Led by Juan Carlos, the Baron of Biokari, and led by Juan Carlos, the Sungazer, a small number of local nobles' knights and Laing's serf infantry regiment swept across the entire southern part of Lyonasser. The rebel strongholds were uprooted one after another.
Ever since Juan became Laing's subordinate, he had been deeply influenced by Laing. Before he set off, he had also been taught a lot by Laing. As a Knight of the Burning Sun, he had a keen eye for strategy and tactics. After fighting a few battles with the rebel army, Juan immediately realized that even though the rebel army looked powerful, they were actually very weak. The reason why they could grow stronger in the face of the local nobles was mainly because of the following factors.
First, those who picked up weapons were rebels, and those who put down their weapons were serfs. Many rebels were very cunning, and the knights were not easy to distinguish. After all, a serf with a pitchfork might really just want to fork the grass.
Secondly, the rebellious serfs knew how to hide very well. When the knights arrived, they would hide in their strongholds, hills, and forests, playing hide-and-seek with the knights. After a long time, the knights, who had a shortage of troops and a serious shortage of food, could only choose to retreat.
Third, the rebel serfs were generally sympathized with by the ordinary serfs. This was very important. In Laing's words, this was called "the foundation of the masses." Although Juan didn't really understand why it was called this, he understood what it meant.
In fact, this problem wasn't too troublesome. The key was trust. Previously, Duke Aldrede of Lyonasser had made a huge mistake in this matter. After all, he was too young and had done stupid things like killing captives and surrenders. This had a huge impact on the rebellious serfs. Although it served as a deterrent and saved food, it also made the serfs lose their trust in the knights and nobles.
Therefore, after a detailed discussion with Count Durin and Count Rarotte, Juan decided to distribute the relief food first. Juan followed Count Durin and Count Rarotte's suggestion to distribute the relief food. First of all, they couldn't give the relief food directly to the local nobles and knights because a portion of the relief food would be handed over to the serfs. Secondly, they couldn't let the serfs receive the relief food according to their number because it would take a long time. Also, the rebellious serfs could mix in and cause chaos.
Juan remembered Laing's order. He sent people to investigate the population of the nearby villages and calculated the ratio. Then, he asked the village elders to bring people to receive bags of black bread. At the same time, he warned the village elders that if there was any embezzlement or corruption, the village elders would have to apologize with their own heads.
Then, Juan announced a strict military order that forbade all looting. If there were any military needs, they would be compensated with food or money according to the price.
Originally, the army was forbidden to go out and have sex. However, the problem was that it was not the soldiers who wanted to go out and have sex. It was the female serfs and even some female nobles who wanted to go out and have sex. After years of war, there were many widows. Juan thought for a long time and could only listen to Count Durin and Count Larotte's suggestion. He took a step back and said that he had to take responsibility for what he did.
It just so happened that he found a typical example among the serfs. One of the serfs who had followed Duke Laing for many years couldn't help but steal some eggs from the local serfs to eat. Juan took advantage of the situation and punished him severely. He was whipped 20 times in front of all the serfs in the village. This serf who was a little arrogant was beaten until he was on the verge of death.
This severe punishment not only shocked the army, but also the entire territory of Muxilon. Rumors spread like wildfire among the serfs. They all said that Duke Laing's army was different from the other knights! He was the embodiment of the virtues of a knight! We're saved!
This time, when some of the rebellious serfs came to the village to ask for sympathy and supplies, the attitude of the local serfs immediately changed. Not only did they not sympathize with the rebellious serfs, but they also violently tied them up and escorted them to Juan.
Also, Bellegar taught Juan a very harmful trick. Bellegar instructed Juan that if he wanted to fight a battle of annihilation, he shouldn't kill all of them. He should remember to let some of them escape and make sure that they escaped to the remaining serfs.
Sure enough, in just a few days, although there were still tens of thousands of serfs in the rebellion, the argument that "the old guards are invincible" had spread like wildfire among the serfs. No matter how the leaders of the rebellion tried to stop it, it was useless.
Taking advantage of this good opportunity, Juan led a team of old guards, two serf infantry regiments, a team of dwarf artillery, and the knight army led by Count Durin and Count Larotte. They were ready to attack the last few strongholds of the rebellious serfs.
The pressure of the Pale Sisters began to slowly press down on the rebellious serfs. The terrifying pressure almost made everyone feel suffocated. Under the pressure, the remaining 30,000 or so serfs were forced to gather together. The leaders of the rebel army held a meeting and quickly divided into two factions.
One faction suggested that they should immediately attack the rebel army. Because the army from the south had to cross the river if they wanted to continue their march, they suggested that they should set up defenses along the river to resist the attack of the rebel army before they were completely defeated.
The other faction suggested that they should retreat to the strongholds near the Arden Forest and gather their forces to defend until the rebel army ran out of food as usual.
The two sides argued for a long time without any results, so they simply divided into two factions. Those who wanted to defend along the river would defend, and those who wanted to retreat would retreat.
In this way, about 10,000 serfs defended along the river while the remaining 20,000 or so retreated to the last stronghold.
When the rebellious serfs reached the river, they were relieved because the rebel army led by Juan had just arrived on the other side of the river. It was the middle of summer, and the river flowed very fast. The leader of the rebel army arranged for his men to set up camp here. In his opinion, the river flowed so fast that the knights on the other side wouldn't dare to cross the river before they gathered enough ships.
It could only be said that the rebel serfs' decision to set up defenses along the river was correct, but their low level of knowledge and narrow vision made all of this useless. They didn't know that there was a thing in this world called the dwarf pontoon bridge, which didn't require ships.
With the help of the dwarf engineer Dugan Ironman and the guidance of the local fishermen who were familiar with the hydrology, Juan and the two counts led the army to build a pontoon bridge six kilometers upstream and successfully crossed the river that night.
At this time, most of the rebellious serfs were still asleep.
Juan was very patient. He signaled the army to wait for a while until the dwarf artillery finished crossing the river. Then he officially ordered the army to attack.
The artillery roared, then the knights charged, and finally the old guards led the serf infantry into the battlefield. These experienced soldiers, who had been through countless battles, experienced countless blood and fire, and with the help of excellent equipment, the old guards made the rebellious serfs realize what a real professional soldier was. The bandits who used to rely on long spears and large wooden shields to fight the knights for many years finally collapsed.
No one knew who shouted "the old guards are here", but it directly caused the camp to explode, and finally led to the collapse of the rebellious serfs of about 10,000 people.
After a night of fierce fighting, the rebellious serf army of more than 10,000 had collapsed. Only less than 2,000 had escaped, and the rest were all captured.
Out of the desire for more people, Juan forbade the army from killing prisoners and surrendering. The baron looked at the thousands of rebellious serfs kneeling on the plains and begging for their lives, and his heart was filled with joy.
They were all labor! Fresh, fresh labor.
After settling the prisoners and leaving a part of the army to watch over them, Juan followed Laing's instructions and warned the army not to kill prisoners at will. These people were all labor to restore production. After that, the army continued to move east.
Along the way, the villages were all empty. Dilapidated walls, white bones, weeds, and evil beasts came and went.
The more the army moved, the more serious the faces of the soldiers and knights became.
Among them, Raymond felt the most sad.
After several years, he finally returned to his village, the place where he was born and grew up.
But waiting for him was a piece of empty land. The whole village had long been abandoned in the chaos of war and plunder. Perhaps to others, it was just another destroyed village on the march, but to Raymond, it was his home.
His home was gone.
Looking at the village that was almost burned to the ground, almost no traces of the past could be recognized in the ruins. Weeds and shrubs covered the place.
Raymond's house had been destroyed for a long time. When the old guard came to his door, he found that the door had been smashed open, and the things inside had long been looted.
The former slave of Lyonnesse shook his head helplessly. "Forget it, there's nothing valuable in the house."
"This is the village you used to live in?" Juan, the Baron of Biokari, walked up. This Baron was even younger than Raymond. Under the golden sun-blazing helmet, his youthful face was full of vigor and confidence. He took a closer look and said, "Yes, I remember that many people escaped from Lyonnaise."
"I've been living in the Duke's territory for so long that I almost forgot. Not every place in Brittany is as rich as the Duke's territory." Raymond said carefully and sorrowfully, "This kind of village is the current state of most villages."
Hearing this, the travel-worn Count Dulin understood.
This kid was a runaway slave!
This runaway slave was actually an old guard?!
The old guard felt a little jealous. He thought for a while and decided to take the initiative to speak. In the past, nobles like him would never talk to slaves directly because it was beneath his status.
However, Count Dulin and Count Larotte understood better than the old Muxilon nobles. Instead, Count Dulin took the initiative to strike up a conversation. "Judging from your accent, you're also from Lyonnesse! Brat, you escaped. Do you know how many people died on the way? "
"Uh … hehehe …" Raymond laughed awkwardly. After all, he was a runaway slave, so he naturally felt guilty when facing these local nobles. However, the old guard knew that he represented Duke Laing, so he could only nod and say nothing. Dulin didn't say much.
Count Dulin didn't pursue the matter any further and continued with a heavy tone, "This is the situation. Some people were like you and managed to escape, but others were forced to rebel. They rushed into the knights' homes, opened the warehouses, and attacked the guards. After a long time, the serfs gathered and rebelled. Wherever they went, not even a blade of grass would grow. Aside from the Temple of the Lady, they didn't dare to touch anything. Not only did they rob the noble knights' homes, but they also robbed the serfs' food reserves. When the bandits passed through, the local serfs also suffered a great calamity. They had no choice but to rebel after having all of their food and property taken away. After a long time, the rebellious serfs were like a snowball rolling down a hill."
"Let's end the rebellion as soon as possible." Juan also sighed. He once thought that all Brittany were like the ones under Laing's rule. "Try to kill as little as possible. These are all people."
"Yes!" Everyone responded loudly.
Three days later, the anti-rebellion army surrounded the last stronghold of the rebellious slaves in the south of Lyonasser.
At this time, the rebellious slaves in the stronghold had already learned that the defense plan along the river had failed. About 20,000 rebellious slaves were squeezed into a very small stronghold. These rebellious slaves were not confident that the simple walls made of wood, stone, and mud could stop the anti-rebellion army.
The rebellious slaves were living in constant fear. The slightest movement would cause them to be on edge for half a day. This was the true portrayal of these rebellious slaves.
In the crowded and smelly stronghold, a few leaders of the rebellion were discussing what to do. They originally wanted to surrender, but after all, they knew that the previous Duke of Lyonasser, Aldrich, had killed prisoners and surrendered slaves. Then, they saw that the anti-rebellion army only had about 2,000 people (they had to split up along the way), while they had about 20,000 people on their side. Therefore, they decided to give it a try.
"Alang, can we really defeat the Duke's army?" A few leaders asked unconfidently. "Those are the old guards!"
One of the leaders of the rebellion army was called Alang. He was also a young man in his twenties. It was said that when his father was serving as a knight, he was too tired and was smashed to death by a log. That was why he started the rebellion.
"Old guards? So what?" Alang's face was covered with scars. His hair was in a mess, and he had lost an eye. He said unconfidently, "Those are all rumors. We have never seen it with our own eyes."
"But …" The other rebellious slaves were frightened when they heard the name of the old guards.
"The enemy only has about 2,000 people, and we have 20,000. What are we afraid of?" Alang said impatiently. "Let's fight first. If we win, maybe Duke Laing will be willing to surrender to us! By then, we can be free people and soldiers. Maybe we can even be knights. Don't you want that? "
"…" The rebellious slaves didn't say anything.
The next day, the gate of the stronghold was opened. Thousands of rebellious serfs were led by the strongest warrior in the rebel army. They used crude weapons and wore tattered equipment to charge at the rebel army.
The army didn't seem to have any reaction. They just stood there in three rows and didn't say a word.
The rebellious serfs were slightly surprised, but before they had time to think, dazzling white light suddenly flashed and hundreds of streams of white smoke spurted out from the middle of the anti-rebel troops. It was not until then that the thunderous gunshots rang out!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In an instant, the rebellious slaves at the front fell in groups. In front of the dense barrage of bullets, flesh and blood flew everywhere, and screams could be heard.
Then, the peasant infantry regiment opened up their formation. An army wearing gorgeous military uniforms and half-body plate armor, bearskin hats, red and blue epaulettes, tassels, and leather boots joined the battlefield. They were either holding long halberds, long-barreled guns, or big swords. They joined the battlefield in rows.
The strongest warrior in the rebel army, the warrior who had been invincible in several strongholds, rushed to the front of the army with dozens of people. In the end, the old guard officer easily dodged his attack and chopped off his head with the halberd in his hand. The dozens of rebellious serfs then scattered. In front of this army, their resistance was incomparably laughable.
Following the loud singing, the roar of the cannons, and the shouts of the Knights on the flanks, the army entered the battlefield.
They had experienced a lot. Many of them had followed Laing into battle when he first arrived at the Knight King Kingdom. They fought against the Orcs, the Red Duke, and the Khorne's Chosen One, Egil Redeye. They defeated the Great Necromancer Heinrich Kaimler at the Battle of Blackstone Stronghold and the Battle of La Mesenaire. Finally, they fought a tough battle with Tzeentch's First Devil during the recovery of Muxilon. They contributed greatly to the recovery of Muxilon.
Facing these rebellious slaves, a look from them was enough to strike fear into the enemy's heart.
"The old guard is here!"
"It's the old guard!"
"We're doomed!"
"Lady, please have mercy on us!"
Thousands of slaves were defeated in an instant. They screamed and fled for their lives.
Ah 'lang, who was standing behind the Ramparts, knew that the situation was dire. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Retreat!"
It was too late. The Dwarven heavy cannons had bombarded the Ramparts, causing the defenders to be dismembered and thrown off their horses. Then, the Knights attacked from the flanks. Finally, the old guard entered the stronghold, and the rebellious slaves were defeated.
Amidst the chaos, two familiar faces met.
"Raymond? It's you! You actually became the old guard? "A familiar voice made the old guard raise his head. Then, he gaped in astonishment.
"Ah 'lang?"
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