Warhammer

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Rock Castle.

The name sounds more like a translation of Dwarf Stronghold, but it is indeed a city built by the border people themselves.

The population is not large. The city and the surrounding areas have a population of only about 40,000 to 50,000 all year round. It is located in the northern part of the Western Border Territory. It is an ordinary border city-state. The name contains the word "Yan" because it is close to the Gray Mountains. It has a developed mining industry and a supplementary agriculture. It has been dominated by an export-oriented economy all year round, and has exchanges with the dwarves in the mountains and the Elector Territory of Thor in the north.

The ruling system of Rock Castle is a "monarchy" that is relatively rare in border territories nowadays. Its ruler calls himself "Lord" and is a descendant of one of the "Border Kings" who abolished his princely title after being summoned by Emperor Justinian. The difference is that the ancestor who abolished the princely title still firmly grasped the authority of the city-state after returning to his "Principality" and "imitated" the feudal system of the empire, making himself the local lord. The land, output, and even the people in the territory are his feudal property.

Later, during the hundreds of years of peace, Rock Castle remained unknown. Mining, selling minerals, farming, harvesting... It was very ordinary and there was nothing worth describing. It was only because of the output of the mining industry that the people's living standards were quite good. However, due to the institutional nature of its "feudal lord", many immigrants who came to the border territories rarely chose to migrate to Rock Castle.

After all, the border territories have immigrants coming and going, and the largest number of them are people from the empire. They have long known the character of the nobles and lords, and have suffered enough, so naturally they would not go to work for another feudal ruler after leaving.

In contrast, those areas with more border territories, which adopt the "republic of the powerful" or "city-state parliament" system and have superficial "democracy" even if they still belong to the powerful class, are more attractive to immigrants.

After all, no matter what, it is still slightly more progressive than the feudal aristocracy, and is more in line with the interests of different classes and the general public.

This is also the reason why the "parliamentary" system rose rapidly after the Great War and even became a "trend" in the Old World. Even the "virtuous nobles" in the Bretonnian states who were still stubborn, conservative, and adhered to the feudal bloodline system would more or less set up a "council" in their own courts as a symbolic decoration to appease the serfs below.

In this respect, the lords of the Rock Castle are no better than the most stubborn feudal nobles in Bretonnia.

An Imperial army is stationed here.

239: Militia and Empty Pay

Their commander was Albert von Conrad, an imperial baron and cavalry general. He led a force of 1,200 men, of which nearly 800 were "temporary soldiers" hired before and after arriving at the border.

These people may not have any military skills, but have served in the military for a period of time, or have had experience in the free militia for a period of time. When the empire's conscription mobilization order was issued, those who evaded their service responsibilities or "neglected their duties" - of course, this is a nicer way of saying it. To put it bluntly, those who were corrupt and drew empty salaries, causing troop shortages, were promised compensation to be brought in to take the blame.

Of course, there were also some people who were ignorant farmers who just worked on the land, or workers who struggled to survive in factories. They were colluded by their "owners" or local bureaucrats and dragged into the military camp to make up the numbers.

Even if they find out they have been deceived by the adults when they arrive, most of the time they can only helplessly sign temporary contract documents under means of half intimidation and half inducement, and be forced to take on this military service duty that may cost them their lives.

This is now the norm in the Imperial Army.

Sigmar's human empire is not as strong and powerful as it appears. After all, there has never been such a huge and "expanded" political entity in the history of the Old World. The rapid development after the holy war has brought physical growth to the empire, but the ruling class of the empire lacks the experience and ability to govern an increasingly large country.

Almost all ruling classes tend to be conservative, "sound" and gradual in their stance most of the time.

Reform and innovation are almost synonymous with "heresy" to the stubborn ones among them, so the rapidly growing empire did not actually have the governance capabilities that matched its size. It was only operating according to a certain "inertia", and the "trinity" of imperial power, religion, and tradition united the country to ensure that it did not deviate from the direction.

A bloated giant.

He might react quickly to things outside of himself that he could see with his eyes, such as the interests of the border territories or changes in Kislev.

However, he was extremely insensitive to the corruption and disease that were growing on his increasingly large and swollen body.

......

In the past empires, the largest auxiliary corps and reserve organization was the free militia, which was always despised by professional soldiers and called "scum". It was often composed of passionate citizens and farmers who stood up to defend their homes; or mercenaries, bandits, pirates, adventurers and other bloodthirsty, lawless and ruthless characters. After all, for most rulers, such a group was often a restless element in the territory. Instead of letting them wander around the people and make trouble, it was better to concentrate them and let them "contribute their strength to the empire" when needed - as cannon fodder on the battlefield.

In the past, the mixed militia group was a chaotic and dirty "garbage dump" in the eyes of professional soldiers, especially professional soldiers. However, it was an indispensable "garbage dump" in the empire's military system. Although there might be some bright spots in it, such as veterans who voluntarily joined the group with their equipment after retirement, but in general it was still a chaotic group with questionable combat effectiveness. Although they could often burst out extremely strong fighting will when defending their homeland, they were not always a reliable team.

But the situation at that time was relatively good compared to the current situation. At least these poor farmers and workers were not "tricked" or "kidnapped" to the battlefield.

Albert led such a team. As a traditional military noble with decent abilities in all aspects and "qualified", he naturally knew one thing clearly:

If an army of his size were marching in the wild and encountered greenskins, even of the same size, it would be very risky as long as more than one-third of the greenskins were in the war gang.

Albert was "confident" in the combat effectiveness of his troops.

The core combat force of the entire Rock Fortress garrison actually only consisted of less than 400 "professional soldiers", but among them were also the "mercenaries in the professional army" described above who were temporarily brought in to take up the post and work hard.

After all, in today's empire, joining the army is not a good choice for those who have a little wealth and channels.

To this day, the upper and middle classes of the entire imperial army are still firmly controlled by those with aristocratic blood, military honors, and generals. Even if a common civilian is talented, the best chance he or she has to get into the army is to be "appreciated" by a general with a prominent family, noble blood, but incompetent, or capable but not many military honors. They will then be kept by his side, serve him as a staff officer for a dozen or so years, and wait until the general is about to retire from the military to pave the way for his descendants before recommending him. Only then can they get the chance to hold a powerful military position in the upper and middle levels.

Even for ordinary petty bourgeoisie, unless their children are really homeless and have nowhere to go, or have gotten into trouble and want to join the army to seek protection, joining the army is definitely not a good choice.

Under such circumstances, except for those elite troops with guaranteed treatment, such as the "Elector Legion" and "Rick Guard", the combat effectiveness of the troops is generally questionable.

It would not be a big deal if he had followed the army of the chief of the expedition, but unfortunately Albert was sent out as an independent army with a single order. Although the empire's nobles and traditional military honors firmly controlled the army, there were some unshakable traditions such as nepotism and seniority, inbreeding, and internal reproduction, but the point that "nobles should set an example" was still retained as a rare bright spot.

When the commander issues an order, he seldom gives special consideration to:

So-and-so is the son of so-and-so (a great nobleman), and he must be placed in the rear to avoid any trouble.

Orders are given, and obedience is the greatest.

Although Albert did not dare to bring such a force under his command to the battlefield, he had no choice but to obey the order and set off towards the place where he was planned to "guard", that is, the Rock Castle.

As for why the troops were vacant and their combat effectiveness was questionable, he still had the guts to lead such a "cannon fodder" army, most of which were temporary non-combatants, to the battlefield, instead of seeking more professional troops with guaranteed combat effectiveness for himself. After all, there is always the possibility of encountering danger during an overseas mission. That's naturally because...

Most of the vacancies among the four or five hundred men under Albert were given to him.

Most of the military pay from the empire went into his personal pocket, or to be more precise, into his and his family's private pockets.

In today's rapidly developing and ever-changing world, the land output that the traditional nobles relied on is depreciating more and more, while factory owners and businessmen are making a fortune by "speculation" and "squeezing the penniless poor like slaughtering animals (aristocratic language)". This has made the nobles, who are the "pillars" of the country, increasingly dissatisfied, and naturally they have to seek new support for their superior lives.

Naturally, the army, as the nobles' private reserve, became their "cash machine" for "generating income".

This is a very common thing in the empire nowadays. The nobles who hold power "cash in" on their power through various means. Otherwise, it would be difficult for them to maintain their extravagant lifestyle.

But Albert also drew a lot of empty salaries, more than half.

This was a situation that if reported to the higher-ups, then no matter what, unless the family paid a heavy price to protect him, even the nobles would inevitably be killed. So he didn't dare to ask for soldiers or make excuses to delay, and could only grit his teeth and carry out the order.

Fortunately, his luck was pretty good. Although he was on a mission away from home, the place he came to, Rock Castle, was a relatively stable area. He had been stationed here for almost a week and had not even heard the roar of the greenskins once.

Albert, who "turned a blessing in disguise", began to use his identity as an "imperial garrison" to live a life of "superiority" in Rock Castle, a small town with a permanent population of about 20,000, and discovered a good way to "generate income and get rich".

240: Albert's Short-lived Happiness

Although Rock Castle is not particularly wealthy among the border states, it is still relatively wealthy because of its mining output.

Especially as the local "lords", the former prince's family has accumulated a lot of wealth over hundreds of years... but it is only limited to the level of local rich people. The standing army of Rock Castle is only a 300-man lord guard, and a ban on weapons is implemented in the territory. Groups such as mercenaries are not welcome to enter, so the military strength is very weak.

After all, three hundred trained professional soldiers with standard equipment cannot fight in foreign wars, but they are enough to deal with civilian riots and mine disturbances.

The size is just right. Even if a generation of the lord's family is full of losers, as long as they are adequately treated and the lord's prestige has always been established, they can keep the military power firmly in their own hands and prevent it from being interfered with and usurped by outsiders.

However, although these tricks are useful for maintaining internal rule, they will be shattered at the slightest touch if they encounter interference from external forces.

After Albert was ordered to station here, he received a "warm reception" from the local lord. The latter was also afraid of the threat of the greenskins and hoped that the imperial army would come to escort him. However, after careful observation, Albert soon made a move that the lord family of Rock Castle did not expect:

He discovered that the Ede family, who ruled Rock Castle, were still privately usurping the title of "Prince" in their castle "court" to refer to each head of the family. And after a joint exercise, he also found that the strength of Rock Castle's lord guards could only be described as... very unsatisfactory, and were far inferior to his already uneven 400-strong army.

So at a premeditated banquet, when both hosts and guests were having a great time, Albert suddenly launched an attack. He used intimidation and inducement to find several servants from the "court" of the Lord of Rock Castle as "witnesses", and accused the Ede family of usurping the ancestral system, pretending to be a noble, and misusing the ceremonies of a prince.

This is extremely disrespectful!

Although strictly speaking, this border area is not the territory of the empire and does not need to follow the so-called imperial system, "I am a foreign country and do not follow the imperial system", but this is only true in theory. In reality, the human empire in the north has a strong influence on the surrounding order forces, especially those of the same "human" race.

The Kislev Tsardom in the north had long relied on direct or indirect assistance from the Empire, and as a result it had been able to survive the chaos that was constantly moving southward; the Knightly Kingdom of Bretonnia in the west fell into division after the Holy War, and was broken into a variety of states. As for the Border Princes, it goes without saying that several Battles of Blackfire Pass and a steady stream of immigrants from the Empire permanently shaped this land, which was once a wild land.

As for the southern world, which is traditionally close in blood and culture, it is far inferior to the empire in terms of having a large immigrant group and the "life-saving grace" of the Battle of Black Fire Pass. Therefore, it is common among the new generation to vaguely regard the northern empire as the "suzerain", "superior country" and "mother country".

This is very common in border city-states close to the north that have close exchanges with the empire.

In terms of law, border people can do as they please, but when it comes to traditional order such as "superiority and inferiority", as the big brother of the human race, the Empire naturally has absolute say in this regard.

Of course, mainly for a wild place like the Border Territory where "rituals and music are in chaos", Altdorf certainly cannot interfere in the appointments and dismissals of the Tsar's court, or complain that the Kislevite boyars are "unrighteous". After all, to be honest, the history of Kislevite is shorter than that of the Empire, but the country established by the ancient Spada people has been independent from beginning to end, with their unique historical and cultural heritage.

As for border areas composed entirely of immigrants and their descendants, before a unified identity is formed, they can only look to their powerful neighbors and the countries where they or their ancestors left for their roots.

Although Emperor Justinian abolished the "thousands of princes" in the border territories, he also conferred some formal noble identities and titles. These were not like the "princes" who circled their own land and led a village of a hundred people, where the leaders dared to call themselves "princes", but real nobles recognized by the empire.

It was equivalent to forcibly "civilizing" the backward areas, promoting and implementing the empire's hierarchy in the border territories, and gaining recognition from the local people. If things went normally, the next step would be to try to appoint officials and governors, promote the flow of people and economic circulation, and finally bring it under control. Unfortunately, the emperor fell into a new struggle shortly after his victory, and never took any action against the border princely territories again for the rest of his life.

But the system he forced through has been retained and has left a deep mark on the border, and has continued to this day become an imperceptible tradition among the local people.

Albert wanted to "arbitrate on behalf of the empire" in the name of usurpation. Although it seemed that he was exceeding his authority and acting overbearingly, he actually had his own reasons.

The lord of the Rock Castle was frightened by the sudden change of hostility from the "heavenly soldiers of the upper kingdom". After all, the lord's family had been inherited for several generations, and they had long since degenerated into a group of parasites who could do nothing except the so-called "means of controlling subordinates" prepared for the uneducated serfs and miners, and the intrigues for power and profit in the castle.

Albert arranged for the "empire's elite" to control the situation at the banquet, which immediately confused the leaders of the Ed family.

Then she begged for mercy and implored the general to be merciful.

Albert unceremoniously incorporated the 300 lord guards into his own army, and at the same time directly took on the position of "the highest local military and political chief". He announced to the local people that the Ede family voluntarily and legally handed over the highest authority of rule to himself, the general appointed by the empire, in order to resist the greenskins.

He also used the excuse of usurpation to threaten the Ede family to assist him in his work, otherwise he would "announce to the people the ruling from the empire that all the powers of the Ede family are not recognized by the empire and are invalid and illegal"!

He threatened the lord's family. At that moment, he didn't even need to bring the imperial judgment. The angry miners and peasants alone could tear apart the Ed family, which had relied on a "name" and relative "power" - the 300-man lord guard, but now it had been deprived; riding on their heads for more than a hundred years. Their men would be hanged, just like the lord hanged the escaped miners and serfs, or thrown into the mines to work day after day until they died in the mines for their crimes; the women would be taken home by the mob, and roughly grabbed by the smelly peasants and dirty miners, thrown on the bed, desecrated and defiled, sowing seeds for the noble women...

So the Ed family's only choice was to surrender.

They could only believe what Albert said:

With the promise of "military affairs at hand, you will temporarily take over the authority... everything will be back to normal after I'm gone", she served this imperial general who held the military power, hoping that after feeding him and his red-eyed "heavenly soldiers", the other party would keep his promise and return all the things in the Rock Castle territory to their original owners.

Albert and his 1,200 men - now expanded to 1,500, including nearly 800 "well-trained" professional soldiers, more than half. This strength gives Albert the confidence to give it a try if he really encounters the greenskin troops.

While he seized power in Rock Castle, he did not forget his business.

Albert received a large amount of "free sponsorship" from the treasury of the Ede family, part of which went into his pocket, and part of it was used as "gift exchange" within the army - this kind of thing between nobles is not called bribery, but a legitimate "gift".

As for a small part, he used it to motivate his soldiers.

Not to mention those who were paid to take the blame, those poor laborers who originally had almost nothing, who worked in the fields and factories, and were deceived and abducted to join the army to make up the numbers, finally realized the benefits of joining the army after seeing that they could make a fortune by "fighting".

Although Albert was a bit greedy, he was at least mentally sound and knew that the most important thing at this time was to improve the combat effectiveness of his troops. Otherwise, once the greenskins came, even if he was unanimously respected by all the people in Rock Castle and ascended the throne as king, he would still die.

If he took even a tiny portion of the money he squeezed out of the Rock Castle, he could make these poor kids, who might not see the golden crown a few times a year, jealous and clamor to follow Sir Conrad to "kill the enemy and serve the country."

And the money he paid was not even his own; he just took a little less.

Albert had been mentally prepared from the beginning for the possibility that he would die on the battlefield, or at worst be demoted as a defeated general. Now his luck has turned around.

The wealth accumulated by the Ed family of Rockburg for generations was arbitrarily snatched away by him. This was far worse than what he could gain by drawing a salary without doing anything for decades.

On the other side, the "temporary mercenaries" and militiamen were also in high spirits due to the encouragement of wealth. They began to train and exercise according to the plan formulated by Albert, striving to make this army have no major breakthroughs within a month, but at least to barely have the appearance of a professional soldier. That would be a great success. In addition, Albert had made a great contribution to the empire by "taking a piece of land without losing a single soldier". After this battle, he could be promoted... At the very least, the profits he had squeezed from the Ed family had far exceeded his imagination.

With the wonderful fantasy of gaining both power and wealth, even the "country women" from the Ed family who were found for Albert, who seemed a little rustic and lowly in his eyes, became more charming in Albert's eyes.

He just lay comfortably and safely in the Rock Castle, where he could generate income and also take advantage of the situation. If he had a chance to capture one or two small-scale greenskins and defeat them, he would have gained military merit. If he didn't get promoted after this battle, who would?

But good times don't last long, and once change occurs, it will be earth-shaking.

Albert and his followers were "inspecting" their territory like a lord, which was actually an alternative hunting and camping trip. When a group of defeated soldiers appeared, they brought the Imperial Baron a very terrible bad news:

The army of the Chief of the Expedition was defeated in the south!

The army was defeated just one day after the battle began. Some people saw the chief commander's flag being captured by the enemy. The specific situation is still unknown.

241: Tactical Transition

But the military flags and numbers carried by the defeated soldiers all revealed their identities, and their commander was an "acquaintance" of Albert whom he had met several times.

All these things confirmed the authenticity of the terrible news that the Chief Army had been "frustrated".

According to the defeated soldiers, the army was ambushed and the battle with the greenskins broke out only about three hundred miles away from the Rock Fortress. They fled on horseback, traveling day and night without stopping for a moment, and reached the Rock Fortress in just one day and one night.

This made Albert, who had been planning to take credit for his achievements, horrified. The Chief's army had been defeated. If the greenskins took the opportunity to counterattack, he would only have 1,600 troops including the defeated soldiers with only 1,500 men in his hands. Even if he relied on the city as a barrier, how could he resist?

He didn't even have time to study the details of the chief army's defeat, and he hurriedly summoned his subordinates and decided on a tactical shift.

Of course he couldn't just run away. After all, he had soldiers under his command and was stationed in a "fortified city". If he didn't even see the shadow of the enemy and ran away without fighting, it would be unacceptable and would be detrimental to his honor.

So Albert planned to take a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, he sent people to the south to investigate the enemy situation, and on the other hand, he packed his bags and prepared to escape. As long as the enemy's report showed that the enemy's strength was much greater than ours, he would decisively flee north—of course not west.

As a "qualified" imperial noble officer, Albert still has basic judgment. The main army in the south has suffered a setback and the current situation is unclear. If a major rout occurs and the troops retreat thousands of miles away, the greenskins will follow closely behind to reap heads. If he runs to join them at this time, he will be jumping into the fire pit.

The situation is different to the north, as Rock Castle is close to the Black Mountains, which are the territory of the dwarves.

He could easily use the excuse that the enemy was too powerful and the battle was lost, so he had to retreat temporarily, and retreat to the Black Mountains. Even if he didn't consider his allies, the dwarves would definitely open the fortress gates to accept them just because they were fighting against the greenskins, and Albert and his men would be able to enjoy the protection of the dwarves' solid walls and artillery.

Albert acted very quickly when it came to matters of life and death, and began making arrangements that day in a hurried but methodical manner.

Soon, the scouts who were sent out the next day brought back some bad news:

There is a group of greenskin cavalrymen whose exact number is unknown but conservatively estimated to be several thousand are heading north. If nothing unexpected happens, they will most likely come to the vicinity of the Rock Fortress. Given the greenskins' ability to smell the enemy, they are bound to encounter Albert's thousand-plus men.

Even if we rely on the defense of the Rock Castle to defeat these enemies, given the greenskins' thirst for battle, they will most likely continue to come...

So Albert believed that his timely retreat was to avoid war but also to stop losses, which was reasonable!

Of course, the more important reason was that... Albert had already "eaten his fill" in the rock castle, and there were so many bottles and jars of gold and silver treasures in his bag that he was unwilling to take risks.

After all, the wealth squeezed from the Rock Castle Territory and the Ed family is enough for Albert to gain a great voice in the family even if he resigns from the military, and he can also enjoy the worry-free life of a wealthy man in the future.

He was able to eat up nearly half of the empty salary, although he did not pocket it all by himself, but Albert's sense of honor and responsibility... he did have it, but not much.