Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

The three Red Guards I had assigned earlier returned first. They completed their mission well, using bows and arrows to shoot fire to set the granary in Loristed Town on fire. Of course, the defenders immediately fired back, using the bodies of the Solitude soldiers as targets, creating the illusion that these people were shot by the Imperial Legion. Although the method was clumsy, it was the only thing I could think of in a hurry. Lei Mei was indignant at my desecration of the remains, but she finally reluctantly agreed that as long as no one dug deeper into the matter afterwards, she would not take the initiative to expose it.

The next morning, Masinissa reported that the Eastern Army of the Empire had completely evacuated Granite Village. And just half a day later, Agis brought back intelligence about the Western Army.

"You said the main force of the Imperial Army went north? Are you sure that was the main force?"

"Aigis is sure! They have at least seven centuries. Agis also saw the general who led the siege that day!"

The little cat girl nodded vigorously, answering in a firm and decisive manner, leaving no room for doubt.

But this is very different from what I designed.

"You mean, we only robbed food once and succeeded in forcing Tullius to withdraw his troops?"

"Boss, you are so shameless. I am ashamed of myself. They did withdraw, but they were not necessarily forced to do so by us."

So what could be the reason?

It's definitely not because of the Red Guards' tricks. They started the fire, but they were mainly trying to frame someone else. It shouldn't cause too much damage. Judging from the time, the Imperial Army would have to pack up their baggage and retreat from the camp on the mountain to the foot of the mountain before they could pass through the official road to our west. It would take at least three days. I'm afraid Tullius had already ordered the withdrawal long before the Red Guards' sneak attack.

It couldn't be because of the farming season. It was only the end of the Night Star Moon, and the New Year was still a few days away. The climate in Skyrim was bitterly cold, and before March, it was difficult to till the land, let alone sow seeds. Therefore, in the Nordic calendar, March was called the First Seed Moon, meaning the month when cultivation began. The outcome of the war was not yet clear, so there was no need for Tullius to disband the conscripts a hundred days in advance.

"Masinisa, tell everyone to pack up their equipment, rest on the spot, set out at night, and make sure to reach the Sunshine Garden Fortress before dawn!"

I can't care about so many things! Agis said that he only saw seven centuriae, so there must be someone to cover the rear. This is the last chance to make a contribution. If you go too late, it will be gone. You have troubled me for a whole winter, how can I let you leave in one piece?

The situation at the front confirmed my guess. A unit of the Imperial Legion was stopped halfway. There was a simple camp built by our army in the east, north and south, and they had to hold their ground against a cliff. The Third Legion led by my father was stationed in the eastern camp. The sentry on duty confirmed my identity and led me directly to the general's tent.

"Let that bastard get in here too!"

Winnie put on a strange smile and pulled the curtain to invite me into the tent.

Three candles were lit in the tent, and the dim light danced on the old man's wrinkled face, like lightning flashing through rolling dark clouds. The thick ink was surging, the wind was blowing, and the old man's roar was like thunder.

"You two little brats! Why can't you just give me some peace of mind?"

Only then did I notice the haze around me. It stood proudly like a sturdy mammoth, unafraid of the thunder and rain that swept across the sky and earth.

"Why are you here?"

Rigel and I spoke at the same time and smiled at each other, but those smiles were instantly swallowed up by the endless darkness.

Dad stood up and stepped forward to block out the candlelight. He waved to Winnie, and the Rich girl turned and left.

"This is in the military camp, you two should behave yourself! Now that you are here, you must follow my instructions and don't mess around! Do you hear me?"

He patiently introduced the current situation to us. Four days ago, the Imperial Army that occupied Granite Village and confronted him and Tager suddenly retreated. After discussing with each other, the two veterans were worried that it was a trap set by the enemy, so they temporarily stopped moving. Unexpectedly, only one day later, the enemy in the direction of Sunshine Garden Fortress also began to retreat.

There were two hags living in the castle now, competing against each other secretly, fearing that the other would gain more than they did. So they rashly pursued, and naturally fell into the trap set by the enemy. Without the protection of the city wall, the shortcomings of the Rich were exposed. They lacked heavy armor and shields, and the mages, who were the main output, were shot by archers, suffering heavy casualties.

After hearing the news, the old man cursed loudly, but he was also worried that Tullius would take advantage of the situation to counterattack. The Eastern Army of the Empire had already withdrawn completely. If he just sat there and watched his friendly troops being killed, wouldn't he be blamed? In desperation, he and Tagel covered each other, crossed the Granite Village, and rushed to the flank of the Western Army.

Interestingly, the crow witch's reckless move actually succeeded in biting the enemy, and the main force led by the general showed no signs of turning back. In this way, the last two hundred-man teams of the imperial army were blocked at the foot of the mountain. To the north of them was the first legion of Tager, to the south was the Snake Cliff Ridge tribe, and behind them was a dangerous peak.

Even a trapped beast will still fight, let alone humans?

The enemy built fortifications with stones and dismantled transport vehicles, and repelled our attacks three times in a row. Although our number is twice as large, we lack the means to attack. Among my father's Reachmen guards, the bear team led by Riya is good at frontal attacks. Now they are staying in Falkreath to protect Rigel. The wizards of the Reachmen tribe could have brought surprises, but they were ambushed before, and now almost everyone is injured.

Yesterday evening, he met with Tagel, Moira, and Esmerelda, and they all agreed that they should kill the enemy as soon as possible to avoid being attacked from both sides by the enemy's reinforcements. But when they discussed the specific plan, the atmosphere fell into an awkward situation. Everyone agreed that the enemy had limited arrows, and as long as they charged a few more times, they could force their way in and engage in hand-to-hand combat, but no one was willing to take this final blow.

After a fruitless argument, the father returned to the camp to rest, but was woken up in the middle of the night and saw his daughter.

Rigel has always been a fun-loving person since she was young. From pregnancy to childbirth, she couldn't go anywhere for more than a year, and she was bored. Before that, she was worried that Danger would do something to our children or Donna, so she didn't dare to leave. But in the past few months, the old fox has always been like a kind uncle, and Donna was also sent to the town of Helgen.

The little saber-toothed tiger could no longer hold back, and he gathered his men with Riya on his back, and took the Red Guard to the front line. When he saw his father, he was scolded. But she was quite experienced in dealing with this old man, so she pretended to be stupid and didn't talk back. Anyway, whenever he asked her to go back, she would shake her head vigorously. As for Riya, she was arranged to stay in a small tent to reflect on herself.

Dad finally got tired of scolding us, and just drank some beer to moisten his throat, he heard the news that I was coming with my men. He was too lazy to say anything else, and after a few scoldings, he sent us to recuperate and prepare for tomorrow's attack.

The next morning, with the addition of the Bears, Dad unconsciously raised his voice when speaking in front of everyone and took the initiative to take on the task of launching the attack first.

This highly anticipated team has expanded from the original six to more than twenty people, and the selection criteria are extremely strict. For more than half a year, the team members, who are already outstanding in quality, have carefully honed their martial arts under the guidance of Riya. Dad has also spent a huge amount of money to build weapons and equipment for each person. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are the current ceiling of the combat power of the regular army in Falkreath.

What makes me angry is that if it weren't for Rigel's willfulness, the Bears would not have played in this battle. It's obvious that Dad is hiding something. The battle was so stalemate, but he still held back his killer move. If there was an elite team at that time, the Imperial Army might not have been able to break through the gate of the Sunshine Garden Fortress, and Helgi would not have been captured.

Danger and I had already analyzed that Tullius was determined to take over Falkreath. I don't understand, since it's a life-and-death battle, shouldn't we give it our all? Or is it that Dad doesn't trust the Stoon family, so he left Rigel with some money to save his life, so that he wouldn't be abandoned after he was seriously injured?

The winter sun gilded the steel armor, and the cold morning wind sharpened the frost blade. After gathering the warriors under her command, Ruiya came to her father. The Red Guard stood tall, clasped her right hand on her chest, and saluted.

"The Bear Team has assembled. Please give instructions, Lord Baron!"

Dad nodded, stepped forward and mobilized everyone before the battle.

"I'm so envious. Boss, when can you buy such a set of clothes for the brothers?"

Masinissa came over to me at some point and tugged at his hunting suit. I glanced at him and didn't bother to pay attention.

With a wave of the old man's hand, more than 20 people formed a spearhead formation and slowly pressed towards the enemy.

"Rigail! Where are you going?"

The little saber-toothed tiger was dragging his war hammer backwards, sneaking towards the end of the team. When he heard his father's question, he had no choice but to walk back with a pout.

"What do you think we should do next?"

"Ah? Oh! Next, I should lead a team to attack the flank and help Riya break through the defense line."

Dad sneered.

"You can't go anywhere, you can only stand here. Don't you understand your own status? Do you rush forward when you encounter trouble?"

Rigel could only watch his father deploy his troops silently. After the Bear Team set off, the archers began to shoot to cover. The Tiger Team led by Winnie and the Red Guards led by me were to outflanking the two wings respectively. Their mission was to attack the enemy's ribs after the two sides came into contact.

The battle ended in the morning. The Imperial Legion was already exhausted after yesterday's hard battle, and encountered the well-equipped and high-spirited Bear Team, and the front line was quickly broken. The Rich Tribe in the south saw that the enemy was in chaos and immediately launched an offensive. The Red Guards liked this kind of chaos the most. They cooperated tacitly and skillfully cut the battlefield, like a butcher cutting a cow.

As for the Taghir Corps, they hardly participated in the battle, but simply blocked the way and accepted the enemy's surrender in an organized manner.

I don't know how many people were captured in the end, but there were at least 150 people, including two centurions. Even if a large part of them was given to Falkreath, the rest should be enough to exchange for Helgi and the scout team. But I always feel that after the great victory, there was no smile on my father's face.

Four days later, we returned to Falkreath with the army and met an old friend unexpectedly at our doorstep.

"Eric? Why are you looking for me instead of staying at home to take care of Angie?"

A powerful straight punch hit me in the face.

"Beast! I'll kill you!"

It happened so fast that I had no choice but to take on the fierce attack. Eric kept attacking me like crazy, which made me very embarrassed. His boxing skills were similar to his gun skills. Once he hit me, he would continue to attack me without giving me any time to adjust. I was so caught up that I couldn't even ask why.

In less than half a minute, he had broken through my defense and hit me with three punches. Masinisa finally reacted and rushed over with the other Red Guards to hug the mad dog. Although Eric was stopped, he kept cursing.

"You conscienceless beast! Did you lead people to burn down the granary in my hometown? Do you know how many people will starve to death without food in this winter? Just because you took my mother away, does that mean the other villagers are not human beings? I must kill you today!"

I felt guilty and didn't dare to argue with him, but Masinissa looked frank and kept talking nonsense.

"Eric, don't blame the good people. Fatty and I have been following Rocker, but he has never been to Loristed. Fatty, don't you agree?"

Lydia had no expression on her face, but she didn't deny it. Eric looked gloomy and looked at the three of us. Masinissa was afraid that he didn't have enough weight, so he brought his father out again.

"The boss has taken us to support the front line. Even if you don't believe me, you can go ask Lord Horrick."

At this time, Danger's maid Tecora arrived and asked me to go to Howling Wind Bastion. I quickly took advantage of the situation and arranged for Masinissa to help Eric collect food, while I hurriedly slipped away with Lai Mei. Although this girl did not tell the truth on the spot, she used to protect me very much, but this time she chose to stand aside and watch, contrary to her usual behavior. I really didn't dare to let her have too much contact with Eric.

From what Eric said, the fire was so big that the people in the town would have to starve again in the winter. I was originally quite proud of my method of robbing food and blaming others, but now I am just worried. The Rocker family is an orphan and a widow, and they are taken care of by the villagers of Loristed Town. Even if Masinissa can hide it from Eric, I will still feel uneasy. I can only blame myself for not thinking things through, so I can only try my best to make up for it.

Lei Mei was left on the second floor of Howling Bastion, and Tecora led me into a small compartment on the fourth floor. There were already four people sitting in the room, including the Danger brothers and Dad, as well as Rigel.

"Sit down, my child, and help yourself if you want tea."

The old fox waved his hand, and Tecora tactfully left the room and closed the door.

"I invited you two kids here because I want to have a chat. In your opinion, did we lose or win this time?"

I glanced at Rigel, the little saber-toothed tiger, his eyes on his nose, his nose on his heart, as obedient as a cat, as calm as a Buddha, with no intention of replying. I had no choice but to stand up and answer.

"In my humble opinion, we can be considered to have won. Of course, our army was not able to achieve complete success, and the Sunny Garden Fortress was breached at one point. But tactically, we killed two centuries at the last moment. Strategically, we held the fortress, thus thwarting the Empire's attempt to seize Falkreath. Lord Danger once analyzed to me that General Tullius' short-term goal is to open up a land transportation line between Skyrim and Cyrodiil."

After hearing what I said, my father snorted coldly, Tager looked at his brother with a smile, and Danger still had a kind look on his face.

"Sit down and talk, my child. There are no outsiders here, so you don't have to be polite. Have you ever thought that we both guessed wrong at the beginning?"