On the 17th day of the 3rd month, 1771, the battle that took place in the north was known as the 'Massacre of the Raging Bear' in the history of Galinthea. The king of the Iberian Kingdom, Chrisen Iberia, led a coalition of 100,000 northern nobles against the disobedient Norton Family. The two sides engaged in a short battle in front of Monolith Castle. Apart from a small portion of the coalition that had escaped, the rest were completely wiped out. Chrisen Iberia only managed to escape with a few dozen of his personal guards.
In this battle, the Iberian Kingdom's First Legion had 51,000 soldiers against the Norton Family's 45,000 armed forces. The Norton Family's armed forces relied on their 2,000 to 3,000 ballistae to launch the first long-range attack. Six consecutive rounds of fire directly crushed the will of the Iberian Kingdom's First Legion. After suffering more than 10,000 casualties, the entire army collapsed. The Norton Family's armed forces then chased after them, ultimately obtaining a complete victory.
Regarding this battle, the military historians and experts who edited the continent's war history only had eight words to say: Taking the enemy by surprise, striking first to obtain victory. The Norton Family's armed forces only had the advantage of long-range weapons, and they had taken advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness to launch the first attack. The Iberian Kingdom's First Legion, on the other hand, had been in a defensive formation, unable to retaliate against the massive number of ballistae. Eventually, the entire army collapsed. Looking at the tactical arrangements of this battle, there was nothing outstanding about either side.
… …
Count Kenneth rode over on horseback with two of his personal guards, greeting Laurist from afar, "Brother, this battle was great. I've finally been able to vent my anger. That second prince actually put me under house arrest for a month and used this to threaten my family. I'm so depressed. "
Because the Kenneth Family's 20,000 armed forces had not retreated from the battlefield and had only set up camp at the edge of the battlefield, the cautious Malek ordered two of the Chariot Battalions to watch over them from the left and right, while the remaining three Chariot Battalions joined in the pursuit of the remaining enemies.
Laurist laughed heartily as he went forward, hugging Count Kenneth as he jumped off his horse, "It's good that you're alright. I'm relieved to see that you're alive and kicking. Now you understand why I always refuse the second prince's invitations. I can feel that he's up to no good. If I go, I might not be able to return to my family's territory like you. "
Earl Kenneth spat and said angrily, "Who would have thought that a dignified king would actually use such a shameless method? He's just like a hooligan. What a disgrace to the nobles. I will never trust him again. "
Laurist laughed. "Don't worry. You won't be able to see him in the North anymore. To-morrow you will take a detachment and go with me to the town of Girdusk. "
"Ugh …" Earl Kenneth was stunned. After a while, he stammered, "Lok … Lok … You … You want to kill them all? No matter what, he is still me, our King. Killing, killing the King is not a good crime … "
Laurist shook his head. "I'm not that unwise. I just want to chase him out of the North, capture him, and send him off politely. It will save us a lot of trouble if he dies on the battlefield. I'm going to the city of Gildusk to witness the signing of an agreement between Baron Shahin and Baron Filim, so that they won't have any disputes in the future. "
Earl Kenneth asked curiously, "What could have happened to them?"
"I split the Archduchy into two, and they each have one half. That's why they ran so quickly just now, afraid that they would be at a disadvantage if they were late. "Laurist said lightly.
Hearing this, Earl Kenneth's merchant habit of taking advantage of small advantages immediately flared up. He protested, "The two of them are taking too much this time. As your friend, I want to treat them equally. You have to take care of my family …"
Laurist smiled faintly, "My friend, your Kenneth family has already monopolized the eastern part of the North. Where else do you want to stretch your hands? Tell me … "
"This …" Earl Kenneth was speechless. Now that his family had occupied the entire eastern part of the North, there was indeed no room for expansion. At most, they could occupy two more territories in the west and join them with Baron Filim's territory. However, those two territories were very barren, and they would have to spend a lot of money to develop them. In that case, it would be better to leave them as a buffer zone between the two families.
"How about this? Divide the ten or so lords that you've been supporting in the eastern part of the North. Send the old lords to me, and I'll be in charge of changing their territories. The new lords will be sent out of the North. In the future, the entire eastern part of the North will belong to your Kenneth family. What do you think? "Laurist suggested.
"I'll go back and discuss this with my father. If your suggestion works, I'll do as you say," Earl Kenneth replied after some thought.
Four fine horses galloped over from the distance.
It was Aire who returned with two guards.
"Loke, oh no, my lord, look at the results of our two super crossbows …" There were outsiders present, but Aire still addressed Laurist as' my lord '.
Aire and the others arrived before them. They stretched out their hands and tossed the corpse on the fourth steed to the ground. There was a large hole in the chest of the corpse, evidently caused by an iron bolt from the super crossbow.
Who was this old man? However, he was definitely not the second prince. The second prince did not look chubby, and he was at least ten years younger than the corpse. This old man looked to be in his sixties.
Before the proud Aire could show off, Earl Kenneth had already turned pale with fright. "This, this is a Great Swordmaster of the Loynes. How, how could you kill him?"
"Why not?" Aire was unhappy. "This old man is as stupid as a pig. He actually wanted to block the super crossbow bolts we shot with his sword alone. In the end, although he deflected the first bolt, he immediately vomited blood. Then, the second bolt arrived, and the old man was pierced through, even knocking down the second prince's flag. The second prince was dumbfounded, and those guards were afraid that we would shoot the same kind of crossbow bolts again, so they pulled the second prince and ran. In the end, the entire army collapsed …"
"Look, my lord, I spent so much effort to get these two super crossbows, right? This guy said that this old man is a Great Swordmaster, a Great Swordmaster! Haha, with one strike from my super crossbow, the second prince lost a Great Swordmaster. Haha, this is too exciting. When I went to look for those two crossbow bolts, the captives beside me told me that this old man was a Great Swordmaster. I didn't quite believe it. Haha, our super crossbows are invincible … "
"Lucky bastard …" Laurist cursed as he looked at Ayer's smiling face that looked like a chrysanthemum. If it had been said before the battle that these two super crossbows could kill a Great Swordmaster, Laurist would not have believed it even if he was beaten to death. However, the truth was right in front of him. The corpse of this old man, who was said to be one of the two Great Swordmasters by the second prince's side, was thrown on the ground. It was no wonder that Aire was as happy as a puppy, his face filled with arrogance and pride.
Actually, no one had expected that this Great Swordmaster of the Loynes was indeed unlucky, seeking his own death. When the first super crossbow bolt was shot at the second prince, the angle was wrong. It should have brushed past their heads, not causing any harm to anyone. However, it was unknown what this Great Swordmaster of the Loynes was thinking. Perhaps he thought that it would be embarrassing for a Great Swordmaster to let an arrow brush past his head, so he leaped up and drew his sword to block the crossbow bolt.
However, the Great Swordmaster did not expect the crossbow bolt to be so powerful. Although he had deflected the bolt, he had nowhere to borrow strength from in the air. The force of the crossbow bolt was transmitted to his body, immediately injuring his internal organs. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and the sword in his hand was also deflected. This was where his luck was bad. The Great Swordmaster's body was deflected to the side, and he happened to be in the path of the second crossbow bolt. The tragedy happened just like that …
If this old Great Swordmaster had stood still, the two crossbow bolts would not have injured anyone, but would have given him a fright. However, luck was the hardest thing to figure out. Perhaps it was fate that the old man would die today, so he moved and sent himself to his death. Everyone present was frightened. This was a Great Swordmaster, and he had died so easily. If there were two more, who would be able to block them? Unable to care about anything else, a few guards pulled the second prince and ran. Then, the entire army collapsed …
"Hey, what are you doing! You're not allowed to climb up, get down here! "
Laurist turned his head and saw that Count Kenneth had climbed up the flatbed chariot and was fondling the crossbow lovingly. The expression on his face was definitely more infatuated than when he was caressing his beauties. "A divine weapon …"
Below him, Ayer was pointing at him and telling him to get down.
"Capture him for me!" Aire was furious.
Count Kenneth was pulled down by two guards.
"What are you doing?" Laurist said with a sullen face.
"Brother, my Brother Locke, you have to sell me one of these two divine weapons …" Count Kenneth grabbed Laurist's hand tightly.
"No way." Laurist shook his head.
"You really can't?" Earl Kenneth begged with a pleading expression.
"No, really," Laurist replied very seriously.
"Sigh …" Count Kenneth knew that Laurist would not let go of such a powerful weapon, so he could only give up resentfully.
"I say, why are you sighing? I use these two things to deal with large magical beasts. Your family's territory isn't even close to the wilderness, why do you need these things? "Laurist was a little curious.
"To deal with great swordsmen!" Count Kenneth gave an answer that exceeded Laurist's expectations.
"Do you know how many great swordsmen there are in the Iberian Kingdom?" Count Kenneth asked.
"I don't know …" Laurist thought for a moment, "I know that there are two in the Andinac Kingdom, and they're both with the third prince. The other one, Duchess Merline, is said to be a great swordsman as well. As for the Iberian Kingdom, I only heard that the second prince has two, but I'm not sure about the rest. "
Count Kenneth stretched out his palm, "There are actually five great swordsmen in the Iberian Kingdom."
He then kicked the old man's corpse on the ground, "But there are only four now. The second prince has two great swordsmen with him. One was his teacher when he was young, called Jared. However, the old man wanted to become a swordmaster, so he stayed in seclusion to study the way of the sword. I only saw him once when he came to the north for the new year. At the end of March, he escorted the queen back to the capital, Winderbury City. The other one is this old man on the ground. He's called Ruince, and he can be considered Jared's junior. Because Jared wanted to study the way of the sword, he entrusted him to be the second prince's personal bodyguard. "
As Count Kenneth spoke, he kicked the old man's corpse a few more times. "This old man is the most despicable. The second prince relied on him to toy with the knights of the House of Gold under the nobles' command. He wouldn't stop until he caused them to lose face. He's also greedy and lustful. Last time, he forcefully took away poor Viscount Justine from my side, and he even forced me to give him ten thousand gold yuan notes. Right, I have to check if that gold yuan note is still on him … "
Count Kenneth's hands were covered in blood, but unfortunately, he didn't find anything.
Laurist turned to look at Aire and saw him smiling. He understood that Aire had long since touched this old man's body.
Taking a handkerchief from his aide and wiping the blood off his hands, Count Kenneth continued, "Other than the two by the second prince's side, the other three are with his father-in-law, Archduke Fisabulon. This is also the main reason why the second prince is afraid of Archduke Fisabulon, because the Archduke himself is a Great Swordmaster. There's also an important general under him, the family knight Viscount Christopher, who is also a Great Swordmaster. The last one is a woman called Sandy, but I don't know her full name. She was Princess Sylvia's wet nurse, and it seems she was also the Archduke's lover. After she got pregnant, she miscarried for some reason. It just so happened that Princess Sylvia's parents died early, so she was raised by her. It's said that she loves Princess Sylvia like her own … "
"Right now, our family is building a chain bridge to the east that leads to the Makino Province under Archduke Fisabulon's control. When I think about the Archduke's border guards and those three Great Swordmasters, I have to keep one eye open even when I sleep. If I had this weapon of mass destruction behind you, I would be much more at ease … "Count Kenneth pleaded.
Lorist smiled and shook his head, "No, this thing really cannot be left outside. But don't worry, after we chase the second prince out of the Northern Lands, the four of us will have the final say in the Northern Lands. As long as the four of us form an alliance, no one will be able to bully us. If one of us is in trouble, the other three will definitely send troops to help. Even if that Archduke Fisabulon wants to deal with you, he will have to consider whether the three of us agree or not. If you still don't feel at ease, just break that chain bridge. I don't believe that the Great Swordmaster will fly over the natural moat and cause trouble for your family. "
"Uh, let's talk about that later." Count Kenneth also knew that Laurist was joking. How could the iron chain bridge that the family had spent so much money to build be broken just like that? No matter what, just the crossing fee alone was a considerable source of income.
…
Lorist stayed for another day, and ordered Bofinger to lead three heavy armored battalions to set up a captive camp in the empty space in front of the Monolith Castle. He gathered the captives, and when the battle was over, they would be sent to the Black Clay Swamp for development and labor. He also forced Aire to drag the two super steel crossbows back to the Monolith Castle. Only after Count Kenneth sent his twenty thousand troops back to his territory did he bring the guards and Count Kenneth with him to the city of Gildusk.
After three days on the road, news came that the second prince had yet to be caught, and no one knew where he had escaped to. Meanwhile, Baron Filim had already taken over the Hendrifo Cable Bridge checkpoint and the Forrester Fortress Castle according to the agreement. He was now attacking the two towns and three manor castles that had been assigned to him. His progress was going well, and it was estimated that he would be able to take them down soon.
The original Northern Grand Duchy had a capital, Gildusk City, a Hendrifo Cable Bridge checkpoint, and a Forrester Fortress Castle. In addition, there were three manor castles and seven towns. Knight Henned occupied the Cherry Blossom Ridge Manor Castle and the town of Evenson, leaving two manor castles and six towns.
Of the three manor castles that Baron Filim was attacking, only one belonged to the Grand Duchy, while the other two manor castles belonged to neighboring nobles. Because the three manor castles were close to each other, Laurist gave them to Baron Filim. Since these nobles had all joined the second prince's northern noble coalition, Laurist did not mind taking them all.
Knight Henned wanted to occupy another manor castle and four towns in the Grand Duchy, as well as the city of Girducsk, the capital of the Grand Duchy. The messenger that came in this morning reported that Baron Shahin Henned was progressing much faster than Baron Filim, and had already taken control of the city of Girducsk. The other four towns and the manor castle had also fallen into his hands.
From time to time, he saw the Norton Family's armed forces escorting groups of prisoners of war towards the Monolith Castle. This made Laurist sigh at the limitless potential of humans. It had only been a few days, and the soldiers who had joined the northern noble coalition had already escaped so far away.
At night, he had just had a few drinks with Earl Kenneth at the camp and was about to rest when a fast horse arrived.
The messenger knelt as soon as he entered the tent. "Lord Norton, please save my two lords!"
What happened?
As soon as the messenger said this, Laurist was shocked. "What? Did you say that the Golden Knight Tabeck was captured by Princess Silvia and brought to the Grand Duchy's residence? Henned went to save him and was captured as well? "
"Yes, Baron Filim has already surrounded the Grand Duchy's residence with his troops, demanding that Princess Silvia hand over the two lords. The princess refused and threatened to kill the two lords as soon as they attacked the Grand Duchy's residence. Now they are in a stalemate. Baron Filim wants you to hurry to Gildusk City to take charge of the situation and save the two lords, "the messenger replied in tears.
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