"What kind of person do you think he is?" Claude asked, looking at the back of Count Murides J. Kleist, commander of the Hicks-Faklin Army, who rode away on his horse in the distance. .
Colonel Bokoal answered casually as he packed up the signed agreements and documents on the table: "It doesn't matter what kind of person he is. What matters is that he is ambitious and willing to cooperate with us. That is enough. As long as we are fighting If you can crush his army in strength, there is no need to worry about him causing trouble.
Under the current situation, if he wants to dominate, he cannot do without our support and help. Anyway, he knows very well in his heart that we will always leave. If he wants to make his voice heard in the Hicks Kingdom after the war, he must expand his strength. Regardless of whether he wants to establish an independent country in the future, he must rely on us to clear the obstacles in front of him now... "
Earl Murides Jay Crest is a cautious person in the military circles of the Kingdom of Hicks. Being able to become the commander of one of the eight standing legions of the Hicks Kingdom is mainly because his family has always stood with the Hicks royal family and is a backbone member of the royal family. Count Murides Jay Crest graduated from the Hicks Royal Military Academy. His military career was smooth sailing. He was promoted step by step and became a major general of the kingdom at the age of forty-five.
In the military circles of the Kingdom of Hicks, Count Murides Jay Crest is known as the lucky boy. This is related to the fact that he served as the captain of the bodyguard for Melchid III for eight years and was deeply favored by Melchid III. of trust. There are rumors that Count Murides Jay Crest has a very close relationship with several princesses, which is one of the reasons why he finally left the position of captain of the guard and went out to work.
In terms of military talent, Count Murides Jay Crest's performance was very mediocre. Whether it was sand table drills or military exercises, his performance was neither outstanding nor inferior. Therefore, many colleagues have always expressed their disapproval of Melchid. III had objections to appointing him as the commander of the Fakrin Legion, but Melchid III believed that he was loyal and commendable, and issued the appointment insistently.
But now it seems that it is a mistake to think that Earl Murides Jay Crest has always been loyal to the Hicks royal family, because the Faklin Army under his command is one of the eight standing armies of the Hicks Kingdom. The only legion that took the initiative to lay down its weapons and surrender. Although the same is true for the Dahli Army, the officers and soldiers of the Dahli Army are all from the original Kingdom of Breault. It is understandable that they would return to their homeland, but the performance of the Faklin Army is very disappointing... .
Even though Count Murides J. Kleist believed that a lone army like the Ephraim Legion with more than 60,000 men was simply unable to resist the Thunder Legion's attack, he had no choice but to lay down his weapons in order to save the lives of the Legion soldiers. But their surrender without a fight really put Count Murides Jay Crest under a lot of pressure. Sometimes the enemy and friendly forces have completely different evaluations. This is the case. The people of Hicks think that the Faklin Army is a coward, but Claude and the senior officers of the frontline command think that Mourides Jay Claes Earl Te is a smart man...
The meeting between Claude and Count Murides Jay Kleist was very pleasant, and both parties 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 serious. Count Murides Jay Crest is a man of understanding. He knows exactly what he wants, what he can get, what the Dominion Military Region can provide him, and what he hopes he will achieve...
After a day and night of talks, Claude signed the "Peace Agreement for the Protection of the Country" with Count Murides Jay Crest on behalf of the Dominion Military Region. According to the requirements of the agreement, the Faklin Army will be renamed the National Protectorate Army and take over the five southern coastal counties that were looted by the Thunder Army. At the same time, the Thunder Legion will attack three other central local counties and transfer these three local counties, along with Dartmouth County and Skervia County, to the jurisdiction of the Protectorate Army three months later.
From now on, the five southern coastal counties and the five central counties will become the basic territory of the National Protectorate Army. It can also be regarded as the first warlord force established by the Overseas Autonomous Territory Military Region in the Kingdom of Hicks. Both Claude and Count Murides Jay Kleist expressed satisfaction with the signed agreement, which was a win-win situation. Claude was satisfied that he could leave the local counties that had been raided and looted under the jurisdiction of the National Guard Army. He no longer needed to waste his own troops, and he did not need to worry about what would happen in these local counties against the wave of invaders from the Dominion. Social order and public security The National Defense Army is naturally responsible for the situation...
And Earl Murides Jay Crest was also very satisfied. Unlike the coalition of nobles who had no bottom line, the two legions under the Dominion Military Region raided and looted local officials and territorial nobles from various local counties. As well as wealthy merchant families, they have no offense to ordinary urban residents, unless they are resistance elements or armed resisters.
After the National Guard Army took over these local counties, it could tax taxes from these local people for military expenses. And since the upper classes in these places have been wiped out by the Dominion Military Region, there will be no restrictions on Earl Murides Jay Crest's governance in the future, just like he can paint any color on a piece of white paper. .
There are several reasons why Earl Murides Jay Crest asked the Dominion Military District to attack the three central local counties. First, most of the soldiers of the Faklin Corps came from these three local counties. They were poor farmhands and territorial residents. The second is that one of the local counties is one of the military industrial production areas of the Hicks Kingdom. Earl Murides Jay Crest hopes to control this local county to provide arms and weapons support for his National Guard Army.
The third reason is very clear to everyone, and that is that there are several territorial nobles in these three local counties who are more powerful than the family of Earl Murides Jay Crest. Earl Murides Jay Crest needs to kill people with a borrowed knife, let the Dominion Military District eliminate the influence of these territorial nobles, and then let the National Guard Army appear as a savior to the people of these three local counties in the name of maintaining social order. in front of...
Claude doesn't mind coming out to sweep these three local counties for Count Murides Jay Crest. Anyway, the territorial nobles of these three local counties organized local garrison forces and claimed to counterattack the royal city of Saint Cyprian. , the slogan of expelling the invaders from the overseas autonomous territories was shouted loudly. In the past, the Thunder Legion was stationed in five counties along the southern coast, and the Storm Legion was stationed in the Wangjing area, but neither could spare any troops. Now that the Protectorate Army has taken over, the Thunder Legion can launch a counterattack and make another huge fortune by capturing these three central counties.
Colonel Bockaar also wanted the National Protectorate to attack the three central counties on their own, but Claude knew very well that the current Protectorate Army was not useful yet. After the surrender, the officers and soldiers of the Faklin Corps were very confused about their future. If they were to attack their hometown, they would have to defect on the spot. At present, the change of the Faklin Army into the National Defense Army can only maintain local order. To change, it will require greater stimulation. Only for one's own benefit will it have strong combat effectiveness.
Earl Murides Jay Crest hopes that after the Dominion Military District has swept away these three central local counties and then transfers them to him, he can use the fields of those territorial nobles to be distributed to the soldiers of the National Guard Army. He believed that only by doing this would the Protectorate Army have combat effectiveness, obey his orders as a leader, and be willing to fight for their family property.
Claude admired Count Murides J. Kleist's idea and thought that what he did was right. In addition to the upcoming activities of dividing fields and land to gather military morale, the duty of the National Guard Army is to restore agriculture, animal husbandry, fishery and fishing production and stabilize normal social order in the five southern coastal counties that have been taken over. Effectively administer the three seaport cities, conduct normal commercial exchanges with the Wangjing area under the jurisdiction of the Dominion, and at the same time suppress those resistance elements targeting the Dominion Military Region.
After seeing off Count Murides Jay Crest, Claude breathed a sigh of relief. When the Protectorate Army adapted from the Faklin Legion arrives in the five southern coastal counties, the Thunder Legion stationed there can be mobilized back to become a mobile combat force again. Originally, Claude also wanted to abandon the five southern coastal counties, just like Dartmouth County, which was washed away.
But it turned out that it would not work without garrison. These five southern counties are located in the coastal zone and have three seaport cities. If they are left alone, it will cause great trouble to the ocean transport fleet of the Dominion Military Region. Although the Thunder Legion eliminated the local officials, territorial nobles, and wealthy businessmen and other upper classes in the five southern counties, the urban residents below were still easily incited and organized to attack the occupying forces in various places, and they had to be suppressed forcefully.
In addition, after the three counties of the Manoli Plain returned to the Breault Kingdom, the three mountain regiments of the Breault Kingdom also had to return to their kingdom and could no longer stay in the Hicks Kingdom to assist the Dominion Military District in guarding the local counties.
There are two main reasons. One is the trouble caused by the aristocratic coalition forces to the Dominion Military Region. They are used to burning, killing and looting in the occupied counties in the west. After sending troops to escort their loot back to the Nasseri area, they passed through Breao. When they came to the Te Kingdom, they actually brought Huai Hao Hao over, looted and burned a village along the way, causing hundreds of casualties...
King Avitley I of the Breault Kingdom was furious, and all the senior officers in the frontline headquarters of the Dominion Military Region were furious after hearing the news. Now we can see clearly what a pig teammate is. Fortunately, Duke Red Dragon and Marquis Griffin of the noble coalition were very clear-headed and directly ordered the capture of the thousand perpetrators. They beheaded them all in public as an apology to the Kingdom of Breault, and finally stopped the Kingdom of Breault. Popular anger.
The team was led by a viscount and two barons, who got into such a big trouble because they were drunk and let themselves go. Now, the royal capital directly ordered that these three be deprived of their noble titles. Not only were the three beheaded, their families were also sentenced to ten years of hard labor. All the family property was used to compensate for the losses of the Kingdom of Breault. This Only then did this matter come to an end.
However, because of such an incident, Avitley I felt deeply that the domestic defense strength was insufficient. The Breault Kingdom only has four standing legions, and now three mountain legions have been dispatched to assist the Dominion Military Region in attacking the Hicks Kingdom. The battle in Skvia County has already caused nearly one legion of officers and soldiers to be injured or killed. Although this is a sign of their poor combat power, it also shows that the Breault Kingdom is indeed sincere in its alliance with the Dominion Military Region.
Therefore, Claude only arranged for the Breault Kingdom's army to perform some auxiliary tasks, guarding prisoners and escorting logistical supplies. Even if Avitley I persuaded the Dahli Army to return to its homeland, the Dahli Army would still need to be stationed in the three counties of the Manoli Plain. Now that something like this happened in the country, Avitley I had to transfer all the troops here back to the country. He needed troops to guard the road leading directly from the Menbamark Kingdom to the Hicks Kingdom to prevent such an accident from happening again.
Another reason is that Claude promised to annex the four eastern counties of the Kingdom of Hicks adjacent to the Kingdom of Breault to the Kingdom of Breault, so Avitley I needed to return to the country to recruit new soldiers to form a garrison and suppression force. After the Thunder Legion finished conquering the three local counties in the central part that were to be handed over to the National Protectorate Army, they had to move to the border of Breault Kingdom to conquer the four eastern local counties. In short, they were busy non-stop...
After Claude issued the attack order to the three central counties to General Belklin and General Diavid, he ordered the Thunder Legion headquarters to go to Wangjing Saint Cyprian City to rest and recuperate. When I arrived at Wangjing, I just heard General Albert complain a few words, to the effect that he had captured the city of Saint Cyprian and the Wangjing area, but the Storm Legion was trapped in this area, unable to attack cities and territories everywhere like the Thunder Legion. .. ...
Claude comforted him and told him that after the Thunder Legion captured the four eastern counties and completed the agreement reached with Avitley I, the Thunder Legion would return to the royal capital, Saint Cyprian City. Instead of the Storm Legion stationed in the Wangjing area, General Albert can naturally lead the Storm Legion to raid those local counties that have not been attacked.
The two were chatting happily when Colonel Boquear came in and handed Claude a secret letter. Claude's face became gloomy after reading the secret letter.
"What's wrong? 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 those slave traders..."
Many countries in Farea Continent still practice slavery, especially the seven Sangergan countries in the central region, which are all slave-system countries. From a topographic point of view, the central and western regions of the Farea continent are mountainous and plateau areas, which are also regarded as wild lands by the people of the countries in the eastern, southern and northern regions of the continent. The seven countries in the central region are all plateau and mountainous countries. There are documents about these seven countries. The folk customs there are very barbaric and feudal, and the slave system is practiced. However, they are rich in gold and silver and are relatively wealthy, so they have money to buy slaves.
"Isn't it said that these seven central countries like to fight with each other to capture slaves? Why are there still slave traders coming to the Kingdom of Hicks?" General Albert asked curiously.
Colonel Bokoal replied: "Slave traders from the central region generally like to go wherever there is a war. They will buy prisoners of war as slaves. They don't like to do business with them and they generally will not go to countries that have abolished the slavery system. , so as not to cause damage to their property. Back then, King Sterling IX executed several slave owners and released all their slaves, so slave traders were rarely seen in the eastern part of the continent.
The Kingdom of Hicks has always been related to the slave traders in the central region. Although the Kingdom of Hicks has also abolished the hard work system, the serfs and subjects are actually slaves in another sense. Some territorial nobles would also secretly make deals with slave traders, buying or selling some slaves from slave traders. Therefore, it is very simple for the noble coalition to establish a relationship with those slave traders.
In addition, these slave traders from the central part of the country also have many requirements for purchasing slaves. Craftsmen command the highest prices. Whether they are jewelers or gunsmiths, as long as they have a skill, they will treat them differently and be willing to pay a high price. The civilization and technological development of the central region have always been relatively backward, so these craftsman slaves will be treated very well after they go there...
Secondly, there are strong warriors and military prisoners. Those slave owners all have slave armies, and family wars will also occur between them. Then there are beauties, and finally there are ordinary young men who can go to farming and mining and serve as productive labor. This time the noble coalition went too far. They sold almost everything they could sell in the three occupied local counties, and the rest were the old, weak, sick and disabled. "
General Albert was a little disapproving: "That's none of our business, anyway, the unlucky ones are all the Hicks. Now is the war period, and we can only express regret that such a thing happened. After all, it was a good thing done by the noble coalition." , we only have an alliance with them, and we cannot restrain them from doing such despicable things. To put it simply, we cannot stop them... "
"But what they did made us very embarrassed. After all, it was our Dominion Military District that led this war. Without us, the noble coalition would have no way to get close to the Kingdom of Hicks. What they do now will affect our Dominion." The reputation of the military region, maybe other countries will think that we are behind the command of the noble coalition to do this..." Colonel Bokoal was very angry. Even though he had always regarded himself as a businessman, he could not understand this kind of treating people as such. The slave trade of goods is a matter of perception.
"I will write to the Red Dragon Duke and the Griffin Marquis. The consequence of their actions is that they will be in a difficult situation in the ten western counties. There are enemies everywhere. The Hicks will fight them to the end. I really can't figure it out. Could it be that From the perspective of the Red Dragon Duke and the Griffin Marquis, can't they understand this truth? Why do they allow their subordinates to conduct such a slave trade..." Claude said with a dark face.
"Don't add too much burden and pressure to yourself." General Albert laughed instead: "In fact, this is a good way to deal with those captives. If all those hundreds of thousands of captives can be sold to slave traders, We, the Storm Legion, can also relax. It is a pity that we cannot do this. The moral bottom line as soldiers does not allow us to have anything to do with those slave traders. This is really a pity... "