“Lord Odo, it’s bad, another team with flags appeared in the west!!” Obot on the arrow tower warned urgently.
Odo, who was discussing tonight's action with the soldiers who had chosen to attack at night, suddenly stood up and said, "How is it possible? Hawkeye reported that the Dean family's troops were basically gathered at the border. Where did the troops appear?"
"Did you see it clearly? Is it Dean? The heraldic flag of the An family? "
"The distance is too far to see clearly."
"Everyone is ready to fight. Let's go up and have a look." Odo climbed up the arrow tower in a few steps and saw a team about a mile west of Boulder Town rushing towards the camp.
Half a mile north of Boulder Town, the bandit camp.
“Big boss, no good! The brothers on sentry reported that a team of unknown origin appeared in the west!” A bandit leader gasped and said to the bandit leader who surrounded the Boulder Town camp.
"Didn't the Dean family say that no one would support these black-robed dogs? Could it be someone sent by the Dean family to help us?"
"I don't know, let go The sentry brothers were worried about the danger and ran back before the other party could get close. "
"Useless bastards! What's the point of letting them come back without seeing anything clearly? Let them continue to do the sentry work!" The bandit leader was very dissatisfied with his group of men who were greedy for life and afraid of death.
The leader had just left the bandit leader and ordered to the few tough bandits around him: "It's better to be careful. Send the order and ask the guys to pack my things. If there is a problem, retreat to the north immediately!"
"If there is a problem, retreat to the north immediately!"
Viscount Pierre has not fought in battle for a long time, and he is quite itchy. In addition, he has been constantly training the county garrison in the past two years. Facing a group of bandits who are not fully equipped with weapons is a perfect opportunity to test the combat capabilities of the soldiers.
"There is no need to gather in formation, each team will charge directly to me quickly!"
"Jerry, gather the cavalry and charge with me first!"
After speaking, Viscount Pierre drew out the sword from his waist and led more than ten cavalrymen to charge towards the bandit camp...
………
"It's the county garrison!! The county garrison!!" Andrew recognized the cavalry leading the charge with the heraldic flag as the county garrison.
"Haha, God has come to our heads, gather the soldiers, follow me out of the camp to fight against the bandits!!"
After a while, Odo, who was stationed in Boulder Town, led more than 20 soldiers out of the camp and rushed towards the bandits who were being killed by the county soldiers...
.......
Smoke billowed from the farm southwest of Tyniec County.
Forty or fifty bandit soldiers with their mouths and noses covered were taking advantage of the thick smoke that made it difficult for the manor guards to see clearly, and climbed up the stone wall along the hastily made wooden ladder.
“Big boss, can this method work?” asked a tough bandit.
???Ledoan stood a stone's throw away, looking at the smoky farm without answering.
???? It turns out that this scene came from a small leader named Rigg under Redoan. He came up with the strategy of burning wet green branches and grass under the farm's outer wall to create smoke to block the sight of the guards, and then taking advantage of the guards' unclear vision and being unable to shoot arrows to defend themselves. The strategy was to climb the stone wall from everywhere.
After discussion, the leaders of Redoan felt that this method was not difficult. Anyway, even if it failed, they would only lose a few minions, so they adopted this suggestion.
So that afternoon, there was a lively scene of Dean Farm being filled with smoke, and bandit soldiers taking the opportunity to invade the city with ants.
???After half a day, when the smoke began to dissipate, the cheers of the bandits came from the farm.
????They succeeded.
????"Big boss, we succeeded! We captured the farm outer fortress, and all the guards and guards hid in the inner fort." The bandit leader Rigg ran back covered in blood.
Dozens of bandits were looting in the farm outer fortress. This farm is the home of the Dean family. Although the Dean family has moved into the Wincheston Manor, there is still a large area of fertile land here, so it is still relatively wealthy.
???"Big boss, those bastards must have hidden all the best things in the inner fort. Are we going to take the inner fort in one fell swoop?" asked the second leader.
???Ledoan glanced at the inner fortress, which was higher and more solid than the outer wall, shook his head, and said: "Forget it, it's a surprise to be able to capture the outer fort. The inner fort is too strong to be taken down, and we are too mobile and may easily cause disaster."
???"You ask the brothers to snatch away all the valuable things for me, and we will return to the mountains as soon as possible."
In the evening, a team of bandits laden with looted goods left the southwest manor of the Dean family and disappeared into the dense forest valley.
????…………
In Wincheston Manor, Old Dean was pacing back and forth in the hall of the lord's mansion.
In the evening, the bad news came that his farm had been captured by bandits. Although the Dean family still has several farms and mansions in Tyniec County, and their family members also live in the county, the farm in the southwest is where the Dean family started. Old Dean is naturally very angry when his nest is invaded by bandits.
"Sir, should you report the banditry to the county and let the county soldiers pursue it?" The guard captain of the Dean family stepped forward and asked for instructions in a low voice.
Old Dean turned his head and glanced at the guard captain, but: "Now that all the merchants have hid in the valley and dense forest, why are we still chasing after them? Besides, most of the county army was taken away by Viscount Pierre, how could they still send troops to chase the bandits!"
"Fortunately, the bandits only broke through the outer fort, and all our valuables were left in the inner fort~"
Old Dean closed his eyes and thought for a while, and then ordered: "Ask the guards and mercenaries in Wincheston Manor to strengthen my defense. Wincheston Manor cannot make any mistakes! In addition, the west manor that is not guarded must be protected." Give me a good beating for the bastard from South Farm and drive him out of my farm.”
After saying that, Old Dean walked to an armchair and sat down, muttering to himself: “Where did the bandits dare to touch the territory of my Dean family~”
Early in the morning of the second day, two cavalrymen galloped from the southern commercial road to Wincheston Manor. Half a mile away, one horse gave out and fell to the ground. The other horse also vomited blood and broke into Wincheston Manor...
"Master, Master! It's not good~ It's not good~" The manor steward who stepped forward to inquire about the situation rushed into the lord's mansion staggeringly.
Old Dean, who had just woken up from his sleep and had not yet dressed, slapped the butler in the face and cursed: "You are so panicked, please tell me!"
The butler covered his swollen face and whispered: "Master, Master Dean, he~"
Old Dean got excited and grabbed the butler's clothes, "What's wrong with Dean? Is he injured?"
"No~ Master Dean was caught by the enemy!"
"Ah? Are we defeated?"
h "No, the servant came back on horseback and said that the battle was almost won, but Master Dean was suddenly caught by the enemy, and now our army is confronting the enemy at the border."
Old Dean suddenly sat down and put on his clothes.
"Dian, he~?"
"The servant said that Master Dean was not killed, but was locked up by the enemy."
Old Dean wiped the sweat from his forehead and said happily: "It's good to be alive, it's good to be alive. Did the enemy put any conditions?" Knowing that his only son was still alive, Old Dean breathed a sigh of relief.
"The enemy did not put any conditions, but asked you to go to the border to pick up the young master in person."
Old Dean sat on the bed and took a breath, slowly stood up and regained some composure.
"Send someone to call Count Bernard for help."
"Prepare the carriage to escort, we will go to the border to rescue people, I hope Viscount Pierre has arrived at the border~"
……………
"Master Viscount Pierre, you may no longer need to go south."
At the camp in Boulder Town, Odo walked into Viscount Pierre's camp.
Pierre had just wiped out a group of bandits yesterday and was in a very happy mood. When he woke up early in the morning, he asked the servant to pour him a full glass of wine.
But when he heard Odo say that there was no need to continue going south, the wine glass in his hand trembled visibly, "Did your master win?"
"We didn't win, but we caught Dean."
"What! You caught Dean? Is Dean still alive?"
"That guy is not dead yet, and my family is not stupid enough to kill him directly."
Pierre was relieved. He took a gulp of the wine in the glass and ordered the servant: "Go tell Jerry to pack up the camp and follow me to the border immediately." Lord Jue."
h "Odo, ask your people to go south quickly and tell Art that he should not mess around under any circumstances, and I will rush to the border."
hh "In addition, I will take away the bandit leader captured yesterday for questioning, and leave the rest to you to deal with."
Odo bowed slightly and said, "As you wish."
…......
At noon on the third day after the border attack and defense.
"These guys are really loyal. Even after our employer was captured by us, he still stood guard in front of the village gate like a dog." Kazak accompanied Art and said as he looked at the group of mercenaries standing in formation outside the temporary camp.
Angus laughed and replied: "The employer is not dead, and the commission has not been paid. Of course they have to continue to wait. These people are not fighting for that weakling Dean, their loyalty will always only belong to shiny silver coins~"
Since Dean was accidentally captured, this group of mercenaries and Dean family guards have not left here. Not to mention the guards of the Dean family, they did not have the guts to escape on their own after their master was captured. And the mercenaries were indeed as Angus said. Their employer was not dead and the commission was not settled, so they could only continue to fulfill the contract and send soldiers to the camp every day to form a confrontation and ask Art to return Dean.
Ate was too lazy to pay attention to this group of mercenaries. When he was really bored, he let someone shoot a few rounds of arrows to disrupt the enemy's formation...
"Sir, there is movement in the north!" Tuba, who was in charge of defense on the wall of the village, shouted loudly.
The two armies at the border faced each other for three days. It was not until noon that day that the large army rushed to the border.
"My lord, this is Vicomte Pierre and Dean's father. They have stationed their camp two miles to the north. Vicomte Pierre wants to talk to you personally." Lusignan, who went to investigate the situation, returned to the camp.
After hearing this, Art arranged the defense of the camp and walked out of the camp gate to personally greet Viscount Pierre who came with only a few personal attendants.
Ate lightly clamped the horse's belly, and the horse under him advanced at a small step and came to Pierre, "Master Pierre, I didn't expect that you would personally come to rescue the border."
"Rescue? The owl leader Ate needs help from others?" Pierre sneered.
"Don't tell me these lies. I was originally ordered by the palace to mediate the dispute between you and Knight Dean, but now it seems that my task has become to prevent you from killing a palace guard knight." Viscount Pierre said in a bad tone.
"Lord Viscount, I have to offend and correct you. I am not fighting privately with Sir Dean. I am fighting on behalf of the palace against the rebels who are attacking the border of the county. The rebels are still eyeing the border, not to mention that the leader of this rebel group, Sir Dean, has secret connections with the bandits in the county..." Art's tone was not very friendly. He did not want to leave the impression that Viscount Pierre was easy to persuade and control.
Now that Art has the upper hand, he naturally has the confidence to speak. Pierre did not waste any time talking to him, "Tell me, what conditions do you want to put forward to let Dean go? His father is waiting for a reply in my military tent. As long as your conditions are not excessive, I believe he will agree."
"The Viscount." Man, please tell him that if he wants Dean to live, he can come to my camp to negotiate terms in person..."
…...
On this day, in a temporary camp on the border of the county, a negotiation between small nobles lasted for an entire afternoon under the personal auspices of Viscount Pierre.
After bargaining and Viscount Pierre's mediation, Art finally reached an agreement with the Dean family.
The Dean family paid Art 50,000 pfennigs for military expenses and casualty compensation; the Dean family sent five strong horses and saddle carriers to Art within half a month; the Dean family withdrew all troops and promised not to retaliate against Art's territory and its citizens.
Are these conditions too easy? Yes, the above conditions are not worth mentioning at all to the Dean family.
Hence, Yate still has one of the most important conditions - allowing Yate's caravan to join the southern goods trade in the eastern part of Burgundy.
The first few demands are just the Dean family's compensation for this defeat, and the last one is the condition to redeem Dean's life.
In an issue involving huge commercial interests, Old Dean showed the cunningness of a businessman. He never relented on this issue, and was even willing to pay a ransom of 100,000 pfennigs in lieu of Art's condition.
But Yate has been in business for so long and has killed and injured so many soldiers. His ultimate goal is to open up the southern goods trade route, so his attitude is very tough.
In the end, under the mediation of Viscount Pierre, Art and Old Dean each compromised. The Dean family allowed Art's caravan to get involved in the eastern route's southern goods trade, but Old Dean cut the size of the thirty carriages proposed by Art in half. Old Dean promised to "persuade" the Northland and Southern Goods Trading Guild for Art, allowing Art's caravan to successfully become a member of the guild. It can be seen that fifteen cars is the limit that Old Dean can tolerate Art's involvement in the southern goods trade.
Since it is a negotiation, Art has to come up with conditions.
First, Art promised to release Dean after receiving the military funds for the horses, and to ensure Dean's safety during this period;
Second, Art immediately lifted the border blockade, released the Dean family caravan held in the temporary camp, returned some of the seized goods (the most valuable ones had been transported back to the valley by Art, so he had no choice but to give up), and was no longer allowed to impose retaliatory commercial taxes on the Dean family caravan.
The above negotiation conditions were supervised and implemented by Viscount Pierre himself as an intermediary.
The border conflict subsided, and the ending was not satisfactory, but it was not satisfactory.