Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords.

Chapter 417 Preparation
Li Wei looked at these women.

These Persian Gulf beauties, all dressed in white gauze dresses, adorned with gold and silver, possessed figures as alluring as cats, exuding exotic charm. Now, they were like lambs to the slaughter, waiting for the butcher to decide their fate.

The lord propped his head up, leaned against the earl's throne, pondered for a moment, and then said with a smile, "Since it's a tradition, let's just do a bulk sale and give it all to me. High Cliff Fortress is short of a group of maids who know how to serve people."

"Huh?" The group of Southern Border officers were dumbfounded.

Is this dragon knight really that physically capable?

"What, you have a problem with this?" Li Wei sat up from his seat, stretched, and made a crackling sound all over his body.

"No! Absolutely not!" The group of Southern Border officers shook their heads frantically, like rattles.

"By the way, order your soldiers not to harass the civilians of Stone Ridge Fortress. We Debei are not bandits, and the civilians of Stone Ridge Fortress will become civilians of Debei in the future. Therefore, I do not want to see soldiers from the Southern Border invading a group of unarmed civilians." The lord issued the orders one by one.

None of the officers dared to contradict the dragon knight's orders.

The other party crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, unlike those guys in history who won the favor of dragons with their beauty.

"What about the slaves and their owners?" General Pike asked cautiously.

In reality, only a small portion of the inhabitants of Shiling Fort were civilians; the majority were slaves in shackles. These slaves came from various races, including Debe people and Sith people.

"This is indeed a bit difficult to handle." Li Wei frankly admitted that he had considered the idea of ​​freeing these slaves, but it was just a thought and never came to fruition, because freeing so many slaves all at once would cause great turmoil and would require coordination from all parties.

It's estimated that by then, the three kingdoms will probably have to conquer all the southern provinces before they can discuss the fate of these slaves.

To be frank, slavery did occur in Debay, but it wasn't as brutal as in the Gulf Empire, where the ratio of slaves to civilians was an astonishing one to one.

"Let these slaves continue as they were before. We'll discuss it further with Governor Bernard. As for the slave owners, you can deal with them as you see fit. Do whatever you want with the guilty ones, and leave the enslaved maids free." Li Wei knew that he couldn't put too much pressure on these officers; he still had to offer some rewards.

The slave owners and their families were left to the officers' disposal.

As for those family members being pitiful? Where did they get their clothes, drink, and food? And who were they relying on from above?

The officers from the southern border were delighted and took their leave.

Those slave owners had many beautiful wives; if you arrived too late, they would be gone.

In an instant, only a group of beautiful women remained in the hall.

"Zate and his men settled them in one place, placed guards to watch over them, and delivered food to them daily. They were not allowed to leave unless there were special circumstances," the lord then arranged.

He wasn't just driven by lust; these women were all maids or dancers of the Earl of Stone Ridge Fortress, and it was hard to say whether there were any spies or agents among them.

Li Wei would not lower his guard against them just because they were women; throughout history, there have been many kings and generals who suffered at the hands of women.

The barbarians had no concept of tenderness and quickly and violently drove the group of women away.

……

Inside the towering castle in the center of Wirz.

A study.

Two magic balls, one red and one blue, were placed on a table covered with a red cloth. An old man who was taking a nap in the middle of the bookshelf couldn't help but pick up a wool blanket from the side and put it on.

Even with the Warm Magic Ball to regulate the temperature, Howard still found it hard to bear the chill of the night.

The sound of footsteps woke him up. He could feel that the other person was trying to be quiet so as not to disturb him, but it was no use. As he got older, his senses became very shallow, and even the rustling of the curtains in the breeze could wake him up.

"Is there something you need, Harry?" The old man sat up straight from the table, still a little sleepy. A cool breeze swept in from the distant Andes Mountains, and he unconsciously tucked the blanket around himself.

"Teacher, my 'Divine Wind Falcon Knight' from Stone Ridge Fortress has returned. That dragon knight from Debe has gone here," Harry said softly, as he considerately went to the window and closed it with a 'creak'.

He wished the tired old man in front of him could rest for even a little while longer, but this matter was far too important.

"Thank you for your help." Howard thanked him before asking, "How did it go?"

"That dragon knight was faster than you expected. Before Eternal Heaven's left eye had even closed, he had already captured Stone Ridge Fortress." Harry's face showed a slight bitterness: "My birds told me that our 15,000 brave sons were slaughtered like lambs in the hands of that dragon knight's men. Even Oppa was captured by them."

At this point, the bald, burly man raised his head, his face filled with confusion and indignation: "Teacher, why didn't you send the nearby troops to help Oppa? Why did we just stand by and watch our soldiers being slaughtered by the enemy's swords, and do nothing?"

Harry's indignation was directed at the group of Debes, and his bewilderment stemmed from his inability to understand why his revered teacher not only failed to send reinforcements to Stone Ridge Fortress, but also withdrew all the hidden troops from the surrounding area to other places, resulting in the needless sacrifice of so many brave warriors.

"You're heartbroken over just the loss of a few tens of thousands?" Howard said with the imposing authority of a waking lion, "Don't even mention 15,000, even if it were 100,000 or even a million, you should still remain calm in the face of the loss of so many lives. That's the mental fortitude a commander should have!"

"What is the essence of war? It is to build victory with blood and bones!"

After speaking in one breath, the old man looked somewhat tired: "Harry, you still have a long way to go before you become a general who regards life as worthless. If you don't change your current thinking, how can I entrust the soldiers to your hands with peace of mind?"

"Teacher, I was wrong." Harry lowered his head in shame.

I realized that I had acted too impulsively.

“I often tell you that war is not about head-on collisions; that’s something only reckless people do. What I can do is play to my strengths and avoid my weaknesses.” The old man patiently instructed his student: “Since that dragon knight is too brave, we don’t need to fight him head-on. If we lose Stone Ridge Fortress, so be it. It will actually hold him back and allow us to deal with others.”

"Do you know why I dispersed our main force? It was to separate Debe's expeditionary force and deal with them one by one."

Upon hearing this, Harry asked, "What if that Knight Deberon leaves Stone Ridge Castle?"

“Why would he be able to leave? If all his men are sick, even if the illnesses aren’t life-threatening, they’ll be enough to slow them down and buy us enough time.” Howard finally revealed a childlike, smug smile: “Then we’ll deal with the rest of the expeditionary force first, and then go after this dragon knight.”

Harry looked surprised.

When they evacuated from White Whale Harbor, Howard ordered his confidants to set up something in the brothels of various castles. Harry didn't understand why at the time, but it turns out his teacher had made preparations all along.

After each war, the soldiers, exhausted from the fighting, would find ways to release their pent-up desires, either by spending money at brothels or by robbing women from the castles they had occupied.

Even if the officers knew about this, they would turn a blind eye.

After all, even if Harry forcibly stopped them, it would still cause dissatisfaction among his men. "What if they are very disciplined?" Harry was still a little worried.

"Unless something goes wrong, the only ones with this kind of discipline are the paladins of Debe in the past, but unfortunately, the other side is not one of them." Howard shook his head. As a veteran general who had commanded troops for decades, no one knew the temperament of those petty scoundrels better than him.

"Not to mention, I have other plans besides this. It would be impossible for this dragon knight to leave Stone Ridge Fortress in less than a month or two."

The old man's face was full of confidence.

"So, how far are the other enemy armies from our deployment?"

"The teacher only has two or three days' journey left."

"Let's proceed according to the plan," the old man nodded.

Watching the other person's departing figure, Howard's gaze turned to the bright moon hanging high outside the window, so lonely and cold.

Since he led his troops to Whale Harbor, he has been writing to the capital city requesting reinforcements.

Because of the severe lack of high-end combat power, the letter has remained unanswered until now, like a stone thrown into the ocean.

The legendary powerful figures who made the appeal—the fire mage of the temple, the Medusa priestess, the half-moon warrior—none of them came.

He began to suspect that perhaps because he had left, some of the old guys in the royal city had started to act up again.

However, he is currently unable to leave this place, and in order to avoid affecting the morale of the army, he can only secretly send people to the capital to investigate the situation.

……

Two days later, at Shilingbao.

Since the castle was captured, it has naturally been under military control, but there are still some street vendors who come out to sell things and make money.

Because in their view, Debe soldiers are also human beings, and they need to eat and use things.

Shami was a breakfast stall owner, but at this moment he regretted going out today to earn a few copper coins.

He discreetly observed the row of people sitting around the low table. Two green-skinned fellows, one was even more muscular than a black bear, with muscles on his arms thicker than his waist, while the other was thin and frail, wearing the kind of round tortoiseshell glasses that only noble scholars would wear.

Most notably, one of the young men, despite wearing a very simple linen shirt, exuded an air of nobility.

Based on his years of experience in judging people, he knew that this group of people were definitely not simple. In this army called Gaoyabao Allied Army, they must have been officers in charge of at least a thousand men.

He thought it didn't matter whether the other party paid him after eating or not, as long as they didn't ruin his business. With that thought, he sighed and put his hands in his sleeves.

"Boss, give me three more of those big flatbreads." Li Wei took a big gulp of camel milk and pointed to the flatbreads on the oven that were as big as a human head.

This local snack, called "baked wheat cake" in the Persian Gulf, is quite good, and it has a unique flavor when paired with camel milk.

After capturing Shiling Fort, the Gaoyabao allied forces did not need to continue their advance, but instead garrisoned the fort and awaited the main force's next move.

With nothing else to do, the lord naturally began to experience the local customs and culture.

Life is mostly about eating and drinking, so naturally, people start exploring local snacks.

"Hey friend, a pancake this big as a plate can only be given out in pairs."

When the boss, who was wearing a headscarf, spoke, his thick local accent made Li Wei raise an eyebrow.

Zha Manzi thought his boss was angry, and his burly body immediately loomed over him. But before he could even speak, the lord glared at him and shut him up.

"Why can we only give two?" Li Wei raised an eyebrow not because he was angry, but because the other person's accent was so funny.

“You can’t finish such big pancakes, that would be such a waste.” Startled, Shami blurted out in Common Language, speaking timidly.

"Okay, then two will do." Li Wei didn't mind; he wasn't really looking to fill his stomach, just indulging in his appetite.

"Are you a local resident of Shilingbao?" Li Wei asked while eating.

It has been said that the people are the best intelligence agents.

Although Heather's soul magic extracted some information from the mind of the Stone Ridge Fortress lord, it was mostly information already known to the expeditionary force. Apart from the composition of the Persian Gulf Empire's main army, there was nothing else of importance.

“Yes,” Shami replied cautiously.

He knew this important person was asking him questions, and if he accidentally said something he shouldn't, the intelligent thing on his neck would be gone.

"Have you encountered any soldiers who bullied you?" Li Wei asked casually.

"Not at the moment," Shami replied after discreetly observing the expressions of the adults.

He meant it sincerely.

Two days ago, a battle he had never seen in his life broke out. It is said that many people died. The original imperial army was defeated, and a new army called the High Cliff Fortress Allied Army arrived.

The neighbors were initially filled with despair, believing that it wouldn't be long before these ravenous soldiers would turn on them.

To everyone's surprise, they were merely patrolling the streets, preventing people from leaving the city and gathering in large groups.

They didn't do anything else, whether it was stealing women, food, or money.

Although he couldn't understand why this group was different from the Persian Gulf army, Shami felt it was the blessing of the Eternal God, which was why he dared to return to his old business and set up a stall.

"Li Wei is in trouble."

The voice came from behind, and the lord saw Lia's solemn expression.

(End of this chapter)