The sun had just risen, and in the Ulster military camp, the sounds of iron, horse hoofbeats, and noises came together, bringing a touch of life to the land covered by ice and snow.
Fergal, who was patrolling the army with his guards early in the morning, walked to the shade of a tent and found a naked body lying in the snow. He frowned and asked the people around him: "What's going on?
thing?"
A soldier stepped forward, turned the body over, inspected it carefully, and said to Fergal: "Sir, there are no injuries from the fight. It seems that after freezing to death in the middle of the night, the clothes were taken away and left behind.
here."
An aide approached Fergal and said worriedly: "This winter is extremely cold. People can freeze to death in the city, let alone in such an open plain."
Fergal glanced at him coldly and gave the order to the soldiers: "Find a piece of cloth to cover the body and throw it outside the camp."
On the way back, someone else suggested to Fergal: "Sir, is it wise to hold on like this? Our army is obviously much larger than the rebels, why don't we use a direct attack to annihilate them?"
The latter looked around and found that almost everyone's expressions showed that they had the same idea as this person, so he explained: "Before starting the war, you must first find out who our enemy is.
Gladiators who survived hundreds of battles in the gladiatorial arena, and barbarians who survived by hunting in the forest. Although these people lack systematic military training, they are first-rate experts in personal force and concealment ambush."
"So what? We have a capable army and excellent equipment!"
Fergal shook his head: "If the war takes place in the forest, our advantage will be reduced to the minimum. Think about it, in the dense woods, there are big trees everywhere that only two people can encircle, and the army's formation cannot be
The effect of deploying, projecting and throwing weapons will be greatly reduced. As for the enemy, the snow can become a cave for them to hide in, the trees can become a bunker to avoid arrows, and the extremely complex terrain can provide them with
Provides the best venue for small team operations.”
Someone raised another question: "But our slave-catching teams have also raided their camps in the past, and didn't they return with a great victory every time?"
Fergal reminded loudly: "Don't forget, the victory of the slave-catching team is based on three premises! First, the raid time is never chosen in winter; second, the barbarians did not unite with the gladiators to form a
rebels; third, they lack a strong leader…
...Yes, I am talking about Boyle. In the past, I always thought that he was just a reckless, stupid, and careless careerist, but a series of performances in the arena proved that I was wrong. This guy
If we don’t get rid of it now, we may become the kingdom’s most terrifying enemy in the future…”
Hearing people around him still talking quietly, Fergal softened his tone: "The second batch of supplies supported by the kingdom will be delivered to the camp soon. And right now, we have cut off all supply lines in the rebel camp. According to my calculations,
, even if Boyle began to search for and store food after returning to the camp, the stock was only enough for them to last until early February. In other words, as long as we hold on here for two months, the rebels will be defeated.
.”
"And what if they abandon the camp?"
"That would be great. In addition to the roving cavalry troops, I also ambushed an intercepting troop in the south of the forest in advance." Fergal looked past the wooden stakes in front of him and looked towards the front of the camp.
Vast Forest said calmly: "If the rebels escape, this unit can be used to slow them down and buy us enough time to catch up with them; if they divide their forces, they can directly attack the rebel camp."
After a pause, Fergal withdrew his gaze: "The most critical question now is when will these hungry, crazy-eyed mice come out of their holes?"
Fergal's doubts did not last long.
Two days later, early in the morning, while he was enjoying breakfast, the sentry captain from the watchtower burst into his tent and shouted: "The enemy is coming!"
Fergal was startled at first, then silent for a moment, and finally put down the food in his hand and said with a smile: "It came faster than I thought."
After walking out of the camp, he glanced at the panicked sentry captain and said dissatisfied: "Where are the enemies? How many are there?"
The sentry captain stretched out his trembling hand and pointed to the sky in front of the camp.
Fergal followed the direction of the other person's finger, looked up at the sky, and couldn't help but be startled by the sight in front of him.
In the early morning sunlight, several thin and long black smoke drifted over the forest, looking inexplicably weird.
Fergal turned his gaze to the sentry captain and asked in disbelief: "Are those ours...?"
The latter said to him with a sad face: "Yes, sir, those are our outposts in the forest. Not one of them was left alive, they were all destroyed by the enemy!"
"What about the people? At least half of them should have escaped, right?!"
The trembling sentry captain closed his eyes and shook his head slightly.
"No one came back alive?!" Fergal grabbed the sentry captain by the collar, lifted him in front of him, and shouted loudly: "You bastard! Are you fooling me?! Every soldier at the outpost is
The elite of the army, and even equipped with a war horse, you actually told me that none of them have returned?!"
The sentry captain almost collapsed and shouted: "Sir, I don't know, I really don't know!"
Fergal let go of his hand and cursed fiercely: "What a bunch of rubbish! We haven't found anything about the number and composition of the enemy!"
"Blow the war horn! Tell those bastards to bring all their men!" Fergal took the sword handed by the guard, twisted his neck, and said with cold eyes: "There is going to be a war."
Fifteen minutes later, Ulster's army was ready and arrayed at the gate of the camp.
Fergal sat on the horse and looked at the forest ahead, his face solemn.
The black smoke in the sky has not dissipated, but there is no enemy in sight, and some people in the army gradually begin to whisper to each other.
Fergal looked around pretending to be relaxed and said with a smile: "At most, rats are just splashing water in the gutter. When have you ever seen them appear in the sun?"
"Sir, the enemy has appeared!"
"Well!"
Fergal, who was slapped in the face just after he said his bold words, almost choked on his own saliva.
Under the watchful eyes of thousands of Ulster troops, twenty-eight knights rode war horses and slowly walked out of the forest.
Gleaming full-body armor, pitch-black and sharp knight spears, and even the majestic horses were covered in steel armor.
The Ulstermen, holding rusty iron swords and worn-out wooden shields, stood there dumbly, with their mouths wide open. Everyone's face had an expression as if they had seen a ghost.
"Heavy cavalry...heavy cavalry..." Fergal opened his eyes wide and shouted at the commanders around him: "Who the hell can tell me! Why are there heavy cavalry here!!!"
Someone looked at the equipment of the knights on the opposite side and whispered: "The clothes they wear are better than the kingdom's guards..."
Seeing the knights on the opposite side begin to form up in a calm formation and raise their guns, Fergal suddenly realized the seriousness of the problem.
This is a plain, a flat plain!
He was not prepared for any of these things: horse pits, horse ropes, and horse stalls!
The only spearman who could cause damage to the cavalry was placed in the back of the formation by him!
"Archers retreat! Shielders come forward!" Fergal gave the order, but found that the performance of these reserve forces drawn from all over the kingdom in times of war was really disappointing.
As soon as the formation changed, most of the servant army soldiers began to become confused, and even the regular army was implicated.
"Sir, the enemy's cavalry has begun to charge!"
Fergal, who was whipping his men with a riding crop and shouting, turned his attention to the twenty-eight knights. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, but he still comforted himself: "There are only a few dozen people, but I have thousands."
army!"
The war horses first trotted, then accelerated, accelerated, and accelerated again. Finally, the charge of these twenty-eight knights increased to an incredible speed, looking like a group of rhinos running at the speed of light.
Fergal watched helplessly as this group of heavy cavalry rushed across the entire battlefield in the blink of an eye, like a giant hammer, slamming into his own army. Amid the stumps and blood flying in the sky, he was shocked.