Volume Two: Iron and Blood Baron Chapter 159: The Battle of Norlandenburg (Thirty-Three)

Having fallen asleep only a short while ago, Barrett was woken up by Gamlin with a look of fury on his face. In a harsh tone, he demanded, "You had better have something genuinely important to say, or else I'm going to beat you up."

Upon hearing this, Gamlin burst out laughing and then recounted the whole story to Barrett. The moment Barrett heard it, he was naturally excited. He scrambled out of bed happily and said with delight, "Tonight, it seems we are going to perform a great service!"

After saying this, Barrett paused for a moment to think and asked Gamlin, "By the way, has the courier been sent off to report to My Lord?"

Hearing this, Gamlin rolled his eyes and replied, "Not only has he been sent off, but the man has already returned."

"Oh, well then!" Barrett let out an exclamation of surprise, then asked, "So what did My Lord say? Does he approve of our plan?"

Gamlin pointed a finger at a letter on the table. "The letter is right there. Go ahead and read it."

Barrett tore open the letter and took a look, the smile on his face widening even further. He placed the letter back on the table and said joyfully, "Good! This is simply wonderful! This time, we can conclude the battle plan ahead of schedule. Not a single one of those swine-like bastards from Toba Island is going to escape!"

Watching the excited Barrett, Gamlin reminded him, "Have you prepared everything? My Lord specifically reminded you in the letter: although the plan is sound, you must be extremely cautious during its execution. These pirates are very cautious right now, and tonight's night raid should be personally commanded by their Wolf Lord, Asedan. We have interrogated the captured pirates, and you should know that this fellow Asedan is not someone easy to deal with. He is notoriously both courageous and resourceful among the Wolf Lords of the Seven Earls."

Upon hearing Gamlin's reminder, Barrett smiled and said, "Brother Gamlin, thank you for the reminder, but tonight we are definitely foolproof. Besides, My Lord also said that I am only to rely on the city to defeat the enemy, and I must not pursue them outside the city walls. You can rest easy."

"Very well, if that's the case, let's get this battle over with quickly," Gamlin sighed. "If this drags on for ten days or half a month, the arable land is one thing since the crops have already been planted, but the sales of our colored pottery and other products will run into trouble."

Barrett patted Gamlin on the shoulder and smiled. "Brother Gamlin, although you are the commander of the armed forces, you ultimately belong to the civil official faction. It is only natural for you to think that way, but you must remember: this war is not something we wanted to fight—they are the ones who came to our doorstep to fight us. If we don't teach them a painful lesson, Norlandenburg will be at everyone's mercy from now on!

I can tell you quite responsibly that after this battle is over, the record of completely annihilating over five hundred Toba pirates will be enough to make Norlandenburg famous across the entire Veling Continent. When that happens, My Lord will be able to speak with much more confidence when dealing with others, more merchants will be willing to come here, and more commoners will be willing to come to Norlandenburg to make a living."

Hearing Barrett put it this way, Gamlin instantly became filled with fighting spirit. He responded to Barrett enthusiastically, "Good brother, you are right! If we don't want to be bullied arbitrarily, we can only rely on our own strength to fight our way out. Anyone who dares to infringe upon Norlandenburg and go against us will come to a bad end. People will soon know that the people of Norlandenburg are not to be trifled with. In the future, whether we are doing business or engaging in other matters, anyone with malicious intentions who wants to oppose us will first have to weigh whether they have enough weight to back it up!"

"Hahaha!" Barrett laughed heartily and patted Gamlin's shoulder. "Yes, exactly, Brother Gamlin."

Meanwhile, beneath the walls of Norlandenburg, the scout who had gone out to gather intelligence and his three companions brought back identical news: the city gates of Norlandenburg had been severely damaged in the daytime fire and could no longer withstand an impact. Moreover, the defenders of Norlandenburg lacked sufficient timber to repair the city gates. However, by the latter half of the night, even if they had to dismantle the furniture and doors inside the castle, they would be able to gather enough wood to repair and reinforce the gates. Once that happened, attacking them would become very difficult.

Upon hearing his subordinates' report, the pirate leader knew this was a golden opportunity. Although it would alter Wolf Lord Asedan's plan, he believed Asedan was not foolish enough to persist with his own much riskier surprise attack plan. After offering verbal rewards to the four scouts, the pirate leader led them back to the wooden fortress to report the matter to Asedan.

Hearing this, Asedan was overjoyed. His original plan had been to have a few pirates scale the western wall, kill the defenders, establish a foothold on the front ramparts, and then have their forces storm the city—a plan that carried a relatively high risk. Even if it succeeded, it would cost a heavy toll in lives. How could that compare to directly smashing open the city gate, rushing in with a large force, and hacking the Brick defenders to pieces like vegetables? That would be truly satisfying.

After personally questioning the four scouts and verifying the information, the jubilant Asedan modified his combat plan. He didn't change it drastically, however; after a brief discussion with his subordinate chieftains, he decided to use the surprise attack on the western side as a secondary diversion to draw the attention of the Norlandenburg defenders. Then, he would personally lead the main force to directly smash through the city gates of Norlandenburg and charge in.

Having finalized the battle plan, Asedan and his subordinate pirate chieftains drank a bowl of wine—partly to warm themselves up, and partly to boost their morale.

Looking at the pirate chieftains, whose expressions betrayed their joy, Asedan said, "Don't get too happy too early. These Brick people defending the city are not only extremely cunning, but their fighting spirit is also very strong. Even though they know about the flaw in the city gate, it is still very likely they will take some precautions, so we must still remain cautious.

When the time comes, aside from the diversionary force launching the secondary attack on the western wall, everyone else must give me your absolute utmost attention. We are committing everything we have this time. If we win, we will split the money and grain, receive commendation from the Earl, and have the opportunity to have an audience with the Wolf Lord.

However, if we still manage to lose with such a good opportunity, I certainly won't have the face to return. When I go back and face the other Wolf Lords, what am I supposed to say? That with such a fine opportunity, because the brothers didn't try hard enough, we were held off by the Brick people and had to retreat in defeat? You tell me, would I have the nerve to say that to them?"

"Don't worry, Old Father, we won't let you down!" a young pirate leader quickly patted his chest in assurance.

"That's right, Old Father. With such a great opportunity and such low difficulty, nothing will go wrong. You can rest assured," another pirate leader promised.

"Yes, what these two brothers said is right. We won't make Old Father lose face. When the time comes, we'll haul back gold and silver coins and grain so that the other Wolf Lords and brothers will be green with envy!" said an older pirate leader. As soon as he finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter.

"Hahaha!" Asedan laughed along with them. "Good! I trust you all. Tonight we will surely achieve a complete victory! Come, brothers, cheers!"