The bonfire crackled, and sparks exploded. The flames flashed, illuminating the faces of the people around the fire pit.
The lord of Broken Bridge City, His Excellency Kyle Holden, was wearing heavy armor and sitting on a wooden stake next to the fire pit. His bearded face showed anger with nowhere to vent, and so did the nobles who followed him.
The attendant turned the grill on the fire pit. On the grill was a plowing cow, which was slaughtered and divided into more than a dozen pieces.
After the meat was roasted and the meat was fragrant, the attendant took a wooden plate, cut the meat from the grill with a silver knife, sprinkled cumin and salt, and presented it to the distinguished Lord of the City.
Mr. Holden was obviously hungry, but he didn't move the barbecue when he got it. Instead, he turned towards the darkness outside the campfire.
Although they couldn't see it, the farmers in the village were shivering and hiding in a corner, watching the outsiders eating the only cattle in the village.
"Damn it."
The nobles by the fire pit are all hungry, but the city lord doesn't want to eat, so they can only wait with wooden trays. As for the sentence "Damn it", who do they know who they are scolding?
Yesterday, the villages and farms around Broken Bridge City suffered a devastating blow. A group of cavalry formed a team of more than a dozen people and launched continuous raids at an extremely fast speed.
When the news reached Broken Bridge City, the nobles in the city thought they had encountered a joint plunder by a large group of gangs. But at night, they learned that it was a separate unit of enemy cavalry.
Standing at the top of Broken Bridge City, you can see the smoking village a few kilometers away, which shows that the sudden enemy is really bold and unscrupulous.
The reaction of the Holden family was actually quite fast. After receiving the information in the morning, they assembled multiple patrol teams in the afternoon to protect the surrounding villages and look for the enemy who came from nowhere.
As a result, in the early morning of the next day, the enemy released a knight from Broken Bridge who had his ears and nose cut off and his eyes blinded. The knight narrated the tragic experience of his team and sent Victor Hugo's declaration of war.
Such despicable and cruel methods angered the entire nobility of Broken Bridge City. Kyle Holden swore to the gods on the spot that he would make his opponent pay the price with blood.
Furious, more than two hundred military nobles from Broken Bridge City shouted and rushed out of the city to fight to the death with the enemies from Cold Wind City.
But after a day of chasing like a cat chasing a mouse, the consequences of "raising an army in anger" became apparent - the city lord came out with more than 200 noble knights, but he didn't bring any supplies.
The wizard who accompanied him did have some small storage bags, but most of them contained the wizard's own magic items and personal food and drink. Not everyone has a huge portable alchemy workshop like Zhou Qingfeng that can be used to store things.
More than two hundred knights have been chasing him for a day, and are now stationed in an unknown village more than 20 kilometers away from the city. They have almost drained the wells in the village.
They came in a hurry, without food, water, or servants to serve them. It was difficult to even take off their armor if they wanted to rest.
But what was even worse was that the enemy kept aloof and kept the team in Broken Bridge City running non-stop. At night, Kyle Holden also realized that he had been fooled.
The power in Cold Wind City has been changing continuously, and several surrounding families want to take advantage of the opportunity to expand.
Broken Bridge City is only fifty kilometers away from Cold Wind City in a straight line, and the Holden family has long coveted wealthy territories like Green Valley Town that can produce wine. Kyle Holden has been making many plans in the past six months.
Zhou Qingfeng expelled the dignitaries of Cold Wind City, and the Holden family was even more prepared, waiting for them to fight. But he didn't expect that the enemy would attack first before he took action.
Thinking about the fact that more than 200 of his main forces were chasing alone, with no support around, Kyle Holden also felt terrified.
Victor Hugo was so cunning. He must have been unsure of the siege, so he ruined his reputation, killed the prisoners, and deliberately lured out the Horton family's troops.
"I'm so stupid, I fell into the trap so easily."
The Lord of Hedun City was really filled with regret, "This plan that can be seen through at a glance can only deceive fools, how come I didn't notice it?"
Before the war, Kyle Holden imagined what it would be like if he really faced off against Hugo. He felt that no matter what happened, he would be calm and calm, and would never frown even in the face of a brutal and bloody battle.
The family will surely be honored by this.
But it's too late to say anything now.
The strength of Broken Bridge City is similar to that of Coldwind City ruled by the Long Legs family, with a total of more than 400 knights. The more than 200 knights that can be mobilized immediately this time are direct descendants of the Holden family.
This group of people must not be compromised, otherwise the foundation of the family will be shaken.
"Don't be afraid. As soon as daybreak comes, I will return to the city immediately. When I return to the city, I will defend the city and gather all the troops in the territory to fight with Hugo." The Lord of Holden grabbed the barbecue in the wooden plate with his hands and stuffed it into his mouth.
"As long as I hold on, Hugo won't be able to do anything to me. I'll definitely wear that damn bastard to the point where he's helpless."
The city lord started eating, and the others by the fire pit could finally fill their bellies. However, a single cattle could not feed the stomachs of more than two hundred knights, so everything that could be eaten in the village was found and eaten.
High-ranking nobles still had meat to eat, but ordinary low-ranking knights could only eat some black bread. Some bread was mixed with sawdust, and the gentlemen ate it while cursing.
There were more than a hundred serf-like villagers in the village hiding in the dark, not even daring to breathe loudly, and they could only endure when they were hungry or thirsty. If the gentlemen asked, they would have to demolish their houses and throw them into the fire pit.
fuel.
The fire pit was burning brightly, and his stomach was full. The situation was not too bad, and the sluggish morale gradually recovered. Kyle Holden stood up and patrolled the guard. He set up two levels of sentry posts outside this unknown village.
One layer is fixed and one layer is mobile.
"We must be careful, maybe the enemy will attack at night."
The Lord of Holden City was already scared. He really felt that he was too negligent this time and put himself in danger. He also thought about returning to the city immediately at night, but he still gave up the idea.
A man may be able to bear being led by the enemy for a day, but a horse can't. A man's physical strength on horseback is huge, and if the horse carrying the man is forced to retreat, a lot of people will die.
Evacuating at night is much more difficult than marching during the day.
The Lord of Halton City was worried that half of the people would be missing the next day if he ran around aimlessly all night. After all, the night vision medicine only provided a field of vision of about twenty meters, and it was easy to get lost in the vast wilderness.
Besides, the enemy is bound to be hiding in the dark and watching. If we pursue him halfway, the losses will be even greater.
The horse must be allowed to rest and have a good meal to regain its strength.
"I have more than two hundred troops, all of whom are regular knights who have been trained for a long time. Hugo only has more than a hundred miscellaneous cavalry. It's a head-on battle. I'm not afraid of him. As long as I am allowed to return to the city, I will definitely not make the same mistake again."
The Lord of Halton tried to comfort himself and the knights who followed him into battle. He explained the current pros and cons clearly to his retainers and cronies.
Everyone praised their boss for his proper analysis and detailed thinking. He must be right.
"Now we just need to guard against the opponent's machinations. Once dawn, we won't be afraid of anything." Kyle Holden thought that although he made a small mistake, it was not fatal.
But just after saying this, a gust of night wind blew.
There was a slight sound of military drums in the wind..., dong dong dong dong dong, dong dong dong dong dong. The mood of the nobles in Broken Bridge City had just relaxed, but their colors suddenly changed when they heard the sound.