I'm not a lord

Chapter 110 Operation Autumn Wind

On the morning of Monday, the third week of October, Lynn summoned all the military forces in the territory.

Two hundred serfs, one hundred refugee soldiers, fifty barbarian archers, and his most trusted brothers, a total of more than three hundred and sixty people.

At this time, seven months had passed since he led more than 20 horse bandits into the White Bear Territory.

Nearly half of the bandits have been integrated into the army and become official officers.

It is said that several officers who have retired from horse bandits are discussing marriage. Most of the brides are from the families of managers and village heads, and they are waiting for the end of the war to hold the wedding.

Lynn was naturally happy to see this happen.

He now has a loyal and reliable powerful army and has complete control over the territory. His identity is no longer important.

In the hearts of all the people in White Bear Territory, the Lord is their only sun.

Revolt?

What a joke! Who dares to resist the lord?

Are you dissatisfied with the gallows being in too much space?
During these seven months, Lin En worked day and night, doing his best to improve the overall strength of the territory.

He wanted to use a war to test the results of his labor.

In the lobby on the first floor of the castle, Lin En's core team gathered together.

The long table was spread out with a map of the Shoal Territory he had drawn.

The map marked the main attack targets and the marching routes he had planned for his men.

He also drew a miniature map for Lao Er and several other commanders, asking them to carry it with them to avoid getting lost.

"Leon, are the boat and flag cloak I want ready?"

As early as September, Lynn commissioned Leon to order a batch of specially made flags and burqas from Trois-Rivieres.

"Everything is ready, and the three boats can depart at any time."

Leon brought a total of three oared ships this time.

These boats all came from his trading partners, and the people on board were experienced boatmen who were familiar with the water conditions of the Baihe River and could drive the boats to the shallows with their eyes closed.

"Hugo, Jan, Joseph, Andre, what about you?"

"Ready to go at any time!"

This time, four brothers went with Lynn.

After becoming the principal and switching to a civilian position, Lao Liu took the managers and village heads to stay in the territory to prevent any accidents.

Outside the castle, the soldiers were lined up in full military uniform, standing in solemn posture, waiting for Lynn's order.

From September to now, the equipment level and training level of these soldiers have been greatly improved.

A total of more than twenty sets of plate armor and plate armor were produced, just enough to equip officers and cavalry.

Lin En had asked Leon to buy fifty sets of chain mail in advance using the proceeds from September's illegal salt trade.

Therefore, the third and fourth brothers each had a fifty-man mail-armor squadron under their command, and all members were equipped with long-handled axes and excellent short weapons.

Of course, with White Bear Lord's current forging level, he can make chain mail.

As long as a full set of tools is available, a qualified apprentice can make it, and the iron ingots consumed are far less than plate armor.

But the biggest disadvantage of chain mail is that its production cycle is too long.

Even the most skilled blacksmith would need about half a year to make a set of chain mail, while an apprentice would need nearly a year.

Lin En is not short of money at the moment, so buying is obviously more cost-effective than building.

And chain mail won't be eliminated easily.

Even if the production speed of plate armor and plate armor clothing increases significantly in the future, chain mail can still be disassembled and reassembled to protect soft parts such as the neck and joints.

Except for the 100 core troops equipped with chain mail, the rest of the soldiers were equipped with linen armor and leather breastplates.

Including fifty barbarian archers led by little Soward.

Lin En also specially made linen tops with hoods for these barbarian archers so that they could use the hats to cover their conspicuous azure hair.

"Albert?"

Lao Ai lowered his head and replied, "Master, fifty servants are ready to go at any time."

The White Bear Territory and the Shallow Beach Territory are only 60 kilometers apart, and the army can reach them by land in three days, so Lin En did not recruit too many military servants.

These people were recruited from craftsmen's apprentices and ordinary farmers. They were nimble and strong, and could set up camp, carry supplies, repair carriages, and reduce the burden on the soldiers.

The temporary transfer of fifty people will not have much impact on the production and construction of the territory.

Lynn would never allow this war to continue for too long.

In a week at most, he will hold a grand banquet for his heroes in the castle of Shoal Lord.

After such a long period of development, the most thorough pre-war preparations have been made, and even several military exercises have been conducted.

If he still can't crush the shallow leader, then Lin En might as well find a brick and hit himself to death.

What he wanted was an overwhelming war, as ruthless as the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

Therefore, Lynn named this special military operation "Autumn Wind".

In future history books, this "Autumn Wind" operation will become his first step towards the pinnacle.

failure?

There is no such word in Lynn's dictionary.

When he first took Yagena into his account, he had originally planned to take action before the beginning of next spring, which would have been just in time for the spring plowing in the Shallow Beach Territory.

It will take a year or two to develop on the newly occupied land, and then a year later it will be able to take advantage of the situation and sweep across the Baihe River Basin.

But the plans couldn't keep up with the changes.

The situation in the North was changing too quickly. The Duke of Swampland was already digesting the newly occupied land, and the other two dukes were unwilling to be left out and took action.

Lynn knew she couldn't delay any longer.

The sooner he occupied the Shoal Territory, the sooner he could transform it and accelerate the integration of resources between the two territories.

After the pre-war meeting, Lynn, wearing plate armor, rode a white horse to review the army.

In the open space south of the castle, the soldiers looked solemn and their backs were straight.

Even the migrant soldiers who joined the army the latest had already received more than a month of training.

Their foundation is not bad. They are fed with delicious food every day. In addition, they have received strict training from Lao Wu. Although they cannot be said to have been completely transformed, they at least have the momentum of an army.

Lynn saw Lucas standing in the front row.

The refugee boy has a determined look in his eyes. After a few trials in war, he will be transformed into a real piece of jade.

Lynn saw little Soward at the front of the barbarian archers.

The young man from the wilderness gradually matures, and the longbow in his hand will become a nightmare for the mail knight.

Lynn also saw many familiar faces.

He would live in the barracks at least three days a week and could call out every soldier's name accurately.

He gave his soldiers dignity and courage, and his soldiers gave him loyalty and fearlessness in return.

“Fight for me!”

Lynn raised his right arm.

"loyalty!"

All the soldiers raised their right arms and smashed them hard against their hearts.

"set off!"

Following Lin En's order, the third and fourth brothers led the two hundred most elite soldiers to take action first.

They were going to attack the Shallows Territory by land.

Traveling south with them were five armored knights, thirty barbarian archers led by Little Thorward, and fifty miscellaneous servants.

According to the intelligence Lin En currently has, the troop deployment of Shoal Territory is typical of being loose inside and tight outside.

There are a total of eight fiefdom knights, four of whom are stationed in the northern part of the territory.

They command their retainers and semi-professional conscripts, and rely on watchtowers and manors to form a defense line, with the main purpose of guarding against the White Bear Territory.

Two knights and their attendants were stationed at the riverside castle, responsible for protecting the young three-year-old lord and the regent Flora. There were about twenty permanent troops stationed in the castle.

The last two remaining knights were stationed at the southern end of the territory, and several watchtowers were also built.

Lin En planned to split his troops into two groups.

The third and fourth brothers led their troops to break through the northern defense line of the Shoal Territory by land, striving to annihilate the four knights and their attendants. Lin En gave them three days to travel.

Around 4 a.m. on Thursday, they would launch their attack under cover of darkness.

As for Lin En, he will take one hundred refugee soldiers and the remaining twenty barbarian archers by water.

Fighting alongside him were five armored cavalrymen led by the second brother, as well as Yagna and Leon.

Yagna is the "name" for Lin En to send troops.

She will appear in the shallows with her pregnant belly to provide moral support for this military operation.

Leon was a spectator. He wanted to feel the atmosphere of the battlefield in advance and see if Lin En had enough strength to support him in capturing Sanhe City.

Lynn would not lead his troops out until Wednesday evening, taking a ten-hour boat ride to Shoalling Pier and occupying the pier around four in the morning.

He would then take advantage of the situation to surround the castle, cutting off its connection with the outside world.

As the attacking party, Lin En divided his troops into two groups, which seemed to be a big taboo in military strategy.

But he currently possesses absolutely overwhelming strength, so in order to maximize the results of the battle, he must of course divide his troops.

If it weren't for the fact that there were only two options for him, namely, White Bear Territory and Shallow Beach Territory, he would even want to send out another team of soldiers to directly surround the enemy on three sides.

The 60-kilometer forest road connecting White Bear Territory and Shoal Territory is relatively flat.

The only problem was that the road was very narrow, allowing only two horses to advance side by side at most, and fallen trees appeared from time to time in the middle of the road, slowing down the march.

Before the battle, Lin En personally led elite scouts to repeatedly survey the road conditions and the surrounding forests.

Perhaps due to the constraints of Regent Flora, the knights of the Shoal Territory did not hunt in this forest. Otherwise, Lin En could have reduced the military strength of the Shoal Territory in advance.

This was the first time that the third brother led troops into battle alone.

Instead, his mentality was calmer than ever before.

As soon as he left the White Bear Territory, he sent out all thirty barbarian archers.

These wild people grew up in the forest. They can approach prey quietly and are good at close combat, making them the best forest scouts.

The third brother led the remaining 200 people, escorting 20 baggage wagons and advancing slowly. They marched about 25 kilometers on the first day and set up camp by clearing the trees along the road in the evening.

Lin En prepared two offensive plans for him in advance.

If they are not discovered by the watchtower, they will first attack the sentry post, and then rush in and take the four knight manors directly.

If we are discovered by the sentry tower, we will assemble the entire army and use the cavalry and axe and halberd soldiers as the vanguard to attack the shallows.

With the limited military strength of Qiantan County, it is definitely impossible to stop them.

To put it bluntly, in the face of absolute strength, all targeted defensive fortifications are useless.

Lin En’s strategy is to develop and then crush the enemy.

Who wants to have fun fighting a fair battle with you?
What we want is a smooth push!
By Wednesday evening, the Savage scouts could already see the roof of the Shoal Leader's tower.

These four watchtowers are built at the exit of the road, and each watchtower has a guard on duty in turn.

Because the scouts of the wild people acted in secret, the guards did not notice anything unusual.

After receiving the intelligence, the third brother ordered the entire army to rest temporarily around the carriage, without making a fire or setting up camp, and to fill their stomachs with bread prepared in advance.

He held a brief military meeting with the fourth brother and little Soward to determine the specific plan for the surprise attack.

At around two o'clock in the morning, he gave the order to attack.

Henryk, the chief knight of the Shoal Territory, was very wealthy and had eight servants in total.

Oliver is one of them.

He was born in a village under Henry's rule. His father was a village head and he was chosen as a attendant because of his strong physique.

Like most boys, Oliver dreams of becoming a knight with a fiefdom.

To this end, he persevered every day to strengthen his body and hone his martial arts skills.

In the squire competitions in Shoal Territory, he always came out on top.

But being a knight depends not only on ability, but also on birth and family.

He couldn't afford a good warhorse or armor, and the wealth his family had accumulated over the years could only buy him a long sword and a piece of armor.

This little bit of shabby equipment was obviously not enough to support him to become a knight.

The salary he received from Henryk was not high. After serving as a squire for several years, he only bought a low-quality warhorse and a chain mail jacket.

But Oliver never gave up his dream of knighthood.

Around July and August, a knight in the territory was humiliated by the Baron of White Bear. The remaining seven lords all clamored to start a war and capture the neighboring baron in exchange for ransom.

Oliver was equally excited. For a low-level warrior like him who longed to move up in class, war was the best opportunity.

As long as he could capture a feudal knight, he could take off instantly, with a warhorse and armor, and the opportunity to demand a ransom.

But just as he was sharpening his sword with great ambition, the female regent of the territory shattered his dream of getting rich.

Without the regent's nod, none of the knights and servants dared to act rashly.

But Oliver still did not give up his dream of knighthood.

He hoped that a knight in the territory would suddenly die, so that he would have the opportunity to marry the knight's widow, inherit the knight's wife, children, and territory and property, and reach the peak of his life.

Making a fortune by marrying widows is very common in the Northern Kingdom and even the entire Diewas continent.

The road to wealth for many legendary knights began with marrying widows.

Being a knight is a high-risk profession. Fighting on the battlefield, in competitions, and even in daily sparring could take their lives.

If this is a landed knight and has no legitimate offspring to inherit his land and obligations, the lord will confiscate his land and distribute it to other landless nobles who are capable of fighting for the lord.

You can't do it, but there are plenty of people who can.

But if the deceased knight left behind a widow, the lord has another solution.

It means appointing an unmarried strong man to marry his widow and inherit the fiefdom and the feudal obligations that come with it.

Oliver's personal fighting power is second only to several knights in the Shoal Territory, and he also has a handsome face.

If a knight really died suddenly in the territory, then he would undoubtedly be the 'first heir' of the knight's widow.

In order to realize his dream, he did not get married in his twenties and even reluctantly rejected Melanie's sexual advances.

The steward's daughter, Melanie, is a well-known unmarried girl in Shoal. Not only does she come from a wealthy family, she also has a beautiful singing voice.

But Oliver was a man of stone.

In order to realize his dream of knighthood, he would rather marry a widow in her thirties who had given birth to several children than a young girl who was devoted to him.

He was not the only one who had this idea. There were several other servants in the Shoal Territory who were not married yet, and they all wanted to use marriage to exchange for their first pot of gold.

The person Oliver envied most was Master Henrik.

The previous lord died of illness, leaving behind only an orphan and a widow.

Just because Henrik is handsome and skilled in martial arts, he can become the regent's lover, the guardian of the young baron, and the de facto second-in-command of the Shoal Lords.

Oliver dreamed of the female regent more than once.

How wonderful would it be if the Regent fell in love with me?

Of course, fantasy aside, Oliver is still just a servant at the moment.

He had to follow Master Henrik's orders and work in two shifts to guard the watchtower to guard against possible invasion.

From August to October, nothing happened for more than two consecutive months. Oliver went from being serious at the beginning to being lazy now.

In his opinion, the new baron of White Bear Territory is a wimp. What else can he do except bullying the envoy?
The Regent is too sensitive. He is actually afraid of such a weak baron. He is just scaring himself.

The cold wind of late autumn blew, making a sharp howl.

Oliver sneezed and looked around at the three watchtowers nearby. Apart from the burning braziers, there was no one in sight.

"Bah, you just know how to be lazy."

Oliver thought about it and decided to follow suit. He sat cross-legged on the straw mat and wrapped himself tightly with a blanket.

He fell asleep in a daze.

He dreamed that Master Henrik died tragically in a tournament and that the Regent had chosen him as her lover.

He inherited Master Henryk's widow and son, and not only owned the manor, but also became the new baron's guardian.

"Hey hey hey"

But just as he was immersed in his sweet dream, a hand climbed up the edge of the watchtower, with five fingers tightly gripping the wall, followed by a pair of blue eyes like will-o'-the-wisp.

(End of this chapter)