TOV45

Originally, Colin thought that the northern border of the Glorious Empire was cold enough.

But now he discovered that compared with the Northern Ice Field, the Northern Territory is completely a big greenhouse.

It's almost the end of May. If you are in the north, you already have some summer feelings.

But in the northern ice field, there was still snow.

No wonder that even though the Northern Territory had the absolute upper hand, it did not continue to expand its territory to the north.

People from the North really don't want to come to this kind of bitter cold place.

In the roaring north wind, the heavy snow quickly dyed the world into a vast expanse of whiteness.

Fifty thousand black cavalries, like a raging black tide, are galloping north in the heavy snow.

The horseshoe stepped on the ground, crushing the ice and snow, turning out the hard soil.

The rumble of horseshoes, mixed with the sound of armor collision, weaves a murderous and tough melody with the accompaniment of the whirring wind.

It has been more than half a month since they started from Ice Rock City, but there was no troll army encountered along the way.

This is not surprising.

When the trolls began to withdraw their troops, the Black Cavalry was chasing them slowly, and after a long delay in Ice Rock City, the trolls had already withdrawn far away.

However, the trolls have gained a lot from the siege in the north this time, and with the property obtained from these plunders, they must not go fast.

According to the current pursuit speed of the Black Cavalry, Colin estimated that if they didn't chase in the wrong direction, they would be able to catch up with the tail of the troll army in a few days.

Marquis Garcia is obviously aware of this, and the number of sentry rides released for exploration has increased significantly in the past few days.

But the northern ice sheet is still too big.

The 300,000 army of trolls looks like a lot, but thrown on this vast ice field, it seems like a drop in the ocean.

Moreover, under such wind and snow, the traces left by the march will soon be buried, and it is basically an idiotic dream to want to track with the footsteps.

Therefore, the first difficulty in this pursuit is to find the traces of the troll army on the vast ice field.

This requires an extreme familiarity with the geography of this ice field, and also a very clear understanding of the possible retreat route of the trolls.

Anyway, Colin was blind.

He had never been so deep into the northern ice sheet, and he knew almost nothing about it.

Fortunately, there are big thick legs beside him - Marquis Garcia.

This is the real "God of Icefield"!

Yes, this title was given to him by the trolls.

Being able to let the enemy give himself such a title is enough to explain the terrible ability of Marquis Garcia on the battlefield.

With such a great person by his side, of course, Colin would not waste such a great opportunity.

Adhering to the principle of asking if you don't understand, Colin would get in front of Marquis Garcia and ask questions from time to time.

And the Marquis of Garcia took the trouble to answer them one by one every time.

So patient, let alone Colin, even some of the high-ranking generals in the Black Cavalry looked very jealous.

Some guys are even secretly inquiring, is Colin the illegitimate son of Marquis Garcia?

"Does uncle have a lover?"

Vera hid her small face deep in the fox fur shawl, revealing only a pair of big puzzled eyes.

"Yes." Colin looked gossip, "I know that Lord Marquis has never been married, but does he have a lover?" 

Yes, always facing the strange look of Black Cavalry generals, Colin actually gradually began to doubt his own life experience.

"No." Vera shook her head, "As far as I know, my uncle seems to have never been too affectionate to any lady. Moreover, I have never heard of such rumors for so many years.

It feels... Uncle is like an ascetic monk. "

"Okay." Colin was disappointed.

Originally, he thought it was a routine operation for the protagonist who passed through to have a bizarre life experience.

There is a bull-breaking character like Marquis Garcia as the father

Let's have another bull-breaking mother like an elf princess. One day, an unmasked grandpa suddenly appears and hangs up, leaving him with a country to inherit...

"Ahem..." The howling cold wind poured into Colin's mouth, interrupting his daydreaming.

At this time, he suddenly realized that Marquis Garcia had no heirs.

Moreover, if Lord Marquis is living like an ascetic monk, as Vera said, then he probably won't have any heirs in the future.

So, who should inherit his title and territory?

Could it be that he is looking for an adopted son or daughter?

This is a possibility.

However, there is another possibility.

Because, Colin suddenly realized that he might have guessed what the source of trust between the Marquis of Garcia and the Duke of St. Hilde was.

He had always wondered before, why did these two brothers dare to act in this play?

You know, in that situation, everyone thought that these two brothers were really going to do it.

But who knows, in the end it was a vain shot.

This kind of tacit understanding and this kind of trust makes it hard to believe that it will appear in this pair of brothers.

Because, if the Marquis of Garcia really intends to become a new owner of the north, he has absolutely no need to lead the Black Cavalry into the ice field.

At that time, the Golden Lion Army suffered heavy losses, and the lords of the northern territory were dissatisfied with the Duke of St. Hilde because of the command errors of the Marquis of Charles.

In Ice Rock City, as long as the Marquis of Garcia swung his army south, he could easily take down Winter City.

He has this ability.

The Duke of St. Hilde certainly knew that his younger brother had this ability.

So, isn't he afraid that his brother will make the fake come true?

Unless, what promises Marquis Garcia gave him.

Of course, this promise is certainly not verbal.

It's a substantive, unrepentant promise.

Extinction may be the promise of Marquis Garcia to his brother.

If there are no descendants to inherit the title, what are we going to fight for?

This may be the basis of their mutual trust.

Just as Colin was thinking about it, suddenly a sentry sent back a message - the trace of the troll army was found ahead!

Finally caught up!

Colin clearly felt that the soldiers suddenly became excited.

These warriors, who have traveled thousands of miles in the wind and snow, have no slack at this moment, no cringe, and some are just monstrous intent to fight!

This is the number one army in the North - the Black Cavalry!

However, the military order of the Marquis of Garcia came, but it ordered the whole army to stop advancing and camp on the spot.

This is also normal.

After all, it is impossible to rush forward as soon as you find the enemy's trail.

That's not a marching war.

A calm general will make further decisions after understanding the enemy's situation in detail.

Colin followed the Marquis of Garcia for a few kilometers, and came to the spot where the sentinel found the enemy.

He carefully looked at the faint traces on the snow, and judged:

"It looks like this should be the main force of the trolls, and it has not been more than a day or two."

Over the past time, Colin has learned a lot of ice tracing skills by humbly asking for advice.

Marquis Garcia nodded and approved Colin's judgment, and then asked: "Then do you think we should continue to catch up?"

"Why not?" Colin was a little puzzled.

They travel thousands of miles in the cold, isn't it just for this?

But Marquis Garcia shook his head:

"No. This is not our goal."


Comments

Aaron said…
I don't understand how the "horses" doesn't slip on the ice, or has enough stamina to plow deep snow, I know reindeer could, but that's because they have specialized hooves. And with how cold it sounds, the snow should be around or more than 6 feet deep.
Nemo said…
There are people surviving having a spear through their chest and stuff. Buffed up horses are so down the realisism issue here...
Unknown said…
Thanks for the chapter
Easykiln said…
I've lived cold places, although my experience on ice sheets is limited. In those places, deep snow like you describe is rare. Tundra itself I was taught was a form of desert, the snow sticks around, but it doesn't accumulate much, and when it does it transforms into dense ice.

The kind of snow you're talking about I only know for sure exists in one type of terrain: mountains. They can physically block weather fronts that carry humidity, leaving behind significant precipitation which is retained by the high altitude temperatures. It accumulates faster than the sun can condense it into ice layers. Ice layers with a crusty snow-like top that is anti-slip, stable, and perfectly fine to walk on.

I'm far from an expert, and nature is incredibly diverse, but the ice sheets in question are probably like this, thick ice with scattered but not deep dense snow on top. Fresh precipitation doesn't come that often, although fierce winds can drive the hard crystals like a sandstorm. Such terrain has many hidden dangers but, just in terms of getting around on it, it's pretty easy actually.

Horses still probably aren't the best fit, but I think it explicitly said that the black Lion used a special breed, and in a world of superhumans it isn't unreasonable to think high quality warhorses would possess similarly uncommon vitality.