Throne of the North.

Chapter 134 The lion opens its mouth

Viscount Walter is indeed facing such a problem.

The nobles only follow the principle of profit first, and honor comes second. In the past, Iron Mountain County earned a lot of wealth because of Earl Winter, but in the several wars during this period, they also suffered heavy losses. Malik and Baron Freeman have even lost control of their territories. Although they can still return to their territories in the end, the wealth will definitely no longer belong to them.

Because of the war, they have lost the wealth they earned in the past, and now they have begun to contact other nobles. They need to end the war urgently.

The reason why the nobles have not yet had an open conflict is because they still desire victory in the war to help them regain their wealth.

They had lost too much in the successive wars, and it would be too hard to accept if they could not get some of it back by winning the war.

They wanted to end the war, but they also longed for the return of wealth. This led to the scene that Ryan least wanted to see when the armies from the three counties confronted each other on the plains.

They could only rely on the Viscount's castle for defense, because outside was a wide plain, and only in the distance could they see the mountains hidden in the hazy fog. For Viscount Hogg, who had hundreds of cavalrymen, he was invincible as long as the battlefield broke out on the plain.

No matter what Ryan did, he couldn't change the outcome of the battle.

If it were just that, they would be able to drag it out by relying on the castle's defense. Even if Viscount Hogg eventually retreated, they could avoid war.

But the problem lies with the hundreds of barbarians and the knights sandwiched among the slave army.

Cavalry cannot attack cities, and Viscount Hogg is unwilling to dismount the cavalry, but the barbarians and other knights are like fortresses in siege warfare.

And what was very tricky was that those barbarians pushing their chariots that pounded the city gates were able to block almost all the supplies coming from above their heads.

Then... Walter Castle had no gate. When the piled stones were pushed away, the bloodiest hand-to-hand combat broke out between the two sides at the narrow gate location.

The barbarians were sandwiched between the slave soldiers, forcing Ryan to send his elite knights and attendants to resist them, but he could not accept this.

He was helping Tieshan County in the war as a guest army. No matter what, he would not want the soldiers in his own territory to suffer heavy casualties.

"Lord Viscount Walter, your Iron Mountain County has made such a huge fortune from the mines. Don't you have any means to counter such means?"

"If this continues, I won't stay here. I won't be able to control Tieshan County if Viscount Hogg takes it over."

"Don't forget, even if this war fails, Viscount Hogg will not do anything to me. If we negotiate, I can even get some money for my travel expenses."

Ryan finally began to threaten the nobles here. If the war went well, he was unwilling to do so because it would affect the relationship between the two sides and lead to a reduction in subsequent interests.

But now he had to do so. In every hand-to-hand combat at the city gate, the troops he brought from Lingdu County would suffer heavy losses.

No noble could accept that their army would suffer more than 30% casualties and still insist on not withdrawing from the war. In such a war, Ryan was not even willing to see the loss of more than 10% of the soldiers he brought.

Ryan's words made many nobles panic. If Ryan left, Tieshan County would have no power to resist Viscount Hogg's army.

This was even more true for Viscount Walter, who was not only participating in the war as a noble of Iron Mountain County, but also standing on the side of Earl Winter.

"Baron Ryan, you promised Earl Winter at the beginning. This is a war between our counties and Earl Weiss and Viscount Hogg."

"Then wait until their army reaches Lingdu County. We will certainly do our best, but this is Tieshan County, right?"

After the verbal battle between the nobles on both sides, they finally returned to the table of compromise and interests.

The nobles of Tieshan County sold iron ore worth 100,000 gold coins for 50,000 gold coins and the lowest price afterwards, in exchange for the continued stay of Ryan's army. "If, at the end of the war, I can let the nobles of Tieshan County negotiate with Viscount Hogg on an equal footing, and let his army withdraw from Tieshan County, and both sides stop fighting at the border again, what price are you willing to pay?"

After getting the promise, Ryan suddenly said these words.

According to the current situation of the war, they can only rely on the Viscount Castle for defense until the armies of Viscount Hogg and Count Weiss feel that they can no longer attack.

That is when one of the two sides can no longer withstand the consumption of the war.

Viscount Hogg would of course retreat, but in that case, they would get nothing. The two baron families, Malik and Freeman, would even have to give Viscount Hogg a large sum of wealth in exchange for the right to return to their territories.

In other words, in that case, neither side would have completely won the war.

Naturally, no huge benefits can be obtained.

Ryan's words made the nobles of Tieshan County raise their heads.

"Since you can win the war, why did you ask us for 50,000 gold coins before?"

Baron Malik shouted directly, and the other nobles also looked at Ryan.

Ryan snorted coldly and stared at Baron Malik.

"My Lord Baron, do you think that my method is free of cost?"

"It is even possible that my army will be completely wiped out. I am using all the troops of Lingdu County to help your Tieshan County win the war. If I had not promised the nobles of Lingdu County enough benefits this time, they would definitely oppose me and even take back their own soldiers."

"I'm taking a risk. I'm risking all the benefits of the war I won before. Do you think I shouldn't negotiate?"

"Or I can do nothing now and just defend this castle until their army retreats on their own initiative. Fifty thousand gold coins can only do this."

"But can you two barons take back everything in the territory by paying only a few gold coins?"

Viscount Walter spoke up. He needed a victorious war to maintain his prestige in Tieshan County and to give an explanation to Earl Winter.

"What do you want, Baron Ryan?"

"Fifty thousand sets of weapons forged in Tieshan County are for me personally. In the next ten years, they are 90% of the market price. We will start all kinds of trade with the nobles of Lingdu County. There are not many specialties in Tieshan County. I believe the nobles know what to trade."

"You want... isn't that too much?"

Viscount Walter couldn't sit still anymore. There was nothing much about the subsequent trade, but 50,000 sets of weapons, did they include the most crudely made armor and a spear?
The value here is huge.

If it is sold to the south, at least four or five hundred thousand gold coins can be earned.

"I will buy it at cost price, and I believe you will need money after this war."

"70,000 gold coins, I will personally purchase 50,000 sets of weapons and armor."

"That's my condition."

(End of this chapter)