Chapter 771

After entering Frog Croak Town, the Royal Infantry Second Regiment immediately began preparing its defenses.

Chambers ordered soldiers to guard every entrance and exit of the town, then sent men door to door to "invite" the townspeople to an open area in the center of town, where he identified himself.

Good heavens, the Royal Army had actually reached this place! The townspeople of Frog Croak Town were utterly shocked, staring at one another in disbelief.

"Sir, how is that Giles... doing now?" the gray-haired town headman asked Chambers cautiously, leaning on his cane.

"Rebel Giles is still putting up a desperate resistance at Eagle Beak Pass. We came here to encircle him and prevent him from fleeing south!"

Chambers made no attempt to hide his objective. In fact, he even planned to spread the news shortly afterward, so as to crush the rebels' morale as quickly as possible and create widespread panic.

"Everyone, I'm about to issue a series of orders. From your perspective, these orders may not seem very friendly, but as a soldier of the Auldo Kingdom, I assure you that you will receive fair compensation for any losses you suffer. Moreover, we will not drag you directly into the fighting."

Unease spread among the townspeople, but everyone had already made some mental preparations. In fact, they had been preparing themselves since the war began. The wars between lords over the past thousand years had taught common folk many ways to survive: obey whoever came, and never risk your life resisting them head-on.

Chambers requisitioned all the able-bodied men in town and gathered all the available building materials, including bricks and timber. He even had several vacant buildings dismantled. He ordered the entire regiment and the townspeople to build fortifications on a selected patch of high ground beside