Chapter 358 Battle of Black Mountain (Pre-war Negotiations)
The morning fog in the wheat fields gradually dissipated, and the morning sunlight slanted from the right hand side of the Church Army soldiers.
On the ground, the shadows of soldiers carrying food in a mess overlapped, and people screamed from time to time.
At the front of the marching team, the terrifying evil god heads of the orc hussars swayed, and from time to time they fired a few flying arrows to harass them.
As Domenico approached the previous marching route, he was still blocked by the chaotic flow of people, so he had to dismount and lead the horse forward.
"You are finally back. His Excellency Zelenken asked the commanders at all levels to gather on the mound over there." His attendant pushed away the peasant soldiers blocking the road and stood panting in front of Domenico. .
“Come on, take me there.”
Squeezing through the column of night guards and mercenaries, Domenico tied the war horse to the hitching post.
He first took the cold water from the stream and washed his face, then gathered his mood and climbed up the low mound.
This mound is about seven or eight meters high. Zelaken, the Archbishop of Jinhe Township and a group of noble knights leading the team gathered on the top of the mountain.
"Are they the lycanthropic cavalry here to harass?" Count Domenico found a noble and asked in a low voice.
"Yes." The noble stared at the quarreling Archbishop of Jinhe Township and Zelaken, turned his head and whispered, "Our spies found the rebels in the Black Mountains directly ahead."
"What are they arguing about?"
"I don't know, they all mean the same thing, they are just arguing about their opinions." The noble snickered twice sarcastically.
“Oh, what do you mean, Mr. Niedersall?”
Due to the large number of people and the narrow roads, they advanced on two parallel roads, with more than a mile of land separating the two sides.
"I don't know, I'm waiting."
"I'll go up and have a look. If Lord Niedersall comes with an order, remember to notify me."
No Like others who gathered around to watch the two nobles quarreling, Domenico quietly climbed a few more steps and stood on the northern slope of the hill.
Stepping over a bush of myrtle, Domenico waved away the butterflies and bees, squinting his eyes and looking in the direction of Montenegro.
The Black Mountain that stretches across the wheat fields is not only not dark, but lush and green, covered with green sage, light red snakeberry trees and tall and short sour bayberry trees.
The Black Mountain is named after the black flint mine on the Black Mountain. Its ridge extends about two kilometers from southeast to northwest, with an average relative height of about 40 meters and the highest is only 50 meters.
The northwest end of the ridge just connects to a tributary of the Elbe River.
Behind the low mountains and woods, Domenico saw the blurry shadow of the sails. He estimated that these Salvation Army soldiers came by boat in the early morning.
Standing on the mound, roughly at the same level as the Salvation Army on the hill, Domenico could not clearly see the face of the person opposite, but he could clearly see the dazzling sunlight reflected from the helmet and spear.
After standing and watching for about five minutes, he heard a shout from behind him.
"Your Excellency Domenico? Has Your Excellency Domenico arrived?"
"Coming, coming, I'm here." Hearing the shouts, Domenico hurried Turn back to the crowd.
Seeing Domenico coming down from the mountain, Zelaken said as soon as he saw him: "Your Excellency Niedersall sent a message, saying that there is no need to fight, go around, let's go up the river and cut off their The food road and the way back.”
The eyes of the nobles present suddenly focused on Domenico.
"Ahem, since Mr. Niedersall said so, then..."
He coughed, faced the crowd, and the muscles of his eyelids twitched unnaturally.
In the direction Domenico was facing, several thick-bearded Kush knights looked at each other, and one of them suddenly stood up: "Why not fight?"
"Yes. Ah, we have gone around. What if they take our retreat? "
"Isn't it because Sir Niedersall is afraid? Or is the messenger not clear about this? Lord Sal.”
"Go home early after the fight. I brought so many people out and it's too late to harvest the wheat."
Under the instigation of several Kush knights, other nobles and knights began to make noises. I have said so much before, but it is actually of little use. The main reason is that the manor is too deadly.
It is early July, the busy farming season.
After early July, rice crackers and wheat were harvested, and by early August, soybeans had to be planted before the rainy season.
Unlike Horne's standing army, which guarantees harvests despite droughts and floods, the Ibe knights of Jinhe Township still have a manorial economy, and they only serve in wars and obtain trophies.
In order to fight this battle, they brought out nearly ten thousand armed peasants and peasant soldiers.
In addition, due to the need to transport grain, grass and troops, tens of thousands of civilians and various chariots and horses were also pulled out.
This has led to varying degrees of labor shortages and transportation difficulties in various estates, making it difficult to harvest wheat, let alone sow soybeans.
Originally, there was a flood last year, and everyone owed it to the famine, so they hoped to make up for it this year.
Especially those knights whose estates were divided up by the Salvation Army were even more anxious.
The aspirations of these nobles, big and small, are the same - hurry up and finish the fight before August, otherwise they will go bankrupt!
“They are only four to five thousand people, and we have tens of thousands of people, why should we avoid them?”
“Zelaken, it’s not like you are a coward and falsely reported Niedersall. What do you think, sir?”
Zelaken’s face turned blue and white as he was questioned by the nobles around him.
It would be easier to deal with if he was completely from Nidersall's side, but it's a pity that although his territory is near the Red Copper Fortress, he is a member of the nobility of Jinhe Township.
"Stop the quarrel, stop the quarrel, Mr. Niedersall is on his way here. It will be clear when he arrives." Zelaken could only weakly press the button.
The archbishop of Jinhe Township shook his pale beard: "Don't wait for people to come. Go and ask. We have to decide as soon as possible to avoid missing the opportunity."
After being heckled by the nobles, Zelaken had no choice but to get on his horse himself, step over the wheat stalks in the field, and run in the direction of Niedersall in the wheat field.
…………
"Please fight?" Niedersall snorted coldly, "No! I told you to go around and not engage in positional warfare."
"But will this hurt their enthusiasm too much?" Zela Ken asked, choosing his words carefully.
Niedersall fell silent. One of the purposes of his trip was to gain command through war. It didn't seem good to do nothing.
After pondering for a long time, Niedersall only raised his head when the horses were trotting across the field path. He was about to speak, but he seemed to be frozen on the spot.
"What are they doing?" Pointing in a direction in front of him, Niedersall's index finger was trembling.
Looking along Niedersal's direction, Zelaken was also stunned.
In the open space between the mound and the Black Mountain, the troops of the nobles actually formed a marching formation on their own!
“I, did I hurt his head!” Niedersall was so angry that he stood up from the saddle and pointed forward with trembling fingers, “See for yourself! Go and ask what’s going on? ”
Before Zerakken, who was frustrated, ran over to ask, his manservant came riding a donkey on the bumpy dirt road. .
"What's going on?" After crossing Zelaken, Niedersall asked directly to the manservant, "Who gave the order? Who asked them to line up?"
"Reporting to the noble Lord Niedersall is decided by the nobles themselves, and is guaranteed by the archbishop of Jinhe Township."
Niedersall yelled on the spot: "You old and immortal bitch! You deserve to go to hell." "Bedbug!"
After cursing a few words, he stopped and forced himself to calm down.
The formations were all set up, and these Ibe knights wanted to fight at all costs. Niedersall knew that there was no way to reverse it, so he could only acquiesce to this fact.
“Let’s go over now and seize the command. Don’t let that old guy mess around.”
(End of this chapter)