Ch. 163 The Army at the City Walls

Probably won’t be able to write about Britain before the 20th (sad)

Having updated continuously for three months, I feel like I’m about to burn out.

——

The village below the castle was already empty.

With the approach of war, the villagers had already evacuated in an orderly fashion.

It was just like what had happened at Knight Egde’s village.

The villagers had orderly taken away as much of their livestock and property as possible; even if they couldn’t return to their hometowns, they could find a new beginning in the city.

This was one of the reasons for the city’s expansion.

Eight hundred soldiers passed through the quiet village streets; only a stray dog, which no one cared about, ran away in fright.

Knight Adlan was different from when they had last met.

At least this time, he was fully dressed.

The waist and abdomen of that suit of armor had been exaggeratedly enlarged to accommodate his belly.

The side gate of the castle opened.

The arrival of eight hundred soldiers and the corresponding supplies made the castle appear quite crowded.

As the knight guarding the castle, Adlan reported the recent situation to the King’s military commander, Anthony.

He felt curious about the few companions who were clearly neither soldiers nor officers.

Just like other knights in this era, which possessed widespread chauvinism, Adlan held a hint of skepticism toward the girls.

“Our mission is not to fight to the death with the Anglo-Saxons.” Anthony alleviated Adlan’s concerns from the side.

“How much longer until they arrive?” Anthony asked.

Adlan shook his head: “Perhaps tomorrow.”

There would be some difficult days ahead.

Everyone knew this.

After the initial arrangements were completed, it was time for the arrangements for the ladies.

Although Artoria had once had a brief meeting with Adlan.

But that was just a glance hidden within the long line of refugees; there hadn’t even been a moment for their eyes to meet.

Clearly, Adlan had no impression of them.

“Take them to find the lady of the house.” Adlan waved his hand distractedly.

There was a sand table in front of him, and Adlan was currently working hard to plan the specific defense strategy for the castle.

His wife was unwilling to flee with the subjects and had remained in this castle, which was at the center of the whirlpool.

Along with her were a few maids who were loyal to the lady of the house.

They would be under protection; until the battle ended, they would be safe.

“We came here to fight!” Artoria retorted.

“This is…”

Adlan was about to retort.

Anthony rubbed his nose: “She has that kind of ability; it was His Majesty who had me bring them here.”

The thorough defeat from not long ago still lingered in his mind.

He was, after all, a military commander of a country!

Although as a military commander, one’s personal valor is not necessarily the strongest in the entire country, the fact that he was easily defeated by a girl who had been looked down upon…

If it got out, he would probably be laughed at to death.

As a knight with empathy.

He didn’t want this kind of thing to happen to Adlan again.

Furthermore.

Artoria truly has ability; that is the truth.

Adlan looked up from the sand table and looked at the girl with some suspicion.

Although he had Anthony’s guarantee, he still had to offer a warning.

“This is no place for soft living, girl,” Adlan said: “If you want to be with the soldiers, you have to know that they are not knights; they are a bunch of stinky, filthy, and very crude men.”

“I understand.” Artoria nodded.

As for Mia.

She felt that there wouldn’t be much difference between the rough men of the 6th century and the rough men of the 21st century?

Either way, with strength and status to back her up, there was nothing to worry about.

In the end, Egde gave them a separate stable as a temporary residence.

But compared to the soldiers, the ladies had clearly received preferential treatment.

The original garrison of this castle took up about half of its designed capacity.

And this reinforcement of eight hundred men meant that.

This castle was now over capacity by a full two and a half times!

A castle that only had enough room for four hundred people had been forced to hold one thousand.

The excess soldiers, two and a half times the capacity, had to choose between setting up tents in the open space or sleeping on the floor in the corridors.

Fortunately, the original supplies, which were enough for four hundred people for half a year, were sufficient to feed these reinforcements for two months.

As long as the Anglo-Saxons did not cut off the supply lines, there would be a steady stream of supplies and reinforcements coming to this castle, and it was impossible for the Anglo-Saxons to surround the castle with fifteen hundred men while also being able to split off troops to cut the supply lines.

Therefore, theoretically, the time it could hold out was infinite; of course, that was on the premise that the Anglo-Saxons really only had fifteen hundred.

The first piece of bad news appeared that night.

The Anglo-Saxons had already gathered at a place half a day’s distance from the castle; from morning to afternoon, their numbers had already reached one thousand.

In the second half of the night, it began to rain.

The sky was grey and overcast with dark clouds.

Raindrops tapped against the castle towers, the tents in the open space, and the roof of the stable.

Water droplets slid down the city walls.

After all, it was Britain; there wasn’t much good weather throughout the year.

The drizzling rain not only failed to wash away the dust but instead made the entire castle feel oppressively uncomfortable.

The rain fell for a night and a day.

By the night of the second day, the rain was still falling.