The 3rd of May, the frontline of the Trymber Kingdom, the Trade Union's main camp.
President Cambert of the Twin-Headed Dragon Merchant Guild was so furious that he couldn't care less about losing his composure. He started cursing loudly in front of everyone in the tent …
However, he wasn't scolding the people in the tent, nor was he scolding the troops who disobeyed his orders and acted on their own, nor was he scolding the defenders of the fortress. This time, even King Trumbo VII didn't get involved. President Cambert was cursing his own relative, his cousin in the faraway Ulubaha Duchy, the famous Level 3 Great Swordsman, the stubborn Duke Ulubaha the Fourth.
This was a slap in the face! It was no wonder that President Cambert was so angry. Two months ago, the President had written a letter to his relative, hoping to hire a corps from the Ulubaha Duchy to serve under him. The Trade Union would pay for the hiring. President Cambert believed that the Twin-Headed Dragon Merchant Guild had given the Ulubaha Duchy a lot of business every year, and that it was enough for his relative to stand on the side of the Trade Union.
Thus, President Cambert received a handwritten reply from Duke Ulubaha the Fourth. The Duke expressed his support for the Trade Union as always, and condemned King Trymber VII for his misdeeds. The letter said that a corps from the Ulubaha Duchy was currently on a hiring mission. When the mission was over, the Scarlet Corps would be sent to President Cambert's command.
President Cambert was very happy when he received the letter, and showed it to everyone to express the Trade Union's support and the righteousness of attacking the Trymber Kingdom.
After repelling the Allied Forces of the four kingdoms, Chairman Camberlet led his army to attack two new prefectures of the Tromp Kingdom. One of the guards of the two prefectures fled, while the other surrendered. This allowed the Commerce Confederation to take over two more prefectures of the Tromp Kingdom effortlessly.
President Camberlet was about to strike while the iron was hot and capture King Telimbo VII in one fell swoop. However, the motley crew under his command disobeyed his orders and scattered to the two newly conquered prefectures to reap the spoils of war, infuriating the president to no end.
Before he could give the order to punish the leaders of the mercenaries, he received an urgent letter asking for help. The Gold-tier swordsmen and mercenaries who led the mercenaries to loot the manors and castles of the nobles were targeted by the assassins. They were either trapped or killed. There were already thirteen Gold-tier swordsmen and mercenaries who were headless. His head was taken away for a reward.
President Camberlet had no choice but to send out the anti-assassination team to gather those who were trapped and scattered, and those who only cared about looting, back to the barracks one by one. It took them almost a month to finish the job. They reorganized the troops and renewed their military discipline before they set off. However, they were blocked by a fortress before they even set off for two days.
If it was the Trymber Kingdom's army defending this fortress, threats, promises, and promises would have been a piece of cake. However, King Telimbo VII knew that his own army was weak, weak, and unreliable. This time, it was a famous mercenary group that was sent to defend the fortress. It was one of the two mercenary groups of Ulubaha Dukedom, the Scarlet Legion.
The Scarlet Legion had a total of twenty-four thousand men. It was a small legion, but it was very famous in the surrounding countries. It had participated in many wars to suppress rebellions and bandits. It had even helped the heir of a small kingdom reclaim the throne. It was known for its loyalty, reliability, and tenacity.
President Camberlet had set his sights on the two mercenary groups of Ulubaha Dukedom because they were reliable and obedient. Besides, they were not expensive to hire, only a hundred thousand gold fords per month. If he had such a mercenary group under his command, he would be able to control the motley crew and teach them what it meant to be a real soldier. It would be the best of both worlds.
In the end, the reinforcements that President Camberlet had been hoping for turned out to be his enemy. They even blocked the path of the Trade Union's army. The unexpected turn of events almost made President Camberlet vomit blood in anger.
Two days later, the truth of the matter was revealed to President Camberlet. King Telimbo VII had offered a huge sum of one million gold fords for three months. Duke Ulubaha IV had ignored his promise to President Camberlet without hesitation and sided with King Telimbo VII.
The order the Scarlet Legion received was to defend the fortress to the death. If they were alive, so would the fortress. Duke Ulubaha IV even hoped that the Scarlet Legion would die here, because King Telimbo VII had promised that if the Scarlet Legion was wiped out, he would compensate Duke Ulubaha IV with five million gold fords, as well as all the armaments, weapons, and equipment he had lost. To Duke Ulubaha IV, human life was the most worthless thing in Ulubaha Dukedom. No matter how many he lost, he could always fill up the two legions with reinforcements.
This was why President Camberlet had scolded his relative in front of everyone, saying that his so-called uncle was a money-grubbing, disloyal old bastard who would abandon his relative for the sake of money. The Twin-Headed Dragon Chamber of Commerce's care and benefits for Ulubaha Dukedom had been fed to an ingrate …
Everyone in the tent retreated tacitly. They all knew President Cambert's predicament. If they were to attack the Fortress in front of them, even though they had 150,000 men under their command, their motley crew would still be able to defend and defend. Their foundation was still there, so there shouldn't be any problems. But if they were to attack the fortress, it would be suicide, especially when the enemy was the Scarlet Legion, who were known for their tenacity.
Perhaps the saying that the battlefield was the best school made sense, but if they really forced these motley crew to attack the fortress, even if they succeeded, they would definitely suffer heavy casualties. How much would the Scarlet Legion, who had received the order to defend the fortress to the death, fight to the death before they were wiped out? One to three, or one to four? Was it worth it to sacrifice so many lives for a fortress? President Camberlet believed that if half of his troops were killed or injured, they would no longer have the courage to continue attacking the Telimbo Kingdom.
But what could they do if they did not attack? If he took a detour, he would become a big joke. He had a hundred and fifty thousand men under his command, but he had to take a detour for a fortress. Soon, there would be gossip that he was afraid of the Scarlet Legion, and that he had boosted their morale. But he really could not give the order to attack. The fortress in front of him did not have any loopholes, and was heavily guarded. Once they attacked, there would be a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. If that happened, people would still accuse him of using this as an excuse to deplete the strength of his commercial competitors and suppress the second and third-rate merchant associations. It was difficult!
At this moment, President Camberlet truly hated his so-called uncle to death. Even if he was greedy for money, this was not the way to do things. This was practically shedding all pretenses of cordiality for the sake of money.
President Camberlet let out a long sigh and leaned back in his chair. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone else standing in the tent. He paused for a moment, and took a closer look. It was the young master of the Chicant merchant association, Theriham.
"Oh? Why are you still here? "President Camberlet asked curiously.
The young master, Theriham, stepped forward and bowed respectfully. "President, I have an idea. Maybe we don't have to attack this fortress."
"Oh, what's your idea?" President Camberlet perked up.
"Here's the thing, President. First of all, can we confirm that the Scarlet Legion in charge of defending the fortress in front of us has received the order to defend it to the death?" Theriham asked.
President Camberlet nodded.
"There's no order to attack?" Theriham asked for confirmation.
"No," President Camberlet replied.
"That makes things easier, President. I would like to be the envoy to the fortress to meet with the leader of the Scarlet Legion. Please allow me to go, President," Theriham requested.
"What's your plan?"
"President, maybe we can do something with the word 'defend to the death' …" Theriham laughed.
Two days later, the 150,000-strong Commercial Union army went around the fortress along the main road and continued their attack. Theriham and the leader of the Scarlet Legion stood in front of the gate of the fortress, watching the Commercial Union army marching towards the east.
"Thank you, Leader Xie Liyajun. I would like to express the sincere gratitude of the Chikder Trade Association. Perhaps we will work together again," Theriham sincerely expressed his gratitude to the leader of the Scarlet Legion.
Xie Liyajun, the leader of the Scarlet Legion, was a burly man in his forties. He was a 2-star Gold-ranked Knight. He shrugged. "No need to thank me. We're just taking what we need. Just like you said, no one wants to die. I don't want these good lads from our army to die in vain. Besides, we didn't disobey the order. We did defend the fortress, and didn't let it fall into your hands. As for you going around the fortress, that's none of my business. I didn't receive an order to block off the main road … "
On the 11th of May, the Commercial Union army successfully passed through the fortress guarded by the Scarlet Legion and continued their attack. King Trunbo VII was shocked when he received the news. On one hand, he sent messengers to the surrounding countries to ask for reinforcements, and on the other hand, he sent people to ask what the Scarlet Legion was up to.
Leader Xie Liyajun of the Scarlet Legion showed the order he received, and replied confidently. They defended the fortress to the death, and didn't disobey the order. In that case, where the Commercial Union army went had nothing to do with him. He wasn't responsible for that …
King Trunbo VII was furious when he heard the report, and sent a letter to Duke Ulubaha IV. Thus, Duke Ulubaha IV brought the other mercenary army, the Tricolor Sword Legion, to the Kingdom of Trunbo. Together with the allied armies of the various countries, they faced off against the 150,000-strong army of the Commercial Union at the Kingdom of Trunbo's capital, Feyes City, and officially sided with the Kingdom of Trunbo. Thus, another three-month-long sit-down war began. However, this was something that happened later, so let's not talk about it for now …
… …
14th of May, Haneabada Kingdom, Nubiter Port.
More than thirty ships belonging to the Chikder Merchant Association were lined up neatly at the port. Countless strong slaves in ragged clothes with numb faces were busy moving goods down from the ships like ants.
One of the older slaves slipped, and the square bag tied with straw rope on his back fell to the ground. A crisp sound of something breaking came from within the bag. The faces of the surrounding slaves turned deathly pale. They quickly moved away from the slave who had slipped, to prevent themselves from being caught in the crossfire.
The slave who had slipped fell to the ground, and a smile of relief appeared on his face. A few menacing supervisors rushed over and directly pressed the slave to the ground. One of the supervisors grabbed the slave's long hair and pulled it fiercely. Another drew a long sword from his waist and chopped down. In an instant, the slave's head was split into two, and blood gushed out from his neck.
"That dog of a slave got away with it. Everything's over now!" The leader of the men walked around the square bag twice and looked at the mark on it. He cursed fiercely, "This is Master Wazik's goods. We're going to be scolded again. We might even have to pay a large sum of money. Damned slaves, come here and stick this head on a wooden stake. Throw the body into the sea! "
The scene at the port was a very common scene for the slaves and the people of the Chikder Merchant Association. Such things were common in the kingdom of slaves, so there was nothing to be surprised about.
In a very luxuriously decorated house in Nubiter Port, the third young master of the Chikder Merchant Association, Malibach, was being invited to a banquet by the owner of the place. His companions were the top ten slave masters and slave merchants in Nubiter Port.
12th of April, the northern fleet of the Chikder Merchant Association first went to the Shayslan Kingdom to purchase spices produced in the first half of the year. After selling a batch of goods, they moved on to Nubiter Port in the Haneabada Kingdom. It had been a month since then. The third young master Malibach still looked a little tired, but he still tried his best to deal with the slave masters and slave merchants.
As the cups and plates clashed, some of the slave merchants who had drunk some wine started to talk. They started to complain about how the slave business was hard this year, how the market wasn't good, and how the goods they got weren't good enough.
The third young master Malibach asked curiously. What was the reason that affected their slave business?
There were many reasons, but the one thing they had in common was that the rise of the second prince of the Andinac Kingdom was the main reason their slave business was affected the most.
A slave merchant reminisced about the good old days, "During the years of the empire's civil war, the nobles of the former Crisen Empire welcomed our caravans. We were treated as if we were marquises or dukes. Those nobles were more than happy to sell the prisoners of war, disobedient subjects, and plundered refugees to us. At that time, a strong prisoner of war could be bought for a small silver coin. If we weren't afraid of trouble, we could even gather mercenaries to deal with the refugees. They would all be worth gold coins … "
"Yes, but the civil war ended too early. It only lasted for seven years. Sigh!" Another slave merchant said, "But the business in the next few years is still good. There are still many nobles in the four grand duchies who are willing to trade with us. We can transport slaves from the Redelis Kingdom to the Duchy of Lulm and send them on the ships. We can still earn a few thousand gold coins per trip."
"But I didn't expect the king of the Redelis Kingdom, the eldest prince of the former empire, to be so weak. He was actually defeated by his nephew, the second prince of the Andinac Kingdom. He had to cede two provinces in the southwest to make the second prince retreat. You know, our main trade route was through the two provinces in the southwest. Now the trade route has been cut off. "
"Don't the eldest prince and the second prince do the slave business?" the third young master Malibach asked.
"Third young master, you don't know, but the three princes of the former empire have different attitudes towards the slave business. For example, the second prince, the king of the Iberian Kingdom. He doesn't support it on the surface, but he secretly condones it. He's the easiest to talk to. Of course, we don't forget to give him our filial piety. Back in the Iberian Kingdom, we could openly buy slaves everywhere.
The eldest prince is different. He only pretends not to know, but he sends his soldiers to impose heavy taxes on us. Often when we pass by him, it's like we're being skinned. Although there's still a profit, there's not much.
The second prince is the most hateful. Back then, when the third prince was sick, the eldest prince was in power. He was still very easy to get along with. We once brought a batch of slaves from the Iberian Kingdom and boarded a ship from the Andinac Kingdom's Qilin Port. After we were found, we were only fined a sum of money. But after the second prince came to power, if we were caught by the Andinac Kingdom's soldiers, they would be beheaded indiscriminately. He even claimed that the people of the empire are noble. How can we be sold as slaves?
In fact, he's sick in the head. His empire's people are about to starve to death. He doesn't want to be a slave and at least survive. It's just that he has 300,000 troops in his hands, so no one dares to provoke him. Just like in the two southwestern provinces, he would rather feed the three to four hundred thousand refugees with porridge than let them live. If those refugees were to fall into our hands, it would be a huge fortune!
Didn't Doolick want to swindle a batch of refugees from the southwest? He used the pretense of hiring merchants in Moronte City to recruit nearly a thousand people, but he was recognized as a slave trader. As a result, he was hung on the gallows along with his entourage. "
"That's right, Third Young Master, has the second prince and the eldest prince started fighting? I hope they're locked in a battle. After a while, maybe we'll have the opportunity to get a large number of slaves, "a slave trader asked.
"Sigh, stop dreaming. When I left Moronte City, I received news that the second prince led his army to cross the Broken Cloud Mountain Range at the end of February and seized the capital of the Redelis Kingdom. The eldest prince fled in a sorry state. I suspect that when I return this time, I'll hear the news that the Redelis Kingdom is gone. With such a powerful second prince around, I don't think you'll be able to get any more slaves from there. "
The Third Young Master then poured out his grievances and described the Chickend Merchant Group's original northern strategy.
"Unfortunately, all of this can't be realized now. With just a rank 2 swordsman and three thousand family troops, the upper echelons of our merchant group are already afraid. Now that the situation has changed, we can't count on anything …"
However, the slave traders weren't concerned about this. "Third Young Master, you said that the Norton Family is engaged in development and has gathered fifty to sixty thousand refugees to the island?"
"Yes, that bastard doesn't have to worry about our family having designs on his Silovas Island anymore. He's selected fifty to sixty thousand strong refugees from the two southwestern provinces to develop the island …" The Third Young Master, Malibach, couldn't handle the alcohol and fainted …
…
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