"Your Highness, this is a message hawk just sent by Lord
Lorist, who had been discussing matters of state with
"What happened?" asked Fatty Shi.
"Some people are itching for a lesson, and it's time we gave them one." Lorist handed the silk to Fatty Shi and said, "See for yourself. The supply posts Baron Camora set up in the provinces of Chikses, Frivolde, Wisewood, and Dremark have all been attacked by unknown armed forces. The local nobles not only refused to cooperate with our investigation, but actually blamed our camps for attracting the attention of bandits, causing considerable losses to their own territories. They're demanding that our family pay compensation..."
"Bah!" Fatty Shi scoffed dismissively. "Thieves crying 'stop thief' — without the cooperation of those territorial nobles, how could our camps possibly have come under attack by bandits? I'd even wager those bandits are nothing more than private militias of those local lords in disguise. I can't believe that the moment His Highness the
Because the Norton Family's forces were being split into two columns to launch a winter raid on Andewolfe Province and Porteorg Province from Magik Province, the Second Prince had ordered his three-hundred-thousand-strong army to begin moving toward the two southwestern provinces as early as the end of September. Even the White Lion Legion, deployed along the border between Magik Province and Andewolfe Province, had handed over its garrison to a close-guard regiment under Commander
But the moment the Second Prince and his great army departed, the situation in the eleven central provinces — which had been relatively calm — began to heat up. Those territorial nobles who had been keeping their tails between their legs and behaving themselves no longer had the weight of the Second Prince and his three hundred thousand soldiers pressing down on them. They immediately began scheming to recoup the various economic losses the Second Prince's years of stationing in the eleven central provinces had inflicted on them. The method was simple: the big fish eat the small fish, and the small fish eat the shrimp. In just two short months, territorial conflicts and family wars broke out more than a dozen times among the nobles of several central provinces, and some lords even disguised themselves as bandits to rob merchants and travelers on the roads.
It just never occurred to anyone that those territorial nobles would now set their sights on the Norton Family's armed forces as well. Then again, it made a certain kind of sense. The eleven central provinces had been bled dry by the Second Prince over the past few years to sustain his three-hundred-thousand-man army — squeezed until not a penny was left. Despite favorable weather and decent harvests, the yields were barely enough to keep people from starving. Not just the commoners — nearly all the territorial nobles had been living hard lives.
And the Norton Family, in preparation for relocating over five hundred thousand migrants from Andewolfe Province and Porteorg Province after the winter raid succeeded, as well as ensuring a steady supply of military provisions and equipment to the front lines, had established a supply chain and secured camps across ten provinces. These facilities had been working nonstop to stockpile all manner of provisions, yet the enormous camps were defended by a single close-guard battalion of merely three thousand men. In the eyes of those nobles in the central provinces, they naturally looked like a very juicy piece of meat.
Fatty Shi studied the contents written on the silk carefully and said, "Baron Camora didn't mention any casualties among the close-guard battalion soldiers defending the camp in his letter. I imagine the losses were light and nothing to worry about. However, he says the endless stream of raids and thefts has already seriously disrupted the transport and stockpiling of logistical provisions. Due to the long distance, the Fifth Provisional Close-Guard Corps under Baron Farea is stretched thin on security and patrol duties along this supply line. He's deeply worried about the men being worn down from running around everywhere, and hopes for reinforcements to prevent serious consequences..."
Lorist nodded. "You're right. This supply line is far too long, and we never expected this kind of situation to arise. It seems we have no choice but to increase our forces to secure it. But before we send reinforcements, I need to teach those territorial nobles who don't know their place a harsh lesson. Do they really think the Norton Family won't fight back?"
"Genorio!"
"Your Highness, what are your orders?" Genorio straightened up with a start and snapped to attention.
"Take this letter, draft an urgent dispatch, and send it to His Majesty by night rider. Tell him I intend to deal with those territorial nobles along this supply line. If we cannot guarantee the safety of this logistical corridor, the Norton Family will be unable to launch the winter raid." Lorist thought for a moment, then gave his instruction.
"Yes, Your Highness. I'll see to it immediately." Genorio bowed and withdrew from the study.
It seemed Lorist had made up his mind to crush those central-province territorial nobles. Fatty Shi stepped forward and advised, "Your Highness, a great battle approaches. As long as we ensure the supply line's security, there's no need to get entangled with those local territorial nobles, is there?"
Lorist tapped his fingers on the table in thought and replied, "No, you don't understand. Ensuring the safety of this supply line on its own is simple enough, but I'm worried that those territorial nobles we've expelled might fly into a rage and do something incredibly stupid that hurts us both. Driven by fury at our family's dominance, they might recklessly resort to desperate measures, sending people to sneak into our camps and set fire to our supplies.
If the supplies are destroyed, this supply line is finished — at the very least it would delay our plans by a considerable amount of time. But winter is short, and we absolutely cannot afford to lose time. If we fail to complete the plans we've set in motion, it will bring us a great deal of unnecessary trouble and hardship.
That is why, for the Norton Family, we must thoroughly eliminate every threat along this supply line. No matter who they are, if they have any connection whatsoever to the unidentified armed forces raiding our camps or the thieves, we will pursue them to the very end and rip them out by the roots. That is the only truly effective way to ensure the safety of this supply line."
"Then do you think the Second Prince will agree to this?" Fatty Shi asked.
"He will definitely agree. Right now, anyone who obstructs his planned winter offensive strategy will become his enemy. As long as our Norton Family forces launch the winter offensive as scheduled, then even if we eliminate all the territorial nobles in the central provinces, he will pretend he saw nothing..."
Lorist suddenly froze, his expression shifting. "Damn! We've been played..."
"Huh?" Fatty Shi was confused. "Played how?"
Lorist stood up and paced around the study. "I suspect we've fallen into His Majesty's scheme. He's likely using our family forces to eliminate those territorial nobles in the central provinces."
Fatty Shi's expression turned serious as well. "Do you have any proof?"
"It's simple. We've long since obtained His Majesty's permission to freely establish supply camps in those central provinces. Everyone knows how crucial this supply line is for our family forces to launch the winter offensive. So why are the local lords in those central provinces still scheming against our supply line? Clearly, His Majesty never warned them... heh..."
Lorist sneered coldly. "It's not just my suspicion. Think about it—with His Majesty's experience and meticulous mind, would he make such a simple mistake? If he had warned those local nobles, then no one would dare target our supply line, otherwise it would mean they were provoking His Majesty's authority. There was no warning, so those local nobles could covet our supply line, and even if a conflict arose, it would just be a private clash between our family and those local nobles..."
Fatty Shi nodded. "It's just like back when our caravan was traveling north through the Andinak Kingdom, and the Second Prince used our caravan's forces to deal with those territorial nobles. First, to put up obstacles for us, and perhaps in the future, to use our actions against those local lords as leverage against us. Now he needs us to join the fight, so he pretends not to see. Once the empire is unified, he can bring up this old business, use this matter to suppress our Norton Family or force us to comply with his arrangements.
Second, to use us to eliminate these territorial nobles in the central provinces. After all, those nobles were all originally vassals of the grand dukes of the four former central kingdoms, and they don't see eye to eye with the Second Prince. So the more we eliminate, the happier the Second Prince will be. Because the fiefdoms of these local nobles can be reclaimed by him and returned directly to royal control, effectively strengthening his grip on those central provinces."
"There's one more point — the relationships between those territorial nobles in the central provinces and the three former Grand Dukes of the central regions are complicated. If our family's armed forces move to eliminate them in order to secure the supply line, we'll inevitably antagonize the remaining local nobles and those three Grand Dukes. This is something the Second Prince would be only too happy to see, as it prevents the expansion of our Northland four-family alliance and any connections we might forge with those three Grand Dukes. I suppose this is what you'd call the balance of political power..."
"I believe that's precisely how His Majesty has been thinking. After all, our Norton Family's strength is on par with the kingdom's, and he has always been wary and on guard against us. That's why he made all these arrangements in advance." Lorist commented calmly. "But will it actually work? Such petty scheming will only make us look down on him. As long as our family maintains its strength, even if he unifies the empire, what can he really do to us? Would he truly dare to tear off the mask and wage war against our family?"
Fatty Shi laughed. "That much he truly wouldn't dare. For all his five hundred thousand troops, he knows full well they're no match for our Norton Family's forces. But Your Highness, the question now is who should we send to secure the supply line and eliminate those raiders threatening our logistics camps? The Flying Tiger Corps and the Rock Corps are both heading toward Majik Province — should we have them send troops to sweep the area?"
"No need," Lorist replied. "The Flying Tiger Corps and the Rock Corps both need to reach Majik Province to prepare for the winter offensive against Andewolf and Bodoorg provinces. It's already the end of October — by the time they arrive in Majik Province, there won't be much time for rest and reorganization. There's no point having them fight local nobles and bandits, which would only delay the schedule and prevent us from launching the attack on time.
I plan to pull a regiment from the Hunt Rider Corps and have Jost lead it to those central provinces to reinforce Falreya and ensure security patrols along the supply line. As a light cavalry regiment, their mobility is more than sufficient for dealing with bandits and the private forces of local nobles. At the same time, I'll recall El and Reddy, and have them lead a thousand guards to eliminate the territorial nobles along the supply line — rooting out every last local noble who had designs on our family, as a warning to any who might follow."
"Your Highness, if Baron Jost and El are both recalled, what happens to the Hunt Rider Corps?" Fatty asked.
"...the family — the two of them are more than enough to handle things. Jost has been in the Hunt Rider Corps for several years now; let him go to the central provinces to clear his head. As for El, he was originally sent to the Hunt Rider Corps because
On the thirty-first day of the tenth month of the year 1786 by the Galentea Continent's common calendar, due to threats from unidentified armed forces, bandits, and local nobles against the Norton Family's supply line and logistics camps leading to Majik Province, Lorist urgently dispatched Hunt Rider Corps commander Jost to lead a regiment to reinforce the area. At the same time, Reddy and El were ordered to take a thousand guards to investigate and eliminate the unidentified armed forces, bandits, and local nobles threatening the supply line.
By the thirtieth day of the eleventh month, the Norton Family's forces had unleashed bloody carnage across every province along the supply line. Nearly a hundred bands of mountain bandits and horse raiders were annihilated through the surprise attacks of the guard battalions led by Reddy and El, as well as the relentless pursuit of Jost's Hunt Riders. Over fifty territorial nobles who were accused of colluding with these bandits saw their entire families slaughtered and their lands swept clean.
Of the territorial nobles in the central provinces whom the Second Prince had originally enfeoffed, fewer than a hundred had held their titles — and now more than half had been wiped out by the Norton Family's forces. In an instant, the fearsome reputation of the Norton Family's armies spread throughout every province of the Andinak Kingdom. The areas along the supply line became virtually desolate; no one dared approach the route, and even those who had to pass through generally chose to take a wide detour, unwilling to go near those logistics camps...
On the twentieth day of the eleventh month, Lorist departed with a thousand guards for Majik Province. Accompanying him was the family's second-rank Sword Saint, Hughes. Seeing him off were Princess Sylvia and his four concubines, along with his two sons. A number of senior family members were also present.
After bidding farewell to Princess Sylvia and the others one by one, Lorist turned to Baron Belunek, commander of the first regiment of the Close Guard Corps, who had come to see him off, and said, "The safety of the Northland is in your hands."
Baron Belunek performed a knight's salute. "Rest assured, Your Highness — I will not fail this mission!"
Lorist nodded, mounted his horse, and gave the order: "Move out."
...