Unknown Knight

Chapter 359 New Relatives

War is like this. Often, there are one or two decisive factors that influence the outcome of a battle.

Aix knew that there should be flaming oil in Fort Sageche, so the territory made sufficient preparations for this. Not only did it prepare a large amount of wet sand, but also siege equipment such as siege towers and battering rams, which were covered with thick water-soaked blankets.

But they could not withstand the excessive amount of flaming oil that Urushama had bought. The Kugit soldiers on the city wall threw cans of flaming oil onto the siege towers as if they were free, and poured the flaming oil onto the battering rams below like water, even washing away the wet sand covering the battering rams. Then they set a huge fire to the battering ram and the two siege towers.

The worst incident was the car crash. The fire covered the entire car. The twenty or so soldiers inside failed to retreat in time and nearly half of them were burned to death or injured. This became the moment with the most casualties since the attack on Fort Sagechell. The distressed Axe had to order a temporary halt to the attack.

In the temporary camp, Sirs Fatis, Resarit, Bandak and other knights, as well as a group of military staff were having a heated discussion, some even arguing with red faces.

Because we didn't have the intelligence that the enemy had plenty of incendiary oil, the combat plans based on the intelligence we had could not be implemented. Even if some plans could barely succeed, they would cause a large number of casualties during the attack because of the incendiary oil, which was unacceptable to the territory. We couldn't come up with a relatively safe solution for a while, so everyone was anxious.

Aix watched everyone in the tent quarreling for a long time without making any conclusion, so he walked out of the noisy meeting tent. As a lord, he couldn't just limit himself to planning military strategies, he also had many things to do, such as inspecting the camp and visiting the wounded.

By the time he had finished the process, it was almost dusk and the camp had already started preparing for dinner. When he passed by the kitchen, Aix was annoyed by the bleating of sheep, so he said to his guards:

"Call Igor who is in charge of logistics. How are these sheep fed? Is he planning to let them starve to death before feeding them to the soldiers?"

Soon, Igor, who was already a little plump, trotted over to Aix. He had known this guy since Aix was just granted the title of Virgia. He was an old friend and also a lucky general of Aix. He made a lot of contributions to the territory and was later awarded the title of lord for his merits. His plumpness was not gained by embezzling military supplies, but he gained weight in middle age because his life became better and richer after he became a lord.

Originally, he was living a comfortable life. According to common thinking, he should stay in his own small manor and enjoy the rest of his life. However, the winter in Tangquan Fortress was too long, and out of boredom, he attended the winter school held every year.

Unexpectedly, he developed a talent for learning when he entered school. He did very well in all subjects, especially in mathematics. He finally graduated with excellent results.

With his achievements and as a core member of the territory, he could be considered a reliable old man. The territory had always been short of manpower, so how could he be left at ease? As a result, he was appointed by Lady Gangde as the quartermaster in charge of Tangquan Fortress.

This time the territory went to war with Fort Sageche, and he, unwilling to be left out, actively signed up and was seconded to be in charge of the logistics of the operation.

Seeing Igor running up to him with a flattering look on his face, Aix couldn't take advantage of this to vent his anger, so he kicked him in annoyance and said:

"Look at the sheep you feed. They are crying so miserably. Do you want to starve them to death?"

Igor was not annoyed at all. He patted the dust off his legs inconspicuously and said with a smile:

"Sir, you really wronged me. These are not our sheep. Oh no, I should say they were not our sheep before. These sheep were seized from the Kugit village halfway up the mountain. We just rushed to the mountain and planned to slaughter them tomorrow to feed our brothers. We haven't had time to feed them yet."

It was only then that Aix realized that not far from the first checkpoint of Fort Sageche, there was a Kugit village called Hublaban. Due to the suddenness of the attack, the Kugit people in the village outside the checkpoint did not have time to evacuate and were all captured by the territory.

Only then did Aix remember that he had captured more than a hundred Kugit people in Hublaban Village. Now that the attack on Fort Sajiche had failed, he might as well get some information from these locals to see if he could get some useful information about Fort Sajiche.

So they went straight to the place where these Kugits were imprisoned. This was the second checkpoint. The high wall was impossible to climb over with bare hands, which was just right for guarding these Kugits.

When they entered the checkpoint, there were seven or eight people interrogating the prisoners. These seven or eight people all had black hair and black eyes. They were exactly Aix's relatives. When the leader saw Aix coming in, he ran over hurriedly to greet Aix.

"I am Liu Quan, a subordinate of Lord Zhang Ping, and I am here to pay my respects to you, my Lord."

Aix had an impression of this man. He was Zhang Ping's capable subordinate. Aix had once instructed Zhang Ping that once there were any Kugit captives, they should be screened to find out the compatriots with Chinese ancestry. As long as they were willing to rebel, they would be treated as subjects to help expand the clan population. They were currently doing this.

The more than one hundred people in the village have been divided into two groups. One group's clothes are old but not torn. They wear fur coats and thick woolen trousers, which can basically keep them warm. The other group of more than thirty people are wearing tattered clothes and there are traces of shackles on the ankles of the young and strong people.

There is no doubt that these thirty-odd people are of Chinese Miao descent. The village of Hubolaban is not far from the city of Kudan. The Kugit people all know that the Territory of Aix favors Tang Nu. In order to prevent these people from escaping to the Territory of Aix, they are particularly wary of them. When they are not working at night, the young and strong men have shackles on their feet.

Aix waited for Liu Quan to finish screening the remaining people and picked out six or seven Tang slaves from them before he spoke some comforting words to these more than forty compatriots individually.

It was nothing more than telling them not to be afraid, that from now on they were their own relatives, and that not only would they be given land and pastures, but they would also be given clothes and helped build houses.

After understanding what Axe meant, the more than 40 people all had tears in their eyes and knelt on the ground to kowtow to him to express their gratitude. Axe stepped forward to help one up and then helped another who had knelt down, making the situation very embarrassing for a while.

In the end, it was Liu Quan who came to his senses and told these people that this kind of kowtow ceremony was not practiced in the territory, and that they would be punished if they kowtowed randomly after becoming relatives. He asked them to keep their gratitude to Aix in their hearts and find opportunities to repay him slowly in the future. Only then did this group of people stop kowtowing to express their gratitude one after another.

Finally, Aix did not give up, so he tentatively asked these newly joined relatives if there was any way to bypass the front and attack Fort Sageche from the weak point. As expected, he did not get the answer he wanted.

However, an old man thought about it and said:

"Master, there is no way to get into Fort Sageche, but I have been herding sheep for these Kugit people for many years. Every half a month, when the grass on the west slope is eaten by the sheep, I will drive the sheep to the east slope on the other side of the mountain and graze them for a few days.

On the path to Dongpo, there is a section of the road that passes near the cliff above the Sageche Fort. From there, you can see the things inside the fort clearly. I wonder if it will be useful to you, sir?"

When Aix heard this, he was overjoyed and quickly had someone help the old man to go and find out what was going on.