Chapter 400 The Pit Digged by the Great Prince (Two in One)
After receiving the news brought back by the rangers, the eldest prince did not let the team, which had been traveling for a whole morning, rest, but ordered them to continue marching, hoping to reach the baron's castle before dark.
Although the ordinary soldiers complained about the Grand Prince's order, generally speaking, the Grand Prince's status was there, and the lesser nobles silently accepted the order. After all, these lesser nobles all rode war horses, and many of them, like Pat, even owned carriages.
Under the urging of their respective lords, the ordinary soldiers, who were already exhausted and hungry, had no choice but to move forward.
After the team of tens of thousands of people continued marching for four hours, they finally saw the Baron's Castle standing in the distance.
It was not until this moment that the ordinary soldiers sat down on the ground and had some time to rest.
…
The Principality of Alban is located in a plain, with few hills, so the castle in the distance is not built on the mountain like the Principality of Jean. Instead, it is built on the highest point near the river.
Such a castle does not rely on the height of the terrain to block the enemy. Instead, like Baiyan City, it relies on a moat dozens of meters wide around the castle to protect the city walls. The only accessible entrance on this moat is the drawbridge facing the castle gate.
At this time, the castle's drawbridge had been lifted high and attached to the castle's wall, directly covering the entire castle gate.
If Gervis and others wanted to attack the Baron's castle, they had only one choice, which was to fill up the moat. Otherwise, there would be no place to put a ladder when they reached the other side.
Because the distance between the castle and the moat was very short, only three or four meters, and the three or four meters of open space was a slope, the siege ladder could not be fixed at all.
…
Inside the meeting tent, the eldest prince and a middle-aged man sat at the main seats, while dozens of minor nobles sat around below.
These small nobles came from the eight earl families, and they were all representatives elected by all the small vassals of the eight families.
At this time, Gervis, Bertram and Pat were in the meeting tent. The three of them represented the vassals of the Jones family to attend the meeting.
"Everyone has seen the Baron's Castle in the distance! I summoned you here this time to discuss with you about attacking the castle."
The eldest prince was wearing a finely crafted leather armor with a red cape hanging on his back. With his good looks, he perfectly portrayed a young nobleman who held great power.
The eldest prince did not cause any trouble to Gervis today, and did not even make too much eye contact with him.
When the representatives of the eight major families had all arrived, the eldest prince began his speech for today's meeting.
"According to the strategy formulated by His Majesty the King, we need to split up into several groups in the next period of time and launch a massive attack on the castles of those small nobles in the Earldom of Jinmai."
"But I think that since we have just arrived at the Earldom of Jinmai, it is necessary to capture a castle first to boost morale and undermine the enemy's confidence!"
"So I plan to wait until we capture the Baron's castle before we divide our forces. Do you have any objections to this?"
The eldest prince finished speaking slowly, his eyes scanning the representatives of the lesser nobles below.
"Your Highness, we have no objection!"
"We have no objection either!"
Soon, several representatives of the minor nobles spoke up to express their agreement.
Although the eldest prince's statement of boosting morale and undermining the enemy's confidence is very far-fetched.
But there was no problem. After all, these vassals came to the Duchy of Alban to capture cities and territories. It didn't matter whether everyone fought together or attacked individually.
"Very good, it seems that everyone has the same idea as me!"
The eldest prince quite enjoyed the feeling of holding power. He nodded in response to the lesser nobles who had expressed their opinions before continuing.
"But the castle ahead is just a baron's castle after all. We have more than 30,000 people. If everyone attacks the castle at the same time, it will definitely be unrealistic."
"So I plan to attack the city the same way we attacked Baiyan City, using a round-robin attack! Do you have any objections?"
The eldest prince had a warm smile on his face and looked at everyone again, seeking their opinions.
Several minor nobles below continued to speak up in support of the motion, and no one objected.
Only Gervis was looking at the eldest prince from below, his brows slightly furrowed.
Although the eldest prince has not shown any hostility towards him so far, Gervis does not think that the eldest prince has forgotten the grudge between him and him.
Gervis felt that the reason why the eldest prince was so patient was probably because he had already dug a trap for him!
"Very good! It seems that everyone has no objection to my decision, so let's discuss the order of attacking the city!"
The eldest prince smiled and nodded and continued.
"I have a suggestion about the order of attacking the city. I think we can rank the cities according to their military exploits in Baiyan City."
"Because this is the first battle, we must win beautifully, which can effectively undermine the enemy's confidence. And outstanding military exploits in Baiyan City also represent the strength of that family. Therefore, we need such a family to be ranked first."
"What do you think of my proposal?"
As soon as the eldest prince finished speaking, there was of course another round of seconding among the lesser nobles.
And Gervis had already understood in his mind at this moment that this sanctimonious and elegant prince had started to deal with him as soon as he arrived at the battlefield.
However, the eldest prince's words were all high-sounding and there was nothing wrong with them.
However, although there is nothing wrong with it, it is obviously a trap for the Jones family.
So, with the seconding voices of those lesser nobles, Gervis shouted loudly to the eldest prince Derek.
"I object!"
In an instant, the entire conference hall fell silent, and everyone turned their eyes to Gervis.
"Viscount Gervis, I wonder why you object?"
The eldest prince was not surprised by Gervis's objection, nor was he anxious. He continued to ask Gervis calmly:
"Your Highness, I wonder when you plan to attack the city. How long will it take for each family to attack the city?"
"Haha, Viscount Gervis, since this is our first battle, we naturally need to make a quick decision, so I decided to start the siege right after this meeting, and each family will be responsible for half a day!"
When the eldest prince heard Gervis's loud questions, his expression did not change at all. He was still very warm and answered Gervis' questions in detail.
"Your Highness! Does that mean that if our Jones family is the first family to attack the city, we will have to attack all night long?"
A cold light flashed in Gervis' eyes, and he asked in a cold voice.
"Yes, Viscount Gervis!"
"Your Highness, we have been marching since this morning and have only just set up camp. The soldiers have not had any rest, not even lunch or dinner. Is there something wrong with your attack plan?"
Gervis now understood what the eldest prince Derek was planning for by not letting the soldiers rest at noon and making them march continuously. He was digging a trap and waiting for the Jones family.
"Haha! Viscount Gervis, you are not afraid, are you? Your Jones family is so scared of a mere baronial castle. No wonder you were ranked last when the camp was arranged!"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
The eldest prince did not say anything, but the noble representatives of Charles' family jumped out to mock Gervis.
Among those who just echoed the eldest prince's words, these few people were the most loud and active.
"Viscount Gervis, although we have been marching for a day, each of your families has a team of thousands of people, and you only need to deploy hundreds of soldiers each time to attack the Baron's Castle. You have plenty of time to let the other soldiers rest, so I think my decision is not wrong."
"Since His Royal Highness the First Prince said there is nothing wrong with it, why not let the Charles family take the lead in attacking the city! The sharp-nosed and monkey-faced viscount just now seemed to say that the Charles family is very brave!"
"And your highness, you just said that the Jones family has made the greatest contribution to Baiyan City. Can the Jones family receive more preferential treatment?"
Gervis spoke sharply, not at all afraid of embarrassing the eldest prince.
"you……"
The noble representative of the Charles family who had just mocked the Jones family immediately became furious and was about to stand up and curse at Gervis, but was stopped by the eldest prince.
The eldest prince just waved to him and looked at everyone.
"It seems that Viscount Gervis is not very willing to be the first family to attack the city, but I guess everyone feels the same way!"
The eldest prince continued to smile.
"But since the enemy's castle is right in front of us, if tens of thousands of us still have to hesitate in front of a baron's castle, the people of the Duchy of Alban will definitely look down on us, and His Majesty the King will definitely blame us."
"So, why don't we just vote? There are two options for the order of attacking the city."
"The first one is what I just proposed. It is based on Baiyan City's military achievements. The one with the highest military achievements will be ranked first!"
"The second method is to decide based on the location assigned by the Glory City camp!"
"Now, everyone, get ready and let's start voting!"
"Families that support the first decision-making method, please raise your hands!"
Brush! Brush! Brush!
When the eldest prince finished speaking, almost all the noble representatives in the meeting tent raised their hands.
The Charles family, the Larkin family, the Kirwan family…
When he heard the eldest prince say that the decision would be made by voting, Gervis knew what the result would be.
However, what surprised Gervis at this moment was that people from two families did not raise their hands to vote.
Needless to say, one of the families is the Welton family. Although Caroline is one of the representatives sent by the Welton family today, the Welton family has a marriage relationship with the Jones family after all, so they naturally will not vote in favor.
In addition to the Welton family who did not raise their hands to vote, there was another family, the Elvo family.
The reason why the Elvo family made this decision was entirely because of one person.
This person was Boris, who had bet with Gervis using purple elves in the Colosseum on Alice's birthday, and ended up losing two purple elves. He had to beg Gervis to use gold coins instead of the elves.
Boris was sitting opposite Gervis at this time. When he saw Gervis's gaze, he couldn't help but nodded towards Gervis.
Gervis responded to Boris's goodwill with a smile. He didn't expect that Boris was not worried about offending the eldest prince. But when he thought about it, it was not surprising. Boris owed him a favor in the past, and besides that, Boris also owed him a promise.
"Very good, there are five families who support the first plan. Then please raise your hands if you support the second proposal!"
In fact, the voting rate for the first option can reflect the wishes of these families.
However, in order to maintain his own image and leave no chance for the Jones family to shirk responsibility, the eldest prince acted impartially and hypocritically began to vote on the second method.
When the eldest prince finished speaking this time, the place was extremely quiet. No family raised their hands, not the Welton family, nor the Elvo family.
Of course, this does not mean that the two families have changed their minds, but because they know that even if they raise their hands it will be useless.
So for the sake of the family, I simply didn't raise my hand.
"Viscount Gervis, the results of the eight major families' vote are out!"
The eldest prince looked at Gervis with a smile on his face.
"In that case, I have no objection!"
Gervis shrugged indifferently, not looking as angry as everyone expected.
In fact, Gervis had guessed this result long ago. Since the eldest prince was prepared to plot against the Jones family in this way, he must have been quite confident.
"Your Highness, I have no objection to the order of the siege! But I have a request. If the castle is breached during the time period of our Jones family's attack, the war items in the castle will be completely plundered by our Jones family, and other families are not allowed to interfere!"
"Of course. No matter which family breaks into the castle, all the spoils will belong to that family!"
The eldest prince had no objection. A castle was not a city and its area was not as large as a town. So as long as this kind of siege method was used, all the spoils would belong to the family that broke through the castle.
Even though they all needed to be handed over in the end, there were still a lot of valuable things in the castle, so no one would say anything even if they swallowed a few gems and one or two books.
Of course, now that the Jones family has the reward promised by the king, they naturally do not have to hand over the spoils.
However, no one present believed that the Jones family could break into the castle tonight.
The soldiers of the Jones family were already exhausted at this time, and there was a moat of dozens of meters outside the castle waiting for them to fill, so the Jones family could be said to be the coolies selected by the eldest prince.
They were used to fill up the river and drain the enemy's morale.
As for whether the Jones family will have a second chance to attack the castle?
The answer is of course no.
The eight earl families have a total population of more than 20,000. If a small baronial castle can still hold out after one round, then their team will be a joke.
"Viscount Gervis! Do you have any questions? If not, our meeting ends here. The Jones family must launch an attack on the castle within half an hour."
"No objection! Your Highness, I will go back and arrange the attack!"
Gervis waved his hand, stood up without greeting, said something to the eldest prince, and turned around and walked out.
"Alright! Everyone, today's meeting is over now, you can go back and rest! I hope we can capture this Baron Castle within two days!"
Looking at Gervis' back, the eldest prince did not get angry for the time being. Although his fingers had turned white from being pinched, he still had a smile on his face.
"Yes, Your Highness!"
The other noble representatives all stood up, saluted respectfully to the eldest prince, and then left the tent!
Bang!
When all the petty nobles had left, a loud banging sound of the wooden table was heard from the tent.
"Grevith! I want you dead!"
(End of this chapter)
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