Heroes of Might and Magic: Knight Chapter 417: Meeting
Richard, who led the pure system army, marched very fast, especially after he set off and handed over the knight gloves, speed cloak, and magic boots to Sir Mrak, which were equipment that increased the marching speed. , after temporarily setting him as the leading hero, the marching speed of the entire team has exceeded the limit that a normal army can understand.
Especially the Crusaders wrapped in iron armor. Because they move so fast, the armor on their bodies keeps making a grinding sound, making it easy for people to wonder whether there are people inside or just bodies under the iron armor. puppet. The speed of these infantry has even surpassed that of the mobile light cavalry, and it took one day to forcefully march to the river valley 300 kilometers away.
The chaos in the river valley has subsided for more than two months. Although some nobles who have lost their privileges still hold grudges against the Hunter family, they can only choose to cooperate and surrender in the face of the **** reality.
And the Hunter family not only used high-pressure suppression methods. After Moriel left, the new Lady Catherine began to use appeasement methods. As long as they abide by the rules of the Hunter family, these former nobles of the river valley can also Taste the slightly sweet taste.
With absolutely no hope of resistance, and the Hunter family not just killing everyone, the nobles who survived the Morrill Purge began to actively cooperate with Catherine's management, whether they wanted to or not, and in order to integrate faster In the new system, they were even more cooperative than the nobles in the North.
Now the city of Burai is as prosperous as in the past. The streets are still full of people coming and going at night. Even some small towns around the city of Burai are also showing their vitality. Catherine is worthy of it. He is a hero with excellent internal affairs.
In a vast castle in Burai City, Richard was sitting on a soft sofa. The maid beside him would peel one or two seasonal fruits for him from time to time and put them into his mouth. .
The fire was burning in the charcoal stove in the house, and a small pot of hot tea was being warmed for Richard on it. It was raining continuously outside, which was very annoying.
Richard encountered the first rain in autumn. As soon as he arrived in Burai City, the temperature dropped sharply. Under the kind invitation of Dane, the local snake in the river valley, and a group of nobles, Richard I no longer insisted on rushing on a rainy night, and simply stayed in the city for a night's rest.
The interior of this castle is luxuriously decorated, with velvet carpets and expensive furniture and ornaments. The average noble cannot afford it. The owner of the castle was one of the talkers in the city of Burai, and the Round Table Conference of the Twelve Families of Burai a member of.
It’s just that now the Twelve Boleys have become a passing cloud, and most of them have disappeared. Most of them have become the victims of Moriel and rushed to start their lives again.
This family is relatively aware of current affairs. It was the first to cooperate with the Hunter family in all their actions. However, it successfully survived. After handing over a large amount of occupied land, it basically retained its property in the city. Later, it even became more aware of current affairs. The words "current affairs" are reflected to the extreme, and we actively cooperate in everything.
This time I heard that Richard was passing through Burai City and wanted to rest for a night, so he took the initiative to vacate the castle and invited Richard to live in the castle.
"Sir Richard, we are preparing a banquet and dance later."
"Viscount Andel is too polite, but I won't drink alcohol when I'm out on the march. I'll go back to rest later, and I'll accept your hospitality when I come back."
Viscount Andel is the owner of this castle. Because he specially vacated the castle, he sat close to Richard in the hall. Only after Catherine and Dane, others came The nobles who gave gifts and flattered them could only sit far away, and were not looked at by Richard several times. They could only laugh awkwardly from behind.
"Then I wish Sir Richard a good start and have a good rest tonight. Viscount Andel has prepared a room and hot water in the room."
Looking at what Viscount Andel wanted to say, Dane, who was sitting a little further forward, had blocked Andel's words in advance.
In terms of understanding of Richard, none of the nobles in this hall are as good as Dane. Although Richard enjoys himself a lot, he never delays his business, especially when he has to march again tomorrow morning. , it was impossible for Richard to enjoy the banquet and dance, and drink until midnight with a group of newly defected nobles.
After speaking, Dane simply led the nobles in the valley to exit the castle. He could already see some impatience in Richard's gentle attitude.
After the noble families left the castle, Richard took a bath and rested under the service of the maid.
This is the advantage of being a superior. Most of the time, you can follow your own thoughts, and the people below you will continue to speculate on your thoughts. It feels quite beautiful.
After being on the road for a day, Richard returned to the room under the guidance of the maid and fell asleep on the soft big bed. The two outstanding swordsmen who took turns on duty outside the room were the guarantee for Richard to sleep peacefully.
Early on the next morning, the drizzle continued to fall. The weather was actually not suitable for marching, but it did not affect the actions of Richard's army. Before the nobles in Burai City came to see them off again, As a result, Richard set off on the journey again with his army. He planned to meet with the half-elves and kobolds led by Gru before arriving at Longxing Pass.
…
One week later…
On the central plain
An army is moving with difficulty. The influence of this autumn rain is extremely wide. The entire kingdom is basically within the scope of the influence of this autumn rain, except for parts of the western border.
Gru looked at the falling raindrops with a look of worry on his face. The first half of the march went smoothly. Although the weather was a little hotter, the soldiers were in good physical condition, especially the kobolds. I don’t know what hardship is.
We marched nearly 100 kilometers in one day, all the way from the north to the central plains. The only obstacle on the road is that the members of this army are too strange. Although the three-arrow flag of the Hunter family can be flown unimpeded in the Northland and the Valley, once they reach the central plains, the effectiveness of the three-arrow flag is not enough. This aroused the vigilance of the nobles along the road. After all, no one can let these more than 10,000 soldiers who are not even human beings move freely on their own territory.
Fortunately, in addition to Gru, the team also has Kurtz as a liaison officer. Not only does Kurtz carry a token with him, but as a trusted general of Thor, he also has a certain reputation in the Central Plains. Kurz came forward to coordinate. Although the local garrison had some doubts, Kurz was proud enough and brought a token, so there was no trouble and they marched smoothly on the Central Plains for a period of time.
Until this week, the continuous autumn rain came. Although they brought some rain-proof equipment, the marching speed of the army was still affected. The most important thing was the wooden barrels on the cart. Richard personally told them that they should not be affected by moisture. Things have been rained down this week. Even if it is covered with rain cloth, Gru can't guarantee that these things called black powder will still be dry as before when they arrive at Longxing Pass.
"Why did it stop again later!"
"Woof! Woof!"
"Master Gru, the wheels of the cart behind are stuck again, and everyone is pushing it out!"
Gru looked back, and sure enough, the wheels of a large cart full of barrels were stuck in the mud. The roads in the Central Plains are not as good as those in the North. Except for the roads closer to the royal capital, the quality of other places is poor. The roads are uneven. Although the width of some road sections is consistent with the straight roads unified by the Kingdom, the road surface is full of potholes. It is unknown where the money spent on road repairs by the Kingdom every year is spent.
Normally, when the road surface is dry, it is fine and the impact is not big. But when it rains for several days in a row, these roads of poor quality become the biggest obstacle to marching. The wheels got stuck, and it took a dozen kobolds and pack horses a long time to get out of the pit, which seriously affected the marching speed.
Faced with this kind of thing, Gru had no good solution. He could only tell his men to push out the cart as soon as possible and march at a faster speed.
"General Kurtz, how long does it take to get to Dragon's Breathing Pass?"
"We have walked more than half of the way. The rest of this is a plain. We can reach Longxi Pass directly by one road. It will take us ten days at most to arrive."
Compared with Gru's worries, Kurtz's mood was not greatly affected, because the army led by Gru was marching faster than he expected.
If these kobolds were not too small in size and strength, they would be the best soldiers. They would not complain or be tired along the way, they would do the dirtiest and most tiring work without any complaints, and they would set up camp at an extremely fast speed at night. Quickly, it saved a lot of time for the army. Even if they encountered this autumn rain, they could arrive at Longxing Pass earlier than expected.
"Then it seems that Sir Richard and the others should catch up."
"How is it possible? He set off more than ten days later than us. At our speed, he may not be able to catch up when we arrive at Longxing Pass."
"With that guy Mrak here, anything is possible."
Kuz has never seen the ridiculous marching movements of the system army with the bonus of treasures and logistics skills, but as an old acquaintance of Mrak, Gru naturally knows the speed at which the other party leads the army to march, plus the delay in the past few days Road, calculate the distance, it’s time to catch up in the next few days.
"General Gru, there is an army approaching quickly behind us!"
"What's going on? Didn't I just say hello to the garrison nearby?"
Gru said something that seemed a bit meaningless to Kurtz. Before he could think about it, a half-elf scout came to report that other troops were approaching. Kurtz subconsciously thought that this was another attack. The nearby garrison noticed this strange army and came to check it out.
The army still set up a defensive formation as usual to deal with the battle that might occur at any time, but a few minutes later, another scout rushed over and shouted.
"It's the Three-Year Flag! It's Lord Richard here!"
In fact, there is no need for him to make a special report, because everyone has already seen the more than 20 giant dragons that are very conspicuous in mid-air. Now, except for the Hunter family, no other force in the kingdom can produce so many. The dragon is coming...
As people from the North, whether it is the system army or the ordinary army, or these kobolds, they have no sense of Richard's abnormality at all, or perhaps Richard's abnormality has already been seen in their eyes. became normal.
But although Kuz often heard some bizarre things about Richard, he was still far away after all, and his three views had not been distorted by Richard. The matter of marching more than a thousand kilometers this week was really not something that could be stored in the library. He accepted it, and he even speculated whether Richard had set off early as agreed upon, so that he could catch up so quickly.
…
"Da da da..."
In addition to the giant dragon in the sky, the first to arrive to meet with Gru was the team of champion knights surrounding Richard, followed by the unicorn holy beast and a large group of centaurs. Among them, the centaur team was Automatically divided into two groups and spread out towards the two wings of the convoy, forming two cavalry groups responsible for reconnaissance and cover of the army. Although the possibility of being attacked on the central plain was almost zero, the tactical arrangement still had to be carried out strictly, and Richard He brought a small number of high-level troops to the middle of the team to meet Gru and Kurtz.
"Lord Richard!"
"Lord Richard!"
"Yeah."
Due to the weather, Richard's system army was less affected. Under the leadership of Sir Mulak, they still marched at the fastest speed, but Gru was delayed. Richard was more injured than expected. Quickly caught up with the army.
Gru and Kuz greeted Richard respectively. Before Kuz could ask questions, Gru reported the situation on the road to Richard.
"Sir Richard, it has been raining for too long recently. The black powder we transported may have become damp."
It was also expected by Richard that the black powder would get damp. In the recent weather, not to mention the black powder in the barrel. After a week of rain, Richard felt that he was about to get damp, not to mention some of the black powder in the barrel. of black powder.
However, this time we arrived at Longxingguan early anyway, and there was no need to directly use wet black powder to prepare for the battle. As long as the rain did not continue for two or three months and waited until the weather was fine to dry out, the impact would not be considered. Too big.
"Nothing, just tie it up tightly with a raincloth and protect it as much as possible. We will deal with it when we get to Longxing Pass. Stop and set up camp first, camp together and rest for the night. Let's continue marching tomorrow."
"Yes, sir."
It was already getting late. If there had been no order from Richard, Gru would have ordered the camp to be set up after a while. In any era, the army would not be raised day and night unless it was forced. Even without night blindness, the army could maintain its position. If the formation does not break up, the soldiers will easily be exhausted.
As Richard and Gru issued their orders, some of the kobolds began to dig simple horse traps and trenches on the spot, while the rest took out materials from the carts and pitched tents on the spot. The division of labor is very clear, completely different from the messy kobolds in the wilderness.
Richard, Kuzi and several heroes held a short meeting in a temporary tent and then ordered everyone to go and have a rest. Kuzi, who was not used to Richard's style, did not respond from beginning to end. When he got the opportunity to interject and ask questions, he stared at the general named Mrak throughout the whole process as if he wanted to see something interesting. Sir Mrak, who had a somewhat stinky personality, felt a little nervous and began to wonder if his charm had grown too fast recently. Even men can be attracted...