On the 18th day of the second month of the 1768 Galinthea general calendar, the vanguard of the northbound caravan was led by Ross the Ferocious Tiger and Yuri, the commander of the light cavalry scouts. They were going to the lower reaches of the Mitubro River, the territory of Baron Shuras. They were going to build a pontoon bridge, set up a camp, and receive the caravans and refugees that would arrive later.
Aire had also rushed to Kebo City to report to Lollister. After recuperating for a whole winter in Nardegath City, he had just recovered from his injuries. He couldn't wait to hire a carriage and rush back with four guards. Aire brought two pieces of news to Lollister. The first was that on the way back, they had met the Royal Guards sent by the second prince. There were about ten thousand of them, and they would arrive in Kebo City in two days.
The second piece of news was that the second prince was building a fortress at a dangerous mountain pass about ten miles away from the city of Venades, which was the main road leading to the Fortress of Lejidana. He had mobilized forty to fifty thousand laborers.
Lollister looked at the map and felt a little strange.
Fatty Shi, Bofinger, Terman, and the others were in a heated discussion. Fatty Shi believed that the ten thousand Royal Guards rushing to Kebo City were there to take over the city's defenses. After all, Kebo City was the center of the Delimuk Province, and it was also a fortress city. It was easy to defend and hard to attack. After Lollister made it clear that he refused to stay behind, the second prince would not give up this city for nothing. With these ten thousand soldiers stationed here, even if the second prince invaded, they would be able to resist for a long time.
However, why did the Second Prince want to build a fortress over five kilometers away from Vanades City was something that no one could understand. Logically speaking, he should have strengthened the defenses of Vanades City and turned it into a fortress city. As long as he occupied the transportation hub of Vanades City, he would have the initiative on the battlefield. He could attack and defend, and he would not have to worry about the rear.
In the end, Bofinger's opinion was the most reasonable. He believed that the fortress built by the second prince was to ensure a path of retreat. In addition, it could also coordinate with the front and back in a defensive battle, preventing the enemy from besieging Vanades City. Another possibility was that even if the city of Vanades fell, the garrison could still protect the Andinac Kingdom's Yungesandra province from the enemy's invasion as long as they retreated to the fortress behind.
Laurist agreed with this point of view. However, the carriages and the refugees were about to leave Kebo City and return to the family's territory. In the future, even if there was an earth-shattering battle here, it had nothing to do with him. What everyone should be concerned about was when they could cross the river and set foot on the northern lands.
Two days later, the ten thousand soldiers of the Imperial Guard Corps sent by the second prince arrived at Kebo City. Fatty Shi handed over the city defense and twenty million catties of food to them.
Out of Laurist and the others' expectations, the Royal Guards did not reinforce the city's defenses. Instead, they began to tear down the city walls. They spent more than ten days tearing down the six city walls on three sides. Then, they destroyed more than ten towers and left with the rations …
"F * ck …" Fatty Shi cursed, "What a vicious scheme! He's using our team as bait …"
Loriste's face was gloomy. "We need to speed up the transportation. Fortunately, we set off a few days earlier. If we delayed until now, it would be too late. Order the light cavalry scouts to increase the patrol area and investigate the movements of the nobles in the Delimuk province. Especially the southern border with the Iberian Kingdom. Move the rest of the resources and personnel to the ferry port downstream immediately … "
No one would have thought that the second prince would actually send an army to tear down Kebo City's walls. He was abandoning Kebo City, a fortress city. There was still more than three hundred miles from Kebo City to the downstream ferry of the Mitoboluo River. With such a large fleet and the burden of a hundred thousand refugees, it would take at least two to three months. Moreover, there was the Mitoboluo River blocking the way. With so many people and carriages, it would take even more time to cross the river …
It was the end of February now. Even if the second prince led his army to invade the Delimuk province a month later, it would take at most fifteen days to reach Kebo City from the border. When he discovered that Kebo City had been abandoned, he had two choices. One was to advance towards Vanades City, and the other was to chase after the northbound fleet and block them at the bank of the Mitoboluo River …
Thinking of the huge supplies and scale of the northbound fleet, with the greedy nature of the second prince, it was easy to see what choice he would make …
Loriste had a belly full of anger. He was willing to hand Kebo City over to the second prince, and had even taken out twenty million kilograms of food in hopes that the second prince would send troops to defend Kebo City and block the second prince's advance. This would give the northbound fleet and refugees time to cross the river safely to the north. But he really didn't expect the second prince to be so ruthless. He directly abandoned Kebo City and put the caravan in danger.
"Oh my god!" Loriste sighed to the sky. He was not afraid of the second prince's army. With the current size and strength of the fleet, it was not impossible to resist the attack of the second prince's army or even defeat them. But to kill three thousand enemies and lose eight hundred soldiers, why should he let his own family's armed forces sacrifice themselves for the second prince's cause? Even if he defeated the second prince, what benefit would he gain? Nothing, and he might even offend the second prince's father-in-law, the powerful Duke Fisabulon …
Indeed, no one was a fool, and neither Loriste nor the second prince was. Loriste wanted to avoid this mess. He did not want to be caught in the crossfire for the second prince. He only wanted to bring the fleet and refugees back to his family's territory to develop and unify it. But the second prince was determined to drag him down. He wanted to use the Norton Family's northbound fleet to buy time for him to prepare for war. He even hoped that the fleet and the second prince would both suffer heavy losses so that he could reap the benefits.
An ambitious person was indeed an ambitious person, not someone who was easy to deal with! Loriste had to admit that he had miscalculated. He should not have placed his hopes of defending Kebo City on the second prince. Now that the second prince had taken drastic measures, he was once again stuck in the fire.
"Someone, pass down the order …" Loriste thought for a moment before issuing a series of orders.
"Order Boddinger to lead the heavy armor troops to the river crossing as soon as possible. Take over all matters of the camp, arrange for people to cut down trees and build defensive facilities …"
"Order Roth, Terman, and Peter to lead the armored cavalry, knights, and cavalry archers to collect the carriages, sheepskin rafts, and small fishing boats of the nobles in Delemark. The more the better. If there are any who resist … "Loriste paused for a moment before coldly spitting out four words," Kill without mercy! "
"Order Freya and Malek to lead the garrison troops to guard the rear. Maintain the order and security of the fleet and refugees. Those who deliberately delay the journey and cause trouble will be killed without mercy! "
"Order the craftsmen to build at least four pontoon bridges across the river as soon as possible. Hand over the lack of supplies and tools to Roth and the rest to collect."
Redi stood behind Laurist and copied the order on a piece of animal skin paper. He handed it to Laurist to sign. Padt burned a drop of red beeswax and dripped it on the signature. Laurist flipped his ring and stamped the wax with a stamp. Finally, Pat spun the animal skin paper with the orders and put it into a small silver tube. He dripped some beeswax on the top and bottom of the tube, stamping it with the emblem of the Raging Bear before handing it over to the guards to pass on the orders.
"We need to move faster as well. We need to transport all the food in Kebo City before the end of the month and leave this place," Loriste turned to Fatty Shi.
Fatty Shi nodded.
… …
It was already the 6th of March when Laurist arrived at the ferry in Baron Shuras' territory. Other than the thousands of people who had been chased out of Kebo City and abandoned by the caravans and refugees, all the caravans and refugees were rushing towards the camp at the ferry in an endless stream.
Three pontoon bridges had already been built across the Mituburo River, with one more half completed. There was also a camp set up on the other side of the river. The people and vehicles that had arrived earlier were crossing the river on two pontoon bridges. There was also a larger pontoon bridge for the vehicles to unload their supplies before returning. The coachmen with the horses lined up carefully and slowly on the pontoon bridge.
"My lord, let's go rest in the manor castle first," Bofinger, who had come to greet them, said.
Loriste saw that Bofinger was pointing at Baron Shuras's manor castle and asked casually, "Where's Baron Shuras?"
"Who?" Boddfinger was baffled.
"I'm talking about the local lord," Loriste said.
Boddfinger suddenly understood. He pointed at the dock and said, "It's over there …"
Loriste turned around and saw four or five corpses swaying in the wind from a few tall wooden frames on the pier.
"Who did this?"
"Yuri and Ross," Bofinger replied.
"Why?" Loriste asked.
"This lord didn't let us build pontoons. He said that the entire river is his territory, and we have to pay him the crossing fee if we want to cross. Yuri and Ross were infuriated, so they hung him up and occupied his manor and castle. "
Loriste was speechless. Another one looking for death. Didn't they have eyes? Didn't they see that the people here were strong and powerful? Did they think that this was the peaceful era of the former empire where no one dared to offend the nobles? What time was it? Instead of retreating to the manor castle to defend it, they still dared to ask for the crossing fee. They really wanted money more than their lives.
Yuri and Ross were not easy to deal with. One followed Loriste and was one of the first to rise up in Dawn College, while the other had just been given the title of Ferocious Tiger by Loriste. Especially since the two of them had gone north with the convoy and hanged no less than a hundred nobles in the Andinac Kingdom, they had long lost their respect for the nobles. Baron Shuras belonged to the Madras Grand Duke's side, and was in the opposing camp. Hanging him up was no problem for Yuri and Ross.
"Forget it. Take them down and bury them. They're old acquaintances after all. It doesn't look good hanging them like this."
"Yes, my Lord."
Ten days later, Ross, Terman, and Peter returned. This was the third time they had gone out to collect. The surrounding areas had already been collected, so they went further. They collected more than a thousand large carts, more than a hundred sheepskin rafts, dozens of small fishing boats, and more than two hundred large carriages filled with supplies. These were the spoils of the three rebellious nobles they had hanged.
Loriste found that the sheepskin rafts, small fishing boats, and the Locke boats he had built during this time were enough to build six pontoon bridges. He stopped Ross and the rest from excitedly going out to collect again. He arranged for the carts to be brought to Fatty Shi to speed up the transfer of people, and let the soldiers rest for two days. Next, they only needed to cut more wood to make rafts to speed up the construction of the pontoon bridges.
On the 18th of March, the travel-worn Yuri rushed to the ferry. He brought a piece of news to Loriste.
On the 12th of March, 1768, the king of the Kingdom of Iberia, known as the second prince, Christen Iberia, led an army of seventy thousand. He claimed to be supporting the Madras Duchy in resisting the invasion of the Andinac Kingdom. They were going to attack the Andinac Kingdom through the Madras Duchy's Delemke province.
This time, the second prince had borrowed three divisions from his father-in-law, Duke Fisablon's border troops. Together with his own garrison troops and the private armies of the nobles under him, he had gathered more than seventy thousand soldiers and entered the Delemke province.
"Damn, where did he get the rations from? Didn't they just start harvesting the winter wheat?" Loriste was surprised, but he immediately understood. "Damn, each one is more cunning than the last. The second prince is aiming for the winter wheat that is about to be harvested in the Delemke province. He's borrowing rations to fight against the enemy. He's planning to collect the winter wheat as rations! "
However, Loriste did not care about the second prince's army at all. They had already built five pontoon bridges of various sizes, and the sixth was in the process of being built. The caravans and refugees that came later did not need to wait at the camp at the ferry. They could directly cross the river and rest at the camp on the other side of the river.
The only thing that worried Loriste was the one hundred and twenty million kilograms of rations in reserve. If a four-wheeled carriage carried two thousand kilograms of rations, ten thousand large carriages could only transport twenty million kilograms at a time, and they would have to make six trips to and fro.
Loriste summoned Bofinger and had him lead the heavy armor division to cross the river first and take charge of the defense of the camp on the other side. More and more resources and people were crossing the river, and there were only Terman's knights and a squadron of light cavalry scouts stationed there. They could not complete the security of the camp very well.
Bofinger was very worried that he would not be able to defend against the second prince's army after he crossed the river with the heavy armor division.
Loriste smiled. There was no need to worry about the second prince's army now. The second prince had to gather rations, so he could not chase after the northbound caravans with light cavalry. Even if he did come, it would be a small army. With Ross's three platoons of armored cavalry holding the fort, a small group of roaming cavalry would just be sending themselves to their doorstep.
"Right, after you cross the river, take down the town on the other side. Hang that viscount, what's his name again? Hmm, something like Dave something, hang him at the city gate," Loriste ordered.
"Why? Sir, that's just a rundown town. "Bofinger was very curious. Ever since the caravans had crossed the river and built pontoon bridges to transport supplies to the camp, the rundown town on the other side had always been very well-behaved. They had obediently shut their doors, and not a single person had come to question them. So much so that Terman could not be bothered with this rundown town after he crossed the river with his knights.
"The messengers that your caravan sent in the past rested in this rundown town after crossing the river. In the end, they were accused of being mounted bandits and were killed by the guards. Only five of them managed to escape. The last time I crossed the river, I've already hung the guards that the viscount sent to collect fees at the ferry to collect fees. Today, you might as well go and destroy the bandits' lair for me, "Loriste explained.
"Yes, as you wish, my lord."
Bofinger led his heavy armor troops across the river and immediately launched an assault on the rundown town by the river, taking it down at the cost of zero casualties. Half an hour later, Bodefinger snatched a warhorse and hurried back anxiously.
"Sir, there aren't many people in that rundown town. I heard that the lord, Viscount Dave, has responded to Duke Lujins' call to attack the Norton Family with his guards and young men. They've been gone for almost a month …"
"What did you say?" Loriste almost jumped up after hearing the news from Bofinger. Duke Lujins had not given up and was planning to attack the Norton Family again?
"Order Yuri to immediately send out light cavalry scouts to gather information in the north. Have Jim bring a small group to contact the family and see what's going on. He was a mercenary, and knew the situation in the north very well. Padt, you go as well. "Loriste calmed down and felt that there was no need to rush.
Loriste knew the defenses of the Monolith Castle very well. It was easy to defend and hard to attack. Furthermore, he could rest assured with the godly archer Josk there. The other path to the interior of the Norton Family's territory had already been cut off due to the burning of the chain bridge. Duke Lujins had called for the northern lords to lead their troops to attack the Norton Family's territory. There was no other way other than to break through the Monolith Castle. How could the northern lords' soldiers take down the Monolith Castle? Haha, that was a joke.
Loriste felt that he should first investigate the situation and make plans after all the resources and people had crossed the river. This time, he had to give that bullshit duke a good slap in the face. Did he really think that he could only passively defend and take a beating after provoking him time and time again?
Fatty Shi still used the one-hundred-kilometer transportation method. Finally, the remaining resources, caravans, and refugees were sent to the ferry by the end of the third month. They immediately began to cross the river.
On the third day of the fourth month, the last wave of light cavalry scouts returned. They brought back news that the second prince's army was busy harvesting the winter wheat and suppressing the resistance of the nobles in the Delamuk province. Currently, there were less than a tenth of the nobles in the southern region of the Delemark province. All the unlucky nobles who were hanged by the second prince were guilty of colluding with the Andinac Kingdom and rebelling against the Iberian Kingdom's army that was sent to rescue the Madras Grand Duke.
On the fifth day of the fourth month of the year 1768, Loriste was the last person to cross the river. He ordered the six pontoon bridges to be destroyed. At this point, the northbound caravans and refugees had finally reached the northern highlands.
… …
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