The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Inside Whitefrost Castle, in the core castle area, although it wasn't as bustling and lively as Black Iron Castle used to be, the atmosphere was still much more relaxed.

At least most members of the Laurent family were still chatting and laughing as they analyzed the future situation.

Although most people were not optimistic about Doug at first, after the siege began, many relaxed and felt that the Grey Collar army was nothing special. There were actually many fortified cities like Whitefrost Keep in the North. Although most of them were historical sites like Whitefrost Keep, their defensive capabilities were indeed amazing.

Some even confidently asserted that Governor Doug's territory was larger, and that the Grey and White Collars were merely using their superior equipment for a quick attack. They claimed that if the war dragged on, Doug could use his population advantage to hold off the enemy. They even seemingly seriously analyzed that the North would eventually be divided in two, starting from the location of Whitefrost Keep.

After all, the offensive of the gray-collar workers looks frightening. Look, after several days of fighting, they have only just managed to breach the first wall. Moreover, after the breach was repaired, the enemy did not dare to advance another step.

This gave the members of the Laurent family the illusion that the nobles who had surrendered earlier were simply too incompetent, and that they should practice more.

However, Pierre, the current head of the Laurent family, was not so optimistic. These were messages that Pierre deliberately released to prevent panic. The truth was that after organizing a surprise attack, Pierre discovered that something was wrong with the opposing army.

Although Pierre's soldiers and knights were already equipped with muskets, the two sides still seemed like armies from two different eras when they clashed, and were not even in the same league as each other.

After only a few ambushes, the enemy began to counter-ambush. Not only were they better equipped, but their commanders were also highly capable, forcing Pierre to consolidate his forces and focus on defense.

Fortunately, the enemy was not as powerful as rumored, capable of bombarding the city walls day and night.

After the first section of the city wall was breached, the enemy's bombardment noticeably decreased, which gave Pierre some confidence.

Moreover, what these members of the Laurent family were saying wasn't entirely unreasonable. The enemy army was advancing so fast that their supplies might not have been able to keep up, and their current position was arguably one of being isolated deep in enemy territory.

Even if the outer fortress were breached, the Laurent family was confident they could defend the castle and fight the enemy to the death.

The castle was originally intended for military defense, not to mention that this fortress-level castle was built during Lars's peak period, and even the Lars army at its peak dared not say that it could be taken down.

Given that Doug's defenses currently rely mainly on archaeology, Whitefrost Keep is already the top-tier defensive fortress in the North.

If Whitefrost Fortress can hold out until the surrounding nobles or those lazy generals of the Dog Army realize what's happening, until the chickens have finished eating the rice, the dogs have finished licking the noodles, the fire has burned through the locks, and the allied forces have finished their decision-making meetings and slowly come to support Whitefrost Fortress, then the enemy's attack can be thwarted, and perhaps we can really divide Whitefrost Fortress and rule it separately.

Having weathered this storm, the Laurent family will receive even more resources in the future.

Despite not immediately opening champagne, thanks to Pierre's reassurance, Château de la Frost maintained a relatively optimistic fighting spirit.

Especially after hearing about the fate of those nobles who were purged.

Although the Laurent family is by no means one of the most heinous families, and is generally more conservative, lacking any open-mindedness or tolerance, it is precisely this conservative orientation that makes the Laurent family, who rely on land for their livelihood, unable to accept the "Nobility Reform Ordinance" and the "Land Allocation Act".

Just as Pierre was planning how to get his allies, who loved to hold meetings all day, to arrive sooner, a soldier hurriedly came up to him, whispered a few words, and Pierre immediately and quietly left the party.

Pierre, wearing a coat, climbed the castle's watchtower and gazed into the distance.

Looking at the neat rows of soldiers and the ongoing construction of fortifications in the distance, Pierre gasped.

"Weren't the troops that attacked us before their main force?"

Pierre asked the staff officer beside him.

The staff officer beside him looked at the distant army and replied with a trembling voice, "According to the news from the first city wall, the previous troops seem to be just the enemy's vanguard. However, because the vanguard fought so fiercely and did not encounter any resistance, they were mistaken for the enemy's main force."

"Damn it!"

Pierre slammed his fist on the watchtower's windowsill and cursed, "So, all those nobles were directly defeated by the enemy's vanguard? Were those nobles completely useless?"

Pierre could understand, though, since the vanguard had already breached the first wall. It was just that the enemy general was too cautious and didn't rush to enter the city, so he stayed outside.

The enemy's vanguard is indeed too extravagant. This army led by professionals is just the vanguard. Is the enemy governor really that extravagant?

However, Pierre quickly calmed down. The opponent might be using the tactic of having a few elite professionals clear the way. The once-powerful Lars family had used a similar fast-attack strategy. Moreover, cursing his teammates now would not help. The most urgent task was to get the reinforcements from those friendly forces to arrive as soon as possible.

When will our fastest reinforcements arrive?

As Pierre asked the question, the staff officer beside him took out his notebook, opened it, and said, "If the nearest territory, Copper Hammer Territory, has already started marching, it will probably be about another week."

"That would probably take another two and a half weeks."

Pierre sighed and continued, "Has our secret passage connecting us to the outside world been discovered?"

"The enemy commander seems to be quite familiar with the castle's structure. Several secret passages were discovered, but they were all destroyed by our guards immediately, and the existence of other secret passages was not exposed."

Hearing this, Pierre finally relaxed a little.

"Contact the other armies that are raiding every day, and the demon army behind them, and tell them to hurry over."

Pierre originally didn't want to contact the Doug Army, which had almost become bandits. After all, those troops were really no different from bandits, and some even directly occupied the mountains as kings. The Doug Army was just a side job.

But precisely because of this, the gray-white-collar army, which had been conquering cities and seizing strongholds all the way, did not have time to clean up these guys in the mountains and forests. These bandit armies may not pose much of a threat to the regular army in normal times, but once they gathered together, they were still a force that could not be easily ignored.

Moreover, Pierre knew that there were some demon armies around. Although Doug's relationship with the demons was becoming somewhat tense, it did not prevent some demons from sending their troops into the North under the pretext of supporting Doug.

However, these demons are not the main force of the demon army; they are mainly here to do some shady things, such as spreading plagues during war.

Even so, these demons were already the elite force among the demon race.

Pierre hated these demons even more than he hated the Gray Collar army, but in his desperation, he couldn't care less about that now.

Once everything was arranged, Pierre returned to the party, exhausted.

"What's wrong, father?"

Pierre's youngest daughter, Emily, dressed in full armor, came to his side. Emily keenly noticed the weariness hidden in her father's eyes.

"It's nothing, just some minor issues. I'll take care of it quickly."

Looking at his youngest daughter, Pierre temporarily forgot his troubles. However, when he saw the armor on her body, he became worried again. The armor represented Emily's determination to live and die with Whitefrost Castle, but Pierre could not really want his youngest daughter to die with the city.

Everyone should always leave themselves a way out.