Chapter 1256 - 1181: Death Cuirassiers
"Your Highness, up ahead is the Arid Valley Outpost."
Reining in his warhorse, the youth squinted as he gazed out toward the undulating woodland.
"It doesn’t look like a place fit for living. Are those scattered death cuirassiers really here?"
"Yes." After a brief hesitation, Gloev offered a wry smile, "They were the finest personal guard cuirassiers of Bear Castle, but unfortunately, they were relocated from Fat Cow Castle that day.
After Fat Cow Castle fell and the noble council surrendered, some cuirassiers returned, while others remained in this Arid Valley Outpost, living off the plundering of passing merchants.
I dare say, those unwilling to submit to vampires are good lads; I just don’t know why they ended up like this..."
"Have they committed wanton slaughter?"
"You know what bandits are like, especially given this situation."
The youth on horseback twitched his lower eyelid, shaking his head slowly, attempting several times to speak but remaining silent.
While the youth was deep in thought, Gloev glanced sideways at him.
He had grown, no longer the lively and outgoing eleven or twelve-year-old he once was, but more restrained and composed.
The young man on horseback didn’t sport a beard like most Norn people to fend off the cold.
His chin was shaven clean, a scarf wrapped around his neck, and he wore a bearskin cloak while riding a curly-eared red horse.
It was early spring, already late March of 1459.
In the Thousand River Valley, while not blazing hot, it was at least a time of blooming spring flowers and melting snow creeks.
But in this Roaring Corridor, patches of snow could still be seen on the grass, trees, and rivers, edged with the dark earth’s color.
The youth astride his horse stood upon this dark-edged snow, gazing toward the woodland.
"Send your men to deliver a letter of audience. Once confirmed, we’ll proceed to meet."
"Your Highness, there’s no need for you to go personally; Gloev can handle this."
"No, the Shooting Army lacks cavalry, and we must secure them."
Trained by veterans from the Holy Alliance, the Fat Cow Castle Shooting Army performed well, but to Alexei, the tactics were outdated.
Using training and formations from a decade ago, their artillery techniques were lacking.
They mostly used three-pound cannons because the six and twelve-pound cannons were too heavy, and the Roaring Corridor’s legendary bad roads couldn’t bear such artillery.
Moreover, their enemies didn’t warrant twelve-pound artillery.
Thus, with no formidable foes, the Shooting Army tended to engage in disorderly combat.
The sophisticated battle formations of the Holy Alliance went unlearned, but they mastered the tactics of fortress warfare completely.
Under the excellent matching mechanism of the Norn district, the Shooting Army successfully turned into a second-rate force.
Of course, to Alexei, a second-rate army probably meant the regional defense or militia troops of the Holy Alliance.
In the Norn region, the Shooting Army was undoubtedly a top-tier combat force.
The foundation was solid, only lacking the more advanced tactics and organizational structure Alexei learned in the Holy Alliance.
In early spring, fresh from the ry Court Barracks, Alexei, the son of Grand Duke Petrov, immediately began a month-long plan to restructure the army.
Through unknown means, with help from his mentor Busak and mentors from the Holy Alliance Army, he acquired a massive batch of clockwork cannons and Holy Favor Seeds.
Once the army’s restructuring and drills were complete, they could start the first step—learning from the Holy Alliance, obtaining a stronghold first.
On the 5th of last month, he crossed the fortress line at the Shattered Stone Plain’s border, heading north.
In just five days, he advanced over a hundred kilometers on Norn’s poor roads, capturing the Salted Meat Castle, which surrendered to the Royal Court.
This was a strategic town in the territory of the Great Monarch of Bacon Castle, surrounded by rivers, damp and cold.
While it’s unsuitable for habitation, it’s perfect for a garrison.
With his own stronghold established, Alexei became increasingly active.
Besides continuing drills, he focused on the economy.
First, imitating "Moliat," he implemented a military farming system, integrating the lands of nearby manor villages and communities.
This meant retaining the gentry and noble’s manor lands but having tax knights sent by Alexei to collect taxes.
For instance, with a 30% tax, 20% would go to the lords, 10% would be remitted, which used to be managed by stewards and small lords based on trust alone.
But the tax knights deprived the lords of their tax collection rights, only allowing them the profits.
Instead of remitting 10% out of 30% tax, the tax knights directly collected 30%, giving 20% to the lords and taking the remaining 10% back to the Salted Meat Castle.
As for farmer management, they let the Armed Farmers lead and form a farmer guild to self-govern.
Norn, unlike the Thousand River Valley, has a strong autonomy tradition, and Alexei is not Horn, he can’t oversee everything.
The royal authority couldn’t extend to village land, requiring coarse management.
Politically, he continued to gather allies and promote his father’s loyal old ministers.
Following the early lessons of Horn’s rise, Alexei realized he had no resources and could only grant titles and let those old ministers operate freely.
Just like in Horn’s early days, when he was destitute, why was the army so united, why could they repeatedly break through encirclements, why was there little betrayal?
Wasn’t it because he dared to grant titles and proclamations, even appointing a common soldier as a 20 Imperial Decree Master Decree Commander?
Alexei didn’t have such daring, but he dared to reward his loyal old ministers by bequeathing them lands "in title" and granting them dukes and counts.
Of course, Alexei’s situation differed from Horn’s.
Horn was isolated, but Alexei had a strong backing.
That was the Holy Alliance.
Before setting off, he requested aid from the Holy Alliance, and reasonably, Horn sent him some obsolete equipment.
After all, it was just going to depreciate in storage, so they might as well pack it off to Alexei.
With politics, economy, and diplomacy organized, only the military remained.
The military was his forte.
In this month, he launched continuous offensives, removing numerous vampire outposts, at one point even reaching the gates of Bacon Castle.
Unfortunately, as soon as he reached the gates, a massive army of zombie skeleton blood knights pressed upon him, forcing Alexei to retreat.
Reviewing later, he found the troop losses amounted to 30%.
It was around this time, having seen Alexei himself, that Josh III, the Great Monarch of Bacon Castle, reported Alexei’s presence to Lakunio.
Previously, they thought Gloev was the one commanding the troops.
After this failure, Alexei concluded that the Shooting Army still lacked the final piece—a cavalry.
Whether expanding results or conducting reconnaissance, he needed enough elite cavalry.
Norn was known for producing light cavalry, but precisely because of this, Norn’s light cavalry was highly competitive.
If there wasn’t a good light cavalry, relying solely on beastman light cavalry’s level, it would be better to wash up and sleep early.
Fortunately, through Gloev’s efforts, they discovered that the death cuirassiers, originally the trump card of Fat Cow Castle, hadn’t fully sided with the Royal Court.
At least a third of the cuirassiers refused to cooperate with the Royal Court, leading to the appearance of Arid Valley Outpost bandits.
Originally, they should have smoothly submitted to Alexei, but for some unknown reason, they requested a face-to-face meeting.
Moreover, they specifically named Alexei to come negotiate.
This led to Alexei going in person, with twenty or thirty riders as escort, to meet this leader.
"Your Highness, confirmation is done." Gloev returned on horseback, accompanied by a bald man with two braided mustaches.
The man scrutinized Alexei from the corner of his eye, seeming both contemptuous and wary.
The warhorse beneath him snorted a white breath, and he turned his reins: "Let’s go, don’t blame me if you can’t keep up!"