The sound of brass trumpets came from afar, breaking the silence of the afternoon, as if an omen had arrived, and the birds in the courtyard stopped chirping, and for a time the castle hall seemed solemn and dull.

Duke Willyon Borg knew the time for a decisive battle.

He looked away from the frescoes of His Majesty Tifeko and turned his head to look at a delicate full-body armor—the armor inherited from his grandfather, which had been repaired and polished many times in his hands, and each piece of armor was soaked in grease that was almost equivalent to another layer of skin.

On the right arm is engraved a line of small letters, which is the family's motto: "Loyalty and forgetting".

It was wearing this armor that he captured the rebellious old duke in the melee, and was canonized by His Majesty as the new guardian of the Eastern Frontier.

Despite the fall of Tifeco, his duty as a guardian will not be interrupted.

He will never fail to live up to this honor.

"Lord Duke, the troops of the fourth prince have moved closer to Golden Harvest City, and no trace of large firearms has been found in the team. One of his men walked into the hall and reported to him.

"Very well," Willion nodded, "notify the others in place, and I'll be over at once." ”

"Yes!"

Then he took off his coat, walked over to his armor, and said to his chief knight, Grena, "Suit me." ”

"Yes," the woman rolled up her sleeves and began to undress him. The rough hands covered with calluses were like soft water at the moment, gently peeling off his coat and inner lining. It's hard to imagine that in battle, Glena also used these hands to hold the spear tightly, piercing the enemy with armor and shield.

Whenever he saw it, he was fascinated by the scene.

"You...... Do you regret it?"

"Of course not, my lord," replied Glena calmly, "the day you decided to have a woman as your chief knight, I decided to always be by your side, and that I would do my part no matter what happened. ”

"But this time the enemy is stronger than ever, if you can—" The Duke was interrupted by a belt that was sharply tightened around his waist.

"Since you know that your opponent is strong, why do you want to refuse the covenant of the Lord of Dawn? ”

"Tsk, let's not talk about whether the help of Glow City can withstand the army of the fourth prince, it is enough for me to provide a harbor for his men and horses to be stationed. Willion pouted, "The Eastern Frontier is a territory given to me by Your Majesty, is there any difference between giving it to Ampein Moya and giving it to Roland Wimbleton? ”

"Then my answer is the same," said Glena without hesitation, "loyalty is not a quality unique to the Borg family, my lord, please do not mention those words again, otherwise it will be an insult to me." ”

Willion was silent for a while before he spoke, "It's a pity that most nobles have forgotten this now...... I see, so follow me. Although the opponent is strong, I will not let them take Golden Harvest City easily - I have been waiting for this decisive battle for a long time. ”

"Yes, sir. The knight chuckled.

"Bell!" he shouted the clerk's name, "come to me!"

A balding middle-aged man soon walked in from outside the hall, "My lord, what do you command?"

"Let me remember, after a night's rest, the minions of King Slayer Roland Wimbledon have officially launched an attack on Golden Spike City today. Willion Borg, Duke of Golden Spike, Guardian of the East, in the name of the former king, is determined to stop the enemy's march here. His chief knight, Glena Vain, accompanied him, and his courage and loyalty were evident – may the gods bless them. Willion paused, "Of course...... If you feel that this account is a little subjective, you can leave out the last sentence. ”

Bell nodded, and quickly recorded the lord's statement in the charcoal notebook he carried with him, "I don't think it's okay to add it, my lord." There is no absolutely objective record in this world, and I am the clerk of Golden Harvest City, so it is not surprising that I am a little biased, or rather, this is a part of objectivity. ”

"Keep it, then, but whatever the outcome may be, you're going to have to keep it as it is, understand?" Willion emphasized, "and it's your mission to tell the story of what happened in its entirety. ”

"Be reassured, my lord," said the clerk, bowing, "that I will surely make this history remembered by the world." ”

Willion stopped talking, picked up the steel sword that hung on the wall, and walked out of the castle without looking back.

......

The two of them climbed the city wall to watch the tower, and the bonfire was already burning, and the grease was churning in the pot, giving off a pungent smell. The soldiers were busy up and down, putting stones and rolling logs on the walls.

Based on the experience of the First Battle of the Imperial Capital, Roland's most threatening siege method was a snow powder weapon known as artillery, which far exceeded the range of trebuchets, and His Majesty was unable to imitate a similar product until the fall of the city. On the day that the royal capital was defeated, Tifecoto's henchmen handed over the snow powder formula, weapon principles, and manufacturing methods to Willion, and its purpose was self-evident.

After the Duke took over, he invested a lot of energy and money in it, and also found some ways to limit it, such as the artillery itself was very heavy, and it needed to rely on flat terrain to exert its power. In addition, the erection process is very slow and requires the protection of muskets. In other words, it's better suited to defense, not offense.

In order to prepare for this sooner or later war, Willion was well prepared, in addition to widening the walls and installing barbs, he also sent people to dig all the roads in the suburbs, and fill the farmland with river water, making it a swamp. There are also a lot of hidden piles set up in the Sanwan River, making it difficult for large inland river ships above the single mast to pass. After two years of renovation, the surrounding environment has completely changed, and now it is quite laborious to walk, not to mention the carriages and horses.

Although the cost was heavy - the road was cut off and the prosperity of the trading city was lost, and the reduction in the area of farmland was a significant drop in the population, the benefits were obvious, at least in the slowly approaching ranks of the enemy, he did not see a single artillery piece present.

Apparently the other side also realized that it was almost impossible to drag the artillery to the city wall without first repairing a road.

What follows is undoubtedly an uphill battle.

The enemy's muskets were firing very quickly, but the city was unobstructed, and with the barbs on the walls, it was not easy to climb up. Instead, he had four trebuchets and two large artillery pieces in the city, the latter in particular, which could attack the enemy within a thousand paces, and the outcome was unknown.

"They're coming," Glena reminded.

As she spoke, a group of soldiers in brown cloth crossed the line and gathered around the city gates—they were not fast, but their steps were unusually firm. Soon, the group lost their neatness of formation due to the muddy ground, and they scattered in twos and threes, like old farmers who were buried in the fields. In addition to the gray-black spears on their backs, they also had thigh-thick barrels on their backs, but judging by their weight, they were definitely not artillery.

Willion estimated the distance, raised the red flag, and waved it downward.

"Boulder Cannon, fire!"