Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords

Thus, the entire force of thirty thousand began to advance in neat formations, finally halting three thousand paces away from the walls of Kalia. This distance ensured that they would have ample time to retreat to safety if things went awry, and they would not be threatened by the enemy's ranged weaponry or magic.

Li Wei breathed on his lenses, then wiped them with his sleeve before placing them before his eyes. Standing atop the broad head of the Cerberus, he carefully observed the distant town.

The gigantic transformation of Griefwind startled the vanguard soldiers. After all, they had seen this magical beast before, but they never imagined that the three-headed dog, usually only three 'ren' tall, could grow to the size of a dragon.

Fortunately, these soldiers knew that this was the mount of their Lionheart Knight, so after a brief commotion, they calmed down, though they still excitedly whispered among themselves.

After all, such a powerful magical beast on their side could inflict unimaginable damage on the enemy.

A single swipe of its paw would likely be enough to collapse a small city wall.

Seeing the soldiers' morale inexplicably rising, Earl Andober was utterly impressed with Li Wei.

Commanders racked their brains to write passionate pre-battle speeches to boost the soldiers' morale, but this Lionheart Knight only needed a word or action to achieve the same effect.

Kalia was a typical agricultural town common in Deber, mostly serving as a barony. The low, one- or two-story buildings were scattered haphazardly throughout the town. The once-hard dirt roads were now muddy and trampled due to melting snow, mixed with cow and sheep dung.

The only noteworthy building was the Baron's Keep, which was fortified at the center.

The walls were even more pathetic, made of yellow earth and wheat straw, standing only three 'ren' tall.

Even with the two arrow towers built next to it for defense, this level of fortification might be enough to defend against wild beasts or some bandits, but it was a fool's dream to think it could withstand an attack from regular soldiers.

Although the vanguard lacked large siege weaponry, Li Wei had brought the ballistae from Highcliff Castle. A few bolts would be enough to keep the enemy from showing their faces.

Not to mention he also had four Drow Priestesses. Back then, a few rounds of magical bombardment from those little ladies had blasted a large hole in the ten-'ren'-tall walls of the Windwhisper Tribe, let alone this wall that was merely chest-high to Gus.

The town had clearly noticed their arrival. The soldiers hastily closed the gates, and no matter how the group of farmers outside, wearing black felt hats and carrying cabbages, pleaded, they could not sway their resolve.

No sane commander would open the gates for a few farmers; it would be different if they were nobles.

Figures moved busily on the walls, and with shouts, more soldiers climbed onto the low walls from afar to defend.

Li Wei carefully observed the equipment and morale of these soldiers and concluded that this was a makeshift group of commoners pulled together by some baron.

They were wearing heavy woolen sweaters, deerhide hats, and the only thing they could call a weapon was a rusty spear they had found somewhere.

This was a completely rural militia. Not to mention the lord's elite soldiers, even the dragonkin legion from the wilderness would be enough to take this town.

Li Wei did not exaggerate; he told the two earls everything as it was. After all, seeing is not always believing. Perhaps the enemy was playing tricks, hiding their true elite soldiers in the shadows, and these visible ones were just bait.

However, after speaking, he realized that the two earls were staring intently at the telescope in his hand. Eventually, the telescope went around in their hands before returning to the lord.

"That thing is good; get me one later," Earl Andober said bluntly, without any pretense.

Earl Tess wanted it too, but he couldn't bring himself to ask, so he just kept a straight face.

"This thing isn't particularly valuable; I'll get one for each of you when I have time."

Li Wei waved his hand dismissively.

"Li Wei, I admit that my impression of you was too harsh." Earl Tess was surprised that he was included and said sincerely.

"Earl Tess, in fact, I must say that our conflict is only due to different factions. Ultimately, we are serving Duchess Frulina," Li Wei said meaningfully. "And to be honest, you all subconsciously treat me as Frulina's vassal, but Miss Lyia is my true liege."

He clasped his hands behind his back, looking towards the rear as if he were looking at Miss Lyia, who was far away in the main force, looking every bit like a loyal subject.

"This..." The two earls looked at each other, suddenly remembering this point.

In an instant, Earl Tess's hostility towards the Lionheart Knight disappeared for the most part.

Yes, this Lionheart Knight was only temporarily fighting in the same camp as them due to circumstances. Once the Southern Border was taken, he would leave.

Li Wei smiled indifferently. What's the point of expressing loyalty face to face when you can do it behind their backs?

Look, Lord Li is Lyia's number one loyalist, never forgetting her even from this far away.

When she ascends to the position of duchess, it wouldn't be an overstatement to grant him an earldom.

The main reason was that he didn't have any deep hatred for Tess.

It's unpleasant to have conflict, and it's inevitable that the other party will trip him up. Although it's nothing to him, it's annoying.

So it's better to turn hostility into friendship, lest he has to worry about the other party playing tricks while fighting, and end up being sabotaged by his own people instead of the enemy.

"I just saw their flag; it's a black short sword on a blue background."

Now that they had spoken frankly, things were obviously much better. Earl Tess took the initiative to gesture and describe what he had just seen.

"I've never heard of any prominent military noble in the Southern Border with this flag." Earl Andober frowned, searching through the flags he had specifically memorized recently, but he couldn't find a match.

In this world, from large countries and legions to small knights, they all have a flag as their symbol.

Therefore, using the flag to determine the other party's background is a very common method.

"I have a subordinate who specializes in studying the nobles of the Southern Border; maybe he knows. I'll call him over to take a look."

Li Wei kicked Mil, who had been acting as a wooden figure guarding him, and he quickly ran to the rear to fetch someone.

Soon, a hobgoblin dressed in leather armor, with a long sword hanging from his waist, and dressed as a military noble, trotted over. He took the telescope and looked carefully before saying with certainty, "This is a baron named Regulo. The black sword flag is the symbol of their family. Kalia is his fief. According to the information I have, he should only have one or two thousand regular soldiers under his command; there's no way he has more than four thousand now."

"Obviously, the other party has temporarily pulled a group of civilians to act as soldiers in order to achieve a superficial appearance of strong forces." Li Wei snapped his fingers with a smile.

This method is commonly used by nobles. Usually, they only have two or three thousand professional soldiers, but once a war breaks out, they can gather the civilians under their command and reach an army of tens of thousands.

Perhaps these civilians cannot fight against regular soldiers, but they can definitely exhaust the opponent's stamina and make things easier for the real soldiers.

The other party only has one or two thousand real soldiers, while they have as many as thirty thousand. Although the real main force is only about ten thousand, it is still much stronger than the opponent.

Not to mention Earl Tess, who has a heavy infantry squad under his command, which is definitely the best choice for sieges.

The military strength of the two earls, plus Highcliff Castle, the newly emerging pioneer territory, it would be extravagant for the three nobles to deal with a small baron. If they can't take it down, they won't be able to escape the gallows.

"Lord, we have explored the surrounding area for nearly fifty miles and found nothing."

Soon, Hogg returned riding his tongue-wagging dire wolf, followed by gnoll scouts who had been sent out to explore.

"It's a waste of heaven's gifts not to eat the cake that's been delivered to our mouths." Li Wei made a decisive decision and issued an order: "Zat, have the brothers put on their armor, raise their shields, and advance. Archers, prepare to support. Leighton, have Gus and the others find a place to stay."

As centaurs, Gus and the others were destined to be excluded from siege warfare, so in this situation, they could only act as spectators.

The logistics cooks and auxiliary soldiers stayed behind to guard the supplies, while nearly twenty thousand regular soldiers advanced while deploying their formations, finally stopping eight hundred paces away from the city walls.

Li Wei had carefully observed the other party's defenses and found that they didn't even have a ballista, which was extremely shabby.

So this distance didn't need to worry about the other party suddenly launching a thousand-pace assassination of the leader.

…

In the Baron's Keep of Kalia, Baron Regulo was taking large gulps of mead brewed by the civilians of Kalia to relieve his inner anxiety.

He had attended the banquet in Coron back then, but he was one of those who supported Damon's succession to the title.

As for Cao Iseli, the son of the old duke's daughter, the new duke in name?

Heh, everyone with eyes knew that this was just a fig leaf. Perhaps the old duke himself knew that this was the offspring of his brother and daughter.

The real decision-makers in the Southern Border were only Damon, the commander-in-chief of all military affairs, and Penny.

But these were all irrelevant.

Since the knight had taken Lyia and fled the Southern Border like a stray dog, all the nobles who supported Damon, the libertine knight, hadn't cared at all.

In their view, two people with nothing could only live in the dark corners for the rest of their lives. If they dared to show their faces, they would definitely face the thunderous means of the new Duke of the Southern Border.

But unexpectedly…

In less than half a year, the other party returned with a massive army.

Kalia, as an outpost, became the first target of their attack.

"Damn Northern Border bitch! Damn Lionheart Knight! All these Northern Border barbarians deserve to die!"

Regulo cursed freely.

It was clearly the Southern Border's own business, but that Northern Border bitch had to interfere, which made him extremely resentful.

But the one he hated the most was the Lionheart Knight, who had become extremely popular recently. If he hadn't taken Lyia out of the Southern Border in the first place, the current situation would never have happened.

A month ago, he had received Damon's order to defend his territory, and he had been mentally prepared for it and quickly took his place.

But he waited and waited without seeing the imagined large forces and support. Just as he couldn't help but want to ask, the arrival of three people gave him reassurance.

Because it meant that support was slowly coming.

Then he began to wait patiently, but until now, no one else had arrived in Kalia. These three people seemed to be the only support.

What was even more deadly was that the other party's army had surrounded Kalia.

He hadn't failed to send out cavalry to scout for information, but every one he sent out disappeared. He understood that the other party's cavalry level must be superb.

Most of his soldiers were infantry. If he insisted on withdrawing, the only outcome would be being chased and killed by the other party. The best outcome would be a successful escape, but he would inevitably become a baron without any soldiers, and he might even be blamed by Damon.

So the best way was to defend Kalia in the hope of Damon's support.

Now he was completely in the dark about the outside world, not knowing how many soldiers the other party had, not knowing how far Damon's main force was from Kalia.

And not knowing how long he could last.

"How is the situation?" He roughly gulped down a mouthful of mead and asked impatiently.

"The Northern Border barbarians have begun preparing to attack the city."

Surrounding Regulo were the most elite squire under his command. Facing the upcoming battle, these greenhorns were all excited, looking forward to gaining merit in this battle and becoming true knights, owning their own manors.

"Let's go, take a look." He drank the last of the wine in his cup, wiped the water droplets from his beard, put on his sword, and led a group of squires dressed in iron armor to the city walls.

Kalia was a very common agricultural town, with most of the surrounding area being farmland, so standing on the city walls, one could have a panoramic view.

The other party was still discussing who would attack, so they had only deployed their formation and had not yet launched an attack.

"Look, centaurs!"

"The leading centaur must be the chieftain of the centaur tribe; he's so huge!"

"My God! His arm is as thick as my grandmother's body."

The knights kept exclaiming.

They were in the Southern Border, and it was difficult to see these powerful races with their own eyes. Most of them could only see them in the Coron arena.

They had originally thought that they were all empty shells, but it was only when they saw them with their own eyes that they realized that was not the case.

Regulo had to admit that those mountain-like centaurs were indeed terrifying to look at, especially since they were also wearing sophisticated cavalry armor.

If they charged in the wilderness, they could defeat his soldiers in a single round.

But fortunately, they were the defending side, which meant that these four-legged creatures could hardly exert their greatest strength in siege warfare.

"Look, there are orcs too."

"Aren't these orcs too burly? The orcs in the Coron arena are like malformed children compared to them!"

The more carefully they looked, the less proud the knights felt, and now all they felt was unease.

Regulo's heart also sank a little, but it was completely out of the question to be so afraid that he would open the gates and surrender.

Even the surrounding knights, though marveling incessantly, had lost their earlier arrogance of being the best, but ultimately, they weren't so afraid as to be unable to fight.

All of this naturally stemmed from the three individuals who had come as the sole reinforcements.

...

"Let's discuss how we should attack."

Beneath the city of Kalia, Earl Tess put on his gloves and adjusted his armor.

"Is there really a need to discuss it? Just use a log to ram open their city gate, then have the heavy infantry advance, supported by archers, and finally, have the cavalry engage in a pursuit to expand the victory. Isn't that how it's done?" Li Wei asked, looking puzzled.

"That's generally the procedure," Earl Tess glanced at Li Wei. "But, Sir, have you ever participated in a siege before?"

"This..." The Lord was an honest man, shaking his head.

In the wilderness, not to mention a city, you couldn't even find a city wall. Where would he go to lay siege?

"Tess, just say what's on your mind," Earl An Dao saw through his thoughts.

Tess smiled, looking at the distant city walls: "What I mean is, perhaps the task of sieging should be left to me. After all, I haven't made a single contribution to Duchess Flynna yet."

The Lord didn't expect this middle-aged nobleman with thick eyebrows and large eyes to have such ulterior motives.

What 'contributing to the Duchess' was just nice words. In reality, his true goal was to earn military merit for himself.

However, since someone was willing to take the risk, the Lord was naturally happy to let him, waving his hand with a smile: "Since Earl Tess has this inclination, then I'll leave it to you."

Truth be told, although this small town seemed ordinary on the surface, it might be a smokescreen.

Therefore, Li Wei naturally agreed with both hands to Tess's willingness to take the risk.

Even if this small town was indeed a shoddy setup that could be easily taken, he didn't care. He wasn't Flynna's vassal, and this so-called military merit meant little to him.

He only needed to firmly support Leah in becoming the Duchess, and he would surely receive many benefits.

"Then be careful, and retreat immediately if things don't look right."

An Dao also had no intention of competing with him for military merit.

After all, the most elite soldiers under his command were cavalry, and sieging was not something he could handle.

Tess nodded, fastened his iron helmet, and waved his longsword.

Five hundred infantrymen wearing layers of iron armor raised their shields and began to advance, with a group of archers in cotton-padded coats behind them.

The strength of the attacking and defending sides was, frankly, a bit shabby, but it didn't stop the Lord from watching with great interest. After all, this was the first time he had personally seen humans using what methods to siege a city.

As for letting Heather and the others help, blasting open the city walls?

Li Wei had no such thoughts at all. He had barely reconciled with Tess earlier, but that didn't mean he would actively help.

After all, they seemed to be allies now, but who knew what would happen after the Southern Territory was conquered.

He was naturally happy to see this kind of open method that could deplete the other side's forces.

The defending soldiers on the city wall began to fire arrows, but when they landed on the fully armed heavy infantry, it could only be said that they were insignificant. They were easily deflected by the iron shields, only leaving a dent on them.