Chapter 279 (1/2)
Chapter 279 Battle line up
After entering the hall, Iron Axe gave a standard military salute.
“Timothy’s troops are expected to reach the junction in the Redwater River four days from now. The First Army will set off this afternoon,” Roland bluntly spoke. “You will meet up at the battle site with Border Town’s defensive troops and take over the command; I will travel there as quickly as possible.”
“Don’t we need to defend Border Town?”
“All of the enemy’s movements are under the surveillance by Lightning and Maggie. Setting up a defensive division is no longer necessary, just one joint attack to the right side should be enough to smash the enemy.” The Prince paused, “But we also need to leave one hundred soldiers in Longsong Stronghold to watch over those nobles.”
“Remain… here?” Iron Axe asked shocked.
Roland summarized his previous released orders to the five families, “The reason that I gathered them together was to make it more convenient to watch over them. This will keep them from having any thoughts after learning about Timothy’s attack on the Western Territory. The Second Army’s weapons are old and their combat experience is lacking, so in case they encounter an unexpected situation they may not respond to it. However, with the ten squadrons of First Army’s soldiers, we can ensure that the nobles cannot lift any wind and waves. Since I do not want to fight at the Redwater River junction, only to birth riots at my back.”
“As you bid, Your Highness,” he said.
“Do you have to go?” After Iron Axe had left the hall, Nightingale stepped out from behind the lord’s seat and asked him.
“Of course,” Roland said, “If I do not go, who else could make good use out of Lotus’ ability? I may not be adept at commanding battle strategy, but I’m damn good at using bunkers to seal off roads and tanks to slap faces.”
“Bunker I know of; however, what is this tank?” Nightingale’s face showed her confusion.
“Oh… they are carriages which drag around a cannon,” the Prince coughed twice. “But currently we do not have enough horses, so we have to rely on Little Town to transport the cannons, which like this cannot be called tanks.
“That’s the reason why you picked Honey?” She blinked and asked, “As far as I know, she can even tame tigers and panthers making them as gentle as horses. But aren’t “tanks” nothing more than cannons which are pulled by wild animals?”
“Of course,” Roland couldn’t refrain from tilting his mouth, “The different models can also straightforwardly be named Tiger and Panther.“
Just then, Carter, holding a white-tailed kite in his arms, came in and announced: “Your Highness, there is news from Border Town.”
Roland clapped his hands, immediately after, as if it had intelligence, the white-tailed kite unfolded its wings, freed itself from the knight’s arms and soared into the air, gliding the short distance to firmly land on his shoulder. Feeling the kite land on his shoulder, he took a piece of jerky from his pocket and gave it to the bird to swallow. It also conscientiously raised its claw, so that Roland could easily untie the cloth tied to it.
The kite wasn’t Maggie in her hawk form, it was one of Honey’s trained air messengers. They could remember five to six different people, as well as hundreds of flight routes, even in case that they were brought to an unknown place, they could still find their way home. This time, for his trip to the stronghold, Roland had brought a total of four messengers. Within one hour they could travel from one place to the other and back. Furthermore, they could also fly for a whole day without having to take a break. In the absence of a wireless transmission, this way of keeping in touch counted as the quickest method.
Roland spread out the letter wrapped into the cloth and quickly skimmed over its content.
The author of the letter was Wendy, she was reporting that according to his request she had already carried Lotus, Sylvie, Leaves, Hummingbird, and Nana to the fork of the Redwater River. Some artillery members had also traveled together with them. They’d also taken eight cannons with them, which was the maximum number of cannons that Little Town could accommodate.