After that, Dast led people to dig out the people who fell into the pit. Under the leadership of Kasred, they saw the team ambushing in the forest: the number of this team was about three hundred people, a few wearing leather armor, and most of them wearing civilian rough clothes. They had been lying in wait in the forest for many days without even setting up a decent camp.
"A few days ago we saw that you sent a reconnaissance team in the direction of Winchester. However, our ambush is used to ambush large troops and cannot be exposed by a reconnaissance team. So we didn't care. ." Castlered said, "We originally thought that you, King of Sweden, would pass through the forest quickly. The night in the forest is very difficult. In order not to be discovered, we can't even light a fire. Many people have been sick these days. In a few days, we won’t be able to hide anymore.”
"What's your plan?" Ella asked.
"We thought that the King of Sweden would spend the night in Southampton." Castleredder replied, "Although we have a large number of people, we do not have decent armor and weapons. If we fight head-on, the casualties will be huge, so we want to take advantage of the night to steal some We will launch an attack after being equipped with weapons. Those who remain in Southampton will take the lead in occupying the port and drive you into this forest, and then we will launch a second attack."
"People from Southampton?" Ella repeated doubtfully. There are only about 500 people here, which is indeed too small for the population of a city. According to Castlered, they still have an ambush near Southampton. But she had already used a hot-air balloon to scout the area near Southampton and didn't find any ambush?
"If you find out, we can't call an ambush." Castlered said, "Follow me. They have been hiding for so many days, and they probably won't be able to hide anymore. If it's later, I'm afraid they won't be able to help themselves and launch an attack directly. .”
So Ella, Caslade and the others walked out of the forest. Amy outside the forest was already anxious to set the forest on fire because of Ella's disappearance. Naturally, she was relieved to see Ella come out safe and sound. Ella said that she defeated ten enemies at once. Amy didn't believe it and scolded Ella in a low voice.
Soon after, Castlered returned to Southampton with Ella and others. He went all the way to the center of the city and took out a whistle in front of Ella. The whistle was made of bone, using craftsmanship that Ella had never seen before. Castlered explained that it was obtained from a group of strangely dressed strangers who passed by here not long ago. The whistle was harsh but loud, and they agreed to use this whistle as a signal to resolve the crisis.
Ella didn't pay attention at first, but it wasn't until the whistle blew that Ella realized that the sound was more than harsh, it almost pierced into people's bones. It stirs up a fear in people's hearts that seems to come from primitive instincts, making people want to cover their ears and avoid it. Caslade only blew once, and a thick layer of goosebumps appeared all over Ella's body.
“What was this whistle originally used for?” Ella covered her ears and shouted, “Just hearing the sound, I feel like it’s not a good thing!”
Caslade spread his hands and said that he didn't know either.
As the whistle fell, something that frightened Ella even more than the whistle happened. This city that had been quiet for many days seemed to have been awakened, with noisy voices ringing out from all directions. The empty rooms that had been inspected suddenly opened their doors and windows on their own, and men, women, old people, and children filed out of them, and soon the streets were crowded.
"It's a tunnel." Castlered explained to Ella, "The entire Southampton has been connected by tunnels. When the enemy arrives, the citizens can hide in and take refuge."
"Does every city have such tunnels?".
"No, currently only a few cities along the coast have dug tunnels. After all, this is a big project." Castlered replied, "However, the King of Knights does have the idea of spreading tunnels throughout Britain."
Everyone took a breath of cold air. If Ella had not asked them to retreat to the ship, but rested overnight in Southampton, the consequences would have been unimaginable. Even if they weren't ambushed, they probably wouldn't be able to get any advantage under the frontal attack of so many trained citizens.
A man in armor hurriedly ran towards this side, and Glahid recognized it as a knight under the King of Knights. He ran to Ella and nodded repeatedly to apologize: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, if I had known it was you, the King of Sweden, we would have come out to greet you! Just now we were discussing how to raid the port underground. If you hadn't come back in time, we would have almost escaped Cause a catastrophe!"
"No... how do you look like you are asking for help?" Amy complained to the side in a daze, "Forget Bjorn, even if Ragnar comes, can he really defeat you? "
Unexpectedly, the knight was surprised: "Bjorn? Our opponent is Bjorn?"
"You don't know?"
"I don't know! We only know that the news from Winchester has been cut off, and that we were attacked by Scotland not long ago." The knight said, "Although we sent a lot of manpower to conduct reconnaissance in the direction of Winchester, but when we arrived, So far, we have not received any news related to Winchester.”
Ella covered her mouth and thought for a while: "In that case, we can only go directly to Winchester to find out. Is there any enemy ambush in the forest besides you?"
"No, I can guarantee this!" Castlered said, "Except for your troops, the King of Sweden, we have not seen any other troops these days."
"I can also guarantee." Dast said from the side. "Based on the investigation situation these days and my experience, it can be inferred that there will not be more than 500 people ambushed in this forest."
"King of Sweden, do you want to lead troops to Winchester?" said the knight. "I have wanted to do this for a long time, but these citizens are not trained enough and lack weapons. I dare not act at will. If King of Sweden, you want to go, I can assist a thousand of you and allocate additional manpower to maintain your logistics supplies!"
"In this case, there will be four thousand troops that can fight." Ella thought for a while, then nodded, "We will set off tomorrow. What happened in Winchester will be figured out soon!"
As night falls, Southampton becomes busier. In preparation for Ella's expedition tomorrow, half of the city was rushing to prepare for the war. And those bodies are still lying on the street. It was an important camouflage, and their husbands and sons would probably lie there, being pecked at by birds, until the alarm was lifted.
"Alfred, is this your determination to fight against the Tianfang Empire?"
Ella stood in the shadow of the city and thought silently. She knew that not only Britain, but also the Tianfang Empire would reach out to Sweden and the Seven Hills Empire sooner or later. Alfred has already begun to prepare for the decisive battle, but what about her? What should she do?
Taking advantage of the darkness, Ella took out something from her clothes - it was the cross that Gregory gave to Amy. After it was thrown away by Amy, she picked it up again. The iron cross glowed coldly in the moonlight.
