Chapter 15

Gerald patted the horse he was riding as he watched his army pour out of the gates of Ard. The men trotted out of the gates and fell into formation. Ranks upon ranks formed in front of the gates, marching forward.

Robard was riding beside Gerald, his solemn face visible under his steel helmet. He gazed back as the last soldier came out of the gates, then he issued the command for a quick march.

It was just after dusk and Gerald had begun moving his army as soon as the sun dipped into the horizon. He had to be near the forest at midnight or even earlier. The Black Dog bandits would probably start moving soon, and they had to cover a much shorter distance to get to their enemies compared to Gerald's forces.

Gerald urged his horse forward into a trot as the army followed in loose ranks. About 500 light cavalry were following him and Robard. That was all the cavalry the army had. Gerald hoped they could make the best out of them. Not that it would matter. Nobody would be able to flee tonight. The bandits who run from battle would either run from the camp towards Black Dog's assault, or from the assault back to the camp. Both would be met by the freshly recruited refugees near the forest. Uncle Rudolf would be there to see to it.

The night got darker as they rode forward. Gerald watched the clouds slowly blocking the moon then moving on to let the latter's light descend again.

The march towards the forest had taken longer than he'd thought. It was past midnight when they finally saw the outline of the forest on the horizon. Gerald raised his hand, and Robard quickly turned around and signaled for the forces to stop. Soon the ranks slowed down and came to halt.

Gerald eyed the distant forest. "We'll stop here and split up. If we get closer to the forest, we'd probably be spotted by Uncle Rudolf's men. That is if they haven't spotted us already."

Robard nodded. "Yes, my lord. Do you still insist on taking only 1000 men? I can manage with 2000. The bandits don't amount to much."

"No need to take risks," Gerald shook his head. "If you begin battle when both crews still have men, then you'd be fighting almost 2000 bandits. Even if you come out victorious, it would be a victory fraught with losses. We have to take into account the possibility of that happening. My assault on their camp will be easier. They have limited men there. 1000 of our own would be enough, and I will have the elite corps too."

"By your command, my lord," Robard saluted. "I will begin arranging the men." The head knight quickly rode back towards the ranks and began separating the men. Gerald would lead 1000 men, including 100 out of the recently expanded 200 crossbowmen, 100 out of the 500 bowmen, and 150 out of the 500 cavalry. The rest would be footmen. In addition to the 1000 men, Gerald would have the elite corps sticking to him at all times. He hoped to make good use of them in this battle.

He had chosen to go to the easier battlefield deliberately. Gerald had never led men or been to battle before. Robard had sufficient experience to lead 3000 men and wipe out the numerous bandits. On the other hand, Gerald would use this opportunity to build his own experience. He'd read his share of books about wars and strategy, but real battle was something else.

Soon, Robard separated the men into the predetermined ranks. 1000 stayed, while 3000 tailed after Robard as he rode away to the southeast.

Gerald watched as 30 mounted men rode towards him. "My lord," they said in unison. "The elite corps awaits your commands."

Gerald swept his eyes over the 30 Warriors of the elite corps as well as the 1000 men waiting behind them and smiled. "Prepare yourselves for battle. We march to the northeast."

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Gasper sighed as he eyed the bandit lieutenants riding beside him. He'd been given a horse, which no other bandit could have except Black Dog and his lieutenants. It was a rewarding treatment from Black Dog. For Gasper, though, it was a burden. It meant that he was easier to spot, specially while riding beside Black Dog's lieutenants. He wouldn't be able to slip away during the march like he'd hoped.

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Since Black Dog had him nearby now, then he would probably keep him nearby during the battle too. Gasper would be plunged into this battle for certain now.

He looked to the far right and saw the wide green of the woods. The bandit army of nearly 1000 was passing by the forest already, and soon they would arrive at Big Mountain's camp. Black Dog had had them march out of the camp a bit before midnight.

It was past midnight now and the forest soon fell behind them. After a while of riding, they arrived near the hill Gasper and Yellow Dog had used to spy on the camp before.

Black Dog quickly dismounted and his lieutenants did the same. Gasper hopped off his horse and approached the bandit chief. "Let's head up there," Black Dog whispered, pointing at the top of the hill.

The others nodded and crawled up the hill with their chief.

Gasper soon reached the top beside them. He stretched his neck and eyed the Big Mountain camp that was lit by torches. He spotted a few patrols, and some sentries on the watchtowers and the platforms of the palisade.

"We'll be moving first," Black Dog whispered. "We'll take out as many sentries as we can then the rest of the crew will charge. Yellow Dog will stay and lead the rest of the men. We'll head out and handle the sentries." He eyed his lieutenants and Gasper.

Everyone nodded including Gasper.

The hill wasn't steep on either side, so they didn't find it hard to descend towards the camp from the hill. They were soon on level ground, and they split up into pairs. Gasper was paired up with another lieutenant, and they sneaked towards one of the palisade walls.

A patrol of two was the pair's target. They slowly crawled as close as possible to the palisade. A sentry was overlooking their direction from the platform, but he was hardly paying any attention. Gasper and his companion slid through the grass and were soon twenty yards away from the moving patrol.

The bandit lieutenant gestured for Gasper to get to his feet and crouch. Gasper complied and both of them were ready to pounce on the clueless pair of patrollers. They slowly crept towards their targets and got within a few yards from them without alerting the sentry on the platform. The bandit lieutenant gestured for Gasper and the latter nodded. Then suddenly, they both leapt towards the two patrolling men.

Gasper had a dagger in his hand and he leapt with half his strength towards one of the bandits. Before the latter could even turn, Gasper had plunged his dagger into the back of his neck.

Gasper looked to his left and didn't find the other patroller doing any better. Black Dog's lieutenant had sliced open his neck. The bandit lieutenant confirmed that he had finished his target then turned to Gasper and nodded. Then he pointed at Gasper and at the sentry on the platform. And pointed at himself and at the palisade's corner.

Gasper understood and nodded. The bandit lieutenant was going around the corner, and Gasper was to handle the sentry quickly.

Gasper eyed the palisade for any deformities. It was a bit over a dozen yards away from him. Farther along the palisade, his target stood, half asleep. He soon found a spot where the palisade was partly worn down. The bandits hardly cared about maintenance after all. He moved carefully towards the spot until he was below it. Then he put strength into his legs and jumped up, quickly clinging to the worn down top.

Gasper pulled himself up and got onto the platform unnoticed. He eyed the sentry and found him unchanged. Then he slowly crept towards him along the platform. It was hard to get into a sentry's blind spot on a narrow platform like this. So Gasper relied on the lack of attention from the sentry, but he was sure that he would be noticed when he got within 10 yards of his target.

He was soon a bit over that distance from the sentry. Gasper pondered for a moment then stood up and walked towards the sentry leisurely. The latter quickly noticed him but said nothing at first.

"It's damn hard to sleep these days," Gasper grumbled as he walked. The sentry searched Gasper's face carefully. It was a dark night and even with torches it was sometimes difficult to recognize someone. The sentry hadn't been fully awake in the first place, so it took him a while to widen his eyes in shock. But Gasper was already two yards away from him. He used all his Warrior strength to leap forward like a predator and drive his dagger through the sentry's mouth before he could utter a sound.

A few faint gurgling noises came from the sentry's mouth, which Gasper assumed were attempted screams. He held the sentry closely as the latter uttered his final gurgles and closed his eyes.

He laid him down on the platform quietly and was about to move when he heard a yell from another corner of the camp. "INTRUDERS!"

It was a yell that invited many after it which shocked the sleeping bandits into grabbing their weapons. Gasper froze for a moment. Then he heard another yell from a familiar voice.

"Torch the tents!" It was Black Dog. Gasper nodded in agreement. Chaos was their best choice now until the rest of Black Dog's men arrived. He quickly grabbed a torch and threw it onto the nearest tent. It caught fire instantly but one bandit drilled out of it in a hurry. It was too late to kill them in a fire now. Most of them were awake, but it wouldn't harm to burn the tents to prevent them from rallying to each other.

Soon, the edges of the camp lit up as some tents caught fire and spread it to the neighboring ones. Gasper grabbed another torch and threw it into the cramped tents. Although he was easy to spot on the palisade, most of the camp's bandits were too busy escaping the fate of being burned alive or thanking the heavens that they had made it out.

It didn't take long for him to hear a yell from behind him. "Charge!" Gasper instantly recognized it as Yellow Dog's voice.

The assault had finally begun.