Chapter 374 Valkyrie
May of the 358th year of the Pandrite calendar.
The war breaks out again on the continent of Pendor.
A few months ago, when Leon and Roland jointly called on the entire continent to unite to fight against heretics and demons, no country provided any effective support.
Not long ago, when Leon led the various knight groups to march into Sarleon City, all the countries turned a blind eye.
But now, just as Roland led the various knights to clean up the undead troops left by Cavalla, all the countries launched an attack on the Sarleon Territory at the same time...
The Bacchus Empire dispatched a large army to quickly capture the Shield Wind Fortress and immediately launched a siege on the White Deer Fortress.
The Fierdsvain occupied the Fjord of Cliffs and the Mysterious Marsh, and their territory expanded rapidly. The entire northwestern part of Sarleon fell into the hands of the Fierdsvain.
The army of the Kingdom of Ravenstern set out and landed in the north of Eagle Claw Hold - they did originally plan to go to Cliff Rock Bay, but the nobles of Cliff Rock Bay defected to the Firdsvain. The people of Ravenstern did not want to fight a naval battle with the pirate lords of the Firdsvain, so they turned and ran to the North Gulf.
As for why they didn't attack Lion Lake City, but had to go for Eagle Claw Fort, it was actually because in the eyes of the Crow Stern people, Eagle Claw Fort was defenseless at this time - they planned to first take Eagle Claw Fort as a stronghold, and then force Lion Lake City to surrender.
If Bo Daisy hadn't come to recruit new soldiers, then Eagle Claw Castle would indeed have had few troops.
The Kingdom of Stern Crow believed that they did not have enough equipment and supplies for their cross-sea attack, and that they had little confidence in storming Lion Lake City.
Eagle Claw Fort should be empty. If we can easily capture Eagle Claw Fort and manufacture siege equipment during this period, we can try to force Lion Lake City to surrender.
In this way, we can make good use of time and avoid wasting strength by attacking a strong city.
In fact, this is a reasonable strategic deployment.
However, Gregory IV probably didn't expect that Eagle Claw Castle seemed to be a place that would really tempt him...
It was originally thought that Eagle Claw Fort could be easily conquered because of its unpreparedness, but suddenly a large number of troops appeared to defend the city, and they defended it extremely tenaciously.
Gregory IV had no choice but to transfer most of his troops to the vicinity of Eagle Claw Castle, where he laid siege to the city while building siege equipment on the spot.
But at this moment, several unknown "bandits" appeared in the north of Eagle Claw Castle, all heading straight to the seaside, seemingly planning to escape from the battlefield by sea...
Those bandits acted quickly, cooperated well, and were well-equipped. They looked no worse than regular troops...
Gregory IV felt that the people of Sarleon were indeed living in dire straits. There were so many bandits that they really needed the Sternraven Army to save them...
But no one would believe that a few small-scale bandits could cause any trouble to the Raven Kingdom's fleet. They were probably trying to escape from the Gulf of Tonkin, so Gregory IV didn't pay much attention to them and just asked the fleet docked on the coast to be careful.
But what no one expected was that before the Stern Crow army had time to attack Eagle Claw Castle, those "small-scale bandits" actually successfully robbed the Stern Crow Kingdom's fleet!
Yes……
The entire fleet, dozens of large and medium-sized warships, more than half of which were driven away by these "bandits", along with the food and grass on board...
The remaining ships that were not sailed away were all set on fire!
Gregory IV was stunned when he heard the news. After not seeing them for two years, have the outlaws in the Beibu Gulf become so fierce?
You don’t even hide when you encounter a large army?
And they even dared to attack the fleet?
There are more than 600 Stern Crows left behind in the fleet!
What kind of bandits could defeat more than 600 fleet soldiers in a few days and drive away most of the warships?
Are the comprehensive capabilities of today's bandits so strong?
Can you actually sail a boat?
Of course these people can sail, these are the troops that Bourdain is going to use to fight back to Firvia Island and regain the throne of queen. From the very beginning, Bourdain has been preparing for future amphibious operations, so there are relevant requirements when recruiting new soldiers, and they also train in boat operation and swimming.
Moreover, this was originally a regular army, recruited by Amy and trained by Jocelyn. Everything was done according to regular standards, the remuneration was very high, and the morale was quite high. Amy and Bride jointly guaranteed that all the team leaders were granted the status of "Knights of Phicavia".
In addition, this regular army had a wealth of experience in playing banditry. They had been robbing people every day for the past few months, and it had become a habit. Their behavior was more like bandits than that of real bandits...
Especially when men and women are mixed together, anyone would think that these people must be from the Green Forest Road...
"Your Majesty Amy, is this really feasible? We only have 400 people... There are only a dozen people on each ship, which is only enough to drive the ship away, not to fight. Moreover, they are not very skilled in sailing."
Bride was at the helm of a three-masted warship, and beside her stood Amy, who was carrying a musket.
"Don't call me Your Majesty, I have already abdicated... and we are pirates now..."
Amy looked around, grabbed a headscarf and tied it on her head, indicating that she had successfully changed her job.
"Well...sooner or later you will have to be called His Majesty...But are we really going to Changge Port like this? We can't capture Changge Port with such a small number of people..."
Bao Daisi was a little nervous. She knew the situation of her own troops. It was already considered lucky that a group of new recruits who had only trained for a few months took advantage of the terrain and suddenly attacked the Crow Stern fleet at night. The Crow Stern people never thought that the bandits would actually seize the ships. Most of the Crow Stern soldiers who stayed behind were on the coast.
They were indeed very careful in their defense, and they patrolled day and night in two shifts...
But Amy asked Bride to sneak directly with the troops to the Raven Stern warship, and then drove away all the ships that could be driven away, and used gunpowder to start a fire and burn the other ships that could not be driven away.
The two sides didn't really fight at all. The Ravenstern's fleet was actually stolen by Bodais's troops...
This is entirely because I have been a bandit in this area for the past few months and am familiar with the environment. When robbing, I am very tacit...
But robbing in a familiar place is completely different from attacking Changge Port across the sea. These recruits have no chance of attacking Changge Port - they don't have the ability to attack any city.
"Don't worry, Bodais... We know that we only have 400 people, but the Ravencrows don't know... If you see two three-masted warships and thirty brigs, how many troops do you think that is?"
Amy seemed very calm. After being king for more than a year, Amy's temperament had become quite stable. After all, she was someone who had seen many ups and downs.
"According to common sense, there should be more than 3,000 people..."
Bao Daisi replied.
A three-masted ship may only have a dozen people to steer it, but during combat, the standard crew will usually be more than 150 people.
A brig usually carries about a hundred people.
Saying three thousand people is actually an understatement. If it is a short-distance landing operation, sometimes extreme loading will be carried out - that is, the amount of supplies such as food and water will be reduced, and most of the space will be used to accommodate people. In this way, more than thirty warships can carry four to five thousand people.
"So, we can definitely claim to have an army of 4,000... hehe! We can march sideways in the inner sea of Lion Lake!"
Amy tied her headscarf tightly, wiped some dust on her face, and then touched the axe in her hand: "Bodaisi, do I look like a fierce pirate now?"
"No... You are too good-looking..."
Bao Daisy shook her head honestly, took off Amy's headscarf and tied it on her own head.
Indeed, with a headscarf on, Bodaisi really looks no different from those female pirates from Vanskerry...
This thing mainly depends on temperament - Bao Daisi looks a bit sturdy, and after her elder sister took the throne, she was full of resentment and looked more ferocious.
Moreover, she is good at naval combat, and she is good at throwing axes and javelins.
"Bao Daisi, you are not really suitable. I have to be the pirate leader..."
Jocelyn came out of the cabin and wiped his beard.
Amy's eyes lit up. "Aha, indeed, Jocelyn is the best candidate... Bodice, you should dress up as a Valkyrie - I heard that some women in Firdsvain founded the Valkyrie Sisterhood, and they used the head of a unicorn as their emblem. Coincidentally, your emblem is also a unicorn..."
By the way, when Jocelyn was in Leon's team, he was always playing a vicious role - at that time he was the flag bearer, wearing two layers of black heavy armor, a dusk knight helmet with double horns on his head, riding his Jatu war beast, and he looked like a demon who would eat children.
This time, Jocelyn donned his black hood, carried a large axe, and braided his beard into two strands—a style often worn by the Viking Lords of Firdsvain…
Thus, a "large-scale pirate gang" was formed.
At the same time, the entire fleet began to change its flag collectively, replacing all the Raven Flags on the masts with the Unicorn Flag - this is the emblem of Bodais, with a blue background and a pattern of a white unicorn with its front hooves raised.
The Valkyrie Sisterhood, which was newly established in Mist City last year, has a unicorn head as its emblem - which also happens to have a blue background and white patterns.
This is actually not a coincidence. The blue background and white pattern represent birth from the sea, and the unicorn is the symbol of the goddess of feminism, Phocavia. Most pure female teams will use unicorn-related patterns as their emblems.
However, although King Vidis did build a new Valhalla in the Mist City, the Valkyrie Sisterhood was not actually created by King Vidis - Firdsvain is a patriarchal society after all, and Vidis was always busy with war and had no time to set up a women's knighthood.
Ever since Firdsvain was dragged into the quagmire of war in the western part of Sarleon two years ago, the ongoing war has forced King Vidis to send many pirates to fight in the heart of the continent.
The military discipline of the Vanskerry pirates is indeed very poor. Their usual way of fighting is actually plundering again and again. They are not good at this kind of long-term continuous war.
At the same time, pirates were actually at a disadvantage when fighting in formation on land.
In order to reduce casualties, many Vanskerry pirate lords follow tradition and let some women serve as "shield maidens" to provide them with protection.
These "shield maidens" are part of the Vanskerry mythology, that is, women who are allowed to go to war. They are not professional warriors, but just some women who have gained the trust of pirates - in fact, most of them are robbed by pirates.
These women fought during the day and slept with pirates at night. They were possessed by these pirates both on the battlefield and in bed. They were actually pitiful people and slaves in essence.
From the year before last to last year, long-term combat resulted in an increasing number of shield maidens.
Later, some shield maidens encountered the heroic female warriors in Longhowling Castle.
These female heroic warriors have always followed Inna. Under Inna, they are dignified professional warriors and are treated the same as male soldiers.
After Inna knew what happened to those shield maidens, he asked the female heroes to help them - of course, Inna's main purpose was to gain more support, and he hoped that those shield maidens could become his helpers.
After Leon's disappearance, Inna was in a dilemma. To the Fierce Lion Kingdom, he was a regicide, and no one dared to trust him except Leon.
As for Firdsvain, Innar was born in Sarleon, and his adoptive father Gondor the Doomseeker openly supported Leon and attacked the Knights of the Dawn...
However, Innar had the Eins of Heroes in his hands, and Gondor the Doomseeker was very famous, so no one bothered Innar while the war continued.
Although Inna still occupied Howling Fort, it was originally a blank area with almost no residents, so there was nothing to worry about. At that time, most of the Firdsvain troops were deployed around Howling Fort, but no one bothered Inna.
However, with so many troops surrounding Long Howl Castle, Inna can't develop...
Inna still has a strong sense of crisis. He knows that there are too many restrictions on his future development as a king slayer, so he has been actively looking for opportunities. The experience of the shield maidens is a good opportunity for him.
Most of the time, the reason why enslaved people have the desire to fight is not because the oppression is too heavy, but because there is a comparison and a reliable leader appears...
With the help of Inna and the Heroic Eins, the shield maidens began to work together and eventually launched a resistance.
On a very ordinary night, they served the tired leader and pirates as usual. Late at night, they killed the pirate leaders in their bed.
Later, they united with the help of the heroic female warriors and formed a powerful force.
Afterwards, they came to the Mist City, intending to teach King Vidis a lesson - this was Inna's idea, as he believed that Vidis should bear the greatest responsibility for the enslavement of the shield maidens.
In fact, Inna mainly hopes that King Vidis will withdraw his troops.
To be honest, Inna really deserves the nickname of "provocative"...
Inna was young after all, and he naively thought that as long as Firthsaway withdrew his troops, he would be able to settle the refugees in Longhowl Castle - at least he knew that only when there were people in the territory could he have capital.
But the situation at that time was not such that King Vidis could withdraw his troops just by saying so...
At that time, the two major legions of the Bacchus Empire had been causing trouble everywhere. If Vidis dared to withdraw his troops, Agathon would probably lead the First Legion of the Empire to chase them all the way to the Mist City. By then, the Fierce Lion Kingdom might be freed, but the quagmire of war would become the heart of Firdsvain.
Vidis was already in a state of panic at the time - the war had lasted too long, and many coastal cities in Firdsvain had been plundered by the Bacchus fleet before, and Vidis was facing a series of debts in the Fog City.
The arrival of these shield maidens made Vidis's already hairless head even balder - the Mist City did not have any troops to suppress these women who came for revenge, nor did it have enough dinars to recruit troops.
However, Vidis's baldness was indeed due to his extreme intelligence. Facing these women who were called by the 'troublemaker' to cause trouble, King Vidis used another method to gain their forgiveness - on behalf of all the nobles of Firdsvain, he signed the Valideth Charter and granted these former shieldmaiden the title of Valkyrie, that is, "the one who decides life and death".
Moreover, he gave the newly built Halls of Valor in the Mistfall to these women and publicly announced that Inna was still the legitimate lord of the Firdsvain.
In other words, Vidis organized these shieldmaiden into a recognized and legitimate knightly order, gave them a high status, and hired them to fight for the Firdsvain with houses, food, and equipment.
Vidis is still very good at adapting to changing circumstances.
Since then, many female warriors under Inna have also become members of the "Valkyrie". They are based in Valhalla in the Mist City and have officially become professional warriors. They also use the unicorn, which represents women's rights, as the emblem of the Knights Templar.
At this time, the defenders of Changge Port discovered that a huge fleet with the unicorn flag appeared in the distance outside their port...
The fleet was too far away to see many details, but the flags and size were obvious, and panic immediately set in Longsong Harbor - could it be that Firdsvain was launching a massive attack?
