Shredder was furious, but no matter how loud he shouted, no one in the tent took his words seriously. What a joke. Sending troops to besiege Nardegath City and meeting the second prince on the battlefield was an act of rebellion. Everyone knew that the Andinac royal family was the legitimate heir of the former Chrison royal family. In other words, the Andinac royal family represented by the second prince was the superior lord of the Norton Family. Unless Shredder was prepared to abandon his identity as a Norton Family knight and lead his men to become bandits, he would not be able to send troops.
"Terman, write an official letter and negotiate with the second prince. Ask him to send our family soldiers back. Otherwise, the Andinac royal family will be disgraced if word of this spreads, "Bofinger said to Terman.
"Alright, I'll write it now." Terman stood up and walked out of the tent.
"Alright, it's no big deal. There's no need to be angry about it. I suspect that Edmar and Vamp made this decision on their own. The second prince doesn't even know about it. The Andinac royal family will be even more disgraced than us if word of this spreads, "Bofinger said to Shredder.
Bofinger was right. As a superior lord, the second prince could give orders to the Norton Family. Borrowing troops and resources was negotiable. It was fine even if he recruited the old students of Dawn College, because they were not knights of the Norton Family. They had only accepted Lollister's invitation to follow the convoy north. Whether they were willing to become knights of the Norton Family would have to wait until they reached their destination. Therefore, it was perfectly reasonable for the second prince to recruit these old students, and it was natural for them to abandon the convoy now that they had a better place to go.
However, the two Platoons of soldiers that were taken away belonged to the Norton Family. If the Second Prince refused to return them, then he must be out of his mind. In the Galinthea Continent, rebellion was one of the most taboo things among the nobles. If a lower Lord rebelled against a higher Lord, no matter how much reason you had, you would be condemned by everyone and automatically rejected by all the nobles. If you failed, your family would never be able to rise again.
A hundred years ago, the Pegasus Family united with seven noble families and fought against Chrison IV for a magic stone in the shape of a crescent moon. However, no one regarded them as traitors. The descendant of the Filim Family, Baron Charward, claimed that he was going to revive his family and won a lot of praise. The reason was simple. The Filim Family was not a traitor. Their war with Chrison IV was because they refused to give the magic stones to the Chrison Royal Family. Chrison IV flew into a rage and sent his army to rob them. They were only defending themselves. Even though they failed, Christensen IV did not declare them traitors. In the eyes of the nobles, the New Moon War was just a case of Chrison IV bullying a few unlucky families.
When a superior lord was powerful, the inferior lord could only compromise and go through with it half-heartedly. However, when the strength of a lower lord surpassed that of a higher lord, he could also ignore the orders of a higher lord. The reason was simple. As long as the lower lord believed that the orders of a higher lord would harm the interests of his family, he could ignore the orders of a higher lord. This was the sacred right of every noble, and even a higher lord could do nothing about it. Sending out troops and declaring war like Shredder was the real rebellious act.
Similarly, it was taboo for a higher lord to annex the people or resources of a lower lord without the consent of a lower lord. He would be despised by all the lower lords and might even be betrayed. Now that the strength of the northern convoy was stronger than the second prince, if the Norton family turned to the eldest prince or the second prince turned his back on the third prince because of this matter, the second prince would regret it.
How stupid would it be to turn an ally into an enemy? Moreover, the second prince did not lack soldiers. He could easily recruit tens of thousands of refugees as long as he could afford them. He also did not lack equipment. The Royal Guards still had tens of thousands of weapons and equipment stored in the warehouse. From the point of view of the second prince, it was not worth it to create a conflict with the Norton family for the sake of two platoons of soldiers.
Terman lifted the curtain and entered the tent again. He said, "The second prince is here."
Shredder was still angry and shouted, "Tell him to get lost. I don't want to see him."
He had to see him even if he didn't want to. Although Shredder was appointed by Lollister as the manager of the northern convoy, he was still a knight of the Norton family. The second prince was the upper lord of the Norton family. Unless Lollister was present, no one had the right to stop the second prince from entering the tent, especially when he had Norton Christie as his follower.
The second prince was here to apologize and send back the two platoons of soldiers. The more Shredder looked at the second prince, the more unhappy he became. He believed that the convoy's current predicament was mostly due to the second prince's efforts. Fatty had always thought that he was quick-witted, but who would have thought that he would be toyed with by the seemingly harmless and amiable second prince. Every time something happened, he would only realize it after it was over.
Bofinger protested to the second prince. The convoy was facing a difficult situation, and the second prince was still trying to poach the members of the northbound convoy. Although the old students recruited by the second prince were not knights of the Norton family, they all held important positions in the convoy and were given heavy responsibilities. The mess they left behind was a headache for the managers of the convoy. Bofinger did not object to the second prince recruiting talents, but at least he had to let them finish what they started and bring the convoy to the Norton family's territory in the north first. It would not be too late to come back to the second prince for help.
The second prince expressed his sincere apology. He said that he was just excited to see talents. He did not expect the Norton family's northern convoy to have so many outstanding talents. In order to revive the Chrison royal family and unify the empire, he needed to recruit more talents to work hard together to realize his dream. That was why he favored so many talents in the convoy. However, he could guarantee that he would not let the people in the convoy join him immediately. He would accept Bofinger's suggestion and wait for the convoy to reach the destination before letting the talents he liked report back.
Bofinger was also helpless. Only a few people in the convoy had been accepted as family knights by Laurist. They were him, Shredder, Ell, who was recovering in the tent next door, Terman, and Yuri, who was leading the patrol team. His former colleagues in the White Lion Legion included the Gold-ranked Rod Wales, the Three-star Silver-ranked Mons Malek, who was now in charge of managing the refugees, the Gold-ranked mercenary Zino Freya, who was in charge of the garrison, the Gold-ranked swordsman Ingelek, who was in charge of the convoy's main camp in place of the injured Ell. There was also Dolus, who was in charge of the warship convoy, Lemmond, who was in charge of the pharmacist team, and the rest of the old students from Dawn Academy. These people were the backbone of the convoy, but they were not Norton family knights. It was inevitable that they would be poached by the second prince.
To the ambitious veteran cadets, the title of a Royal Knight was more attractive than that of a family knight. The Andinac Kingdom had been cleaned up by the convoy led by Shredder, and it could be said that there were many things that needed to be replaced. Other than the sea in the west, the other three directions were facing hostile neighbors. In addition to the intentional suppression and blockade of trade by the Ford Commercial Alliance, they were in a difficult situation. However, riches came with risks. If they joined the second prince now, they would have plenty of opportunities to make meritorious contributions. Once they were conferred the title of a noble, it would mean that they would be on equal footing with Laurist and become a member of the noble class.
Fortunately, those who joined the second prince were the less outstanding ones among the old students. For example, Edmar and Wan Pu were only platoon jarls. Some of the more outstanding old students were already promoted to platoon jarls. This was also the reason why Shredder had expanded the convoy too much. Nearly twenty thousand family armed forces, more than five thousand carriages, more than sixty thousand people, and a hundred thousand refugees following behind. This forced everyone to grow up quickly and adapt to their new positions and the changes in the situation.
The second prince also had another purpose for coming this time, which was to find out when the convoy would set off for the north.
Shredder told the second prince without any hesitation that the convoy was currently stuck here and could not go to the north. The Madras Duchy had sent the Guardian Legion to seal off the border, and no one was allowed to pass through. It was very likely that the convoy would have to stay in the Andinac Kingdom for the winter. They would have to think of a way to make a detour next spring. Therefore, Shredder hoped that the second prince could gather clothes and provisions for the winter. Helping the convoy to get nearly a hundred thousand refugees through the cold winter.
The second prince shook his head and told everyone directly that the Andinac Kingdom could not afford a package of a hundred thousand refugees. Although he had split half of the spoils from the previous two provinces, the recruitment of soldiers and horses to settle down the refugees had almost been spent. As for the spoils from the Vilbas Province, Shredder did not share them with the second prince. They were used to settle down the refugees. Therefore, in order to survive, the convoy only had one way, and that was to attack the Madras Principality and collect rations and supplies from there.
The second prince said that if there was no other way, they could only kill their way out. They could incite the refugees to attack the Lejidana Fortress in front of them. Even if they could not take down the fortress with a hundred thousand refugees, it would be enough to tire out the Guardian Legion guarding the fortress. They could even inflict heavy casualties. At that time, the convoy should be able to easily take down the Lejidana Fortress with an all-out attack. The gates of the Madras Duchy would then be wide open, and the convoy would be able to go to the north unimpeded.
Everyone in the big tent felt their scalps tingle. The second prince made it sound easy, but when they thought of ordering a hundred thousand refugees to attack the fortress guarded by the Guardian Legion, which was known to have the best defense in the world, a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood involuntarily appeared in front of their eyes. How many refugees' bodies would be needed to fill this bottomless hole? Even Shredder, who was known as the devil, could not help but feel a chill run down his spine.
"No, we can't do that." Bofinger was the first to disagree. The eldest prince of the Kingdom of Redelis, who had always been known for his cruelty and tyranny, only captured the young and strong among the refugees to be used as cannon fodder in the siege of the fortress. If word got out that he had ordered the old, weak, women, and children to attack the fortress, the Norton family's bad name would spread throughout the entire Galinthea continent. Not only would they become a disgrace to the nobles, but they would also be despised by all the commoners. The family's reputation that had been accumulated for more than two hundred years would be completely lost.
The second prince spread his hands. "I have no other choice. Either we wait here for death, or we attack the Lejidana Fortress. This is the only idea I have after thinking about it. If you are not willing to order the refugees, then I can send an army of ten thousand soldiers to assist your convoy in attacking the fortress guarded by the Guardian Legion. But I am not optimistic about the outcome of the attack. The Guardian Legion is famous for their defense. Back then, they only had eight thousand soldiers, but they were able to withstand the attack of my father's sixty thousand soldiers for half a year. Now, they have been expanded by the Madras Duke to twenty-eight thousand soldiers, and the Lejidana Fortress. My ten thousand soldiers and the nearly twenty thousand soldiers of your northbound convoy would not be able to take down the fortress … "
This was the truth. If the convoy was stuck here and could not go north, then it would only take three or four months at most for the large number of people, horses, and refugees to consume all the food and fodder. At that time, the convoy would collapse. If they turned around, they would have to pass through the territory of the second prince's Iberian Kingdom. With the burden of the hundred thousand refugees behind them, the convoy would definitely become the second prince's meal, and the future would be even more unpredictable. Moreover, the Iberian Kingdom had been in war for a long time, and coupled with the second prince's plundering, there was no way to get food supplies at all. It would add three months to the journey, and without supplies, they would also have to guard against the second prince's army's interception. This was a dead end, and there was basically no need to consider the problem of turning around.
The best way was to go north through the Madras Duchy. It was a journey of more than one thousand and three hundred miles. Even if they only walked thirty miles a day, they could reach the north in forty to fifty days. However, the Madras Duchy had blocked the border and did not allow the convoy and refugees to pass. If they did not use the second prince's method of ordering the refugees to attack the city, even with the support of the second prince's ten thousand soldiers, they were not sure that they could take down the Lejidana Fortress guarded by the Guardian Legion.
There was a moment of silence in the tent …..
The curtain was lifted, and Yuri rushed in with a face full of joy: "Everyone look, who's here?"
Redi and Jim followed him into the tent. When Shredder saw Redi, he was overjoyed: "Redi, you're here? Where's my lord? "
"My lord misses you, so he asked me to deliver a few letters and see where you are. Oh right, this is Jim, a Silver-ranked mercenary promoted by my lord. Come, Jim, let me introduce you ….. "Redi pulled Jim to introduce the people in the tent, but when he saw the second prince and Christie, he was stunned. He did not know who they were.
Terman quickly introduced the second prince and Christie to Redi and Jim. When they heard that it was the second prince of the Andinac Kingdom and Lollister's cousin, Christie, Redi and Jim quickly bowed respectfully.
"Redi, and that Jim, don't be so busy trying to please them. Isn't the border of the Madras Duchy sealed? How did you get here? "Shredder asked impatiently.
"Oh, it's all thanks to Jim. We heard that the Madras Duchy sealed the border because of a demon called Shredder, and no one is allowed to pass through. However, Jim knows an old fisherman by the Egret Lake, and he sent the seven of us across the lake in a small boat. "Redi replied with a smile.
Shredder's face turned a little red. He did not expect his notoriety to spread far and wide: "You came with seven people?"
"Yes, and five of them are the family guards. They are all mercenaries, so we pretended to be mercenaries. The journey was smooth, and just as we crossed the lake, we met Lord Yuri's light cavalry scouts, and they brought us here." Redi replied.
"Redi, how is my lord now? How's the situation in the family territory? "Bofinger asked.
"My lord is fine. As for the situation in the family territory, it's a long story. We followed my lord back to the family territory, and it was very exciting. Listen to me ….. "
… …
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