In a smoky tavern in a small border town in the south of Provence, close to the Principality of Lombardy, a troupe composed of two or three bards, seven or eight dwarfs, and some prostitutes were performing a puppet show called "The Revenge of the Baron."
This puppet show consists of three scenes.
The first battle was the Holy War of the Eastern Expedition. It tells the story of a devout aristocratic believer named Arthur Wells who, together with his only son and the warriors of the barony, went on a crusade against the pagans under the call of the Holy Lord. Baron Wells fought bravely in the Eastern Crusade and killed many pagans...
The second scene is a tragic situation. It tells the story of Baron Wells who fought bravely for the Holy Lord in the Holy Land. However, the shameless lord Earl Wadbury, who was born as a bandit, peeked at the Saint's castle territory. After Baron Wells returned from the Eastern Expedition, the robber Earl instructed his servants to frame Baron Wells for blaspheming the Holy Lord and practicing paganism. Baron Wells was deprived of his land, his family was ruined, and he had to flee to the north with his only son under the pursuit of the robber count...
The third scene is the baron's revenge. It tells the story of the only son of Baron Wells who was living in a foreign country and rose against the odds in the North and became a great warrior. Finally, with the support of the Church of Justice, he led his army south and regained the castle territory and all honors...
The content of the opera is very cliché, but with the addition of conspiracy, rape, revenge and other elements, it is particularly interesting, especially for the lower-class civilians. They like to listen to the stories of nobles fighting each other. They are especially inspired by the story of the only son of a baron who rose from a commoner step by step.
This is just a civilian version of a puppet show, and the poetic version of "Justice" has also begun to spread among the wealthy merchants and nobles of the Southern Continent.
While the public opinion aroused in the southern continent, good news also came from the Paris Church in the Kingdom of France in the far north. The Paris Church first recognized the identity of Atwood Wells, Earl of Wales in the Burgundy Kingdom, to the Baron of Wellsburg in the north of the Lombardy Principality. They supported Art's request to the Principality of Lombardy to restore the territory and title in the name of Baron Lombardy.
Of course, behind the Paris Church was the King of France, who had long been eyeing the Principality of Lombardy on the southern coast.
The Paris Church also forwarded the letter to the Pope and the Church, but the Pope and the Church have yet to give an answer. After all, the General Church was somewhat involved in the deprivation of the title of land from the Wells family for heresy.
As the public opinion storm went south, the news that the Wells family was about to go south for revenge spread like wildfire. Even the homeless people begging on the street corners in northern Lombardy heard the story of the Baron's revenge.
The Principality of Lombardy is a little nervous. They are not worried about the Earl of Wales who is huddled in the valley ravine. A provincial Earl can only raise three to five thousand soldiers even if he fights to the death. However, the Principality of Lombardy has tens of thousands of troops and has no fear of this enemy.
What really makes Lombardy nervous is the feudal Principality of Provence from the northwest, as well as the Principality of Burgundy and the Kingdom of France behind it.
But the Lombards were also very angry. The guy named Atwood Wells claimed legal sovereignty over the Lombard territory neither in the name of the Principality of Burgundy nor in the name of the Kingdom of France. Instead, he claimed legal sovereignty over the Lombard territory as a Lombard Baron.
Him Wadbury's conspiracy to occupy the Barony of Wales was not a secret. Many Lombards knew about this scandal. So now the only son of Baron Wells claims to go south for revenge. This is an internal conflict within the territory and a battle of honor...
Therefore, the court of the Principality of Lombardy took a cold approach to the rumors that have been circulating in the market recently. While they sent a message to Wadbury, asking him to be wary of the barbarians in the northern valley, they also strengthened military control over the border areas...
Hyph these days, Art has spent almost all his time on military affairs.
After the third group of subjects recruited from the Mountain Confederacy arrived in Wales, Art selected 500 young men from these mountain people who had no land to settle, and organized them into two companies of 250 people.
Unlike other new territorial residents who were temporarily assigned to land reclamation and construction, this new team of 500 people is half-military and half-civilian. They are arranged by the government for half of each month to do tasks such as building bridges, paving roads, and digging trenches. The rest of the time, these people specialize in practicing spear phalanxes.
"...Sir, the intelligence network in the south has sent back the news." Ron, the guard officer in black ring armor, held a piece of paper and said to Art, who was inspecting the logistics support of the baggage department in the camp.
Matt gave a few instructions to several officers in the baggage department, then turned around and took the note from Ron's hand and read it again.
"Oh, those guys are really efficient at doing things. Now even the Lombard court has begun to sing "Justice". "
Matt returned the note to Ron and said, "Go and call the senior officers of the Military Affairs Office to my barracks to attend the military meeting." Ron was ordered to turn around and leave...
However, these actions did not come from the Lombard court, but were spontaneous actions by the northern earl Wadbury.
There is no other way. The enemy has already put the knife to his neck. If he does not move again, he will live up to his reputation as a "**conspirator".
With the acquiescence of the Lombard court, Wadbury recruited 500 peasant soldiers in the earl territory, plus 300 private soldiers belonging to himself and 500 northern frontier troops under his command. The "Northern Expedition Iron Army" composed of more than 1,300 people, led by Wadbury himself, marched into the northern mountains in a mighty manner.
This time he vowed to break the barrier of the northward valley and set foot on the land of Wales with his sword and iron hoof.
Wadbury really shouldn't be carried away by anger and panic. Viscount Paul, who suffered a bloody blow at the Nanguan Fort, may have forgotten to explain to the "brave" earl the strength of the wall and the ferocity of the soldiers guarding the gate.
After receiving top-secret military information from Oliver, the deputy captain of the task force lurking in the Principality of Lombardy, Art immediately sent the deputy commander of the Wells Corps, Odo, to personally lead a company of elite soldiers and a hundred crossbowmen from the first division to go south to prepare for the battle.
In fact, Nanguan Army Fort already has soldiers stationed in a flag regiment, and the reserve regiment of the Wells Garrison Corps has already reached a certain size. They may not be able to fight in the field, but there is still no problem in holding on to the fortified city.
Hence, Art's order to Odo was not to resist Wadbury's attack, but to quickly send out troops after the defenders repulsed the invading enemy troops to occupy all the villages and forts south of Nanguan Castle to the castle just built by the Lombards at the edge of the mountain at the exit.