At the foot of the mountains on the other side of the La Mer Mountains, the war between Provence and Lombardy continued to stalemate.
In the cold winter of last year, Duke Vladis led half of the army in Aosta to recapture Verno, but the good times did not last long. Just after regaining Verno, the bad news came from the central part of Provence that Gobre was about to fall. Once Noble, the support point of the entire central front, was lost, the entire Provence front would break the stable situation, and the Lombard army would march straight in. At the critical moment, Duke Vladis had to leave a small number of troops to garrison Wilno and then led the army to the central part to rescue Gebul. Then Wilno fell into the hands of the Lombard army again.
Aosta once again became the target of the Lombard army. The defenders of Aosta City, with half of their troops depleted, tenaciously resisted three large-scale sieges and countless raids by the Lombard army. Many people believed that it was only a matter of time before Aosta fell.
In the Kalk Castle northeast of Aosta City, Baron Balian was explaining to his knights in the palace the matter of defending the city, "Reed, I hand over Kalk Castle to you. Save the food in the fort. Once the enemy attacks in a large scale, you must rush to the castle. Aosta asks for help. This is Aosta's rear supply transfer area. Once Kalk loses Aosta, it will become a dead city, so you must hold on here. I will go north this time, if it takes 20 days, or if it takes a month, I will definitely come back with enough food and soldiers."
Internal knight Rhett looked back at the sixty or so soldiers left in the castle and nodded solemnly. Baron Balian mounted his horse and headed straight to the northern border of Provence with four cavalry and silver coins worth fifty thousand pfennigs, where he hoped to recruit ninety soldiers and buy enough food to supply one hundred and fifty soldiers for six months...
…..................
Among the boulders seven days' ride north of Kalkburg, a bonfire was burning with warm red flames. Four people were sitting around the bonfire. Art threw the skin bag containing ale in his hand to Simon, who had lost his arm, and said: "Drink some strong wine, and I will ensure that you can have a good sleep."
Simon stretched out his right hand and took the leather bag from Art, bit open the cork with his teeth, raised his head and took a big sip of wine, then wiped his mouth with his sleeve, returned the leather bag to Art, and said: "Sir, with our current strength, can we set up checkpoints on the trade road to collect taxes? The swords and spears in our hands are not necessarily sharper than those of the caravan guards."
Matt hung the leather bag back on the saddle and replied: "Simon, you are right. We are not strong enough to make those big caravans pay taxes, but we can still make some scattered money from those small traders. In fact, I don't plan to rely on this to support my patrol this year. I started setting up cards at the border now more to let the passing caravans gradually get used to this. Checkpoints, when we have the strength to make them pay taxes in the future, they will not feel intrusive. Besides, I also plan to take advantage of the gap between merchants who are afraid of north-south trade to open up the trade routes between Provence and Burgundy. Otherwise, what is the use of so many carriages and trucks, and the border checkpoints are undoubtedly an important link. Through the checkpoints, we can intercept passing caravans..."
Simon vaguely understood Art's plan and said: "Do you plan to use soldiers to open up trade channels, and then rely on north-south trade to make money to support your troops?"
While Art Simon and the two were discussing the matter of setting up a card to collect taxes, Ron had already led his soldier Jason on horseback to patrol around the boulder pile. Ron led the horse back to the tethering rope in the boulder pile, unloaded the saddles of the two horses, and added After some forage, he went to the fire and reported back to Art: "Sir, there is no danger within the surrounding one acre. Jason and I take turns guarding the sentry tonight, he will guard for half the night, and I will guard for the next half of the night."
"Okay, then you can get some sleep quickly."
Ron took the order and turned around, took out the felt blanket from his horse mattress cover and spread it next to the fire. He took off his belt and broadsword and placed them beside him. After a while, he started snoring while resting his head on the saddle.
Matt and the two also stopped talking, each huddled in the felt blanket to rest, and they were silent all night.
The morning of the second day was still dark, and Jason had already built a bonfire on the embers. On the bonfire, the wheat porridge in the copper pot was gurgling with aroma. Simon had not yet fully adapted to wearing clothes and hanging his sword with one hand, and the belt around his waist could not be buckled; Ron had finished his sentry and returned to the campfire, taking off his boots to warm his stiff toes.
Matt came back from the wilderness outside the boulders with a riding bow on his back, and threw a fat marmot in his hand to Jason: "I originally planned to hunt a hare, but I met this big guy who got up early."
「罗恩，一会去把马喂了，我们吃完早饭就往边境走。」
罗恩穿上皮靴，起身走到栓马绳前，拿起装草料和黑豆的袋子给四匹马和一匹驮粮食物资的青骡喂了饲料......
By the time the sun rose, the four of them had already rode their horses to the trade road twenty miles southwest of the boulder pile. This was a flat and barren land at the foot of Mount Ramel. A stream flowing from Mount Ramel passed through here and flowed to the east. This stream was also the eastern border of the Principality of Provence and the County of Burgundy.
Perhaps it was still early, there were no passers-by on this commercial road, and there were no inhabited villages around. Art stood on his horse and looked at a small mound beside the commercial road not far to the south. He said to a few people around him: "Let's go to that small mound and have a look." After that, he kicked the horse's belly a few times and ran towards the mound.
The small mound is only fifty feet away from the commercial road. It is about fifteen feet high and seventy feet in circumference. There are a few miscellaneous trees and a pile of grass on the mound. This small mound is the only commanding point in this flat wasteland, and it is close to an ancient stone bridge, making it an excellent sentry location. If it weren't for the fact that the land was too barren for farming and there were no villages around it, this place might have become a border fortress.
"Simon, what do you think about setting up checkpoints here?" Art dismounted and came to the top of the mound, placing his right hand on his forehead and looking at the commercial road in the distance.
"Sir, judging from the terrain, it is certainly appropriate to set up checkpoints here, but there are no castles or fortresses around it. Once the enemy is besieged, this place will become a dead place." Simon, who was following Art, looked around.
"I have also thought about this problem, so I plan to build a temporary garrison in the huge pile of rocks where I camped yesterday. When the patrol team has enough soldiers, we can station an army there. If there is danger at the checkpoint, reinforcements can be made in time."
"Sir, then why don't we just use this place as the patrol station. It is at least closer to the water source."
"No, we station soldiers on the pretext of setting up checkpoints to collect entry commercial taxes. If too many soldiers are stationed here, it will easily cause border disputes. I only plan to station a small group of soldiers at this checkpoint. Six soldiers can also deter ordinary small caravans. If you encounter a large caravan that refuses to pay taxes, you don't have to force them to stay. I have other means to make them pay taxes obediently."
"Other means?"
"You don't need to think about this for now. You should first think about setting up this checkpoint. Next time we return to the wooden castle, we will organize the manpower to build it. The sentry will be built on this mound. It doesn't need to be too big. It only needs one or two wooden houses, a stable and a sentry tower. It will be surrounded by wooden walls with sharpened wood. When there is a police situation, rush to the boulder station to ask for help. Then close the door and guard until the reinforcements arrive. As long as Burgundy The Count and the Principality of Provence have not declared war, and there will be no large-scale troops here. Normally, caravan guards would not dare to openly attack the checkpoints of the Count of Burgundy.”
"Yes, we have definitely not been able to collect any commercial taxes recently. When the war in the south subsides and trade flourishes, I am afraid that our outpost will also be removed. Lord Pierre only promised us to collect commercial taxes for one year. Moreover, the incident at Wincheston Manor last time offended him a lot." I couldn't decide, so I firmly held Bishop Olof's line, in order to open up the road to the palace. "
Matt and Simon discussed the details of setting up checkpoints on the mound for a while, then went down to the commercial road and told Ron and Jason who were unloading supplies on the mules and horses: "Jason, you go get some firewood and clean water from the surrounding area. We will bury pots here to make food. There will be a refugee road passing by soon."
Sure enough, before the wheat porridge on the fire beside the road began to boil, three or four refugees with their families and their families began to appear on the southern commercial road. They had already seen the smoke rising from the mound, but they were worried that bandits and bandits would block the road and rob them, so they stood watching from a distance for a long time and refused to come over.
Until the faint aroma of the thin wheat porridge in the copper pot drifted to their noses along the breeze, a thin man in rags and trousers finally had the courage to approach the small mound.
The man stared at the fire at the other end of the stone bridge over the creek for a long time. Ater and the others did not ask anything, and continued to sit around the fire and roast the dried bacon they had brought with them. The man swallowed a lot of saliva and then asked weakly and loudly: "Sir, we are refugees who have fled from Provence. We have no money on us. Can we pass through here?"
The man saw that Art and others were all wearing armor and carrying swords, but he still refused to come over.
Matt patted Jason's head and said, "Go and tell him that we are recruiting refugees for a lord's manor. If you want to eat porridge and food, come here quickly and make an alternative."
The man confirmed that a few people were not bandits, then ran back to the back and called a few refugees to come forward...