"What do we do next?" After cleaning up the battlefield, Laing, Fedmond, and Jerrold gathered together. Fedmond let out a sigh of relief, "Count Orcarson and his attendants are either dead or captured. Not a single one escaped. As long as the army crosses the Grismori River, the dwarves' cannons will be enough to take down the Spire Palace."
"Taking down the Spire Palace is definitely not a problem. The problem is that we have to defend it." Jerrold immediately gave an opposing opinion. The paladin shook his head, "No, we can't rely on the dwarves' cannons this time."
"Jerrold is right. We can't rely on the dwarves' cannons this time." Laing nodded. He took two steps forward. Morgiana's divine spell was fading, and the muddy swamp was starting to cause trouble for the knights, "If we really blow up the Spire Palace, we won't be able to defend it until Mu Xilong's reinforcements arrive."
Fedmond had no choice but to nod in agreement at this point.
The number of troops gathered this time couldn't be considered large. Because Laing launched the attack early, the farmers couldn't be moved casually. This could easily affect the spring plowing. The duchies that participated in this war only sent a portion of their regular troops, as well as knights and squires who were released from work. The total number of troops was only six thousand.
Mu Xilong's undead didn't need to produce much. Laing estimated that the city could produce an undead army of twenty thousand.
Under these circumstances, strong cannons were very important. The vampires were severely lacking in long-range weapons. Against the dwarves' heavy cannons, they could only passively take a beating.
"We have to take down the castle without using cannons. Even if Count Orcarson and his attendants have been killed by us, I think we still need some special methods." Fedmond gradually understood the plan under Laing's guidance. He said to Laing, "Sir Laing, we can't force our way in. Then …"
"We need this." Laing took out a ring.
This ring was something that Laing had taken from Orcarson's corpse. On it was the Orcarson clan's coat of arms. "The plan to take over the Spire Palace is here. Only, this time, we might have to inconvenience our dwarven friends."
"It doesn't matter. We just need to toast our dwarven friends afterwards." Sir Jerrold put his sword back into the scabbard. The Paladin smiled and said, "If there are enough gifts, most of these dwarven friends won't mind."
The Brittany knights didn't know much about the dwarves. Thanks to Laing's help, most of the Brittany knights in the south had experience dealing with the dwarves. They knew how to deal with these stubborn, narrow-minded, and vengeful fellows.
"There's no time to lose. Let's escort the captives to meet up with Her Highness Morgiana!" Laing did not say anything else. He immediately ordered, "Quick!"
"Yes!"
… I'm the section divider who likes to hold grudges …
It was February. The weather was cold, and the cold wind was raging everywhere. Especially after the inexplicable large-scale sleet and hailstorm in the morning, the originally prosperous castle seemed to have been ransacked and lost its vitality.
The Spire Palace wasn't a particularly large castle, and its defenses weren't particularly sturdy. However, there were many troops stationed here, and because the Spire Palace was surrounded by fertile swamps, any enemy that wanted to attack this place would have to endure a very slow advance and the inconvenience of the swamps.
Duke Muxilon, Matthew Bard, knew exactly how important the Spire Palace was. He had sent quite a few living soldiers to protect this place, having them listen to Count Orcarson's orders.
At the city gate, a guard captain was inspecting the guards. This guard captain was wearing a chainmail with a breastplate hanging in front of his chest. In addition to this standard equipment, the guard captain also wore a warm animal skin cloak.
Even so, he was still shivering from the cold.
"Sir, this damned weather. It was raining, snowing, and hailstorm earlier, and now, the sun is out." A guard said to the guard captain. His face was filled with pockmarks and chicken pox, and just like the residents of Muxilon, he looked malnourished.
However, this was already considered the best life for the residents of Muxilon.
"Who knows what's wrong with this weather!" The guard captain was cooking a bowl of thick frog meat soup over the fire. After adding some mushrooms and wild vegetables, it was already an unparalleled delicacy to the residents of Muxilon.
As there were many swamps in Muxilon, the residents learned how to obtain necessities from the swamps. They learned how to harvest all sorts of mushrooms and wild vegetables for consumption, while the meat mainly consisted of frogs, snails, and birds.
As a result, there was a unique occupation in Muxilon, known as swamp men. They were professional snail catchers and frog hunters, and enjoyed a certain level of protection from the overlords of Muxilon. The women who were married to these swamp men were known as babywives. The babywives were responsible for cleaning the snails and frogs. Most of them carried small baskets and harvested herbs.
"Ah! It's so cold! When can we wait for the next shift?! " The guards complained about the weather in private. The fragrance of the frog meat soup wafting from the gate made the two serfs lose their footing. They almost had to lean on their spears to stand up straight.
"All of you, stand still!" The guard captain shouted impatiently. "This is the most tense time. We don't know when the knights from the south will attack. We can't afford to let our guard down!"
"Yes, sir!" The guards groaned inwardly. They could only respond loudly or they would be punished.
After a while, the guard captain finished his delicious frog meat soup and said in confusion, "Something's not right today. First, it's the weather that keeps changing. The sentries and scouts by the river should have reported back by now, but we haven't received any news yet."
"It's been a while since the count went out for the winter hunt, hasn't it?" The guard asked.
"Winter hunt? What do you lowly bastards know? It's normal for a winter hunt like this to last two or three days. " The guard captain had a look of disdain on his face. He directly said, "Don't use your ignorant guesses to guess the count's actions. Are you tired of living?"
The guards didn't say anything else.
Roughly twenty minutes later, a caravan came from the main road and headed towards the Spire Palace, attracting the attention of the guards.
This caravan was very large. There were twenty or so carriages and forty or so people. The carriages were filled with all sorts of food and barrels of wine. The wheels of the caravan left deep ruts on the ground. The leader of the caravan was a human merchant dressed in fine linen clothes with a bearskin coat draped over it.
The guards immediately surrounded the caravan. "Halt! Please show us your documents! "
"I am a caravan from the Estalia Merchant Alliance who has signed a trade contract with Count Orcarson." The human merchant took out a trade contract and a customs document, which had Count Orcarson's seal on it. "According to the trade contract, we have brought food over."
"Mm." The guard captain took the document and carefully read it.
There was no problem at all. Count Orcarson had indeed been importing food from the Estalia Merchant Alliance. This was something that everyone in the Steeple Palace knew. The guard captain also knew that the count had been stockpiling food and was preparing to defend the Steeple Palace to the death.
But the timing wasn't right! The guard captain thought to himself, wasn't this group of merchants too coincidental? How could they arrive as soon as the count went out to hunt?
Thinking of this, the guard captain still didn't let the caravan pass. He signaled for the guards to surround them. "Wait! Is there really food in your carriages? "
"Food, vegetables, meat, and wine." The human merchant shrugged his shoulders. "If you don't believe me, you can check."
"Go!" The guard captain had been waiting for these words. He waved his hand and the guards swarmed forward, beginning to inspect all the carriages of the caravan. The guards lifted the tarps and opened the bags, carefully inspecting the contents of the carriages.
Fifteen minutes later, the guards all reported to their captain.
"That's right, captain. The carriages are filled with food, vegetables, and meat!"
"Are you sure?"
"We are sure!" The dozens of guards all said. "The carriages really are filled with food."
The guard captain nodded. He thought that the count really did want to buy a large amount of food. Since it was all food, then there really wasn't a problem.
He then turned his gaze to the last few carriages. The last few carriages were filled with many barrels of wine. These barrels were quite large, almost as tall as a person. "Then what about this?"
"This is ale, captain." The human merchant calmly said. "The count asked us to send some ale over."
Was ale included in the trade contract? The guard captain walked in front of the barrel and opened the lid. Immediately, the smell of ale and ale wafted out, assailing the nostrils.
"Captain … Perhaps there's a problem with the ale? Can we do that? " Smelling the ale, the guards couldn't take it anymore. They all drooled as they said to the guard captain, "We have to see if this is real ale ale!"
"Idiots! What time is it now? You're still thinking about ale all day! " The guard captain was so angry that his face turned red. He loudly ordered his subordinates to scram, telling the guards who wanted to steal the ale to scram. He sniffed carefully and dipped his finger in the ale to taste it. After confirming that there was no problem, he ordered to let them pass. "Alright, you may pass. But you have to put down your weapons before you can enter the city. Put down your things and settle the bill. You have to leave immediately! You can't stay in the castle for too long! "
"I know. Do you think we want to stay in this place?" The human merchant was also annoyed by the pestering guards. He complained. "If it wasn't for your count who was willing to pay a high price, who would want to come to this godforsaken place? Do I look like a prostitute to you? "
The caravan finally received permission to enter. More than twenty carriages entered the castle under the protection of a large group of guards.
The trustworthy merchants did not go back on their word. They did as they promised. After they delivered the goods and received a few bags of coins, they immediately left with their men. The caravan only entered the castle for thirty minutes before leaving.
Before they left, the guard captain did a headcount. There were fifty-three people in the caravan that entered the castle, and fifty-three people left as well. They were under the surveillance of a large group of guards the entire time.
Before the human merchant left, the guard captain came up to apologize. "I'm sorry, Estalian. We didn't mean to make things difficult for you. It's just that the situation has been tense recently. The southerners could attack at any time, and the count himself isn't here."
"I understand. As long as the money is in place, everything is negotiable." The human merchant didn't argue, and the caravan left.
As they went back and forth, the sky gradually turned dark. The guard captain cautiously ordered the guards to not let down their guard at all times. He, on the other hand, returned to the tower to rest.
The night in the Spire Palace gradually entered a quiet atmosphere. The winter nights were especially cold. Apart from a few guards who continued to patrol with torches, most people had fallen asleep.
At midnight, in the warehouse of the Spire Palace, there was a strange movement in the warehouse where a large amount of food, vegetables, and meat were stored.
The huge wine barrels began to move.
The bottom of the barrel was opened, and a muscular arm reached out from the barrel. The King of Eight Peak Mountain, the King of the Angran clan, Belega, let out a sigh and turned on the barrel. "Phew … Alright, boys, it's time to get to work!"
"Oh, oh, oh!" Dozens of large barrels were opened, and a large group of dwarves came out. Most of them were wearing simple armor and holding one-handed axes or hammers. Hearing the king's order, the dwarves walked out of the barrels and muttered, "Damn it, how can Count Laing let the honorable dwarves do this?!"
"Yeah, I'm going to be carried into the castle in a barrel. This is disrespectful to the dwarves!"
"It's so crowded, and there's no ventilation!"
"And we can't wear heavy armor!"
The dwarves complained to each other, shouting their own dissatisfaction.
They were the Oath of Angran's personal guards, Belega's personal guards.
These large barrels had a mezzanine. The dwarves hid in the mezzanine of the barrels and were secretly carried into the castle. These large barrels were filled with ale on the outside and dwarves on the inside. Because of this, these barrels were particularly large.
"Okay, boys, brother Laing promised each of us two barrels of ale and five pounds of pork." Belega stroked his beard. The king of the Eight Peaks Mountain raised his hammer. "He also promised to give us a large sum of money to expand the brewery!"
The dwarves were silent.
"There's no other way. Brother Laing really needs the dwarves' help. Let's give him some face!"
"For the sake of the beer and good meat, let's help him this time!"
"He can't do it without the dwarves' help. Brother Laing has no choice! We understand, we understand. "
The Oath of Angran's personal guards expressed their generosity. They were ready to take action.
"Halhaver, take some people and set fire to the barracks. Make the whole castle fall into chaos. Stroud, take some people and come with me. Let's open the gate and let brother Laing's army in." Belega signaled the Oath of Angran's personal guards to gather. Belega, who was good at sieges, ordered the personal guards to divide into two teams. One team would attack the barracks and set fire to the barracks so that the guards would have no time to react, while he himself would attack the guards at the gate.
"Yes, sir!"
"Very well, guys, follow me. Let's go all out!"
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