"Is there going to be a war?"
"Who knew, so many soldiers suddenly came."
"The southern front has not spread yet~"
“Okay, stop being nagging and run for your life. The castle will be closed soon and you won’t be able to get in.”
One mile outside Sarp Castle, a group of black-clad soldiers escorted a team of five or six empty four-wheeled carriages slowly approaching.
The lord of Sarpe is an old baron named Galvin Hugues. Of course, the fact that he can use the surname "Hugues" shows that he is a branch of the Ivrea family of the royal family of the County of Burgundy. In the twenty years since he inherited the fertile territory of Lord Baron and Sapp from his father, Baron Galvin has never participated in a large-scale battle except following the county chief to participate in several large-scale bandits. The entire army in Baron Galvin's territory has low combat effectiveness. Except for a few who are used to protect the fortress, most of the soldiers have become caravan guards who travel for a long time. The only three knights in the territory are as good at business as their lords but not good at fighting. They are not so much knights as merchants on horseback.
This paradise that is rarely disturbed by the outside world is difficult to cultivate warriors and heroes.
The unbattled Baron Galvin does not have the honor and benevolence of a military noble, but he has a unique talent in running the territory.
Sap is located in a valley 30 miles west of Lane Village, surrounded by mountains on three sides. It is the most fertile farmland in the western part of Tyniec County. From Sapp through the hilly area stretching for dozens of miles in the south is the northern border of Provence. Over the years, Baron Galvin took full advantage of Sapp's status to trade goods with Provence, and Sapp became the richest town in Tyniec County. Baron Galvin was nicknamed the "merchant noble" by the nobles because of his talent in business.
But this year, Baron Galvin's face did not have the smile of the past.
∣The war between Provence and Lombardy in the south began the summer before last. Galvin keenly discovered the huge business opportunities. He concluded that with the war, Provence would definitely need a larger amount of grain imports. Therefore, in the past year and a half, the grain sown in his territory has nearly doubled compared to previous years, and he has indeed made a lot of money from this. But last summer, several groups of bandits poured into the southern hilly areas. Most of them were ruffians who fled north from Provence. Led by some deserters, they occupied the hills. They not only plundered the surrounding villages, but also ambushed passing caravans.
The small trade road that traversed dozens of miles of hills was the main channel for Galvin to transport grain south. As the hill trade road was occupied by bandits, Galvin's neck was severely strangled, and hundreds of thousands of pounds of grain were piled up and moldy in the barn of Sappburg. In these troubled times, having a large amount of food in hand is definitely not something to be thankful for. Since last year's autumn harvest, Baron Galvin has received countless letters to "borrow food", including from lords from various places, as well as from Tynets County, but more often than not from the swarming bandits. Although Baron Galvin strengthened the castle walls and recruited more than twenty territorial peasant soldiers to join the castle defense, he was still anxious every day.
· Such days did not improve until a strange grain transport team arrived in Sap from the east.
At and his patrol were now employed as Baron Balian's grain escort. After seeing more than twenty strong soldiers in Ater, Baron Balian changed his decision to purchase grain sporadically in various parts of Tyniec. Instead, he led twenty or thirty people to pull an empty cart over the rugged mountainous areas and entered Sarp Castle. He knew that there was a large amount of grain accumulated here, but the local lords were unable to transport the grain out.
After the group arrived at Sarp Castle, the pot-bellied lord Baron Galvin went out to greet them personally, "Lord Balian, I didn't expect you to be back again."
"Yes, Galvin. Lord Wen, you said there was no one to escort the food, so I brought my own troops to escort the food. Now you can safely sell the food to me." Lord Galvin smiled and introduced everyone into the castle.
Although the walls of Sarp Castle are also made of wood, compared to the poor and dilapidated Andermatt Castle, it is "the city is high and the pond is deep". Baron Galvin knew that his wealth had been watched by countless villains for a long time, so he spent a lot of money to build the wooden walls of the castle. The fort wall, which is about thirty feet high, tightly surrounds this small town with more than a hundred households. There are wooden arrow towers and watchtowers built on the four corners of the fort wall. There are about forty guards and peasant soldiers guarding the four sides of the fort wall. There are also about twenty standing soldiers in the fort. If you want to forcefully attack, you will probably pay hundreds of casualties. There is a three-story square tower made of stones in the fort. There are stacked walls and perforations on the top of the tower. A giant iron-armed crossbow is installed on the top of the tower. Behind the square tower is a spacious lord's residence. This is also the most solemn place in the entire Sap Fort. Most of the more than 100 houses in the fort are made of wood or stone. The villagers also have ruddy faces and strong bodies, and they are a prosperous scene.
“Lord Galvin, I can see that you are a shrewd lord.” Art walked on the hard dirt road of the castle and said to Baron Galvin who was leading the way.
Baron Galvin turned to look at Art, who was wearing a strong suit and hanging a sword, and asked: "Who is your Excellency?"
Baron Balian introduced: "This is the southern border patrol officer of the Tyniec Palace. This time it was he who brought the soldiers to help me transport the food."
"Southern Border Patrol Officer? Could it be that you are Art Wood Wells?" Galvin thought of the letter he received from Tyniec last month.
"I remembered that a sealed letter came from the county last month, and it mentioned the security patrol officer of the southern border of the palace."
“Prosecutor, the letter says that you are responsible for apprehending bandits and maintaining public order. The area around Fort Sap is very chaotic right now. Should you fulfill your duty and eliminate the bandits that are rampant in the southern hills?”
As far as Tyniec is concerned, Sap is a relatively closed town due to the obstruction of the mountains, and information from the outside is transmitted slowly, so Art did not climb over the mountains and enter Sap Fort when collecting food and wages.
"Lord Galvin, since you have read Tyniec's letter, you must also know about the need to pay security taxes and provide supplies and salaries for patrols, right?" Now that he is here, Art must ask Galvin to collect security taxes. At this time, he will not care how high the other party's lord is, after all, he is a "court official."
As long as someone comes to clear out the bandits in the southern hilly area and clear the trade route from Sap to Provence, Galvin is willing to pay a fee for it. "Art, are all the men in black outside the castle your soldiers?"
"If I had known, I would have had to go back to Provence. No matter what, I would not have joined this patrol. Can you tell us which of our outings in the past six months did not result in a few casualties? I escaped from Provence just to avoid the disaster of the war. I endured the daily training like an animal, and faced life-threatening dangers from time to time. I didn't expect that now I have to go to Aosta, where the war is fierce. Can I come back after going to Aosta?"
At the patrol team's temporary camp outside Sapp Castle, two soldiers from the patrol team were arguing in a low voice in a secluded place. The soldier who was unwilling to follow Art south was named Benson. He was one of the refugees Art recruited in Tyniec last year. He was originally assigned to the team that opened up wasteland, but was tempted by the generous treatment of the patrol soldiers to join the patrol. He fled from the south of Provence to Burgundy alone, just to escape the war. Unexpectedly, the small life he saved in Als would end up returning to the war-torn Aosta. He had already determined that there would be no return this time, so he wanted to drag a good friend in the patrol team to escape into the mountains after dark.
"If you want to leave, you can leave. I don't want to leave. I am now the leader of the combat team. I can eat and drink enough every day, and I can also get a sufficient salary. Why should I escape? It is very dangerous here, and it will be safe if I escape? You try to escape. There are many bandits outside with polished swords waiting for you." Another soldier flatly rejected Benson's instigation.
Benson stood up and roared angrily: "Okay, just follow us to the south. Don't regret today's stupid decision when you die in the battle."
Benson pointed to a dense forest near the camp and said: "I will be there during dinner Then find an opportunity to slip away. If you want to escape with me, I will wait for you in the woods for a while. "
"You can go on your own without waiting for me. You'd better escape before everyone finds you, otherwise there won't be a few sticks waiting for you."
While they were concentrating on arguing in a secluded place, the two of them didn't notice a blond guy squatting in the grass not far away.
Ever since Art announced that the patrol would be accompanied by a baron from Provence to escort the rations south, the soldier named Benson seemed a little restless. He always left the team under various pretexts during the march. It turned out that he was holding back some bad news.
Odo whispered in Spencer's ear: "Don't make this matter public for now. Let's do it like this..."
As night fell, the enticing aroma of minced meat and wheat porridge wafted from the patrol camp. Spencer, the newly appointed "kitchen steward", was breaking pieces of rye bread in his hand in front of a deep copper pot and throwing it into the pot.
Several veterans of the patrol were sitting around the campfire in front of Spencer, talking and laughing loudly, "I said Spencer, why were you willing to be a cook in the first place?"
Spencer did not feel the slightest shame at the cynicism of these veterans, and licked his face and said: "Why? You are afraid of death and tiredness. You train like animals every day, and you are always in danger of dying in battle. Not many of our brothers died in battle that time. I just couldn't stand the training and the danger of my life, so I was willing to be the cook. Tell me, I don't know how many people will be able to return to the wooden castle in the valley alive this time..."
While several people were chatting loudly in front of the bonfire, Odo, the deputy captain of the patrol and military judge, walked up to the bonfire and yelled: "Spencer, you bastard, you dare to disturb people's hearts in the army. Do you want to die?"
A few days ago The veterans in front of the campfire were so frightened that they quickly dispersed. Spencer was also dragged from the campfire to the open space of the camp by Odo. Otto asked sharply: "Spencer, you have been punished as a cook because you are afraid of the hardships of training. Do you still want to chop off your head personally?"
Spencer lay on the ground and replied angrily: "Sir Odo, if I had known that I would eventually have to return to Provence to join the patrol, I wouldn't have done anything. I was just a grocer's apprentice, and I fled to a foreign country to escape the war. Since joining the patrol, I have either been training like an animal or risking my life every day to patrol with adults. Last time in Alsburg, I He almost lost his life, but he didn’t expect to go to Aosta where the fight was fierce. Aosta has become a hell, and countless people are killed every day. Who is not afraid!”
Odo took out a piece of firewood from the campfire and hit Spencer hard on the body. The half-burned firewood was blown away by the sparks Odo waved, and soldiers in the camp who were preparing for dinner gathered around him. Spencer was beaten and rolling all over the ground, and the firewood in Odo's hand had been broken into several pieces.
The soldiers watching were also frightened by Odo.
It wasn't until Spencer on the ground stopped moving that Odo threw away the firewood stick in his hand, turned around and shouted loudly to the onlookers: "Listen, I will give you another chance now. If anyone still feels that you are being punished, If you are tired of training or if you are afraid of death or injury in battle, please stand up immediately. I can ask you to take off your armor and weapons, leave the patrol team and the wooden castle in the valley, and let you fend for yourself."
There was a silence around you.
A soldier in the crowd was about to speak, but the people around him immediately stopped him.
"Let me ask you again, does anyone want to leave the patrol?" Odo's roar sounded again.
Still no one said a word for a while.
"No one, right? Well, since no one wants to leave, let me stay in the army with peace of mind. Our patrol team is trained hard and our lives are always in danger, but think about it, in this troubled world, which place is the real stable place? And is there a lord who is willing to give the soldiers who work for him sufficient food and generous wages every day? There are many of you in the semi-finals A few years ago, there were refugees who were about to die on the road or slave laborers who were enslaved by others every day, but now? You have enough to eat all the time, and your pockets have never been so bulging. Why do you enjoy such favorable treatment? It is because you can endure the hard training that ordinary people cannot endure, and it is because you fight with your lives..."
…
"Odo, you are doing it right. This should have some effect, but it cannot cure the resentment and fear in the hearts of the soldiers. But we don't have the energy to deal with these things for the time being. You have to keep a close eye on the soldier, and if he defectes, he will immediately enforce military law. If necessary, we can kill a chicken to show the monkeys to let them know that the patrol is not a place where they can come and leave whenever they want." Art's eyes were filled with murderous intent.
"How is the other cook who was beaten?"
"Sir, he is fine, we are just showing off to the soldiers, so watching the sky and the earth shattering is actually useless."
"Okay, Odo, we will repair here for a day tomorrow, and we will escort the food to Provence early the next morning..."