I'm not a lord

Chapter 170 The Division of the City

Hugo, the second brother, was extremely efficient at raiding.

In less than a quarter of an hour, he led his cavalry to sweep away the village of three hundred people.

Valuable ironware and cloth were all bagged up, and the visible draft horses and oxen were all tied up and taken away.

Houses and grain were burned on the spot, and even the fruit trees behind the houses were not spared, most of them being ruthlessly cut down.

As for the wheat seedlings, the seedlings in the strip fields have just sprouted new buds, so the damage caused by the trampling of horses is relatively limited.

Furthermore, the arable land in the northern villages is too vast, and relying solely on trampling is extremely inefficient.

Therefore, the second son simply ordered his men to open the sheep pen.

Soon, the flock of sheep surged into the fields like a tide.

These animals love tender wheat stalks, and while munching on them, they will uproot the wheat seedlings, causing far more damage than the trampling of humans and horses.

These ruthless tactics have effectively destroyed the lifeline of this village.

But the second brother didn't care; carrying out his elder brother's orders and completely destroying the enemy's spring farming operations was his primary task.

Moreover, he did not indiscriminately kill serfs.

He verbally said he would kill all those who fled south.

In reality, very few people were killed.

More than 300 people fled in all directions, and they were all locals familiar with the terrain. How could they be so easy to catch?
In any case, as long as they can destroy the houses and wheat seedlings, and then kidnap the draft horses and oxen, the spring planting season in this village will be completely ruined.

The main purpose of the intimidation was to drive these serfs to flee north.

As long as they are willing to join the Baihe Territory, it won't be difficult for them to make a living.

It doesn't really matter if they run south, since their final destination is Baihe Territory anyway.

Sanhe City has no food to feed these serfs.

After sweeping through the northernmost village, the second brother didn't stop for a moment and immediately gathered his troops to attack another village in the southwest.

The first principle of plundering is 'speed', and that is 'speed'.

The faster you act, the more loot you can plunder, and the harder it will be for the enemy to hinder you.

As for the captured livestock, they were naturally taken over by the third brother, Yang, who was following behind.

The third son led a hundred well-trained infantrymen to take in the serfs, clean up the battlefield, and drive the livestock back to Baihe Territory.

This is similar to robbing a bank. Someone needs to keep watch, someone needs to break down the door, someone needs to loot the valuables, and someone else needs to cover the retreat.

Division of labor and cooperation are essential to maximizing efficiency.

Within three hours of dawn, the second son, Hugh, destroyed four villages, captured more than two hundred large livestock, and burned down more than three hundred farmhouses.

Smoke and fire rose over the Niden Abbey estate as thousands of homeless serfs poured into the abbey from multiple directions.

The monastery, located in the center of the manor, naturally took note of the enemy's presence.

clang clang clang!

Immediately after the first smoke signal was raised, monks climbed to the top of the monastery's bell tower and rang the bronze bell with all their might.

As the bell rang, the five cavalry squads stationed nearby, totaling fifteen cavalrymen, quickly assembled, along with a group of infantrymen maintaining order, making a total of one hundred men.

Before they could even put on their armor and mount their horses, smoke signals started burning in another direction.

They had only been gone a short while, still halfway there, when smoke rose from another direction.

Where to save?
How to save?
The cavalry led by the second brother was actually a regular army disguised as bandits, and their looting efficiency far exceeded the monastery's expectations.

At the same time, the second brother also calculated the enemy's reaction time, knowing that it would take the enemy at least half an hour to put on their armor and set off in formation, enough time for him to plunder a village and then move on to another target.

The cavalry, loyal to the church, were not fools. They caught a runaway serf on the way and questioned him, and learned that the enemy's numbers far exceeded their own and that they had a large number of heavily armored cavalry, making them no ordinary bandits.

The captain, who was leading the group, reined in his horse. His gaze, hidden beneath his helmet, darted between the three plumes of smoke for a moment before he decisively ordered, "Back to the monastery! Back to the monastery!"

What's the point of saving them? We should hurry back and call for reinforcements to defend the monastery!

Within this estate, the monastery was the center of wealth, and the monastery's buildings and walls made it easy to defend.

But the second brother never even considered a direct assault on the monastery.

He's not here to rob us; Baihe County is short of more than just this much money right now.

Trade routes have been blocked, so there's nowhere to spend money.

The enemy's defense of the monastery played right into the second brother's hands.

Around 2 p.m., he led his cavalry to sweep through the entire manor, destroying all eight villages within it.

The serfs in the four villages behind had already mostly fled, allowing the second son to leisurely set fire to the villages, destroy the wheat seedlings, and plunder the valuables before retreating at a leisurely pace, as easy as a spring outing.

The only minor regret was that the number of large livestock captured in the second half of the journey decreased significantly.

The monastery had a set of established strategies for dealing with external raids.

When the enemy numbers are too great, the village leaders will organize the serfs to flee to the central monastery, taking with them large livestock and a small amount of stored grain.

Inside the monastery, the elderly abbot, his temples graying, had already urgently sent people to seek help from two nearby manors that morning.

But how can distant water quench a nearby fire?
It takes time for the reinforcements to assemble and travel. They had just arrived when the second brother had already retreated, leaving behind only a mess.

The first day of the raid ended in a complete victory for Shirakawa Territory.

Under the ruthless actions of the second son, the spring planting work of this large estate suffered a devastating blow, with all eight villages burned down and more than 10,000 acres of wheat seedlings dying.

The number of serfs killed was not large, but they lost their homes and livestock, as well as almost all their food and seeds.

If we replant, there's still a reasonable amount of time.

After all, these fields have already been cultivated; all that's needed is to replant them.

However, without external assistance, it would be almost impossible for them to complete the replanting, and they would certainly not be able to hold out until the autumn harvest.

Farm tools, draft horses, seeds, and houses are all gone. How can we replant them?
And even if the church were willing to help them, would they dare to rebuild their houses and replant wheat seedlings?

The enemy's camp was located ten kilometers north of the manor, within an hour's ride on horseback to provide 'door-to-door service'.

However, there were very few, if any, serfs willing to defect to the Baihe Territory in the north.

In recent weeks, the monks in the monastery have been preaching to them daily that White River Territory is the devil's domain and that Lord Lynn is a devil who eats the hearts and livers of children alive.

The ignorant serfs were afraid of disobeying the divine oracle. They had lived under the protection of the church for generations and were unwilling to turn to the devil. They only hoped to be properly taken care of by the church.

The church's leadership learned of the devastation at the estate that afternoon and, while holding an internal meeting, also informed the city council of the situation.

"I knew it all along, I knew it all along! That bastard Lynn's goal was indeed to sabotage spring planting!"

Inside the city council, the enormous, rat-like president of the grain guild was furious.

Although only one estate belonging to the church has suffered today, if things continue this way, the estates of the Grain Guild are also destined to suffer the same fate.

There are only about ten large manors in the western suburbs of Sanhe City.

If Lynn continues to loot at this rate, all the fruits of this year's spring planting will be lost in less than half a month.

By autumn, the western suburbs of Sanhe City will have no harvest.

Let alone selling grain or brewing wine, even just to keep the citizens from going hungry, they had to buy expensive grain from outside.

Bishop Rothegi from the Trinity Church glanced at the rat-like chairman, then adopted a compassionate and benevolent expression:

“What good is it if you know? An estate has been ruined by him, two thousand serfs are homeless and may not even live to see this autumn.”

Rotegi was the son of a small merchant in Sanhe City and the city's most famous "small-town exam-taker".

He began his education at the age of six, entered a monastery school at the age of twelve, went to the South to study at a church university at the age of eighteen, graduated with a doctorate at the age of twenty-eight, and then returned to his hometown of Three Rivers to work at the church.

In less than twenty years, he was promoted to bishop, becoming the head of the church in Triss Rivers. While in charge of the church, he also attended the city council and could profoundly influence city policies. His power was no less than that of Mayor Jürgen.

However, Rotegi's reputation among the citizens was not high. He was the subject of various gossip news and was often associated with various young boys.

Since senior clergy members cannot marry or have legal blood heirs, citizens will inevitably question their sexual orientation.

Moreover, in the eyes of most citizens, Rotegi and his church are vampires crawling on the city.

The church owns vast farmlands and properties, yet contributes little to taxes and instead requires the city council to allocate funds for the renovation of its churches and monasteries.

The militia leader, Kuno, led the mockery: "The church makes so much money every year, how could it not even be able to support two thousand serfs?"

"Of course I can afford to raise them!"

Rotegi's tone immediately rose three notches, and then he retorted, "Then let me ask you, Lynn, that devil, ravaged the outskirts of the city, didn't your militia bear any responsibility? It was clearly you who failed to guard the intersections, allowing him to break through the blockade!"

Kunno remained unfazed, stating righteously, "The militia's duty is to protect the city. The area outside the city is your church's territory, so you'll have to bear the consequences if anything goes wrong! Besides, the church isn't without an army. Didn't you say last time that the church would never tolerate any invading enemy? So what about your counterattack?"

Rotegei was speechless, after all, he had really made that boast last time.

But a counterattack is impossible. With the church's limited strength, it will never be able to retaliate against Lynn in its lifetime.

According to victims in various villages, the enemy cavalry force was overwhelming, numbering no less than two hundred, along with an unknown number of infantry.

They only taught these thirty lance squads and about a hundred cavalrymen how to fight back!
The problem Sanhe City is facing this time is essentially due to the lack of centralized military power.

Both the city defense militia and the church armed forces were standing armies with a certain level of combat capability, but their command systems were independent.

Furthermore, the commanders of the two sides are naturally opposed to each other.

The militia members were all from the urban class and were hostile to the greedy church. Their leaders' positions were bound to be at odds with the church's.

If suddenly confronted with a powerful enemy, this awkward military system will instantly crash.

If Sanhe City is given more time, there is a certain probability that it will be able to iterate on its military system and even its power system.

But Lynn clearly wouldn't give them that time.

Once the fuse of war is lit, it must end with one side exploding completely.

The members of parliament present were certainly aware of this.

In an instant, nearly half of the councilors' eyes were focused on Mayor Jürgen.

These councilors' core interests lie outside the city, and they naturally hope that the mayor can step in to save the plantations and serfs in the western suburbs.

According to city law, the mayor concurrently serves as the chief commander of the militia, whose authority surpasses that of the executive commander, Kunno.

If Jürgen wanted to, he could easily bypass Regiment Commander Kunno and mobilize the militia.

Moreover, given his close personal relationship with Bishop Rothegi, he would most likely also gain command of the church's armed forces.

When the city faces a crisis, the mayor can also conscript citizens to arm themselves. Given the size and wealth of Sanhe City, it would not be a problem to gather five or six hundred armored infantrymen.

In other words, in the current city of Sanhe, only Mayor Jürgen has the ability and authority to mobilize the city's armed forces, which number over a thousand.

The problem is that he simply doesn't have the ability to command an army.

He spent his entire life as a businessman, never received military training, and never commanded an army in battle. He couldn't even kill a chicken.

"."

Jürgen sat at the far north end of the parliamentary round table, where he could certainly see the expectant gazes of the members of parliament.

But his first thought was: I'm going to beat up Lynn, really?

That Lynn is a devil from White Bear Territory, a ruthless man who defeated the alliance of four barons with only two baronies.

Jürgen was, after all, a businessman. He bullied the weak and feared the strong. He could order the black market merchant Leon to pay extra war taxes without hesitation, but he dared not leave the city to confront Lynn directly.

But as mayor, he couldn't show any weakness, so he could only sit awkwardly in his chair and remain silent.

Commander Kunno could see the mayor's embarrassment. After a moment's thought, he stood up and shouted:
"Lynn's ultimate goal is definitely to capture Three Rivers City. If the troops inside the city rashly go out to fight, they will fall into his trap. Therefore, no matter how chaotic it is outside the city, the militia will never leave the city!"

The head of the brewing guild immediately raised his hand in agreement: "I agree. The militia are all infantry. Only by relying on the city walls can they withstand the cavalry charge. We cannot let them go out of the city to fight!"

Seeing that someone had taken the lead, several other members of parliament immediately expressed their approval.

Most of these councilors came from various craft guilds, and their base of support was within the city. The damage to the manors outside the city would not harm their fundamental interests.

Anyway, Lynn can only cause trouble for a short time. Once the Duke has dealt with the bastard son, King Morris, he can turn around and crush Lynn to death.

As for the life and death of the serfs on the manor, what does that have to do with them?

Once Lynn's forces are eliminated, the grain from the White River basin will flow back to Three Rivers City.

The serfs on the outskirts of the city could not farm, and the city could obtain cheap food from the Baihe River basin.

Seeing that he had secured the support of half of the councilors, Kunno grew bolder. He looked directly at the ashen-faced Bishop Rothegi and said in a blatantly reprimanding tone:
“Your Excellency, I think you should immediately gather all the Church’s troops together, either to defeat the enemy’s cavalry or to hold two or three manors. If you continue to disperse your forces, you will only lose everything in the end!”
Furthermore, the city council has already requested assistance from Golden Deer Castle, and in two weeks, the Duchess will send troops to reinforce Three Rivers. Surely you can't hold out for less than two weeks?

Quinno then interrupted the mayor, effectively ending the dispute.

Neither the militia nor the civilian armed forces could leave the city to fight for the church or the serfs.

You taught us how to harvest food, but you didn't distribute it to the citizens for free. During the war, you even personally fried the food. Why should we citizens fight for you?

Either resist on your own, or obediently wait for the Duke of the Swamp's reinforcements!
Although Kunno's behavior was presumptuous, Mayor Jürgen was not angry, after all, Kunno had helped him out of a predicament.

Bishop Rothegis was naturally speechless, since everything Kuno said made perfect sense and he could not refute it.

Lynn's raiding wars did not lead to a consensus among the councilors; instead, they caused them to split into two major factions.

The 'outside-the-city faction' led by Bishop Rothegi is temporarily at a disadvantage and can only pin their hopes on the Duke of the Marsh for reinforcements.

That very evening, the Duke's messenger arrived at the dock.

However, the flag flying on the ship was not the Golden Stag of the Marsh Duke, but the White Eagle of the Valley Duke.

(End of this chapter)