bestfiction Chapter 146 The Northern Campaign Begins
Chapter 146 The Northern Campaign Begins
Northwest of Yoda, Nilan Territory
As Yoda's border territory, Nilan Territory has been one of Yoda's main recruiting grounds for decades. Here, the only way for an ordinary person to accumulate wealth and achieve class advancement the fastest is to join the army.
Under the military centralization of the Yoda Empire, when a Yoda becomes a soldier in the Empire's standing army, in addition to the basic military pay, there are also subsidies from the lords of various territories. If the soldier is promoted and lives to retire, he will also receive a retirement fee that matches his rank or a few acres of land in his hometown. Some more ambitious Yodas will choose to use this money to go to college, and after graduation, they will use their connections in the army to seek an official position for themselves in the rear.
Ordinary civilians in Nilan Territory have the same idea. In order to join the army, children from some families, after helping their parents with farm work, go to learn various military skills from retired soldiers, including but not limited to martial arts, logistics, calculation and various miscellaneous skills. This is so that they can perform better than their peers when they are tested for military service as adults and become an officer or a safer military clerk.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
In a village near the border of Nilan Territory, a group of children lined up in an open space and poked the scarecrow on the opposite side with wooden sticks. This place used to be a place for drying grain, but now it has become a temporary training ground for the children. An adult nearby watched the children's movements and gave them instructions:
"When using a spear, you have to lower your body, extend the spear forward, and aim at the enemy's weak point... Why are you so low? And with this posture, you are here to fight, not to squat in the toilet!"
There was a burst of laughter in the open space, and the child being talked about scratched his head embarrassedly.
"Centurion, if we keep practicing like this, can we really achieve success on the battlefield?" A child asked the adult called the Centurion. His words resonated with all the children, and they all asked:
"Yes, yes. If you keep practicing like this, won't you just be an ordinary soldier in the army?"
"I want to learn how to deploy troops and become a general in the future!"
"me too!"
Listening to the innocent words of the children, the centurion smiled bitterly and said:
"You are still too young. You can't become a general just because you want to. I have been in the army for 20 years and I am only a centurion. Besides, being a general is not an easy job. In addition to managing various matters for tens of thousands of people, you also need to protect yourself on the battlefield to avoid being besieged by the Midlan people."
"Then Centurion, are the Mitlan people really that powerful? I remember when the recruiting officers came to the village to recruit soldiers, they said that the Mitlan people were stupid and weak, and that one of us Yoda people could beat three or four." A child asked at this time.
"Don't listen to his nonsense. He said this in order to complete his conscription mission. As long as it's a war, there will be no war without danger and blood. That's why I'm here to teach you how to use weapons so that you can survive better on the battlefield..."
Before the centurion finished speaking, a hurried bell rang from the distant village. This was the message from the village chief requesting a gathering. Due to its location on the border and the harsh environment in the countryside, the small nobles who only had one village as their territory were unwilling to build a castle next to the village to live in. They generally lived in the big city closest to the fiefdom, and let the most authoritative gentry in the village help them manage it. They would only send people to the village to check on it when it was time to collect taxes.
"You guys go home quickly and we can train together after I come back." After saying this, the centurion ran non-stop to the center of the village.
At this time, hundreds of villagers had gathered in the village square. An old man wearing a gentleman's hat stood in the middle and shouted to the villagers:
"Listen to me, the shepherd just ran back and told me that the Mitlan people are coming to attack us. In order to protect the lives and property of our families, everyone needs to take up arms and resist the Mitlan people!"
This statement immediately caused panic among the villagers. Although everyone had heard the recruitment officer's propaganda about the vulnerability of the Midlanders, normal people knew that this was just a lie to fool children. The war on the front line was going so smoothly, why did they recruit so many soldiers every year? At this time, when they heard that the Midland soldiers were going to attack, they were all terrified.
"Village chief, are you sane? You let these villagers fight the army, but they will never be able to defeat them." The centurion at the side couldn't stand it anymore and stood up to question the village chief.
"As a soldier of Yoda, how can you say such discouraging words? Don't you know what punishment you will suffer if you undermine the morale of your own army in battle?" Hearing the centurion disagreeing with him, the village chief immediately shouted loudly. Although you were a centurion in the army, you are a civilian now that you have retired. As the representative of the local lord, the village chief believed that people like him who violated authority must be severely punished, otherwise there would be a lot of people who disagreed when assigning any tasks in the future.
"Why are you so anxious? Can these villagers, armed with farm tools and weapons, be the same as the emperor's standing army? Aren't you just worried that the villagers won't resist and you won't be able to pay taxes this year after the Midlan people plunder the village? You said it's for our safety and property, but I think it's for your position as village chief."
Just as the two were arguing, a villager ran over from the entrance of the village and shouted:
"The Mitlans are coming and will be at the entrance of the village soon!"
When the village chief heard this, he immediately shouted to the villagers:
"Everyone, take the weapons you have at home and follow me out of the village to fight the Mitlans. I will give you one silver coin for every Mitlan you kill."
When the villagers heard that there was money to be taken, although they were afraid, they still ran back home and looked for things that could be used as weapons under the temptation of money.
At the entrance of the village, a centurion of the White Wolf Knights looked at the empty village gate and asked the scout next to him:
"Are you sure there's someone else here?"
The scout immediately replied:
"I just saw the villagers rushing into the village. They may still be inside. Do we still have to wait here? We have already been waiting for almost half an hour."
"No one knows what these Yodas are doing, let's wait a little bit..."
Before he finished speaking, a loud noise erupted from the village, and then hundreds of villagers rushed towards the White Wolf Knights at the door with all kinds of things. Butcher knives, hoes, long benches, the villagers took out what they could and prepared to fight hand-to-hand with the fully armed White Wolf Knights under the leadership of the village chief.
"Look at that man, is he their leader?" The centurion of the White Wolf Knights pointed at the village chief opposite and said to the scout. Compared with the villagers who had no protection at all, this old man had a tattered armor and a rusty sword in his hand. It was obvious at a glance that he was the leader.
"Yes, that's right, this old man seems to be their village chief."
After hearing the scout's reply, the centurion of the White Wolf Knights took out a crossbow, loaded it with an arrow, aimed it at the village chief and pulled the trigger. As the village chief screamed, the villagers saw the village chief, who was still alive and kicking, lying on the ground with an arrow stuck in his leg. Then they looked at the White Wolf Knights on the opposite side who were fully armed from man to horse. Reason took over their brains again, and they all screamed and ran back to their houses and closed all the doors and windows. On the main street of the entire village, except for the White Wolf Knights, the only one left was the village chief who was still screaming.
"Hey, old man, old man! Stop screaming, or I'll chop off your head!" Looking at the screaming village chief, the centurion of the White Wolf Knights became impatient with the noise and threatened loudly.
After hearing this shout, the village chief immediately retracted his head into his large armor like a turtle.
"Let me ask you, you are the chief of this village, right?" The centurion of the White Wolf Knights asked after seeing the chief calm down.
"Yes, yes, come to me if you have any problem. I will do it as long as it is something I can do!" The village chief begged for mercy loudly after seeing that the Midland soldiers did not kill him.
"Gather the villagers here. I have something to announce. If anyone doesn't come, I'll chop off your head first!"
So half an hour after the war began, the familiar bell rang in the village again. Everyone opened the door and looked towards the center of the village. It was not until they saw the village chief with a bandage on his leg and a crutch going from house to house under the protection of the White Wolf Knight, urging them to gather in the center of the village, that everyone felt relieved. It turned out that the Midlan people did not come here to kill people.
When almost everyone had gathered, the village chief walked to the platform with his cane. Next to him stood the centurion of the White Wolf Knights. Looking at the murderous White Wolf Knights next to him, the village chief swallowed nervously at first, then bravely shouted:
"Villagers, the entire village has now been occupied by the Midlan army. Next, the commander of Midlan will announce the order from Count Franche-Comté." After saying that, he quickly ran to the side to make room for the centurion of the White Wolf Knights.
Seeing that the village chief was so tactful, the White Wolf Knights Centurion did not make things difficult for him. He looked at the villagers opposite him and took out a document and shouted:
"According to the orders of Lord John Hohenzollern, Count Franche-Comté, Baron Chustad, Baron Grand Isles, Baron Riches, and General White Wolf, this place has become part of Lord John's territory. All territories, laws, and personnel appointments are taken over by Lord John and his entrusted subordinates. Civilians in the original territory have two choices: 1447. Pledge loyalty to Lord John and continue living here; . Pack up and leave. Farmers who stay here only collect one-tenth of the crops after the harvest each year, and civilians in other professions must pay one-tenth of their income. Anyone who evades taxes will be sentenced to death. John Hohenzollern, signed in the summer of ."
After hearing the words of the centurion of the White Wolf Knights, the villagers finally realized that the Mitlan people wanted to occupy this place permanently and become citizens of another country. However, the villagers were surprised when they heard that they only needed to pay one tenth of the tax in the future. Are all the nobles of Mitlan so kind?
In the past, they were considered lucky if they could get a 50-50 split after the harvest, usually 40-60 or 30-70, of which 40-30 belonged to them, and the rest belonged to the nobles. Moreover, there was the exploitation of the tax officials, so they could only keep 10-20% for themselves every year. Now they only need to pay 10%, so even if there is exploitation by the tax officials, they can at least keep about 50%.
"Long live Mitland! Long live Lord John!"
Suddenly someone in the crowd shouted this sentence, and after hearing it, the others also shouted with a yearning for the future:
"Long live Mitland! Long live Lord John!"