One day in August of this year, Lord Connor hurried to the castle of the county with several knights, and within two days, he hurried back to the Gran Territory with the knights. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

What followed was an atmosphere of oppressive tension that permeated the Gran Collar.

It's going to be war.

A real war.

Bloodshed is possible for all, including lords, knights, and even more auxiliary farmers.

The cause of the matter has to start from the court of the royal capital, two aristocratic factions that have fought for more than 300 years, these two factions, with the north and south as the boundary, the seven counties in the south of the kingdom are united and called the "southern faction", and the seven counties in the north of the kingdom are united and called the "northern faction".

Perhaps because of the king's acquiescence, the two factions fought fiercely in the court of the nobility, often over the amount of tribute paid to the king, the choice of the chief judge of the court, the choice of the commander of the war against the neighboring countries, and the choice of the court minister for the internal affairs of the kingdom...... and so on, there are often quarrels due to huge differences, and no matter whether it is the southern or northern faction, they all want to fight for greater interests for themselves in the noble court.

For example, this time, on the issue of the distribution of 500 war horses to be paid tribute to the king this year, the southern faction asked the northern faction to undertake the task of paying tribute of 400 horses and the southern faction to bear 100 horses on the grounds that there were many highlands and fine war horses in the north.

The northern faction demanded that the southern faction bear 400 horses because the south is warm and rich, and the north is cold and poor, while the northern faction can only bear 100 horses.

The two sides have their own reasons, and they are inextricably fighting, and in the aristocratic court, they even rolled up their sleeves and staged a full martial arts, and the nobles with blue noses and swollen faces lost their demeanor and decency.

When the king was alarmed, he asked the chief judge to arbitrate: the southern and northern factions could each send a representative to fight a battle on the border between the two sides, and the winning side would only need to pay a tribute of 100 horses a year, and the losing side would need to pay a tribute of 400 horses.

If the two sides are tied, then one side bears half of it, and each pays tribute of 250 horses.

After some consultation and discussion, the nobles of the northern and southern factions agreed to this arbitration, and even increased the weight on it! The losing side not only had to bear more tribute, but also had to cede one-third of the land and population of an earldom.

This is like pouring a basin of cold water into a pot of boiling oil, and the counts of the two factions have asked for war to open the heads of those "South (Northern) Yankees" who have long been unpleasant.

In the end, Baron Connor's immediate superior, Count Lauzitz, took the task, and his "Count of Rhodes" sent troops to fight this war with the "Count of Merlin" of Count William, which was adjacent to the north, and if the army of Count William could be crushed, then one-third of the land and population of the "County of Merlin" would belong to him, Count Lauzitz.

As for whether it will lose?

Count Lauzitz stated that he had not thought of this problem at all!

Count Lauzitz didn't think about losing, but Baron Connor had to think about it, because his Gran Territory was right next to the Earldom of Merlin, and once Count Lauzitz lost, there was no doubt that the Gran Collar would definitely be ceded to the territory of the Earldom of Merlin.

When the time comes, the lords and knights of the Gran and several other baronies that will be ceded will completely lose their domains and lords, and become wandering lords and knights, relying on the handouts of others to find a place to stay.

"Recruit all the knights, take out all the property in the castle, hire some mercenaries who are still good in combat, and all the sturdy farmers in the territory, immediately stop the farm work in hand, all of them are recruited, take up arms, and participate in this battle!"

In the castle chamber, Baron Connor quickly made a decision.

"Dad, there's no need to be so excited, is it? Now the farmers are harvesting in the wheat fields, and the war will not be fought until after the wheat harvest is in September, so isn't it delaying the autumn harvest to tell the farmers to stop their farm work? ”

Edward, who was sitting at the long table, said disapprerovingly, I heard that those North Yankees were very powerful, but they were not so powerful that they needed to be paid so much attention.

"We must stop the farm work immediately! seize the rest of the time to do some training, Edward, this is a real war, not a one-on-one competition in the knight academy, if you lose the competition, you will only be injured for a few days at most, if we lose this war, we will have nothing!"

Facing Edward, Baron Connor said with great seriousness: "We must use all means to increase our chances of victory, even at the expense of all the farmers in the territory!"

"Yes, Daddy!" Edward nodded solemnly, putting away the scorn on his face.

"Willard, Morris, you are responsible for training the farmers who lack training, and try to get them out a decent formation within a month. Baron Connor instructed the two knights of the Guard, who had followed him for many years.

"Yes, Lord Baron!" said the two knights, standing up to protect their chests.

……

Zhou Ming in the castle quickly noticed this strange atmosphere.

The peasmen put down their work and were gathered in the training ground in front of the castle, each with a brand new spear and a thick hardwood shield, and under the personal command of the two knights, they were in full swing to march in procession, spear stabbing and anti-bow shooting.

Even, as always, the butler Bunod, who is known for his stinginess, asked the cook to prepare a whole pot of fragrant beef and mutton, roasted fluffy and soft oat bread, and a large number of jerky cheese and eggs and other meals to replenish the physical strength of these hard-trained farmers, every day.

During the interval of training, the butler Bunod also walked among the farmers and said, "Practice all the spears in your hands! Lord Baron said, when you go to the battlefield, kill a peasant, reward 50 silver coins, kill a mercenary, reward 1 gold coin, if you can kill a knight, reward 50 gold coins!

Hearing these seductive ~ bewitching words, among the farmers present, except for some young people whose eyes lit up and asked, "Is this true?" and "Is there really so many rewards?" and secretly decided to kill a few enemies, most of the farmers had lukewarm faces, as if they had nothing to do with themselves.

Zhou Ming, who was silently paying attention on the side, said secretly: Except for a few young people who were carried away by the reward, for this war, these farmers should think about how to save their lives on the battlefield, right?

Looking at the training ground of the castle, the nine knights who were training intensively, and the more than 100 mercenaries who had just arrived at the castle yesterday who were hired by Baron Connor with a lot of money, were also wielding knives and axes on the side, Zhou Ming guessed: These well-equipped, fierce-looking, and even many barbarian savages in the middle of the team are mercenaries, and there is absolutely no problem in fighting a good fight, but if they really want to sacrifice their lives and fight with a strong enemy until the last moment, I am afraid it is 100% impossible.

"In other words, what the Gran Ling can really use now is the knights and mercenaries of more than 110 people, and as for the more than 1,000 farmers who are training outside the castle, it is estimated that they are used to block the gun hole as cannon fodder to consume the physical strength of the enemy knights......"

Zhou Ming's body couldn't help but shudder, fortunately he is now a servant of Little Downey, otherwise if he also goes to the battlefield with him, he will definitely be unpredictable, and he will not know the blessings and misfortunes.

"Ryan, Lord Baron just said that some sturdy servants in the castle will also participate in training, you are in such good health, come with us to the battlefield!"

Edward's knightly squire, Fat Baum, appeared behind him at some point, looking at him with a wicked smile.

Zhou Ming sighed in his heart, stepped forward and whispered: "Lord Baum, I was slapped in the chest by a black bear last year, and it hasn't completely healed until now......"

"It's been more than a year, how can it not be good? Don't make excuses, Ryan! Lord Baron didn't raise you to let you eat and drink here for nothing all day! The time has come to serve Lord Baron, I also told Lord Baron just now, Lord Baron said that since you have this intention, you should follow as an auxiliary soldier and help carry some grain and grass...... Can't you do this little thing?" Baum said in a disgruntled tone.

"Yes, of course. ”

Zhou Ming gritted his teeth and said that this damn Baum was going to frame himself!

But even if he ran to explain it to Baron Connor now, it would leave an extremely bad impression on the Baron's mind...... I can only knock out my teeth and swallow them in my stomach.

"Hahahaha!"

Looking at Zhou Ming's distant back, Baum laughed in his heart, Ryan, come to the battlefield with us, I will let Young Master Edward arrange you to the front of the battlefield, and when you die, your delicate and lovely sister will be taken care of by me Baum, of course, I also told Young Master Edward, Alice's first ~ night, I should leave it to him to enjoy first......