Appigus walked up the stone steps leading to the top of Popala Castle with a heavy heart, the torches on both sides of the corridor whirring in the dark, cold air, he had not been in a good mood for several days, and the foreboding feeling was only exacerbated by the figures of the soldiers running back and forth

First of all, there is news from within the clan, the leader Sloariiston has basically refused the request from the southern empire to annex, which means that his Popala castle has become the front line of the war, and may face attacks from the southern emperor at any time, which can't help but make the Apig family, which has been living in the cracks for hundreds of years, feel a little crisis

Although the Apig family is a family with a long history, it is just a small local tycoon that no one pays attention to, and in the days when the Dika people controlled the cold regions of the north, their identity was not even the head of the land, they were just the managers of dozens of cold woodcutters. But in those chaotic times,

The ancestors of the Apig family struggled, and although there were no outstanding figures to make the family stand out, the family business continued to expand steadily through the hard work of several generations, and by the time of Appigos' grandfather's generation, with his bravery in the war against the enemy, he led the peasants of the tenant farmers for the first time to kill two nobles of the other party, and finally gained the right to be granted the land, and finally took ownership of the land as a retainer of the city.

The current lord, Appigus, was a conscientious but contented man, and he had no dissatisfaction with his own territory and property, and at the age of forty, he knew that he would not develop any more, and he was satisfied that he could hold on to this land and let the family continue safely.

In his generation, too much blood has been seen, the Dika, the Asorus, these names that were once glorious and illustrious in the Northland. Now they have all been annihilated in the long river of history with the passage of time, as if they had never appeared, and the situation in front of them is also a little mysterious, defeating the great southern empire of the Asou Russians. It seems that it is not content to grasp only the core area of the northern cold in its hands, but to envelop all the regions in its sphere of influence, which undoubtedly touches the interests of the East Alais, who are closer to the edge of the northland.

Just when Appigus was worried about this, the order from the city to prepare for war was also issued here, although the leader insisted that the empire from the south would not have extra energy. They ventured to attack remote areas, but they sent an additional 300 fighters to Fort Popala, which was located at the forefront of the fort, hoping to form an outpost of Fort Popala with 50 defenders of Fort Popara itself

Popara Fort, a small castle that covers an area of only more than 300 square meters, has achieved a breakthrough in military strength of 350 for the first time.

His territory is not small, strictly speaking, it covers an area of nearly 20 square kilometers. If it were inland, it would be at least a moderately wealthy area, but this is a barren ice field. Aside from the vast expanse of cold and hard soil, the only areas that are really useful for survival are the two birch forests near the castle, where the food and furs used to trade in the territory were produced.

The problem of food became a big problem, and the hunt was only enough for 50 soldiers and the lord's family, and occasionally the lord could obtain some more precious furs, which Apigus would carefully treasure, and when he accumulated a certain amount, he would go to Bocaste, near the south, to exchange for the cured meat he needed.

But this year's formal developments have disrupted all of this, and two months ago Appigus received news that a large force from the south had declared war on Asu Russia, which had just gained control of Hulan Be,...,

Apigus also heard from the fur merchants who came and went that the conflict between the two families due to the relationship between the two families had developed to this day. It's hard to say who caused an incident!

Anyway, in the end, the most direct solution is to have a war to the death! Only the final victor has the right to speak.

As a result, the Asu Russians were beaten, not only the whole clan was copied by the Dongting people, but the men in the clan were killed, and I heard that even a generation of heroes Asu Russia was beheaded and hung on the battle flag

Such news came, which made Appigus tremble for several days, in such a troubled world, even if you don't look for trouble, things may not take the initiative to come to you,

And the special geographical location of Popala Fort also made it impossible for him as a lord not to worry about these things. If the victorious southerners insist on continuing northward, then their own Popara Fort will bear the brunt, and once the territory becomes the main battlefield, or if the war lasts too long, then this year's hunting for the winter will be in vain!

If the situation just mentioned really happens, even if this winter is not a disaster, it will be difficult, and he will have to use his already scarce savings to buy food rations for his family and his subjects!

Just when Appigus was worried about this, his younger brother Apinissa, who remained in charge of the city, sent him a letter: "The intention of the chief's refusal to belong is already obvious, although there is no sign of war, but it has been clamored on many public occasions to teach a lesson to the people from the south, the geographical location of the Popala Fort is destined to be the primary target of the southerners, rather than sit and wait for the destruction, it is better to give up the property and move the whole family to the city to avoid the disaster for a while!"

After getting the conclusive news, Appigus finally put his mind at ease, he couldn't stay here any longer, and calculated that his daughter would reach the age of adulthood in two years! Now he also needs to go to a place like this city to meet the scene, otherwise he will become a woman who is unwilling to accept it at that time, and the guard work here will be taken over by an officer from this city anyway,

You can go to the city to find your brother and recruit some people to do some logging work. With his exploits in guarding the border for so many years, and his younger brother's face as a logistics officer in this city, the adults who want to come to this city will not be too embarrassed for themselves, but it is not easy to abandon the foundation that the family has fought for for a hundred years.

In the midst of hesitation, the real troubles still came to the door, and early this morning, someone from outside was sent to report that an unknown army had appeared in the castle!

Ah, why can't we let people stop for a while?, Appigus walked up to the top floor of the castle with a pale face, and was immediately greeted by Captain Ostott, who had come from the city.

Appigus didn't speak to him, and first set his eyes on the wilderness outside the city, where the white mist was so thick that it almost obscured the view from a hundred meters ahead. There were only a few dark shadows, which should have been the birch grove near the castle

"Where is the enemy?" asked Appigus, puzzled, for the Popala Castle was not tall, but the terrain was very dangerous, blocking the way from central Hulambe to the north.

"I'm afraid it's not good this time!" Squadron Leader Ostott said with a gloomy face next to him

"We didn't get any warning last night, but this morning we found out that something so big happened! Being able to do this is by no means a tentative harassment, I am afraid that it is a real main attack......

"You tell me what the hell happened?!"

Appigus was also a little upset by his affection. For it was morning, and the fog in the wilderness was so great that no matter how much he looked, he did not see the shadow of the enemy in the fog that filled the wilderness. ...,

"My lord, look at where you go first!" Osdott grimaced, and put his hand out of the battlements to point to a mountain peak on the left, and Appigus stretched out his head in confusion to look in the direction of him, and immediately felt a cool air rise directly from his back.

There was a sentry set up outside the castle. Now there was a heraldic flag of birds and birds fluttering on it! I hurriedly looked at the other higher posts, only to find that all of them had changed their names in a single night

"Don't look at it, all eight of the eight outposts we're monitoring outside the city have lost ......," Squadron Leader Osdot said. The voice was full of pain and helplessness.

"This ...... How is that possible!" Appigus asked in a trembling voice, with a hint of luck in his heart, "Is it ...... Only...... Didn't get any news at every point?"

"No, and the current situation may be worse than we thought! I have every reason to suspect that the other side has captured the outpost guarding the northbound passage in order to allow more troops to pass through the city quietly, and we have been ignored!" Osdott looked at him and shook his head wordlessly.

Seeing him say this, Appigus's heart sank at once, serving as 8 outposts outside the castle to monitor the road. The garrison army is not small,

Nearly 200 soldiers, not only archers but also a small number of hoplites,

This kind of military strength accounts for two-thirds of the forces that can be mobilized by the castle of Popala now, but now it is ...... , a full 200-man defender. It may not be strange to lose ground in the face of a sudden attack, but it is terrible that no one escapes!

In this way, how strong must the enemy be, and what kind of preparations have been made! Two-thirds of his own forces are finished without even hearing a sound, how can the next battle be fought? and, as Ostott said, the enemy only quietly occupied the watchtower, but did not attack the weakly fortified castle.

It was entirely because he was unwilling to spend a limited amount of time here in the castle, but it was conceivable that the enemy's target was not the Poppara Fort, but the area behind the Poppara Fort, and the enemy's target was the city of Andrade! Thinking of this, Appigus couldn't help but shudder, and didn't dare to think about it any further

"No! This situation must be reported to the city immediately!" At this time, he heard the squadron leader from the city next to him, Ostott, say firmly, "So many enemies have crossed the border line, and the city still knows nothing, once the battle begins, I am afraid that the city will pay heavy losses!"

"If you go out now, I'm afraid it's useless! The fact that the other party has not attacked the castle does not mean that we will be defenseless against our actions" Appigus pointed to the outside of the city from the fog with an ugly face, "If you don't believe it, you can look there!"

I saw a force of about 10,000 cavalry from the nearby woods, slowly along the foot of the hill on the left to the periphery of the castle. The black armor and scale-like horse armor seem to be a monolithic sculpture, with copper spikes on it and a scimitar at the waist glistening in the sunlight!

"Dongting cavalry!" everyone gasped, and at the same time, they were secretly glad that they hadn't acted recklessly just now. Until the last cavalry of the Eastern Court spared a circle under the castle, and disappeared into the nearby woods,

The two people on the castle slowly breathed a sigh of relief, no one thought that they could escape under the pursuit of the Dongting cavalry, not to mention that the reindeer of the Northland people could not outrun the war horses, once they were bitten by the Dongting cavalry, even if they were capable, they would only be dead in the end

On a high slope that the two of them couldn't see in the fog, the fat man stopped the war horse under his crotch. Looking at the misty scene in front of him grimly, the breath of the northern cold region is quite vast, especially when the sun rises, the night in the northern cold region is very cold. After a cold night march in the middle of the night, everyone felt a little excited about the warm sunlight projected on the horizon in the distance...,

"Your Majesty, passing through the Popala Pass, which is the outpost, and 40 miles ahead is Andrade, the home city of the East Iles, and the Fifth Banner Regiment as the vanguard will be in the evening this evening. will be able to enter the expected attack position, and after a short rest, it will be perfectly possible to launch a surprise attack on Andrade."

Adjutant Anlius pointed into the distance and said respectfully beside him, on his side, a large black army was crossing the terrain leading to the north, heading towards the unseen northern land, which was the third and fourth flag regiments in charge of the flanks. The queue marched forward in four formations, like four long black dragons crossing the earth and wilderness

"Bring me the map, I want to know where the Fifth Banner Regiment should be now?" the fat man straightened his collar. Rushed down from War Horse Mountain, waved his hand to the guards behind him, the guards hurriedly handed over the military map, the fat man looked at the map in his hand with some red eyes, and finally pointed to a point on the map near the left side of Andrade City and asked, "Where is this?" "It's Pabuka, it's a subsidiary town north of Andrade City!" Adjutant Anlius glanced at the map, hesitated for a moment, and then cautiously replied that in order to formulate this strategic breakthrough plan, he had read the map of the entire Northland hundreds of times. So just at a glance I recognized the name of the point that the fat man was referring to

The fat man nodded, raised his head, and looked at Anlius with bright eyes, "If I'm not mistaken, the word Pabuka means lost in the Northland!

"Your Majesty is right, the word Pabuka does mean lost in the northern language. And because this town is a three-way road to the northern wilderness, the merchants who come and go call Pabuka, and after shouting for a long time, no one remembers the original name of the town, and everyone calls this town Pabuka!"

"Lost...... Oh, good name!"

I don't know why, the corner of the fat man's mouth smiled slightly, and he pointed to the location of Pabuka Town with his hand, and said, "I'm not worried about the Fifth Banner Regiment's attack on Andrade, I'm more concerned about which way the guy who clamored to be my night pot will escape than the occupation of Andrade!

"Lost, Pabukka!" Looking at the position of the fat man's finger, Anlius asked a little dazedly, "Your Majesty, in the case of the army pressing the city, it is very likely that Sloariston will choose to escape, but there are so many roads to the north, why does His Majesty dare to assert that the other party will definitely take Pabuka?"

"Hehe, because this is what I chose for him!" said the fat man with a mysterious smile on his face, "As a commander, you must not only command your own troops, but also command the enemy well, let the enemy go down the path set by yourself, until the final helpless curtain call, this is a qualified commander!"

Looking at His Majesty's confident smile, An Liusi felt a cold sweat break out, although he didn't believe His Majesty's assertion, but if this sentence came from the man known as the god of war on the mainland, it would be a different matter!

He glanced at the dots on the map again, confused and hesitant, could it be that Sloariiston would inevitably go astray, as His Majesty had predicted?

The cold moonlight shone through the gaps in the leaves on the forest floor, and in the dark hinterland of the forest, clusters in the east and west were full of soldiers in black armor, some of them leaning against the trees and napping, some whispering to each other.

The general of the Central Army, Hukochili, squatted on a flat ground, and in front of him lay a map of the outer observation of the city of Andrade, the main city of the East Ile people is not large, and the defense is average, but there are two large arrow towers on the left side, which can not only attack the enemy outside the city walls, but also control the city walls.

On the periphery of the city, there are three small guard towers, which control the main road leading to the castle, and have independent suspension bridges, which are put down on weekdays, only when you hear the alarm on the periphery rise, the lights on the city wall are very dim, and you can vaguely see a few black dots walking back and forth,

The city rarely has a moat, because of the cold of the north, it is rare to see such a setting, so if you want to attack the city, you must first seize it, otherwise even the bravest warriors will not be able to wade through it in heavy armor in the ice cave-like moat

"That's really a problem!" Hukochili looked at the map, listened to the explanation from the guide Besu, and nodded slightly with an ugly face,

The blazing gaze was like a sharp blade, passing through the faint night fog, looking at Andrade in the night,

With such a strong defense, coupled with its own good combat power, it is no wonder that the people of East Earai were able to compete with the previous Northland Controllers on this basis. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. )