Chapter 252 Nowhere to Escape

The overly wet soil was violently lifted open by the iron hooves nailed with horseshoes.

The 3,500 cavalry led by Clay have been deep into the Trident River Basin for almost three days.

In the vast plains, there are many woods that obstruct the view, and the mud formed after a heavy snowfall makes it very difficult to find the traces left by the enemy.

There was no other way, so Clay could only select the horses with the best physical endurance in the army, let Kerrison take them, and disperse to reconnoiter the situation.

Logically speaking, Clay, the first demon hunter in Westeros, is a master in tracking, but the problem is that the reality is that he is not allowed to do such a thing as a coach.

He is not Mr. Li, who loves to lead a commando team to destroy other people's command posts.

Besides, if this army cannot find its own people one day, it will have to disband where it is and everyone will find their own mother.

Now, Clay and his friends are located approximately due south of the Beauty Collection and east of Crowtree City.

After the army crossed the Red Fork River, Clay led his troops to search westward along the banks of the Red Fork River.

Because it is close to the water source, it is the area where the enemy is most likely to be found.

Some time ago, when the snow had not completely melted, it was possible to collect snow to quench thirst, but now, it has become increasingly difficult to collect snow water.

Clay also came back from the north, and he knew exactly what the people in the valley were thinking.

Arrive at the Red Fork River as soon as possible, and then search along the river. Once they find a ferry that can cross the river, or even a place with shallow water, these valley people will definitely choose to cross the river immediately.

If they stay on the north bank of the river for a moment longer, the danger will be even greater.

Therefore, after Clay crossed the river, he searched along the river.

Unfortunately, his efforts were fruitless.

After this, Clay realized that these people seemed to be slower than he thought. They might not even see the shadow of the Red Fork River at this time.

The sun is high in the sky and it's time for a routine break.

Clay dismounted, and soldiers had already brought him a simple stool.

A commander still needs to be treated like a commander. After all, he is already in charge of tens of thousands of troops. If Clay doesn't want to do some things, someone will do it for him.

The sun shone on Clay's shoulders, but it didn't bring much warmth to him. In the past, during this kind of rest time, soldiers would be seen moving back and forth in the camp.

But now, whether they are soldiers from the Mandalay family or sergeants with the coats of arms of various families in the Riverlands, they are all leaning together in twos and threes, trying to find shelter from the wind as much as possible.

Some guys even dug out some relatively dry dead branches and leaves from nowhere, lit a fire, and attracted a group of people to gather around.

There is no way, it is too cold, or in other words, for the riverlands in midsummer, the current temperature is really unacceptable.

"It's a pity that we can't make an accurate thermometer, so we can't determine what the temperature is now."

"In terms of body temperature, it will never exceed ten degrees."

"It's really troublesome. I'll knock down the school city later and let you, the extremely inefficient bachelors, study hard on what real knowledge is."

Clay muttered to himself, his voice so low that only he could hear it.

The nose is filled with a very strong smell of decay.

This itself is the smell that a meadow should have, but the sudden snowfall and the large amount of water accumulated after the chemical accelerated this process, resulting in a rather bad smell on the ground.

Just as he was thinking about it, four rapidly running cavalry figures appeared in Clay's sight.

After the mutation, Clay's eyesight was excellent, and the current air conditions were very good. Therefore, Clay recognized from a considerable distance that the person coming was the scout troop he sent out.

The leader was Kristen Mandler, the commander of his own bodyguard and the commander of the scouting force.

Clay knew in his heart that this was not the normal time for Kristen and the others to return from their reconnaissance.

When scouts go out, they are not required to return to camp on the same day.

Clay generally requires that a round-trip call be made every three days at most.

Come back early, as long as this kid is not stupid and dares to disobey military orders, there is only one explanation, they have discovered something.

Standing up from the stool, Clay straightened himself out and then climbed onto his horse with great skill.

With his legs sandwiched between the belly of the war horse, the black horse understood its master's intention and moved forward with Clay.

After rushing in front of Crema, Kristen pulled the reins and made the horse stop hard.

Ignoring the war horse's neighing of discomfort, Krissen shouted to Clay with joy:

"Lord Clay! Found it! Found it!"

Kristen's voice was loud and full of undisguised excitement.

Didn't everyone wander around the meadow for so long just to find those valley turtles?

Therefore, the soldiers who heard Krison's shout, no matter what their status, turned their heads, their eyes filled with hope.

Looking at the corner of Krison's mouth that was about to reach his ears, Clay raised his eyebrows and asked calmly:

"Those Valley people, have you found their location?"

"Yes sir!"

Clay pressed his hand to signal Kristen not to shout so loudly.

At this time, Kristen realized his gaffe, smiled sheepishly at Clay, and then continued:

"Sir, I took my brothers and searched all the way to the west, passing through the horseshoe-shaped forest covered with poplars. Ah, you should have an impression."

Clay nodded. When he first returned to the army, he rested in that forest, so he had some impressions of it.

"Well, you continue."

"We had already left that place alone, but you know, we guys have pretty good noses, so I thought there was something smelly about that place."

"So, I took my brothers and went back again, and sure enough, there was the latest horse dung in that place."

"Although they have handled it very carefully, there are still some oversights."

"The number is not large, and it is certainly not the product of a large number of cavalry, but this at least shows that someone must have been to that place."

"So, I started looking for traces on the spot, and sure enough, we found a few horse hoof prints that were not very obvious."

"At that time, I thought, maybe I met a colleague."

When Kerrison said this, he was full of confidence. Obviously, the final result showed that he made the right bet.

"I followed the horse's hoof prints and chased it northwest."

"After climbing two hills, I saw the sentries sent by the Valemen."

When the young demon hunter guard said this, the excitement and pride in his tone could no longer be concealed.

"I sneaked over alone, using the cover of the woods."

"Lord Clay, I found them. There are almost two thousand of them. They are all there, resting."

"After confirming it, I will rush back immediately."

Clay nodded and asked:

"They didn't notice you, did they? This is the Great Plains after all."

"No! The reconnaissance level of the Valley people has never been very good, and their condition seems to be very bad. The scouts and ordinary soldiers are all in a state of not moving as much as they can. They look like they are conserving their physical strength. .”

Clay understands that he does not doubt Kerrison's intelligence. This kid has been a scout enough times and has all the experience he needs. Even if he makes a mistake, it is not fatal.

"So, these valley people are just northwest of us?"

Clay reviewed the information provided by Kristen and immediately figured out the location of those guys.

Before the war, he spent quite some time thoroughly studying the terrain of this battlefield.

Therefore, without having to say much from Collison, Clay knew where the position was.

"The speed of the army is relatively slow. If we set off now, we will basically arrive tomorrow afternoon."

Clay said to himself.

…

In fact, this is really just Clay's luck. In such a large area, the probability that the two armies can collide is extremely slim.

But helplessly, the scouts sent by Count Leonor were bitten by the tail of Clay's scouts, and followed them to find the location of the army.

Count Leonor Corbray had no choice. When they set out from Wasteland City, they were already out of food.

After forcibly walking a distance to the southeast, it was finally time for the entire army to make a decision.

In the woods, almost all of the fruit fell to the ground. The more or less rotten fruits could not meet the energy needs of two thousand people.

The soldiers were too hungry to speak. With only the simplest desire to go home, they marched step by step towards the Blood Gate with their already cold legs.

But the spirit and will cannot be eaten, and finally, the whole team can no longer move forward.

By this time, Count Leonor Corbray could only order the horse to be killed.

Going all the way north and then heading south in despair, nearly a thousand of the 2,500 horses brought out by Count Leonor Corbray had been lost.

Don't be surprised, war horses are more delicate than humans, and even the slightest problem may lead to the complete loss of a war horse.

Earl Corbray counted all the horses, and the total number was more than 1,600.

This number is slightly more than the number of cavalry currently held by Count Leonor.

When he originally split his troops from Actor's Beach with John Royce, there were two thousand troops at full strength.

But along the way, the attrition due to various reasons has reached 500 people.

Many people really couldn't hold on and fell behind, and Count Leonor didn't dare to stop and wait for these people.

He knew very well that in the current environment, the main force on his side could not protect himself, let alone them?

The Earl of Ansu City sighed in his heart. After this battle, the valley would probably be filled with tragic scenes again.

Although he did not experience what happened to John Royald, he had already realized that his actions must have fallen into a trap planned by Clay Mandler.

But no matter what, we can only talk about anything else before escaping from this dangerous place.

"Brother, kill the horse, otherwise many soldiers will not be able to survive tonight."

Lynn Corbray, holding the Valyrian steel sword, is the famous Lady of Silence in the Seven Kingdoms.

The sword was stained with blood, which was caused by the way he had just rescued a soldier who was suffering from a high fever caused by a wound infection and could not survive.

Basically half of this team are elite members of the Corbrai family. Therefore, every death is a huge loss to the declining Antarctic City.

But they have no choice.

Count Leonor Cobb was just about to speak and give the order to kill the horses to satisfy his hunger, but he seemed to suddenly feel something.

Turning around suddenly, he looked in the direction of the hills.

The sword was unsheathed, he understood.

Some people no longer want to leave him even the time for this bite of food.