Count Corbili was very angry. He crushed the golden cup in his hand into a ball again. All the servants and attendants held their breaths. They did not want to end up like the unlucky man who made a sound when the Count heard the bad news. If the enraged Count Corbili smashed the crumpled golden cup on his head, he would immediately return to the embrace of the Mother Goddess of the Earth.
Count Corbili subconsciously exerted force in his hand, causing the golden cup to change into various shapes. Only when the Count's palm was touched by a small gem embedded in the cup did he realize that he had crushed the cup into a golden ball. Throwing the golden ball on the table, the Count stood up and paced back and forth in annoyance. Finally, he walked to the balcony. All the attendants at the side heaved a sigh of relief. That's great, he's safe and sound …
Count Corbili was 63 years old this year, but he still looked like a middle-aged man in his prime. Although the Count had always been criticized by the nobles due to his dissolute reputation when he was young, no one could ignore the Count's genius in the field of combat aura. Not only was his combat aura a 2-star Gold rank, but he had also nurtured 17 Gold rankers and 38 Silver rankers among his many illegitimate children. If this was the academy district of Morant City, the Count could have earned himself a genuine Gold rank combat aura instructor badge with this result.
Count Corbili had relied on these illegitimate children with Gold and Silver rank combat aura to conquer such a large territory and sphere of influence, allowing the Corbili family to become the most powerful family in the northwest region of the Redelis Kingdom. He was just one step away from becoming the true ruler of this region and obtaining the title of Grand Duke. How could the Count not be angry that there was a mistake at this time?
Ever since he befriended the eldest prince more than ten years ago in the Imperial Capital, Count Corbili had always been serving the eldest prince. From pretending to be a bandit to robbing merchants and participating in the civil war, Count Corbili sacrificed six Gold-tier and thirteen Silver-tier illegitimate children for the eldest prince in exchange for the title of the Grand Duke of the Northwest that the eldest prince promised. However, the Earl must first unite the nobles of the Crimson Empire in this area and make them kneel in front of the Crown Prince. Only then would he be conferred the title of Grand Duke of the Northwest.
The northwest region of the Redelis Kingdom was the territory of the nobles of the Crisen Empire. Although the nobles here were under the rule of the Crown Prince, they didn't care much about the Crown Prince. When the Crown Prince started the civil war, only a few nobles responded to the Crown Prince's call. When the First Prince established the Redelis Kingdom, the feudal lords of this region only agreed to transfer the tithes that belonged to the Empire to the First Prince. As for the policies that the First Prince formulated to increase taxes and collect rations, they were resisted by the feudal lords either openly or covertly.
Count Corbili also knew that his reputation in the northwest region wasn't that great. Back then, he was the Count of the Stud Family. His illegitimate children were notorious, and no nobles in the northwest region were willing to marry into the Corbili family. The Crown Prince demanded that the feudal lords of the northwest region hand over 20% of their annual income to the Kingdom. The Earl knew that it was impossible to convince the feudal lords of this region to agree to the Crown Prince's request, so he might as well use force to unite the northwest region. After all, this region would be his territory in the future, and the fewer nobles there were, the better.
What exactly went wrong? Count Corbili stood on the balcony and looked at the dusty construction site in the distance. The new city in front of him was built according to the layout of the imperial capital. In the future, it would be the residence of the Grand Duke of the Northwest and the ruling center of the entire northwest region.
In the past, when the Earl stood here and looked at the new city, he would always feel proud and arrogant. A hundred years of life passed in a flash. However, this city named after him would continue to exist for a long time, even after thousands of years of wind and frost. When the city was completed, a huge stone statue of him would be erected in the central square of the city, and the Earl would ascend to the position of Grand Duke at the foot of the statue.
All he needed was two years. Two years, and his dream would come true! The Earl clenched his fists tightly. No one could stop him from realizing this dream. No one! The current situation was great. The allied nobles had been beaten to the point where they could not resist at all. More and more nobles were writing him letters in private, willing to follow his orders. Meanwhile, the Corbili family's sphere of influence had already expanded to the extreme. The surrounding feudal lords had all been wiped out, and the vast territory had already become a silent wilderness with no one around. Apart from the reckless bandits and mobs who still dared to resist, there was no one left.
At the mention of the so-called rebel forces, Earl Corbili thought of the mopping up troop again. It must be their old habit of looting merchants whenever they see one. In the end, they were still entangled with the caravan until now. They had even forgotten his order to wipe out the stronghold of the rebel forces in the Western Mountains, destroy the mountain strongholds, and capture the people back as slaves and labourers …
The Earl did not even consider that all the troops he had sent out had been annihilated. He believed that the troops formed by two companies of lancers and five companies of garrison soldiers were invincible in the northwest region. The caravan must have taken over the military camp and had the terrain advantage. That was why the mopping up troops had not been able to capture it for a long time. Perhaps they were afraid that he would be angry? However, he had sent out another company of lancers with a large amount of rations and supplies. He believed that there would be good news in a few days.
The Earl was both angry and curious. He wanted to see the large number of carriages that stretched as far as the eye could see. (The lancer who came to report that the camp had been occupied said that he had participated in the second attack on the caravan.) Which merchant guild did the caravan belong to? They actually passed through the Corbili family's sphere of influence without notifying him, the ruler of the northwest region. It was obvious that they did not respect him, the Earl.
However, when the mopping up troops and the caravan clashed, it gave the bugs in the western mountains an opportunity. Those damned bandits actually took advantage of the fact that the defenses of the family's territory were weak to launch a large-scale attack on the Bodock Manor Castle. That was the old territory of the Corbili family! If not for a few people who had escaped and reported to him two days ago, he would not have known that the old territory of the family had been ravaged by the bandits for five days.
At that time, the Earl did not believe the reports of the people who had escaped. He even ordered his men to give them a good whipping. However, these people cried bitterly as they were whipped, swearing that they were telling the truth. In the end, the Count sent out a small group of lancers to investigate the situation. But this morning, only forty of the one hundred and twenty lancers returned. They reported that they had encountered the Divine Archer, Josk, and a large number of mounted bandits. They were outnumbered, and after a bloody battle, they managed to carve out a path back. Unfortunately, they had suffered great losses, and now, only a few of them were left.
The Divine Arrow, Josk. Just the mention of this name sent chills down the Count's spine. That was the spot where Josk's arrow had pierced through. With Josk around, it was needless to say that the Gold-tier bastard of Bodock's manor was most likely dead. Hence, it was only natural that the castle would be taken over. According to the encounter of the lancers and the report of the few untouchables, the Earl estimated that over a thousand bandits and over two thousand bandits had gathered in the original family's territory. The number of over three thousand people was equal to the total number of the rebel forces in the west mountain area. It seemed that the rebel forces had come out in full strength.
Well, it seemed that he had to take action. Don't think that I am old at sixty-three. No matter how old a lion is, it is still a lion. It will not become a sick cat in its nest. If he did not suppress these bandits and mobs as soon as the news that the family's territory was occupied by these bugs spread out, people would suspect that the Cobili family was going downhill and that they could not even deal with these mobs and mobs. The Earl swore that he would teach these bugs a deep lesson. After he caught them, he would hang at least half of them.
Gerdos City could send out a battalion of more than two thousand garrison soldiers, plus a platoon of lancers. Recently, a squad of lancers and two squads of garrison soldiers had been established. Therefore, it should be enough to leave the two squads of garrison soldiers and the squad of lancers that had been crippled to defend the city. If the lancer column from William Mills Castle was transferred back, there would be about three thousand soldiers. In addition, the few nobles who had surrendered to him could send out a platoon of soldiers each. In this way, there would be five thousand soldiers, which would be enough to sweep the west area, not to mention to deal with the mobs and mobs. It was decided. He would send out his troops in three days.
Thinking of this, Earl Cobili ordered loudly, "Someone, pass down my order …"
— — Dividing Line — —
Laurist was also pointing on a map. "Here, and here. Yuri, you must send people to the places I marked. These are the best observation points to monitor the road from Gerdos City to Bodoc's Manor Castle. As long as Earl Cobili sends out his troops, he will definitely take this road. Then we will be ready for the battle. Joske, you did a good job yesterday. You wiped out half of the lancer squad with the help of the family's armed forces. But those gangs must have lost a lot of men, right? "
"Yes, they lost about two hundred men. If I didn't pass by with a squad of light cavalry scouts, they might have been crippled. But I gave them the weapons and equipment of the lancers we captured. They are very happy and grateful for what we did, "said Joske.
"That's why I said you did a good job. Now that the news has reached Earl Cobili's ears, he will definitely send out his troops. We've already decided to confront him here. If we don't have the support of these people from the stronghold, our family's armed forces will be too weak. Who knows, Count Corbili might get hot-headed and chase after us. If that happens, we'll suffer a great loss even if we win. "
"Where is the family caravan led by Knight Shredder?" asked Laurist.
Bofinger pointed at a point on the map. "Here. They will arrive at Bodoc's Manor Castle tomorrow afternoon. I've already asked Ross to bring a heavy lancer squad to greet them. I believe the journey will be safe. Don't worry, Sir. "
"How can I be at ease before the caravan arrives? Everyone needs to work harder for the next two days. Yuri, your light cavalry scouts need to increase their surveillance and control of the surroundings. Turn a blind eye to the actions of the bandits. Don't get into a conflict with them just because you don't like them," Laurist said.
"Yes, Sir. I will ask my men to be careful," Yuri replied.
"Bear with it for now. When the caravan arrives, we will gather the men from the gangs and gather the villagers who are in trouble. We will send Knight Malek to enforce military law. If they don't listen, we will kill a few chickens to warn the monkeys. We don't have enough manpower for the next few days, so we can only bear with it. "Laurist shook his head with a bitter smile.
To be honest, the actions of some of the rebel forces were even worse than bandits. Robbery, murder, rape, and other crimes were common in Count Corbili's territory. This was inevitable and understandable. After all, these rebel forces were Count Corbili's enemies. Now that they had taken over his territory, how could they not do whatever they wanted? However, if they transferred their hatred towards Earl Cobili to the innocent villagers, it would be too much. Just like Knight Josk had said, a few of the rebels would usually run away as soon as they saw Earl Cobili's army. Now, they were using the defenseless villagers to show off their power. Even Yuri's light cavalry scouts could not stand it anymore, and a few conflicts broke out.
"Josk, how's the formation of your cavalry archer squad?"
"Sir, it's hard to find people. They need excellent horsemanship, talent in archery, and combat qi. I only have a dozen people so far," Josk complained.
"Take it slow. I believe the cavalry archers will show off their power on the battlefield in the future," Laurist comforted with a smile.
…
The next day, Fatty Shi led the family caravan to the castle of Bodock's manor. People were shouting and horses neighing in joy.
At night, in the spacious hall, Laurist was talking to the map, "Today, Knight Yuri sent a message. He found a few nobles who had surrendered to Earl Cobili's territory were gathering their men and horses towards Gerdos City. This means that Earl Cobili is already gathering his men and horses for preparation. It's very likely that he will send out his army in the next two days. We don't have much time. Tomorrow, we'll rest for a day. The day after tomorrow, Bodefinger will lead a squad of heavy armored lancers and three platoons of pikemen to set up camp here. Terman's squad of knights and Dolus's squad of chariots will also set off together.
"Leave two platoons of pikemen here to defend the manor castle. Knight Shredder will be in charge. Knight Malek, tomorrow, you'll lead a team to patrol the territory and gather the villagers. They've been tortured by the rebels these days. Tell the rebels to obey our orders according to the agreement and gather at Bodefinger's place. If anyone disobeys our orders … "
Laurist had a murderous look on his face. "Knight Ross, you should know what to do …"
A bloodthirsty smile appeared on Rod Wales' face. "I know. My heavy armored lancers will let these scumbags know the consequences of breaking their promises."
"Very good, Mr. Tim. Don't worry. As a loyal ally of the Norton Family, you just need to let your soldiers rest and recover their energy. After our men and Earl Cobili's army confront each other, I'll let you be the guide to attack Gerdos City, "Laurist said.
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