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Chapter 565 - 565 122 Deep Resentment Part 2

565: Chapter 122, Deep Resentment Part 2 565: Chapter 122, Deep Resentment Part 2 …

Sun, grassland, shimmering lake water.

On this picturesque piece of land, the two armies finally converged victoriously.

Greeted by a group of familiar faces approaching him, Earl Hudson burst out in a heartwarming enthusiasm.

It wasn’t that he delighted in others’ misfortune, but he couldn’t help but react when he saw his rivals in such a sorry state.

“Countrymen meet, and tears fill their eyes.”

From the moist eyes of the crowd, Hudson sensed their homesickness—the apprehension about what happens after they return home.

When they set off from the Southeastern Province, they mobilized tens of thousands of soldiers, but by the time the convergence was complete, there were barely over a thousand left—it was beyond tragic.

To be precise, there were a bit over three thousand left.

Along the way, Hudson had successively gathered numerous fleeing troops from the Southeastern Province Noble Alliance Army.

If this situation continued, he estimated he could salvage several thousand more individuals.

It was a classic case of surviving against all odds.

If they hadn’t miscalculated earlier and joined forces with Hudson two days ahead of schedule, the troop strength of the Southeastern Province Noble Alliance Army would undoubtedly have exceeded ten thousand.

The ones eliminated earliest on the battlefield were the serf soldiers with poor physical strength and lack of training.

Those who could last till the end were the elites of their respective clans.

Losing even one was heartbreaking, let alone losing so many at once.

“Your Excellency Governor, surely you didn’t take enough rest during your long journey here.

We’ve already prepared the barracks and every essential item is in the tents.

You all should first rest, wash up a little.”

Hudson said this with a grin.

He wasn’t mocking them.

From their dark circles, it was evident they had been through a rough few recent days.

Now that they were safe, a good rest was imperative.

So the considerate Hudson naturally wouldn’t arrange any sort of celebratory feast to disrupt that.

In fact, no matter which Nobles’ Allied Forces he received, he never arranged a feast.

Mainly because he was too busy with various duties on hand to even spare time for relationship building, much less hosting feasts.

If he met a major noble, he would make an effort to get familiar.

For smaller ones, they probably wouldn’t even get to see Hudson’s face.

Helplessly, everything was possibly scarce in the military, except for nobles.

Grand Dukes, Earls, a Lord in the making, even two Princes from the royal family were present in the camp.

Frankly, these royal princes only had prestigious names and were not particularly valuable.

In terms of actual power, they were even less influential than a real Earl.

Their presence in the military has more political significance than military value.

While it stimulates ordinary soldiers to a certain extent, it is no more than a show in the eyes of major nobles.

A high noble title only signifies a high position.

The real representative of the royal family’s power was the late Marshal Campbell.

If there are no surprises, once this war ends Marshal Campbell will be posthumously made a Grand Duke or a Prince by Caesar III.

Frankly speaking, Hudson admired Caesar III from the bottom of his heart.

When Caesar III first ascended to the throne, he was almost overshadowed by major nobles in his kingdom.

However, he managed to reverse the situation.

The Chancellor was a member of the royal family, the Minister of Defense was also from the royal family, so was the now-deceased commander Campbell.

Royal family members made up one third of the core staff in the kingdom.

With this perfect triangle garbing the three core positions, the court was essentially under the control of the king.

Hudson felt that he might have gone a bit overboard.

For those in power, loyalty is sometimes more important than ability.

Asking for the position of the first person in the military without being a loyal follower is just asking for trouble, isn’t it?

Fortunately, the monarch here was not an eastern despot, otherwise, the fate of Hudson, a military commander who broke taboos, was most likely to be “the rabbit dies and the dog cooks” after the war.

Knowing this didn’t mean he would let go of what he should take.

If it comes to that, once the war is over, he would resign and return to his fief, so as not to be an eyesore to the capital.

This is also a standard operating procedure among the major nobles.

If they are not favored by the king, they simply cut off all connections.

Within the rules of the game, if they don’t stir the pot, there is no failure.

The five major families in the north are the best examples.

It’s conceivable that Caesar III would love nothing more than to get rid of them, but in the end all he could do was to suppress them politically.

In contrast, these families are more passive, needing the kingdom’s support to preserve their own territories, and must be involved in domestic political activities.

For Southern lords like Hudson, their dependence on the kingdom is very low, and they can completely avoid getting involved in the affairs of the central government.

In the depths of his heart, after deciding not to join the central government, Hudson felt much more relaxed.

…

“Earl Hudson, long time no see!”

With a simple greeting, Hudson noticed the uneasiness of Viscount Orlan.

In just over a year, their statuses had swapped, it’s normal that they would feel a bit unnatural.

If it was just an honorary title, it wouldn’t matter; with the power of the Hollis family, they wouldn’t miss a false rank.

Even Caesar III had conferred it, but it was refused by Viscount Orlan.

Everything was due to unspoken rules.

The boss of Southeastern Province, Piers, held the title of Earl.

If anyone under him dared to overstep, would they still want to mix in the Southeastern Province?

Accepting the rank of Earl equates to declaring to the outside world: they want to stand on par with Earl Piers, no longer following the Dalton family.

Without enough benefits, no one would offend the boss just for an empty title.

Hudson dared to accept the position of Earl because his military merits were sufficient and his military power had rapidly expanded.

After the war, he could likely turn his titular appointment into an actual one.

When it comes to real benefits, even if it offends the Dalton family, it’s worth it.

“Viscount, what exactly happened on the battlefield?

Why have you fallen into such a pitiful state?”

Hudson asked, feigning confusion.

After all, he’s his own father-in-law, he had to give some face.

To cover up Viscount Orlan’s embarrassment, he decisively chose to change the subject.

“It’s hard to explain in a few words.

Initially, although we were besieged by the enemy, we were able to hold our ground.

Unless the enemy is willing to inflict wounds on both sides, they can’t take us down.

It was the guys from the north who wanted to break out.

Everyone was influenced by them.

After making a series of preparations, they launched the breakout campaign.

We did break through the enemy’s blockade.

But the following days of being chased by the enemy’s cavalry were the beginning of the nightmare, and the army suffered heavy losses very quickly.

You know the rest.

We could have regrouped earlier, but Piers insisted on leading us on a run!”

The more Viscount Orlan spoke, the more indignant he became.

Half of this resentment was directed at the five major families in the north, and half at Earl Piers.

The path to revival of the Hollis family had once again met with setbacks due to meddling by the two groups.

Not only did the private army he led suffer heavy losses, but even his strength in the kingdom’s standing army was also severely damaged.

Without sufficient power in hand, one can’t speak with authority.

The difficulty of plotting for Fengyun Province is likely to rise by more than one level in the future.

Hudson wanted to laugh but dared not upon hearing the expected answer.

The group of Southern nobles in the kingdom suffered heavy losses, but the situation of the five major families in the north is much better.

When they joined Hudson, each family had at least six to seven thousand private troops.

You should know that this is just the private army of one family, not the private army of the provincial nobles in the south who band together.

Including those who could gather some defeated soldiers afterwards, it is estimated that the number of private soldiers that survived from the five major families in the north could easily exceed ten thousand.

Compared with these initial culprits, the group of nobles in the southern frontier who suffered heavy losses have become downright scapegoats.

Especially the group of nobles in the Southeastern Province; after falling into the pit dug by the five major families, they then dug another pit for themselves–they are truly the kings of scapegoats.