Tristan slept very late these days, not because he didn't want to go to bed early, but because he couldn't sleep at all. It wasn't until he received the news from the messenger that he relaxed a little.
At least Ilea did not abandon him after hearing that the other three people had united together, and had promised him that she would arrive as soon as possible, which also meant that she was confident of defeating the army led by Allister and others.
Tristan knew he had made the right bet.
However, the problem before him is still serious. He needs to persist for at least a month and a half before reinforcements arrive.
You must know that even the former emperor of the empire, Garth, led the Royal Guards, the Royal Knights and tens of thousands of troops, relying on the Lion Heart Castle, the strongest city in the mainland, for only more than three months.
And when those giant dragons arrived, Lionheart Castle quickly fell, and King's Landing Tower was reduced to ruins.
Now Tristan only has less than 4,000 guards, many of whom were recruited in the past year.
Even if you add the garrison, militia, etc., you can only gather eight or nine thousand people at most, which is very different from the opponent's strength.
But fortunately, the location of the Antler Gate is very special. It is located on a mountain cliff with cliffs on three sides. There is only one path to go down the mountain. This is where Tristan's confidence lies.
As news of the war spread, many nearby farmers and businessmen have come to the city to take refuge in these days.
Tristan did not refuse. These were his subjects, and as a lord, he had the obligation to provide protection to these people.
In addition, he only needs to stick to it for a month and a half, two months at most, so there is no problem of not having enough food to eat if there are too many people.
After these people enter the city, they can also help defend the city, which is not a loss in any way. However, Tristan also told the guards guarding the city to be careful to prevent spies from sneaking in.
Many fortified cities in history were not captured from the outside.
Tristan knew this very well, so he paid special attention to this aspect of work. He even came to the city gate in person to supervise the interrogation of refugees.
Tristan paid special attention to those guys with accents from the royal capital, the south and the north, and a caravan from the Red Plains lost the opportunity to enter the city because of this.
The leading businessman was also taken to the garrison because of his suspicious behavior, where he would undergo more rigorous interrogation.
Tristan had been busy all morning and was about to go back to the castle for dinner when he saw an army coming from a distance.
Tristan narrowed his eyes, and his brows relaxed again after he saw clearly the flag held by the army and the leading knight.
The visitor is his vassal, Ivan the Merciful.
Ivan was born in the Betak family, and the Betak family is most praised by the world for their loyalty. There have been a total of four royal guards in the family.
And Ivan is the cousin of the former Royal Guardsman Du Lun. Du Lun was murdered by those Wing Clan people. At that time, many people witnessed his death process with their own eyes.
However, he was somehow resurrected by Shuangxiu Cult later, and now he is working for Ilea and became the Queen's military advisor.
Therefore, Tristan felt that Ivan could be regarded as half of his own. Especially when he met Ivan, the latter said that he came to the Antler Gate to help after hearing the news, and Tristan liked him even more.
Tristan also knows that some of his vassals have been dissatisfied with him for a long time, and they are likely to join Allister and others this time.
This is also the reason why he did not summon vassals from other places to guard the Antler Gate.
But Ivan should still be trustworthy, although Tristan is still cautious.
After letting Ivan and the 200 people he brought enter the city, he immediately sent out spies to search the area. After finding no enemy troops, he was completely relieved.
Tristan held a dinner in the castle and entertained Ivan and his knights. The guests and guests enjoyed the dinner.
Afterwards, Tristan asked Ivan and his two hundred men to be responsible for the recruitment and training of the city's militia, and they did not complain at all.
Almost five days passed like this, and the army of Allister and others finally entered the Elk Valley. They occupied all the towns they passed along the way with little effort.
Only a few lords resisted, and the rest chose to surrender in the face of an enemy army dozens of times their own. A very small number of people abandoned the city and fled.
But what was embarrassing was that after they ran to the Antler Gate, Tristan refused to open the city gate for them because he was worried that they were spies, so these people had no choice but to turn around and go back to find Allister and others to surrender.
About fifteen days later, the three emperors and their armies arrived at the foot of the mountain where the Antler Gate is located.
They launched a wave of tentative attacks along the path, but Tristan was not waiting around at this time.
He had people find many boulders, and when the enemy attacked, they pushed the boulders down the mountain, killing many people along the way. As a result, the first attack by Allister and others could only return in vain.
But there wasn't much joy on Tristan's face. He hadn't seen the Wing Tribes and the two giant dragons yet.
This attack from the other side was not serious at all.
Ivan stood with him on the city wall, looking at the black mass of heads at the bottom of the mountain. When those people rushed up the mountain, Ivan asked Tristan to allow him to take people out of the city to repel the intruders.
But Tristan didn't agree. He said to Ivan, "Don't worry, the war has just begun. There will definitely be some use for you later."
Ivan also said solemnly, "I will definitely abide by those sacred oaths and obey your orders."
Tristan was very pleased to hear this and patted Ivan on the shoulder, "Don't worry, I won't treat you badly. When the war is over, I will definitely give you a large piece of land."
For three days in a row, the enemy troops at the foot of the mountain launched no fewer than seven attacks. In one of them, someone had already touched the gate of the Antler Gate.
He also killed several civilians who were pushing stones, but was quickly driven back by the archers on the city wall.
But before Tristan had time to be happy, two black shadows appeared in the sky above his head.
Ivan's eyes were very sharp. He saw the two dragons first and immediately shouted, "Be careful, the dragon is coming!"
Then he drew his sword again, came to Tristan's side, and said to the latter, "Sir, I will escort you to the tunnel."
Tristan nodded, but he was worried that the enemies would attack again when the dragon appeared, so before leaving, he called a few of his trusted generals and told them to guard the city gates and give them more points.
Got some manpower.
Then he hurriedly walked down the city wall before the dragon descended, and got into the tunnel that had just been dug some time ago.
I wish everyone a happy Mid-Autumn Festival in advance~
This chapter has been completed!