Road to Welking Bridge

Being the only man left standing during the slaughter that had just taken place, duke Fritsen's body quickly trembled in fear as he desperately turned his head towards random directions in order to search for the hidden men responsible for the deaths of his escorts.

"S-Show your self!" Duke Fritsen yelled in a shaky voice as he pointed his sword at a random tree.

It was then that he suddenly heard loud rustling noises from the bushes and vegetations around him that he gasped in shock as he saw the people responsible for his men's deaths finally reveal themselves.

Clad in dark robes and armed with crossbows and bows, one by one, the unknown and mysterious group slowly showed themselves to the duke, gathering themselves around him.

One of them stepped forward towards the duke before taking the hood on it's head off, revealing a man in his thirties, he had a bald head and a large scar on his face, across his nose specifically.

The moment the duke saw him, the fear in his heart was instead, quickly replaced by anger and wrath as he stared murderously at the man before him.

"Bog?! how dare you betray me?!" the duke yelled towards the bald man, now known as Bog.

But before the bog could respond, the duke had already his sword raised and is now charging towards the bog.

The armed robed men besides Bog tried to raise their crossbows and aim it towards the duke, but with a simple hand raise gesture from Bog, they immediately obeyed his orders by lowering their weapons down.

By now, duke Fritsen is now only a meter away from slashing his sword towards Bog.

Bog meanwhile quietly watches as the duke bring his sword down upon him, but with a simple but quick side step, he was able to evade the duke's blade while also unsheathing his very own sword.

"Fool." Bog said before pulling his sword in for a horizontal strike.

Duke Fritsen meanwhile was slightly surprised at the quick speed Bog has just shown him, but before he could react more, his entire body was cut into two as Bog's sword went past his waist, showering the ground below with blood and organs.

Wiping the blood from the blade, Bog slowly sheathed his sword on it's scabbard before facing the dismembered corpse below him.

Staring at the face of the now deceased duke who still have the surprise look on his face as he met his end, Bog spitted on the body below before turning to face the armed robed men gathered around him.

"Now then, let's wait for the rest of the army to arrive here, until then, we'll set up a temporary camp here and bury those dead people." Bog ordered the armed robed men before putting his hood back on.

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"Urgent report!" Count Gregor suddenly heard a shout in the distance, followed by a faint galloping sound that is seemingly heading towards him.

Turning his head towards the noise, count Gregor saw a rider quickly galloping towards his position, repeatedly shouting the message 'Urgent report'."

Urging his horse forward, count Gregor proceeds to create a path between the number of retainers around him to personally meet with the messenger.

"My lord, wait!" Baron Patrick who was besides the count earlier, yelled before following after the count.

Once the count and the rider met face to face, the rider immediately reported the message he's carrying.

"We have spotted a large army flying the banners of the king's bastard brother over the side of the Welking bridge and river, they number atleast 50,000 to 65,000 men strong." the moment count Gregor heard this, his eyes slightly widened in shock as he tried to comprehend the words said to him.

'50,000 men? it's not possible unless..' It was at that moment count Gregor finally realized two important things.

The first one is that, instead of meeting the duke and his remaining army, what stood before their path was a large army of soldiers loyal to the king's bastard brother, and it can only mean one thing, and it's that the duke didn't make it.

The duke could be alive somewhere and is probably been in hiding, or he's already dead.

Either way, none of it mattered to Gregor, what mattered the most is how to deal with the enemy army before him.

'Should I turn back?... or should I fight it out?' Count Gregor tried to think up of a plan as he gazed at the long column of soldiers that is patiently waiting for his orders.

And that is when something clicked inside of Gregor's mind.

'14,000 men against an army who outnumbers them 3 to 1, not only that, most of the soldiers are levies with no experience, conscripted to fight in a war they were not yet so fully prepared, to make matters worse, the 50,000 enemy soldiers are probably seasoned mercenaries who have already experience fighting in a war.' Gregor thought to himself as frustration slowly starts to build up in his mind.

But before he could continue to think more, Count Gregor suddenly heard someone gallop their horse just right besides him.

"Oh baron Patrick." Gregor muttered as he saw baron Patrick curiously look towards him.

"What's the news my lord? another bad one?" baron Patrick asked, sweat now forming on his head as anticipation began to intensify inside of him.

Gregor only nodded his head in response before finally giving out an order.

"Gather all the lords and marshals for an urgent meeting right now, also send word to the entire army to make camp for now, I want scouts and forage parties sent in every directions in case we'll run low on supplies." Count Gregor sternly ordered.

"Understood my lord." And just like that, Baron Patrick immediately rode off to call the other lords and marshals while also sending out heralds to relay the orders of Count Gregor.

Within an entire 3 minutes, the entire army broke away from their column formation and now began to set up tents and campfires in every place and areas.

Small palisades were set up, watchtowers erected, and livestock butchered to serve as dinner for the entire army.

In addition, more scouts were sent out, specifically towards the Welking bridge in order to watch for the enemy army that is encamped on the other side of the river.

As for now, neither sides claimed for the Welking bridge as they too believed it to only be a waste of manpower and strength since sending troops to cross the bridge would be a huge risk.

Currently, Count Gregor, his vassals and his marshals are currently gathered around a table with a map on it, inside a very large tent for a war council.

"I suggest we fall back, move to Rarford to the south, fortify the city and prepare for a long siege, I believe we can drain the resources of the rebels in this way." a fat baron suggested as he moved his finger on the map and pointed towards a city right on the very southern and western border of the entire kingdom.

"If we do that, cities would fall one by one, and so are the farms, populations, and resources, at the hands of the rebels until we're the only one left standing, I believe it's only going to be a matter of time before we're starved out." a random marshal among the crowd quickly responded.

"Either way the main goal of this army is to link up with the duke's army, and in turn, also link up with the royal army from the north, but with the duke now dead and our path blocked, our only choice is to battle against the rebels and, with Garthian's guidance and courage, we'll crush them valiantly into pieces." Baron Ian suddenly spoke up, causing some of the lords and marshals to nod their heads in agreement towards him.

"But that still begs the question, how can we defeat them?" the moment Baron Ian questioned this, the atmosphere inside the tent deepened as not even a single one spoke a word for an entire minute.

It was until now that Gregor suddenly spoke up, finally breaking the silence that has been plaguing the crowd for an entire minute.

"The course is clear then, we march towards Welking bridge and face the rebel army there." the moment these words left Gregor's mouth, the crowd around count Gregor had mixed expression on their faces as they listened to the count before them.

"But how could we defeat them? they outnumber us 3 to 1!" Baron Ian quickly inquired.

"I have my own strategies, they also have theirs own, just trust me..." Count Gregor smugly responded as he confidently stared towards baron Ian.

"Let's see about that."

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CHAPTER DONE!!