King
Chapter 87 - 87 86 A New Height of Messing Up_1

87: Chapter 86, A New Height of Messing Up_1 87: Chapter 86, A New Height of Messing Up_1 In the presence of Hudson, the four powers who had friendly negotiations finally reached a verbal agreement on the stone bridge at Wash Flower Stream, thus dissipating the smoke of war in Southern Layton County.

With the armed parade over, everyone returned home.

Hudson, known for his thriftiness, would not invite anyone for dinner given the many mouths to feed.

Hearing is not as good as seeing.

After witnessing the state of the Northern army soldiers with his own eyes, Hudson finally understood how the people of the north had managed to snatch power from the Dalton family.

Just the private army of three hundred men had fifty in plate armored cavalry, and even the ordinary infantrymen were all clad in leather armor.

From afar, you could feel an aura of terror rising, an indication that they’ve killed more than a few men.

It isn’t like Hudson’s faux-elite soldiers, who looked high spirited and ran fast, but he had no confidence in their combat abilities.

Being all infantrymen, their equipment was just passable with the weapons in their hands.

Only a little over a hundred had leather armor, the rest made do with cloth armor.

Luckily, the opponent was clever and was intimidated by their grandeur from the very beginning.

Had they encountered a complete fool who would attack without a word, the outcome would have been truly uncertain.

Without Hudson, the divine archer who could easily break through a cavalryman’s armor, even with a several-fold numerical advantage, the battle would’ve been impossible to fight.

The three hundred veteran soldiers Hudson commanded were not too bad, despite being far from being real elites.

Their consecutive victories, however, had boosted the soldiers’ morale significantly.

The ragtag group of eight hundred assembled by Knight Kurelio, Sir Roman, and Sir Walov, those three workers, was purely a joke.

Half at most were young and healthy, the rest were old or young, and there were even women mixed in to make up the numbers.

A single charge from just fifty armored cavalrymen could easily wipe them out, as ordinary archers can’t break through plate armor.

Their combat records were purely dependent on the protection of the Lord of the Dawn.

Without a doubt, the northern aristocracy that marched south this time, had poured substantial resources into this venture.

Otherwise, these valuable pieces of equipment would not have been so easily prepared.

They must have considered from the beginning the problem of difficulty in replenishing troops in foreign lands.

It can be imagined that if all the Northern nobles had brought such units, the native nobles of Layton and Wharton counties would be in for a major loss.

But Hudson wasn’t troubled.

The true power of an armored cavalry shines on a flat, open plain.

Though the Mountain Domain only consisted of small hills, they still posed a significant problem for cavalry.

No one would be so foolish as to put their precious cavalry under the nose of a “Divine Archery Knight”.

A small number would be unable to withstand his attacks; a large number would have to worry about being led in circles.

The speed of an Earth Bear was not something a war horse could match.

While his domain might be safe, the other fief lords would suffer.

The wide expanse of flat plains is a battlefield custom-made for cavalry.

It seemed that not only the production of regular broadswords and spears had to be increased, but also the production of long spears, war blades for slashing horse legs, and even warhammers and giant axes.

Encountering armored cavalry would bring out the power of these heavy weapons.

If the goal can’t be achieved with a single strike, they could always strike a few more times.

After all, everything has two sides.

The battle capabilities of elite forces are indeed strong, but the cost of maintaining them is high as well.

Regular serf soldiers just needed to be fed.

As long as they were full, they would fight wherever the lord pointed.

Elite troops not only needed food, but also good quality food, or else it wouldn’t be possible to maintain their combat power.

They needed to get a share of the loot, and rewards for achievements in battle.

Without taking care of these matters, it wouldn’t be possible to motivate everyone’s enthusiasm for battle.

…

On his way home, Baron Katelai, who was also shocked, more than once, secretly celebrated his luck.

His troops marching in neat steps were rare even in the North.

All troops capable of doing this were considered the elites among elites.

Although Hudson’s men were all infantrymen, Baron Katelai didn’t dare undervalue them.

Because he had witnessed on the battlefield how a group of elite infantrymen slaughtered an Orc Wolf Cavalry.

“Uncle Holman, we must speed up.

While we’ve just reached an understanding with the Mountain Baron, we should take drastic measures against the other families immediately.

We shouldn’t drag this on too long and invite new troubles.

If the Koslow clan could train a superb infantry elite, what about the other nobles with deeper backgrounds?

Perhaps this is not an isolated case, but we have underestimated the power of the Southeastern Province Nobles.

After all, they have far more financial capacity than we in the Northland.

As long as they are willing to spend, money can also carve them a group of elites.

Even if their combat power is not as strong as the private army in the hands of Baron Hudson, it can keep pace with ordinary elites.

If we do not take the first step to create a fait accompli before they react, who knows how many people will mediate afterwards.

Going along with the flow is easy, but what about the future development of our domain?

Without a sufficient population, we would even struggle to support our own army.”

Clear-headedness is a must.

People who don’t manage family affairs have no idea how big the daily expenses are.

To support the three hundred elites in one’s hands, life would be unbearable without three to five thousand domain people.

Yet this is only in theory.

In reality, a noble’s expenditure is far more than just military expenses.

Daily communication, social relations, are all gold-eating beasts.

If they have more children, the expenditure will be even more considerable.

Daily practice, weddings and funerals, are all substantial expenditures.

If they live together as a unified family, it’s still manageable.

If they separate and the eldest son inherits the family business, they certainly can’t watch the younger brothers go out to eat chaff and swallow vegetables, right?

The Northland nobility maintains a large army because they face external threats and can only resort to exhausting wars and soldiers, completely disregarding the so-called noble dignity.

Everyone’s economic conditions are not that good, naturally, their daily lives are as simple as possible.

Not only have they cut down on daily communication and social relations, but they also try to save as much as possible on weddings and funerals.

If the Southeastern Province Nobles give up their extravagant and comfortable lives, and follow the Northland nobility in exhausting soldiers and wars, their military preparedness will elevate in a few years.

An accidental misunderstanding has led Baron Katelai to misjudge the strength of the Southeastern Province Nobles.

Meanwhile, it has also accelerated the escalation of the population heist.

Previously, the native nobles robbed the Northland nobles of their fiefdom, and now the situation is reversed.

The native nobles who initially had the upper hand soon fell behind in the brutal military struggles.

Smoke of gunpowder filled the counties of Layton and Wharton for a while, and countless native nobles were unfortunately captured, waiting for their families to pay the ransom.

The Koslow family was also affected.

The unlucky ones were not Baron Bario and the Knight Guallent, who had just inherited their titles and were in a period of weakness.

They were too meek and did not join in the population heist.

With the strong support of the family, they have temporarily avoided the storm.

On the contrary, the Knight Adrian, who had been doing pretty well, was brutally beaten by society, with several neighbors coming to teach him a lesson about life.

The misfortunes he now suffered were the result of his previous reckless actions.

There was no other way.

As a follower of the Dalton family, once the big brother had given the instruction, Knight Adrian had to pioneer against the Northern aristocracy.

Previously, because of the Dalton family, he has acquired a fiefdom; now, because of the Dalton family, he has experienced the most cruel social beatings.

Of course, to say how miserable he is, is pure nonsense.

At the beginning of the incident, Adrian was ready to bear the backlash.

The population he had captured earlier was not brought back to the domain.

Instead, they were transferred to other branches of the family outside the two counties to be fostered.

Not only was the population transferred, but also the family, wealth, and army were all placed outside.

After the conflict broke out, only Adrian and a group of old and weak were left in the domain.

Knight Adrian, who directly gave up, seemed to have received the most brutal social beatings, but his actual loss was minimal.

When the Northland aristocracy came to his door, Adrian consciously looked like a captive.

However, he refused to admit to the matter of leading soldiers to seize population.

Everyone is a noble and cannot apply severe tortures.

Even if they became prisoners of war, they should be treated with good food and wine.

In the domain, all the people are old and weak.

There are only a hundred and eighty people in total.

To accuse him of leading soldiers to seize populations, they must produce evidence!

Even if the Northland aristocracy is strong, it has no way to cross regional boundaries, running towards other branches of the Koslow family to find evidence.

Knight Adrian is not at all resigned to his status as a captive, and, aside from eating and drinking, he is constantly demanding pleas from the Northern nobility who seized him.

Hudson admitted that the idea of giving up was his own.

In order not to involve the Koslow family in a storm, and to give the Dalton family a handle, this was the best way.

Only he never imagined that Knight Adrian would be so good at playing this game.

Others have let him leave, and the previous things have been promised not to be pursued, but he still refuses to leave, asking for justice for his miserable experience.

Though he lost face, he indeed now has the capital to kick up a fuss.

Originally, he was the troublemaker, but now he has become the victim.

The things behind, Hudson need not worry, even the Koslow family can turn a blind eye.

Now the nobles of the Southeastern Province are watching.

If the Dalton family does not come forward when their younger brother is wronged for no reason, how can they mix in their circle?