Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 289 Noble Captives
Earl Fagan looked at the pursuers who had surrounded the lakeside camp without him knowing when, and his heart sank.

After their defeat on the battlefield outside Jackdaw Town, they retreated a distance of seventy or eighty miles without any delay, and even galloped at full speed on horseback to arrive here. How come these walking soldiers were able to catch up with them almost at the same time and complete the encirclement silently under the cover of night?

His Majesty the Grand Duke, who was far away in the royal capital of Jinhui City, had already officially declared war on the Spellcasters' Union. This proactive declaration of war would undoubtedly be regarded as an mortal enemy by the other party, who was also a spellcaster.

Escape was impossible. Galloping through the mountains and forests at night wouldn't get him very far. Surrendering on the spot? Perhaps, considering his noble status, asking his family to pay a generous ransom for his life wouldn't be a problem. Even if he would inevitably suffer considerable humiliation, it was completely tolerable compared to his own life.

Looking at the army approaching step by step from the mountains and forests, and the white flames that occasionally lit up in the dense forests farther away, Earl Feigen understood that the other side was using that ultra-long-range magic catapult again to reap the lives of the knights and guards in his temporary camp.

He opened his mouth in panic, but found the words of surrender unspeakable. The bloodstained guards gathered around him, protecting him in the center and urging him, "Your Excellency, these infantry can't stop us. If we form a cavalry formation and break out of the encirclement, they won't be able to catch up on foot. We're only a night's journey from Grizzly Castle. Please lead us in the charge!"

The Earl paced around holding the reins of his horse, and after a moment's hesitation, he suddenly saw the enemy soldiers stop advancing in unison, and then raised the iron rods without spearheads in their hands.

Intensive crackling sounds rang out one after another, and huge blood flowers exploded on the bodies of the personal guards who were blocking in front of him, and they fell off their horses with screams. The captain of the guards who had followed him since childhood was even more miserable. He was hit directly in the face by this strange weapon, and his head exploded like a fragile egg, and blood mixed with brain matter sprayed all over the earl's head and face.

Earl Feigen was horrified and quickly drew out the long sword that represented his title and raised it high, loudly announcing his identity to the group of soldiers.

"Stop the attack! Stop the attack! I am the Lord of Grizzly Castle, the Hereditary Earl Fei..."

He had barely uttered half his words when he suddenly felt a violent shock in his chest and abdomen, as if he had been hit by a hammer through his armor. Then a hot current flowed from his upper body to his waist, and a severe numbness and exhaustion spread to his entire body and limbs. His body softened and he fell backward, falling heavily from his horse.

The leading Orc officer, Daf, stepped forward and looked at the noble knights lying on the ground. He scratched his head and muttered in confusion, "What was that old man talking about just now? Hey! His longsword looks pretty good..."

……

The Northern Army, which is responsible for the mission of going out to fight, conducts several long-distance forced marches in the wilderness almost every month. Night marches are an essential training item. Compared with the rugged and dense mountains in the wilderness, the road from Jackdaw Town to Grizzly Castle is almost flat.

The leading pursuit troops rode on lightning-fast magic scooters in groups of two, while the following soldier troops rode on war beast vehicles in an orderly manner. Only the artillery battalion was a little slower and needed two alchemical camel beasts to pull the artillery carts from behind to support them.

Most of the bloodline warriors had participated in the earlier battle with the church's inquisition army outside the town. With the powerful assistance of two high-level spellcasters, they relied on the perfect combination of magic guns and their own bloodline talents to surround and kill all the enemies with almost no casualties. They also captured two guys who looked like high-level priests. They immediately sent a team to escort them back to the territory and handed them over to the lord for interrogation and disposal.

There was no need to bother dealing with the mercenaries and civilian laborers who were running around the mountains and plains. They would just catch as many as they could. Anyway, the supervisor of the pioneer mine was looking forward to these free laborers.

According to the orders of the Lord and Commander Pierce, the main targets of the pursuit troops are the nobles and knights riding tall horses and wearing shining armor. It is said that as long as one is captured, a generous ransom can be exchanged for it, and this part of the proceeds will be directly used as the military expenses of the Northern Army's combat operation.

Of course, the lord also added that as long as the enemy dared to raise weapons and resist, there would be no need to worry about their identities and they could all be killed on the spot, just like the group of guys Duff encountered now.

"Clean up the battlefield. Drag all those guys who have laid down their weapons and surrendered, as well as those lying on the ground unable to resist, into the car and take them away. Check them carefully. Anyone who can still breathe can be exchanged for money. Don't forget to give them two sips of first aid medicine to keep them alive." Duff grinned and ordered loudly, while rubbing his hands and going into the battle himself, picking and choosing among the pile of enemy corpses in front of him, trying to find an item that looked high-end for himself - soldiers had to hand in all the spoils collected during combat operations, but officers could be allowed to choose one piece of trophy, which they only had to exchange for the merits of this battle.

Next month is his good brother Vaughn's birthday, and this is the first time he has celebrated this day in his life. Duff has already decided to choose a gift for him. Trophies that represent his bravery and military exploits in battle are the most suitable choices.

He tore off a blood-stained belt with a still gleaming golden buckle from the waist of the sturdy old man who had just raised a long sword to show off his power to him, rubbed it on his military uniform with satisfaction, and stuffed it into his combat waist bag.

A team leader came over and reminded us, "Boss, Commander Pierce reminded us before we set out to try to find and capture Earl Fagan, the primary target of this battle, alive. But we've searched the entire camp and can't find him. We don't even know what he looks like. Could he have escaped?"

Dave frowned and shook his head. "It doesn't matter if they escape. Wayne has already led a special operations team of bloodline warriors and has gotten ahead of us. They are guarding the road they must take to return to Grizzlie Castle. Not even a fly can fly back to their lair."

He happily picked up the sharp sword and smiled at his subordinates, "This sword is really good. I want to personally present it to the lord. It will be perfect to hang in his study. He will definitely like it..."

……

A day and a night later, the first group of returning soldiers arrived at the frontier territory. In addition to a group of miserable captives, there was also Duff, the battalion commander of the 1st Battalion of the Northern Army, who was escorted by Vaughn himself and had a bruised face.

"My lord, this fool didn't even recognize Earl Fagan's identity and shot him dead with one shot!"

Vaughn's face turned pale, and he only regretted that he had not repeatedly explained and issued mandatory orders before leaving, causing the lord to lose a large amount of ransom income.

"Dead?" Harvey paused for a moment before coming to his senses. It was as if he had watched at least tens of thousands of pounds of wealth fly away from him. His face twitched in pain. "Forget it... forget it, he's dead. The soldiers fought hard, and the battlefield is brutal. It's only natural that he didn't survive..."

As for not recognizing Earl Feigen... Harvey smiled bitterly and covered his face. In fact, he himself didn't know Earl Feigen and had no idea what he looked like, let alone the wilderness soldiers under his command who had never even seen many of the southern nobles.

"Dav won't be subject to military punishment this time. Instead, use his combat merits to offset the punishment. It doesn't have to be too harsh, but this won't happen again..."

He paused and added quickly, "Secure the remaining noble captives. After calculating their family identities, send out the ransom letter as soon as possible to avoid any further complications."

Asdalen came forward with a stack of documents in his hand and reported in a businesslike tone, "Sir, we've calculated the ransom for these nobles, and it's 38,000 gold pounds. This is calculated according to the redemption practices of nobles in warring southern countries. Would you like to see the specific list?"

Harvey shook his head. "No need for that. The ransom will be increased by 30%. Nobles who can't afford it can use food and the people of their fiefdoms to pay me off. If you don't accept, you can just recover and be sent to the mines to do hard labor."

(End of this chapter)