Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 567: Guardians and Pig Teammates

“What do you think he is?” Claude watched the commander of the Hicks Facklin Legion ride away far away. Count Jack Christer's back asks.

Colonel Boquer answered carelessly while cleaning up the agreements and documents signed on the table: "It doesn't matter what kind of man he is. What matters is that he has ambitions and is willing to cooperate with us, which is enough. As long as we can crush his army in terms of strength, there's no need to worry about his mess.

In the current situation, our support and assistance to him is indispensable if he wants to be monopolistic. Anyway, it is clear to his own mind that we will always leave, and that if he wants to make his voice heard in the post-war Hicks kingdom, he must expand his strength. Whether he wants to build his country independently or not, he must now rely on us to clear the obstacles ahead of him... "

Muriedes. Count Jack Krester, a man of caution in the military realm of the Kingdom of Hicks. He was able to become the head of one of the eight standing legions of the Kingdom of Hicks, mainly because his family had always stood with the Hicks Royal Family and was a strong member of the Royal Family. And Murrides. Earl Jay Christer graduated from the Royal Hicks Military Academy as a child, and his career in the military was smooth and he was promoted on schedule, becoming Major General of the Kingdom at the age of forty-five.

In the realm of the Hicks, Murrides. Count Jack Christer is known as the Lucky Boy, and this is related to his eight-year tenure as guard chief next to McKid III, who holds the trust of McKid III. Rumor has it that Murrides... Count Jack Christer was very close to several princesses, which is one of the reasons why he eventually left the post of guard chief to take up his duties.

In terms of military talent, Murrides. Count Jack Krester's mediocre performance, whether in sandbox or military exercises, was neither prominent nor inferior, so many of his colleagues have consistently objected to McKid III's appointment as head of the Facklin Legion, but McKid III found him faithful and praiseworthy and promulgated his appointment in isolation.

It's just that now it looks like Muriel Deeds. Count Jack Krester's traditional belief in the loyalty of the Hicks seems to be a mistake, as he commands the Facklin Regiment, the only of the eight standing legions of the Kingdom of Hicks that has voluntarily laid down its arms and surrendered. Although the same is true of the Dahli Regiment, the officers and soldiers of the Dahli Regiment are from the former Kingdom of Breot, and their return to their country is justified, while the performance of the Facklin Regiment is disappointing...

Even Murrides. Count Jack Christer believed that a lone soldier such as the 60,000 horses of the Facklin Legion could not resist the attack of the Legion of Thunder and had to lay down his arms in order to preserve the lives of the Legion generals. But they didn't come down without a fight. Count Jack Christer is under a lot of pressure. Sometimes the enemy and the friendly army are completely different, and the Hicks think the Facklin Corps is a coward, while Claude and senior Front Command officers think Murrides... Count Jay Christer is a wise man...

Claude and this Murrides. Count Jack Christer had a very pleasant meeting and both sides knew what to say and what not to mention. It was not until after the welcome banquet that the two sides entered into substantive talks that the atmosphere became more serious. Muriedes. Count Jack Christer is a knowledgeable man who knows exactly what he wants, what he gets, what the Autonomous Territory can offer him, and hopes he will...

After a day and a night of talks, Claude represented the Autonomous Territory and this Murrides. Count Jay Christer signed the Protectorate Peace Agreement. As required by the agreement, the Facklin Regiment will be renamed the Guardian National Army to take over the five southern coastal counties looted by the Legion of Thunder. Meanwhile, the Legion of Thunder will attack three other central counties, which, together with Dartmouth and Skovia counties, will be transferred to the custody of the Guardian National Army three months later.

In the future, the five southern coastal counties and the five central counties became the basic sites of the National Guardian Army and the first warlord power erected in the Kingdom of the Hicks by the Overseas Autonomous Territory. Claude and Muriels. Count Jay Christer expressed satisfaction with the agreement signed, which was a win-win. Claude was satisfied that the sweeping of looted counties could be thrown into the custody of the Guardian Army, which no longer needed to waste its own strength, and that there was no need to worry about the outbreak of waves in those counties against invaders from the Autonomous Territories, and that the situation of social order and security was naturally the responsibility of the Guardian Army...

And Murrides. Count Jack Christer was also satisfied that, unlike the Allied Lords with no bottom line, the two regiments attached to the Autonomous Territory were swept and looted by local officials and territorial nobles from all counties, as well as the wealthy merchant families, which were not unconventional for the general urban population, unless they were resistant elements or armed rebels.

Once the Guardian Army has taken over these local counties, taxes can be levied on the population of these localities as military expenditures. And since the upper classes of these places were wiped out by the Autonomous Regions, then Murrides... Count Jack Christer's governance has little elbow restraint, as if he could paint a blank sheet of paper at will.

And Murrides. The three central counties that Count Jack Christer asked the Autonomous Territory to attack for several reasons. First, the generals of the Facklin Legion, mostly from these three counties, are poor farmers and natives of the Territory. Second, one of the counties is one of the military and industrial sites of the Hicks kingdom, Murrides. Count Jack Christer wants to take control of this local county to provide arms support to his Guardian Army.

And the third reason we all know is that there are still a few Beamurides in the counties. The Count of Jay Christer family is a more powerful territorial nobleman. Muriedes. Count Jack Christer needs to kill with a knife, let the Autonomous Regions wipe out the nobility of these territories, and let the Guardian Army appear before the people of these three counties in the name of preserving social order in the name of the Savior...

Claude wouldn't mind for Muriels. Count Jay Krester came out to sweep the three counties, and anyway, the territorial nobles of the three counties organized local guards to arm themselves, claiming that they were attacking the city of St. Hiplian in Wangjing and shouting out the slogans of the invaders of the Overseas Autonomous Territories. Previously, the Legion of Thunder was stationed separately in the five counties along the southern coast, and the town of the Storm Legion guarded Wangjing District. None of its troops could be drawn. Now that the Guardian Army is on the tray, the Thunder Army can counterattack and count down, and take down these three central counties and make another big fortune.

Colonel Boquer also wanted the Guardian Army to attack the three counties in the centre by itself, but Claude was well aware that the current Guardian Army was useless. The Facklin army officers and soldiers who had surrendered were confused about their future, and they had to attack their homeland on the spot. At present, the transformation of the Facklin Legion into a Protectorate Army can only maintain local order and requires greater stimulus if it is to be transformed into a strong fighting force only for its own benefit.

Muriedes. Count Jack Christer hoped that the Autonomous Territory would sweep away the three central counties before handing them over to him, so that he could allocate the fields of the nobility of those territories to the generals of the Guardian Army. He believed that it was only after that that that the Guardian Army would be able to fight, obeying the orders of his leader and willing to fight for his family's property.

Claude really appreciates Muriels. Count Jack Christer thought he was doing the right thing. In addition to the forthcoming division of fields to consolidate the military mind, it is the responsibility of the Guardian Army to restore agricultural and pastoral fisheries production and to stabilize normal social order in the five southern coastal counties taken over. Effective jurisdiction is exercised over the three seaport cities to conduct normal commercial transactions with the autonomous territories of Wangjing, while suppressing the resistance elements targeting the autonomous territories.

Get Murrides out of here. After Count Jack Christer, Claudette was relieved. When the reconfigured Guardian Army of the Facklin Legion arrives in the five southern coastal counties, the stationed Legion of Thunder can be drawn back to become a mobile fighting force. Claude also wanted to abandon the five southern coastal counties, like Dartmouth, which had been washed away.

But it turns out that the lack of stationing, with the five southern counties situated along the coast and three seaport cities, would cause a great deal of trouble for the distant-water transport fleet in the autonomous military region. Although the Legion of Thunder has cleared the five counties of the south of the country of local officials and territorial nobility, as well as the wealthy traders and other upper classes, the inhabitants of the towns below are susceptible to incitement from their hearts to organize attacks against the occupying forces everywhere, which must be vigorously suppressed.

In addition, following the return of the three counties of the Plains of Manoli to the Kingdom of Breot, the three mountain regiments of the Kingdom of Breot had to return to their kingdoms, unable to remain in the Kingdom of Hicks to assist the autonomous territory townships to guard the counties.

The main reason for this is twofold, first of all the trouble that the coalition of aristocrats are looking for in the Autonomous Territories. They are used to burning and robbing in those occupied counties in the west. When sending troops to escort their trophies back to the Nasserli region and passing through the Kingdom of Breot, they actually bring the habit of carrying them here, looting and burning down a town along the way, causing hundreds of casualties...

King Avitre I of the Kingdom of Breot was furious, and all the senior officers of the Front Line Command of the Autonomous Leadership Region were angry. What a pig teammate, now it's clear. Fortunately, the Duke of Red Dragon and the Marquis of the Vultures of the Alliance of Lords were sober minded and ordered the capture of the thousand perpetrators directly, beheaded them all to apologize to the Kingdom of Breot for the cordiality, which finally put an end to the anger of the people of the Kingdom of Breot.

It was a Viscount and two Barons who led the team because they were drunk and let themselves fly, causing such a terrible disaster. Well, the King ordered the deprivation of the titles of the three nobles directly, and the three decapitated, even their families, were sentenced to 10 years of hard labour, and all the family property was used to compensate for the losses of the Kingdom of Breot, which ended the matter.

However, as a result of this, Avitre I felt that the domestic guard force was inadequate. With only four standing legions in the Kingdom of Breot, three mountain legions have now been dispatched to assist the autonomous military region in attacking the Kingdom of Hicks, and fighting in the county of Skovia has resulted in the death and injury of nearly one legion of officers and soldiers. While this is a manifestation of their poor combat power, it also shows that the Kingdom of Breot is truly a coalition of sincere intentions and autonomous territories.

So Claude went on to arrange only for the army of the Kingdom of Breot to carry out ancillary tasks, watch over the prisoners and escort logistics and stuff. Even if Avettelli I persuaded the Dahli Regiment to return to their homeland, it would also be necessary for the Dahli Regiment to be stationed in the three counties of the Manoli Plains. Now that this is happening in the country, Avitre I has had to redeploy all of its troops back to the country. He needed to guard the main road from the Kingdom of Menbamak to the Kingdom of Hicks in order to avoid such an accident again.

Another reason was the promise by Claude that four counties in the eastern part of the Kingdom of Hicks adjacent to the Kingdom of Breot would be annexed to the Kingdom of Breot, and that Avitre I would need to return home to recruit new recruits to form a stationed repressive force. After executing the attack on the three local counties in the middle to be handed over to the Guardian Army, the Legion of Thunder had to move divisions to the Kingdom of Breot border to attack those four eastern counties, in short, the horses were busy...

Claude ordered the headquarters of the Legion of Thunder to rest in the city of St. Hiplian in Wangjing, after ordering two men, General Berklin and General Diaved, to attack in the three central counties. Waiting for Wang Jing, I just heard General Albert complain, to the effect that he took down Wang Jing San Xiprian City and Wang Jing District, instead, he trapped the Storm Regiment in this area, unable to attack the city everywhere like the Thunder Regiment...

Claude comforted him by returning the Legion of Thunder to St. Hiplian City, Wang Jing, after the Legion of Thunder had taken down four local counties in the east and completed an agreement with Avettelli I. Instead of the Storm Regiment stationed in Wangjing, General Albert would naturally lead the Storm Regiment to sweep away counties that had not been attacked.

The two were delighted to talk, Colonel Boquer came in and gave Claude a secret letter, which Claude looked dull after.

“What's the matter? What's the bad news?” General Albert asked.

Claude handed him the secret message: "See for yourself, the noble coalition actually sold the prisoners they captured to the slave traders..."

Slavery is still practised in a number of countries of the Farea continent, in particular in the seven countries of the Zargan in the central region, all of which are slavery countries. In terms of topography, the central and western areas of the Farea continent are mountainous and highland areas, which are also considered desolate by the national population of the eastern, southern and northern regions of the continent. The seven countries in the central region are all highland mountain countries, and the literature on these seven countries shows that the folklore there is barbaric and feudal, practising slavery, but rich in gold and silver, so they have the money to buy slaves.

“Didn't the seven central countries like to fight each other to capture slaves? Why did the slave traders come to the Kingdom of Hicks?” General Albert asked curiously.

Colonel Boquer replied: "Slave traders from the central region usually go where wars occur and prefer to run, and they acquire prisoners of war as slaves. Countries that do not like to do business with them and abolish slavery generally do not go, lest their property be lost. Wang Sterling IX had executed several slave owners that year and released all their slaves, so few slave traders were seen in the eastern part of the continent.

The Kingdom of Hicks has traditionally been associated with slave traders in the central region, and while the Kingdom of Hicks has abolished hard work, serfs and colonists are in fact slaves in a different sense. Some territorial aristocracy also secretly deals with slave traders, buying or selling slaves from them. So it's easy for the coalition of nobles to associate with the slave traders.

In addition, these slave traders from the centre have many requirements for purchasing slaves, and craftsmen, whether jewellers or gunsmiths, have the highest prices, so long as they have the skill to treat each other differently and offer high prices. The level of civilization and technological development in the central region has traditionally lagged behind, so these artisanal slaves can be treated well in the past...

Secondly, there are strong fighters and military prisoners, all of whom have slave armies and clan wars between them. Then there are the beautiful women, and finally the average young and strong, who can go to the fields and dig mines to serve as productive labourers. This time, the coalition of nobles went too far, selling almost all three occupied counties, and the rest were old and sick. ”

General Albert didn't think so. “It's none of our business. It's all Hicks anyway. It's a time of war, and we can only regret that this happened. After all, it was a good thing that the coalition of nobles did. We were only allied with them and could not restrain them from doing such a despicable thing. In short, we could not stop them..."

“But they embarrassed us by doing so, and it was this war led by our autonomous military region. Without us, that coalition of nobles would never have been able to touch the side of the Kingdom of Hicks. What they do now affects the reputation of our autonomous military regions, and perhaps other countries will think that we are directing the coalition of nobles to do so behind our backs…" Colonel Boquer is angry that even if he has always considered himself a businessman, he is not accustomed to this slave trade of people as goods, which is a matter of perception.

“I will write to remind the Duke of Red Dragon and the Marquis of the vultures that the consequences of doing so will be to make strenuous strides in the ten western counties, with enemies everywhere, and that the Hicks will fight them to the end. I don't get it. Can't you see that in the eyes of the Duke of Red Dragon and the Marquis of the Lizard? Why indulge your men in such a slave trade..." Claude said with a black face.

“Don't put too much burden and pressure on yourself.” General Albert laughed instead: "Actually, this is a good way to dispose of those prisoners, and our Storm Corps would be easier if we could sell those hundreds of thousands of prisoners to the slave traders. Unfortunately, we can't do this, and it's a shame that being a moral bottom line for the military doesn't allow us to be associated with those slave traders..."