...
This is actually the work of Raphael.
Raphael was very familiar with the terrain in this area because he had pretended to be a Jatu and plundered in this area according to Leon's plan. He had wandered around here for a long time and knew where to hide.
Of course you need a hiding place to rob ...
Raphael led his team to hide in an inaccessible forest south of Eagle Claw Castle, which was where he and the hundred rangers had hidden.
The Jatu people chased them frantically for a whole day and night, but they lost them in the end. They were in such a hurry and basically did not bring any supplies with them. Now they were far away from the tribe, but Eagle Claw Fort was very close - so they had no choice but to go to Eagle Claw Fort.
As a result, the battlefield situation at Eagle Claw Castle became what it is now...
