The Swordsman of Faerûn

As he approached Essebra, Holfast left two men behind a grove to look after the extra horses, while he and five other riders rode a fast horse each and sneaked into the In front of a mound less than one kilometer away from the city of Essebra, we made a close observation.

At noon, when Holfast was about to retreat with his scout cavalry, he saw an infantry team of more than 80 people coming out of the gate of Essebra.This infantry looks quite extraordinary. Each soldier has a good chain mail. They hold spears, swords, maces and other melee weapons, and some also carry longbows and feathered arrows. There are also some with one-handed crossbows hanging from their waists.

When they formed a battle formation and marched in the wild, there would never be any insidious monsters or robbers daring to disturb them.

In fact, Holfast didn't dare either.He waited until the infantry had gone far away, and then he led his soldiers and rode away quickly, preparing to go to William to report the matter.

A well-armed infantry in the field is a threat to anyone.

Holfast met William before he returned to the Land of Three Rivers. At this time, William was leading two infantry for field training, but he happened to run into Holfast.

After hearing Holfast's report and inquiring about some details, William couldn't help but rejoice and said, "Haha! The fat meat delivered to your door! But you can't let it slip away!"

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After watching [Water Margin], you will be able to rob, and after watching [Romance of the Three Kingdoms], you will be able to fight.

This is the mysterious self-confidence that every boy in our family has, and William is no exception.

For the florists, war is a man's romance.Whether it is being stubborn, beheading the general and capturing the flag, or planning a strategy to win a thousand miles away, it is a boyish feeling that a man can't understand until his death.

In fact, for William, cutting the generals and capturing the flag is not a difficult task. He mainly wants to experience the taste of strategizing.

There are countless mysteries about the way of using soldiers in the old family in the previous life (compared to the natives of Faerun), such as "soldiers and horses have not moved, food and grass go first", what "those who seek profit for a hundred miles will fall to the general", what " Don't chase after the poor", "Don't enter the forest"...

When William listened to Holfast's description of the travel situation of the group of well-equipped soldiers in the Battle Valley, especially after he focused on asking, he learned that the other party had no cavalry, no auxiliary soldiers, and no He knew that the other party was a group of fools with the luggage accompanying the army, and even those guys who were fully armed—armed and marching on the road.

For an army, it is possible to march with armed forces during training on weekdays, and it can also be fully equipped when it is about to enter the battlefield or is in a dangerous place, but if it is a normal march, you will be stupid if you march with heavy equipment .

Especially for the classical cold weapon army, the most fundamental guarantee of its combat effectiveness is sufficient physical strength, which is the premise of everything. Hurrying leads to a sudden drop in combat power caused by physical exertion.

Unless the army that came out of Essebra just ran around the field and then returned, or their destination was not far away, sooner or later such a march would suffer retribution, and William is their retribution now.

Another scout team composed of elite cavalry rode fast horses to track down the whereabouts of the soldiers, and William ordered Holfast to go to the cavalry camp and bring all the pack horses and spare horses here.

Then William ordered the two training infantry regiments to rest in place, and recruited the two infantry regiment leaders Leopard Girl Eva and War Sickle Priest Alyosha, as well as four deputy regiment leaders to discuss the next action.

As an elite who came out of Dusk Town, although Eva the Leopard Girl is not the strongest under William's command, she is the most aggressive and competitive one.Diligent and eager to learn is the first characteristic of Eva. She is always improving herself, whether it is personal strength or understanding of many issues, which makes her stand out among the elites of Dagger Valley.

William is convinced that as long as this little female cat does not die halfway, she will achieve amazing achievements in the future, and William also does not mind giving this amazing girl a chance to realize her self-worth.

Two of the four deputy heads came from the elite team of Dagger Valley, one of the other two was Jieer Liangge, and the other was a senior soldier from Deep Forest Valley.

William said to the six people: "My generals, let me tell you some bad news. There is a battle ahead waiting for us to participate. Now I want to ask in advance, is there anyone who doesn't want to participate in this battle?"

The six people shook their heads almost simultaneously and said, "Sir! I will die for you!"

At the end, Alyosha paused the scythe in her hand, and continued: "Your Excellency, our Lord has issued an oracle, and fighting for you is equivalent to fighting for the Lord. I am willing to kill all disobedient blasphemers for you." God."

William asked again: "How is the morale of the soldiers now? I want to know whether they can take on the heavy responsibility of fighting. Also, did the soldiers have a lot of physical exertion during the previous trek?"

Jieer Liangge said: "Your Excellency William, the soldiers are very stable. They are very happy to fight for you. Of course, the premise is that we have a great hope of winning in the battle. It is difficult for them to bear the risk of adversity."

William nodded, and then began to introduce the situation of the enemy they need to deal with next, as well as William's tactical arrangement.

William is going to use the two infantry regiments on hand of nearly 600 people, as well as a scout cavalry as the main force to participate in the next battle.

They will have a full meal later, and then go to the battlefield on the spare horses and pack horses that will be brought by the scout cavalry. join the battlefield.

Of course, the specific actions will depend on the actual situation of the enemy army. As the saying goes, soldiers are impermanent, and water is impermanent. A commander who cannot adapt to changes is not a good general.

However, the first thing William waited for was not the scouts and horses tracking the enemy, but the support from the base camp of the Land of Three Rivers. What Holfast brought back was not only nearly a thousand air horses, but also his brother Wesliver. Half of the Mist Knights Chapter led by S. Habershield.

Later, Phineya actually took half of the Frost Giant Cubs and escorted a group of baggage to the temporary stop set up by William, accompanied by two little girls, Mishaer and Selur. , only Miluna had to stay in the Three Rivers camp because of the need to maintain the operation of the flame gate.

In fact, if it wasn't for William's warning in advance, and the prestige of Storm Silverhand, the head of the First Infantry Regiment, was high enough, I'm afraid the remaining few infantry regiments would have to come out to join the battle.

It can also be seen here that William's army is basically a group of grassroots teams. Without his personal control, it is almost difficult to implement the most basic orders and prohibitions. Most of the chapter leaders are not very qualified, except for limited One or two people, and the rest have almost no military literacy at all.

Although William was a little disappointed by this, he was never overly worried. After all, no one is born to know how to fight and understand the art of war. If you don’t know how to learn, you can practice. If you don’t have enough experience, you can accumulate. That's fine.

So William just reprimanded the heavy cavalry (Mist Knight) regiment leader Weslifus Habershield for a few words, and for another big fool who came here against the order, Phinea, he said a few words. It was lightly whipped five times as punishment.

I don't want to say anything about this kind of differential treatment of Phinea, but I just scratched the whipped back a few times and giggled. Humiliation, he strongly demanded that he also accept the punishment of whipping.

William really didn't expect this big boy from the Habershield family to be so smart, but such a straightforward child is indeed rare, as long as he is handled well, he will be the most reassuring general under William.

William certainly couldn't let Wes Rivers do what he said, he said directly to Boros's eldest son: "Your Excellency Weiss, if you want a fair punishment, I can fulfill your wish, but not now. Because we are going to the battlefield soon, the damage caused by whipping will affect your combat status. I am not a fool, and I will never let my generals suffer unnecessary injuries before the battle."

"But! Ms. Phinea has accepted the punishment. Doesn't she need to go to the battlefield?" The upright man Wesrivos almost uttered a sentence without thinking, but he regretted it after he finished speaking. He knew he had asked a silly question.Holfast, Wesrivos' brother next to him, covered his eyes in embarrassment. He knew that his brother would be stupid, but he didn't expect to be so stupid.

William is now sure that the eldest son of the Habershield family is a little short-sighted. This guy is not emotionally intelligent. No wonder that even though he controlled the highest force in Misty Valley, his father's highest-member-member position was so weak. crumbling.

In front of all the regiment leaders and many soldiers, William said directly to Wesrivos: "I believe all of you who have eyes can see just now that my whipping of Captain Phinea is to put Because Phinea is my wife, it is impossible for me to kill my wife, just like I cannot send you to death on purpose.

This is the love of a loving husband for his wife.

But although Phinea is my wife, she cannot escape this punishment, nor can she escape the fate of going to war.It would be unfair to all of you if I did this!

I can't guarantee that you will not die on the battlefield, but I can guarantee that my wife, my family and I will fight with you on the front line of the battlefield! "

What William said seemed to be for Wesrivos, but it was actually for everyone to hear.After listening to these people who had never been inspired by similar words, they couldn't help feeling overwhelmed and couldn't hold back their fighting spirit and morale. Many people wished they could wipe their necks on the spot to show their loyalty to William.

Shouting William's name, they pounded their weapons and armor in one unstoppable battle cry.

At the end, William said to Wesrivos with a gloomy face: "Wesliefus Habershield, after tonight's battle is over, you will be punished with ten lashes as punishment for your rude words just now. As a regiment leader who bears heavy responsibilities, you must know how to take responsibility for your own words. There are also ten whips, five of which come from the fairness you demanded, and the remaining five are the price for postponing the execution."

Then William ignored the captain of the cavalry who became happy again, and turned to the priest of Tandia who was standing on the other side watching the excitement: "Priest Alyosha, I want to relieve you of your duties as commander and promote you as my commander." Chief military-judicial-officer, responsible for enforcing the punishment of violators in the army. What do you think?"

Priest Alyosha asked: "Who will succeed me in command of the battle group?"

William said: "Temporarily, Ms. Liangge will replace you as the temporary acting regiment leader. If I can find a new suitable candidate in the future, I will appoint a new infantry regiment commander."

Priest Alyosha looked at the moon elf with a happy face, and said, "I am willing to accept your appointment, sir. But I have to wait until this battle is over."

William nodded, and turned to Jieer Liangge and said: "Ms. Liangge, I hope you can show extraordinary abilities after taking over from Priest Alyosha. If you do well enough, maybe I will only assign one The new deputy head is for you."

Jie'er Liangge said happily: "Please wait and see, my officer!"

Misha'er, who was following along to join in the fun, suddenly interrupted: "William, my brother. I think I'm more suitable to be the regiment leader than a singing elf, she can't even beat me!"

Jie'er Liangge's complexion became very ugly when he heard this, and William said to the little girl with a serious face: "Misha'er, being the commander of the infantry regiment is not just about being good at fighting. Yes, more outstanding qualities are needed. If you want to be the regiment leader, you need to learn a lot."

As soon as these words came out, not only Jie'er Liangge's expression became happy, but the other regiment leaders and deputy regiment leaders also all raised their chests and stomachs cheerfully, as if they had received a great reward from William.

Not to mention that William was preparing for military affairs while preparing for the expedition.

By the time the scouts who tracked the enemy's whereabouts returned, it was already evening.

The scouts brought the movement of the enemy army, and the soldiers did not return to Essebra, but went south along the main road of the Battle Valley-Rosaville Road.

The Rosaville Road is a commercial route connecting Comanso to Sambia. This road has also brought prosperity to the Battle Valley. In this section of the road passing through the Battle Valley, there are continuous open-air farmland everywhere. Small orchards protected behind walls, fenced farms, and large open pastures abound.

And the reason why the army did not carry luggage is also due to the dense farms and orchards along this section of the road.After those soldiers were tired from walking, they casually knocked on the gates of several farms, and then expropriated food and accommodation like robbers. Some inhumane conflicts were inevitable.

After William received the detailed information, he immediately ordered everyone to set off on horses and rush to the place where the group of enemies stayed overnight.

For any non-modern army, marching at night is a difficult problem.However, the frost giant cubs under William are born with certain night vision ability (immature dark vision), which makes them much better than normal humans when driving at night, while most horses have low-light vision. They only need a little light, and they can run freely.

In this way, under the leadership of the frost giant cubs who played a big role, the soldiers on horses were able to rush to a place not far from their destination at midnight.

After William's soldiers got off their horses and rested for half an hour, they divided into several combat teams and quietly approached the farm where the enemy was staying.

The ensuing battle was lackluster. The soldiers from Essebra not only took off their armor while sleeping, but even drank as much ale as possible. They drank all the self-brewed wine stored by the farmers. , a few leading guys even hugged the wife or daughter of the farm owner.

After all, they are only dealing with a group of mobs who have no military literacy, do not know how to set up a camp, and are even less defensive than bandits. William and the others not only took advantage of the surprise attack, but also have an advantage in numbers. It would be unreasonable if they could not win up.

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The main force in this raid was the frost giant cubs under Feniya's hands. They have strength and stature that are not inferior to adult humans, and most of them even have a slight advantage. They also have the natural ability to see things in the dark. This gave them an advantage in the first wave of raids to remove the Sentinels.

Frost giants wearing fish scale armor and holding hatchets are like wolves hunting at night. They approached their destination silently, and then swarmed up, directly hacking down the dozing sentries, and then rushed into the farm. kill.

The two infantry regiments, with a hundred men as a unit, surrounded several farms where the enemy lived, while the cavalry covered the battlefield on the outside, and prepared to catch possible fish that slipped through the net.

It's just that before William can show his commanding skills, the battle is basically over.

In the post-battle statistics in the early morning, the results of the frost giant cubs are indeed the best. With 47 soldiers participating in the battle, they killed 52 soldiers from Essebra, and the others added up. Fourteen heads, this disparity is really a bit big.

In addition to these 66 battle records, William and the others also captured 21 enemies. In addition, two farmers were killed in this conflict. Only a little girl who suffered from mental and traumatic trauma barely survived. down.

What made William feel ashamed was that the complete annihilation of one of the households was related to the cubs of the frost giants. They directly handed over to Yang all living and moving animals from that household, regardless of whether they were male, female, old or young, human or dog. up.

The tragedy of the second family originated from the last struggle of the enemy, and William only had time to save the poor child.

In this battle, the frost giant cubs paid the price with six serious injuries and 11 minor injuries, and no one died.However, three people in the infantry regiment were seriously injured and one was dying, but fortunately, they were rescued by William.

After dawn, William sent people to gather all the farmers and shepherds within ten miles around the battlefield.In front of these people, William's soldiers put aside the corpses of Essebra soldiers and captives, and laid out the corpses of two farmers who had been wiped out. At the same time, there were other farmers who were victims.

William then shouted to the terrified locals: "People of Battle Valley! I'm sure many of you have already guessed what's going on here.

That's right!It is the war. You must still be deeply impressed by the war that took place on this land two years ago. How many poor families suffered the same as those two families lying on the ground at that time? !

What I want to tell you now is that an inevitable war is coming again, and the battlefield is still Battle Valley!After all it is here!Poor Battle Valley folks, are you ready for all this? "

Everyone knows that it is the vulnerable civilians who are hurt the most by the war. The farmers and shepherds present were all panicked. Some of them cried bitterly, some screamed, and some danced...

Of course, there were also smart people who tried to be calm, and they vaguely guessed that since William was willing to summon them, he should have some kind of disposal and plan for these weak farmers.

Apparently these smart people guessed right.

William continued: "The cause of this war is me, a lord who rules five valley city-states. I am building a city in the land of three rivers, and I am going to build a strong city that can accommodate the people of the entire Battle Valley. The other side of the war It is a group of people who oppose me. They come from several valleys to the east. Most of them are rough mercenaries and greedy and vicious hooligans. I think you should be very clear. If they come here, they will treat you What to do. They will plunder your property and food, drink your wine, slaughter your cattle and sheep, insult your wives and daughters, then kill you and take your farms for themselves. You want this misery future?"

Of course no one would want such a miserable future, one of the most daring farmers said loudly: "My lord, we are just a bunch of poor farmers and shepherds who don't know what we can do for you .If you can save us and our families, please reach out your noble and merciful hand and save us! We will pay any price for this."

William glanced at the farmer who was speaking in surprise, and then asked in a deep voice, "Do all of you think this way?"

All the farmers and shepherds looked at William in panic, but they didn't know how to respond. Only the farmer who spoke just now was calmer. He first glanced at some poor and rare farmers. , especially those cold corpses, then glanced at the timid neighbors, and finally gritted his teeth and said to William: "Yes! Your Excellency, we live humblely, and we dare not ask for anything extra. I hope to be able to obtain the protection of your majesty."

William looked at the farmers and shepherds who didn't even dare to look at him, knowing that these people could no longer be expected to make their own choices.

He nodded to the only farmer who dared to speak: "What should I call you, brave friend?"

"Frank! My name is Frank Galil! Your honorable lord!" the farmer said a little anxiously.

"Frank, compared to your neighbors, you are more courageous than all the people combined. I am curious about what you did before." William said with a smile.

Farmer Frank Galil said hesitantly: "Master, I dare not lie to you. I used to be a mercenary and traveled to many places with the Sambian caravan. Two years ago, I participated in Sambia's mercenaries participated in the battle against King Rashan."

William thought for a while and asked, "Frank, what do you think of the Sambians? Are you still willing to serve them?"

Frank Galil shook his head and said, "No! My lord, I will never serve the Sambiians! The Sambiians are mean! Miserly! Greedy! They are like the most vicious vampires. Suck every brass thumb on you!"

William was satisfied with the farmer's answer, and his perception also told him that this man with a story in him was not lying.

William raised his voice and said loudly: "Gentlemen! As the legal lord of Dagger Valley, Shadow Valley, Misty Valley and Deep Forest Valley-William, the conqueror of Bow Valley-William! I am willing to protect you and your family, To protect you from any enemy, the premise is that you are willing to be loyal to me, follow my instructions, and work for me without hesitation."

Frank Galil was a little surprised by William's series of lord titles. Frank was not a stupid farmer who knew nothing about the outside world, but a social person who had really seen the world.

He immediately bowed to William joyfully, and then turned around and shouted to the bewildered neighbors: "What are you waiting for?! This noble lord is willing to protect us, isn't it heaven? Is it a good chance?!

Are you still counting on that shivering guy hiding in the battle courtyard to come and save us?Look at Chaucer and Fenrir's house, look at the descendants of the so-called cloaked king, who will only instruct his thugs to bully and oppress us! "

A group of farmers and shepherds were finally moved by Frank Galil's words. They lowered their backs and heads unevenly, and gave a salute of allegiance to William.

William knew that he should not have too high expectations for the etiquette of these cowardly farmers and shepherds. He said loudly: "Gentlemen, I am very glad that you can join my camp. Believe me, you will never be lost today." Regret the decision you made.

Now I want to tell you a terrible fact. An army of thousands of people is gathering in the Feather Valley to the southeast, and they will soon come to the Battle Valley.Believe me, that evil army will do all kinds of evil, they will burn your homes, take your food and livestock, then insult your family and kill you. "

Frank Galil asked quite cooperatively: "My lord, can't your army fight against those invaders?"

William said: "Of course my army can defeat the enemy, but it will take time. I am worried that you will probably be killed by those villains before my army defeats the enemy."

At this time, the farmers had some courage to speak, and a more daring farmer cried out with a hint of tears: "Then what should we do? Lord Lord! You just promised to protect us."

William said decisively: "Of course I promised you, my friends. It's just that I think that before the war is over, you and your families need to find a safe place to hide and avoid those dangerous troops."

Another shepherd said in embarrassment: "Where should we hide? My lord, there are too many monsters in the wild mountains, and they will also hurt us. The only city here that can shelter us is Essebra, but That lord will never allow us to hide inside the city walls."

William laughed: "We have our own city! My friend! My soldiers and engineering teams are building a great city in the land of three rivers, with walls as high as a mountain, which can resist any hostile enemies and beasts. Now go back and bring Get your family, livestock and some food, and go to the Land of Three Rivers right away. Believe me, you can fall asleep there anytime like a child in a mother's arms."

All the farmers and shepherds immediately started chattering after hearing the news. Many of them wanted to ask Lord William for more detailed information, but William had no time to answer these meaningless questions.

He called Frank Galil aside, and said, "Mr. Frank, I'm going to give you a task now."

Frank replied happily: "Please order at any time, my lord!"

William said: "I want you to gather some strong, hard-working young men among these farmers, shepherds and their families to form an aid team and help all the people here to move to the Three Rivers. land."

Frank nodded and said, "Okay! My lord, how many people can I summon?"

William said: "The more the better! As much as you can recruit! Just a little! Frank, you must maintain order and never allow anyone to bully or hurt those kind people, including women and children. You must take good care of them."

Frank Gallier solemnly made a half-kneeling salute to William, and then went to work with the farmers with high spirits.