King of the North: My Lord's Diary Weekly Summary

"Emma, ​​when did you get up?"

Wayne knew what was going on. He looked around at the surrounding farmland and asked Emma.

Emma seemed to notice the change in Wayne's tone: "It's fine until dark."

"it is good."

Wayne mounted his horse again: "You will take over from Wright and take charge of all affairs in the rear of the village—including but not limited to grain storage, care for the wounded, food supply, and tool allocation."

Is it possible?

Emma was clearly taken aback, seemingly not expecting to be given such an important temporary responsibility, but her eyes quickly became confident and determined.

She straightened her back and replied, "Understood, Lord Wayne! I can handle it!"

"Then I'll leave it to you."

With a flick of the reins, Wayne's warhorse galloped off again toward the west side of the village.

Even though Emma is just a girl under twenty, she is currently the best choice for the internal command position—being recognized by Wright in such a crisis, Wayne believes she can handle the cleanup work.

What Wayne didn't see was that from the moment he rode up, the boys had already observed Wayne's actions clearly.

……

At the alleyway west of the village, Ronald was leaning against an earthen wall with his eyes closed.

But he didn't sleep—the moment he heard the sound of horses' hooves, he opened his eyes and instinctively placed his right hand on the hilt of his sword.

Upon seeing that it was Wayne, he released his grip, forcing a tired smile onto his face.

"My lord, you're awake."

Wien reined in his horse, dismounted, and walked up to him to examine him closely.

Ronald's blond hair had lost its former luster, was covered in snow, and lay casually on his forehead.

Those golden eyes, which always held a smile, were now bloodshot.

His posture remained upright, but Wayne noticed that his smile was gone.

What alarmed Wayne the most was Ronald's voice.

hoarse, dry.

This time, Wayne responded with a smile from Ronald: "Sorry I overslept, go and get some rest, leave this to me."

"Hmm, the main force hasn't arrived yet, so be extra careful."

Ronald tried to shrug casually, but gave up after only raising his shoulder halfway: "They're cunning; they didn't give me a chance."

Wayne was silent for two seconds.

"it is good."

Ronald turned to leave, then stopped and turned back to add, "There are three patrol teams here, making a total of fifteen people including me."

Hank and Anke each lead one team, and the other team is this one.

The bandits come about once an hour... but then—.

"I see."

Wien said.

Only then did Ronald turn and leave.

His body felt a little unsteady, but he maintained the posture of a knight on horseback until he turned into the alley and disappeared.

Wayne stood there, gazing in the direction he had left, a complex mix of emotions welling up inside him.

The two brothers sacrificed their own lives to buy him those precious dozen or so hours. The grain was recovered, the defense line was stabilized, and morale was restored.

And now, it's his turn.

Wayne looked up at the western sky. The sun was already beginning to set, and there were still about three hours until nightfall.

Six hours.

He had to hold out for six hours alone with these exhausted cavalrymen and villagers.

Then, after Ronald and Wright recovered, after everyone had caught their breath—

It's time to fight back.

Wayne gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, the familiar icy touch emanating from the frost raven glands in his chest.

come on.

He considered the current situation—the defensive area was located in the building areas on the west and north sides of the village, and he was currently leading fourteen cavalrymen in a defensive battle.

Apart from Ronald's departure, these are all currently known facts.

He looked at the four conscripted cavalrymen beside him: "How's the fighting strength of these bandits? Can you handle them?"

The cavalrymen lowered their heads the moment they met Wayne's gaze. Only one of the bolder cavalrymen replied, "Sir, a one-on-one duel is difficult, and we haven't had enough rest ourselves..."

This time, the bandits were like they'd been injected with chicken blood; they were much fiercer than the raiders we encountered on the cold-weather road last time.

Seeing Wayne frown, he quickly added, "And they're too cunning. Even Lord Ronald couldn't wipe them out in any of these attacks."

"I don't mean to blame you. Just do your own thing."

Wayne said, "Besides, the previous waves couldn't really be considered an offensive."

"The northern border really does get fiercer the further north you go..."

Wayne had thought that the conscripted cavalry, which had swept through the battle of Kesa, was quite powerful—but now it seemed that, apart from Kesa, the other enemies were just mutts that the Duke would not bother to deal with.

Thinking of this, Wayne felt a pang of regret—if only that bandit leader had submitted back then, he would at least have a stronger subordinate now.

"So, these seemingly insignificant details and decisions can often bring crucial convenience to your future self."

As Wayne reflected on his experience, the next tactics came to mind.

The purpose of the tactic is definitely to stall.

Let's stall for six hours first—by then, even if we wake Ronald and Wright, their fighting strength should be more than half restored.

To achieve this goal, the only option is to prevent the enemy's main force from arriving too early—first, design an encirclement, with the aim of annihilating the bandits as soon as they are encountered.

This would not only deter the bandits from making any rash moves, but also force them to send more troops to probe the enemy's defenses, thus depleting their manpower.

Wayne estimated that the bandits' patience would be exhausted once the two probing teams were wiped out—then their main force would arrive, and he would use space to buy time.

I will try to delay by guerrilla tactics in the housing area, but if I really can't hold out for long enough, I may still need the lives of the villagers as a buffer.

But there was no other way; bandits, frost, it was just before dawn, and everyone was fighting desperately.

As long as they don't reach the eastern warehouse, losing some men won't be a major blow.

So Wayne, accompanied by four cavalrymen, found Hank and Anke on their patrol route and devised an "arrow-shaped encirclement":

The "arrow" consists of three small teams arranged in a flat triangle. Each pair of teams is positioned to guard the north and west entrances of the village, respectively. They are to let the bandits pass when they encounter them, with the aim of encircling them when they try to retreat.

Among them, Wayne is positioned at the arrowhead, serving as the "assassin" during the encirclement, responsible for assassinating the bandits according to the situation, thus quickly reducing the enemy's numbers.

The western group was led by Hank with two more experienced recruits—their experience would make them less likely to be spotted by bandits in the relatively open western region.

This is also the location that Wayne is prepared to prioritize assisting.

The northern team, led by the strongest and most powerful cavalryman, Weymond, consists of three agile and daring young men. They are positioned as a "suspension force" to keep the other bandits occupied while Wayne kills the western bandit scout team.

The most crucial "arrow tail" defense zone was where the most reliable Anke led the last six to withstand the pressure.

A few minutes later, everything was in place, and we waited for the turtles to arrive!