The population in the Southern Territory is far denser than in the Northern Territory. The Carolingian Province, located in the northwest of the Southern Territory, covers only over two hundred thousand square kilometers but is home to seven or eight earls, large and small, including the County of McDonald, with a large group of viscounts and barons enfeoffed within their territories.
Every viscount in the Southern Territory has their own city, and every baron has a castle.
As the McDonald family, the largest earldom in the Carolingian Province, their territory has as many as eight local cities the size of Ethanboer.
The city before them is one of the eight cities in the County of McDonald, the City of Tem, enfeoffed to a vassal family.
Looking at the distant City of Tem, Little Noyes remained expressionless, simply waving his hand steadily and saying, "Take it."
With his command, the werewolf lieutenant and the human lieutenant didn't need him to arrange a battle plan at all, each leading their troops to attack the city.
At this time, Viscount Wino Lang, the "Spear Knight," the arena champion of the Carolingian Province, a mid-level transcendent knight of the Southern Territory, known as invincible in mounted combat, had already been blasted to death by the boar knight Sikes with a single spear. His corpse was trampled madly by war pigs and buried in the dust of the Northern Territory.
The thirty fully armored knights and six hundred iron-clad regular soldiers under his command were also completely annihilated in the ambush.
The standing army remaining in the City of Tem consisted only of the viscount family's two hundred guards and a five-hundred-man city defense force.
In addition, the City of Tem also had a thousand-man militia composed of town residents, but they were not in the city at the moment, instead being responsible for Viscount Wino's logistical transportation, laboriously transporting grain on the avenue in the Fabados Mountains.
This is the true reality of the feudal era. The proportion of truly professional soldiers to the population is extremely low, with most being temporary conscripts.
Once a lord leads his elite forces on a distant expedition, a void in the rear is inevitable.
However, according to the traditional understanding of the Southern Territory nobles, the City of Tem cannot be considered short on troops at the moment.
After all, Viscount Wino only took away the vassal knights and iron-clad elites, without even touching the family guard and city defense force.
This is because the City of Tem is located on the northernmost avenue between the Southern and Western Territories, with the responsibility of guarding the border. Otherwise, given the frenzied atmosphere of this Northern Expedition, Viscount Wino would definitely have taken all the combat troops.
But the remaining troops are enough to hold the city and resist most rebel forces and bandits.
Even if they encounter an invasion by Western Territory cavalry, they can simply conscript another wave of young men and defend it for a year or two without any problems.
But no one expected that the Western Territory horse bandits, who in previous years numbered only a few hundred herders or, at most, three thousand cavalry, would actually form a ten-thousand-strong army, easily removing the baron's castle at the exit of the Borok Mountains and arriving at the City of Tem at the same time as the defeated soldiers returned.
Arina, who was beside him, couldn't help but feel dazed as she watched Little Noyes give the order, and she thought of the first time she saw Little Noyes in the Riverbend Great House.
At that time, Little Noyes' face was still childish, and he was still serving as the captain of the Riverbend patrol cavalry. Every time he came to the Riverbend Great House for dinner, he could only sit at the children's table with Will, eating with the gnolls.
Now, "Calamity Knight" Noyes, no one dares to call him Little Unlucky anymore. Although he is still young, he is no longer childish, and his every word and action carries the majesty of a commander.
As for those Southern Territory conscripted crossbowmen, they were simply toys in front of the Riverbend rifled guns and werewolf warriors wearing chainmail.
The crossbows of the conscripted crossbowmen were all light crossbows, specifically targeting unarmored serf rebels and Western Territory horse bandits, but they were very ineffective against iron-clad soldiers.
Dense werewolf warriors, baring their sharp teeth, climbed the nine-meter-high city wall with their bare hands, the scene was extremely terrifying.
By the time Little Noyes and Arina rode their horses close to the city gate, the outer city wall of the City of Tem had already changed hands, and the sound of winches and chains colliding came from inside the city gate.
The incomparably thick city gate slowly opened, welcoming the two main generals into the city.
Two days later, three Pegasus flew over the City of Tem. After seeing the Riverbend banner on the city head, they cautiously lowered their altitude and landed on the city wall.
Kuna, the leading Pegasus knight, took off her goggles and walked happily towards Little Noyes, who was rushing over. "Little Unlucky! We've been looking for you for a long time. How did you get here so quickly?"
Little Noyes' expression was indifferent, but his eyebrows and eyes showed pride. "Sister Kuna, such a simple matter, anyone can do it."
Kuna thought for a while and nodded. "That's right!"
Little Noyes: "..."
He could only ask: "What's the matter with looking for me? How is Riverbend doing?"
Kuna said excitedly: "King Strong led the Riverbend reserve army, captured Osluden, the main city of the County of Gustav, and then ambushed the McDonald army. Now he has captured Earl McDonald and driven the enemy back to the Fabados Mountains."
"King Fisha's gnoll army also defeated Earl Tyrell's army and captured Earl Tyrell. The two major enemy commanders have been captured alive by us. This war is basically stable."
"As for Riverbend, everything is normal. Big Brother Ivan has returned to Riverbend and, together with Big Brother Wiki, are stationed in Ethanboer and Abros respectively. Everyone is very at ease."
"King Strong is drawing troops from the garrison and taking the opportunity to control the entire territory of Gustav. He ordered me to find you and not to act rashly. Wait for the latest battle situation before making a decision."
Little Noyes' expression was very bad after hearing this. Compared to the grand occasion on the front battlefield, his surprise attack had become a small matter.
"Damn it, Strong, that guy, as soon as Big Brother Leo left, he became a wild horse."
Little Noyes frowned slightly, calculated for a moment, and nodded: "Since that's the case, I also have to change my strategy. Thank you, Sister Kuna, for coming to deliver the message."
Originally, after hearing about the Southern Territory's invasion and seeing the situation clearly, he immediately took Arina around to the rear and entered the Southern Territory, attempting to surprise attack the County of McDonald's granary.
Once successful, it would be more impressive than conquering a Western Territory Burke.
