Perhaps because of the rainfall in the past few days, thin fog began to appear over a large area of the Acasta Plain in the evening.
By the time the soldiers set off to the forest on the south side after dinner, the thick fog had reached the point where they could not see clearly even from a distance of tens of meters.
The forest in the mist looked like a place where the headless knight in the legend of Avenella would haunt. In order not to fall behind, everyone adopted a tight formation.
The fog was a god-given opportunity for the Avenella army, which intended to move forward covertly. However, the already low visibility at night coupled with the fog, made the expressions on the faces of the knights and sergeants walking in the forest appear... So solemn.
Superstition and the real danger made them feel that the entire forest was hostile. Many people became nervous and looked around at the slightest sign of trouble.
The nobles who advocated the Sivalier style of life may never have truly integrated into this plain.
The outer and inner parts of them are made up of expensive armor and various complicated etiquette. While distinguishing themselves from ordinary Avenella people, they may also isolate nature. Edward carefully observed the leading archers. In order to make a living, they walked in the mountains and forests all year round with vigorous and light steps. On complex terrain, their walking speed was even faster than that of war horses. That figure blended into the white mist. This natural temperament and refined movements were developed while hunting wild animals that were far more alert than humans.
The lack of supplies made these peasant archers use more skills and experience instead of tools. They used the stars as indicators to judge the direction, and judged which side was safe from every unnatural trace on the ground and the growth of vegetation. suitable for the march of the army.
Edward fell into deep thought, just like many other Avenella generals who were sitting on horseback at this moment.
Although the knights and sergeants were well-equipped and well-trained, when they actually marched, a thousand archers made less noise than ten knights of Avenella. These Avenelas, who they had never really paid attention to before, accounted for the absolute 'majority' of ordinary people. There are too many things worth learning from them, the blond prince thought, Henry told him a few hours ago The details of what he said made him think more deeply.
The Avenella people who were unified a hundred years ago came to the Ecasta Plain, but the true integration may never have happened.
The nobles from Sivalier are the nobles of Sivalier from beginning to end. If we want to truly make this country strong, we cannot do without breaking the barrier between the people and the nobles.
He pulled back and focused on the present - the biggest problem was time.
The exact time of the attack on Fort Ellen is unknown, but as the day approached for the delivery of supplies to it, it was possible that Sivalier would attack Ashenil at any time. Considering that the relative distances between Wawasika, Ellen's Fortress and Ashenil are not too large, they actually don't have much of a lead.
It takes two days to walk directly from Ellen's Outpost to Ashenil without a detour, while it takes a day and a half to walk from Wawasika to Ashenil under normal circumstances - plus the factors of the ambush location, the walk The time left for them on normal roads is too short.
There was only half a day's buffer time. Considering that the main force of the Sivaliers was the highly mobile cavalry, if there was a slight error, Edward's unit would probably pass by the opponent. If the opportunity for ambush is lost and the opponent is allowed to advance straight in, all the previous efforts will be in vain. Therefore, Prince Edward, who knitted the entire army into a rope after that speech, ordered his archers to lead the entire team through the forest as the vanguard. The time it took to reach the designated location was reduced to one night.
Without delay, the fate of the entire country rests on people like myself at this moment.
The weather is good, and according to the judgment of those archers who are familiar with the Ecasta Plain, the thick fog will not disperse until at least tomorrow afternoon. Considering the danger of marching at night, the Sivalliers will probably choose to wait until the day after tomorrow. Genius sets off. In other words, they would have at least a whole day to prepare for the ambush.
Everything depends on these two days.
Breathing the cold, moist air in his mouth and nose, Edward tightened his grip on the reins.
…
The moon sets, the sun rises, and the day passes.
The thick fog was not dispersed until the afternoon by the warm sun.
There was an unpleasant smell of stagnant water on the slightly undulating grassland in front of Fort Ellen. Sir Amédé de Beaudoin frowned and pinched his big head with the characteristic of Sivalier. nose.
He has always hated this land, hated the annoying cold wind that was still howling in the castle, hated the land covered with weeds, hated the unscrupulous people and nobles here.
"Bah." Jazz spat fiercely towards the plain. The mist made the velvet cloak he wore covered with a lot of dew, which made the unhappiness in his heart even more intense.
"Have you missed the golden sea of wheat in Inznir?" A well-dressed nobleman who was about 35 years old, white-faced and beardless, walked next to him. He shrugged at Sir Bodoin, and the Sir replied. With another spit.
"Even the air where these wild boars live smells like pig manure." Sir, he looked quite unhappy, but the man's face still had a careless expression: "His Excellency Count Antoine has issued an order, Sir, tomorrow morning Just go, you and I will be the tip of the spear.”
"Go teach these country bumpkins what a true knight is." The nobleman with his blond hair combed to one side showed a playful smile.
"With pleasure." Sir replied.
Sunset, sunrise, another day passed.
The knight stood at the door of the castle and ordered his two servants to put pieces of plate armor on his body. The hem of the dark blue robe hung from the bottom of the breastplate, and underneath it was fastened to the body of the armor. A soft mail apron protects the upper thighs.
The servants skillfully threaded the tough leather threads on the armor through the small holes in the plate armor and then tightened it. It took more than five minutes for the entire set of plate armor to be put on neatly.
"Click." With the help of the servant, Sir got on the horse. He took the helmet handed by the servant at the side. The conspicuous blue tail feather decoration on the top of the helmet represented the status of the noble. He put on his helmet, then lifted up his visor and turned to look behind him.
Everyone else was almost ready, hundreds of flags were hoisted, violets and roses were flapping in the strong wind of the Ecasta Plains.
"Depa! Valla! Sivalier!" Count Antoine, who was sitting in the middle of the town, shouted loudly.
"Oh!!" In fact, the sergeants raised their weapons in response.
"Vara! Silvalier!" Sir Boduan showed a slight smile, and then pulled the reins first.
As long as those idiots in Avenella don't wet their saddles in fear, in front of this cavalry.
"Dong dong dong dong dong!" The remaining water on the plain ground was heavily trampled by pairs of horse hooves, and the arrogant Sivalier heavy cavalry began to advance. Even the horizon trembled at the scene of the knights running in groups, holding lances in their hands, and all kinds of noble decorations filling every inch of space on the breastplates, helmets and exposed hems of the robes.
If there is anyone here who recognizes the heraldry of nobles or is familiar with knightly competitions, he will definitely be dazzled by the large number.
A heavy cavalry composed of 25,000 knights and sergeants - expensive plate armor made of fine steel and strong war horses with excellent bloodlines. Except for Sivalier, no country on the west coast can have such a cavalry.
Even the three newly established knights in Avenella, which is famous for its wealth in recent years, only have a combined number of more than 10,000, and the one currently located in Wavasica is only the majority of one knight.
It is no wonder that the people of Siwaliya are so confident.
"Where are the infantry who are cooperating with us in the east?" Sir Bertouan led nearly a thousand cavalry and rushed out. A voice rang out from the side. The blond nobleman who was also fully armed said to him, and the Sir said again. He opened his mouth and showed no intention of taking them seriously.
"There's no need for those idiots. It won't make any difference if they come over when we defeat Avenella's army and start the siege."
"rush!"
Jazz pulled the reins and drove the horse to start running wildly. The air flow around him became rapid, blowing continuously onto his facial skin through the viewing opening of the helmet.
"Indeed, Sir." The blond nobleman next to him said with a smile, and shouted back, and the people behind him also started to speed up with them.
Only when he was running wildly could he feel the slightest love for this land. The vast wilderness allowed the horses to run carefree. He had even begun to consider whether to invest in building a huge knight nearby. The competition ground - at least half of the venue in the royal capital of Prosper, which represents the highest standard for knights' competition - will become Sivalier's territory over time anyway.
As he thought this way, the knights and sergeants behind him gradually formed a narrow formation headed by him as the knight moved, while more troops in the rear maintained a relatively dense appearance.
The wind was howling, and it became increasingly violent after breaking out of the windshield of the forest on the east side of Fort Ellen. But the knight didn't pay attention to those things. He led nearly a thousand cavalry in the lead and ran towards the slightly undulating plain ahead.
It's not far away. As long as they cross the hill in front and move forward for a while, the center point of the plain, known as the Land of Eternal Spring, will appear in their field of vision——
Sir Bertouin commanded his horse skillfully. The downhill road should have slowed the horse down, but he and his companions, full of confidence, just continued to charge at full speed.
"Snapped--"
Some slight sounds disappeared with the wind, and Jazz frowned, "Pah-pah-pah-" More sounds began to sound densely, and he and his companions followed the sound and looked to the right. side.
——There is nothing there, and Sivalier's cavalry flank will be quite vulnerable when attacked, especially without infantry coordination.
But whether Sir Boduan or any other knight is a veteran who has been on the battlefield for a long time, they are naturally aware of this, so they kept a distance of about 600 meters from both sides when they set off. They are all located at the center point of the road.
The excellent visibility on both sides of the flat plains within this distance will make any army that wants to sneak attack them exposed as soon as they set off, and all Sivalier's cavalry needs is to turn their heads to regain their advantage. .
Six hundred meters is the distance from the slightly raised ground on the east side. Beyond it, there is nothing but empty wasteland and silver-white sandy beach.
Further forward, there is the dense Protasia Forest.
There are no visual blind spots. Whether it is heavy infantry or heavy cavalry, as long as they show their heads, they will immediately expose themselves.
Shaking his head and ignoring the slight sound before, the confident Sir Bertouan began to think about unrelated things. 'The beach here is said to have excellent beauty. After Sivalier captures this treasure, you can bring your family here. 'He recalled his newly born child and his wife who always had a gentle smile on her face, and the expression on his face softened.
"what is that?"
"what?!"
The knights behind him became noisy. Jazz frowned and looked back with dissatisfaction, then raised his head following their gazes.
Thousands of densely packed black dots filled the high sky. Against the clear sky-blue background, they could only be detected at such a close distance.
"..." Jazz's eyes widened. The thing that suddenly appeared from nowhere seemed very familiar to him, and the completely unexpected attack at this distance made him miss the opportunity to warn his friendly forces.
"Oh these damn——!!" The blond nobleman's hysterical roar came from the rear left, but was immediately covered up by a dense burst of air.
"Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo-!!"
"Ding!" No one could stop the rain of arrows falling from an extremely high height. Some of the arrows landed on the knight's armor and bounced off, but more hit the unprotected war horse.
"Hissing!!"
Sir Bertouin's horse was the first one to fall down while running. The horse's entire side and neck were covered with arrows, and after a cry, he was thrown out violently.
The soil was very soft and protected by plate and cotton armor, but even so, he was still dizzy after falling.
"Uh-" Feeling the severe pain and numbness in his back, hands and feet, Jazz lay on his side and watched helplessly as his companions not far away also fell one by one into the black rainstorm.
'Have you seen the people behind...' Sir Boduin couldn't help but think after trying hard several times but failing to get up.
"Dong dong dong dong dong dong -" The sound of horse hooves came from behind him, and then a small group of cavalrymen with mountain lion tattoos on their bodies ran at full speed from one side and boarded the small Qiu——Judging from the direction of the sound, they should be hiding in the forest ahead.
"Hey! Bastards of Sivalier, we are here!" The knight of Avenela shouted behind him in a loud voice, then turned and ran away.
"...Dong dong dong!" The earth-shattering sound gradually became louder. Sir Boduan's pupils widened. Blood flowed from his huge nostrils because of the injury caused by the fall, and every part of his body was covered with blood. Every bone was in pain, but the resilience of being a veteran on the battlefield and the pride of the Sivalier nobles allowed him to grit his teeth and prop up half of his body, roaring hysterically.
"No!! Don't come here, it's a trap!!"
"Dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong!!"
"Vara! Sivaliya!!"
The sound of the knight shouting for death and the sound of the falling iron hooves of the war horse were earth-shaking, covering up the roar of the knight. And the moment the first horse rushed over the hill, there should be no one on the east side of the hill. A dense row of figures stood on the hill.
"Fire the bow!!"
"Clang——!" The long sword in Edward's hand pointed straight at the Sivalier army more than 500 meters below, with its flanks exposed.
Then shouted loudly.
"put!!"
"Snapped--!"
“Snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap—!”
One arrow after another rushed towards the Sivalier knights with a sharp and deadly whistling sound.
