Chapter 36

South of Ard, Gerald pulled the reins to his horse and turned it around. He eyed the gate of the castle. Like last time, men were pouring out and falling into ranks. The cavalry was already out of the castle and had lined up into a wide formation. The infantry slowly emerged out of the gates and fell into square formations near the walls.

The sun hadn't appeared yet, but its weak rays were already blanketing the sky. Gerald was surrounded by the mounted Warriors of his elite corps. The recruitment had raised their numbers to 56 Warriors. He hoped that the results of the coming battle would encourage more young Warriors to join the corps. He was certain that Ard had more. If two or three men out of every hundred succeeded in becoming Warriors, then Ard still had dozens at least. There was a reason only a few of them joined armies though.

An ordinary man wouldn't hesitate to join the army because of its benefits, but Warriors were more aware of their worth. Any man with enough coin could get their hands on a Warrior manual, but only a few could succeed in becoming Earth Warriors. Therefore the Warriors were usually very talented combatants, even if not experienced ones. Being given higher benefits than ordinary soldiers was the least of their expectations. Their awareness of their worth often drove them into joining mercenary bands instead of armies. As mercenaries, they would reap most of the benefits of their hard work themselves, earning enough gold to live a relaxed life through selling their sword for just a few years.

Gerald saw that the infantry was almost through the gates. They were the last to come out of Ard. The siege equipment and bowmen were already behind him. And The crossbowmen were lined up behind the cavalry. The latter two units would be the least useful during the battle. Gerald wouldn't command his cavalrymen to dismount and fight on foot. A cavalryman needed a lot of training and time to become a proper mounted soldier. Although Gerald wasn't inclined to sacrifice any of his men, he knew that many would still fall during the battle. Using his cavalrymen as footmen during the assault would be foolish, as replacing them would take a lot of effort and patience.

The crossbowmen, on the other hand, wouldn't fare very well against the walls of a fortress. They would do well if they were the defenders. But as attackers, they would just be living targets for Luwin's archers who would be on the walls. Their best advantage, penetrative power, would be nonexistent in a siege assault. They could still rain a volley on enemies, but they would be nowhere near as competent as longbow men at volleys.

Gerald shot a glance towards his left. In the distance, Edgar was among his band of sellswords. Almost half of them were mounted, while the other half was on foot. Most of them, however, were well armed. Gerald even spotted many with heavy iron armor. Unlike a lord, Edgar didn't have to bear the cost of arming his men. They had to buy most of their equipment with their own coin.

Most of the mercenaries had large, heavy shields on their backs. Gerald knew that they would need them soon.

He heard a trotting sound and spotted Robard approaching. The head knight was in his steel armor as usual, with the only difference being that he wore his visor now. Robard brought his horse to a halt in front of Gerald and saluted. "The men are ready to march, my lord."

"Very well," Gerald smiled. "Let's move."

"Yes," Robard said and turned around, signaling the command with his hand.

Gerald raised his hand and waved for Edgar who waved back and prepared his men for the short march.

Soon, Gerald's army began marching towards the south in loose formation. The cavalry moved ahead and split up into several groups. They rode ahead of the march to chase down any scouts that could appear and hopefully capture some of them.

They wouldn't meet any scouts until they marched out of Ard's range of influence though.

Less than half of the distance had been covered when Gerald spotted a village. He could see the signs of rebuilding among its buildings. Some boasted fresher timber than others, creating a weird contrast between the shades of color of the old and new houses.

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Gerald frowned. That was the village that had been raided by his father's killers. It reminded him of some bothersome thoughts that had plagued him for the past few days. The most odd of which was why his father had taken Gerald's elder brother with him. Had his brother insisted on accompanying his father? Or hadn't his father actually been aware of the risks when he'd followed those 'bandits'?

Gerald shook his head. It wasn't the time to think of that. He would find the ones who'd murdered his father and brother someday, and he would show them no mercy. But there were other matters at hand now.

The march continued, and soon they began coming across Luwin's scouts regularly. The cavalry would quickly chase them away though. Considering that his cavalry would do little during the assault, he didn't stop them from tiring themselves out by chasing the scouts. At least it would prevent Luwin from knowing too much about his forces. Though he doubted that Luwin was ignorant of Ard's strength.

The Canary didn't trade with Luwin like the other bandits, but the former mercenary was likely aware of the Viscounty's military numbers and strength from other sources. However, this assault was too abrupt. Luwin had likely been thinking that Gerald would wipe out the smaller crews before trying to attack him. He was probably surprised by the news he was hearing right now though.

Gerald was at the head of the army. Only the cavalry had gone farther ahead to chase down the scouts. Gerald and his men were close to their destination. He looked back towards the tail of his army and gazed at what was slowing their march down. There were wagons carrying the mantlets and siege ladders, but they weren't what really slowed the army down. Behind those wagons, Gerald spotted the wheeled battering rams. There were three of them and their wheels were small and rigid, making them the slowest in the march. Currently, they were being pulled by horses. During the assault, they would be pushed by the men that would be hiding under their wooden sheds.

By noon they reached the fortress. Gerald spotted it from afar. Its mud walls were yellow with a tint of red. They looked coarse but enough to stop any unprepared attackers. Gerald believed Luwin must have had a lot of time on his hands to have been able to build something like that. The fortress wasn't large though. It covered twice the area of a smaller crew's camp, which meant that it was even more cramped inside than a bandits' camp.

As his army got closer to the fortress, Gerald found that Robard's words were true. The walls were nearly three times a man's height. They weren't too high, but they weren't low either. There was only one gate to the fortress, and it was in the direction Gerald's army had come from.

Gerald saw Edgar riding towards him with his lieutenant, Isaac. The two quickly reached Gerald's side.

"They seem ready," Edgar said, pointing at the fortress's walls.

Gerald saw archers and footmen on the walls. Some of those on the walls were as well armed as Edgar's men while others seemed only a bit better than an ordinary bandit. Gerald assumed that the well armed ones were members of Luwin's original mercenary band, while the others were the newly recruited bandits.

There was a brief silence as Gerald's men came to a halt about 700 yards away from Luwin's walls. Before the silence could be broken by any commands, the fortress's gate began to open. Gerald spotted a rider coming out and riding towards them.

The rider galloped towards Ard's army on his own. Gerald looked to his side and saw Robard riding towards him. He would have to meet their rider and see what he had to say. Though Gerald wasn't inclined to negotiate with the bandits nor did they have any right to negotiate in the first place.

He led Robard, Edgar, and Isaac towards the rider. The two sides galloped towards each other. Gerald soon met the rider out of the enemy archers' range. "What did the bandit send you to say?" Gerald said, wasting no time.

The rider was still bringing his horse to a stop and he scowled at Gerald's question. Then he quickly regained his composure. He snorted and said, "Captain Robben Luwin would like to deliver you a friendly warning, your lordship."

"A warning, huh?" Gerald said with a sardonic smile. He glanced at Edgar and Robard who, like him, wore mocking smiles. "Speak then."

The rider's face changed into a frown as he noticed the mocking gazes he was receiving. He took a breath and spoke. "Your lordship. Retreat or bleed."

Gerald didn't respond right away. There was a moment of odd silence, then he broke into loud laughter. "That's it?" he said, still laughing. "A threat?" Then he stopped laughing and his face quickly lost all expression. "I have one for you as well. Surrender or die."

The rider smirked and showed a mocking smile like the one he'd received before. "We have a well and enough food to survive for months. We will never surrender."

"Who said I'm planning to wait for months or even days?" Gerald said. "You'll either surrender today or die today."

The rider glared at him for a moment then pulled his reins and began turning his horse around. He quickly shot a glance at Edgar while turning around. "Captain of the Red Rain band," he said with a smirk "Captain Luwin tells you that this will be the last of your days." Then he urged his horse on and rode away.

Edgar chuckled in response then muttered, "he threatens me when he's the one trapped behind his own walls."