Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 399 Finishing Work
It was just dawn, but the entire Fengyuan City still showed no signs of returning to life.

All the people in the city knew that there was an invasion by foreign enemies, but as long as they stayed at home and did not go out, no rioting soldiers who entered the city would rush into their homes and loot.

The fact that the great noble lords attacked and seized each other's cities and territories was commonplace for the ordinary poor people living on this land.

Even if the army rioted in the city, they would only engage in looting, burning, and abusing people, and that would be enough if we endured it... After all, since ancient times, only foreign invaders could do things like massacring a city.

……

Harvey controlled the soul puppet and walked into the messy Duke's mansion. Vaughn and other Northern officers who were on this expedition had already knelt on one knee to welcome his arrival in the hall.

In fact, long before the army set out, Harvey ordered Pierce to load the puppet onto the ironclad ship so that he could be awakened immediately after the war.

It was not the first time for everyone present to see the Lord using an incarnation puppet. Although they saw the thin and unfamiliar face with black hair and black eyes, as long as they silently said "This is the Lord" several times in their hearts, they could still successfully hypnotize themselves.

The bodies of the dead in the castle had all been moved away, but the bloodstains and the smell of blood were still so strong that they were almost lingering. Broken furnishings that had not been taken care of could be seen everywhere, as well as broken weapons that had been casually discarded.

Harvey could immediately and clearly imagine the scene of his bloodline warriors breaking into the castle and unilaterally crushing the stubborn enemies.

"Everyone, get up." Harvey waved his hand and walked over to the high-backed chair that originally belonged to Duke Ralph and sat down. "You did a great job. You completed this mission more cleanly and efficiently than I originally expected."

The only brown-haired man not in uniform among the subordinates stood up and knelt on one knee to salute Harvey. "My Lord, I am the secret police officer in charge of Fengyuan City's intelligence work. Please call me codename 088."

Harvey narrowed his eyes and smiled, "I know you. It was you who, in collaboration with the intelligence police of Jinhui City, discovered the secret of Duke Ralph's escape from Fengyuan City...which led to our successful raid on his lair this time. Well done."

Codename 088 patted his chest and continued, "Our colleagues lurking in the Duke's mansion, with the cooperation of the special operations team, have just captured all of the Duke's relatives who escaped through the secret passage out of the city... and also confiscated some of the gold they had hurriedly taken with them."

It was pure gold worth tens of thousands of pounds and of very good quality, but it only accounted for less than one-fifth of the wealth in the family treasury in the Duke's bunker. If it were not for the hasty evacuation, they would not have taken away such a small part.

"Oh? When Duke Ralph ran off on his own, he didn't even take with him the vast fortune he had accumulated over generations?"

This surprised Harvey. He probably didn't expect his hometown to be wiped out so quickly. "I thought they would burn down any property they couldn't take with them..."

Codename 088 replied with a smile, "They had originally planned to do so, but unfortunately, the ones assigned to cover the rear and set the fire were ours. Those antique collections and large boxes of coins were ultimately preserved intact."

Harvey nodded and no longer paid too much attention to the issue of spoils. After all, he was no longer as financially strapped as he was in the past. Moreover, the wealth confiscated from a founding duke was just a drop in the bucket for his vast territory with a population of more than 50,000.

As long as these war gains that can be quickly converted into cash can basically offset the consumption brought to him by this war, both Harvey himself and the financial department of the territory's municipal government should be satisfied with this.

Fighting to support war is always the most effective strategy for external expansion.

...Harvey casually asked a few more questions about the ending of sporadic battles in various parts of the city, then coughed lightly and tapped his fingers on the armrest of the intricately carved chair.

The hall immediately became quiet. Whether it was the soldiers standing guard with guns against the wall or the officers surrounding Harvey, everyone looked at their lord with burning eyes.

"Three things... First, the secret police, in coordination with the military, must immediately take over the management of Fengyuan City, appease the people, and investigate any remaining Duke remnants."

"Secondly, leave two battalion soldiers behind to temporarily oversee the defense of Fengyuan City. The military will independently discuss and arrange subsequent rotations... Regardless, I only require that this city maintain a military presence of at least one thousand soldiers."

After all, Fengyuan City is located in the central part of the principality, with flat terrain and convenient transportation. It is very convenient to reach various places in the principality by river or land. The most important thing is that it is less than seven days' journey from the royal capital Jinhui City in the west.

If nothing unexpected happens, His Majesty the Grand Duke and Grand Duke Ralph, who are far away in Jinhui City, should receive the news of the fall of Fengyuan City in five days. No matter when they counterattack... Harvey must leave enough troops in Fengyuan City to defend.

He paused, then raised his index finger. "One last thing. For all the captured remnants of the Duke in the city, as well as those vassal nobles... I will set up a tribunal to accept all reports from the public and publicly judge their crimes."

It is an indisputable fact that Duke Ralph himself took advantage of the Grand Duke's call to arms to stir up disputes among the feudal lords, leading to wars and chaos within the principality and the people suffering.

But what aroused the people's anger and hatred even more was that he indulged his vassal nobles, arbitrarily levied taxes, and forced the people to participate in labor. His knights and mercenaries intensified their exploitation and plundered and abused the people in the surrounding fiefdoms.

"We must make the people of Fengyuan City understand that the Northern Army is not an invader, much less an enemy of the people here... We, like them, are resisters against the tyranny of the Duke and the nobles! And those greedy nobles who have committed serious crimes will be punished!"

"We will follow the orders of our lord!" Pierce led a group of officers to kneel on one knee again, and the other soldiers in the hall also knelt down excitedly and saluted Harvey.

……

After arranging the general follow-up matters, Harvey left Pierce and secret police 088 alone.

"What are the casualties among our soldiers?"

"There were no casualties during the capture of the outer city... The Second Battalion, responsible for blocking the Fengyuan Knights' reinforcements to the Duke's Palace in the streets, suffered approximately twenty casualties due to the enemy's reckless charge."

In fact, a considerable number of soldiers were seriously injured, but thanks to the advanced military medical technology, most of the wounded did not have to worry about the worsening of their injuries. If their limbs were truly missing, they could even have metal prostheses grafted on, and recovery was only a matter of time.

Harvey nodded, but didn't scold. It was already quite difficult to control the number of casualties to double digits when commanding 1,500 soldiers to raid a city with a population of over 10,000. The main reason was that the intensity of warfare among mortals in this era was not very high. Apart from "supernatural lethal weapons" like spellcasters, there were almost no other direct and effective means to cause large numbers of casualties among soldiers. Unless they were extremely unlucky and an uncontrollable infectious disease broke out in the army,

Secret Police Officer 088 leaned over and whispered, "My Lord, what should we do with the Duke's relatives we captured? Do we need to temporarily imprison them to contain Duke Ralph if he launches a counterattack?"

Harvey chuckled and waved his hand, "No need for that. It's just a threatening ploy among the nobles to fight for power... Imprison them with the rest of the nobles, subject them to public denunciations and revelations, and judge them as they should!"

(End of this chapter)