'Gong! Gong! Gong!'
The bells within the army fort rang loudly.
All the soldiers knew the meaning of the continuous bell sounds.
During their training, they had learnt that if the bell was rang for more than 5 minutes, it would be a signal for every soldier to assemble in front of the gate posts.
Those who were training instantly dropped their iron weights and ran towards the central region.
Those that were sleeping immediately opened their eyes and jumped out of their beds... Those that were reading, closed their books and hurriedly put them in their locker space.
The giant iron bell rang very loudly, and everyone could here it.
Everyone ran quickly towards the city gates.
It was time for war.
.
.
Everybody gathered around the gate post, waiting for the urgent news.
Landon looked at his men, and was impressed. They had all assembled quietly, in lines of 30..... If a pin dropped at this moment, Landon was sure that everyone would here it.
"Today, an enemy is trying to attack Baymard. I don't know if I should call them brave, or just plain stupid.
You all have been training both night and day, to became exemplary soldiers. Your all stronger than many soldiers in this world, and I'm confident in your skills so far....
No matter how many knights the enemy has under its regime, they would still loose today's battle!!
I will show you all the true difference between knights and soldiers... I will show you why you can be confident and why you are better than knights..
Today, I will show you the might of Baymard's army!!
Now..... Its time to win our first battle....
For Baymard!!"
"For Baymard" the soldiers yelled back.
Landon had planned that for this war, he would only use his original 330 soldiers to win. He would assign them to all the cannons on the walls and have then deal with the enemies.
Some of the men were excited while others were curious about how they were going to win the war...
The rest of the men decoded to watch the battle unfold from the city walls.
Last time that Landon did a cannon test, 90% of the new recruits weren't present. Also they had seen some of the Warrant soldiers practice, they still weren't sure if a cannon could actually cause heavy damage to their enemies.
Landon wanted to use this opportunity to prove the strength and damage cannons could cause.
While they were waiting, Landon had the men bring out sacs of gunpowder and place by the sides of every canon.
Landon also explained the battle formation and tactics they were going to use for the war.
He showed them were each cannon should be pointed to, and where their focus should be on.
He didn't want to men to just fire aimlessly at their enemies.
That's why cannon battle formations were very important.
.
.
City lord Shannon had gathered 11,500 knights from his territory, as his plan B.
With 11,500 knights, there was no way that they would loose to a mere 330 knights. No matter whether Commander Lucius intervened or not.
Everyone knew how many knights Landon had under his command. To Shannon, this war was nothing more than a one sided slaughter.
Even if Landon surrendered peacefully, he would still kill him. He had also planned on killing all the people within the town.
He was sure that if Tim Mayer knew about the mines, then the workers would definitely know as well.
It was better to deal with problems from the roots. Kill them all. Dead men could never tell any tales.
As the city lord, he was only entitled to 6,000 knights... But over the past few years, he had been poaching knights from the Barons in his territory.
And now, he secretly had 12,000 knights under his command.
He had kept 500 men back at Riverdale city and informed the rest that they were heading out towards the Capital.
The 500 men, the barons and everyone else, didn't know where the 11,500 were going to.
Most people thought that maybe the city lord had received an urgent message from the Capital.
A month ago, he had gotten a letter from King Barn, about an upcoming war with the empire of Deiferus.
He was tasked with bringing his troops towards the capital, for the assignment briefing.
He decided that he would use this opportunity to strike Landon, so that no one would be suspicious of him.
It was the perfect plan.
How could anyone suspect him for Landon's demise, if he was already on his way to the capital?
It was now or never.
When the 11,500 knights were leaving the city, they were extremely confused as well.
They left towards the direction of Greengold city, but had to sneak back towards Baymard by passing through the swamps.
Once they were closer to Baymard, they quickly moved back on the road and continued their journey.
At this point, the men were sure that their lord wanted to keep everything under wraps.
So this was for sure a secret mission.
City lord Shannon had them swear oaths, that said that if they were to release any information about this war, their families would be burnt alive.
When the men finished swearing, they had cold sweat on their backs... most of them already had daughters, sons of wives.. and don't want to risk their families lives...
Those that weren't married, were still threatened with their parents, siblings and other loved ones.
They knew how cruel their lord could be, so they had already vowed to keep everything a secret.
.
.
City lord Shannon, Baron Roger's and the knights, saw a badly bruised Bowman riding towards them and stopped.
"My lord, my lord.. you must seek justice for me....." Bowman cried out and he approached them.
Everyone looked at his purpulish cheeks and could guess what he had gone through.
"Tell me what happened in detail" City lord Shannon said.
"My lord, they were totally not putting you in their eyes... that brat refused to sign anything!... it looks like they would rather die than be your slaves my lord." Bowman exclaimed.
As Bowman narrated his own made up version of the story, the knights now had the will to fight.
As knights, they wouldn't have lifted their swords up, without Bowman's story.
They needed to make sure that the city they were attacking, knew of their attack.. that way they could fight with all their mights.
The empire's rules were strict. No knight was willing to bear the consequences for not following the rules.
This was exactly the reason why city lord Shannon had sent Bowman over, so he could convince the men to fight.
Once they won, it would make the perfect excuse to kill everyone within the city.
Afterall, he had given Landon a choice of saving both the women and children.. but Landon refused.... This was perfect for city lord Shannon.
"He's a fool... Since he wants to do things the hard way, we will play along with him"