Unknown Knight

On the fifth day after arriving in the Shieldmaid Village, Aix returned to Wocheze City. The caravan's goods had been almost sold out, and the trucks were already filled with the coarse salt, smoked fish, cheese and other items that needed to be purchased. Aix was ready to set off for Kulau City tomorrow.

However, an incident that happened that afternoon disrupted Aix's rhythm. He was chatting with Tunde's family in the city lord's mansion when suddenly a few blood-covered warriors ran in from outside. They were the guards of Iaya's caravan. It turned out that pirates had robbed Iaya's caravan. There were only a few dozen people in the entire caravan, including the servants and guards, and only these few people escaped.

The Lord of Iaya was immediately running and jumping like thunder. It was said that this was the second time he had been robbed in half a year. In the past, these pirates were active in the vicinity of Zhiwacheze City and Derbo Castle. This time, Iaya's caravan was returning from Sagos City. Unexpectedly, the pirates were active in the vicinity of Wocheze City. Wouldn't this cut off his source of income? It would be strange if the Lord of Iaya could bear it.

Aix had heard a little about the pirates in this area. It was said that the silk produced in the city of Rivacherze was of very high quality. Aix had always wanted to open up a trade route to the city of Rivacherze, but the pirates in this area were so fierce that he had never put his plan into practice.

To be honest, Aix once suspected that the Lord of Iaia was the mastermind behind the pirates, and his goal was to block this trade route so as to profit from it. After all, these Nord nobles were originally pirates who crossed the sea, but they just settled down there now that they had land.

Seeing the performance of Lord Iaya, Aix was now certain that these pirates had nothing to do with him, so he tried to ask Lord Iaya:

"Lord City Lord, the pirates are so close to Wocheze City, have you ever thought about destroying this group of pirates?"

"I thought so too, but these pirates are divided into groups of a dozen or even dozens of people each time, scattered in this area. They fight bravely and are extremely brutal. If I send too few troops, they will easily be besieged by them. If I send too many troops, at most I can destroy one of them, and the others will scatter and flee. I can't accomplish my mission at all, and it will be a waste of food and grass."

Lord Iaya said helplessly.

Aix came to the map in the hall, pointed at the map and asked Lord Iaya:

"Do you know which area they are generally active in? Where are their bases?"

Lord Iaya came closer, drew a circle around an area and said:

"This is their active area. They don't have any bases. They all come from my hometown in the northern continent. They usually land on the coast from Loire Village to Fort Brugge. The coast here is complex and hidden, with four or five beaches where you can dock."

"Then why not guard them here and then catch them all in one fell swoop?"

Aix was very puzzled. Wouldn't the problem be solved by just waiting?

"It's useless. We can only wipe out a small group of them if we stay here. The other pirates will quickly move away after hearing the news. We will also be retaliated by them afterwards. That's why we didn't provoke them in the past. At most, the trade route to Riwacheze City will be interrupted. But we didn't expect that their range of activities has expanded to Wocheze City recently. It's really absurd!"

Only then did Aix realize that there were no cavalry in the Nord Kingdom's army. As he had just said, even if the Iayat army defeated a group of pirates, it would be difficult to wipe them out completely. As long as one or two escaped, he would not be able to catch the other pirates.

Then he thought again, didn't he have a cavalry of about 80 people? Among them, there are 30 heavy cavalry and 50 light cavalry. If he used cavalry, could he destroy these pirates? So he said to the Lord of Iaia:

"What if we use cavalry? Won't they be unable to escape?"

"It's useless. I once hired a group of more than 20 bounty hunters, but the pirates' shield wall, javelins, throwing axes, and bows were designed to restrain them. We killed most of them in one encounter, and the rest were scared away. They are light cavalry, so it's not possible to attack pirates. Only heavy cavalry with armor on both horses and men can do it. But we don't even have light cavalry, so how can we have heavy cavalry?"

Lord Iaya said with a hint of frustration.

"Doesn't part of this area belong to the Kingdom of Vaegir? Don't they have heavy cavalry? Why would they leave the pirates alone?"

Axel asked doubtfully.

"Haha, they are called heavy cavalry. Have you ever seen heavy cavalry that can't even use a lance properly? They are just heavy armored dragoons on horseback. Moreover, they can't beat us Nords in a field battle. Otherwise, do you think that Lord Maliga of Zhiwacherze City is an ordinary person? He also tried to send troops to wipe out the pirates, but after suffering heavy losses, he just let the pirates wreak havoc."

"If a group of thirty heavy cavalrymen attacked head-on and thirty light cavalrymen coordinated to harass and pursue, do you think there is hope of annihilating this wave of pirates?"

Axel tried to ask.

After hearing what Aix said, Iaya's eyes suddenly lit up, but then dimmed again. In this day and age, heavy cavalry is the top combat force of the era. A set of armor for both men and horses is very expensive, and with the complete weapons for horses, even if an old noble has the economic strength of a city, he can only afford to support dozens of heavy cavalry at most, not to mention that Aix is ​​a new noble who has just been conferred a title.

But he didn't expect that Aix had just rescued more than a hundred qualified cavalrymen from the Kugit people (probably this matter has not spread yet), and there were more than three hundred good horses in the territory, as well as craftsmen who could make horse armor. It would not take much effort to pull up dozens of heavy cavalrymen, so he said to the Lord of Iaia:

"That's just right. I have thirty heavy cavalrymen here, but they haven't been fully equipped with armor yet. I'm asking the craftsmen in the territory to work hard on it. It's estimated that they will be fully equipped in half a month."

"What? You mean you can send out thirty heavy cavalry?"

Lord Iaya asked in disbelief. After seeing Aix nod affirmatively, the old father-in-law patted him on the shoulder excitedly and said:

"Well, well, my daughter is indeed very insightful! If you, my son-in-law, can really provide thirty heavy cavalrymen, we still have a chance to wipe out these pirates."

The Lord of Iaia called Aix his son-in-law in public for the first time. He was obviously very happy and it was also a recognition of Aix.

So Aix changed the itinerary and let Bandak lead the caravan to continue the rest of the trading. At the same time, three leaders with excellent riding skills, Fatis, Niza and Ran Hu, stayed behind. Aix only left ten light cavalrymen in the army to be responsible for the early reconnaissance, and the rest were taken away by Bandak with the caravan.

Aix also sent someone back to the territory to deliver a letter, asking Amanti to give priority to the production of heavy cavalry armor and arrows that can penetrate armor. It is said that the Nord pirates all wear leather chain mail and carry wooden shields, and ordinary arrows can not cause much damage to them.

Before the heavy cavalry arrived, Aix, with Fatis, Niza, and Ran Hu, led ten light cavalry to conduct reconnaissance near the coast from Loire Village to Brugha Castle. They successively surveyed all the nearby bays, two of which should be the places where pirates landed, because Aix saw five or six Nordic ships in each place, and some scattered pirates guarding the ships.

I heard from the Lord of Iaia who was traveling with us that this type of Nordic ship can accommodate more than 30 pirates when fully loaded. So, if these two groups of pirates are from the same group, then this group of pirates should have at least 300 people.

This number surprised the Lord of Iaya. His Woche Ze City had only more than 300 regular troops. Once they raided, it would be a huge hidden danger. Woche Ze City might be breached by this group of pirates at any time. He then ordered Woche Ze City to enter a state of combat readiness and double the number of on-duty personnel.

Through Aix's nearly half-month investigation, he also discovered that this group of pirates usually consisted of twenty to fifty people, looting the surrounding villages and passing caravans. Each group of pirates usually came back every two to three days and delivered the looted goods to the ships in the two ports.

In response to this situation, Aix thought about it for a long time, and a plan gradually took shape in his mind.

Twenty days later, the thirty heavy cavalrymen and twenty light cavalrymen that Aix had been looking forward to finally arrived at Wocheze City. Along with them were fifty male bachelors from the territory who came on horseback. They were going to the Shieldmaid Village to get married. Aix asked them to leave their horses behind and walk to the Shieldmaid Village. The horses left behind would be used as spare horses for the cavalry.

After completing the preparations, Aix led sixty light and heavy cavalry, and the Lord of Iaia led sixty elite Nord warriors, and they set off that afternoon.

In the middle of the night, they arrived at the first bay where the pirates anchored their ships. It was located in a col and the surrounding terrain was uneven, which was very unfavorable for cavalry combat, so Aix decided to take back the Nordic ships in this bay first.

Lord Iaia led sixty elite Nord warriors to clear the way, followed by thirty dismounted light cavalry armed with bows, who were responsible for long-range fire cover. The heavy cavalry rested in the distance, preparing for the battle in the daytime.

The roaring waves provided good cover for the attackers. The seven or eight pirates guarding the ship were also slack. They never thought that anyone would dare to rob them. The pirates, led by the Lord of Iaya, boarded the ship smoothly and were all killed.

Only two pirates on the same ship were very alert. When they discovered those who attacked them, they jumped into the water in panic and tried to untie the ropes and escape with the boat. As a result, they were shot to death by the light cavalry who were lying in ambush on the side.

The whole process went very smoothly. Thanks to the reconnaissance during this period, they not only seized six Nordic ships, but also loaded the ships with 30% of cargo. The cargo included not only coarse salt and cheese produced in Wocherze, but also silk, animal skins, dried meat and other products of Rivacherze. It seems that maritime trade still makes money. Somehow, Aix recalled the bustling scene he saw in the city of Tiha.

The overnight journey was not in vain, it was a good start, and the harvest was very rich. The lord of Iaya ordered more than 30 elite Nord warriors to sail back to Wocheze City, and he took the rest of the people and the cavalry of Aix to another bay.