Silver Ring City, the royal palace, dawn. (Day of escape)
“Your Majesty, it has been more than an hour. How much longer do you want us to wait?!” The chief judge of the Grand Court shouted loudly from outside the bedroom.
The door opened as soon as he finished speaking.
Queen Mary, dressed in a white court gown, with light makeup and dazzling beauty, captivated everyone's attention. She looked nothing like a criminal awaiting trial, but rather like a princess attending a grand banquet.
"You really have a lot of leisure and refined tastes."
The familiar voice drew Queen Mary's attention to Earl Nar, who stood beside the judge. His smug smile made her raise her head: "Your Excellency, people always remember the rose that withers in the frost, but who remembers the weeds that rot in the mud?"
The count was taken aback, then his face darkened, and he said in a low voice, "Don't worry, I guarantee you'll be the first to know whether it's a rose or a weed!"
It was five o'clock in the morning, just as dawn was breaking.
Queen Mary walked in the middle, followed by nobles, ladies-in-waiting, maids, and hundreds of soldiers. This strange "procession" passed through the gardens, along the long corridors, and headed towards the palace square. There, waiting for the woman was a prison wagon and a fully equipped cavalry battalion ready to escort her.
Herman, clad in armor and wielding a sword and shield, lay hidden silently beside a passageway within the palace. He glanced at the ten fully armed guard knights beside him; these were his most trusted friends in the guard battalion and his only partners in this rescue operation.
His action plan was not complicated.
Relying on their familiarity with the terrain and the advantages of their positions, Hermann and his eleven royal guards chose this narrow passageway within the palace as their location. There were two reasons: first, the narrow terrain prevented them from deploying their formation, making it more advantageous for elite troops; second, just a few minutes' walk through this passageway led to the palace square, where a large contingent of elite soldiers awaited. After that, there would be no other place to act; this was perhaps the best and only opportunity.
"Sir, they've arrived."
Hearing his subordinate's reminder, Hermann cautiously peeked out and looked at the long queue at the other end of the passageway, his brow furrowing slightly.
The troops responsible for escorting the Queen were soldiers from the Silver Ring Kingdom's "Eastern Legion." They had long fought against the Holy Guard, were highly skilled in combat, and were fearless in the face of death. This was not good news for the rescue plan...
Hermann counted the escorts positioned before and behind the Queen. Behind her were eighty soldiers and nobles; in front of her were only twenty soldiers, the rest mostly ladies-in-waiting and maids. The best way to rescue the Queen was to cut off the escort from her. The eleven knights were divided into two groups: the front group was responsible for quickly defeating the first twenty soldiers in the escort to open a retreat route; the rear group needed to hold off the attack of the eighty soldiers before that.
After thinking for a while, the knight commander gestured, indicating that his six men would attack the front half of the formation, while he and four others would block the rear half.
As the escort procession drew closer, Herman crouched low in the grass, held his breath, and watched the front half of the procession pass by. When Queen Mary's white dress came into view, the knight commander abruptly stood up, grabbed the railing with both hands, and flipped into the passageway.
The entire escort team was stunned to see 11 royal guards appear out of nowhere.
Herman pulled the still-dazed queen up with one hand and pushed her behind him, while with the other hand he took the shield off his back and, facing the surging tide of soldiers, formed a 'shield wall' with his comrades.
After a brief moment of tranquility, it was as if a splash of ice water had been poured into a pot of hot oil; shouts, sounds of fighting, and the clashing of weapons quickly filled a corner of the palace.
"Hold your shields! Maintain the battle line!" Hermann shouted to the knights around him, using his shield to deflect the blades in front of him.
While they bought time, the six knights responsible for attacking the front half abandoned their defense and launched a desperate attack on the twenty soldiers in front of them.
If their opponents were the lord's private army or the city's garrison, it would likely be an easy battle.
Unfortunately, they were facing what appeared to be the most elite guard in the entire Silver Ring Kingdom. After losing four soldiers in the initial shock, the remaining 16 soldiers in the front line reacted quickly and formed a battle formation. The knights' initial advantage dwindled, and their superior equipment became their only means of gaining the upper hand. They were forced to risk being stabbed and cut, resorting to mutually destructive tactics to eliminate each enemy.
If the first half of the attack was merely slow-paced, then the second half of the defense can only be described as tragic and brutal.
Seeing that their swords and spears could not inflict any real damage on the knights' armor, the enemy immediately changed formation. Heavy infantry equipped with flails, battle axes, and warhammers engaged the knights. The battle suddenly became extremely dangerous. With huge impacts and sparks flying everywhere, accompanied by barely audible cries of pain, the knights' "shield wall" was forced back by the blows. The shields were repeatedly struck by heavy weapons, becoming pitted and riddled with debris.
One of Herman's knights, unable to dodge in time, was struck on the head by the warhammer. His steel helmet dented instantly, and blood flowed down the seams of his armor. Even so, the knight held his shield high, mechanically performing defensive maneuvers to protect his comrade from harm.
"Damn it! Use the crossbows! Use the crossbows!"
A shrill voice rang out among the soldiers in the rear. Count Nar, his face flushed, shouted angrily at the commander.
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