After all, Baron Abbett did not survive until the next day, and he left that night.
If his son had not led the knights to the front in the last battle, everyone would have seen a young man kneeling in front of his body in grief.
It was a pity that his son was in the melee when a sworn warrior used all his strength to round off his war hammer and hit him on the head. The iron helmet and his head were dented together, and he died on the spot.
Later, after the battle, the knights and the captured remnants were imprisoned in the village waiting to be redeemed. All this happened after Baron Abbet proposed to see his heir for the last time before his death, and the servants who failed to find him were found in another place. Heard it from the mouth of a surviving knight.
After the servants returned to the siege camp, returned to the big tent with Lord Wolfe's soldiers guarding the door, and returned to the bedside surrounded by Baron Abbate's attendants and priests, they told Baron Abbate the news with a look of regret. , he widened his blue eyes covered by haze, his face was gray and full of decadence. His injuries looked more serious.
In the end, Baron Abbate passed away in extreme sadness and unwillingness. The priest who had been praying next to him took out an oil jar and gave the baron an anointing ceremony. Everyone lowered their heads in grief.
A gust of wind lifted the door curtain, blowing the weak candlelight on the candlestick nearby and swaying left and right. The priest and attendants shuddered, as if death had just come and took away the unfortunate soul of Baron Abbett.
After a while, everything calmed down.
The priest went to the gate of the camp to inform the gatekeepers of Baron Wolfe about the death of Baron Abbett. Next to Baron Abbett's body, a little attendant took away the blood that Baron Half-Tub had shed through bloodletting.
When Baron Wolfe heard the news in his noisy hall, he was sitting in the comfortable wolfskin armchair with a red face and a wooden cup filled with fruit wine in his hand.
"I understand. In the future, when my friends and I are drinking and chatting, you don't need to tell me this kind of news. It's not too late to tell me the next day." Baron Wolfe wiped the hair on his beard without any surprise. Jiuzhu, a little unhappy, slapped the wooden cup on the shelf table and sent the soldier away.
The hall was filled with carnival warriors, everyone shared the hot and delicious barbecue, drank heavily, hugged the adoring girl, joked with each other in vulgar language, and burst into hearty smiles from time to time.
Two slovenly musicians played the sweet harp, the bard compiled today's battle into a poem praising the heroes and sang loudly, and the servants hurriedly served everyone with wine and food... The night was already deep, But it was destined to be a sleepless night in Baron Wolfe's hall.
"What should we do next? Stay and continue to garrison the village?" Baron Karl asked, raising his elbow and wiping his oily mouth with his sleeve.
"I think we should go rescue our monarch, Count Berg. I heard that the situation in Dusseldorf is not optimistic. If he is defeated, maybe Count Lowen will bring his main force and the terrible stone throwing Turn around and attack us." Baron Wolfe put down the deer leg in his hand, frowned and thought for a while.
"It is also possible to attack the Baron of Dorsten," Lange said nonchalantly while drinking red wine. "If my father were here, I believe he would also support Lord Wolfe's decision."
"But we don't have many troops left. Baron Mettmann's whereabouts are unknown, and his territory is in a mess... Baron Wilbert has been captured, and his ransom has not been paid. The territory is in pieces..." Baron Karl said with some embarrassment. .
"Since we can't unite them, we have to rely on our own strength. In addition to the soldiers left to defend the territory, I have sixty soldiers who can accompany me to fight. Baron Karl, you have forty soldiers, Lange and Simon, you guys..." Baron Wolfe said, his eyes moving to the two brothers.
"We can bring seventy soldiers out to fight." Langer and Simon looked at each other, thought deeply, raised their heads and said to Baron Wolfe.
"Very good," Baron Wolfe smiled and clapped his hands, "We have to find a way to contact Lord Berg, and then ambush the army behind the siege camp outside the town of Dusseldorf. When they attack the town At this time, we should cooperate inside and outside and kill them all!"
…………………………
"Ta da, da da..."
Amidst the rapid sound of horse hooves, Simon was leading four Verde Village cavalry galloping through the dense forest.
Since Fort Verde held hundreds of prisoners, a considerable number of soldiers had to be left behind to ensure safety. Therefore, Simon only brought cavalry during this operation to reinforce Baron Wolfe, and the remaining soldiers were led by Lange. Baron Ersten commanded private soldiers and serf soldiers.
Lange, Baron Wolfe and Baron Karl took their soldiers to ambush near the town of Dusseldorf, gathering the remaining soldiers along the way.
Simon, on the other hand, will go back and tell Keother about the plan to sneak attack on Count Lowen's back, and then he and Keother will quietly meet with Baron Wolfe and the others with the remaining soldiers who can be dispatched in the territory.
In addition, Simon thought that it was time to find a way to deal with the prisoners held in his territory. Their stay in Fordburg was always a hidden danger, and they also consumed a lot of food.
At noon the next day, Simon first returned to Dorstenburg. They avoided the free "prisoner" Baron Quenir in the castle and reached the top of the tower, where Simon informed Keother of all his plans.
Keoser agreed on the spot and promised not to let his subordinates reveal any relevant information.
However, I believe that no one dares to betray Cooser in this storm. The heads of Fox and Jonas are still hanging at the door of Dorstenberg. Everyone has also seen the misery of civil servant Roman who is in pain every day and is worse than death. look.
After leaving Dorstenberg, Simon returned to Fördeburg in the evening before dinner.
Now, the open space in front of the village has been cleared, but some blood still remains on it.
The siege camp in the distance has been dismantled, and the village chief has asked the serfs to pull the tents, tarpaulins and various living supplies and tools to the castle's warehouse on horse-drawn trailers for Simon's next expedition.
The tall, blackened siege tower had been dismantled and sent to the woodshed for firewood.
As for the paralyzed siege vehicle, Ryan felt that it would be a pity to dismantle it and use it as firewood, so he had the main parts of the siege vehicle dismantled and stored according to its structure. If Simon needs it next time, he can transport the parts to the besieged castle. Then assemble it on the spot.
There is a pile of thick logs under the village wall, but there are no workers. It seems that they have all gone to have dinner.
Having said this, Simon had to admit that the power of kerosene should not be underestimated.
On the day of the decisive battle with Baron Quinnier, some of the fire oil used to pour the ladder onto the village wall directly burned that section of the village wall black and white. If not repaired, it will definitely be the weakest point in the entire village.
So before setting off, Simon specifically asked Miller to take a group of militiamen to Lange's lumberyard to buy a batch of wood and repair the village wall.
Simon arrived at the village gate. A militiaman standing guard on the village wall greeted Simon. Then, the sound of the door latch being unbolted came from behind the thick village gate.
"It stinks a bit." After the village door was opened, Simon frowned. Although it was much better than other villages and towns, the smell that hit him still made him feel a little uncomfortable.
Simon had previously implemented a law - public defecation was not allowed in the village. All the feces should be sent to the "sacred pit" beside the fields outside the village to receive God's grace and be turned into fertilizer.
After witnessing the miracle of increased grain production, the villagers who originally did not understand and complained became more than willing to abide by this health law.
Due to the siege of Fort Verde some time ago, the village returned to a state of stinking. After defeating Baron Quinnier, Simon impatiently arranged for people to clean up the excrement into the "Halloween Pit" outside the village.
Unexpectedly, nearly a hundred more prisoners were captured in this battle, and the stench emanating from the few houses where they were held was even worse than a pigsty.
"It's time to deal with them." Simon thought to himself.
Simon estimated that most of them could not afford the ransom. The entire Earl of Loon has just levied a war tax, and the territory of Baron Kunil is definitely not immune. Where can they get the money to redeem their families now.
As for those elite private soldiers and cavalry, they probably had some money, but Simon didn't know when the people who wanted to redeem them would come.
These strong and loyal soldiers who are loyal to Baron Quenir are always a hidden danger if they are kept in the village for a long time. Especially since Simon is about to lead his troops to attack Earl Loon, the village will definitely be empty of defense.
Then, a simple and crude idea emerged in Simon's mind.
"Fat man, early tomorrow morning, you and Miller will lead 20 militiamen to capture the private soldiers and cavalry of Baron Liqunier and sell them to slave traders in the port of Abeldoorn in the north." Simon strode into the castle. Tower, took off the heavy Norman helmet and said to the fat man behind him.
"Only take those elite soldiers to sell to slave traders?" The fat man took the Norman helmet from Simon's hand with some confusion and walked towards the armor stand.
"Yes, those serf soldiers and free peasant soldiers, to be honest, can't be sold for much money, and there are very many of them. If they are encouraged by those elite soldiers to plot riots during the journey, it will be difficult for you to control them with just twenty militiamen. Now we can’t spare more manpower to participate in the escort.”
"Then... Master, what are you going to do with them? Kill them all?" The fat man licked his dry lips.
"No, this is not a good choice. Maybe I can make them my serfs. Housing and enough food are a problem, but the more important problem is that prisoners of war are no better than refugees. Their low loyalty will bury the territory that will soon be empty of defense. Create a bigger hidden danger." Simon lowered his head and stroked his beard, calculating rapidly in his mind.
"Fat man, how many soldiers does Count Lowen have in Dusseldorf?" Simon raised his head and looked at the fat man who was scooping out meat porridge by the pot.
"Well...according to the news sent back by the spies the day before yesterday, there are probably more than 400 people."
"What about the besieged Earl of Berg?"
"As far as I know, after so many days of tug-of-war, there should be less than a hundred soldiers capable of fighting."
"At that time, we will only have about 170 people when we sneak attack on Earl Loon's butt. If Baron Kunir has sent the ransom before that, do you think Baron Kunir will bring these nearly 100 people with him? The defeated remnants of the army will rejoin Count Luo Weng's army?" Simon's torch-like eyes looked at the fat man. The fat man had obviously not thought about this issue before and was confused for a while.
"That's too bad. In this case, we have even less chance of winning. We can't let this happen." The fat man shook his head with a sad face and placed the steaming meat porridge in front of Simon's table.
"So we have to deal with them as soon as possible. Either kill them all, or release them in batches." Simon said decisively, tapping the mottled wooden table with his thumb.
"Oh no! My young master, although they are not worth much, the large number is a moderate ransom. How can we let them go?" The fat man was still reluctant to part with them, and suddenly said anxiously.
"Then think about it, what will happen if I kill them? My reputation for killing prisoners spreads far and wide. In the future, no one of my enemies will succumb to me, no one will surrender to me, and they will fight to the end. This is important to me. Is this really a good thing for us? In fact, we robbed their baggage train and made enough money, so the ransom is actually not that important to us."
"Then what should we do?" The fat man felt that his head was a little dizzy.
"Where is their territory?"
"According to Father James, it's just across the Rhine River across from our territory."
"So close? I'm still thinking, if it's far away, just let them go and let them fend for themselves. Maybe there is a better choice now."
"Master, maybe you can tell me what you think."
"After you sold the elite soldiers in Abeldoorn Port, when you return through the Barony of Iser, ask the Baron to borrow a ship. I gave him a gift after the last time I wiped out the Vikings. , he will repay the favor. When the time comes, you will return to Fort Verde by boat, then take the captives of the serfs and free people onto the boat, send them to the other side of the river, and let them get out of their own way. In this way, Count Loon will not get anything at all. This group of soldiers."
"Okay." The fat man sighed and finally nodded.
Indeed, this group of prisoners is very difficult. Simon wants to sell them but is afraid of riots on the way because of the large number of people; he wants to accept the ransom but is afraid that they will consume a lot of food in the village and then be taken to Count Loon by Baron Quenir to continue fighting; Killing them is also afraid that no one will surrender to Simon in the future because of the bad reputation.
Now it seems that letting them go is undoubtedly the best choice. In this way, Count Loon will not be able to supplement this group of soldiers at all, and Simon's good reputation will spread everywhere, and his enemies will know in the future. If the enemy is Simon , surrendering to him might not be such a bad thing.
