"Duke Otto led more than a dozen cavalry to break out of the siege?"
Ella didn't seem too surprised after receiving such a report. She had already seen the power of Duke Otto's cavalry, and it was expected that a ragtag group of citizens and craftsmen would not be able to stop them.
However, the twenty or so pirates surrounding Ella looked a little angry and shouted: "King of Sweden, send us to chase them immediately!"
"Do you want to race a horse?"
"We can't catch up at first, but after a day or so of running, the horse won't be able to run anymore. By then we can catch up!"
"...Is that so?"
Ella felt that she still couldn't understand the brain circuits of these pirates.
"...But it's not necessary. Spread the news that Otto has escaped, and let the enemies who remain in the city stop resisting. All the prisoners will be handed over to the city of Hamburg for disposal. Call all our people here to gather and discuss it. One step of action.”
After half a day, the riot in Hamburg calmed down.
The mayor of Hamburg brought a carriage of gifts and walked towards Ella with a smile on his face.
"King of Sweden! Thanks to you! Otherwise we would all be deceived by Otto's sanctimonious thing! This is a gift from the city of Hamburg to you. I hope it can bring us long-term peace."
"Grand Mayor, I heard that the Alemannic Federation has a rule that nobles cannot lead troops into the Free City." Ella stared at the mayor of Hamburg with suspicion, "Otto did such a thing in Hamburg. Were you really not involved?"
The mayor of Hamburg was frightened and hurriedly defended: "No! How could I be involved? I want to know that those three women were killed by Otto, who was worse than a beast. Even if there is no sword in his hand, I Even if you pick up the stool, you're going to rush forward and smash Otto's head in!"
"There is no need to pick up the bench. Duke Otto has escaped. In order to get rid of this disaster, we will launch an attack on the Duchy of Anglia next. Mayor, go and prepare supplies and equipment."
The mayor of Hamburg suddenly froze: "Materials and equipment?"
"What? Can't it?"
"It's not impossible...but...I...but...you...but...by the way, King of Sweden, if you continue to attack, you will probably be regarded as an invader! Although we really want to maintain the relationship with the Kingdom of Heroes Trade relations, but if the King of Sweden becomes the common enemy of the Alemannic Federation, we will be forced to regretfully terminate the agreement under pressure! I think you, King of Sweden, don’t want to see this kind of thing..."
"So, it can't be me, but you - it's the city of Hamburg that wants to conquer Duke Otto, and I'm just your mercenary, do you understand?"
"I...we? Why should we...?"
"I don't have any problem with me withdrawing here." Ella shrugged, "However, Angria and Hamburg are very close to each other. Are you sure that Otto won't come back for revenge after I withdraw?"
"However, it is completely unprecedented for the Free City to send troops to attack the lords of Alemany...and what reason do I have to attack them?"
"As long as you are willing to look for it, you can always find a suitable reason. On the other hand, because you are just a mercenary from the city of Hamburg, all the spoils will belong to the city of Hamburg - I just want Duke Otto's life. He is like this Nobles are not qualified to rule territories."
"I understand." The mayor of Hamburg took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his face. "I wonder if the King of Sweden is going to move out... I wonder how many people we need to hire?"
"I only have a thousand men on hand, of whom two hundred need to defend Stade, and the number that can be dispatched is around eight hundred. The shortfall will be supplemented by the mayor, you, finding other mercenaries."
"Eight hundred people!???" The mayor of Hamburg was shocked by Ella's words for the third time. "Duke Otto controls the two duchies of Frisia and Angria. It is said that he can bring out at least 8,000 people. ! Where can I find so many mercenaries at once?"
"It takes time for eight thousand people to gather. Just end the battle before then."
"Even so, there are more than 2,000 defenders in Minden, the capital of Duke Otto! How can we attack the city with 800 people?"
"There are so many defenders in Minden, but not necessarily in Oldenburg. I passed by there when I came back from Ile-de-France. The defenders there were only two or three hundred people."
"Oldenburg? Starting from Hamburg, passing through Bremen, you can reach Minden immediately. Why did Otto take a long way to Oldenburg???"
"He will go to Oldenburg. Mayor, you should hurry up and prepare for the expedition."
"Listen to this, did the King of Sweden lay an ambush on the road?"
"I didn't know how many troops Duke Otto and other nobles would bring, so I brought as many of my troops as possible to Hamburg. There were not many people sent to ambush. But I thought, I just asked Otto to change his route. Oldenburg is still fine.”
"How is this possible? To ensure that Otto goes to Oldenburg instead of Minden, interference must be carried out along the border between Bremen and the Duchy of Anglia. But there is a large plain there, and there is no place for an ambush. Ah? Duke Otto has many fortresses! How can you force Duke Otto to change his route?"
"Probably...it's called the trick of a fox pretending to be a tiger's power?"
The confidence Ella showed seemed to have victory in her hands.
"By the way...I need some horses, right away."
…
…
Duke Otto rushed out of Hamburg with more than a dozen cavalry, not daring to stop at all, and ran toward his capital overnight. His horse ran faster than the rumors, and before the news of the incident in Hamburg spread, he had successfully passed through Bremen and arrived at the border of the Duchy of Angria.
A large river blocks the front, and a dark shadow can be seen on the river in the distance. It is a small fortress specially built by Duke Otto to resist the plundering of pirates many years ago. There are several fortresses like this on the river. They can prevent the pirates of the Pirate Kingdom from entering and leaving the river at will, and successfully protect the Duke of Anglia from pirates.
As long as he passes through this fortress, Duke Otto will soon be able to return to his capital.
There is a fire ahead. At first, Duke Otto thought it was his soldiers lighting a fire outside, but as he continued to approach, the flag of the Pirate Kingdom suddenly appeared in front!
"Oops, this place has been captured by the Pirate Kingdom!" Duke Otto hurriedly stopped the troops.
These fortresses are not large. The original purpose of setting them up was to delay the passage of ships from the Pirate Kingdom and to issue early warnings to the inland. The area close to the mouth of the sea is still heavily guarded, but the fortress on the inside of the river has few garrison troops.
The Pirate Kingdom garrisoned Stade, and it was easy to capture this fortress by land.
Just listen to the sound, there are not many Pirate Kingdom soldiers making fire outside. But the dark fortress behind them had an unknown number of enemy troops stationed inside.
Fortunately, the soldiers of the Pirate Kingdom have not noticed his whereabouts yet. Duke Otto asked his soldiers to turn their horses' heads slightly. After carefully walking a certain distance with the horse's steps, Duke Otto let the horse under him run as fast as flying.
"Well, was there any noise there just now?"
A pirate looked in the direction where Duke Otto was going.
"Whatever, just cut up the fish quickly!"
Another pirate was grilling fish in circles over the campfire.
"Brothers above, why don't you come down and have a grilled fish?"
The third pirate shouted to the defenders on the fortress from a distance.
The soldiers on guard on the fortress were so greedy that they drooled, but they did not dare to go down, so they had to shout: "Who wants to eat your grilled fish! Put away your flag first!"
"How can that be done! We are ordered to sell grilled fish here to support military expenses! The King of Sweden has told us to plant more flags to make our grilled fish famous!"
"It's up to you!"
The sentry on the fortress ate a large piece of black bread angrily and took a sip of water.
The Alemanni coalition had just suffered a major defeat at the hands of the pirate kingdom, and finally gained peace. They did not want to provoke these pirates.
And if there are just three people grilling fish, it doesn't seem to be a big problem.
The flag of Duke Otto is still erected on the fortress, and Duke Otto's soldiers are also standing there. But in the dark night, Duke Otto came from far and near, and the first thing he saw was the Pirate King's flag beside the bonfire. Even if he had taken a few steps closer, he would have been frightened and immediately changed his route when he saw the soldiers of the Pirate Kingdom grilling fish calmly and the dark fortress behind them.
