Translator: Mr Voltaire Editor: Modlawls123 Although the Commerce Union had always claimed to be fair and free, the status of the residents was not equal even before the Lord system was implemented. For example, the 12th district of the inner city and the 24th district of the outer city, as well as the slums and the slums outside the city.
The residents of the 12th district of the inner city were basically the family members of the backbones of the Chamber of Commerce in the Commerce Union. However, the family members of the armed guards of the Chamber of Commerce also lived in the inner city. From a good point of view, this was a way for the Chamber of Commerce to take care of their main armed forces. From a bad point of view, they were also hostages to ensure the loyalty of these armed guards to the Chamber of Commerce.
The 24th district of the outer city was also divided into good and bad areas. For example, the instructors of the academies, the owners of small shops, the houses of foreign nobles, and so on. This also divided the housing prices and land prices into different levels. The worst were basically those who ran errands for others. The middle ones mostly had long-term jobs that could support their families. The good ones were those close to the business district or the inner city. They all had luxurious houses and were the most orderly residential communities.
Since the implementation of the Lord system in the Commerce Union, the seven giants who held the highest power in the Commerce Union and the seven big Chambers of Commerce had gotten the biggest piece of the cake. Their focus had shifted from Moronte City to their own Chamber of Commerce territories. They had taken away most of their trusted people from the inner city, reducing the residential areas they occupied by a large amount. Not only the seven giants, but also the second-rate Chamber of Commerce. For a moment, the inner city seemed a bit desolate and deserted.
However, as the Commerce Union continued to expand its territory, more and more up-and-coming chambers of commerce and nobles who had made meritorious contributions in the war against foreign enemies, or newly rich people who had plundered a large sum of money, flooded into the inner city of Moronte City. As a result, the housing prices and land prices of the 12 communities in the inner city skyrocketed. Seeing this, the seven magnates of the Commerce Union sold off the communities in their hands and made a huge fortune from the buyers.
The inner city was no longer the residence of the most influential Chamber of Commerce in the Commerce Union. Instead, it had become a community for the nobles of the Commerce Union and the offices of the Chamber of Commerce, as well as the locations of the vaults, arsenals, and treasuries. This was also the essence of Moronte City. After being attacked by the Monolith Army, the guards of the inner city organized themselves. Not only did they retake the north gate, but they were also the first to sound the alarm.
Loriste was not worried about the inner city. He was worried that the inner city and the outer city would start a riot. There were twelve districts in the inner city of Morent City, and twenty-four districts in the outer city. There were thirty-six communities, and each community had about twenty thousand residents. Coupled with the refugees from the Mana Hill Plain who had come to seek refuge with their families and friends, the Norton family would have to suffer a little if a riot broke out among almost a million residents.
In addition to the residents of the inner and outer city, there were also the slums and the slums outside the city. These two communities covered a large area and gathered nearly 200,000 people. Most of them were extremely poor and belonged to the lowest class of Moront City. They made a living by doing manual labor, picking up garbage and cleaning the streets. The Commerce Federation had discussed the expansion of the outer city community many times, preparing to build the slums and slums into a regular society. However, the merchants were greedy, and the final result was that there was no profit to be made, so the proposal fell through.
The first step of the Norton family's plan to occupy Morent City was to first occupy the outer and inner city walls, separating the three parts of Morent City. Now that the outer city walls had been occupied, martial law was immediately imposed on the nine city gates in the north, south, east, and west. There were no city walls on the west side, only the dock area and the fleet area, which had also fallen into the control of a division of the Royal Guard Corps.
The remaining warships of the Fourth B Squadron of Invincible Fleet gathered in the middle of Hidden Gold Bay were in a dilemma. It was impossible to escape, and the estuary had already been sealed by the Norton family's fleet with ten or so large armed warships equipped with bronze cannons. It was also impossible to reach the shore, and the dock area had also been occupied by the Norton family's armed forces.
They only had two choices left: surrender, or die for a noble cause. They could risk their lives and ignite their warships, charge into the transport ships and warships docked at the dock, and perish together with them. But the problem was that the transport ships and warships originally belonged to the Invincible Fleet, and the Norton family did not seem to feel the pinch even if they were burned. The officers and soldiers of the Fourth B Squadron also thought that it was not worth it, and after struggling for a long time, they finally hung up the white flag and surrendered to the Norton family's armed forces.
Although the inner city walls were not captured, the two Monolith Troops still successfully surrounded the inner city, separating it from the outer city, and preventing the people in the inner city from breaking through to the outer city. Without the incitement and guidance of the nobles and merchants in the inner city, the other two Monolith Troops easily suppressed the small riots in the twenty-four outer city communities.
Laurist was very careful. The two corps he brought to Morent City this time had a total strength of less than a hundred thousand soldiers. If a citywide riot were to occur, then the Norton family would not be able to bear the consequences. Forget about occupying Morent City, the family's armed forces might even suffer heavy losses and flee dejectedly. It should be known that the residents of Morent City were known for their xenophobia and strong pride. This was not a city under the jurisdiction of a king, so it was very easy for the residents to be incited to fight against the invaders.
Therefore, Laurist strictly prohibited the family's armed forces from entering the twenty-four outer city communities. He only sealed off the streets between these communities, but did not prohibit the traffic between the communities. Other than checking the carriages to see if they were carrying weapons or equipment, they allowed normal pedestrians to come and go. Not only did they not make things difficult for them, they were also very polite. They even paid for food and water according to the price, and never haggled. This made them very popular among the small traders.
Although the two Monolith Troops truly followed orders strictly, and were even more civilized than the people's army in Laurist's previous life, the residents of Morent City still caused a lot of trouble. Some housewives stood on the streets and scolded the invaders. However, the soldiers did not retaliate. Even when the aunties' fingers were almost poking their faces, they still pretended not to see or hear them …
The behavior of the Norton Family's armed forces was even seen as weak and easy to bully. A few drunken former mercenaries of Morent City gathered a large group of people and prepared to chase the invaders out of Morent City. They dreamed of becoming the city's saviors and heroes. However, the Norton Family's armed forces quickly showed them what was called a thunderous attack. When these brave rebels swarmed the streets, they were greeted by the sound of steel crossbows mounted on wheelbarrows. Hundreds of brave people were quickly killed. They did not even have the chance to swing their swords, and the closest to the Norton Family's soldiers were at least ten meters away.
The corpses of the rebels were quickly hung by the Norton Family's armed soldiers on the street lamps and trees as a warning to the public. Four similar incidents occurred in the twenty-four communities of the outer city, and the corpses of nearly a thousand brave men were hung as decorations on both sides of the streets.
It had to be said that the resistance of the people of Morent City was much stronger than that of the people of other places. If they could not do it openly, they would do it secretly. A fruit juice vendor sold a poisoned fruit juice to the thirsty soldiers. Unfortunately, three of the Norton Family's soldiers were poisoned, and the fruit juice vendor's family of five was hung on a tree. Another former sailor stabbed someone in the back. Then, his family and the neighbor's family of twelve who used force to stop the soldiers from entering the house also became auspicious hanging objects …
It was only until a highly respected Great Swordsman, who was spending his last years peacefully in a certain community, was shot full of holes by steel crossbows because he called on the residents to resist. The residents of the outer city's twenty-four districts finally understood the principle of the Norton Family's armed forces. If the Norton Family's armed forces did not offend them, they would not offend them. If they offended them, they would pay back double. Humans were afraid of death, and humans followed the crowd. If the twenty-four districts were to rebel at the same time, the two Monolith Army's 24,000 soldiers would not be able to suppress them. They might even suffer some losses. But now, the Norton Family's armed forces had suppressed the residents of Morent City. The outer city's twenty-four districts were temporarily peaceful.
After the outer city's nine gates fell under the control of the First Imperial Guard Division, Great Swordsman Theseus took command. Commander Aire and Deputy Commander Ovis led the Second Imperial Guard Division to attack the two closest stronghold cities to Morent City, Thomas City and Gipsies City. As these two stronghold cities were located at the back, they had already become the logistical headquarters for the 400,000 Commerce Alliance's armed forces at the Mana Hill Plains. They had stored a large amount of military supplies and rations, and their garrison strength was only a thousand men. Lolist did not want territory in attacking these two stronghold cities, but the military supplies and rations.
With too little military strength, Lolist was now treading on thin ice. He wanted to occupy a city with a population of more than a million people. This was also the main reason why he gave up on chasing after the Storm Sword Sage. Fortunately, although there were some twists and turns, the plan was still progressing smoothly. Now, he had to deal with the inner city. This was the most important part of the plan, and also the main center of the family's plundering of Morent City.
The two Monolith Army's 24,000 soldiers besieged the inner city. Of course, there were only 22,000 soldiers left. They had failed to seize the city walls, and lost more than a thousand men. Even Redi and Commander Bodelfinger were injured. However, the two of them had already bandaged their wounds and consumed healing potions. Even with their injuries, they commanded the troops to besiege the inner city.
When Lolist arrived at the inner city, the Monolith Army's Thunderbolt Catapult Battalion also arrived. Five hundred catapults were split into four teams and lined up outside the four city gates. The deputy commander of the Artillery Battalion, Jim, who came to welcome them, grumbled unhappily, "Your Highness, there's actually no need to send the catapults over. I only need forty cannons to flatten the inner city …"
Lolist smiled and patted his shoulder, "To those country bumpkins in the city, using bronze cannons to deal with them is too extravagant. Furthermore, I don't want to destroy the inner city. So using the catapults to scare them is enough. Together with me, the Sword Sage, I believe that the people in the city will quickly open the gates and surrender. The Artillery Battalion is our family's most important military guarantee. Using it to deal with the inner city is a little overkill. "
The Monolith Army's Wheelbarrow Steel Crossbow Unit was sent by Lolist to maintain order in the twenty-four communities in the outer city. There were only two sword and shield and spear units surrounding the inner city, and they lacked long range weapons. In order to prevent the great swordsmen from the merchant associations from forming teams to break through, Lolist specially sent Jim over and ordered him to bring forty ground-based bronze cannons to assist the Monolith Army in surrounding the inner city. This was to prevent the great swordsmen from breaking through.
If Redi and Bodelfinger could take down the inner city walls at the first moment, Jim would place the forty bronze cannons on the city walls and aim at the inner city. Unfortunately, it was all for naught. The two Monolith Army could not take down the city walls, and could only surround the inner city. Jim could only split the forty bronze cannons into four groups and guard the four directions to prevent the enemy from breaking through.
Although the Norton Family won the Battle of the Romani Sea, they lost close to half of the two hundred ground-based bronze cannons, and a third of the Artillery Battalion's three thousand men. In order to supervise and manage the hundred thousand new recruits recruited by the Trade Alliance, Lolist sent all his guards to Shihuard, leaving only a team of a hundred guards. With the addition of the North Sea Fleet's assault team and the remaining men from the Artillery Battalion, Shihuard finally had a reliable armed force of more than six thousand men.
However, in consideration of the Trade Alliance's high-end combat power in Morent City, Laurist thought about it and transferred the deputy commander of the Artillery Battalion, Jim, and forty ground-type bronze cannons over to deal with the Great Swordsmen in the inner city. If the great swordsmen wanted to break through, ten bronze cannons loaded with grapeshot should be enough to take care of a few great swordsmen. Unfortunately, after recapturing the north gate, the leaders of the Chamber of Commerce in the inner city closed their doors, and no one came out to die. This made Jim very disappointed.
Lolist also could not understand why the people in the inner city did not break through. After thinking about it, the only possibility was that the people who wanted to break through were burdened by their families and relatives in the twelfth district of the inner city. Perhaps they still wanted to defend the inner city until the Trade Alliance's armed army at the Mana Hill Plains came to their rescue. Unfortunately, they could not wait for that time.
"Sir Viscount Penélope, I will leave the rest to you. I swear in the name of the Norton Family Patriarch and the Duke of the Northern Region that as long as they surrender, I will guarantee their safety and that of their families. Of course, they cannot stay in the inner city. They have to go to the prison camp and wait until the end of the war to regain their freedom. Our family will not demand ransom from them, but will release them unconditionally after the peace agreement is signed.
"At the same time, we will provide them with food and water in the prison camp for free. If they fall sick, we will guarantee to provide medicine to treat them as long as they are willing to surrender. "Hmm, they can leave the inner city with 15 kilograms of property. "Our Norton Family, in the name of the God of War, guarantees that their private property is sacred and inviolable. We will not deprive or suspend their private property transactions and operations. "We guarantee that their private property will be at their disposal.
"I believe that these guarantees should be enough to make them realize the sincerity of our Norton Family. "If these conditions cannot make them surrender, then I have no other choice. "Sir Viscount Penélope, do you see those catapults? "If they are not willing to surrender after three hours, then I will order them to throw kerosene and flint balls into the inner city. "Sometimes, in order to avoid greater casualties and more bloodshed, we have to bear a great price and sacrifice. Don't you think so?"
Lolist's voice was very soft, but it sounded like thunder in Viscount Penélope's ears.
"Your Highness Duke Norton, I believe in your sincerity. "Please believe me, I will definitely persuade the people of the inner city to surrender. Please do not issue such a cruel order. Moreover, didn't you promise to return Moronte City to the Trade Union in good condition?" Viscount Penélope's voice was somewhat trembling.
"I also don't want to do that, but the situation is a bit tense. Even if I am a Sword Saint, I am powerless." Lolist said with a bitter smile: "The 24 communities of the outer city are like volcanoes that are about to erupt. Once they are incited, the consequences will be unimaginable. "I brought the armed soldiers of my family here to stop this war, but not to bury them in this city. "If the inner city does not surrender, I will not be able to divert troops to maintain order in the entire city. "As a last resort, I will order this city to be set on fire, and then leave for the north, leaving the Trade Union and His Majesty to continue fighting …"
"No, Your Highness Duke Norton, please give me some time. I will immediately enter the inner city to persuade them …" Viscount Penélope bowed deeply and then hurried towards the inner city.
At five in the afternoon, the inner city opened its gates and surrendered. Moronte City finally fell into Lolist's hands.
… …
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