"Kill anyone who resists! Kill anyone who resists! " Armored soldiers on horseback shouted loudly from one end of the village to the other. Families of farmers brought their meager belongings, farm tools, and livestock, squeezed into the rickety oxcarts and gathered in the village's open space. Then, under the instructions of a middle-aged man holding an animal hide book, they were divided into three groups and set off on an unknown journey in three different directions.
The group heading south had the least people. This was the village chief, the sheriff, the tax collector, the miller, and the like. They were the foundation of Duke Lujins's rule in the south. However, they were also in the most difficult situation. Their belongings had been confiscated, and they could only bring their families and carry the rough rations they had been given to them towards the capital of the Grand Duchy, Gildusk City.
The group heading west did not have many people either. However, these people were the relatives of the Northern Army. According to the agreement between Laurist and Henned, they would be sent to the Cherry Blossom Ridge Manor Castle.
The group heading north was the largest. They would arrive at a camp a hundred miles away, where they would wait to be divided and transported to Earl Spencer's territory. There, they would join the refugee camp, and finally head to the Norton Family's territory to start a new life.
"You can burn it now …" A small leader of the armored soldiers gave the order, and a dozen soldiers began to throw torches into the thatched houses in the village. Soon, the whole village was set ablaze, and a thick plume of smoke rose into the sky.
The farmers who had not gone far began to cry as they looked at the burning village. This was their home where they had sheltered from the wind and rain in the past …
The ferocious escorting soldiers rushed over and shouted, "What are you crying for? What's there to cry about? If the old doesn't go, the new won't come. Our lord said that when you arrive at the family's territory, everyone will be given new fields and new houses. It's not like your shabby thatched homes can compare … "
Countless plumes of thick smoke rose from the southern Grand Duchy, which was known as the cream of the Northern Lands. Countless villages were reduced to ashes in the raging fire. With the guidance of his party, Laurist only took 16 days to sweep through the entire Grand Duchy. Duke Lujins' two manors and castles, six towns, and the capital, Gildusk City, fell into Laurist's hands.
Apart from Knight Henned's five thousand men who were stationed at Cherry Blossom Ridge Manor Castle and Evensen Town, the rest of the Southern Grand Duchy were the five thousand soldiers of the Northland Legion who were guarding the checkpoint at Hendry's Rope Bridge and Frister Fortress Castle.
The Golden Knight Oderma, who was leading this unit, had mobilized a large group of two thousand five hundred men to attack and wipe out the small groups of Norton Family soldiers who had kidnapped the villagers. However, they were ambushed by Roth, who had been secretly watching them. Oderma fought Roth and was seriously injured. After luckily escaping with his life, he gathered five to six hundred deserters and gave up on the checkpoint at Hendry's Rope Bridge. He gathered all the Northland Legion soldiers in Frister Fortress Castle and guarded it to the death.
After defeating this Northland Legion, the Norton Family's armed forces no longer had any scruples in the Southern Grand Duchy. They unscrupulously emptied Duke Lujins' treasury, granary, and armory, confiscated the properties of the duke's subordinates, and forcibly confiscated the goods and carriages of all the merchants that came to the Grand Duchy. With Laurist's order to move, they turned their attention to the villages in the Grand Duchy's territory.
…
"This was an unprecedented, premeditated, organized, and planned large-scale robbery. The Norton Family's armed forces, known as the Northern Roaring Bears, were comparable to the greediest and most vicious bandits. They emptied the treasuries of the towns, confiscated the properties of the nobles, and robbed the properties of the rich. They didn't even let go of a crude clay pot.
My caravan had gone through many hardships to transport the goods to the Northern Lands. In the end, we were robbed the moment we arrived at the Duke's capital, Gildusk City, and checked into the hotel. The armored Norton Family soldiers ignored our strong protests and forcibly confiscated the goods we brought. They only paid half the price of the goods. Although I didn't suffer a loss for half the price of the goods, it was far from the profit I had expected. My poor little Tini, your father is useless. He can't buy you that beautiful evening dress to make you look like a dazzling princess …
Originally, the caravan's plan was to sell the goods and purchase the specialties of the Northern Lands before setting off. However, it was a chaotic scene outside. Furthermore, all the suppliers that we had contacted before had been robbed by the armored Norton Family soldiers. I couldn't even find a single merchant that I knew. Under these circumstances, I decided to leave this place as soon as possible. Unfortunately, our caravan's caravan needed to be repaired, and the horses needed to have their horseshoes changed before they could continue on the road.
Thus, I went to look for a blacksmith. However, I didn't expect that there wouldn't be a single blacksmith in Gildusk City, which had a population of nearly a hundred thousand. I spent a large sum of money to find out that the Norton Family's armed forces had kidnapped all the blacksmiths and craftsmen in the city. Even the commoners and servants were not spared. The only people left in the city were the lords and merchants. In addition, many village chiefs and officials were brought in from the outside …
When I returned to the hotel, I discovered that I didn't have to worry about the caravan anymore. The armored Norton Family soldiers appeared in front of me again. This time, they wanted to confiscate our caravan's caravan. I didn't bother to protest and let them do as they pleased. However, this time, they were quite reasonable. They paid for the caravan and the horses according to the market price, and they even used Gold Ford.
We left Gildusk City that afternoon and began our journey home on foot. However, when we left Gildusk City, we discovered that the once hospitable Northern villages had been burnt to the ground. Black smoke billowed everywhere. The villagers, who had carried their belongings and protected their wives and children, were being escorted by the vicious Norton Family soldiers into the ox-carts …
From time to time, tall gallows could be seen on both sides of the road. On the gallows were the nobles of the villages or the warriors who had sacrificed their lives to resist the Norton Family's armed forces. We didn't dare to collect their bodies, because from time to time, there would be patrolling Norton Family soldiers on horseback. When we left the city, we had already obtained a pass. When the patrolling soldiers found out that we were members of the caravan, they didn't make things difficult for us. However, they often came to inspect us, which annoyed us a lot.
We didn't have caravans or horses, so we had to walk on foot. We all had to carry large bags, and we had to use wooden frames to put our camping gear on top of them. We had to rely on manpower to pull our gear, so we walked very slowly. If we had ridden horses, we could have reached the Hendrik Bridge in a day. However, it seemed that we wouldn't be able to reach it in three days.
At night, when we were camping, a group of patrolling cavalry came and borrowed our campsite to rest for a while. Only then did I notice that there was a silver lion insignia on the chest of their armor. The mercenary captain next to me secretly told me that this was the standard equipment of the famous White Lion Legion of the former Crimson Empire.
So, I took out a few bottles of fruit wine and asked the soldiers to drink. Then, I pointed at the silver lion insignia and asked them if they were the famous White Lion Legion. The soldiers shook their heads. They all said that they were soldiers of the Norton Family. Surprised, I asked them, "Isn't the Norton Family a baron? How did they become an earl? "
The soldiers proudly told me that the Norton Family's caravan had traveled all the way to the north. When they passed through the Andinac Kingdom, they helped the second prince become the regent of the kingdom and stabilized the situation in the kingdom. Thus, the Andinac Royal Family, as the legitimate descendants of the former Crimson Empire, raised the Norton Family's nobility to the rank of earl. They also gave the second prince's territory to the Norton Family. The standard equipment of the disbanded White Lion Legion was also a gift.
I asked the soldiers, "Why did they take those poor villagers away and burn their village?" I asked. The soldiers indignantly told me that they wanted to teach the greedy Duke of the Northern Region a lesson. They wanted him to stop thinking about the Norton Family's wealth. This was because the Norton Family's soldiers had sacrificed their lives to develop the Norton Family's territory and build a beautiful home for their families to live in peace. They were carrying out the three policies of plundering, burning, and moving everything. They wanted the Duke of the Northern Region to no longer have the ability or power to disturb everyone's happy life in the Norton Family's territory.
Perhaps it was because of the few bottles of good wine that the patrolling soldiers left me an old horse when they left. They also wrote a certificate to prove that we were a merchant caravan with a friendly attitude towards the Norton Family. This saved us a lot of trouble on the rest of the journey. Before we left, the squad leader also pointed me to a business opportunity. After crossing the Hendry Ford Bridge, we could search for carriages and horses on the other side of the river. We could sell them to the Norton Family's armed forces stationed at the Forrester Castle. They would buy them at a high price.
This would be a good business opportunity. Originally, I wanted to buy carriages and horses after crossing the Hendry Ford Bridge. Now that I think about it, the squad leader's words made a lot of sense. The Norton Family would need to relocate so many villagers in the Duke's territory. They would definitely lack transportation vehicles. I could give it a try first. Perhaps I could compensate the merchant caravan. Therefore, I ordered the caravan to set off as soon as possible so that we could reach the Hendry Ford Bridge as soon as possible … "
This was a diary written by a merchant traveling to the North. This diary was like a short biography that caused a huge sensation hundreds of years later. From another perspective, it described what was known as the Calamity of the South. It provided detailed evidence for the experts and scholars of later generations to study the rise of the Norton Family.
…
"Awesome …" The Knight of Henned said proudly as he put down the broken armchair in his hand. He looked at the messy Duke Lujins' study room. This was his masterpiece in half an hour.
When he looked up, he saw Laurist looking at him as if he was looking at a mental patient.
The Knight of Henned was a little angry. "What's with that look? Why are you looking at me like that? Let me tell you, smashing the Duke's study room has always been one of my wishes. In the past, whenever we reported to the Duke about something that angered the Duke, he would smash the study room in front of us. We could only wait for him to finish smashing the study room and calm down … So I've always wanted to smash the Duke's study room. Today, my wish has finally come true. "
Laurist snorted in disdain. "You're only so promising. It seems like His Excellency the Duke has accumulated a lot of power in your heart. That's why you think smashing his study is enough to satisfy your wish. You're really like a child …"
Henned jumped up. "I'm not afraid of him. He was the head of my family in the past. As a knight of my family, I can't go against his wishes. Now that I'm Baron Shahin, as a lord, I can justifiably refuse the Duke's unreasonable requests … "
Laurist said impatiently, "Are you done playing? Hurry up and leave. I still have a lot of things to take care of."
"Alright, alright. What's so important? Just leave it to your subordinates. Don't be so busy like a dog. You're not behaving like a lord at all." Henned wrapped a gray linen scarf around his head to cover his face as he walked. "Wait, I have to cover my face first. I don't want anyone to see me …"
Alright, the mysterious gray-robed man who had appeared beside Laurist was rumored to be the legendary Knight Henned who had bravely resisted the Norton Family's armed forces and was unfortunately injured by a mishap on his horse. This guy had appeared in Laurist's tent that night, saying that he was going to follow Laurist home to retrieve his four wives. In reality, he was just a guide for Laurist.
Laurist did not mistreat him. A large group of his soldiers sneaked into the caravan's camp. When they came out, they had already changed into a full set of armor. These were the equipment that the caravan had changed into. Seeing that he could take advantage of the situation, Henned simply brought another group of soldiers over to change into armor as well. His Cherry Blossom Ridge Castle only had about three hundred soldiers left, which was less than a platoon.
After changing into the armor, the fake Norton Family soldiers behaved even more fiercely. They robbed even more thoroughly and were even more cruel to the nobles and officials who resisted. With these five thousand qualified guides who were familiar with the Grand Duke's territory, Laurist commanded his troops to sweep through the Duke's territory like the autumn wind sweeping away the fallen leaves.
The only bad thing was that Henned ordered his Silver-tier Knights to recruit more than two thousand Northern Legion soldiers who were stationed in various places to surrender. Then, they ran to the caravan's camp and shamelessly asked Laurist to change these two thousand soldiers into armor as well.
For example, the platoon of Northern Legion soldiers guarding the Duke's capital, Gildusk City, laid down their weapons and surrendered because of Henned. He ordered one of his Silver-tier Knights to represent him and tell the platoon leader not to fight with an egg against a rock. It would be a waste of his life and his family. If they wanted to preserve their strength, they could surrender first and request to be released to Cherry Blossom Ridge. Then, under Henned's leadership, the Northern Legion would once again rise to glory.
Just like that, Gildusk City fell into Laurist's hands. Henned dragged Laurist to the Grand Duke's mansion, saying that he wanted to fulfill a wish that he had for a long time. Only then did Laurist realize that Henned's wish was to destroy the Duke's study …
Redi came up to Laurist, "My Lord, we found a person in the Duke's water dungeon …"
After a moment of hesitation, Redi reported the name, "Baron Camorra …"
Laurist was stunned, "Who did you say? Baron Camorra? "
The masked Henned jumped up, "Why is he locked up in the water dungeon? No wonder I couldn't find him when I sent a letter to him. Quick, send him over … "
Redi knew that the masked man was Knight Henned. He nodded at Laurist and ran out of the room.
… …
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