Volume Two: The Iron and Blood Baron - Chapter 144: The Battle of Norlandenburg (Eighteen)

"Get lost! I want to marry her, but I am not going to do something that costs my life and brings shame upon my entire family!" a young pirate roared fiercely.

"What are you roaring about? Keep yelling like that, and I'll tear your balls right off!" A rough, furious shout rang out from one of the tents inside the wooden fortress, silencing the noisy pirate who had just been awakened, and instantly restoring quiet among the men on the ramparts.

Barin and his subordinates listened to the entire exchange from beneath the wooden fortress. He chuckled and whispered to the men around him, "It seems the beating these pirates took during the day wasn't enough. Come on, let's pull back for now and stir up some trouble for them."

"Don't you worry, Captain. We'll make sure they have a wonderful night's sleep!" one of Barin's men replied with a sly grin.

After a while, the crescent moon rose into the sky. It was already the middle of the night, and everything grew still. Aside from the occasional call of birds deep in the forest, there was hardly a sound. The pirates, exhausted from the day's toil, had fallen fast asleep. The collective snoring of nearly four hundred men was loud enough to send the small animals scurrying away from the vicinity of the wooden fortress.

Just as the pirates lay sprawled out in their various tents and the buildings inside the fort, sleeping soundly, a sudden uproar erupted all around the wooden fortress. Gongs and drums clashed simultaneously—*dong dong dong*, *clang clang clang*, *zheng zheng zheng*—creating a chaotic din.

Accompanied by the clanging racket came battle cries, terrifying the guarding pirates. They hurriedly struck the warning bell on the ramparts to rouse everyone, signaling that an enemy was attacking the fortress. Hearing the alarm, the men on night duty below also blew their conch horns. In an instant, the interior of the wooden fortress descended into utter chaos.

"Get up! You little runts, someone is attacking the fortress!" a pirate chieftain roared.

"Get up! Put on your armor quickly!" another pirate leader bellowed at the top of his lungs.

"Hey, where's my helmet?" a newly awakened pirate muttered, his eyes still half-closed as he fumbled around his tent.

"Put down my shield, you stupid bastard!" cursed a pirate in a neighboring tent to his bunkmate.

"Stop shoving, you idiot! I'm the leader, I'm going out first!" Another argument broke out in some unknown tent.

Hearing the chaotic commotion outside, Asedan stepped out to take a look, then struck the command drum with force. A single beat of the drum silenced everyone instantly.

Asedan gazed at his unruly subordinates, a trace of heartache flashing in his eyes. Then, with a cold and stern expression, he said, "Look at yourselves! What kind of spectacle is this? All warriors, armor up and line up in formation! Wait for my command!

"As for you chieftains, each of you is going to give yourselves a few good slaps across the face before you step inside to see me, you bunch of fools!"

Upon hearing their leader's command, the pirates stood frozen in place, utterly motionless. Then came the sound of the squad leaders violently slapping their own faces—*slap, slap, slap*. Listening to their chieftains beat themselves, the ordinary pirates felt a chill run down their spines.

They had never expected that Old Father Asedan, usually so approachable, would choose such a deeply humiliating method to punish their leaders. This made the common pirates realize the severity of the situation; if the Wolf Lord Asedan could be so ruthless to these core leaders, he would undoubtedly be even stricter with them.

Having finished striking their own faces, the chieftains entered Asedan's quarters with flushed cheeks and lowered heads, the last one pulling the door shut behind him.

Asedan stood with his back to them. Daring not utter a word, they stood quietly in place, awaiting the instructions of the Wolf Lord.

"Did you hear the commotion outside?" Asedan asked in an even tone.

"Yes, we heard it," the pirate chieftains answered in unison.

Asedan turned around, fixing his sharp gaze upon them, and continued, "Was this commotion the same as last night's?"

Upon hearing this, the pirate chieftains lowered their heads one by one, finally grasping the meaning behind Old Father Asedan's words.

"You bunch of fools! These deceitful and cunning Brythons are using this exact method to harass us, depriving us of sleep so we have no energy to fight tomorrow. Yet you still fell into such a panic! I truly have no idea what you fellows are good for!" Asedan roared with anger.

Rarely had they seen Asedan fly into such a rage; they stood frozen in terrified silence, not even daring to let out a fart for fear of making a sound and provoking a harsh punishment from Old Father Asedan.

Having vented his anger, Asedan took a deep breath. He knew he couldn't be too harsh on these young pirate leaders. After all, their combat experience was rather limited, and panic and mistakes were understandable. Fortunately, no major disaster had occurred.

Besides, Earl Crede had told him before departing from Toba Island that leading a force of young warriors this time would inevitably result in some panic and errors, but as long as no fatal mistakes were made, he should be tolerant and let the young men grow.

Despite Earl Crede's words, Asedan still felt a burning surge of anger whenever he looked at these fellows who fell apart in a panic at the first sign of a night raid. He had originally believed that leading these young warriors—even if they couldn't sweep through Norlandburg overnight—would allow them to capture this wealthy fortress after just one or two hard-fought battles.

After all, when these young pirates had landed on the Bay of Yewick and squared off against the county levies and armed infantry led by provincial knights, their performance had been quite impressive. In five field battles, these young pirates had fully displayed their might, sending the Brythons scattering in disarray and earning collective praise from Earl Crede, Earl Zaram, and Earl Riego, bringing great honor to Asedan.

However, ever since entering Norlandburg, these same young warriors—who had previously been his source of pride in front of the other Wolf Lords—had performed so miserably. It was deeply disappointing. Although the garrison of Norlandburg used despicable tactics, seasoned veteran pirates would never have panicked in such a fashion.

Still, anger was anger. Asedan forced himself to calm down, sitting down with the various chieftains to patiently discuss countermeasures. After a long discussion, they finally devised a strategy they believed to be ingenious.

Although Belin and Barin had anticipated that the pirates would adopt countermeasures after several rounds of harassment, they had not expected the pirates to come up with a response as early as the second night raid—a strategy that genuinely dealt Barin's reconnaissance unit a painful blow.

At that moment, Barin and his men were still raising a ruckus around the wooden fortress when suddenly, the gates of the fort swung open and a horde of pirates came charging out. Barin's eyes lit up with joy; these foolish wretches had fallen into the trap once again.