A carriage that couldn't be considered extravagant sped through the dilapidated city gate. There were few people on the streets. Occasionally, one or two people could be seen with eyes full of resentment and despair. This was a silent protest against their miserable lives.
Brettel City was just as dirty as Han Shuo had expected. The scenery was only slightly better than what he'd seen along the way. A few lazy soldiers watched the carriage enter the city indifferently. They actually didn't question him about his origins or urge him to pay the entrance fee. It looked like Brettel City was indeed on the verge of death.
"Hey, may I ask where the city lord's mansion is?" Chester pulled on the reins and asked a commoner who looked like a beggar with a smile.
The commoner lay lazily under the sun, picking at the fleas on his body. He didn't even raise his head as if he hadn't heard Chester's question.
"One silver coin, where is the city lord's mansion?" Chester, who'd been born in poverty, had a good understanding of the temperament of these poor people. He asked with a smile again.
Sure enough, adding a silver coin immediately produced an effect. The beggar who'd just been deaf seemed to smell the alluring scent of gold. He suddenly focused all his attention on Chester and pointed in the direction of East Street, saying, "Go straight for three hundred meters. The tallest and most dilapidated mansion is the city lord's mansion."
A silver coin glittered under the sunlight as it rolled down to the ground in front of the beggar. Chester didn't thank him. He only jerked his warhorse and the carriage slowly left, heading straight for the city lord's mansion.
The beggar hurriedly picked up the silver coin and clutched it tightly in his palm. He then looked in the direction the two had left in and murmured, "Someone actually came to Brettel City. If it's not a profiteering merchant, then it's that legendary unlucky count. What a pitiful fellow."
Once Brettel City was invaded, the city lord's mansion would become the focus of attention. The walls of the tall building weren't sturdy, and there were even a few holes that hadn't been repaired from the explosions. When Han Shuo's carriage entered, there were only less than five maids and a dozen or so soldiers.
These maids and soldiers looked at Han Shuo coldly. They did not have the enthusiasm and enthusiasm that a subordinate should have. Of course, it was even more impossible for them to welcome Han Shuo at a banquet that was normally held in other regions.
The city lord's mansion was at least five times larger than Han Shuo's mansion in Ossen City. However, this city lord's mansion didn't have any good points apart from its large size. Because the city lord was always the first to leave after every invasion, the city lord's mansion that didn't have any soldiers stationed there was often the first to be looted.
Some of the things that the city lord couldn't take away for the time being had been completely obliterated in the repeated attacks. The funny thing was that Han Shuo actually saw a piece of white jade floor being taken away, leaving behind a large square hole in the ground. This allowed Han Shuo to imagine the true situation of Brettel City.
"Can you tell me about the current situation in Brettel City?" Han Shuo asked Dick, the person in charge of the Dark Mantle, after hearing the news and sitting down in the dilapidated hall at the center of the city lord's mansion.
Dick was a man in his forties. His appearance was ordinary, with only the bridge of his nose appearing rather high. This was a characteristic of the mountain people of Brettel City. Dick respectfully saluted Han Shuo, speaking in a somewhat awkward imperial language, "When the previous city lord of Brettel City left, he took with him a total of five hundred family soldiers. Currently, there are only three thousand soldiers in the entire Brettel City, and less than fifty thousand residents in the city. Three thousand soldiers is simply not enough to guard Brettel City's city gates. Not to mention that these soldiers often escape faster than the civilians. Brettel City's defenses have been damaged time and time again. Without funds to repair them, the city has almost lost its defensive capabilities.
The true local mountain people of Brettel City mostly live on the steep mountains around the city. These mountains produce some valuable ores. Since the mountain people are very familiar with the terrain of the mountains, coupled with the fact that the mountains are indeed very difficult to attack, they have been able to resist every invasion by the seven grand duchies.
Up until now, Brettel City has actually been relatively safe. This is because the seven grand duchies have experienced dozens of large and small invasions. They all understand that there's no more profit to be reaped from Brettel City. To them, wasting time to plunder Brettel City is no longer able to reap the rewards they deserve. Therefore, there haven't been any more invasions in the past few months.
On the contrary, the mines guarded by the mountain people in the mountains around Brettel City have become the targets of attacks by bandits and private soldiers. However, the mountain people are not as incompetent as the Empire's soldiers because they have the geographical advantage. Up until now, they have been able to barely pass through the mountains at the speed of a turtle … "
Han Shuo gradually gained an understanding of the situation in Brettel City under Dick's introduction. When Dick finished, Han Shuo glanced at a soldier in the city lord's mansion and said, "Summon all the soldiers of Brettel City to the front of the city lord's mansion. I want to see what these soldiers look like."
"Yes, Lord Count!" The soldier replied lazily, riding a weak and thin horse at a moderate pace out of the city lord's mansion.
"My Lord, you will be disappointed." Dick shook his head and sighed as he said to Han Shuo.
"I know. However, I want to make sure that I won't be disappointed in the future! "Han Shuo said with a light smile, then furrowed his brows in silence.
After nearly two hours, the soldiers scattered all over Brettel City gathered in front of the city lord's mansion at a moderate pace, with no order or military discipline. None of these soldiers were very strong. Perhaps it was because of the food they ate, but they had a sickly complexion. That kind of sloppy mental state without a trace of a soldier's spirit was proof that their combat strength was bound to collapse at the first blow.
The longswords, bows, and spears in their hands were all rusted and of inferior quality. Han Shuo even felt that a sharp weapon forged by the dwarves could break all of their weapons. Only a third of these three thousand soldiers were young men in the prime of their lives. The rest were old men past their prime. Who could count on these people to have any fighting strength?
Han Shuo stood on the high platform of the city lord's mansion for a while, pondering for a while with a calm face. He grinned maliciously and said, "From today onwards, your good days are over. All soldiers over the age of fifty will be expelled from this troop. I will guarantee that these people will have a normal life.
The remaining soldiers will be given enough food to fill their stomachs. You will also be given brand new weapons, armor, and warhorses. Of course, you will also be tortured by cruel training. When the next invader comes, you will wash away the previous shame with blood. With me here, Brettel City will change. "
The elderly soldiers below were incessantly clamoring. They were indifferent to Han Shuo's proposal to have them leave the army, but were full of doubts about Han Shuo's guarantee of food and clothing. The young soldiers looked at each other in dismay, slowly pondering the meaning behind Han Shuo's words. They didn't know what he wanted to do.
Beside Han Shuo, Dick, the person in charge of the Dark Mantle here, looked at Han Shuo in astonishment and asked, "My Lord Count, are you serious?"
"Your Lordship, even if we have more than a thousand people with weapons and warhorses, do you think that we can withstand the attack of ten to twenty thousand bandits or the thirty to fifty thousand regular soldiers of the seven grand duchies with such a dilapidated city wall?" A soldier with a rough appearance and a full beard shouted as he looked up at Han Shuo.
"This isn't something you should care about. As a soldier, if you can't stop the enemy's invasion, then use your own heads to wash away the shame of failure. If you dare to struggle at death's door and flee, I'll personally slit your necks." Han Shuo looked coldly at the brawny man and berated.
"City Lord, I think you should leave this place as soon as possible. This place has already been abandoned by the Empire. Do you think you alone can change the current situation of Brettel City? Without a hundred thousand elite soldiers of the Empire standing guard, Brettel City will never be able to change the situation of being invaded. If you want to court death, please don't take us with you, okay? " The soldier was extremely disdainful, turning a blind eye to Han Shuo's coldness as he retorted.
Whoosh!
A dark brown luster flashed past. No one could clearly see what it was, but the head of the soldier who'd been arguing with Han Shuo fell to the ground just like that. Fresh blood spurted out from his neck like a paintbrush sketching a bright painting on the ground.
"From now on, all you have to do is listen to orders. You don't need to have any doubts. Even if you do, just rot them in your hearts!" Han Shuo's voice was strangely cold and murderous. That kind of ruthlessness was like that of a butcher's, causing the soldiers below to keep quiet out of fear.
A troop of more than a hundred people riding brightly colored warhorses and wielding bright weapons slowly rode towards the city lord's mansion. One of them was wrapped in silver armor and held a silver spear. He bowed slightly towards Han Shuo and said, "Sir Count, earth knight Faulke will serve you and obey all your orders."
Han Shuo didn't need to think too much to know that this Faulke must've been arranged by Lawrence. Han Shuo could feel the murderous aura of a fierce warrior from this person. He understood that this person was a true soldier who'd experienced hundreds of battles. Han Shuo immediately looked at the Brettel City soldiers below with malicious intent and laughed mischievously, "Faulke, from today on, I'll leave them to you. Use the cruelest methods to train them. I won't blame you if they die during training."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
