Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 274: Castle Landers

It was more than half a month after Captain Scully arrived at Count Clellaus Castle with personnel and supplies from the 4th Battalion and Battalion logistics.

Claude tells him what's happening in this area: "There are 14 noble territories here, this is Leucade. Barclaus' Earl Territory is the largest here, with three Viscount Territories and nine Baron Territories remaining. However, apart from four of the six unlucky bastards we caught here, all the other lords are said to have fled to the northern bay, and the families of the four lords fled with them...

The second battalion is currently stationed at Viscount Victor Castle, more than 10 miles to the left, and the third battalion is stationed at Baron Craft Castle, 20 miles to the right. During this time, we carried out a detailed search of the area, bringing together nearly a thousand inhabitants, but mostly old and weak, young and strong, less than a hundred men and women, who are now arranged to live in the village next to the castle. In addition to picking vegetables for fishing, we also need to provide them with grain to sustain their livelihoods.

I had intended to arrange them for cultivation, but lacked food and farming tools, and those who left these territories took everything they could... ”

Captain Skerry nodded: “I have received your message from the pigeon that a batch of grain and vegetable seeds has been collected in Squirrel Village and some farming tools have come and will be ready to be planted. But there are 14 lords in this area. Why are there so many left? ”

Claude picked up an old stack of file files from the table: "These are the territorial files we searched for in the castles and houses of those territories, most of them on the census of those aristocratic territories five or six years ago, when I counted some 50,000 inhabitants, more than 20,000 of them young men and women. However, more than three years after the outbreak of the war, the Principality of Kanas had forcibly recruited three times in the colony, and more than 8,000 men had been recruited.

The rest of the men were said to have been led by the lords who were planning to rob the southern three counties, and the old man who stayed here said that the lords had intended to go to the southern three counties to plunder some young men to fill the land's labour gap, except that after the defeat of Squirrel Village, the lords had come back to pack their belongings and fled the northern bay with their families and abandoned the territory. Without the Lords, the rest of the Lords will be gone, and all who can move will follow... "

Captain Scully explains: "Yes, without the men, the rest of the territory is full of old and weak women and children, and these lords are well aware that they cannot resist our fortifications, if they do not leave, they will die. By the way, I've brought over 400 prisoners over there, and I can arrange for them to work. ”

Claude shrugged: “You're responsible for all this, and I'm going to take a team to the Landes Castle, six miles ahead, which is baron territory, with a river bay by the castle, and dangerous terrain. In this way, four battalions of our Rangers are stationed in a diamond-shaped area, where the enemy can respond to each other even if they are found. The battalion is stationed here, and this Krillaus castle is the largest and most robust castle in the area. If the enemy strikes, it is perfectly possible to retreat everyone to the castle for defense. ”

Captain Skerry's face changed: "Do you think the enemy will come again? ”

“Hard to say," Claude shook his head: "While the nobles of those territories gave up their territories to flee the northern bay, I assume they were unwilling to let the territories be occupied for nothing. They may not dare to organize their own army to reclaim the area, but those lords can simply blame the Grand Duke of Kanas for having conscripted so much that the territory has no defensive force, and they will ask the army of the Principality of Kanas to help them reclaim the area.

I am not saying this out of the blue, because the soldiers heard horseshoes at night just two days after the occupation of the area. Found hoof marks on the road all the way north this morning, and we sent soldiers to follow them, unfortunately with no gains. I think it is most likely the people of those territories who are ambushing the area, and their role is to confirm that we have occupied the area, so that we can return to the nobility of those territories and report back to them.

For a territorial nobleman, territory is a guarantee that their family will thrive. I have been thinking about why the aristocracy of those territories has so easily abandoned the area and abandoned the territory of their own families. Now I don't think it's true that the aristocrats of those territories went to the North Bay to give up their territories, they did it just to get rid of the useless old and weak.

The simple truth is that the inhabitants are the subordinates of the Lord. They are lords' creators of wealth, both family and individual, and belong to their lords. In one way or another, lords are equally responsible to their own inhabitants to ensure that one of their families works for them without fear. From this point of view, it is the young and strong among the inhabitants who are most valued by the Lord.

Now most of the young and powerful inhabitants of the region's lords have been forcibly recruited by the Principality, and the rest of them followed them to the three counties in the south. As a result, the entire army in Squirrel Village collapsed and less than a tenth of them could escape. If these lords do not leave their territories, they are responsible for the families of the war-torn colonists in their own territories, and they need to spend a great deal of money to feed the old and weak ones who can do very little. So as soon as they left, rather than abandoning their territory, they abandoned their old and weak inhabitants.

Without lords, the people who stay here lose their reliance, they have no seeds, they have no work to do, and they do not receive the food that the lords send down to live. So everyone who can walk is gone, and there's nothing left to do but the old and the weak. And the Lords, on the pretext that they have lost their strength, cannot resist our attack and ask Grand Duke Kanas to send troops to reclaim their territory. When the war is over, they can use the pretext of war-torn territory to obtain compensation from the Principality, and then re-recruit young people into their territory as residents...

There is also evidence that even though those lords have left their territory, they have left more or less older servants to manage the maintenance of their castles and dwellings under the same pretext, ready to sell their real estate in the territory. But we all know that no major businessmen will come to buy these unsecured properties during the war, especially their territory, which is still facing our attacks. So I think it's all an excuse that the aristocrats of those territories have dreams of coming back to life.

Also, like the documents we searched on the table, most of them were from past taxation demographics, which were obsolete and useless, and there was nothing on the land title deed. This suggests that those lords took all these useful documents from their territories, which does not seem like a relinquishment. This also proves that the pretext they used to try to sell real estate was purely deceptive, without which they would not have left behind the property documentation. ”

Captain Skerry's face was a little harsh: "Your vision makes sense, and we do have to be prepared. However, when I forwarded your report of the desertion of the territorial nobility of the area to the Front Line Command, which ordered us to stay in the area and conduct reconnaissance into the heart of the grasslands to find out if the Principality of Kanas had mobilized any troops. Since you have a large team stationed in front of you, you are entrusted with this task. ”

From the map, it appears that the territory of Baron Landes, where Claude decided to go, is the edge of the area and the prairie, and that troop reconnaissance is the most convenient. This reconnaissance mission is appropriate for a large group of Claude, who, without Captain Scully telling him, would send his own scouts into the prairie.

“One more thing," Claude said. "We're kind of alone here, hoping for more logistical supplies. Both the lords and the colonists of the area fled, and the area, though large, did not have the supplies we could collect, so they all needed to be transported back to us. In addition, the second and third regiments moved into Viscount Victor's Castle and Baron Craft's Castle, and I asked them to do a thorough search of the two castles for a secret passageway darkroom or something, which is something that needs attention in defense. You have to hurry them, don't be careless, I found two secret passages and a darkroom in this Castle of Counts Krillause...”

“I know, I will urge the 2nd and 3rd Battalions to search their castles. As for supplies, you can rest assured that I will have them delivered as soon as we need them.” Captain Skerry nodded and promised.

After a night at Count Cleveland Castle, Claude said goodbye to Captain Scully and took Sergeant Langster, an infantry squadron, and Sergeant Lockheed, an artillery squadron, to Baron Landers Castle, six miles away. Although the straight line is only about six miles away, Claude et al. are still walking for half a day because there is a great river bay over here at Castle Landers, and Claude et al. are going to go around the bay, and there is a simple wooden bridge over three miles away, where they have to cross the river.

Landers Castle is situated on the dunes of this Great River Bay, much smaller than the Count's Castle of Clerus, and even the walls are stone structures. The lower half is made of turbulent stone and the upper half is made of logs. And the Castle of the Count of Cleveland is all made of stone, and the walls of the Castle of the Count of Cleveland are more than two metres taller than the four-metre walls of Castle Landers in terms of defensive performance.

But the landscape of the castle of Landers is precarious, itself situated on a small mound, next to a great river bay, and the original lord Baron Landers made a deep ditch, seven or eight metres wide, surrounded by a small mound, be used as a mound to protect the city, connected to the great river bay, as if a bright silver river separated the small mound from the prairie. Prairie pastoralists tend not to be watery, and these seven or eight metres wide rivers become a very difficult place for them to cross.

When Claude and others arrived at Castle Landes, they found the banks of the mound to the stream full of white flower sheep. Leaving behind, Diavid stood with a small group of soldiers on the other side of the river, dropping a four-metre-long log suspension bridge to greet Claude.

“Where did these sheep come from?” Claude asked.

“Both Marks and Murdochs have been caught with men on the prairie and have already caught more than 20 herders, with more than a thousand sheep here.” Diavid replied.

Claude stood still: "Are the herdsmen's families young? ”

“Well, no, the older ones are old pastoralists over 45 years old, the younger ones are children under 12 years old, the others are women.” Diavid thought about answering.

“Tomorrow you will escort the herders and sheep to Count Cleveland Castle and hand them over to Captain Scully for handling. This is the front line. We can't let the herders stay here.” Claude commanded.

“This is the chief. Do these sheep go to battalion?” Diavid was a little reluctant. These pastoralists, who are from the Principality of Kanas and whose flocks belong to a captive enemy for soldiers, are also one of the fastest ways of travelling.

“Leave one or two hundred here for everyone to taste, and bring the rest. Do you still want to sell these sheep, at this time who will come and buy them, you can't take them out and graze them yourself. Hand it over to battalion headquarters. You can also collect supplies and earn a level 2 or 3 merit. There is a lack of fresh meat..."

“All right, boss, I'll listen to you.” Diavid said.

Claude continued to the castle on the hill: "Have you searched the castle yet? Have you found any secret passages or anything? ”

“No, boss, there's one in the secret room. I suspect it was a warehouse and it's empty now. As for the secret passage, I don't think there can be a secret passage here. After all, next to the Great River Bay, if you dig a dark tunnel to the outside, it's bound to leak or even flood. If you don't want to leak, it's costly. Look, Baron Landers' castle is so small, he can't possibly afford to build a secret passage to the outside.” Diavid vibrated with rhetoric.

That makes sense, Claude nodded: “Is there a problem staying here? ”

“Yes, boss, we lack enough fuel.” Diavid hastily said, "I have asked the soldiers to cut down and collect all the shrubs and trees within four or five miles of each other before piling up the firewood in the cabin. I assume our battalion has been stationed here less than half a month without firewood to cook and boil water to drink. The fuel used by the pastoralists here is horse dung and cow dung, but we don't have many horses and no herds...”

That is indeed a big problem. Claude thought about it and said, "Tomorrow you escort those herders and sheep back and have Captain Scully send a team of prisoners to the mountainside to cut wood and burn charcoal, and we'll have to build up fuel here for at least six months. By the way, Mulder and Markie, when are they coming back? ”

Diavid grabbed his head: “I expect they'll be back tomorrow, and now they're searching more and more, spending more time. It's been two or three days since I've been out for the last 10 days. Mark left after lunch the day before, and Mulder left yesterday morning. ”

“Well, there was no need for them to go out after this return, and then reconnaissance was carried out, all with horses, and the infantry stayed here to strengthen the construction of defensive installations. ”

“Boss, there's no need to build defenses, is there? I think the castle is fine.” Diavid said.

“No, if the enemy comes, we'll all hide in this castle, and it'll be a cage. If the enemy carries heavy siege artillery, I doubt this castle will last long enough to escape to nowhere. The Baron Landers built the castle in the presence of other territorial nobles, symbols that could not be overcome in armed clashes between territorial nobles, but could not resist for long in the face of regular armies. ”

“Well, boss, it's up to you.” Diavid said.