Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 449 The Resistance's Offensive
Isaac's eyes deepened.

He wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't speak.

After a moment of silence, he simply said, "Miss Gwen, it's getting late. Let's plan tomorrow's operation."

Gwen nodded.

Since the resistance set up camp in this new forest, many people have come to join them every few days.

Most of them were natives of the North, driven to desperation by their local lords, and had no choice but to rely on these resistance fighters from the White Crows to help them seek justice.

Gwen was somewhat surprised to find that these people, in terms of both their fighting spirit and their hatred for the lord and the Winter Wolf, were superior to those of the outsiders, and they were all clamoring to join the battle.

The resistance forces were indeed preparing for battle.

This was Isaac's suggestion; he advised the resistance to station themselves in the forest and constantly send small groups to harass the Winter Wolves.

Firstly, it diverts the Winter Wolf's attention; secondly, the resistance army itself has a large number of women and children, so this method allows for the concentration of superior forces to attack, making it more efficient.

And another point is that this is how you can win popularity among the public.

The conflicts between the people of the North and the noble lords, as well as the Winterwolf Guard, were almost irreconcilable. Isaac keenly sensed this and, after discussing it with Gwen, they raised the banner of resistance.

The resistance used to fight only to survive, but now, with more and more people from the North joining them, they are also fighting against tyranny for the people of this land.

Moreover, the resistance was truly powerful and willing to fight, which led to an interesting situation: the Winter Wolf Guard, despite being the lord's personal guard, was more ruthless towards the common people than towards the resistance.

It's a very simple principle—the people won't rebel, but the resistance army will.

Rebellion isn't that complicated. You just need to give those who can't survive a way out, even if it's just a bowl of hot porridge, and there will be plenty of people willing to give up their lives.

If a novice like Josh can create a cult out of thin air, it would be incredibly easy for a rebellion expert like Isaac to organize a team.

In fact, he didn't organize much. The resistance fighters simply went to the town, hanged the tax collector and the lord's henchmen on pillars, and people kept coming to join them.

“We’re going to attack Caven Town this time,” Isaac said, pointing to the map.

Gwen looked down. Calvin Town was a bit far from here. Although it wasn't in the same direction as the three towns where the Winter Wolves were stationed, the area between them was all plains.

“Isn’t this a bit too risky?” Gwen hesitated. “It will take at least half a day to get to Caven Town. If the Winter Wolves’ cavalry catch up, the resistance will have to fight them on the plains.”

When light infantry fights cavalry on the plains, it's basically a one-sided battle. The resistance fighters have firearms, but the Winter Wolf Guard are pistol-wielding cavalry!

The muskets they had were not outdated.

Do you think they'll find us?

"Hmm, really? This is their territory."

"Miss Gwen, have you received any intelligence from Grizzly Town recently?"

"There are quite a few. Recently, those winter wolves have stolen some more food, and many people are going hungry. They've been hiding in seclusion lately, only occasionally sending people to scout around."

“Miss Gwen, this is their territory. How could we possibly have information about the Winter Wolves’ garrison town?” Isaac said with a half-smile.

Gwen paused for a moment, then her eyes widened as if she had just realized something. “This is the so-called advantage of resistance—we are enemies of the lords, but the people are on our side. The people tell the resistance about Winter Wolves’ movements, but Winter Wolves have a hard time even leaving the town.”

Isaac's smile was full of confidence: "This is not the territory of the Winter Wolves, nor is it the territory of the lord. This is our territory."

Day two.

Rumors suddenly spread throughout Grizzly Town that the resistance was coming to attack. The Winter Wolves hurriedly sealed off the town, closed the gates, and stood ready for battle.

The soldiers waited all day but didn't see a single resistance fighter.

The winter wolves gradually relaxed and left many of them to keep watch with torches until dawn the next day. Only then did the winter wolves breathe a sigh of relief, realizing it was just a rumor.

Since no battle took place, the winter wolves did not lose, and not losing means they won.

To celebrate this great victory, the Winter Wolves brought out some ale and mocked the resistance's cowardice—they didn't even dare to launch an attack.

The celebration was called off in the evening when news of the fall of Calvin Town arrived.

The person who delivered the message was deliberately let go by the resistance; otherwise, he wouldn't have even made it to Grizzly Town.

The resistance fighters easily overwhelmed the town's guards and stormed in—these small towns had no walls, were not strategic locations, and had few guards, making them no match for the resistance fighters armed with muskets.

After the resistance forces stormed into the town, they took over the entire town without much effort. Although the Winter Wolves had not yet slaughtered the people here, the people were not newcomers to the northern border of the empire. How could they not know what the noble lords were like?

The resistance's next actions infuriated the leader, whose methods were indeed extremely despicable:
They actually opened the granaries and distributed grain to the people!
This year is not a year of famine, but not being a year of famine does not mean that the people will have enough to eat. The nobles would not do such a foolish thing.

But they won't, the resistance will.

The resistance forces hanged the tax collector and the local lord—a baron—in the square. Seventy percent of the grain was transported back to the stronghold, and thirty percent was distributed to the local people.

It's not that Gwen didn't want to distribute more, it's just that the lord had stockpiled too much grain. Even if only 30% was distributed, it would be enough to fill people's rice bins, and that grain would be enough for the people to eat for half a year.

This food was originally intended for the Winter Wolf Guard. After failing to extract any more resources from the three towns including Grizzly, the Winter Wolves prepared to head to Calvin Town. With the coordination of the alpha wolf, the lord there had prepared the food in advance.

Now, all that food is gone.

Not only did the resistance army rob them, but they also distributed the food to those lowly people.
The winter wolves were furious.

The alpha wolf immediately mustered his soldiers and prepared to head to Calvin Town.

Although the resistance army has most likely withdrawn, surely the people there can't escape, right? The resistance army is difficult to defeat, but dealing with the local populace will be a piece of cake, won't it?

However, since it was already evening, they hesitated for a moment and decided to set off the next day.

Given the level of organization in that era, it's hard to say how many cavalrymen would be left after a night raid.

But the next day, Winter Wolf's expedition was interrupted.

Early that morning, the alpha wolf had just gotten up when he was surprised to see an orange-haired girl in the house.

Lina.

(End of this chapter)