Chapter 155: The Defense of Brandenburg – The Wind Rises

Patrolling on the city walls all day was indeed boring and dull. However, relatively speaking, while also on duty, George was much freer than those ordinary soldiers and junior officers.

Soldiers had to walk back and forth patrolling with straight backs. The sergeants were restricted to moving within very small areas. As for George and these noble Young Masters, their range of activity was the entire defensive sector belonging to their own Territory. In fact, this kind of daily patrol mainly served a deterrent purpose and ensured the soldiers’ combat readiness. No one could keep their nerves taut while working all year round, just like a string bound to a bow is always prone to aging and losing strength.

In non-wartime status, Brandenburg maintained a three-shift schedule. But this did not mean that after completing eight hours of work, the soldiers could rest or engage in free activities. Taking the regulations of the Bolerum Territory as an example, these soldiers who had finished their duty, except for the night shift group, had to conduct about two hours of daily training after the handover was completed. Adding in the preparations before the shift change, it took about twelve hours in total.

In a sense, this three-shift system was actually not much different from a two-shift system. Fortunately, the soldiers’ salaries and food were at a level envied by ordinary Commoners within the Duchy of Nohan, so no one complained about it. However, George still arranged for people to give them extra meals and condolences from time to time. The reason for not directly increasing their salaries was that people were always forgetful. For a period of time right after a salary increase, those soldiers would indeed be grateful. But before long, they would get used to it and consider these things their due. On the contrary, this kind of irregular and appropriate reward could achieve the best effect. George, knowing what was most beneficial to him, naturally made the choice that conformed to his interests.

As for George and these personnel who belonged to the extra-establishment, they also practiced while on duty. If the commotion was not too loud, sparring in pairs was also allowed. And once the handover and change of guard was completed, no one would restrict the movements of George and his group. Coupled with the differences in food and accommodation, it could be said that from every aspect, there was a gap like a chasm between the two sides.

But George never found a single soldier complaining about this privately; it seemed as if everything was taken for granted. That was because the army provided channels for promotion. Before George took charge of the military reform in the Bolerum Territory, this channel of promotion was determined entirely by the improvement of each person’s strength.

Even now after the reform, George did not dare to make any major changes to this original channel. He merely added another promotion route for technical arms. This was to give beautiful hope to those whose strength improved slowly but who had expertise in other areas. Although the benefits received after promotion were not as good as the former, compared to the past, there was a new way out after all, not to mention that these two promotion methods did not conflict.

Having a path for advancement would give people the desire to strive upwards. This further generated mobility between social classes. Reasonable, fair, and smooth class relations had an effective regulatory function, especially the upward mobility of the bottom class, which could build a “safety valve” or “buffer zone” for society, thereby helping to construct a harmonious and stable social structure.

Conversely, the solidification of social classes, if light, would damage individual enthusiasm, and if heavy, would destroy class circulation, hinder benign interaction between classes, and be unfavorable for forming a fair, reasonable, and open social structure. This further caused tension between different classes, generated class friction and conflict, or even brought about social upheaval.

Although no one in this world had conducted research to derive laws or give explanations for this. But over thousands of years of natural social development, it had gradually moved closer to rationalization—just like the natural evolution of creatures before transmigration.

The wind was still whistling, and the outer smock George wore was constantly swaying in the wind. These days, even while in Brandenburg and sharing a room with Hiren and Ben, George had not relaxed his daily cultivation. Generally speaking, George’s cultivation method did not look much different from most mental cultivators in this world.

As for those peculiar movements that were different from the rest, George now knew to explain them vaguely as some kind of rare Secret Art. In fact, when these movements, which were different from others and rarely seen, appeared during cultivation. The vast majority of people would not take the initiative to ask; this was a secret exclusive to others, and probing into this aspect without the other party’s consent was a taboo among professionals.

In the past, George had been a bit too cautious in this regard. This caution born from inner insecurity made his behavior naturally distant from those around him. Fortunately, most people considered this a quirk of a genius; most people in this world attributed this quirk to the curse given to you by fate when it endowed you with extraordinary talent.

However, the current George did not have the conditions to be so particular, and at the same time, he could not give up his own cultivation. So he could only suppress his inner unease and try to integrate into this large group like most people.

In the first few days, even though George was mentally prepared beforehand, he was still very unaccustomed to this sudden change. Fortunately, the newly arrived meditation crystal was of great use; otherwise, George would not have been able to enter the meditation state so easily at that time. As for the previous ointment, George had long since used it up. Afterwards, George did go to the Temple of the Lord of Justice to inquire about such items.

Unfortunately, they did not accept transactions with money, only allowing the use of the Temple’s contribution points as bargaining chips. George, who temporarily had no time to earn contribution points, prepared two paths. One was to see if there would be a suitable opportunity later to obtain contribution points in this area. The second was to use money to exchange for these ointments or incenses from people who possessed contribution points. However, George himself had been busy dealing with the ensuing matters, and the people he had arranged for had no definite news to report.

Fortunately, with the help of the meditation crystal, George was already able to maintain a relatively high efficiency in his static skill cultivation. This cultivation period of nearly twenty days was not significant for the fundamental great methods regarding Daoist practice and Rank. But for spell techniques, it was enough for George to formally get started and stabilize his existing foundation.

During continuous cultivation, the connection between the Five Thunder Righteous Method and the Thunderbird Spirit became increasingly tight. Now, not only had the use of the move Flash of Lightning become more flexible, but the consumption had also greatly decreased. Moreover, the available energy limit and recovery speed had also significantly improved. If he could only use it three times before, the number had now doubled. And the effect was also much better than before.

More importantly, the functions of the five internal organs connected during cultivation had also improved quite obviously. At the very least, George discovered that the quality of his body’s Spiritual Qi had changed slightly. And while the five internal organs were strengthened, it seemed to also affect the six fu organs; although the current changes were not obvious, George definitely found that the gallbladder, small intestine, stomach, large intestine, and bladder, except for the triple burner, all felt warm. And the progress in body training had also naturally accelerated.

Feeling the improvement in strength, George’s mood naturally became much more relaxed relatively speaking—people feel refreshed when happy events occur. Of course, there was another reason for George’s good mood, which was the change in his daily routine after coming to Brandenburg.

Perhaps for most other Heirs, the situation here was not much different from their original daily lives. The downgrade in food and accommodation was regarded as a preliminary exercise, and the real exercise was, of course, the upcoming battlefield.

But for George, who had already taken over the affairs of the Territory, life here was more like a vacation. Subtracting the time spent hanging out with Ben, Chrispian, Aldred, and Green who arrived later, the remaining time for cultivation or leisure was much more than in the Territory or Karada. This kind of life, which was almost carefree compared to the past, really made George feel comfortable.

Suddenly, several black spots appeared at the junction of the grassland and the sky, and the sharp-eyed George was the first to spot them in his defensive sector. Those black spots were extremely fast, and in just a few ticks, George could see their rough outlines.

‘Cavalry, these seem to be the cavalry sent out from our fortress for daily patrol. Logically, they should only return at sunset. If they appear at this time, there is only one reason—encountering the enemy. The most likely enemy at this time of day would be the Barbarians invading from the south.’ Thinking of this, George immediately said to the Guard beside him: “Hurry and inform Mr. Val that the patrol cavalry team may have encountered the Barbarian vanguard. To prevent accidents, I hope he can immediately arrange for people to prepare for support.”

On the grassland, the movement of a large army could not be concealed from others at all. Historically, those so-called cases of surprise attacks and ambushes mostly occurred in relatively complex terrains—such as hills or mountains. Therefore, after sending out cavalry patrols, the problem of being caught off guard by a sudden enemy attack could basically be solved.

But before the Guard who heard the order left George’s sight, the alarm bell in the fortress began to ring. It seemed that regarding the entire fortress, George was not the first person to discover the situation. With the ringing of the bell, all the soldiers in Brandenburg began to operate. In the original barracks, quite a few soldiers who were resting began to get up and dress. And on the two main roads, specialized personnel also began to maintain order.

Of course, whether they were vendors, prostitutes, or other service personnel, they all began to leave the fortress through the southern city gate under the guidance of the soldiers. All this was as if they had practiced it thousands of times beforehand, and everything proceeded in an orderly manner. The entire fortress was like a clock that had started running, making George feel a bit like he had nowhere to intervene.

Looking at the sentries in front of him performing their duties! George seemed a bit confused; it was then that Hiren, not far from him, walked over, patted George on the shoulder, and said: “There’s nothing for us to do here now. Let’s go back and rest together; we’ll be busy in two days.”

As a newcomer in this regard, George naturally followed the advice of his senior Hiren.

As time slowly passed, after a while, the defenders on the city wall began to see the returning patrol cavalry team. The exhausted warriors were almost all lying prone on their horsebacks, and most of them were wounded. Compared to when they set out in the morning, the standard team of twenty seemed to be missing about four members.

The returning team got closer and closer to the fortress, and from the dim sky behind them, a large group of horsemen rushed out—the enemy cavalry had appeared. Just then, a heavy cavalry unit of about 200 people emerged from the wide-open city gate. Carrying dust and smoke, they rushed towards the direction of the patrol team at lightning speed.

This was the support force sent out from Brandenburg; after passing by the returning patrol team, they launched a charge against the astonishing number of enemies. Steel wrapped around flesh and blood, and the two torrents crashed together with a roar. After throwing away the lances that broke during the first collision. The cavalrymen drew the Longswords in their hands and engaged in a melee with the enemy; the sounds of shouting, wailing, chopping, screaming, metal clashing, and bones breaking rose and fell one after another.

This battle with a disparity in numbers finally ended with the victory of the smaller side. The gap in individual strength and equipment was vividly demonstrated here. The leading Knight called back his subordinates who were preparing to chase the scattered Barbarian cavalry and began to clean up the battlefield.

Then, suddenly, a piercing cry came. The support cavalry team quickly pulled up their companions who had fallen off their horses on the battlefield and galloped towards the fortress. Before long, a brownish-yellow dragon appeared on the grassland, and the fast-moving dragon turned into a surging yellow air wave.

Team after team of Barbarian cavalry, holding long sabers in their hands, and some drawing short bows, rushed up cursing continuously in rude language, but it seemed they could not catch up with the retreating team. But suddenly, a piercing scream came from the clouds in the azure sky, and winged black shadows flew out; Wind Knights riding Wyverns dived down, preparing to massacre the patrol team that had little combat power left.

Just then, a buzzing sound rang out from the fortress, and over one hundred feathered arrows broke through the air and fell like locusts towards the area where the Wind Knights were. The firepower net woven by these sudden arrows caused those Wind Knights to fall directly to the ground. However, the arrows that could shoot that far were all thanks to the bed crossbows; ordinary bows and arrows could not shoot that far. After all the cavalry entered the fortress, the fortress retracted the Drawbridge, closed the city gate, and lowered the iron grille.

Time gradually approached evening, and the light became weaker and weaker; even people with very good eyesight could not see the situation on the battlefield clearly from the fortress. The only thing that could be determined was that flames were constantly spreading, and the length and number of fire dragons were also increasing—those were the troops holding torches on the other side. Finally, about a mile away from Brandenburg, a group of slightly chaotic warriors appeared; although they could advance with steady steps, they were only just barely maintaining their formation.

The night passed without incident. But when the still dim morning arrived, people realized that the display last night had not exaggerated the enemy’s numbers. The plain was crowded with dark troops; as far as the eye could see, it was all enemies surrounding Brandenburg, densely packed like foul-smelling mold, occupying the entire plain. The enemy set up many black or bright red tents around the city, clearly preparing for a large-scale siege.

Those Barbarians worked busily like ants; they dug wide trenches outside the range of bows and arrows, and whenever a trench was completed, it was filled with some liquid. With the experimental ignition of some parts, everyone understood that this should be Greek Fire.

These people worked busily for almost a whole day, and the defenders of Brandenburg watched them helplessly, completely unable to stop their actions. Although the weapons in the city could shoot that far, without large objects, they could hardly be considered accurate.

However, when a section of the trench was completed, the defenders could see the other side pushing huge vehicles, followed by more enemy troops. They all hid behind the cover of the trenches and also set up huge Ballistas and Catapults. Just then, the Catapults placed on the high grounds and cliffs within the city launched their offensive. Each Catapult was operated by seven soldiers; because of the drop, there was no need to deliberately pursue range, so the firing speed was twice as fast as ordinary Catapults. In an instant, projectiles rained down, and after a cloud of smoke and dust, the enemy’s original position was in a mess.

Facing this situation, the other side had to retreat a certain distance; without even having time to collect the corpses, they began to set up several tall wooden frames, which looked like giant Catapults.

Standing on the city wall, George looked at the dark mass and asked the Knight Val beside him: “Are there this many Barbarians every year?”

“No! I have never seen such a large-scale invasion. In terms of numbers alone, it is at least five times more than the largest one I experienced before.” Saying this, Knight Val frowned.

Then Knight Ahuatan asked somewhat uncertainly: “Is it necessary to ask for help from inside the Duchy! By the way, these Barbarians actually used Greek Fire to make roadblocks this time; where did they get so much of it!”

Hearing this, a Spirit Light flashed in George’s mind: “Mr. Val, are you willing to trust my judgment?”

“Speak first and let’s see!” Facing George’s formal tone, Knight Val was actually undecided for a moment.

“I think there are other countries supporting this Barbarian invasion from the south. If Brandenburg can be held, I don’t want too many reinforcements from the Duchy to be deployed here. Closely watching the actions of those two countries to the east and south is the key.” George spoke out his thoughts.