Our family is in decline

Some of these nobles may be fools, but those who are still alive now are basically those who survived the last Hamlet catastrophe and developed, so they still have something.

So after receiving the news of the Roma deal, they realized that Hamlet would have to fight with them.

At first, the nobles just passed on the news to each other, and when they were sure that Hamlet really launched a war to recover the territory, they had already begun to prepare for the war, recruit soldiers, and summon knights, which was probably one step slower than the baron.

When the situation on the baron's side became more difficult, Hamlet began to show his strength.

Those nobles put aside the grievances that had been entangled for many years and chose to unite against the outside world. Those bureaucrats showed unprecedented efficiency. As for other forces, they continued to support them, either joining the army or donating resources.

It can be said that under the stimulation of a certain "evil" lord, they showed the limit of the system.

At that time, they did not accept the baron's call for help and join the battle because they were not prepared enough.

Those places farther away have not been mobilized yet, and the supplies are also in motion. They don't have so many animal power such as cattle and horses, and more human transportation, anyway, serfs don't need money.

Of course, the most important thing is that no one wants to fight with Hamlet, who is in full swing, so let the baron, who has no choice, consume them first. Even if they can't win, they can buy time and opportunities.

From the beginning of the contact, the baron did buy them a few days, allowing other nobles to mobilize troops to station at the border of the baron's territory to prepare to resist Hamlet's attack.

They can't give up their own territory like the baron did, otherwise they will have no confidence to fight a war of attrition. They want to stop Hamlet's main force outside.

They even have to take the initiative to attack and put the battlefield on the baron's territory, so that they won't feel bad even if they are destroyed, anyway, the baron has no objection.

It's a pity that the baron's army collapsed at the first touch, and Hamlet's main force was well preserved, so there is no consumption at all.

Before the nobles could marvel at the might of Hamlet's army and mock the baron's waste, the things that Hamlet did after occupying the town made their hair stand on end.

A fierce quarrel broke out in the camp built on the border of the baron's territory.

"Hamlet's people are so good at bewitching. Those untouchables surrendered in a short time, completely ignoring the baron's kindness to them."

"We can't let them fight us, otherwise those untouchables will be shaken, but we should wait for more people to support us."

"We should march now, while their artillery has just been consumed on the farm and has not been replenished in time."

"That's right, every time we delay, they can recover more status, we must act immediately, otherwise the opportunity that the baron has fought for us will pass!"

"Fight, fight, fight!"

That's right, because of the huge pressure brought by a certain evil lord, the fierce quarrel on the scene was not between the pro-war and pro-peace factions, but all the pro-war factions.

The radicals said that they must fight and stop the enemy outside the territory, but they still need time to equip and train the new soldiers.

Moreover, the more people you recruit, the higher the chance of winning. It is also a way to consume the opponent's ammunition.

The conservatives think that the radicals are too conservative and should act immediately. If they delay for a while, Hamlet will only become stronger.

As for those serfs, there is no time to wait for them to train. It doesn't matter how many die anyway. It is their honor to die for the nobles.

The leaders are the other two barons in this area. They have occupied the most of Hamlet's former territory and are most afraid of Hamlet.

So the conservatives won soon. The 6,000-man team rushed to the newly victorious baron's territory desperately, hoping to wipe out the evil Hamlet's army.

Victory belongs to them who are just!

…………

"Sir, a new round of intelligence has been delivered, and everyone is waiting for you."

"Got it." Lance got out of those tedious events and went to the barracks.

Patton and several other commanders were already waiting, and Lance spoke directly without any nonsense.

"You should have read the intelligence. What is the situation now?"

"There are about a hundred fully armored knights, but there are no more than thirty noble knights with fiefs. Most of them are wandering knights and crusader knights of the church."

"But there are more than two hundred cavalrymen without armor or half armor, mainly the personal guards of the nobles."

"There are not many longbowmen, only about a hundred, but they have a lot of ordinary crossbowmen, about five hundred, and even a temporary musketeer, but the number is less than a hundred."

"Several churches over there have joined forces to send out..."

From the reports of several commanders, it is known that the situation is under control.

Those nobles can send people to inquire about the news, so how could Lance not know about them?

Lance had already arranged people to go down like the baron. Didn't you see that Laura and Disma didn't show up?

It can be said that when killing the baron, Lance had already judged that those nobles would definitely take action, and even had a bit of laissez-faire meaning, that is, they wanted them to come by themselves and were too lazy to fight slowly.

But Lance was still a little surprised when he heard this.

At the beginning, Lance judged based on the intelligence that these lords in the south could only mobilize 5,000 people in total, including the baron who was defeated.

And now the remaining two barons and other scattered small nobles can actually pull out a team of 6,000 people. It can be imagined that they have really squeezed the limit.

Although there may be only 1,000 of them with combat effectiveness, the rest are just spearmen.

But compared with Hamlet's 2,000 people, the difference in strength between the two sides is almost three times.

"How do you plan to fight?"

"This time they took the initiative to attack, so the choice of the battlefield is in our hands. We can rely on the town to defend, but I recommend it here."

As he said, Barton raised his hand and pointed to a place on the map. Lance looked over and found that it was not a dangerous place suitable for ambush, but just a small hill.

I said before that most of the south of Hamlet is plains, and what Barton pointed out is an open area extending under the hill.

"I have inspected the surrounding terrain with several commanders in the past two days. If we defend the city, we are indeed not afraid, but those nobles are behind us, and the people who die are ordinary people.

But if we choose to fight in the field, the power of our artillery can be brought into play. Seizing this position can send shells to the entire area, and the enemy can't withstand several rounds of artillery fire.

And there are no trees to block this open space. Even if they are defeated, they can't run faster than our cavalry. It is easier to gather the surrendered soldiers and won't give them the opportunity to escape and cause chaos in the territory."

Lance thought for a while and understood what he meant.

Defending the city, placing artillery on the wall, and the musketeers relying on the wall to shoot. Those guys don't have heavy weapons, so it can be said that no matter how many they come, they can't capture it. Six thousand is just a number, and our casualties will definitely be less than in a frontal field battle.

But there is a problem that defending the city is passive and it is not easy to capture prisoners. The main force of the nobles will definitely not come out first, but use ordinary people to consume.

Drag it out and consume his resources, not to mention that he has no time to play with them now.

But if the main force is defeated in the front, then according to the performance of the serfs before, they will probably surrender, and the resources accumulated by those guys will also become theirs.

Patton still understands why the lord started the war. Recovering the territory is one thing, and arresting people for construction and looting supplies for the winter are the key points. Killing people is meaningless.

And Lance understands that Patton wants to clear his name. He can win on the front battlefield, a real battlefield.

"But what if they give up fighting you head-on, or the ordinary army pulls you, sends elite troops, and the knights lead those cavalry to raid the town? Or cut off the logistics?"

Patton pulled the team out for a field battle, which means putting Lance in a very dangerous situation. What if those guys attack the town by surprise and launch a decapitation operation?

But when Lance said this, everyone couldn't help but look at him...

Behead the lord? You are not joking!

But the lord must give an answer when he asks this.

"If those elite troops leave, they will be defeated faster. I am sure I can come back to help and surround them."

"I believe you. Just handle these things."

Lance was responsible for logistics just like before the operation began. He would not interfere with their battle plan and leave professional matters to professionals.

"Yes!"

The army that was resting soon broke camp and marched towards the predetermined target, seizing the position and preparing to give the enemy a head-on blow.

Similarly, the noble coalition forces were still advancing, really rushing to advance as if they were racing against time.

For the lower-level knights, the only way they wanted to obtain fiefdoms and become real nobles was through war, so they were not afraid at all and were even very active.

But for ordinary soldiers, it was a hard life. They had no war horses and could only walk on their feet.

That is, this time they were promised enough and had enough food to eat. Otherwise, who would risk their lives with you like this?

From here, we can see the difference. The marching team was in chaos, not to mention the formation. They kept moving with the urging and even driving of the knights.

Thousands of people were noisy, talking and complaining, and some of them went to shit and fell behind.

The ability of a commander is closely related to the level of the team. From this, we can see the chaos of the noble coalition.

But they kept moving forward until...

"Report! Traces of the enemy were found."

Although the bottom was chaotic, there were commanders who had received professional military education in the noble troops, and they would not ignore reconnaissance.

And the nobles showed different attitudes when they heard the news.

"Damn it! Those guys are really ready to attack."

"Send someone to find the exact location of their main force."

"..."

Similarly, Patton did not expect that the other party would come so quickly, which was completely inconsistent with the preset speed. He had not yet entered the position to build artillery.

It was basically difficult for the number of people on both sides to hide in the plains, and basically the position of the other party was determined by a series of operations.

"Quick! Speed ​​up and move forward. We must control the position before the enemy."

Patton did not care about saving the horse's physical strength. He whipped the draft horse with a whip, and the artillery accelerated to climb the low slope under its pull.

"Quick! Speed ​​up and don't let the enemy occupy us!"

The knights also whipped the soldiers with whips, driving them to rush up the hill.

They were not sure what Patton was thinking, but they knew they had to stop the enemy from doing what they wanted, so the battle started under such circumstances, which was an unexpected start for everyone.

The noble coalition forces were also constantly urging, encouraging the soldiers with words.

"Do you want to become a knight? Do you want to gain wealth? It's right in front of you, go kill them and take the glory that belongs to you!"

"One silver coin for each head! The bounty is mine, hahaha!"

"The Holy Light blesses you, eliminate the evil enemies for the Holy Light, and send them to hell!"

The Holy Light flashed among the soldiers from time to time, and those soldiers who were blessed by the divine arts rushed towards the hillock with a roar under the stimulation of the environment.

"Line up to block the enemy and buy time for the artillery!"

The soldiers on Hamlet's side were not scared off by the spearmen who rushed over. A thousand infantrymen carried guns and divided into two four-row arrays to advance forward.

The neat queues and human walls advanced, just like a giant stretched out his two hands to flatten the ants crawling over.

When there were still people shouting, but the content of those voices was not to encourage with bounties, women or even noble titles, but only cold counting accompanied by footsteps.

"Three hundred yards... two hundred and five... one hundred and two!"

When this shout was made, the first row raised their guns and pulled the triggers directly. The dense gunshots exploded, and white gunpowder rose from the whole row.

After shooting, they stopped and reloaded. The second row took a few steps forward to connect the shooting. By analogy, when the fourth row finished shooting, the first row also completed the reloading. At this time, the smoke from the first shot had not completely dissipated.

When defending the position, you should shoot freely, so that you can play to the limit of everyone.

But in this kind of direct advance against the enemy, you must show enough deterrence, and the pressure brought by the volley of array firing is the strongest, not to mention the endless shooting like a wave.

"Disperse! Disperse! Don't gather together!"

The knights kept shouting, but the fanatics who rushed to the front had no time to react. They ran into the barrage head-on, which was completely a gamble on whether their lives were strong enough, and there was a wail immediately.

Even at a distance of a hundred yards, it has a very significant killing power against unarmored targets. The bullets tear flesh and blood, and the smell of blood begins to spread.

"Don't be afraid! The musket only has one shot, and it will become scrap metal after it is fired."

"Rush forward quickly, don't give them time to reload!"

In fact, only a dozen people were shot in this round, which is not worth mentioning for the huge team. Under the encouragement, they did not stop, but accelerated.

Then they ran into the seemingly endless barrage of bullets...