Game of Thrones: From a deserter to a high-ranking official

Chapter 88 Stone Raven Town

"Huh?!" Tiberius shuddered upon hearing the news.

He had just assured Dmitri yesterday that, with Hope Castle and the Three Tax Offices under their guard, the Valantis would absolutely not be able to reach Stoneraven Town so quickly.

This is a complete slap in the face!

"Damn it!" Tiberius stood up and then complained. "How many of them came?"

"About a hundred people!"

"One hundred people..." Tippi breathed a sigh of relief.

That appears to be a small force, rather than Valantis's main force.

He had originally thought of saying "rush out of the city and crush them," but when he thought of his demoralized Lightning Legion soldiers, as well as the Mir, Tyrossi and other mercenaries who had temporarily defected, he swallowed the idea.

They are not entirely reliable.

Besides, who knows if this is a trap to lure the enemy?

"Vito..." Tiberius rubbed his head, a sly glint in his eyes. "I have a plan..."

Then Tiberius whispered a few words in Vito's ear. Vito was initially puzzled, but soon he fully understood what Tiberius meant.

"That's a really interesting idea!" Vito said with a smile. "Okay, I'll get on it right now!"

He walked outside, then shook his head with a smile.

What a cunning little rascal!

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When the Valantis saw that the gates of Stoneraven Town were half-open and the town was deserted, and that the banner of the Kingdom of the Three Daughters hung drooping on the flagpole, and that there seemed to be no guards on the city walls, the Valantis burst into unrestrained laughter.

"Cowards! A bunch of cowards!" A mercenary employed by Valantis laughed as he tossed a stone onto the gate of Stoneraven Town. "I'm ashamed of them! They actually gave up such an inland city!"

And so, the hundred or so people walked in leisurely.

"Why is there no one here?" an officer asked, frowning.

"That's normal," another officer said, riding his horse with a hint of smugness.

"The Kingdom of the Three Daughters has been utterly routed by our General Marcus! I've heard we're about to seize all the crossings on the west side of the Controversial River. If the people of the Kingdom of the Three Daughters don't want to die, they'll definitely flee deeper inland!"

"That city..."

"Then it definitely belongs to us!"

"Tsk." The officer curled his lip. "What I mean is, doesn't that mean we won't get much out of it? After all, those who escaped must have taken all their food and property with them..."

“But this is military merit! Real military merit!” another officer reminded him. “Besides, we took over this town without firing a shot; it’s a merit no matter what. Moreover, General Marcus will definitely be advancing towards the flank corridor of the Three Daughters Kingdom, heading towards the disputed lands to attack the Three Daughters Kingdom’s colonies. And this town happens to be a stronghold on the way to the flank corridor. No matter how you look at it, General Marcus should reward us!”

"Hmm, you're right." The officer nodded. "Hmm? What's that up ahead?"

It was a wooden sign, placed upright in the center of the town square.

"I'll go take a look." The officer on horseback spurred his horse forward.

"Why... why is it still upside down? Do I have to turn it upside down to see it?" He realized something was wrong when he got closer, then picked up the wooden sign and turned it upside down.

"The Valantis...will die here..." he read it out slowly, then his expression changed drastically.

"Quick! Retreat! There's an ambush! There's an ambush!"

Then, a crossbow bolt pierced his chest, but his chest armor saved his life; the arrow only dented the lamellar armor on his chest, rather than piercing through it.

So he struggled to get up and tried to mount his horse.

But then another crossbow bolt struck his eye socket, the high-speed arrow violently churning his brains. His body swayed a few times on the horse, then half-collapsed, and was dragged forward by the horse.

"Kid, you still need to practice your archery!" Vito spat out the crossbow bolt from his mouth, placed it on the cocked crossbow, and aimed it at the panicked Valantis. "See that? Shoot in the eye socket!"

Without a doubt, this was a massacre. One side had planned it all along, while the other was caught completely off guard. Besides, Tiberius and his men knew Stoneraven Town far better than these guys.

"Dmitri, who are they? What are they doing here? Where did they come from? Which legion do they belong to? Did they say anything?" Tiberius wiped the blood off his spear and threw the rag on the ground.

"They're not from any legion; they're a group of mercenaries employed by a Valantis nobleman named Mohata," Dmitri reported.

"They came to Stoneraven from New Valantis Port in the Delta by sea. Their mission was to scout out the area and see if they could make some contributions to become official members of the Valantis Tiger Robe Army. Of course, many of them were just thinking about making a quick buck in these places."

"A scout?" Tiberius frowned and lowered his spear. "The Valantis, they should be focusing all their efforts on attacking the strongholds and fords on the west side of the Controversial River that originally belonged to the Kingdom of the Three Daughters! Why are they rashly invading our area..."

Then, he suddenly stopped and quickly asked.

"Wait a minute, ask him," Tiberius said through gritted teeth.

"Just ask him if he's the vanguard sent by Mohata, and ask him how many people Mohata has..."

However, there was no need to answer that question anymore. A long, ancient horn sound came from outside the city, resonating in their ears.

"Damn it." Tiberius gritted his teeth and hurriedly climbed the city wall, where he saw a large plume of smoke and dust coming from afar.

At this moment, the cavalry of Valantis stopped a few dozen paces outside the city. The knight raised his long lance and shouted provocatively at Stone Raven Town, spewing out a string of foul language.

"How daring!"

Vito was furious and fired an arrow from his crossbow!

He truly lived up to his reputation as the chief archer instructor of the White Legion; he was an excellent archer, killing the provocative knight on his horse.

Seeing this, the others quickly abandoned the unfortunate man's corpse and retreated.

"Tell our soldiers to block the gate!" Tiberius, his heart pounding with anxiety as he watched the smoke and dust in the distance, hastily ordered Dmitri and Habro. "Bricks, stones, beams... I don't care, that Mohatta's soldiers are coming soon!"

Tiberius knew that this time, their main force against Mohata would not be able to use the same tactic as before, which involved luring people into the city with an empty city and then ambushing them.

The reason is simple: the mercenary told them that Mohata had more than 1,500 men under his command!

The previous plan succeeded because the mercenaries serving as the vanguard were stupid and incompetent, and their numbers were small. Dealing with one hundred people and dealing with fifteen hundred good people are two completely different concepts!

"Prepare to defend the city!" Tiberius said through gritted teeth. "Damn the Valantis!"