Why did the lord rebel

Chapter 181 The Road to War ([-])

"If there are casualties in this battle, it should be started by myself!"

Listening to Sean Mountbatten's sonorous declaration, under the scorching sun of the southern border of the empire, Xia Houyan actually fell into a trance for a moment.

Ever since he traveled to this world, "death" has been a topic he can never escape.

In the tent in the infected area, the number of casualties reported by Anjie Randall tearfully, the peaceful face of the female swordsman as if she was sleeping, the corpses of guards neatly arranged on the mortuary felt, and after the nightmarish raid, The 170 four corpses lying on the ground...

Lord Yan seemed to have made a huge joke with him. While granting him the supreme power of necromancy, he also made this traveler from the earth face the test of death forever—real and potential...

If we say that when he opened "The Essentials of Necromancy" and tried to save Alice, the earthling Xia Houyan was just a desperate desperate dog;
Then after that, his oath to live and die with the leader team may really be the arrogance and self-esteem with a hint of anger after a sudden change as a time traveler——

Don't the lords of your empire treat their people like worthless things, and each one is more selfish and miserly than the other?

Then, as a Chinese, I, Xia Houyan, want to prove to this different world the value of life and the duty of nobility!
After that, Xia Houyan, who took on the identity and responsibilities of the lord more and more naturally, has experienced many ups and downs. He has been lazy, indulged, angry, and arrogant, but what he has always been proud of is that he has always put Shuang Fengling, put the lives of Igor citizens first;
Actively or passively instigated many adventures and battles one after another, this earth traversal has to admit that he has never had a desire for honor and praise in his heart, and he has never coveted wealth and beauty , but he can also declare openly that he is trying to make these "family members" who have followed all the way from the infected area live a better life!
But now, on the edge of the tense wasteland battlefield, under the bright sunshine of the land of cracking souls, a young man who has just joined Frost Maple Ridge and can barely be counted as the leader of Igor is begging his lord to die!
In an instant, the lord suddenly doubted his past thoughts.

Unconditionally, caring for the lives of the people like a parent with a mother's love, unwilling to bear any losses of the people - is this attitude really correct for a lord?

Are you protecting the lives of your subjects, or are you depriving them of their right to choose to fight, sacrifice, and pursue greatness?
Sean Mountbatten put before him a question that Xia Houyan had been evading in his subconscious mind: If the development of the territory required certain sacrifices, how should he make the choice as the lord? ?

The progress of any country, the rise of any nation, and the growth of any force in ancient and modern China and abroad are inseparable from countless blood and sweat:
There are destined to be some people who, like firewood, will throw themselves into the fire of the times, and use their own sacrifices to establish a heart for the world, a life for the people, a legacy for the sages, and peace for all eternity——

——This kind of person is called a hero.

And the lord of Shuangfengling suddenly realized that there was probably someone standing in front of him.

"Sean Mountbatten, do you know how dangerous it is to leave the protection of the fortifications and lead a team to attack such a large number of bandit coalition forces?" He asked in a deep voice, "You know that everyone's life may be lost because of your decision And sacrifice?"

"I know. An extremely dangerous place is also an opportunity to win." Mountbatten resolutely said, "And with all due respect, if you really want to build an armed force capable of protecting the people, you must use war—a real bloody battle, Rather than relying on the defense of the city wall - temper it into shape! If no one dies today, more people may die tomorrow!"

Xia Houyan stared at him for a while, and then looked at Master Laurie and the others one by one.

He noticed Karen Leperg's eyes—the female village master's lavender eyes had lost the previous anger, and turned to the color of a cold sword.

So he made up his mind.

"Sean Mountbatten, tell me your offensive plan. If it is feasible, I will ask Commander Clement to support your plan and lead the offensive with you." Xia Houyan stared into Mountbatten's eyes, " Please try to minimize casualties, especially yourself, and come back alive—my resurrection spell has limited places."

In the tense atmosphere, few people on the rooftop noticed what the hell the "resurrection spell quota is limited".

But Mountbatten shook his head and said:
"No, no...My lord, I do have a plan, but Lord Clement cannot join me...His goal is too big. What I need is an elite who is fast and agile enough."

"Oh?" Xia Houyan raised his eyebrows, "How many people do you need?"

"Sixty men are enough." Mountbatten grinned. "Sixty soldiers who can ride horses—if my estimate is correct, this is exactly the number of war horses in Frost Maple Ridge."

Xia Houyan opened his mouth wide, with a ghostly expression on his face.

He turned his head stiffly, looked at Mayor Joel, and found that the other party had the same shocked expression.

"Damn!" The lord yelled, "How do you know that there are more than 60 horses hidden in our territory?! Who leaked the secret to you, a recruit?!"

Speaking of these more than 60 horses, there is also a very interesting little story.

When Shuangfengling recruited soldiers from Huafang Town and other towns on the left bank, they even coaxed and tricked a group of families of the recruits, artisans and businessmen who came here to become citizens—this kind of coldness The momentum is quite a bit like a small football country doing whatever it takes to qualify for the World Cup;
And among this group of new citizens, there is an uncle who came from Xixiannv Town to surrender, and his status is quite special.

As we all know, among the several towns on the south bank of the Lion Heart River, Dongxixiannv Town is considered to be an area with relatively developed animal husbandry. Although its local specialty "Southern Pony" is not the first-class breed in the empire, it is better than the other. It has rough skin, thick flesh and endurance, so it is not picky eaters. It is very popular among wasteland traders for its high cost performance;

And the uncle who defected to Shuangfengling, coincidentally, is the manager of the cavalry horse farm in Xixiannv Town!
On the turbulent wasteland, even the cities and towns settled by the river need to maintain a certain amount of armed force, and the east and west fairy towns with well-developed animal husbandry even maintain a cavalry armed force;
After Faulkner became the chairman of the Left Bank Alliance, these cavalry were all counted as the property of the former copycat owner.

While the administrator uncle surrendered to Shuangfengling, he did not forget to hand in a vote:

He found Mayor Joel in private and revealed that he still held the key to the stables of the West Fairy Town Cavalry Stable in his hand!

——The horse caretaker proposed that as long as Shuangfengling nodded, he could pull dozens of good horses from West Fairy Town and send them to the lord without anyone noticing!

In other words, he can steal some war horses back for Shuangfengling!

No matter how you look at it, such a thing as "stealing a horse" is a bit too unqualified and contrary to morality, not to mention that Faulkner and Shuangfengling still maintain a friendly relationship...

So mayor Joel and the lord together——

——I immediately agreed!
Xia Houyan said at the time that, as the titular lord of the town on the left bank, I didn’t ask Falk to pay taxes. It’s just a few dozen horses. If you steal it, you steal it. Damn it!

So, on a dark and windy night, the former horse caretaker of West Fairy Town, just guarding himself and stealing, brought more than 60 horses back to Shuangfeng Ridge with a group of recruits——

——It's not that I don't want to do more, it's really too much and too much noise, it's not worthwhile.

However, Uncle Bi Mawen assured the lord that these more than 60 horses are definitely the best batch in the stable!
In order not to let Faulkner, who has lost his love, find out, and also to keep a secret strategic material as his trump card;
After these dozens of horses were stolen... er, "led" back, they have been secretly raised by Uncle Bi Mawen with a few apprentices, and they are going to announce it to the world after Shuangfengling formally forms a cavalry.

This is exactly what the lord and Mayor Joel are wondering about:

Frost Maple Ridge has secretly bred more than 60 good war horses. Only a few high-level officials in the territory know. Where did you, Sean Mountbatten, get the information? You can even figure out the number?
"My lord, no one leaked the secret to me. I guessed it myself." Mountbatten smiled slightly.

"Guess?!" Xia Houyan blinked.

"Yes... I noticed when I was on patrol that Frost Maple Ridge has been buying wilderness alfalfa for horses from left bank merchants. In addition, I have seen some people have horse manure on their feet, basically It proves that there must be horses hidden on the Phoenix Terrace." Mountbatten said confidently, "Based on the quantity and interval of alfalfa purchases and the food intake of the horses, I can basically calculate that the number of horses in Frost Maple Ridge is about sixty."

Now, the high-level people on the rooftop really have nothing to say.

"Look, secrecy work!" As if to ease the embarrassment, the lord began to lecture to the left and right, "How important secrecy work is! Tell me, who didn't clean the feet after feeding the horses? Who didn't cover the goods What if it wasn't Sean Mountbatten who saw this, but an enemy spy?"

After emphasizing the importance of secrecy work, he turned his head and stared at Mountbatten again, just like eight generations of poor peasants staring at a golden bump dug by a hoe.

"Sean, I can grant you horses and soldiers who can ride horses!" The lord waved his hand, "But now, shouldn't you tell us your battle plan first?"

"Of course, my lord." Mountbatten bowed slightly, "But before that, I need you to approve me a person—a person that my battle plan must have."

A must have?The high-level leaders of the territory looked at each other.

"Tell me, Sean, as long as your battle plan is successful, anyone can assist you." The lord smiled and said, "Who do you want? Master Laurie? Or Chris Mann?"

Sean Mountbatten stared at his lord, and replied in a deep voice:

"Alan Hotelling."

……

On the other side of the battlefield, the bandit camp.

On the small plain to the east of Fenghuangtai, the mighty army of bandits built countless tents to form a simple frontline camp: These tents have the characteristics of bandits in the wilderness, unlike the regular army of the Empire, which used uniform white cloth, Instead, it is roughly sewn with colorful animal hides, which looks really fancy.

I have to say that the east side of Fenghuang Terrace is really a "treasure of geomantic omen" in various senses.

The bones of Spencer and the others were not yet cold, and the mighty bandit coalition army chose to set up camp here again.

To the east of the bandit camp, in an inconspicuous tent, there was a lively quarrel going on.

"No, I can't stand this anger!"

——The village master of the Blood Demon Village, known as the "Blood Lion", the village master Black, knocked on the table with his scabbard and roared angrily.

On the table, there was a dress with an exceptionally pink color, an exceptionally beautiful pattern, and adorned with pure white lace, and a "sharp" invitation letter.

The other village owners in the tent looked at the letter, there was no anger or hatred in their eyes, only the deep fear of PTSD patients——

the reason is simple:
The letter paper of this letter was cast with an extremely rare magic by Master Laurie. As soon as the envelope was opened, the contents on the letter paper would be read aloud by the magic power and spread everywhere.

However, Village Master Black, who received the letter of challenge from Ma Zai, didn't think much of it, and just tore open the envelope on the spot in the small square in the center of the camp...

Therefore, the magical voice full of sarcasm echoed in the ears of all the bandits, accusing the village owners who led the coalition army. Put on a female skirt and go back to make the brothers feel refreshed...

However, the skirt that was shot together with the challenge book is still in the hand of the bandit next to him, everyone can see it...

As a result, the unlucky subordinate who handed the envelope to Village Master Black had his face blushed and his head chopped off by the grumpy "Blood Lion" on the spot.

After returning to the command camp, Black even slapped the table and cursed, demanding to march immediately and kill all these useless people in Shuangfengling!
Many other copycat owners have the same meaning in their hearts.

However, as soon as "that" character present opened his mouth, no one except Blake dared to speak.

"No marching." The middle-aged samurai, who never took off his leather armor, glanced up at the furious Black, and said slowly, "This is their aggressive method. We must wait for the siege equipment and the 'frenzy' to be ready." , to start the war."

"The method of aggressive generals, the method of aggressive generals!" Village Master Black knocked on the table and jumped, "Don't I know that it is the method of aggressive generals?! But how do you people in the Central Plains know that our command of the village in the wasteland relies on honor, prestige and courage? ! If I shrink back in front of everyone today, what will the people in Blood Demon Village think of me in the future?"

"That's your business." The leather armored warrior said indifferently, "In short, you are not allowed to march - the Grand Duke has given you enough benefits, if you dare to say more, I will kill you."

On the neck of Village Master Black, the veins were bulging, but he didn't dare to say "no" after all.

——The warlord warrior sent by Rock Creek City just arrived dozens of days ago, and he stabbed to death a village owner who insulted the Duke of Houston with lightning speed. The village owners dare not make mistakes——

——At least during the period when the Bandit Alliance was not yet disbanded.

Just when everyone was staring at the women's dress on the table in a daze, a messenger suddenly broke into the tent and reported at the top of his voice:
"Village, village masters, Shuangfengling...it seems that troops have been dispatched!"

(End of this chapter)