Laing lost all interest in the festival because of the vampires' actions. On the contrary, the baron had no choice but to hastily celebrate the Winter Veil Festival before putting all his energy into preparing for war.
A few days after the Winter Veil Festival, at the end of December, Baron Zeon's territory in Brittany began to snow heavily. Not only did the snow indicate that there would be a bountiful harvest after the New Year, but it also announced that the baron's preparations for war had to be temporarily suspended. The serfs were not strong enough to train in the snow.
Paladin Alfred Frey, Grail Knight Laing, and Butler Katzenberg were sitting on the balcony admiring the snow. A bowl of delicious beef stew was placed in the middle of a few wide armchairs.
"Now there's good news, Alfred. The vampires are gathering their army much slower than we thought. According to the scouts, the Red Duke's plan to awaken the undead has failed many times. Many graves have been washed away by the flood summoned by the Lady." Laing raised his wine glass and thought about the problem. "Even if we calculate in the most extreme way, the Red Duke would need three months to gather an army. I don't understand why he's still trying to do so regardless of the cost … Katzenberg?"
"My Baron." The butler was still dressed as a bald man. He wore a leather jacket and held a glass of fruit wine from the wood elves. When he saw Laing calling him, Katzenberg signaled that he was listening.
"If I give you three months, how strong of a fortification can you build?" Laing asked. "To be honest, do what you can."
"Three months. At most, I can build a wooden wall and a wooden sentry post. After that, I can build some defensive facilities, such as pits and trenches." Katzenberg did a little calculation and said the expected result. "It's too difficult to build a stone wall in such a short time, my Baron. The cost of building a stone wall is also very high. It will affect the spring plowing."
"Okay, I understand." Laing thought for a while and gave up on the idea of building a wall. The undead army was different from other armies. A mere wooden wall would not be able to stop these creatures.
"Good friend, are you preparing to fight the vampires?" Al Frey picked up a wooden bowl filled with beef stew. He prayed sincerely and then ate the meat in big bites.
The life of the paladins was relatively poor. They needed a lot of meat, but they often didn't have enough money. Therefore, the paladins tended to hunt for meat themselves. For high-grade meat like beef, Al Frey didn't have many opportunities to eat it. The money he earned was used to build the church in the town.
With Al Frey's efforts to preach, the Church of Justice began to have a place in Laing's territory. Some serfs were baptized by Al Frey. Among them, with the help of Al Frey, several children were turned into paladins.
"Yes, this war might not be so easy." Laing nodded.
"Since it's against the undead creatures, please let me give you a hand!" Alfreid nodded seriously. "Justice is the nemesis of the undead. The holy water blessed by the Lord can cause considerable damage to the undead. I have a lot of it in my church. I've saved them all."
"I won't say anything else. Al Frey, let's fight side by side!" Laing didn't refuse. There was no need for formalities between him and Al Frey.
Outside the balcony, heavy snowflakes were falling from the sky. Thick clouds covered every corner of the sky. The Jean Barony had turned into a world of silver. The buildings and streets of Jean Town were covered with snow. Many serfs were sweeping the snow, and groups of patrolling soldiers were walking on the town walls.
"Good friend, I have to say that the archers have become something under Astral's training." Al Frey said casually. "Normally, a qualified archer needs at least one or two years of training to take shape, but you found the easiest way."
"I never planned to train archers, Al Frey. As you know, a qualified archer needs at least one or two years to ensure a certain degree of accuracy beyond fifty paces. And longbowmen like Bastogne need five to eight years to take shape." Laing nodded and said softly, "But … crossbows are different."
Yes, Laing deeply understood that it would take a long time for the serf archers to form an army with enough fighting power. Bastogne's longbowmen began training from the age of eight to eleven. Their whole lives were spent on training. Duke Berchemund stipulated that all serfs between the ages of twelve and sixty-five must practice their archery skills after praising the Lake Fairy on Sundays.
Laing couldn't train an excellent longbowmen in a short time, but he could train an excellent crossbowmen in a short time.
The dwarven crossbow made by the dwarven craftsman Deron Fiennes was a weapon that satisfied Laing. This kind of dwarven crossbow required very little skill to operate. Laing knew that what the serfs needed was this kind of brainless hands-on tutorial. Loading, aiming, shooting, all in one go, simple and crude.
Sure enough, under Astral's training, all the serfs in the Zeon archers' company could skillfully load, aim, and shoot in just over a month.
Laing felt great after seeing it. It was enough to have this kind of fighting power.
Baron Zeon now had one Grail Knight, four Ranger Knights, thirteen squires, eighty-five swordsmen, 201 spearmen, and 120 crossbowmen. Compared to an ordinary baron, Laing's army could be said to be huge.
Yes, there were also two wizards accompanying the army.
"My Baron, Sir François sent someone to ask if you need reinforcements?" Butler Katzenberg said softly, "He's worried that you may become the frontline. Also, according to the report of the scouts, Duke Berchemund also learned of the vampires' movements. He is also preparing his army for war."
"Apart from them? Apart from Duke Berchemund and Duke François, are there any other Dukes who responded? "Laing suddenly thought of something and asked doubtfully.
"Based on the current situation … No. The other Dukes must have received information that the vampires are gathering their army, but only these two Dukes have responded. They are gathering their army. The others, including Duke Bordero, who is closest to Muxilon, have only begun to mobilize their army. There are no signs of a general recruitment or a scorched earth strategy." Katzenberg held the parchment in his hand. "The king has not given any new orders. This is the information from three days ago."
Laing sighed softly. He probably knew why apart from Duke Winford and Duke Bastogne, the other Dukes did not take any specific actions.
This had nothing to do with whether or not they were hostile towards the vampires. This matter was related to Laing.
Because of the Battle of Knights against the Arden Forest more than a year ago, almost all the Duchies had lost thousands of troops in this battle. Although the loss of a few thousand troops was not a serious blow to the Duchies, it still made their original military strength very stretched. All the castles and territories needed enough troops to defend. Under such circumstances, the Dukes were hesitant about whether to recruit more troops and affect the spring plowing.
Only the Duchies of Bastogne and Winford, because they were the right army led by Laing, not only did they suffer very little losses, but they also seized a lot of spoils of war. These troops that had been baptized by blood and fire had become elites.
Only these two Duchies had the ability to immediately gather an army.
"My Baron? What is your plan? "Katzenberg continued to ask when he saw that Laing did not answer.
"What do you think, Katzenberg?" Laing wanted to test his steward. Katzenberg lowered his head and lowered his head.
Kasenberg lowered his head and thought for a while. "My baron, I don't think it's the right time to ask for reinforcements. Mu Xilon's movements are unknown. Whether the vampires are really planning to start a war, and whether the Red Duke's target is us, based on the current situation, it's not clear. My baron, you are already feared by the king. You have to be careful. Unless Princess Morgiana or the king has ordered you to lead the army, you should be careful."
"Yes, very well. What we need to do now is to gather the troops and prepare for war. However, we also need to keep a low profile and not let people talk about us." Laing nodded. "Let's wait and see how our king or Her Highness Morgiana reacts."
"Understood, my Baron!"
Under Laing's command, the soldiers gradually changed into breastplates and better dwarven equipment.
These troops had already begun to become semi-professional.
In Laing's plan, the separation of soldiers and peasants was the first step in his military reform. However, he did not have the financial resources to support so many professional soldiers for the time being. What he needed to do now was to semi-professionalize these soldiers. As soldiers, their occupation would gradually become more important than their main occupation as serfs. They would be mainly responsible for the army's drill, training two or three days a week, and farming the rest of the time.
The baron's soldiers enjoyed better food and a higher status. More importantly, Laing was a Holy Grail Knight, the Lady's Chosen Champion. The serfs in his territory were eager to pledge their loyalty to the Holy Grail Knight. In this knight's country, the serfs were forbidden to worship the Lake Fairy. Therefore, if they wanted to attract the attention of the Lake Fairy, they had to do something special.
The serfs were willing to believe that becoming a pilgrim to the Holy Grail or fighting side by side with the Holy Grail Knight was one of the effective methods. Therefore, in order to have a better life and be favored by the Goddess, countless people signed up to join the army.
The baron encouraged the serfs to have a devout faith.
Time passed quietly in the midst of the preparations. Mu Xilon's vampire army slowly but firmly gathered. Under the Blood Red Duke's powerful undead magic, the corpses in the graves gradually recovered. The powerful Blood Knights and Dark Grail Knights attacked on their own, severely destroying the sentries and the Knight King's security forces along the way.
Duke Bodrick of Bordero, who was only a hundred kilometers away from Mu Xilon, was the first to feel that something was wrong. The prince of the Sea God Mannen and the Chosen Champion had begun to fully mobilize the duchy's army to deal with the possible threat of the vampires. However, he still could not make up his mind. The best way to deal with the vampires was to burn all the graves and clear all the bones. The vampires could not get fresh blood and soldiers to replenish themselves.
The duke could not make up his mind. If he really burned all the graves, he and his duchy would not be able to recover for a few years.
Just as Mu Xilon's vampire army gathered more and more, a positive signal finally came from the Knight King's country.
Morgiana, the Witch of the Lake, left her tower. She led a team of Holy Grail Knights to the Cathedral of the Lake of the Lake in the Principality of Kakason. The Witch of the Lake declared that the vampires were their common enemy. The knights of the kingdom must eliminate evil for the sake of the Lady!
Therefore, when the snow melted in March of the next year, a war seemed inevitable.
At this time, Morgiana, who was on the road, received a strange magic communication signal.
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