When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 1181 The Death Hussars

"Your Highness, we are approaching Huanggu Village."

The young man reined in his warhorse, squinted, and gazed at the rolling hills and forests.

"This doesn't look like a habitable place. Are those scattered Death Hussars really here?"

“Yes.” After hesitating for half a second, Groyev smiled bitterly. “They were the most elite guard hussars of Bear Fortress, but unfortunately they were transferred away from Fat Beef Fortress that day.”

After the fall of Fei Niu Fort and the surrender of the noble council, some of the cavalry returned, while others remained in this desolate valley, making a living by plundering passing merchants.

I guarantee that any young man who refuses to submit to vampires is a good lad, and I don't know why they would do that..."

"Were there any acts of indiscriminate killing of innocent people?"

“You know what robbers are like, especially in this situation.”

The young man on horseback twitched his lower eyelids, slowly shook his head, and tried to speak several times but didn't.

While the young man was deep in thought, Groyev turned his head to look at him.

He has grown up and is no longer as lively and outgoing as he was when he was eleven or twelve. Instead, he has become more reserved.

The young man on horseback did not have the thick beard typical of most Norn people.

He had shaved his chin completely black, wore a scarf around his neck, and a bearskin cloak, riding on a red horse with curled ears.

It was early spring, already late March of 1459.

In Thousand River Valley, while it may not be scorching hot, it is at least warm like spring with flowers blooming and snow melting into streams.

Yet, even in this roaring corridor, patches of snow can still be seen on the grass, trees, and river, their edges still bearing the dark hue of mud.

The young man stood on the blackened snow, riding his horse, gazing towards the mountains and forests.

"Have your people deliver the visiting card. Once you've confirmed it's correct, we'll go meet."

“Your Highness, there’s no need for you to do it personally. I, Groyev, can handle this.”

"No, the Firing Corps is short of cavalry; we must get them."

The Fat Beef Fort shooting corps performed well under the training of retired Holy Alliance veterans, but in Alexei's opinion, the tactics were too outdated.

Using training and formations from ten years ago, the gunnery skills of the Clockwork Cannon are even worse.

They mostly used three-pound cannons because the six-pound and twelve-pound cannons were too heavy, and the epic, rubble-ridden road of the Roaring Corridor simply couldn't withstand them.

Moreover, their enemies didn't even need a twelve-pounder cannon.

As a result, since there were no powerful enemies, the shooting army was always prone to fighting small, insignificant battles.

They failed to learn the Holy Alliance's superb battle formations, but they did learn the wagon fort tactics perfectly.

Thanks to the excellent matchmaking system in the Norn region, the Shooting Army has successfully become a second-rate army.

Of course, the second-rate army in Alexei's eyes probably refers to the local garrison corps or the militia of the Holy Alliance.

In Norn, the Shooting Force is definitely a top-tier fighting force.

He has a good foundation, but he lacks the more advanced tactics and organizational structure he learned in the Holy Alliance.

Alexei, the son of Grand Duke Petrov, who arrived from the St. Armed Forces at the beginning of the year, immediately began a month-long plan to reorganize the army.

Through some unknown means, with the help of his teacher Busak and old acquaintances in the Holy Alliance, he obtained a large quantity of cannons and holy seeds.

Once the army's preparations and drills are complete, we can begin the first step—learning from the Holy Alliance and acquiring a base.

On the 5th of last month, he crossed the fortresses on the border of the Shattered Stone Plains and headed north.

In just five days, they marched over a hundred kilometers (the Norn Road was terrible) and captured the surrendered royal court's Salted Meat Fortress in one fell swoop.

This is considered an important town in the Grand Prince's territory of Baconburg, surrounded by rivers, and damp and cold.

It's not suitable for living in, but it's perfect for stationing troops.

After establishing his own base, Alexei's activities became increasingly frequent.

Besides continuing training, the focus shifted to the economy. First, they implemented a military farm system modeled after "Moriyati," consolidating the land of surrounding manors and villages.

This meant that the estates and lands of the gentry and nobles were preserved, but taxes were collected by tax knights sent by Alexei.

For example, of the 30% tax, 20% went to the lord and 10% was handed over to the higher authorities. Originally, the stewards and junior lords did this themselves, relying entirely on their own conscience.

The tax knights did indeed strip the lords of their right to collect taxes, leaving them only with the right to the profits.

Instead of paying 10% of the 30% tax, the tax knights directly collect 30%, give 20% to the lord, and take the remaining 10% back to the Cured Meat Castle.

As for the management of farmers, let the armed peasants take the lead in setting up a farmers' guild and let them manage themselves.

Norn is not like Thousand Rivers Valley; it has a strong tradition of autonomy, and Alexei is not Horn, so he cannot control it.

The only option left is to allow the king to exercise his authority without extending it to the villages, resulting in rudimentary management.

As for politics, he continued to win over allies and promote the old ministers left behind by his father.

Drawing on the experience he gained from Horn's early rise to power, Alexei realized that since he lacked resources, he could only grant them titles and let these veteran officials do as they pleased.

Just like in the early days of Horn, when they were poor and had nothing, why was the army so united, why were they able to break through the encirclement time and time again, and why were there so few betrayals?

It's because he dares to give titles and make pronouncements; he even dares to appoint an ordinary soldier as a company commander.

Alexei didn't have the guts to do that, but he did have the guts to grant some land to these loyal old ministers "remotely" and to confer titles of dukes and earls upon them.

Of course, Alexei's situation is different from Horn's.

At that time, Horn was isolated and helpless, but Alexei had a strong support behind him.

That is the Holy Alliance.

He had requested assistance from the Holy Alliance before setting off, and both out of courtesy and reason, Horn provided him with a batch of obsolete old equipment.

Since it's just going to depreciate anyway if it's kept in the warehouse, let's just pack it up and give it to Alexei.

With the political, economic, and diplomatic issues all sorted out, only the military remains.

Military affairs are his forte.

During that month, he launched a series of attacks, taking down numerous vampire outposts, and even reaching the outskirts of Baconburg.

Unfortunately, as soon as he arrived at the city, a dense army of zombies, skeletons, and blood knights pressed down on him, forcing Alexei to retreat in disarray.

Upon closer examination, it was found that the loss of troops had reached a staggering 30%.

It was at this time that, having met Alexei in person, Grand Duke Guise III of Baconburg reported Alexei's existence to Lacunio.

They had always thought that Groyev was the one commanding the army.

After this defeat, Alexei concluded that the musketeers were still missing the final link – cavalry.

Whether it's expanding the gains or conducting pre-battle reconnaissance, he needs a sufficient number of elite cavalry.

Norn is known for producing light cavalry, but precisely because of this, Norn light cavalry is extremely competitive.

Without good light cavalry, relying solely on the level of orc light cavalry is pointless; they might as well give up and go to sleep.

Fortunately, after making inquiries, Groyev learned that not all of the elite Death Hussars from Fat Cow Fort had defected to the royal court.

At least a third of the cavalry refused to cooperate with the royal court, which led to the emergence of the Huanggutun bandits.

They should have easily submitted to Alexei, but something happened and they now want to meet in person.

They even specifically requested that Alexei come to talk.

That's why Alexei came to meet the leader alone, with only twenty or thirty guards.

"Your Highness, it's confirmed." Groyev rode back, followed by a bald man with a mustache and two braids.

He glanced at Alexei sideways, seemingly with disdain, yet also with apprehension.

His warhorse exhaled a puff of white breath, and he turned it around: "Let's go, don't blame me if you can't keep up!"

(End of this chapter)