You were made to farm, and now you're the emperor of an empire?

Chapter 176 The Iron Cable Crosses the River
“But judging from his movements, there are no signs of riding,” the knight added. “He is a foot soldier.”

"Only foot knights can contend with foot knights." Bald Carter spoke politely to Frant.

They all possess insightful and perceptive abilities.

“So,” Simon said softly.
"At that time, all we needed to do was send in a team of knights to break through the defenses."

His voice sounded a bit noisy in the suddenly quiet environment.

After a while.

Sir Foucault said, "Sir Simon, don't be ridiculous. How can a knight of the Vericcka family fall by the river? It would be an insult to them."

Conqueror Knights aren't meant to fill in the gaps.

“Even if we did that, it might not succeed,” Frant said. “Until we know exactly what’s going on there, I think we should hold off on attacking for now.”

Steve went straight to the point and asked, "Lord Frant, have you noticed something?"

“Take my gut feeling, that army is unusual. I think Lord Carter should know something about it; it’s a family tradition.” The old knight turned his gaze to another person.

“Our family’s warriors are skilled in battle, so they can take on two opponents at once,” the bald-headed Kette nodded.

“Don’t look at me like that, you brat from the Vericchka family. I’m letting you off the hook because of your ignorance. But I dare say that an ordinary army couldn’t withstand our fierce attack. You should be able to see that—they haven’t lost their composure! That’s no easy feat.”

Steve said, "You mean Roman Rift has a professional army?"

“That’s right! They’re not for farming, but for killing—just like the beast warriors of our family! It’s just that most of them are neither savage nor strong. We can probably guess why, after all, our esteemed Earl’s people were only recently taken away, and it will take some time to turn them into qualified warriors. We should be glad we didn’t arrive a month too late, otherwise we would have lost even more men.”

Count Condé's face was so dark it was almost dripping with water. He was filled with righteous indignation. "That brat must have given them a magic potion, or he must have found a wizard from Cangyue to cast a curse on them!"

Sir Simon murmured, "But this is not the kind of tactic a minor nobleman should employ."

"He's from the Cracked Armor lineage! The Cracked Armor Grand Duke is richer than a kingdom!" Carter exclaimed. "Damn it! I bet that kid is definitely the Grand Duke's biological son. Not all offspring can have the Cracked Armor Greatbow!"

Vericka interjected, “He has such ability, I mean such outstanding ability—if he were his own son, he wouldn’t have been exiled to this remote and impoverished place.”

Carter glared at him. "You call a place that produces salt a backwater?"

Verichka paused, realizing his family also produced salt, and then the boomerang went off.

He immediately retorted angrily, "If the Lord of Cracked Armor knew there were salt mines here, we wouldn't have a share!"

“My Lord, I think there is something you should know.”

Count Kant was innocent. He spread his hands and said, "I wasn't even born when the Grand Duke of Cracked Armor conquered that place."

No one laughed at that statement.

The Earl, though over fifty, is very well-preserved and appears to be one of the oldest people sitting here.

Sir Frant never gave his age, but having spent his life in the military, he certainly looked older than his age.

Count Condé had previously considered that valley a barren land and never paid it any attention, not even considering plundering it. Who would go to such lengths to rob a neighbor who was even poorer than them, especially when that neighbor had a giant standing behind him?

Count Condé continued, “You’ve asked the wrong person. You may not know the past of this land, but I will tell you now. If you have any impression of the conquerors, you should know that his era had a pioneering phase.”

"This land was originally developed. Of course, the pioneering lord was not my ancestor, and it doesn't matter who he was. What matters is that this land has belonged to my ancestor ever since—he was the second son of a nobleman and had no territory to inherit, so he had to rely on his own efforts."

“Back then, this land had only two or three thousand people and a few thousand acres of land. All this wealth today was cultivated step by step by my ancestors and fathers over decades or even centuries. Do you think we have the resources to pay attention to a river valley town dozens of miles away, which is even more remote than here and requires a boat to reach?”

Verichka said impatiently, "Enough with the nonsense, doesn't our Count know anything?"

The count was furious, but Vericcka was right.

“I did a trade with them last year, they traded salt for grain, and that’s how I found out that salt was produced in that valley.”

"And then what? You just stand there and watch? You know nothing?"

Count Conde's face was grim. What reason did he have to interfere in that land?

Roman was neither an earl nor a baron; he was a vassal of the Grand Duke of Cracked Armor, the lord of a territory.

When he came to the territory of Kant, he had to call him Earl, but when he went to the town of Sig, he had to call Roman Lord.

Their status and position are equal. He had a plan, but sending troops isn't so easy; you have to find a suitable reason.

Otherwise, that Grand Duke could have crushed the Kant family with his little finger.

His indecisiveness resulted in others striking first.

When he learned that there were 600 soldiers and 400 servants accompanying the army downstream, he was completely stunned.

Guys! Does anyone know this?!

Where did you get so many high-quality troops and equipment?

Everyone stared at Kant. The Earl said, "Would you believe me if I said that when Roman Riftarms inherited that territory, it was worse than when my ancestors received it?"

Verichka said honestly, "Your Excellency, we are not actually interested in your family's history of struggle."

Their development speed is clearly dozens of times faster than your ancestors'.

Moreover, if your ancestors had any ambition, they wouldn't have spent the last hundred years digging in this impoverished place.

They were eating salt in less than a year.

Reflect more on your own shortcomings and whether you have worked hard to develop yourself over the years.

To preserve their friendship, Vericchka went to great lengths to keep from saying the hurtful words and secretly praised her own patience.

“I have nothing more to say!” Count Kant’s face was ashen. “It’s far more mysterious than you think. Even if you interrogate those merchants who have been to Sig’s Town, they probably won’t know anything. His taxes are very low, and transactions can be completed at the docks. The son of a great merchant led a caravan there several times, but only saw him once and never appeared again.”

All they knew was that Sig Town had acquired a large amount of supplies last year through the salt trade.

Food was the top priority, followed by iron ingots and slaves.

However, those iron ingots were not enough to equip an army of more than a thousand people.

Slavery can at least explain the origin of those armies.

However, they were all from armed noble families and knew all too well the difficulty of training slaves into qualified soldiers.

To put it bluntly, slaves weren't even qualified to become conscripts!

If you dare to make them fight, they'll turn around and run away, becoming a rout that will only disrupt your own formation.

Incompetent bungler.

An army composed of free people is still more suitable for the battlefield.

After all, free people generally have weaknesses; if they desert, their whole family will suffer.

Everyone present was deeply confused, finding it extremely bizarre.

"Was there a Grand Duke with the Cracked Armor acting as a backer?"

Earl Condé declared firmly, "No! Sir Simon! That's the only thing I can be sure of!"

Just as the Kuomintang (KMT) couldn't understand why those peasant rebels had such strong fighting power, becoming more and more ferocious and numerous the more they were suppressed.

This is completely out of step with the local conditions of this land.

"Okay, let's just say there are always some big, dumb idiots among the commoners... I mean, the kind who are born with brute strength but no brains."

"What should we do now? Our knights aren't sea knights who can walk on water."

“Block the river, from upstream to downstream, and starve them!” said Earl Condé.

"Hmph! So many soldiers... Last year he had to buy food to maintain his rule, and this year he has to feed even more people. Once he doesn't get food supplies, his soldiers will tie him up and hand him over to us without us even having to lift a finger!"

Lockdowns need to be effective over a long period of time.

This is a last resort; that's how it's always been in war.

When besieging certain castles, it often takes half a year or even several years to breach them.

(End of this chapter)