Chapter 269: Variables

Jushi Castle, with the nobles all having evacuated to the camp outside, had returned to its former tranquility.

Baron Keruien slept until he woke naturally as always, then hummed a tune of unknown origin, enjoying an exquisite breakfast served by a crowd of Servants.

He was not indifferent to this war; rather, he was very concerned.

After all, this was a high-stakes gamble that belonged to him.

Although Luoning had rejected his plan for an immediate attack, this did not affect the overall situation.

In his view, it was nothing more than dawdling in the camp for a few extra days; as food supplies were consumed, they would eventually take action.

And as long as the Noble Allied Forces went to war with the Bolante Bandit Group of Chishan Town, his Knight Squad from Jushi Castle would become a sharp Dagger, piercing through the front line and changing the course of the battle.

"My Lord, the knights who remained at the camp have returned, saying they bring orders from the commander, Viscount Luoning."

The Steward of Jushi Castle reported respectfully.

After the previous events, Keruien's impression of Luoning had improved, but after a night's sleep, that impression seemed to have dissipated, and he began to feel disdain for Luoning in his heart once again.

He wiped the grease from his hands, "Let that knight come to see me."

Soon, in the small hall, he met the messenger knight and learned that Luoning had notified him to go to the camp to discuss the battle plan.

"Heh, our commander really likes to find things to do for himself; the preliminary arrangements were only decided yesterday, and today he wants to discuss a new battle plan."

"It hasn't even been a full day, I'd like to see what new ideas he could possibly have."

Before the formal start of the war, Keruien was in the position of a defeated general, so he naturally would not do anything that obviously went against the commander's arrangements in these minor matters; that would undoubtedly be asking for trouble.

Therefore, after receiving the order, he immediately set about preparing to go to the Allied Forces camp.

"Did anything unusual happen at the camp last night?" he asked casually.

"Last night, Luoning gathered Tolu and the others to discuss something, and they also came to look for you, but you happened to be away. Perhaps it was late at night, so they didn't have us come to Jushi Castle to notify you."

Keruien couldn't help but curl his lips, thinking to himself that it was fortunate he had returned to Jushi Castle to rest, otherwise he would have been dragged out for a meeting in the middle of the night.

A young commander, truly fond of showing off and making a fuss.

"Go notify Bulisuo, and have him take the Knight Squad to go to the Allied Forces camp with me."

Bulisuo was a knight who had newly joined Jushi Castle; his strength was formidable, and he was undoubtedly already the person Baron Keruien valued most.

If Jushi Territory were to have its own Knight Order in the future, this Knight Bulisuo would definitely serve as the Regiment Commander.

However, these were just the views of the Knight Squad members.

In reality, Bulisuo was not a follower of Keruien.

The other party was here purely to help him complete this high-stakes gamble.

Soon, the Knight Squad of Jushi Castle had assembled, Keruien mounted his warhorse, and Bulisuo had also arrived.

"Let's go," Keruien said.

Two Knight Squads, a force totaling over two hundred people, began to set off toward the camp of the Noble Allied Forces.

Just as Luoning's plan to lure the snake out of its hole and catch the turtle in the jar was about to succeed, a figure ran out from the path on the west side of the castle and quickly arrived at the front of the team.

"Baron, Baron!"

Keruien pulled on the reins and looked back; it was the Letter Bird manager of Jushi Castle.

"What is it?" he asked in a deep voice.

"My Lord, there is an urgent letter for you!"

Keruien frowned; what kind of urgent letter could there be at a time like this?

Could it be from Wushan Castle?

He hurriedly took it, tore it open, and looked; his expression changed abruptly.

"What's wrong?" Bulisuo sensed something was amiss and asked curiously.

Keruien looked at the other party, his gaze very complex; there seemed to be regret, anger, and a trace of madness.

"Stand by!"

He turned back and shouted to the Knight Squad: "Bulisuo, come with me!"

The two went one after the other to a side far away from the team.

"What's wrong, Keruien? I see your expression isn't right."

Keruien handed the letter to the other party, "This is a letter written by Amikusi; they searched for an entire night and did not find Warwick, suspecting that the other party has met with misfortune or was captured by people from Wushan Castle!"

"This..."

Bulisuo was stunned by this explosive information and hurriedly read the letter; it was indeed written as such.

"Does anyone in Wushan Castle have the strength to sneak into Chishan Town and capture Warwick without a sound?"

He said in disbelief: "That's unlikely, isn't it? Although Warwick's strength isn't much to speak of, he is at least a Silver-rank; to capture him, it's impossible for there to be no movement at all."

"Someone can do it!"

Keruien, however, did not doubt the possibility of this matter at all: "The Regiment Commander of the Third Knight Order of Wushan Castle, Meilongnika Taile; I have never been able to gauge his strength, but he is very strong! If it were him, he should be able to do it!"

"Isn't it said that this person stayed behind at Wushan Castle to protect Lulansi's safety?"

"That is all just a superficial excuse; from beginning to end, Meilongnika has not shown his face, who knows where he is?"

Keruien's mood was now like an ant on a hot pan; he was extremely anxious and panicked.

This was a high-stakes gamble; he had a great probability of winning, yet an unexpected accident had occurred.

If Meilongnika learned of his betrayal, then...

He immediately associated this with Luoning summoning him to the camp for a meeting, and at the same time associated it with Luoning summoning Tolu, Mawen, and the others last night; for a moment, his back felt waves of chill.

"Meilongnika definitely learned of our plan from Warwick and told it to Luoning!"

Keruien's mind was sharper than ever: "We cannot go to the Allied Forces camp; Luoning must know about this. He asked me to go over, definitely wanting to capture me directly!"

Bulisuo also recovered from his shock; thinking of this situation, he also felt very fearful.

Although he was a Golden Knight, if he and Keruien were surrounded by Tolu and the others, they would only end up being captured.

"You are right, going back to the camp is just seeking death!"

Bulisuo cursed: "This Meilongnika, and this Luoning, are truly too insidious!"

Keruien could not spare the time to curse; he was only thinking of a solution.

Fortunately, he had already sent all his family members away in advance; even if he lost the gamble, the Hesen Family would not perish because of it.

He had successors.

What's more, he had not yet lost this war.

As long as he killed everyone including Meilongnika and caused Wushan Castle to suffer heavy losses, he could just disappear for a while; he could return when Balindun took control of the Wushan Territory in the future.

"Bulisuo, go command all the Knight Squads in Jushi Castle, have them immediately close the castle gates, set up defensive facilities, and prepare to hold the castle!"

"I will immediately write a letter to Amikusi, asking him to mobilize his men and prepare to launch an active attack on the Noble Allied Forces."

A look of madness flickered in Keruien's eyes: "As long as our two sides join forces, the Noble Allied Forces will still be caught in a pincer attack by us!"

"Not bad!"

Bulisuo nodded solemnly; he highly approved of this arrangement.

Their original plan was to defect during the battle and catch the Noble Allied Forces off guard.

Although the opportunity to defect was gone, the advantage of a pincer attack remained; after all, the camp of the Noble Allied Forces was between Jushi Castle and Chishan Town.

The scales of victory still tipped toward their side.

As for worrying about whether the Bolante Bandit Group would send troops?

If it were an ordinary alliance, Amikusi might hesitate or even bargain.

But the alliance between Keruien and the other party was not simple; Hesusu was behind it, acting as a go-between.

After receiving the letter, not only would Amikusi not have any hesitation, he would likely take action immediately to ensure the plan did not fail.

"Come on, let's have a head-on battle! Even if the losses are heavy, as long as the final victory belongs to us, everything is worth it!"

Keruien whipped his horse's rump and galloped toward the Letter Bird tower.

Bulisuo drove his horse to the front of the Knight Squads and began to direct everyone to fortify the castle.

The walls of Jushi Castle were over ten meters high and seven or eight meters thick; ordinary attacks could not easily destroy them.

At the same time, the castle stored enough food and supplies, so there was no worry about food or drink.

Bulisuo believed that relying on Jushi Castle, it would be no problem at all for them to hold out for a few days.

These few days would be enough for Chishan Town to take action.

(End of this chapter)