After that first snowy night, Todd's speech caused the entire Muxi Town to move at full speed in preparation for the upcoming battle.
A notice written by the general leader was posted in the square at the entrance of the church, and the catechumens loudly explained to the people what was about to happen.
Todd first elaborated in the notice the huge crisis facing Muxi Town in the beginning of next spring; then, while emphasizing that he and the Muxi Knights would be stationed until the last moment, he allowed people to evacuate with their property, Muxi Town
Evacuation routes and safe points will be arranged; finally, for those townspeople who are willing to stay and fight together, the Knights will issue weapons to them and train them to join the battle as militiamen.
After understanding what the notice said, after a brief period of confusion, the residents each chose a different path.
Some wealthy new immigrants packed up all their valuable belongings and drove out of Muxi Town in horse-drawn carriages that night.
Some timid residents, knowing full well that they could not go far in this snowy season, gathered at the door of the church, hoping that the Knights would arrange for them to evacuate to a safe location.
But more people choose to stay, including the earliest craftsmen and fishermen who joined Muxi Town, the farmers who fled here from the nobles, and the alien refugees seeking asylum...
These residents who swore to live and die with Muxi Town, the men went to the recruitment point of the Knights, picked up weapons, and joined the militia; the women pulled down the curtains at home, tore the linen on the bed, and made cloth armor.
Donated to the church.
You can see this scene every day at recruitment sites. Silver-haired old men and underage teenagers stand in front of the recruiting officers and loudly ask why they are not allowed to join the army.
It's mid-December.
At noon, the sun rises into the sky, and the snow reflects the dazzling white light under the sunlight. On the streets of Muxi Town, you can't see the bustling flow of people, nor can you hear the noisy sounds of the past. The men
On the drill ground, they were receiving weapons instruction and formation training from the sergeants; while the women and children were making arrows, herbs, bandages and other war preparation materials at home.
Todd was in the chapel of the church, presiding over the second pre-war meeting of the Muxi Knights.
In addition to Cumberland, Mary, Huggins, Alfonso and others who attended the last meeting, Brother Joe, who immediately set off for the monastery after the cement was successfully developed, just returned to the town with more than 30 monks a few days ago.
, caught up with this conference.
This monk in his thirties with a "Mediterranean hairstyle" is energetic and outspoken. Before everyone could take their seats, he stood up and introduced himself: "Master General, if you agree, I am willing to go to Silver Ring City."
to persuade the enemy to give up their attack on us."
Todd pursed his lips and smiled bitterly. He had to explain Muxi Town's situation to this passionate monk again. Seeing that the other party finally gave up the idea and sat down, he nodded towards Huggins.
The latter stood up, looked at the paper in his hand, and said in a deep voice: "There are currently 1,075 residents in the town, of which 829 are willing to stay."
Todd heard this and asked again: "Excluding the old, weak, women and children, how many people can be organized into a militia?"
Huggins raised his head: "290 people."
Todd frowned, motioned for Huggins to sit down, and then asked Cumberland: "How is it over there in Silver Ring City?"
The old knight replied: "According to the message brought by my old acquaintance, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that the commander of the Southern Army, Earl Emerson, was under house arrest last month.
It seems that he rejected the nobles' request; the bad news is that the Silver Ring Army attacking Muxi Town this time includes not only the Southern Legion and the private soldiers of the nobles, but also a group of temporary northern legions. The total strength may exceed
1,200 people.”
When Alfonso heard this, he asked doubtfully: "Northern Legion? How could they join this battle? Isn't Silver Ring City worried that the northern barbarians will take advantage of this opportunity..."
When the knight said this, he suddenly stopped talking, opened his eyes wide, and stayed there.
Cumberland sighed: "The most likely possibility is that the Silver Ring Kingdom and the barbarians have reached an alliance."
Alfonso shouted in disbelief: "Are they crazy? Haven't they thought about the consequences of doing this? Silver Ring City will become the common enemy of all parish kingdoms!"
Dion, a knight in white attire, said at this time: "I guess that when the Silver Ring Kingdom made the decision to attack Muxi Town, it had already made up its mind to form an alliance with the northern barbarians."
Todd, who was standing on the pulpit, frowned and looked at Rachel.
The woman stood up and took out a piece of cloth as big as a palm from her arms: "According to the information sent by Bei Dao, the tribe that attacked Muxi Town from the sea this time was a tribe called Panya. They came out in full force and used all their weapons.
It has ten warships, 200 pirates, and can carry about 300 barbarian warriors."
"Are there 500 enemy troops at sea..." Todd suddenly thought of the violent warrior with an "adrenal parasite" in his body that he encountered when ambushing pirates in the past, and hurriedly asked: "Is there anyone in this pirate tribe?
There are rumors of some powerful berserkers?”
Rachel shook her head: "Captain, you should be talking about the berserker warriors in the North Island. These people are extremely rare. I have never heard of such people in the 'Coil Fang Tribe'."
Todd felt a little at ease, and after gesturing for Rachel to sit down, he began to calculate the relative strength between the enemy and ourselves.
On the Duxi Town side: Huggins and his 12 subordinates composed of the "Successor" knight squad, Alfonso and his three retinues, Cumberland and his 200 sergeants and a dozen subordinates,
There are also 290 hastily trained militiamen.
On the enemy's side: a 1,200-man Silver Ring Army composed of the Southern Legion, the Northern Legion, and noble private soldiers, plus 200 pirates and 300 barbarian warriors.
In terms of military strength, 500 people versus 1,700 people. Muxi Town needed one person to deal with three enemies and was completely defeated.
In terms of arms, Muxi Town has 25 heavy cavalry, 15 light cavalry, 15 horse archers, and 180 sergeants. However, if the enemy has the same arms, comparing this number, it will only be more, not less. What is left on our side is,
There are only some militiamen who are on the battlefield for the first time. If they face the enemy's pirates, soldiers and private soldiers, they will probably be beaten and scattered immediately.
The disadvantage in this battle is really too great...
Todd, who was standing on the pulpit, rubbed his eyebrows and said, "Everyone here, is there anything else you want to add?"
Contrary to his expectation, one person stood up hesitantly, and it turned out to be the honest and honest little Jerry.
This shy young man looked at everyone focusing on him and whispered shyly: "...I know...fishermen...they..."
Todd opened his mouth slightly, tilted his head, and tried to distinguish the words spoken by the other party, but the other party's voice was too soft, making it difficult to hear clearly.
Edgar, who was sitting next to Little Jerry, really couldn't listen anymore. He stood on the chair and danced and said: "I'll tell him! I'll tell him! Little Jerry knows a few old fishermen."
, some of them even participated in battles with pirates. Deal with
Those bastards who come over by boat from the sea have an old and effective trick. They find a group of people with good water skills. When they see the warship approaching, they dive into the sea. When the ship passes, they float up and stick to the bottom of the ship, and use chisels to carve out the bottom of the ship.
Just make a big hole and wait for the ship to sink."
After listening to Edgar's words, little Jerry suddenly bent down and whispered something in the latter's ear.
Edgar nodded while listening, and then added: "Those old fishermen also said that this method of digging the bottom of the boat can only be done by those who are good at water, can hold their breath, and can hold on to the bottom of the boat. Now among the fishermen, only
There are several people who have this ability, and they have all said that they are willing to give it a try for Lord Todd."
Listening to Edgar's introduction, Todd suddenly thought of something and his eyes lit up.
"Edgar, later you bring those fishermen who volunteered to build boats to the church. I want to see them." After Todd said this, he motioned for Edgar and Jerry to sit down and look at the hall.
Everyone said: "So, can anyone tell me about the tactics of this battle?"
Huggins glanced at the people around him and said first: "If we just stick to the small town in this battle, I'm afraid we don't have much chance of winning."
Alfonso nodded: "I agree with this point of view, regarding the two enemies on land and sea. I suggest that we should concentrate our superior forces to defeat one army first, and then turn around and defeat the other army."
Knight Dion fiddled with the ponytail hanging diagonally on his chest with his fingers: "The key issue is the time difference. The Silver Ring Army and the pirates will definitely calculate the marching distance in advance and agree on a joint attack time. If this can be done,
If an army arrives early or late, it will give us enough time to defeat them one by one."
The old knight Cumberland stroked the beard on his chin and made a suggestion: "I think it is still possible to change the marching speed of the Silver Ring Army. I am very familiar with the military orders of the kingdom. I just need to forge a copy and let
The enemy can achieve the effect without seeing any flaws."
Huggins heard this and guessed: "Lord Cumberland, are you planning to use fake military orders to delay the march of the Silver Ring Army and deal with the pirates who have landed on land first?"
The old man's next words surprised everyone: "No, I used the fake military order to speed up the march of the Yinhuan army and defeat the kingdom's coalition forces first."
Seeing the surprised expressions of others, Cumberland began to explain: "I know, you may wonder why you left the weaker ones alone and attacked the strongest enemies first. Let me, an old man, explain
The reasoning behind this: first, the mobility in Muxi Town is the best.
The unit with the highest combat effectiveness is the cavalry, but if you choose to attack the pirates and barbarians first, these buildings in the town will not only affect the deployment of the cavalry, but will also become the best hiding place for the enemy; secondly, the command system of the Silver Ring Army and the pirates
Unlike the barbarians, the Yinhuan Army has only one supreme commander.
, if the main army can be defeated, it means that the army will lose unified command and be more likely to cause chaos. The pirate barbarians are composed of multiple tribes. Even if one leader is killed, it will not have much impact on the entire battle situation.
Influence; thirdly, and most importantly, Yinhuan Army
There are cavalry in the team, while the pirates and barbarians are all infantry. If the enemy's cavalry is not defeated first, then they can adopt a distance-keeping method to engage in guerrilla warfare with us, and even attack the evacuated residents of Muxi Town, forcing
We are exhausted and have lost our fighting power."
Seeing everyone else's understanding expressions, Todd nodded and returned the question to the beginning: "If there is no objection to the policy of giving priority to attacking the Silver Ring troops, then there is only one last question left, how to create two troops.
Time difference? In other words, how to make the fake military order that can speed up the march of the Yinhuan Alliance Army? "
Cumberland also showed a troubled look at this time: "This is indeed a big problem. As far as I know, the kingdom's emergency military order requires at least seven seals. Each seal is different, and there are some ordinary people.
Details that cannot be noticed at all, even by the Minister of Palm Print himself, may not..."
At this time, a woman suddenly stood up, and her aura like a flower on a high mountain made everyone look at her.
"I can draw all the seal patterns."
Cumberland heard Mary's words and said with some uncertainty: "All the patterns? Those seals were made by different seal engraving masters, and the text on some seals has even been lost..."
Mary looked at Todd on the pulpit and said softly: "I can guarantee that the seal pattern I drew is exactly the same as the original one."
Todd looked at this woman who was once the queen of a country, and remembered that since she came to Muxi Town, she had closed herself in a room, not talking to anyone, and all she did every day was reading and drawing.
.
Mary crossed her fingers and placed them in front of her lower abdomen. Her back was slightly bent, and there was a hint of pleading in her voice: "Mr. Todd, please, I hope I can help."
After a moment, Todd nodded slightly.
——————————————
After the meeting, everyone returned to their respective posts, working hard to prepare everything for the upcoming battle.
Todd took Rachel to his experimental building.
After opening the locked door and walking to the back door, Todd turned and looked into the nun's eyes: "Miss Rachel, you are my friend and my partner. I trust you unconditionally. But then I
Everything I let you see, everything I let you know, I hope you won’t tell any third person besides you and me.”
To his surprise, Rachel's face was calm. The woman took his right hand, placed it on her heart, and whispered: "Todd, I swear on my life and soul that my loyalty only belongs to
you."
Todd retracted his palm, took a deep look at her, turned around and opened the door to the back room.
The nun walked into the room and the first thing she saw was a row of tied cloth bags on the table.
Todd noticed the other party's gaze, picked up a thirty centimeter square bundle, and said to the woman: "This is called a 'dynamite bag', and its scientific name is a group medicine bag. The main materials inside are castor oil and charcoal.
Nitroglycerin dynamite made from saltpeter powder, sulfur powder, etc. Unfortunately, I have too little saltpeter on hand, otherwise..."
Todd glanced at Rachel who was confused, then put down the explosive bag in his hand and walked towards the depths of the room: "Don't worry about it. What I want to show you today is another thing."
Todd walked to the corner of the back room and lifted the cloth cover. Below were three cylindrical bottles and tanks made of metal, one older and two newer. There were several conduits connected to the tanks. He
He turned around and said to the woman: "This is called the 'Volcanic Environment Simulated Culture Bottle'. It can produce something called 'Sutherland Potion'..."