Through the misty morning mist, Tifeco Wimbledon could faintly see the flags fluttering over the city.

He held up his lookout glasses and tried to identify the family crest on the flag. The sailboat and crown motif on the green background undoubtedly belonged to his sister, Garcia Wimbledon. This is also the flag with the most in the city.

The second most abundant is the white flag, the tower on a white background and the poisonous snake that wraps around the tower, which is the emblem of the Balya family. Oh, he sneered in his heart, and took refuge in the Queen of Blue Water, but he still hung the banner with the tower pattern, which was simply shameless. When I catch you traitor, I'll have to feed you the flag and swallow it, Lord Count Balya. He thought to himself.

Finally, there is the tower lion with a red background, the equally shameless Zita family. Tifeco's face was expressionless, but in his heart he had already sentenced Erin Shita to death, just like Toman Barya. Of course, the same is to eat the flag.

"Sir Namen, raise the banner of the Grey Keep Kingdom!" Tifeco ordered.

"Yes, Your Majesty. The Wind Knight answered, and then rode his horse and ran towards the army behind him, "The king has an order, raise the flag!"

The new king looked back and saw flagpoles being raised, gray flags unfurled in the wind, black patterns looking solemn, huge towers and cross-tipped spears on both sides, which were the emblem of the king of the Grey Keep. Any traitor will be confessed under this banner.

Upon receiving the news of Garcia's independence, he immediately took countermeasures - mobilizing the men and horses of the eastern realm and the royal capital to attack Eagle City. Although he felt like a shocking wave in his heart at that time, he still maintained his composure on the surface, which gave a lot of confidence to the ministers who supported him.

It took nearly a month to gather his vassals and troops, a week to the east, and another half a month to get here, and Tefeko finally arrived at Eagle City yesterday when the sun went down. Fortunately, the royal capital was not greatly affected by the Demon Moon, and the road to the south was not impassable due to snow, but the ground was very solid due to the low temperature, and the horse-drawn carts carrying grain were moving faster than those of the free people.

His army was very large, consisting mainly of his own personal guard, the Knights of the Royal City, and the troops of Fran Cherit, Duke of the East. The three groups of men and horses together numbered as many as 6,000 men, including as many as 1,000 well-trained and well-equipped knights. According to reliable information, Garcia's troops were less than 3,000 men, and most of them were free people from Bishui Harbor, and it was okay to raid unarmed peasants and merchants in peacetime, and it was impossible to be a match for the knights in a head-on battle.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Gauder, had objected, arguing that the harvest would be adversely affected by the conscription of armies after the end of the Demon Moon, when cultivation was to be carried out everywhere. Therefore, Tifeco did not ask the vassals to send serfs to war, but called the freedmen in the realm and took care of the logistics. In this way, even if they fight in the south, they will not fall into the spring ploughing.

Either way, Tifeco Wimbledon must not allow Garcia to stay in the South any longer. Eagle City is not a fortified city, it was formerly a market, located right in the middle of the surrounding towns. Later, with the development of commerce and trade, it gradually evolved into a city, and the time was less than 100 years. In addition, in order to promote its pro-business image, successive lords did not build impenetrable high walls. A civilian force of 3,000 men and two counts were not a large army combined, and the sooner they countered the day, the better the chances of victory. If you give her a chance to breathe and let her completely integrate the entire southern realm, it will be very difficult for her to defeat her.

After a night's rest, his men were well fed and ready to go. As the sun turned orange-red to a bright gold, the fog began to dissipate, and the earth-brown walls revealed their true form—in the eyes of the new king, they were not really walls at all, but at best a dirt slope. From the bottom of the slope to the top of the slope, there is an inclined plane, and you can climb it directly with your hands and feet without any siege ladders. At the top of the slope is a round of logs more than a man high, which can keep out the homeless people and robbers, but not the heavily armed warriors.

The people at the head of the city stood sparsely, obviously not looking ready to defend the city.

"Your Majesty, the cavalry in charge of keeping an eye on the south gate reported that they had observed the movement of the brigade. The Wind Knight ran back to the new king, and Lerma reported.

Tifeco handed the goggles to Duke Fran and said in a relaxed tone, "Looks like she wants to run away." ”

The latter watched carefully for a while and nodded, "Being able to make up your mind so quickly can be regarded as a decisive choice." Eagle City is not suitable for stubborn defense, and if she puts her people in the city, she will only be wiped out by us. The Duke laughed, "As you expected in the battle meeting last night, she didn't expect us to come so soon. ”

"We arrived at the right time," Tifeco said, "and even if she wanted to, she couldn't move at night." ”

"You're right, marching at night is a big no-no. If she did that, the team would collapse without a fight without us taking the initiative. And once the centaurs are separated in the night, there is almost no chance of gathering again. In this way, even if she escapes back to Bishui Harbor, there is only one way to die. ”

"Therefore, my dear sister must wait until after dawn to direct the retreat of the army. Tifeco looked at Eagle City with satisfaction, thinking that she hadn't done more than she had anticipated. Garcia coveted the symbolic status of Eagle City, and stationed his troops here - it was indeed easier to conquer the hearts and minds of the southern nobles by occupying the mansions guarded by the southern frontiers, but the benefits also came with crises. He deliberately sent a feint army to the road slowly, and he led the cavalry to the east first, without foot soldiers, and all the dry food consumed was transported by horse-drawn carriages. After arriving in the east, the duke will make up the remaining troops and make a detour from the other side of the kingdom to Eagle City, and the cavalry will block the road first, reducing the possibility of spies delivering news.

It is impossible for the army to move at once, and Garcia should have only received ambiguous news two or three days ago, and it was considered a hasty move to start retreating at dawn today. It would take a day's walk to retreat from Eagle City to Qingquan Town, and two legs would not be able to outrun four legs anyway, as long as she gathered a thousand knights to catch up with her team and chase after her, her ridiculous coalition army would naturally collapse.

Unfortunately, it was still possible for Garcia to escape from her hands, and it would not be difficult for her to return to the Waters Harbor alive if she left three thousand men alone and left alone.

After all, he had to go to her lair to finally end this farce, he thought.

"Your Majesty, then go your separate ways according to the plan we have set before. "Do you wait for me to enter the city, and pursue it through the south gate, or do you take a detour?" ”

"I'd better get around from the southwest," Tifeko thought for a moment, "and it's not convenient for the knights to move in the narrow streets, and there's a chance that Garcia will cloak the streets with debris and obstruct the passage of troops. Even if the detour is an hour at night, it will not hinder the follow-up pursuit. ”

"Then I am leaving, Your Majesty. ”

"Be careful," Tifeco reminded, "Garcia will not leave any troops in the city, and there are plenty of traps. Also, beware of places where the streets are narrow and there are many houses. All it takes is an ambush of a group of dead soldiers to threaten your safety. ”

"Hahaha," said Duke Fran with a hearty smile, "please rest assured, Your Majesty, when I went out with your father to fight, I personally cut off hundreds of heads, and I have never been injured." He waved his hand to the guards beside him, "Honk, attack!"

The army behind them surged, and several streams of people stepped out of the formation, led by several knights, and marched towards Eagle City, which were the freedmen who were the vanguard troops, and behind them were the armoured mercenaries, who were also the main force of the siege. And the knights brought by the duke have all been gathered under his command.

When the large army began to storm the walls, Tifeco led the remaining knights and men to the southwest. (To be continued.) )