The Witcher: Make Witcher Great Again

Chapter 414 The Enemy in Maruul

The rain pattered against the armor, making a splashing sound.

Because of the rain, there was no one on the streets.

The entire city was as silent as a tomb.

Count Marius's sense of foreboding grew stronger, and he urged his personal guards to quicken their pace.

When he was still some distance from the city gate, he suddenly heard shouts of battle mixed with the sound of rain, as well as the sound of horns used to warn others.

Maruer felt a chill run down her spine.

"Enemy attack!"

At this time, the city gates had already been opened.

Kowell's soldiers kept pouring in.

The city of Maruer had few standing troops to begin with. Although Count Maruer had issued an order to conscript citizens into the army, the order was only issued during the day, and by nightfall only a few hundred militiamen had been barely recruited.

Moreover, these militiamen hadn't even had time to fire their spears; they had simply been gathered together.

When the witchers launched their surprise attack under the cover of rain, it was to no avail, even though Count Maryl had ordered twice as many men to keep watch.

The late night and heavy rain provided the attacking side with a significant advantage.

This night raid went even more smoothly than the one in Lakverein. The torrential rain not only masked the sounds but also greatly obstructed the defenders' vision.

Then, when the Witchers opened the city gates and let the Kovir army into the city, Maruil's garrison was even less able to put up an effective resistance.

Even after that, Count Marius and his personal guard joined the battle, but outnumbered, they could not reverse the defeat.

But it was just a death throes.

When the darkness was dispelled by the sunlight and dawn arrived, the battle was long over.

Citizens hiding in their homes cautiously opened their windows, looking out with a mixture of fear and doubt.

To their surprise, the count who had previously ruled them with such arrogance appeared to have been defeated.

But the victorious army defied common sense; instead of looting the city, they maintained order in the streets and arrested those who took advantage of the chaos to steal or rob.

The next day, citizens were taken from their homes to a square in the center of the city, which was surrounded by soldiers armed with weapons.

This caused quite a bit of panic.

Some citizens even mistakenly believed that they had been summoned here to carry out a massacre.

However, what they feared ultimately did not happen.

A young man, surrounded by a group of soldiers, walked up to the high platform in front of the square.

He first introduced himself and told everyone present that from now on they would be under his protection.

Most citizens breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

Then, the young people issued several more regulations:

Most of the regulations are not much different from those set by the previous ruler, Count Marul, who died the night before last in the rain.

For example, a curfew is imposed at night, and civilians, except for the military, are not allowed to stay outside.

For example, civilians are not allowed to engage in private duels, and any problems that arise should be reported to the city hall for resolution, etc.

However, there are also a few new regulations that differ from those of the previous rulers.

Among them, there are three most important provisions:

First of all, no one is allowed to urinate or defecate in the city.

The first offense will result in a fine; three or more offenses will result in caning; and more than ten offenses will result in the confiscation of the tools used in the crime.
Secondly, no one is allowed to drink river water or well water directly; the water must be boiled before drinking.

Last but not least, the new lords reduced the taxes they had to pay.

When Count Marius was still alive, the citizens had to hand over about 60% to 70% of their income.

However, the new lord told them that from now on, they would only need to pay 40%, and they could keep the remaining 60% for themselves.

This made the citizens instantly realize that whether or not the ruler was changed didn't really affect them. As long as the new ruler could fulfill his promises, it would actually be better to change him.

Maruul was once a city-state, and its territory naturally included not only the city itself, but also a large area of ​​land outside the city.

The land outside the city originally belonged to the count's vassals, but many of them died in the war to invade the Marquisate of Talgo.

In the fierce battle that took place on the rainy night the day before yesterday, the remaining vassals were either killed or fled.

In other words, the city and the vast lands outside it suddenly became no-man's-land overnight.

So Lynn promoted all the witch hunters and the soldiers who had fought most outstandingly and bravely the night before to the rank of knight.

They were each given a knighthood.

The witchers' reaction was alright.

They had long believed that following Lynn would lead to a bright and promising future.

These soldiers were different.

They couldn't say that Lynn's promises to them went in one ear and out the other, but they certainly didn't take them to heart.

Lynn did indeed say before that he would reward loyal and brave soldiers, promote them to knighthood, and grant them land.

But they thought Lynn was just making empty promises.

After all, in this world, there are examples of commoners rising to the rank of knight, but they are extremely rare.

Besides, they are criminals.

We're already being treated exceptionally well, receiving a salary higher than that of ordinary soldiers; how could we possibly ask for more?

Therefore, even Julia, including the commander, dared not have any other expectations.

To this day, Lynn has knighted and landed the soldiers who were the bravest that night.

It was only then that the soldiers realized that Lynn was serious.

The soldiers immediately erupted in cheers.

If there were numerical values, you could see that the soldiers' loyalty to Lynn increased instantly.

……

The army then rested in Maruel for a week.

Even during his rest period, Lynn didn't stay idle.

He recruited two hundred people from the citizens to form a guard unit.

Afterwards, he planned to leave behind another hundred soldiers to defend Maruul together with the two hundred guards.

By this time, the Humphries Alliance was already severely weakened, and apart from Kangon, the dissatisfaction of the nobles of other city-states with King Niedamir had also reached its peak.

Therefore, even if King Niedamir knew that Maruul had been occupied and wanted to conscript nobles from various regions to form an army, the other nobles would not respond.

Therefore, the task of these three hundred men is simply to defend against roaming bandits and outlaws, which is more than enough.

Furthermore, Lynn took the time to check each of the two hundred people one by one using the Axii sign.

We've confirmed that they're all decent young men who are willing to work hard.

You can absolutely trust them with the city.

As for the original officials in the city, Lynn only made some minor adjustments.

Lynn allowed anyone identified by the Akshi Sign as a member of the Day People to continue working. He would only remove them from their posts if they were incompetent or harbored resentment towards him.

A week later, Lynn led the remaining troops to Kreidon, which bordered Marlul.

The process is almost identical, and the result is the same.

With few defenders, Clayden was once again captured by Lynn.

Lynn also granted some land to soldiers who fought bravely and promoted them to knighthood.

If any modern person were to read this, they would probably already understand what Lynn was doing.

It's actually a modified version of the "Decree of Grace".

In this era, there is too much resistance to adopting Lenin's approach.

One problem is that productivity hasn't increased, and the other is that enlightenment ideas haven't emerged yet. Openly confronting the environment will only result in a crushing defeat.

Taking too big a step can easily lead to trouble.

There have been similar examples in Lynn's home world.

The people of this era have a deep-rooted yearning and attachment to the land.

No matter how much salary you give them, it's not as good as giving them a piece of land of their own.

There is a perfect example of this in The Witcher 3:

The sangria, exclusively supplied to the Duke of Toussaint's family, was stored at the Château de Lavrou, where the steward, Fabius, was well-fed, well-drinked, and received a high salary from the Duchess.

To others, this must be seen as doing a good job in this position to repay the Duchess's kindness.

However, Fabius secretly sold the sangria from the estate and pocketed the money.

His reasons for doing so are even more baffling:
Simply because he needed a large sum of money to buy the family estate that his squandered father had sold off.

Of course, Fabixiu's crimes were eventually exposed, and he received the punishment he deserved.

But his deeds are a lesson to be learned.

That's why Lynn gave land to the soldiers and promoted them to knighthood.

This approach serves two purposes: it sets an example, inspires the entire army, motivates subordinates to fight bravely, and firmly binds these people to one's own cause.

After all, if their regime collapses, they will naturally lose everything they own.

Therefore, they must spontaneously defend Lynn's regime in order to protect their own gains.

Finally, there is another important reason:
The Nilfgaardian Empire was able to maintain a professional army of over 300,000 standing soldiers by rewarding soldiers with land based on their military achievements on the battlefield.

That's why Nilfgaard has been constantly expanding outwards over the past few decades, growing stronger with each battle.

As is well known, Sintra, like Skellige, is a martial and warlike people.

However, in the First Northern War, Cintra was quickly defeated, and then even the royal city was captured by the Nilfgaardians. Queen Calanthe jumped from the tower on the day the city fell, committing suicide for her country.

Why does this happen?

What happened to the fighting nation we were promised?

Actually, this is mainly due to the systemic problems of the Kingdom of Sintra.

The northern kingdoms all still maintained the traditional medieval feudal system, and Sintra was no exception.

Therefore, when the Nilfgaardian army entered the Manada Valley, Queen Calanthe had only just mobilized her personal troops.

As for the armies of the vassals throughout Sintra, they haven't even finished assembling or mobilizing, let alone arrived.

By the time the other vassal armies had assembled, the royal city was already adorned with the sun flag.

Therefore, strengthening centralized authority is essential to counter the Black Army of Nilfgaard.

Don't people in this era yearn for land?
it is good.

Then I won't ask about bloodline or background.

Anyone who is brave enough to serve me, Lynn Augustus, can be promoted to knight and granted land.

The land is given to you, and you don't have to worry about anything.

I will arrange for you a chief steward, tax collector, tribunal for the people, legislator, and their subordinate officials.

Some people may wonder where Lynn found so many talented people?

Actually, it's not difficult.

Every year, there are so many graduates from Novigrad's universities and the University of Newcastle. If you post a long-term recruitment notice on the bulletin board in Novigrad's busiest square, you'll naturally attract a steady stream of applicants.

In short, I will handle all the affairs in the territory for you perfectly, and you can just lie back and count your money.

Furthermore, your land can be inherited by your direct descendants.

In the future, your descendants may also become knights like you and continue to fight for the Augustus family.

Of course, the knights here are knights in the truest sense, whose status and power are higher than that of ordinary civilians, rather than soldiers who have lost their personal freedom, have to bear heavy and arduous labor, and suffer heavy exploitation.

The knights Lynn bestowed would form the foundation for his future rule over the Humphries League.

If anyone opposes him because of his non-noble and witcher background, they are essentially standing against the knights who have already gained real benefits.

Moreover, once the Humphries Alliance is completely occupied by Lynn, Lynn will arrange for these knights to receive uniform officer training and military training.

In the future, they will also be key to the grassroots and mid-level command system in Lynn's army.

……

After Lynn successively occupied Marlul and Kreidon, King Niedamir, who was wrestling with domestic opposition forces, finally realized what was happening.

Realizing the overwhelming force of the opposing side, King Niedamir took the initiative to make concessions, acknowledging some of the opposition nobles' conditions and temporarily reaching a reconciliation with the domestic opposition forces.

After eliminating the risk of civil war, King Niedamir managed to assemble an army.

Prepare to implement defenses in Cleo City.

After all, based on previous experience, after capturing Clayden, the Kowell army should soon continue its advance into the heart of the Humphries Alliance, namely Clayo.

However, King Niedamir waited and waited, but the Kovir army never appeared.

This made King Niedamir and his nobles uneasy.

Does Cowell's army not intend to occupy the entire territory of the Humphries Union?
Several days later, Kowell's army still hadn't arrived, while the nobles in Cleio were in an uproar.

The nobles of Holoppel who had been conscripted believed that they should be allowed to return to Holoppel with their troops.

Since the Koviel army has not appeared for so many days, it is very likely that they have bypassed Cleo and are going to attack Holoppel.

It should be noted that the nobles of Holoppel had brought their entire army to Holoppel in response to King Niedamir's call.

If Koviel's army had actually gone to Holoppel, Holoppel would probably have surrendered immediately when Koviel's flag appeared outside the city.

The nobles of Holoppel wanted to withdraw their troops, but the nobles of Kangon and Cleo naturally refused to agree.

joke.

Now is the time for everyone to work together to fight the enemy.

If you withdraw your troops, and he also withdraws his troops, then should we continue the war?
Why don't we all just surrender to Kowell?

Anyway, we all split off from Cowell, so surrendering now wouldn't be considered treason or defection.

(End of this chapter)