Chapter 306 - The Prelude to the March of the Troops
Chapter 306: The Prelude to the March of the Troops
Kant had long expected the arrival of the troops at the Stone Pass.
He just did not expect it to be so sudden.
It had actually formed a pincer attack with the undead in the depths of the Nahrin Desert.
When Kant announced that the table salt trade would be carried out at the central posthouse and that he would silently cancel Baron Dylan’s trade route, he had already made preparations to welcome the violent counterattack of this “Uncle” Dylan.
According to character as a warrior of this “Uncle”, he would undoubtedly lead his troops to the expedition.
This was the most direct and effective way.
Seizing the Oasis Lookout and seizing the salt mine at the same time was the goal of this plan.
It had only been a month since then, and Baron Dylan had probably not even prepared all the resources for the expedition before brazenly taking action. It was obvious due to Kant had also secretly cancelled the trade route and he was furious.
In the past, he had resisted the pressure of the Dukedom of Leo for Kant’s sake.
Now, he had actually ended up like this.
With Baron Dylan’s hot temper, if he could endure for a month, he would probably explode in anger!
It was difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.
He enjoyed the white silver coins brought by the table salt trade.
Now, he could only continue to rely on the small amount of taxes and offerings in the estate. Baron Dylan felt that he was no different from a beggar. He simply did not satisfy with the income that was only worth a few hundred to a thousand great silver coins a year!
He wanted to regain the table salt trade.
Or, he could control the salt mine himself!
Even if he were to give most of the profits to the noble families of the Dukedom of Leo, it would not matter.
Anyway, the current Baron Dylan had his own backer.
Countess Agatha of the East County had expressed strong support behind him.
This countess was of the royal bloodline. If Grand Duke Cameron died and no heir was announced, then this countess, as his biological sister, even had the right to inherit his legacy. She could even compete with Kant’s elder brother for the title of Grand Duke!
The inheritance law of the noble was very complicated and rigorous.
All the nobles were greedy and coveted Kant’s salt mine.
Therefore, everyone was silently watching this moment.
If Kant really couldn’t resist and didn’t bring out enough strength, perhaps after Baron Dylan seized the Oasis Lookout, some orders from the high-ranking noble would make Kant disappear without a sound.
They could do it.
But…
They could not estimate Kant’s true strength!
They could not estimate it either!
“Come.”
Kant’s expression was calm.
When he heard the news of Baron Dylan’s invasion, he was not the slightest bit surprised, nor did he have the slightest fear.
Because he understood deeply that just this mere Baron Dylan, even if he had gone through high-level development, Baron Dylan was still not his opponent, let alone his enemy.
Even if he did not rely on the city walls to defend himself, this baron who came from the Stone Pass and seemed to have absolute strength would in fact be defeated easily.
Kant’s army’s strength was already guaranteed in terms of both quality and quantity!
At the southern gate of the barbican.
The army was marching out in neat steps.
Soon, under the command of their captain, the formation was completed.
Kant was riding on a warhorse.
Firentis and 11 mage apprentices were also riding their horses at their sides.
The 20 Sarleon Lion Knights had solemn faces and held swords and shields in their hands. They were riding their horses as personal guards.
In front of them, there were 30 Royal Knights leading 200 trained Swadian Knights. They formed two long rectangular charge formations and lined up neatly in the middle.
The Sarleon Lion Knights were better at close combat.
Hence, Kant made them the most suitable personal guards.
The main cavalry that was truly going to the battlefield was the Swadian cavalries that was more suitable for charging!
With the Royal Knights who possessed extraordinary powers as the awl and the ordinary knights as the backbone, the direction of the battlefield would be decided by Firentis who would wear the Order of the Lion Medal to personally charge.
The key to victory!
Kant had made great preparations for this expedition.
There were also the 1,000 newly recruited Swadian Footman who were carrying backpacks and holding swords and shields. They were lined up neatly on both sides of the heavy cavalry, with 500 people on each side.
Although they were just footmen, they could withstand the enemy’s attack and were the main force of the resistance line!
On a regular battlefield, footmen could not be lacking.
This represented the degree of stability of one’s own defensive line.
If one were to use a metaphor, then footmen were chopping boards, in order to let the enemy get close. Then, they would be pressed onto the chopping boards by the cavalry’s sharp kitchen knives and chopped into minced meat!
But this was not the ultimate goal.
When these 1,000 Swadian Footman experienced battles and gained experience points, that was Kant’s goal.
The system’s rules could bring about new changes.
Let these level 3 light footmen directly advance to level 4 heavy cavalry and display the true strength of the Kingdom of Swadia, the powerful heavy cavalry country on the Continent of Caradia!
That terrifying…
Horrifying…
Simply unstoppable…
Group assault!
Hundreds of heavy cavalry soldiers were like a flood bursting out of a dam, bringing with it a deafening roar as they charged forward, swallowing everything in front of them, destroying everything in front of them!
Including the enemy, they would all be trampled under the hooves of the horses.
Unstoppable!
No one could face the violent charge of the heavy cavalry and remain unmoved.
Even if there were tens of thousands of elite footmen, they had to treat these hundreds of heavy cavalries with caution.
If they were to make a mistake…
This seemingly small number of heavy cavalries would tear a hole in the formation of the footmen. It was like a flood that had completely burst the dike. It would cut straight through and tear the troops into pieces!
In the field, the heavy cavalry was invincible!
These 1,000 Swadian Footmen were the seeds of Kant’s heavy cavalry.
They had already formed up in front of them.
Firentis spurred his horse forward and reported to Kant in a soft voice, “Lord Kant, the troops have all been assembled.”
“Mm.”
Kant nodded.
Looking at the elite troops that had formed up in front of him, he said calmly, “Pass down the order, let’s go!”
“Let’s go!”
As the order was given, the commanders responded.
The troops began to move.
The 230 Swadian Knights were the first to follow behind Kant, shaking their reins to follow.
The 1,000 Swadian Footman took a step forward, forming a five-man line in an orderly manner. They followed in a long snake-like formation, stepping on the sand in front of them, which had been stabilized by the knights. They walked orderly and quickly.
They were on the expedition.
Their weapons were in the scabbard on their waists, and the shield with the gold lion with red bottom badge was hanging on their backs.
The well-made armor was covered by a linen robe, and even the helmet had the same white linen hood as protection. It was originally the preparation for the expedition to prevent the burning of the sun.
In the backpack on their backs, there was not only food and water for three days, but also leather clothing to keep them warm at night.
This war could only be won and not lost. This was Kant’s firm rule.
It was related to the future.
Therefore, Manid, who was in charge of the preparation work, was very careful.
Not only were the supplies prepared in the soldiers’ bags, but at the end of the march, the camel caravan formed by 150 single-humped camels was also full of all kinds of supplies.
Including tents for camping, charcoal and firewood for raising bonfires.
And even more food and water.
For Baron Dylan, who came from the Stone Pass, entering the Nahrin Desert was equivalent to an expedition.
In fact.
For Kant, who was defending Drondheim Castle, going to the central posthouse was also equivalent to an expedition.
The reason was very simple.
Neither side had the ability to travel long distances to fight.
Even if Kant was currently taking the elite troop route, a long-distance journey with a scale of more than a thousand people had never been seen before.
They were all recruiting soldiers from the local castles and towns around the Oasis Lookout or the Senwaya Range. As for large-scale military expeditions and confrontations with the enemy, that had never happened before.
For example, Kant had only experienced a long journey and a long-range attack once.
That was when he attacked the Jackalan tribe.
However, that time, there were less than 300 people. Kant, who had yet to develop, attacked with all his might.
At that time, there were no guards left in the village.
They relied on the construction team from the Continent of Caradia to help guard the house in the village.
However, things were different now.
Five Swadian Royal Knights with extraordinary power and 100 level 5 Sarrandian Mamluks were enough to guard the castle and the Oasis Lookout.
Moreover, there were 120 Vaegir Marksmen with top archery skills and 40 newly recruited Vaegir Archers.
It seemed that there were less than 300 people, but in fact, even if there were 1,000- or 2,000-men enemy troops, it was difficult for them to capture the outer walls of the castle, let alone completely capture the main council hall of the castle!
One had to know that there were 800 civilians in the current “Drondheim” Castle.
These were the civilians who maintained the daily operation of the castle.
Moreover, every day, about 50 refugees would arrive in the Continent of Caradia and join Kant’s castle. They would become new civilians and continue to fill the gap in the current population.
Residential buildings had the attribute of attracting refugees.
Therefore, at the critical moment, if the bell tower was rung, at least 800 Swadian Militia would instantly appear in the castle.
A mere 2,000-men troops wanted to attack the city?
At least 20,000 soldiers would have to come to take down the castle, but they still had to pay the price of many blood!
Moreover.
When Kant heard that the castle was besieged, he would immediately return.
The elite heavy cavalry troops would move extremely fast.
If the situation was critical, they could even give up on the central posthouse and let Rolf lead all the Sarrandian Horsemen and elite desert bandit into the battle sequence. They would directly defeat Baron Dylan at the Stone Pass and return.
In the Nahrin Desert, Kant was the overlord!
Previously, Kant and Manid had gone to the Stone Pass several times, not just for trade, but also for reconnaissance.
Now.
Kant had long known the strength of Baron Dylan.
It was estimated that even if he was ruthless this time, he could only gather 1,000 soldiers with all his resources. Or rather, he could only go deep into the Nahrin Desert to “talk” with Kant after recruiting over 1,000 mercenaries.
If they relied solely on the strength of the Stone Pass, even if they were exhausted to death, they would not be able to gather enough soldiers to enter the desert.
Did you mean those ordinary armed militia and peasant recruits?
The troop class that lacked organization and discipline, there would probably be quite a number of people escaped as soon as they exited the Stone Pass. After spending a night in the desert, a large number of people would flee due to the cruel environment.
Even if they had godly willpower to persist to the central posthouse and come into contact with the battle formation, they would collapse at the first touch.
They were just a bunch of peasant soldiers.
How could they be considered qualified soldiers?
They did not have the help of the system!
Looking at Kant’s troops, not only did they already have their own elite heavy cavalry troops, but they also had an intermediate thousand light footmen. If he wanted to, he could even recruit all the civilians in the castle and train them into more light footmen!
Even on the battlefield of the Dukedom of Leo, Kant’s troops could be considered as the mainstay.
Moreover, in this remote North County, they were even more elite!
This would be a battle without suspense.