Warlords of the witcher world

Chapter 206 The Eve of the Uprising
The capital of the small kingdom of the same name in the Northern Realms, the city of Hydaris is famous for its seaside marketplace.

The bazaars are world-famous for their wide variety of rare and exotic goods, brought back here by seafarers from all corners of the world accessible by frigates and galleons, and it is said that anything one could desire can be bought there. .

Sidaris City also has a busy port and many shipyards, where hundreds of ships are built and overhauled every year.

Thanks to prosperous overseas trade, Sidaris was able to accumulate a lot of wealth, and the city also had a rare strong wall.

After the advent of artillery, Hydaris further strengthened its walls, making them even stronger.

For these reasons, the city was an important distribution center for supplies during both the Nilfgaardian and Redanian occupations.

For Nilfgaard, who now controls the city, the city becomes even more important now that the southern logistics lines are being harassed by the northerners.

If this city is lost, other ports will not be unable to transport, but the transportation efficiency will undergo a qualitative change, and the frontline troops will definitely be greatly affected.

Due to the collection of a large amount of military supplies, in the context of the Northern War, the city showed a different kind of prosperity.

The Nilfgaardians brought in almost the entire city's workforce to help them carry supplies from the ships.

Although the Imperial people don't pay, at least they take care of the food, which is a good job now that the war is raging.

Although most people still have complaints against the Nilfgaardians, they still work diligently under the command of the Nilfgaardians.

Ordinary people still have to live their lives after all, especially the citizens who are less likely to encounter the disgust of the Nilfgaardians - the Nilfgaardians are much gentler in their treatment of cities than in the countryside.

Although the citizens of Sidaris also hate Nilfgaard, since life is okay now, that's fine too.

None of them wanted to return to the period of Temeria's rule, and they had no good impression of Temeria, the annexed city.

Especially during the period when the isolated city was holding on, the depression of the port and the siege of Nilfgaard caused the citizens to suffer a lot, and the situation became even more aggravated.

There is no ship in the port that once handled countless ships, and the prices in the market are getting higher and higher. Although the Temerian government can also distribute some food, it can only be eaten.

This is uncomfortable for residents of trading cities like Sidaris. Their city collects and distributes a large amount of materials every day, and even rare gadgets from far away.

And letting them live a hard life is not just making things difficult for them.

As for the present, although the men in black are disgusting, they at least brought prosperity back.

Nilfgaard's sailors and soldiers have greatly boosted the city's consumption. These people are happy to spend a lot of money in taverns, and spend even more money on women's bellies and casino roulette wheels.

After all, if you don't spend money now, you don't know where to spend it. If you die, the money will still be there, which is a great sadness.

After all, in war, people die at God knows when.

This is also an important reason why many soldiers should be enjoying life with generous wages and retirement benefits after retiring from the army, but in fact they are destitute.

The empire has always been generous to the military, but unfortunately for ordinary soldiers, this generosity can often only be used for immediate gratification.

And thanks to their generosity, the Sidaris made a lot of money, and even made a fortune selling anesthetics.

This is much better than the poor Temerian soldiers before. At that time, Temeria had tens of thousands of people here, but it turned out that they were all poor and their wages were owed for a long time.

Naturally, some people are disgusted by such a prosperous scene in Sidaris, especially when they see that these damned Nilfgaardians brought about this prosperity.

“The locals look like they’ve been completely bought off by the men in black, and that’s what this shit city is all about.”

A sloppily dressed homeless man drank the wine in his hand and then commented on the fiery scene on the port.

This man had a bald head, but he had a valuable monocle on his face. It was a pity that the glasses were so bad that they were basically worthless.

"Don't say that. After all, they are just ordinary people trying to make a living."

Another homeless man said in general, but the homeless man just shook his head.

"It's a pity that they are caught in this damn war..."

"By the way, I heard that a ship ran aground near the city recently. It seemed that it was robbed by the Kuite family's longship. I plan to go and have a look. What do you think? Do you want to go together?"

"Renger, what are you daydreaming about? This is not the era when our good lighthouse keeper who did his duty was still there. Ever since he was discovered after he guided the ship to the reef, the man in black hanged him. Now if you want to go stranded If the ship capsized, he would be hanged by the men in black, and he would end up with the same fate as our good friend."

"What? That bald guy is dead, why don't I get any news at all?"

"It seems that you have indeed not received news for a while... Let's go, let's go carry the bags for the Nilfgaardians. Brothers, is anyone else coming? Let's go together."

Soon, many homeless people gathered together, planning to carry bags for the man in black.

This is a good job now. As long as you are brave and careful enough, you can find something from Nilfgaard's supplies for your own use.

But if you play such a dangerous game, you must be prepared to suffer the consequences. The Nilfgaardians will not mind hanging the thieves who steal things.

But, the men in black are always short of manpower.

It can be said that as long as it is human, the man in black will use it, even if this person is likely to commit petty theft.

The drunk tramp glanced at these people and shook his head.

The other homeless people looked at this man and distanced themselves in disgust.

God knows where this man came from, but after he came here he spent all day denouncing things and making comments about all kinds of things.

Someone was curious about what he did for a living, so he followed him and found that this guy made money by making shoes for people, but he was very lazy and didn't do much. Although he didn't get much money, he still saved enough to live on.

In addition, according to some rumors, he seems to be doing some contraband business in private... But no one has ever been sure of this.

After understanding this, everyone lost interest in him. This kind of tramp could tell at a glance that he had once been a person. Although he was down and out, he still had the same arrogance as before.

Although there are few people of this type, they still exist.

Soon, the homeless people went to work, and only the drinking homeless people were left in the original camp. He seemed to be more accustomed to it, with a happy mood on his face.

"Long time no see, old friend."

Just when the homeless man opened a bottle of wine and took a sip, he found that it was overly watered and almost completely filled with water, and he cursed angrily. A voice that he had never expected sounded from behind him.

"I think I heard it right, it's really you."

The tramp's tone was still so calm, but beneath the calm, there was a hint of excitement that only his old acquaintances could detect.

"So, what happened?"

The person who finished speaking to the homeless man was none other than the leader of the Blue Guard, Vernon Roche.

However, Roche is now dressed as a businessman and his temperament has become more businesslike. It is difficult to tell that this man is the cold leader of the special forces. "Let's find a place to chat, not here. Do you have any place recommendations?"

"Oh, yes, of course, there is a shabby tavern nearby. There is no one around now, and only at night those idiots will flock in as if they are going to a good place. But the best thing about that tavern is that there is only one owner during the day People, and the boss is a deaf person, ha, a deaf person’s tavern, there is nothing more suitable than this."

"Are you sure that person can't hear you?"

"Not sure, but I'm sure that smart man, even if someone dies in front of his tavern, the son of a bitch will quietly close the door. As for dying in his tavern, ha, guess what will happen to this shit? He's still It will be treated as if it does not exist, and then wait for the men in red, the men in black, and the men in God knows what else to deal with it."

The two parties looked at each other and smiled, and then walked into the tavern together.

After asking the boss to serve beer and pickles by pointing to the menu, the two of them finally took off a lot of the disguise on their faces and became normal.

"Roche, I knew you weren't dead. Damn it, you son of a bitch has a tough life. There are few people in Temeria who can compare with you. Tell me, how is Natalis? ? And Her Majesty Anais, oh, no, I should say Your Majesty."

"Everything is fine. Natalis is busy reorganizing the army and helping our Aedirn allies to regain the country. Her Majesty Anais is still learning. He needs to learn a lot."

Roche was munching on a pickle, while the homeless man opposite was drinking a beer.

"Taller, we are going to do something big in Hydaris, and we need your help."

"I know, of course you're here for something important."

Taller, the Temerian spy chief, stuffed a pickle into his mouth, chewing it vigorously with his big yellow teeth, and the juice splashed everywhere.

When the troops were divided at that time, Taller was sent to Hidaris to assist the defenders there.

Taller did his job well, but he fell into despair after Radovid entered the city and forcibly dispersed the local Temerian army.

The spy chief was always unpopular, so Taller was ordered by Radovid to disband his men.

Of course, Taller would definitely not be able to obey orders obediently, and disbandment could not be achieved with just an order to disband. However, there were still losses to a large number of peripheral personnel, and it would still take a lot of time to rebuild. This made Taller have a good drink. pot.

For an espionage organization, peripheral personnel are extremely important, because it is they who continuously provide all kinds of information and cover.

Then the Nilfgaardians came, and Taller had no choice but to hide underground, and then he was reduced to what he is now, living on the streets sleeping rough - but at the same time he was busy rebuilding the organization.

"I knew it was like this. You would never come to me for nothing. Tell me what big thing we are going to do."

"Uprising, I want to take down Sidaris. How many spies and blue-clad iron guards can you contact? If you can find mercenaries, even bandits."

"Cough, cough, cough."

Taller choked suddenly and quickly drank a beer to put the food in his throat down.

"Let me choke you. You were so outrageous from the beginning. You are worthy of me. But I did it. Who calls me a loyal minister of His Majesty Foltest? Tell me what cards you have now? I want to know. What makes you so bold?"

"There are two hundred blue-clad iron guards outside the city, and eight hundred former Temerian soldiers collected along the way."

"Ahem, cough, cough, let me strangle you, where did you find so many people, and where did you let these people hide?"

Taller was now surprised that Roche found so many people. He was almost unable to move around in the city. He could only drink bad wine there every day to pass the time.

As for this guy Roche, it was obvious that he had formed such a team not long after he came here.

"You have never fought guerrillas, so you don't understand. Anyway, you only need to know that I have so many people, so tell me how many people you can find."

Roche did not intend to explain his experience along the way, he just wanted to get information quickly.

"Let's force a hundred people, spies, iron guards, soldiers... all of them, but now they are almost as miserable as me. They are either wandering or doing the dirtiest work in the city. We have nothing to do in the city. Dare to do it, for fear of alerting the damn Nilfgaardians, but it's still useless. Ever since the Lord Protector of Aedirn raided dozens of their military stations, these idiots in black have been patrolling more and more strictly recently. ."

When he mentioned this, Taler suddenly raised his eyebrows and remembered something.

"I have to bring you good news. Probably the day after tomorrow, the Nilfgaardian cavalry brigade stationed here will go south. I heard that they are going to encircle and suppress our popular Lord Protector, and it will take three days to change the defense troops. It won’t arrive until the next day.”

"That's helpful information. Thanks, Taller. Anything else?"

"What else? That's a good question. I have to think about it. Oh, man, I remembered. There is a gang of mud-legged gangs outside the city that we can use. They have hundreds of people, and they are all related to the Southerners. They are very hateful and have been stealing the goods of the Nilfgaardians and occasionally robbing them. However, they are very good at controlling the frequency of robberies, and rather than robbing them, they prefer to force the coachman to take out part of the goods and the rest. Let them report their losses. This group of people should be able to help us."

"Anything else?"

"This is embarrassing for Old Taller. I think about it, the local citizens can't count on it. Thank God those fools don't cause us any trouble. The guilds are powerful, but it's hard to say whether these landowners will help us. ...Okay, I admit, you have dug out almost all the goods in my belly. I have to say that you son of a bitch really knows how to dig. I will try my best to win over local forces, but I don’t know if it will be of any use. I guarantee it.”

After listening to Taller's words, Roche began to calculate the possibility of a successful uprising.

"Okay, Taller, we'll contact you then. It's best to check if your knife is rusty in the next few days. It's estimated that the uprising will be launched in the next few days."

After speaking, Roche stood up and planned to walk out. He did not give Taller any further instructions. Although this time it came very suddenly, he believed in Taller's professionalism.

Taller had seen countless big scenes, and this was nothing to him.

Roche did think correctly. This was indeed not a big deal to Taller. He had experienced a lot of these things over the years, but he had more profound considerations.

"Wait, wait, don't worry. I don't think there is a problem with the uprising, but the problem is what to do after the uprising. If we fail to win the support of the locals, the total number of troops after the uprising will be less than [-] , can such a small number of people defend this city? Don’t even think about letting the citizens go up the city wall, this group of people has no fighting ability at all.”

Hydaris is a city with a total population of [-]. Now the population has shrunk due to the war - it is a port city after all - and has become [-], but it is still that big.

In such a city, 500 people is indeed not enough.

"Lord Hemei promised me that if my plan succeeds, he will send reinforcements as soon as possible, and he promised that the reinforcements will arrive very quickly."

As he spoke, Roche couldn't help but think of the scene when he had just received Hemei's order. At that time, it was difficult for him to believe what Hemei said because it was too confusing.

However, after the Lord Protector repeatedly assured that there would be no problem with the reinforcements, he felt relieved. The Lord Protector's integrity was still very good, and he was willing to believe it.

"Soon? Is it coming from Redania? But let that Radovid...forget it, don't think about it anymore, since the big boss has the whole story, that's fine. Well, you go and do your business, I Go and do my work too, since you’re going to do something big, let’s do it well.”

After saying this, Taler waved to Roche and left here. He was even more free and easy than Roche. The contrast here was so great that Roche was stunned for a time.

But it would be good to calm down next. He also knew that Taller was a free and easy person, so it was not surprising to do this.

Despite the swear words he always uses, he has always been very reliable. He has seen countless scenes, big and small, and has always been shining brightly on Temeria's espionage front.

And most importantly, he is a man who is extremely loyal to Temeria, or more accurately, to His Majesty Foltest.

After walking out of the tavern, Roche looked at the sky, thinking about his next action, and slowly exhaled from his mouth.

Then, very unexpectedly, Roche suddenly saw a man walking past with two swords on his back. This man had white hair, and Roche could never forget that face.

Because this is Geralt, Geralt of Rivia.

(End of this chapter)