Duke Otto bypassed the fortress and fled in the direction of Oldenburg. The stretching plains suddenly stopped, and a dense forest appeared on the horizon. Oldenburg's castle stood on the dividing line between the two.
On the other side of the woods is Frisia. A few years ago, this was Duke Otto's front line against Sigurd. But after Sigurd's death, Duke Otto's territory expanded towards Frisia, and Oldenburg became the
It doesn't seem that important anymore. There are only a few hundred defenders under the fortified city, and it is more of a manor run by Duke Otto.
Duke Otto broke into Oldenburg. Before he could dismount, he pointed at a cavalryman beside him and said: "You! Change your horse and go to my capital immediately and bring back a troop of troops from the garrison to support you!"
"
Although Oldenburg is not far from the capital of Duke Otto, it is extremely unwise to go to Minden with only more than twenty people when soldiers from the Pirate Kingdom appear on the edge of the Duchy of Angria.
"The Pirate Kingdom may besiege here at any time. What are you waiting for here? Go quickly!"
"This..." the soldier said hesitantly, "Sir, how many defenders are you going to bring?"
Duke Otto was stunned for a moment, knowing that his instructions just now were not clear enough. He had never made such a mistake before, and he was too anxious this time. He calmed down and said, "One thousand is enough."
Enough, let the remaining defenders beware of possible attacks from the Pirate Kingdom."
The soldier received the order and was about to retreat, but was stopped by Duke Otto: "Hold on! One more thing, issue an order to recruit soldiers from all over the country! I don't know what the pirate kingdom's plan is, but in the worst case scenario
, a full-scale war may break out! You must prepare in advance!”
The soldier received the order and was about to retreat, but was stopped by Duke Otto: "Slow down! One more thing! You ask the defenders to pull our carts over too! No matter how cautious you are in the current situation,
It’s not an exaggeration!”
When the soldiers retreated, Duke Otto was still gasping for breath.
"Triumph...what are you thinking about?"
…
Five days later, Ella's soldiers appeared at the border of Oldenburg, two days later than the normal march. In addition to Ella's 800 men, the mayor of Hamburg also cobbled together some hired men.
The soldiers gathered together a thousand people. Since Ella was nominally a "mercenary" hired by the mayor of Hamburg, the mayor of Hamburg was also forcibly drawn into the team.
Ella and his soldiers wandered around the border of Oldenburg and stationed themselves on the spot. This made the mayor of Hamburg anxious. He hurried to Ella's camp and watched Ella from a distance.
He shouted and asked: "Why are we stationed here? Not to mention the castle of Oldenburg, you can't even see the pastures and woodlands outside Oldenburg!"
"This position is enough. Let the people in Oldenburg get used to it first. Getting too close at the beginning will cause panic."
"What nonsense are you talking about! If you don't push the soldiers up to close the castle, all the civilians in Oldenburg will run into the castle to take refuge! They will assist the castle defenders! Oldenburg is already very strong.
, you also increase the difficulty of siege?"
"It doesn't make any difference. I didn't bring any siege equipment. I couldn't attack the city in the first place, right?"
"Then you asked me to hire you to travel here???"
"You still don't understand why I got here two days late." Ella took the grilled fish from a soldier and stuffed it into the hand of the mayor of Hamburg. "I will let the soldiers work on the ladder overnight. I will eat first."
Stomach, you will be tired tomorrow."
The next day, Ella led the troops and walked through the fields of Augsburg. Many farmers hid behind their houses and looked at them fearfully.
"Look, it's impossible for everyone to escape into the castle. Since there are only a few hundred permanent garrison troops in Augsburg, there won't be a lot of food stored in the castle. Taking all the people in will increase food consumption. So.
With Duke Otto's character, he will definitely refuse to accept a certain number of people. Maybe he will only accept mature men and kick out the old, young, women and children... Look, there are very few men outside, right?"
"But there are still more people who can defend the city!" The mayor of Hamburg stomped his feet angrily, "Even with the ladder now, we can't capture the castle with just us people!"
"But why should I attack the castle?" Ella asked, "Mayor of Hamburg, what do you think is the reason for launching a war between two countries?"
The mayor of Hamburg was stunned: "Isn't it just to compete for resources and land?"
Ella pointed to the cultivated fields, pastures and woodlands not far away: "Aren't the resources and land right here? What's in the castle?"
"There is Duke Otto... and the garrison."
"It's completely worthless. Since Duke Otto wants to hide in the castle, let him hide. Let's just divide the land."
"Divide the land?" The mayor of Hamburg was confused after hearing this, "To whom?"
"Since Duke Otto used dirty means to annex the land, then return the land to its original owner."
"But if we don't capture the castle, we won't be able to substantively occupy this place! These lands don't belong to us!"
"So we have to capture the castle. However, we are not the ones to do it."
"Then who will attack?"
"They're already in town, aren't they?"
The mayor of Hamburg suddenly realized: "You came here two days late. Do you hope that what happened in Hamburg will be reported here in advance and incite riots?"
"Looking at the current situation, it seems that there will be another fire - that's a story for later. Mayor, you are an Alemannic and have economic acumen. You are also my employer. I will leave the matter of dividing the land to you.
It’s done for you.”
"How can a mercenary tell his employer to do things..." The mayor of Hamburg muttered in a low voice and retreated.
That night, Aila sent people to the city and shot several arrows tied with letters into the city. The content of the letter was probably to persuade the farmers to respond internally, and agreed to attack the city tomorrow night and the beginning of the month.
But that night, Ella led her troops and waited at the bottom of the city.
She closed her eyes and listened carefully to the sounds in the castle.
"These letters are in Duke Otto's hands now, right?"
Ella knew that the inflammatory remarks she had painstakingly written in the letter would not have any direct effect - after all, the serfs could not understand the words in the letter.
"But Duke Otto, you have a ghost in your heart. After seeing my letter, can you really still believe in the loyalty of those serfs?"
"Then, how will those serfs who are already dissatisfied with you react to your suspicion?"
