Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords

The winter this year was unusually long and cold, a consensus shared by everyone in Deber.

Snow began falling heavily as early as August and September, and it wasn't until nearly May, almost half a year later, that the southern region began to show the slightest signs of snowmelt.

In the northern region, it was likely still as harsh as mid-winter.

This southward war was only to reclaim the title, so there was no need to completely occupy the surrounding towns; it was only necessary to ensure that the road to Cologne was unobstructed.

Currently, the only city blocking the road to Cologne was a place called Blackrock Fortress. Once they captured it, they could reach Cologne directly.

However, the main force of Commander Damon had not been seen even now, after the war had dragged on for so long, making the northern nobles uneasy, fearing some unconventional tactics from the enemy.

The lord was studying maps day and night, and when he saw the eastern sea of Deber, he suddenly slapped his thigh, a terrifying thought popping into his head: "Damn, Damon didn't cross the Hurricane Sea from White Harbor by ship, did he?!"

Deber was a coastal country, with its eastern border entirely along the sea. Naturally, the southern region also had a huge port—White Harbor. This port could accommodate up to a hundred merchant ships every day, with trade routes to many countries, making an undeniable contribution to the prosperity of the southern region.

Having not seen Damon's main force until now, the lord was wondering if this veteran general was planning to implement a nasty base-swapping tactic.

Even if Cologne were taken by them, Whiteleaf City, with only a few thousand guards, would probably not be able to withstand Damon's attack, putting both sides in an awkward stalemate.

Originally, Earl Montvert thought that this Lion Hunter had discovered something important, but after hearing these words, he was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

"Leevi, your imagination is really rich."

"Why don't you guess why the sea area managed by our Deber is called the Hurricane Sea?"

Without waiting for Leevi to reply, Montvert pointed to the vast sea area on the map, looking serious: "Because from January to March, violent hurricanes suddenly appear out of nowhere in this sea area, with the power to capsize even thousand-man ships. Even the most experienced captains dare not go to sea during this time."

"All ships can only dock in the port, and sailors squander their earnings in brothels. Captains, losing money every day, sigh incessantly in their mistresses' homes, praying to the gods to make the hurricane pass quickly, otherwise the dozens of mistresses they support might leave him due to his bankruptcy."

"Strongly condemn these captains!" Leevi said righteously, but his eyes showed envy.

"That's not the point!" Montvert was a little helpless. This Lion Hunter was sometimes too erratic, but considering the other party's age, which was full of youthful energy, he understood somewhat. After all, the stronger a man's physique, the higher his desires: "Leevi, I suggest you find a few women to release your terrifying energy."

"Cough cough." Just then, the lord kept winking at someone as a reminder.

"Otherwise, it's not necessarily a good thing to hold it in at your age. You're not one of those monks." Unfortunately, Montvert continued to talk to himself.

"Lord Montvert, what are you discussing?"

Lia, who had arrived inside the camp at some point, finally spoke, her smile as if she really hadn't heard the previous words.

"Haha, nothing, just imparting some experience to the younger generation, experience." Montvert was a little embarrassed, then smacked his head as if he had remembered something, and continued: "So Leevi, unless Damon dares to risk having his ships overturned by the hurricane, he won't go north by sea at all, not to mention that even if you chop off those captains' heads, they wouldn't go to sea. No one knows the dangers of the sea better than they do!"

"It seems Aunt Fulina chose to send troops during this time because she had already considered this aspect." Lia added thoughtfully.

"Then what exactly is Damon up to?" Leevi hoped that Montvert, this "local," knew something.

"When the usurper came to power, those of us nobles who once supported Miss Lia were all ostracized and couldn't get any information at all." Montvert looked helpless: "To be honest, if we lose this war, Wolf Island will probably have a new owner."

Purges were something every ruler would do, so Leevi was not surprised.

And Damon's whereabouts had become a mystery in these days of tense situations, when even the little birds responsible for gathering intelligence couldn't deliver messages.

Although the snow in the southern region had begun to melt, the whistling cold wind still stung the face.

Cross stood on the walls of Blackrock Fortress, looking out at the vast plateau outside the city. With the snow melting, the black earth had been exposed.

The warm black robe on his body could not bring him any warmth at this moment. His heart was as cold as the disappearing snow.

Because he knew that the melting snow brought not only warmth, but also the Northern Legion, which was gathering its forces to prepare for the siege.

Behind him, a dozen nobles also looked at the outside of the city with worried expressions.

Cross was a Marquis and a staunch Damon supporter. His creed was that the Lord of the South could only be held by someone from the pure-blooded Iseli family.

Originally, he had supported Damon, the old Duke's brother, as the heir, especially after the old Duke's only son died.

But afterwards, it was actually Penny, the old Duke's second daughter's son, who inherited.

However, having obtained deeper intelligence, he clearly knew that this young Duke actually contained the blood of two Iselis, so he was relieved.

Because in the younger generation, no one had purer blood than him and was more suitable to sit in that position!

"Has there been any news from Damon?"

Cross opened his mouth, his voice very calm, but anyone who knew this Marquis knew that the anger in his heart had reached its peak at this moment.

"The adults only want us to hold out, just hold out!"

The voice responding to Cross was respectful, but the dissatisfaction contained within could be heard by anyone: "I really don't know what our Marshal Damon is thinking. It's just a bunch of civilians. They're dead, so they're dead. As long as we solve these northern bastards first and then clean them up, it's not like we can't."

Most of the nobles in the South were very dissatisfied with Damon's behavior in this war.

Since the North made it clear that they were going south to reclaim everything that belonged to that Miss Lia, they could be said to have actively prepared for war, started conscripting militiamen for training, and blacksmith shops were brightly lit day and night, forging weapons and armor.

As a result, nearly 200,000 troops were assembled, and Blackrock Fortress, as an outpost, received a large amount of logistical and troop support. The main force was stationed here, while radiating surrounding towns.

Two hundred thousand troops and a dozen priests from the church, as well as Damon's beast cavalry regiment, were more than enough to fight a small battle, even a large-scale national war.

At that time, they all had an expectation in their hearts, which was to teach these northern stinky guys a hard lesson and let them know who was the most powerful person in Deber.

But since a few months ago, bad news came from the Watch Mountains in the south. Because Damon, the commander of the border guards guarding the border, had been away for a long time, the lizardmen in the mountains ran out again.

They even united with other demihuman races, claiming to be 200,000, and jointly launched an attack on Bone Fortress. In just three days, Bone Fortress was in imminent danger, and countless ravens flew to Cologne one after another, seemingly trying to reflect the urgency of the situation.

The letter was then transferred from Cologne to Blackrock Fortress.

When the Northern Army began to gather troops to go south, the army that had already been stationed in Blackrock Fortress and had high morale was directly dismantled by Damon, who read the letter and went his own way, carrying most of the army south to intercept the lizardmen.

This behavior made the other nobles denounce the other party's absurdity. This war was clearly related to their own power and even their lives, but when the Northern Army had already gone south, they chose to intercept the lizardmen.

In the view of most nobles, even if the lizardmen captured Bone Fortress, they would only plunder some villages and towns afterwards, and at most kill some civilians, which was completely less important than the war for the title that could determine whether they would be purged.

Until now, there was still no news from the other party.

"At least Damon left us half of the mages, didn't he?" Cross smiled self-deprecatingly.

As a military Marquis who was over half a hundred years old, he had experienced many battles and was very experienced, but at this moment he still had to consider an almost unsolvable problem.

That was how to use 30,000 soldiers, 20,000 conscripted militiamen, and seven or eight spellcasters to fight against the other party's 200,000 troops and several times as many mages as his own.

He had thought about retreating to Cologne, which had more majestic walls and better defenses, but that would mean they would have no strategic depth at all and could only choose to make a desperate bet.

So holding Blackrock Fortress was not the best way, but it was the only option at the moment.

Some time ago, he chose to send three spellcasters to support Kalia Town in order to disrupt the other party's sight, and even strictly prohibited the news of Damon's southward movement from being learned by the other party, so that they would know the current empty defense force in the South.

"Although our marshal has done something stupid, we can't criticize him for doing something wrong." Cross's tone was very calm, "At least he showed the spirit of chivalry."

If he looked at it from the perspective of the main general, some trade-offs were necessary in order to win the war, then he would not hesitate to give up the civilians on the border to choose the victory of this battle for the title.

But if he looked at it from the perspective of a Marquis and a nobleman, he would naturally not let the demihumans invade his territory and slaughter the civilians in his fief.

"Yes, sir." The noble who had just replied was a little ashamed, but it was fleeting.

"What we have to do next is to hold Blackrock Fortress." Speaking of this, Cross, the old man with gray hair, smiled: "I hope to wait for the support of my former disciple before I die."

"You will definitely be able to lead us to hold on." The nobles behind him all showed hopeful eyes.

This old Marquis was the only Marquis in the South, and his legendary stories were countless.

When he was young, he was only a Baron's heir and graduated from the Royal Court's Military Academy.

But after graduating, he did not choose to inherit his father's title, but chose to join Damon's father's army, and could even be regarded as Damon's military teacher.

Among them, the most famous battle was when he defeated nearly 10,000 lizardman rebel troops with 800 soldiers.

He even captured the commander of the other party's army in the conflict with the Holy Sith Kingdom, which led to the imminent outbreak of war being quelled.

It is not an exaggeration to say that if it were not for the fact that the other party had declined due to his old age, the position of Marshal would definitely have been this Marquis.

His current status was completely achieved with these countless military exploits.

Although those lizardmen were not as elite as the Northern Army, the number of the other party was not more than ten times as many as the lizardmen, only less than five times as many. They also occupied the defending side, and the main general was the military-skilled Earl Cross.

In the view of these nobles, there was no chance to hold Blackrock Fortress.

"Let's go, the other party's siege will not be done in a short time, we can still have a quiet time." Marquis Cross turned and left, revealing sophisticated plate armor and a saber inside his black robe:

"How to resist the other party's spellcasters is a difficult problem, we have to think about it carefully."

...

On the outskirts of Blackrock Fortress, a dozen black spots stood on high ground, looking at the city in front of them.

Leevi stood on the head of Griefwind, holding a telescope in his hand, observing the opposite city wall.

Although Blackrock Fortress was not as good as Cologne and Whiteleaf City, the black city wall, which was nearly thirteen blades high, could definitely be called a strong city.

"Brother-in-law, do you think we can take this city?"

Mill looked at the tall city wall of Blackrock Fortress, his expression worried.

As a "rural militia team" that mixed in the wilderness, Highcliff Fortress had fought battles in the wild, and had not even seen the city wall a few times. Now, the siege was like a maiden getting on a sedan for the first time.

"With so many of us, we can take it down even if we fill it with human lives, not to mention that those Ice and Snow priests are not vegetarians either."

Leevi replied casually, holding the telescope and staring at a team on the other party's city wall.

They were a few clergy members of the Earth Mother Church, and the lord even saw a few old acquaintances among them.

It was the three spellcasters who were in Kalia Town at the beginning, and they did not expect to escape here.

They were obviously praying and encouraging the soldiers, after all, if their side had spellcasters, even if they did nothing, just standing there would increase the morale of the soldiers.

"The military book says that ten times the other party's force can besiege the city, and five times can attack the city, and we are about five times as many."

The lord added.

Since the group of priests from the Ice and Snow Church used magic snowbirds to fly over Blackrock Fortress to conduct reconnaissance every day, how many defenders there were in this city was no longer a secret to them.