Chapter 25 The Duke goes to the Battle

Duke Han Ruowei was wearing a chain armor carefully made by a blacksmith, and the chain armor was covered with plate armor. These plate armor protected the duke's body, arms and shoulders. On the breastplate that was buckled with leather belts, the blacksmith carefully carved a red dragon pattern. There were two iron rings on the left and right sides of the duke's shoulder armor. These two iron rings were used to tie the red linen cloak behind him. The tall Duke Han Ruowei was wearing this armor, which was really majestic. He wore a chain armor hood on his head, and his eyes were full of majestic look at the busy followers beside him.

But this is the husband who has three children with her. In general, the duke is very good to his wife. Now that her husband is about to embark on an unknown battlefield, her heart is full of contradictions.

"Duke, the OVID people besieged your sister Carolina's castle." A messenger appeared in front of the duke when he walked out of the lord's mansion and was about to ride a war horse. "When did it happen?" the duke asked with a frown.

"The person who delivered the message set out two days ago and arrived in Hanruowei this morning."

"Tell the Earl of Baden to advance to the Fort Marenko as the vanguard." The duke, under the service of his attendant, rode a white horse, and several horse-riding guards followed closely behind him.

Most of the subordinates of Count Baden were cavalry, because their three fiefs were mostly plains, and many horse farms were built on the plains. In addition to selling and providing them with lords, the horse-raising horse-walkers who raised horses would be recruited to become light cavalry during the war. These horse-walkers who had been with horses for life were not inferior to the knights at all. They were very effective as reconnaissance scouts and assaulting the enemy's flanks. Now the Duke ordered Count Baden to lead his horse-walkers to march towards Marenke, hoping to arrive before the Novedes captured Marenke. With reinforcements, they would definitely boost the morale of Marenke's defenders.

"I hope my sister and brother-in-law can defend Maenke." The Duke knew that if Maenke was captured, the Novedes would have a foothold. They would leisurely sweep the surrounding territory and then collect supplies into the castle, while their army would risk arrows to attack the solid castle.

"My soldiers, come with me." Earl Baden said generously to the cavalry behind him. The dust raised by the cavalry and the roar of horse hooves caused a commotion in the army of the gathering dukes and vassals, which made the infantry who were still waiting envious.

The vassals' army had almost assembled at this time, with an army of 3,000 people gathering in the largest town in the north. Fortunately, the prosperous Han Ruowei could have enough food to support the expenditure of these troops. Of course, the cost of the army's expedition was paid for by the Duke's respective vassals themselves. This is the benefit of the feudal system. The Duke was only responsible for the expenditure of his own directly affiliated troops.

It is undeniable that under this system, the problem of the expedition cost of the captive lords was greatly solved, but a bigger problem would also arise. The envoy who issued the mobilization relies on the relationship between himself and his vassals to maintain the assembly of this army. If the envoy mobilization of the vassals exceeds a certain limit, those nobles who are relatively distant from the envoy may think that they have completed their oath and lead their troops back to their territory. Therefore, sometimes there will be an accident that suddenly occurs when the vassals' army is about to break away from the brigade and is counterattacked by the enemy because the vassals' army leaves the brigade. Therefore, how to grasp the relationship with the vassals has become an art that rulers should master.

"Order our army to set off." Seeing that the cavalry of the Earl of Baden had set off, the Duke gave orders to the large army. Orders came one after another in the camp, the ornate tents on the spires of the nobles were put away by the followers, and the lower-level soldiers demolished the shacks, the bonfires in the camp were extinguished by the water, the screams of women in the camp and the rough voices of men in the logistical camp were intertwined, the carriages were put on pack horses, and the soldiers dressed in neatly with their armor, holding spears and long halberds, and set out under the leadership of the lower-level officers.

Under various banners, the nobles led the soldiers in their territory. The combat power of these troops led by their lords was uneven, and they were determined by the lord's control ability.

"Your Highness, I think you should let Sir Schwab join the Duke's army." Shadow Srick was wrapped in a black windbreaker as always in his room, and he said to Mary, who was looking out at the Duke's army at the window.

"Do you think my father can't win?" Mary turned to Srick and said. The army in front of her would never lose. Mary thought so.

"Your Highness, what you see in front of you may not be everything, not to mention that war is an unknown."

"But." Mary was still hesitant, no, she should be a little dissatisfied with Schwab. When she needed him the most, he actually refused with a sweet word.

"Your Highness, compared with your father's life, everything is minimal." The Nighthawk, who was walking in the dark of the Ferdinand family, tried hard to persuade, because in Schwab's territory, Srick saw an army different from any vassals and a vibrant territory. He keenly felt that this would be the rise of an emerging force, and the subtle feelings between Schwab and Princess Mary also made the Nighthawk feel the favorable side to the Duke.

"Well, I will write a letter to Sir Schwab, please bring it to him."

"How are you going to invite Sir Schwab?" "Isn't the invitation from a princess enough?" "No, Your Highness." Although Princess Mary is a smart and clever girl, she has lived in the palace since she was a child and lacks the idea of ​​people outside the palace. Srick pointed out to the princess, "Princess, please don't forget that you want Sir Schwab to join the Duke, and Sir Schwab is not a vassal of the Duke, in other words, he has no obligation."

"What should I do?" Princess Mary asked in a panic.

"So, just say you want to hire Sir Schwab as your guard, so that he will have a reason to lead his army to Hanruowei, and then it will be easier, just order him to join the Duke."

"Will he be angry to degrade a knight of honor into a mercenary?" Princess Mary asked a little confused. After all, a territorial nobleman is not very good at doing mercenaries, and this kind of life is known as a jackal on the battlefield.

"Sir Schwab should agree, because he is not quite the same as other knights." Shadow Srick lowered his head and thought for a while, and then said. "Okay, just do what Srick said." Princess Mary picked up the goose feather and dipped it in some ink, and then wrote on the Mark paper. Now this Mark paper is very popular among the northern nobles and the price is also rising rapidly. Of course, as the daughter of Duke Hanruowei, Mary doesn't care about such a little money.

Shadow Srick took the princess' letter and rode his horse toward the Mark Fort along the familiar path. At this time, Schwab was busy building his territory and army. Recently, the war between the Duke of Hanruowei and the Ruovets has been rumored to be in the whole north. Many nobles in the territories along the coast have abandoned their own industries and moved their families to a safer south. Where can they hide in the castle of their relatives for a while.

"It seems that the war is very tense in the north." Schwab said to Lao Lauke after receiving a nobleman who passed through his territory from the north.

"Sir, what are you going to do?"

"I have to protect my territory first, but if the Duke fails, the Ruveids will go south with the flow, and then our territory will be attacked by large groups of Ruveids." Schwab was not without a sense of the overall situation. The shameless way of maintaining so-called neutrality and then paying tribute to the Ruveids Schwab could not do it, but he was not a vassal of the Duke and did not have the obligation to join the Duke's army to serve him. Such rare things at both ends made Schwab very embarrassed.

"Boom." Just as Schwab and Lao Lauke were standing outside the castle and talking, a loud noise came from an open space outside the castle. The sound scared the people in the territory.

"My God, what is this?" Old Lauke was frightened and kept marking the cross with his hands, while Schwab walked into the clearings with joy.

"Success." Schwab walked there and saw the burnt grass on the ground and the fragments of clay. Several soldiers with high arms and overpowered arms were standing there in amazement. Schwab asked someone to make clay, put gunpowder, iron nails and oil into it, and then wrapped gunpowder with Malk paper into gunpowder twists. When the grenadier with overpowered arms ignited the twists, he threw the clay bomb that made a squeak and sparks, and made an explosion sound and light for a moment when the clay fell. People who had never seen this situation were frightened by the fire and explosion. Many peasant women called the names of the saints to drive away evil spirits, running around to find places to hide, Schwab loudly scolded these fussy people.

"God, what is this thing? This smell of sulfur, is this weapon from hell?" Old Lauke said, covering his nose, and Schwab shook his hand as soon as he heard it.

"No, no, no, my friend Lao Lauke is just a weapon from the East, called the Thunderbolt, which is said to have borrowed the power of lightning from heaven." Schwab spoke lies with his eyes open and fooled. When he heard that it was a weapon from the East, Lao Lauke calmed down a little.

"This kind of thing is so scary, I hope you will never use it." Old Laugh said to Schwab, who was thinking about how to use the maximum killing effect of the Thunderbolt bomb on the battlefield.
Chapter completed!