Lord of the Oasis

The scorching sun burns above the sky.

The mighty power of the sun enveloped the desert of Nalen, as if even the air would be burnt out.

It's noon.

But just north of the sentry oasis, among the continuous sand dunes, 10 desert robbers formed a cavalry team. They were walking and patrolling on a desert horse with a splendid crotch, with a spear in their hand and a leather shield on their left arm. .

Obviously, this patrol also prepared them for battle.

"Sorry..."

This is the desert horse snorting irritably.

The sun in the desert is already strong, it is noon now, and the temperature is soaring rapidly.

Knocking the horse's belly lightly, 10 desert robbers shook the reins, turned the desert horse's neck under the crotch, and prepared to return along the route they came from, ending this patrol deep into the desert.

Their patrols are serious and careful.

After confirming that there is no problem in this area, choose to leave.

However, they didn't know that in the ruins of the tribe, the expedition from the Kingdom of Greymane had sent an advance team, that is, the 300 powerful gnoll pirates, and successfully traveled there.

And occupied the well in the ruins of the tribe, dug together, and successfully dug out more groundwater.

The news didn't come.

Kant did not set up sentries or post-posts in the tribal ruins.

However, the system has already given a warning, but the "Drehem" fortress has been prepared, and all troops are on standby to meet the enemy troops that may appear at any time.

The desert robbers rode their horses back to the sentry oasis.

The Consulate Hall with a height of 10 meters and the arrow tower at the four corners are the first to be seen.

Then there is the 7-meter-high city wall reinforced by the attic.

Sen Ran's defenses have been well laid out. Soldiers are standing on the entire city defense fortifications. Whether it's the arrow tower, the attic, or the top of the administrative hall, the bowmen are all vigilantly scanning the area they are responsible for.

there won't be any troops,

Can quietly approach the sentry oasis.

The bowman's eyes are very good.

The city gate opened slowly.

Ten Swadian light infantry came out with spears.

Not far away, the desert robbers who went out to investigate and patrol have all returned. Under the supervision of these light infantry, they led their desert horses and entered the fortress on foot.

The "Drehem" fortress has entered a state of high martial law.

Management is extremely strict.

This is a good habit brought on in Calradia.

Martial law in fortresses or towns is very common in turbulent wars.

Not only did you need to walk in line to enter the fortress, you couldn't rush in by riding a horse as before, and even any soldiers or civilians who wanted to go out had to apply to their superiors in advance.

This is to prevent spies from leaking inside information.

Although there is no possibility of spies in the current "Drehem", the habit is still maintained.

Being strict is always good.

The aroma of cooking begins to permeate, and lunch is ready.

The strong peasant women carried rattan baskets on their backs and transported all the prepared lunches to the city wall. The bowmen who were responsible for vigilance would eat in batches and rest in batches to ensure that the vigilance level would not be lowered.

The same goes for the infantry and cavalry in the tents that have been pulled up under the city walls.

Inside the Executive Hall.

Kant sat in his chair, eating the food on the table in front of him.

Manid and Fatis were sitting on opposite sides of the long table, also eating.

The lunch brought in by the kitchen was more generous, with toast and fried lamb chops as main course, fried eggs and stewed mashed oatmeal as side dishes, and honey-coated croutons for dessert.

All three's lunches were sprinkled with increasingly rare spices and tasted delicious.

But Kant's face was calm.

Although he was skillfully eating lamb chops with a knife and fork, he asked, "Have you noticed anything abnormal recently?"

"No." Fatis replied.

"Everything is normal," Manid replied.

Kant's eyes were slightly anxious: "This is really not good news."

Finding the enemy means that he has mastered the enemy's dynamics.

The fact that the enemy has not been found all the time also means that the enemy is still outside his control and is in an unknown state, which makes Kant restless, and even the delicious lunch is completely unaware of the taste.

Fatis frowned: "Sir, why don't I lead the team to investigate further."

"It's too dangerous." Kant rejected his proposal.

Swallowing the lamb chops he was chewing in his mouth, Kant said solemnly, "Perhaps our enemy will take some time to bring his troops to the sentry oasis. After all, it will take 2 days to get here from the natural salt mine on horseback. "

"If you walk, it's estimated to take three days." Manid added.

Kant nodded: "That's it."

Silence in the hall.

Kant looked up again: "But we can't help but prepare."

Manid and Fatis looked up at him.

"If I remember correctly." Kant narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "My subjects should have completed all the work in the morning and transferred everything from the entire agricultural and pastoral areas in."

"Yes." Manid nodded.

What Kant is talking about is the splendens splendens that can be used as green fodder, as well as chicken coops, honeycombs and other things.

But he still reminded: "Lord Kant, the 5 acres of date palm trees on our north side have not yet been cut down. If the enemy really comes, it will be difficult for us to cut down these trees in a short time."

"Not enough time…"

Kant put the sheep in his mouth, looked at Fatis next to him, and said calmly: "Then burn them all."

"Understood." Fatis nodded.

They don't leave anything behind to help the enemy with the possibility of a siege.

Although the troops in the fortress are well-equipped and well-trained veterans, in the face of strong gnolls with chain armor and two-handed tomahawks, Kant is not sure in his heart whether they can occupy close quarters. Hand-to-hand advantage.

The battle for the city wall can only start after the enemy has paid the damage.

If you come up, you will fight for the city wall.

That means that the soldiers stationed in this fortress are really too lax, and even such obvious weaknesses and vital points are handed over to those gnolls, which is absolutely unacceptable to Kant.

"In this case." Kant said: "In the afternoon, let all the civilians cut down all the date palm trees."

"Understood." Manid nodded.

But with a bit of reluctance on his face, he hesitated: "These date palm trees have already bloomed, the bees can still collect honey, and at most one month, the date palm can be produced."

"Cut it off." Kant shook his head and repeated.

This is impossible.

To be safe, they had to lose something.

Just like the date palm trees on this 5 mu of land, if the harvest is successful, 240 baskets of date palms will be obtained.

If the purchase price of these dates by the Riwadin caravan, the total value of these 240 baskets of dates is 12,000 dinars, which is more than the current balance of Kant's village mines, which is a huge sum of money!

The main thing is that, mixed with honey, Kant can make a lot of date palm sugar.

This kind of product that can bring sweetness and satisfy the tongue is also a luxury that those nobles in the Lion Principality who can only rely on fruit and honey to obtain sweetness on weekdays are keen and pursued!

Even if the dates are turned into candied fruit, they can be sold for extremely high profits!

In the kingdom of lions lacking condiments.

The value of salt, sugar, and spices often represents huge sums of money.

Kant chuckled, although there was still regret in his eyes, he said calmly: "We will get more date palm trees in the future, this is just a trade-off for the war."

"Yes." Fatis and Manid nodded.

Lunch ends quickly.

Manid was the first to leave, and he needed to arrange for farmers to cut down the date palm trees so that they could be completed before dark.

After Fatis reported the city defense arrangement, he also left.

Both of them are very busy.

Perhaps the most leisurely is the lord Kant, whose daily work is mostly to inspect various points of the fortress, or listen to the reports of the two, make the final decision, and personally decide some arrangements.

It's like cutting down a date palm forest.

As a lord, you don't need to do your best, but you have to master the overall situation.

This is Kant's creed.

With the swing of the logging axe, pieces of date palm trees were felled down.

After simple repairs in the agricultural area, the thickest trunks were all carried into the fortress, carefully placed against the wall, and tents were set up with linen to prevent direct sunlight from damaging these straight logs.

After all, the trunk of the date palm is the best wood.

Whether it is making beams or planks, as well as guns, arrow shafts, etc., the texture is more than enough, and those branches and leaves are also collected, and the other party is used as a fuel reserve at the sugar workshop.

Date palms are full of usable material.

Today passes quickly.

Civilians and soldiers alike fell asleep after a busy day.

However, on the city walls and arrow towers, the sentry archers have been well arranged to ensure that they will not be attacked by the enemy at night.

Caution is required.

But at dawn the next day, there was a loud noise.

The entire sentry oasis quickly turned into a state of combat readiness.

Even Kant was awakened by the sound of the guard knocking on the door, quickly put on his clothes, and asked, "What's the matter, what happened, has the enemy started to attack?"

"No, Lord Kant."

The guard's tone was serious, and he said seriously outside the door: "There are refugees here."

"Refugees?" Kant frowned.

After getting dressed, I didn't have time to wash up and walked out of the room quickly.

However, instead of going downstairs in the Consular Hall, they walked up the stairs to the top floor. The 20 Ravenston Rangers were holding their bows and looking to the east. When they saw Kant, they saluted and said hello.

"Well, what's going on." Kant came to the bumpy arrow wall.

Just behind the sand dunes to the east, nearly 300 refugees are gathering there in fear.

There are 40 desert robbers around, holding spears and riding horses back and forth, staring closely at this group of refugees, it seems that they are ferocious desert vultures, staring at these poor little quails.

Kant couldn't help frowning: "Really a refugee?"

PS: I found that I haven’t thanked you for your rewards for many days. Recently, you have given a lot of rewards. I will restore the rhythm of the plot first, and I will thank you after the rhythm of the plot is smooth. In other words, after adjusting the outline, it is not so awkward to write.