I'm not a lord

Chapter 228 A Strong Attack on Amber Harbor

The Duke of the Valley's good cousin never even considered the possibility of undermining him.

In his view, Lynn's initiative to request that his side send an envoy to be stationed there clearly indicated that he wanted to establish a long-term and close relationship with his side.

This is clearly a great thing, isn't it?
The marriage alliance failed only temporarily. As long as we continue to work hard, there will definitely be other opportunities in the future!
Yes, that’s definitely the case!
Putting all that aside, Caleb was not a significant figure in the Valley Duchy.

Whether it's organizing documents or traveling abroad, there are plenty of people who can replace him.

Therefore, the cousin agreed to Lynn's request without much thought.

Given his position in the duchy, he could naturally make decisions on such a small matter for his cousin, the duke.

It can only be said that being a plenipotentiary envoy has both advantages and disadvantages; good intentions can sometimes lead to bad outcomes.

The following morning, the main members of the mission embarked on their return journey by boat, while Caleb stayed behind with a few attendants.

Lynn stood on the dock, watching the sails of the ships gradually disappear into the distance, and asked, "How about we make a bet?"

Kalebo slowly shook his head: "There's no need to gamble. The Duke will definitely agree to let me stay. In his eyes, I'm just an ordinary court official."

He had traveled the North for many years and met countless people.

He believed he could see through his own duke's temperament.

Ultimately, Caleb was just an ordinary diplomat with mediocre abilities, and it was normal for him to be overlooked in the Duke's court, which was full of talented people.

However, what Lynn's emerging forces lack most is experienced and seasoned officials like Kalebo.

You can tell which side someone is more favored just by looking at their knees.

In his heart, he did not feel much guilt about betraying the Duke of the Valley.

He was not given important positions in the Duke's court, and his monthly salary was not much. He had to work his way up through seniority before he could become a court advisor and enjoy a relatively stable life.

More importantly, he had no ties to the Valley Duchy.

He was a priest who was unmarried and had no legal children.

His parents had also passed away, and his only brother had died in battle.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him invincible.

Lynn suddenly asked, "Speaking of which, do you have any illegitimate children in the Valley Duchy?"

Kalebo's mind went blank for a moment at the question, and after a brief pause, he replied hesitantly, "An illegitimate child? I can't be sure about that."

While priests are indeed not allowed to marry, no one says they can't patronize prostitutes!
Aside from mercenaries, the repressed priesthood is the group most fond of prostitution.

Kalebo traveled the North for many years, leaving his mark on brothels throughout the land.

During his time off from the palace, he would often visit brothels with some of his colleagues.

With the near-absence of contraception these days, prostitutes are arguably the group most likely to give birth to illegitimate children.

If you walk by the river often, how can you avoid getting your shoes wet?

For this, he also paid several substantial child support payments to prostitutes who came to his door with their children.

But those are all muddled accounts; who can be sure that those children really have his blood in them?

He only took pity on those children who were born without fathers, which is why he was willing to pay out of his own pocket.

After a moment's thought, Kalebo added, "My lord, even if there were, it's all in the past and has nothing to do with me."

That's not entirely untrue; illegitimate children in the North usually only take their mother's surname and have virtually no connection with their father.

This is why illegitimate children face severe discrimination among the common people; their social status is very low, and they are often despised.

“Now, I’m giving you your first task.” Lynn smiled slightly and said in a commanding tone, “Within a week, marry a wife and have a child as soon as possible.”

Caleb instinctively replied, "But sir, I am a priest and cannot marry."

To say that Callebo didn't crave the warmth of a home would be a lie.

Whenever he returned home after completing a diplomatic mission, he would always feel saddened by loneliness and desolation.

However, due to his immigration status, he cannot legally marry.

Moreover, he is often away from home, so marriage would be a torment for both of them.

Lynn replied firmly, "There is no such rule in White River Territory. In my territory, everyone has the right to marry, including priests. Also, you will not be undertaking too many diplomatic duties in the future. I will establish a Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and you will serve as its first minister."

Lynn knew at a glance how much Caleb was worth.

This kind of person is suitable to be an ordinary diplomatic envoy, and the Duke of the Valley certainly did not make a mistake in choosing him.

However, he still decided to appoint Kalebo as the first foreign minister.

This is like spending a fortune to buy a horse's bones.

An ordinary court official who seemed to be doing nothing but mediocrity suddenly became a minister in his territory of Baihe.

Besides being a heavy drinker and a braggart, Caleb's greatest strengths are his seniority and extensive network in the Valley Duchy, where he knows many talented young people.

Setting an example for him will help Lynn recruit more talent from the Duchy.

Caleb had no reply to the Count's order.

Lynn is a lord with unlimited power over his territory, including the power to make laws and regulations.

He said that if priests can get married, then priests must be able to get married.

Kalebo was indeed tempted. He was over forty years old, and if he wanted to get married and have children, it was almost the last chance.

But the thought of him suddenly getting married and starting a family left him somewhat bewildered: "Sir, I..."

Lynn patted him on the shoulder with a smile: "Don't think too much. Go find a good girl to marry. With your eloquence and status, there are plenty of girls willing to marry you. Marriage can't bind your freedom. Just don't come to me for mediation if there are any family conflicts in the future."

For a ruler like Lynn, marriage is usually a wonderful thing.

It not only gives its subjects something to care about and something to be vulnerable about, but also allows it to continuously reproduce and produce more subjects.

In the North, people are the most valuable asset.

Lynn has never stopped absorbing immigrants. Every few days, a number of refugees flee from the Crown Territory to the Three Rivers City.

He never turned away anyone who came to him.

Through these refugees, he could also obtain more information about the Crown Territory.

Currently, the bandit problem in the Crown Territory is escalating.

War and plunder spawned a group of vagrant bandits who, in turn, turned more farmers into vagrant bandits, like a plague sweeping across the entire Crown Kingdom. The worst-hit area was the north bank of the Tranquil River in the Crown Kingdom, especially where the Marsh Duke's army passed through.

The Duke had established a large number of new nobles in the northwest region of Crown Country in an attempt to appease and suppress the local peasants.

However, the troops he allocated were quite limited, a drop in the ocean.

As a result, farmers continued to flee to other places.

This is also one of the reasons why Lynn was unwilling to go on the Eastern Expedition; he never liked doing things that were laborious and thankless.

Duke Lothair of the Marshland certainly didn't like it either, but he had no choice but to do it.

Just as Lynn was celebrating becoming the first Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lothair was leading his most elite court cavalry in a fierce attack on Amber Harbor.

Previously, Lothair would only send cannon fodder troops to attack cities.

Even during the second siege of Amber Harbor, he still habitually used cannon fodder troops to wear down the city's manpower.

If there's one thing the Crown Territory has in abundance, it's cannon fodder.

When they first set off from Tot City, Lothair was worried that there wouldn't be enough cannon fodder.

But he soon discovered that with the Crown Territory teeming with refugees and bandits, he only needed to send a few elite squads out on horseback to wander around and bring back a considerable number of people.

By using family members as hostages and making empty promises, he can obtain a large number of cannon fodder.

As for attacking cities, the old methods still apply.

First, build a dozen or so catapults and bombard the towers on the city wall. Once the towers are destroyed, send out cannon fodder troops to fill in the moat below the city wall.

Finally, they deployed siege towers, siege engines, and other siege equipment to launch a strong attack on the city walls and gates.

Only the soldiers on the top of the siege towers need to be elite; the rest are all cannon fodder used to deplete the city's troops and defensive equipment.

From the end of July to mid-August, the Duke of the Marsh launched dozens of offensives against Amber Harbor.

The area beneath the city walls was already piled high with corpses, and including those thrown out of the city, the number may have exceeded ten thousand.

It seems to be working quite well.

By using an almost endless supply of cannon fodder to deplete the city's limited manpower, Lothair will likely be able to take Amber Harbor in just a few more months.

However, two unexpected events disrupted his siege rhythm.

First came the urgent military intelligence from Golden Deer Fort.

The Earl of White River and the Duke of Grassland launched an attack from the east and west sides simultaneously.

The former launched a major attack on Turbulentshire, capturing several castles and seizing a large number of estates belonging to the Marsh Dukes.

The latter continued to plunder the border areas as always, but its military advance was more advanced, and it appeared to be preparing to attack Golden Deer Fortress.

Lothair had anticipated the offensive launched by these two forces in the fall.

If it were him, he would certainly take advantage of the autumn harvest season to launch a war, with military rations readily available everywhere, saving the trouble of long-distance transport of supplies.

Lothair's attitude was that he didn't care as long as Golden Deer Castle wasn't lost.

Although they won't receive reinforcements from Turbulent County, as long as the local garrison holds the castle, they should be able to hold off Lynn's army until winter.

The Duke of the Grasslands may seem to be coming on strong, but he can't change his ways as the "Bandit Duke." He'll probably retreat after robbing some people and goods.

In Lothair's eyes, the duchy was just a place to buy time; as long as he could hold out until he conquered Amber Harbor, his mission would be accomplished.

"Let them make a fuss. Just like a dog that has found a bone, it can't see anything but the bone."

On the very night he received the military intelligence, Lothair even had the leisure to comment on the Earl of White River and the Duke of Meadow.

His eldest son, László, and a group of generals also burst into laughter.

Under Lothair's arrangement, the families of the court cavalry had already been moved to Golden Deer Castle and several nearby castles, so the scattered troops under the Duke of Meadows had no chance of conquering the castles.

But the next day, they couldn't laugh anymore.

They saw several flags rising from the city walls, their coats of arms featuring horizontal and vertical stripes, clearly indicating they came from the Kingdom of Rui in the south.

These days, noble coats of arms have regional characteristics. For example, the coats of arms of the Northern Kingdom are mainly composed of animals, while the coats of arms of the Rui Kingdom are mostly composed of regular horizontal or vertical bars.

That evening, at an emergency meeting in the military tent, László spoke first: "Noble knights from the Kingdom of Rui have appeared in Amber Harbor, and I recognize all their banners."

As the eldest son of the Duke, László had participated in a tournament held in Amber Harbor and competed in martial arts against nobles from the South.

His warehouse was still filled with armor and weapons he had won back from the nobles of the Southern Territory.

He recognized those flags and quickly realized the gravity of the situation.

Earl of Coldwind followed up, saying, "I counted during the day, and there are more than thirty noble banners from the Southern Territory. This means that at least thirty nobles of baron rank or above have come. There are also several banners symbolizing earls. If we estimate the worst-case scenario, there may be hundreds of knights among them."

Arno, the leader of the Power Mercenary Group, frowned and asked, "Is it possible that it's fake? Was it made by the illegitimate king to deceive us?"

Laszlo immediately retorted: "No, some of the flags are very old, they should be from impoverished nobles in the South, and crossbows from the South have also appeared on the battlefield."

“I believe these nobles are volunteers from the southern border, mostly impoverished nobles who have lost their territories. There’s nothing to be afraid of,” the Marsh Duke concluded, attempting to calm the slightly unsettled hearts of those in the tent.

Although he spoke lightly, Lothair couldn't help but feel a deep sense of worry.

His worst fears came true.

Even if this army from the South was indeed just a volunteer force composed of impoverished nobles, their appearance meant that the Southern forces had begun to intervene in the civil war in the North.

Moreover, the bastard Maurice actually allowed the noble army of the South to be stationed in Amber Harbor, which means that he is willing to accept interference from the South.

Once is never enough; as time goes on and the situation in Amber Harbor deteriorates, it's hard to guarantee that Morris won't bring in more troops from the South.

What's coming now is just a volunteer army formed by impoverished nobles; next time, it might be a proper noble army.

Ambitious people are always drawn to each other.

Lothair knew very well that Otto III of the Kingdom of Rui was an ambitious man, just like himself.

Moreover, Otto's ambitions are even greater than Lothair's.

Otto's starting point was as a king, and he was also the son-in-law of the former king, possessing the rightful claim to the crown of the North. His ambition was to unite the kingdoms of the North and eventually establish a vast empire belonging to the 'Ruy' that spanned both the North and the South.

As the number of Rui noble troops in Amber Harbor increases, it is not impossible that they will turn around and take control of Amber Harbor, and help Otto III land in his most loyal Amber Harbor.

After the emergency military meeting, Duke Lothair of the Marsh summoned several trusted men, including his eldest son. He stood up, drew his longsword, and said in a cold voice:

"Starting tomorrow, I will personally command the palace cavalry to attack the city. We must capture Amber Harbor as soon as possible!"

(End of this chapter)