The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Baishuang Fort, also known as the Little River Valley, is located at the confluence of waterways, surrounded by water on two sides and backed by mountains on the other, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

The wide rivers and lakes formed a natural defensive barrier, preventing Hammond from advancing rapidly. Moreover, this terrain made it difficult for Hammond to bypass Whitefrost Keep and continue attacking the next city.

Whitefrost Keep repeatedly used bridges and ferries for effective defense and ambushes, but after several attempts proved ineffective, it withdrew its forces and concentrated them on the defense of Whitefrost Keep itself.

Hammond's advance was extremely rapid. The cities and fortresses along the way were basically subdued after being bombarded by artillery for a day or two. What was supposed to be a normal siege and capture of strongholds felt like a blitzkrieg to Hammond.

Apart from a small number of their own guards, most of the remaining militia of these nobles were conscripted by Doug.

After all, Doug had discovered that these scattered troops of minor nobles were simply no match for the Gray Collars' attack, and the militia were even likely to defect on the spot. So, he went all out and began to frantically draw people from these western nobles in order to concentrate his forces.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the nobles put up a token resistance and then surrendered. After all, the slogan shouted by the Grey-White Collar was that Northerners do not fight Northerners, and these nobles thought that they had just changed governors and could continue to enjoy their life of pleasure.

But it was clear that some nobles misjudged the situation; in the governor's eyes, some nobles could not even be considered "human."

Those nobles who enjoyed the so-called "freedom and openness" and used this to further exploit and enjoy themselves were all purged.

Those who did not accept the "Regulations for the Reform of Nobility" and the "Land Allocation Act" had their homes confiscated.

This might provoke strong resistance from other nobles, but for Hammond, such resistance would actually be a good thing.

Hammond attacked too quickly; the civil officials could not keep up with the pace of Hammond's conquests.

Hammond worried that if they didn't wipe them all out, these nobles might be feigning surrender and then rebelling again.

However, the civil servants are now almost catching up with Hammond, and this is the first time Hammond has encountered such a tough nut to crack.

When Hammond saw the knights of Whitefrost Keep constantly ambushing and launching surprise attacks, he even had the illusion that he was fighting against his past self.

However, the other side was clearly more rational than Hammond had been, or rather, the conditions were better. Whitefrost Fortress was not a small, indefensible city like Silverwing City, nor was it particularly important. If the surprise attack failed, there was no need to launch a desperate charge like Hammond had.

If the surprise attack fails, the enemy can simply retreat back into their fortress and continue defending.

Under repeated bombardment by artillery, part of the walls of White Frost Fortress did collapse, but the soldiers of White Frost Fortress quickly took advantage of the darkness to move many sacks filled with sand behind the collapsed walls and quickly rebuilt the fortifications, continuing to hold the walls.

Hammond felt a chill run down his spine. Whitefrost Fortress was originally a proper military fortress, and this was only the outermost wall of Whitefrost Fortress. After it was captured, there were several more walls inside.

There may be secret passages for transporting troops between these city walls. Even if Hammond were to capture the outermost city wall, he would not dare to enter the city directly in a short period of time.

Hammond had always wondered what it would be like if he were the garrison commander of a certain city, and he would constantly imagine himself fighting against that enemy.

And now it seems that this situation has actually occurred.

However, Hammond was not in a hurry.

Because Hammond's advance force was so overwhelming and successful, it became the main attacking force, while the real main attacking force, like the civilian officials, was left far behind.

Now, the main attacking force has finally arrived.

Darcy saluted Hammond. After a brief time together, Darcy was filled with admiration for Hammond. After all, Darcy was just a hunter from the mountains who had achieved his current status by relying on his good eyesight, accurate shooting, and early joining of the team.

Hammond, on the other hand, was a proper Knight of Lars, and Darcy had already learned a lot from Hammond along the way.

Therefore, although Darcy held a high military rank, he had great respect for Hammond.

Hammond also liked the child very much. Although he was still very young, Hammond could tell that Laurie was grooming Darcy to be the next Darcy.

This would have been almost impossible in the old army. Darcy and Laurie had almost no blood relation or interests. Darcy wasn't even a professional, yet Laurie treated Darcy as her right-hand man, letting Darcy take the lead in almost all the important matters so that Darcy could gain experience.

Although Darcy had previously blown his own head off, they were on opposing sides at the time, and Hammond praised Darcy's decision-making and composure, even sharing his knowledge with Darcy.

But Hammond was overthinking it. Laurie was simply learning from the Governor's spirit of using anyone she could get her hands on to the extreme, and was relentlessly exploiting Darcy.

Although there are so many people who want to be exploited by Laurie that it's like having to enter a lottery, Laurie still finds Darcy the most convenient to use.

Linde wasn't as inhumane as Ying. Although he exploited people to the point of exhaustion, at least working for Linde meant real money and status.

Moreover, although Darcy is young, he is experienced and capable, so he is not afraid of losing the support of others.

"How is the situation now?"

Perhaps it was Lind's insistence on military rations that made Darcy eat much better than before, and now there is no trace of Darcy lying about his age.

"A frontal breakthrough is difficult. White Frost Fortress was probably built based on this terrain. Although we have breached the first section of the city wall, it will be difficult to take it down in a short time."

After speaking, Hammond gave Darcy a lesson on fortresses, since Darcy wasn't of noble knightly birth and wasn't very familiar with them.

The collapse of the first section of the wall has no significant impact on this fortress; rather, trespassing into the collapsed section is more likely to lead to falling into a trap.

After all, White Frost Fortress was built during the peak of the Lars family's reign. At that time, the Northern Territory was a mixed force of professionals and elite soldiers from Lars's peak era, as well as demons who could use high-level bloodline magic, all fighting each other.

If we disregard range and focus solely on firepower, these two sides are not much weaker than the current Gray and White Collar. White Frost Fortress was built to this standard, and its structure is even more rational than the fortresses of the Pétain Line.

"Could we build a pontoon bridge to attack from other directions?"

Hammond's vanguard did not have many siege weapons, but the main attacking force brought by Darcy had everything.

"The other side also has professionals, and although they don't have cannons, they do have catapults, so the pontoon bridge will have a hard time being effective against long-range firepower."

Darcy nodded and said, "Then let's continue the frontal attack. We're attacking too fast right now. We need to slow down and give the others some time to digest the spoils. Besides, the governor said that time is on our side. We just need to proceed steadily and surely."

Now, Hammond somewhat understands why the governor is so obsessed with firepower advantage. It is indeed useful, and more importantly, if you can use firepower to knock down the enemy, you can save a lot of brothers from dying.