Encirclement

At first, a group of people hid behind the reeds, talking amongst themselves. But after only a dozen seconds, as the water rippled more and more, everyone fell silent. They all knew that the Cavalry force was getting closer and closer.

Old Buck's youngest son was only 13 years old. Because he inherited his Old Buck's good physique, he grew tall and big at the age of 13 and was conscripted to go to the battlefield with his father and brother.

The youngest son held his father's left hand and whispered to Old Buck, "Dad, I'm scared."

Old Buck looked at his young son, whose body was trembling, whether from the cold water or fear. He sadly touched his son's head.

"Don't worry, Dad and brother are here. Don't be afraid!"

As soon as Buck finished speaking, the thunderous sound of hooves grew louder and louder, and everyone could no longer hear each other talking. Old Buck immediately hugged his two sons tightly and pressed them down to his body.

He only asked that no matter what happened, as long as his two children could live, nothing else mattered. He lowered his head and dared not look up.

Soon, the thunderous sound of horses' hooves drew near, and waves surged across the river, crashing against the father and his two sons. Old Buck could only hold his children tightly to keep them from being swept away.

After a while, perhaps a few seconds or minutes, the sound of horses' hooves faded into the distance, and the waves on the water calmed down.

Old Buck looked at the two children beneath him. Although they were completely soaked and looked very disheveled, at least they had no wounds, which reassured him a lot.

Just as he was about to look up, his eldest son suddenly exclaimed "Ah!" and stared in astonishment at the direction to their right.

Old Buck followed his son's gaze and saw a troop of Cavalry in black armor standing on the riverbank where they had just drawn water. One of them was on horseback, bending down and drawing his longsword to stir the buckets they had left on the bank.

The eldest son's exclamation immediately attracted the attention of the Cavalry. The man who had been fiddling with the bucket waved his hand, and a dozen or so Cavalry split into two groups and began to advance around the reeds where they were.

Old Buck broke out in a cold sweat and immediately covered the two children's mouths with his hands. Perhaps he used too much force, because the two children's faces turned pale, and they frantically slapped their father's hands. Only then did Old Buck realize his mistake and quickly loosened his grip.

Just as the two Cavalry squads were getting closer and closer, three men suddenly sprang out from another reed bed and launched a surprise attack on one of the Cavalry squads.

The Cavalry were very surprised to see the enemies suddenly emerge from the reeds, but their horsemanship was exceptionally good. Upon seeing the enemies, they simply pulled on the reins, and their warhorses reared up, their front hooves stomping down hard on the enemies.

With a few screams, the three soldiers were trampled into the water by the warhorses. Before they could struggle, the Cavalry extended their spears and pinned them firmly in the water. Soon, the three of them stopped moving.

Seeing this horrific scene, the Old Buck family of three were filled with fear. The Cavalry's strangulation movements were clean and swift. They reacted instantly after being ambushed and killed the three soldiers who jumped out in just one exchange.

Soon, a lot of blood gushed out of the river and spread to the surrounding area with the river water. Old Buck felt nauseous from the smell of blood, and his two sons were also pale and wanted to vomit. When Old Buck saw this, he quickly covered their mouths.

The Cavalry did not stop, but continued to advance towards Old Buck's location, just as Old Buck closed his eyes, preparing to accept his Judgment.

One of them shouted, "I surrender, officers! I surrender! We were just Auxiliary Troops fetching water; we've never fought or killed anyone."

Old Buck opened his eyes and saw that the one who spoke was Eagle Eye. He and three other men ran out of the reeds, raised their weapons above their heads, and knelt in the water.

Seeing this, the Cavalry did not continue their attack, but instead put away their weapons.

Seeing this, Old Buck knew what he had to do. He led his two children out of the reeds and imitated Eagle Eye's actions and words, saying, "We surrender! We are all Serf Soldiers. We were just drawing water and did nothing."

As soon as they rushed out, perhaps due to nervousness and fear, or perhaps the strong smell of blood on the Cavalry, the two children vomited.

Fortunately, they hadn't eaten breakfast, so the two children only vomited some sour fluid. However, this sudden action startled the Cavalry.

The Cavalry exchanged glances, looked at the disheveled men in front of them, and decided that they posed no real threat. They then sent a few riders to chase Old Buck and Eagle Eye ashore.

The black-clad Cavalry who remained in place also saw what was happening on their side and stood by the river, asking curiously, "People can hide in these reeds, right? The river must be very cold at this time of day."

Just as Old Buck and Eagle Eye were being watched by the Cavalry, one man walked directly to the front of the Cavalry.

"What happened? Where were these people found?"

A Cavalry saluted the man. "Regimental Commander, while we were searching along the river, we stumbled upon some buckets. We then searched the reeds in the river and found them."

Old Buck, being a skilled driver, knew that this Regimental Commander was a high-ranking officer, commanding at least several thousand troops. He looked up and sized up the Regimental Commander.

Unexpectedly, the Regimental Commander was very young, with dark brown hair, a handsome face but an imposing presence, and an air of maturity beyond his years.

He wasn't wearing the black clothes Old Buck had initially thought he was wearing. Instead, he was wearing a set of chainmail that looked very lightweight. However, it was probably coated with black paint and was quite fitted, so from a distance it looked like a black garment.

This man was James. Looking at the disheveled group of people before him, he pointed his riding crop at Old Buck and demanded, "Who are you people?"

Old Buck quickly replied, "Respected Regimental Commander, I am Old Buck, Serf Soldiers from Blacklin Territory. These two children are my eldest and youngest sons. We were forced to join the army by the farm manager. This morning we came to the river to fetch water for our squad and did nothing else."

Upon hearing this, James looked up at the Cavalry from earlier. One of them nodded. "Yes, they ran out and surrendered directly, but there were three others who tried to resist with weapons, and we killed them on the spot."

At this moment, Eagle Eye suddenly shouted, "Sir, those people have nothing to do with us. We didn't do anything!"

After saying that, he pulled the three people next to him to kneel down and kowtow. When Old Buck saw this, he also pulled his child down to kneel down and kowtow together.

James rubbed his head and looked at the subordinate who had answered earlier. The Cavalry nodded. "They really didn't do anything. What do you think we should do, sir? If you find it troublesome, just execute them!"

After saying this, he and several Cavalry behind him drew their swords, ready to kill them as soon as James gave the order.

This terrified Old Buck and Eagle Eye. Eagle Eye shouted again, "Sir, I have important information. There's a section of our camp wall that's not very strong. I know where it is. I'm willing to lead the way. Just spare my life!"

James feigned interest and waved for his men to retrieve their swords.

By this time, James's Cavalry had completely surrounded the Blacklin family camp. The billowing dust obscured their vision, and the people inside the Blacklin camp could not see anything when they looked out.

Blacklin shouted to his men, "Send someone to ask for help! Send someone right now!"

His officer was pale. "Your Excellency, we've already sent them, but they were shot dead by the enemy Cavalry as soon as they left the camp. Now our camp is completely surrounded."

Blacklin looked outside the camp and could only see thick dust, unable to see anything. He could only stand there, stunned, as the incessant rumble of horses' hooves echoed in his ears.