As the second prince's messenger, Viscount Hinderson set off from Gildusk City on March 15th. Because the ice and snow melted and the muddy road was difficult, he did not arrive at Rock Castle until March 23rd. At this time, Lorist had already led nearly 40,000 family armed forces to start digging rocks and digging soil, building roads and filling the black mud swamp.
Fatty Shi, who was still dealing with complicated administrative affairs in Rock Castle, received Viscount Hindelson. Hearing that he came as the second prince's messenger, he asked him to rest at the posthouse for a few days so that he could send someone to inform Lorist to come back.
On the morning of March 25th, Lorist stood in front of the corpse of a more than ten-meter-long iron-backed crocodile, carefully studying the weaknesses of this huge monster. There are more than 30 iron crossbow arrows stuck in the body of this iron-ridged crocodile. As the biggest monster encountered by the road construction team in the past few days, this iron-ridged crocodile is still alive and well after being hit by more than 30 arrows. , the barking claws rushed straight to the chariot battalion.
If it wasn't for luck, an iron crossbow bolt pierced through its tail and nailed it to the ground less than 30 meters away from the Chariot Camp, then this reptile might have rushed into the Chariot Camp's defensive line and opened wide. kill ring. It wasn't until the iron-backed crocodile was killed that everyone let go of their concerns.
"My lord, you see, the cause of death of this iron-backed crocodile is the crossbow bolt that penetrated the jaw and reached the brain. At that time, because the tail was pinned, the monster was running forward again, and as a result, the whole head was turned up, exposing As for the more than 30 crossbow arrows on the body, although they severely injured the monster, they were not fatal, but aroused the ferocity. This time we are lucky, and there is no danger... "Malek, the new commander of the chariot corps, concluded.
"A few days ago we killed dozens of iron-backed crocodiles, the largest of which was only five meters long, and killed with three or five arrows. We were all too careless, thinking that the monsters in the famous and dangerous black mud swamp were nothing more than that , nothing to worry about. I didn’t expect there to be such a huge iron ridge crocodile. Now it seems that our steel crossbows are still not powerful enough to deal with such a huge iron ridge crocodile. The crocodile's body is like a toothpick..." El vividly described the condition of the more than thirty crossbow bolts stuck in the monster.
"The black mud swamp is so big, maybe there are even bigger ones than this ironback crocodile. My lord, this one is already more than two meters high. I remember the family records saying that someone once saw a four or five meter high crocodile." The iron-spine crocodile is so tall and I don't know how long it is, it is said that it looks like a small hill..." Pat reminded worriedly.
Lorist nodded: "It is imperative to develop the Black Mud Swamp. No matter how big the difficulty is, we must overcome it, but we must also face up to your concerns. To be honest, I didn't expect the steel crossbow that could deal with the mammoth golem." It will still be so difficult to deal with these iron-spine crocodiles. Reddy, you go to see Master Falin and ask him if he can make a batch of larger steel crossbows to deal with these iron-spine crocodiles. No It needs to be as strict as the steel crossbows of the Chariot Camp. It doesn’t matter if the operation is cumbersome and the winding is slow. I require more than double the lethality and piercing power... "
"Yes, my lord, I'll go right away." Reddy said and left.
"Okay, Malek, send someone to clean up this iron-spine crocodile, don't look at the hideous appearance of this thing, the meat is still extremely tender and delicious after peeling off the skin, tell everyone to eat this iron-spine crocodile at noon The meat of the crocodile is gone, so it can be regarded as a shock to everyone. Remember to pack up the skins, these crocodile skins will be the best choice for making leather armor for our sailors in the future..." Lorist ordered: "By the way, tell everyone to take it Go down and be careful, it’s okay to slow down the project, pay attention to safety, stop work early if the sky is dark and the visibility is poor, so as not to be attacked by these iron-backed crocodiles.”
"Yes, my lord, I will warn everyone to be safe," Malek replied.
Jim brought someone over, he is now a captain of the guard battalion: "My lord, Knight Shredder sent a message, saying that the second prince sent Viscount Hindelson, who was here last time, as a messenger, and came to Rock Castle again. I hope you can go back soon."
kindness? Lorist was taken aback, thinking what the second prince was up to? Brother has rejected him so many times, why haven't he given up, and this time he sent a messenger over, so he is not afraid of being rejected again? Brother here is too busy to play noble games with him, so he is really persistent.
After thinking about it, Lorist said, "Let that Viscount Hindelson stay for a few more days, and I'll be back in two days."
…
"I'm very sorry, Lord Viscount Hindelson, for keeping you waiting for a long time. I'm really busy with business, so I'm sorry."
Lorist didn't rush back to the Rock Castle until March 28th, and met Viscount Hindelson immediately, regardless of the dust.
"It's understandable. After all, your family has to fight against the tide of monsters in winter. To be honest, Baron Norton, I have seen those corpses of monsters in Gildusk City, and I express my deep respect for your family's heroic behavior. Earthfury bear, only the noble family has the courage to fight against such a ferocious beast." Viscount Hindelson complimented.
"Thank you for your compliment. May I ask what the Viscount is doing here this time?" Lorist didn't bother to be polite, so he got straight to the point.
"Oh, I am here this time entrusted by His Majesty the King to bring him a letter for His Majesty the Baron, and bring back your reply. Your Majesty's letter is here, I think it should be His Majesty the King's response to your family's fight against the tide of magical beasts." Please express your condolences for your heroic deed." Viscount Hindelson handed over a letter from the second prince.
Lorist smiled as he received the letter: "It would be too condescending to bother the viscount to go there in person for such a trivial matter. In fact, we only need to send an attendant to bring the letter. It would be too grand for His Majesty the King to entrust the Lord to deliver the letter." some."
Viscount Hinderson laughed at himself: "The baron thinks highly of me when he says that. I'm just a nobleman with honorary titles, and I'm not as good as you territorial nobles. I usually have nothing to do, and I can just run errands for His Majesty the King."
"My lord, the Viscount is too modest." Lorist laughed, and then opened the letter.
day! The second prince lost his mind and went crazy, he must be mentally ill.
Lorist wanted to curse, but Viscount Hindelson was right in front of him, so he had no choice but to keep his face.
The second prince did not write many polite words in this letter like the last letter, but put forward three straightforward requests:
One, Lorist must arrive at Gildusk City to meet the second prince before May, and present enough property as a gift of submission and respect.
Second, the Norton family must offer 500,000 gold blessings to the second prince to atone for their previous disrespectful behavior.
Three, starting from this year, the Norton family must provide the second prince with 10 million catties of snow salt as an annual offering free of charge.
At the end of the letter, the second prince stated that he could not bear the Norton family's repeated rejection of his kindness and behavior against his wishes. If the Norton family rejects these three requests again, then the second prince will summon the nobles of the North to form a coalition to attack the Rock Castle.
Idiots are dreaming, this second prince must have been stimulated by something, dare to issue such an ultimatum to the Norton family, this is almost a declaration of war, Lorist is absolutely impossible to agree to these three unreasonable demands, why should he? Is it based on the First Army of the Kingdom of Iberia, which has only been formed for a year? hehe…
Lorist raised his head with a sneer: "Master Viscount, are you sure you want to reply?"
Viscount Hinderson nodded: "Yes, this is what His Majesty the King has repeatedly ordered, and I want to bring back the reply letter from Lord Baron..."
"Okay, wait a moment." Lorist turned around and went to the desk, and quickly wrote a reply letter.
"Tager..." Loris rang the calling bell, and Tagle, who was outside, entered the study.
"Your Majesty Viscount has come from a long distance, and you have worked hard all the way. Go and get some furs of monsters as our thanks." Lorist ordered.
"Yes, my lord." Tagle stepped back.
Lorist handed the reply letter in his hand to Viscount Hinderson: "Please forgive me, Lord Viscount, the Norton family is located at the border of the Northland, and there is really nothing to show for it. Just a few furs of monsters represent our apology. Please come back and forth, my lord." I'm really sorry to run around."
Viscount Hindelson put away the letter happily: "Thank you, Lord Baron, for the gift. In fact, I really like the fur of monsters."
…
With a "boom", the second prince smashed the chair on the desk in front of Viscount Hinderson. It was really annoying. There was a piece of animal skin paper spread out on the desk. This was Lorist's reply letter, and it said One word, a big word: Bah!
The second prince was flushed with anger, this reply was a slap in the face, plus the second prince remembered the word “bold” on the last reply, a feeling of being despised and ridiculed came from his heart It happened so spontaneously that he couldn't control his anger anymore, he raised his chair in front of Viscount Hindelson and smashed it on the reply letter on the desk...
The loud crashing sound and the shattering of the chair in his hand finally woke up the second prince. He glanced at the undamaged reply letter written with the word "呵" on the desk, and the second prince once again felt the anger burning in his heart. But this time he managed to restrain himself, and waved to Viscount Hindelson standing in front of him with his red eyes staring, "Get out, remember not to talk too much..."
Viscount Hindelson hurriedly saluted as if he had received an amnesty: "Yes, Your Majesty."
Then scurry away.
Only the furious second prince and the middle-aged man who went to Rock Castle with the attendant who pretended to be Viscount Hindelson were left in the study.
"Why? How dare the Norton family be so rude? They don't take me as the king in their eyes at all? Do they think that the walls of the Rock Castle can protect their family territory? Dreaming, I will definitely not let them go , they will pay the price in blood, only blood can wash away the insult they have given me..." The second prince snarled while circling in the study.
The second prince finally stopped in front of the middle-aged man who had been silent all this time: "Tell me, what did you see on your trip to Rock Castle?"
The middle-aged man bowed deeply: "Yes, Your Majesty."
"As you expected, the defense of Rock Castle is very lax. I estimated that there are only about 1,500 people in three squadrons. Each of the three squadrons is responsible for the defense of the front and rear walls and the central castle. It is a pity that , I stayed in the posthouse of the Rock Castle for a few days, and I didn’t see the regular soldiers of the Norton family in the tavern or other places, and they didn’t go anywhere except the city wall and the barracks.”
The middle-aged man doesn't know about the Norton family's military system reform. He can only look at the Norton family's armed forces from the perspective of the second prince's formation of the kingdom's first army. The armed forces were all pulled to develop the black mud swamp, and even the 3,000-man first battalion of Ovekis' guards who defended the rock castle was pulled away half, so that they could be rotated after three months.
"I heard from the owner of a nearby tavern that every winter after the tide of monsters, there are still a large number of monsters lingering in the wasteland, which seriously affects the reclamation and spring planting of the wasteland by the people. Therefore, the Norton family's armed forces should drive them away in the wasteland at this time. And eliminate these monsters, this is also a source of meat for them. The old man in the tavern said that in previous years, it would take until May to rest, and this year is probably the same."
Lorist's plan to develop the Black Mud Marsh to gain access to the sea was not announced to the outside world except for telling the family knights and civil officials. Instead, he directly brought the family's armed forces to the Black Mud Marsh to work, so that the civilians in the territory thought it was the same as in previous years. They are sweeping up the monsters in the wasteland again.
"Your Majesty, I also found that the second-line troops of the Norton family, even the garrison in charge of security, have a small number of people, and the security personnel in the storage department are only about dozens of people, not even a small team. Behind the Rock Castle After building a city, I found that the number of so-called garrison members was less than 300. Moreover, I went to the hill near the wall behind Panshi Castle in the name of visiting the tombs of heroes, and found that the wall behind They don't even have a siege crossbow. It seems that in the battle against the tide of monsters, those siege crossbows suffered a lot... "
The middle-aged man is an excellent spy, but he doesn't understand that Lorist has changed the army into a ten-man squad. For the security battalion that guards those warehouses, such a small squad is indeed much more convenient. It is enough for a team to guard the warehouse gate. There is no need to pull out a team of nearly a hundred people to stay at the warehouse gate doing nothing as in the past. As for the 500-man guards in Panshi Houcheng, half of them were dragged to the black mud swamp. The middle-aged people didn't understand this situation.
Therefore, in the eyes of the middle-aged people, these have become manifestations of the lack of troops of the Norton family, especially the absence of a defensive crossbow on the wall behind the Rock Castle, which reflects the Norton family's heavy losses in the face of the wave of monsters. Dire situation. Therefore, he tended to think that the Norton family's refusal to the second prince was due to the arrogance of an aristocratic family with a military domain that had been passed down for hundreds of years, not because it was so powerful that it was fearless.
"Hahaha..." After hearing the middle-aged man's analysis, the second prince laughed wildly.
"After the winter wheat is harvested in May, I will send troops to attack the Norton family." The second prince made a cold decision.
"It just so happened that those northern land lords will come to participate in the Northland Noble Association in May. At that time, I will announce the disrespect and rebellion of the Norton family. I will jointly send troops to attack Norton on the grounds that Baron Norton accepted the earl of the Antinac royal family without authorization. family."
"Your Majesty, you have to pay attention to Baron Shaheen and Earl Kenmes. They have been doing business with the Norton family, and both of them have strong military forces. You have to be more careful with them." The middle-aged man said. reminded.
The second prince nodded: "I know in my heart that when the two of them come to the fraternity, we will keep the two of them by our side and force them to send troops to participate in the crusade. Baron Shaheen has to pay me 10,000 For the strength of the army, the Kenmes family has an army of 30,000, so for the sake of the life of Lord Kenmes, 20,000 is the minimum.
There is also Baron Felim of the Pegasus family, his troops are not weak, so I have to give me 5,000 troops. Apart from the Norton family, these three families are currently the strongest in Northland. This time, no one wants to let the sidelines watch the excitement, and all have to send troops to help. However, Baron Felim has always been respectful, if he behaves well this time, I might promote him to the title..."
"Your Majesty has a great opinion." The middle-aged man complimented, "Then how many troops does Your Majesty plan to dispatch to attack the Norton family?"
The second prince pondered for a moment and said: "This time is actually a good time to show off the kingdom's military strength, and let the bumpkins in the North see the mighty military power of the Kingdom's First Army. Battalion, and the remaining two brigades are responsible for the transportation of logistics and luggage."
"Your Majesty, is it a bit of a big deal to deal with a small Norton family?" the middle-aged man asked.
"You don't understand. The Norton family is not in my eyes. We don't need to attack the Rock Castle. We just need to besiege it for half a year and we can win without a fight. There is no food input from the outside world. I want to see what the Norton family feeds the two. There are more than 100,000 people. I will not be so stupid, let the first army of the kingdom attack the strong rock castle, and cause damage in vain.
The main purpose of dispatching the Kingdom's First Legion is to suppress the family forces of Baron Shaheen and Earl Kenmes, and force them to carry out siege battles for us. With the force of the Kingdom's First Legion, I would like to see which northern nobles still have the heart of disobedience. I hope that after the victory against the Norton family, the Northland will settle down and become a base that can provide me with a steady stream of troops and food. " said the second prince.
"Your Majesty is wise!"
…