195, the timing of war

Most of Aesop's hands were mined cores rather than mining divine stones, and not so many people took out the divine stones from the mine cores. The original cave-dwelling savage tribe also learned the miners' skills of Duke Town, but the temperature and proficiency they mastered were far from comparable to that of Duke Town's miners. Not only was they inefficient, but they also had a lot of damage during mining.

Aesop simply ordered the sealing of most of the mine cores, which had piled up like a hill, waiting for the arrival of the miners in Duke Town. In the eyes of many people, the miners in Duke Town were quite magical. Taking out the divine stones from the mine core was just a hit, and it was even better than the magician doing this job faster than the magician.

Aesop discussed with Joshua that the miners in Duke Town are currently taking full advantage of the divine stones, and even the work of smelting refined iron that they are good at is not necessary to pay attention to. The Salem City Council will send people to build houses for them, as long as the miners make their own requests. Joshua agreed and ordered the miners to start working the next day after entering Salem City and take out all the divine stones as quickly as possible.

Another thing surprised Aesop. Not only was the guard team he sent to the city with the miners, but the sixty miners actually brought back more than 60 prisoners, and they were all strong and powerful plateau giants! The combat effectiveness of these miners is too strong. If it really comes to a critical moment, the twelve judges can still lead the army on the battlefield.

According to the convention of the Tianshu Continent, prisoners of war will become slaves. Half of these slaves belong to the lords who capture their warriors, and the other half belongs to kingdoms and city-states, just like the distribution of spoils. Warriors on the battlefield seize prisoners of war, and slaves are also personal wealth. Kingdoms and city-states have other uses to own such slaves, and they can exchange their own captured personnel or ask the other party to pay ransom.

With so many prisoners of war all at once, Aesop's mouth was slackened. Joshua gave him an idea not to deal with prisoners of war like traditional practices on the mainland, and told these prisoners of war slaves that could redeem themselves. As long as they worked for the city of Salem or the lord, they could pay them part of the reward, and if the reward accumulates to the amount of ransom required, they could return them to their freedom.

Aesop was stunned at first, and when he reacted, he laughed and patted Joshua's shoulder and said, "Before you came, someone recommended you to be the *** magistrate of the Salem city-state. It's true that he is a talent! The residents of Duke Town have always been a miner family, and I think they should be a businessman family. This business is too smart! It will not only weaken the resistance of those prisoners of war and dare not make trouble or slacking off, but will also make them work harder. They suffer losses on the surface, but in fact they make a big profit!"

Joshua nodded and said, "Yes, anyone who dares to make trouble will deduct the calculated reward. If the exchange of prisoners of war will be arranged to the end... If the war starts and then catch prisoners of war, this can be done... When it comes to exchange of prisoners of war, it is very expensive to train these giant warriors. I think a giant warrior must at least replace three prisoners of war here to avoid suffering."

Aesop smiled and said, "Okay, from now on, you will be the *** official in Salem City. There are many specific matters, so you can help me list the regulations."

While the miners in Duke Town arrived in Salem City, there were two major events in the city-state. Aesop was busy with his feet facing the sky and urgently needed a capable helper. It was time to appoint Joshua as the official. The first major event was that the business road in the Black Fire Swamp was officially opened, cutting open thorns to fill the swamp, laying the foundation of the gravel with sintered dry soil, and the width could accommodate two ordinary carriages in the swamp. There were three stations for the caravans to rest.

The business road was originally planned to be opened in three months, and the actual construction period was half a month ahead of schedule. It took Amon a month to poke a road that was two wide in the swamp. The civilians of the Syrian city-state started construction from the entrance after Amon entered the swamp. One and a half months after Amon walked out of the swamp, the formal business road was opened.

With the strong support of Gelie, Governor Xiao Mo mobilized 1,500 civilians, all of them powerful men of Kong Wu. What is more worth mentioning is that these people did not go back after finishing the business road, and went directly to the Duke Plain and joined Salem City. Salem City was short of people, so many strong laborers came at once, which was naturally a timely help, but Aesop was also a little amused and crying.

The origin of these more than 1,500 civilians is very complicated, including gangsters and proletarians from Syria and surrounding areas, bankrupt craftsmen, soldiers who committed military records, even exiled prisoners, punished villains and rogues. Many of them have been recruited into the army and received military training, but they are all restless elements who are trouble-provoking in their hometowns, and many are regarded as a disaster by the villagers.

They heard that Duke Plain is a place full of opportunities. The homeless man who has nothing will even become a great lord. The city lord of the city state of Salem was once a slave. Governor Xiao Mo exiled all the headache-inducing guys in his territory to the city of Salem, which can be regarded as taking their own needs.

Aesop also had a headache for how to manage this group of people. Joshua quickly formulated the latest laws of the city-state and incorporated these parts into the army. As long as they obey the management of the city-state and make contributions in the future, they can obtain corresponding land. The city of Salem is now short of everything, but there is no shortage of land.

There are uncultivated fertile fields on the Duke Plain, from the two battle fortresses in the north to the fortress on the edge of the Black Fire Swamp in the southwest corner, and around the city of Salem, they are all controlled by their area of ​​control. Just draw a circle on the sand table and take out a piece of land, waiting for these explorers to earn it with their meritorious deeds. Thanks to Pharaoh Rases II for his "generousness", Amon drew such a circle on the map of the Duke Plain, and Pharaoh "rewarded" him as the territory.

The second major event in Salem City was that the battle fortresses on both sides of the road leading to the north had finally been built, the divine art formation had been laid out, and the city walls and fortress had been built long ago. There were two missing ones, one was a large number of ordinary divine stones placed at the various array eyes of the divine art formation, and the other was that there were not so many soldiers garrisoned. After the miners of Duke Town arrived, they dug the missing divine stones in a short time, and the divine art formation could finally operate at any time.

Both combat fortresses can station nearly a thousand soldiers, and there are warehouses that hoard various materials, which can be held for a long time. Each has a large divine art formation that can protect the fortress when it is opened, and can launch a counterattack under the control of the magician. This was designed by Amon and Link, referring to the divine art formations of Meng Feisi and Barron City. Although it is only a small-scale fortress, it is also surprisingly expensive.

One thousand,500 civilians formally surrendered to the city of Salem, giving the size of more than 7,000 residents. Apart from the elderly, young, women and children and craftsmen who had to insist on working, about 3,000 soldiers could be organized during the war, which almost reached the point where the whole nation could be soldiers.

Aesop sent a thousand soldiers to garrison two combat fortresses, each with five hundred people. This is the largest standing army he can send. Others in the city of Salem cannot be completely out of business. They usually have to reclaim wilderness, smelteth iron, hunt various monsters, raise livestock, and process supplies. Only when the war begins can they pick up weapons and become city-state soldiers.

There are currently 1,000 standing troops stationed outside the city, and there are 2,000 reserve troops in the city. They usually take time to assemble and perform, which is barely equivalent to the size of a legion. There is no shortage of leading talents. At that time, the main generals of the An-La Legion of the Eju Empire were already in the city of Salem.

The commander of the An-La Legion is Amon, the main priest is George, the commander of the front line is John, and the captain of the personal guard is Medanzo. He was also a miscellaneous army that had just been formed, and was trained by Amon to become an elite army. Now, under the leadership of John and George, the city of Salem seems to have experienced a cycle, and it is repeating what happened in the An-La Legion. The thirty-six personal guards brought to the Duke Plain have become generals of the city of Salem and are usually responsible for taking turns to exercise the military formation.

On the day the fortress was built, the Salem Legion was also established, which was different from the legions in other parts of the Tianshu Continent. The Salem Legion did not have the position of the main priest. The legion commander directly led the priest to cooperate with the frontline soldiers to fight. Amon was already a god on the altar and was currently practicing in the Garden of Eden, so he naturally would not be the commander of the legion. Medanzo was also practicing in the Garden of Eden and could not go to the battlefield for the time being. The legion commander was George, the main priest of the city-state, and the commander of the front line was still John.

Although George and John had experience in forming and training the Angla Legion, they knew very well that the current Salem Legion could not be compared with the Angla Legion that year. Although the Angla Legion was a newly formed miscellaneous army, it was a regular legion of the Eju Empire after all, with five thousand formal legion warriors, and they were at least first-class warriors.

The Salem City Legion had only one thousand standing troops and two thousand reserve troops, of which nearly 1,000 were not warriors. On the other hand, the An-La Legion plus the total number of logistics and military personnel reached 20,000 during the war. The Salem City did not have so many non-combat logistics personnel support, and to a large extent, they needed to rely on business channels to supplement materials.

George and John had never even commanded such a weak legion to fight, and they were facing the elite giant legion of the Assyrian kingdom. Unlike the senior generals, the people of Salem were full of confidence in victory, largely because of the prestige of God Amon, whose God Amon was a general who was a powerful nation that was almost invincible.

Fortunately, the business road was opened at the right time, and the personnel and materials were replenished in time. Sio really gave face. He organized a huge caravan, followed by the road and entered the city of Salem as soon as the road was opened. Aesop personally went to the gate of the edge of the black fire swamp to greet him, welcomed the former master and his caravan into the city of Salem, and held a banquet in the city lord's mansion.

Sio looked at the magnificent city of Salem with a lot of emotion. His former slaves were already the lord of the city. This is a place full of miracles. No wonder so many wandering explorers entered the Duke Plain to look for dreams and opportunities! He drank a little too much at the banquet, and finally hugged Aesop's shoulder and said, "Aesop, you are already the lord of the city now! Think about me, I have worked hard for so many years and even sacrificed my life for the title of a noble."

Aesop comforted him: "Master Siou, please look at others more. Who is richer than you when the businessman who worked with you back then? You have already been named Deputy Director of the City-State Property Administration and have done much more business than before. There are very few businessmen like you on the mainland, so just calm down."

The city lord Aesop actually called him Master Siou again. The wealthy businessman was excited and poured several glasses of wine: "I just sighed a few times when I saw you. I usually feel calm, otherwise would I be so fat? Is it easy to do business to my level? Have you ever seen a master personally traveling through the desert to collect accounts? We only met Amon when we were in danger in the desert. No, it was Amon God!"

Aesop smiled and said, "Yes, you do have better things than others and pay more than others, so you do more business! I was really surprised to see you this time, but I didn't expect you to bring the caravan in person."

Sio slapped the fat on her breasts: "Isn't this my style? I have to personally inspect the business opportunities as soon as possible, not to mention the call of God Amon, how can I just send a friend?"

Aesop asked again: "Master Sio is really a great skill. He transported so many armor and weapons and war horses at once. How did you pass the pass?"

Sio replied proudly: "War horses are easy to deal with, because they have to go long distances, each carriage is equipped with a few more horses, just mix the war horses. As for weapons and armor, don't forget that I am also the logistics quarantine officer of the An-La Legion, so there is a way. The Dick City Lord of the Strait City State and the An-La Legion stationed on the border are also very proud. I paid enough customs duties, and they let it go without careful inspection. As for the Syrian city state, they cooperated more and asked me if I need to purchase another batch of supplies nearby!"

Aesop stood up and said, "Master Sio, I respect you! You have solved the urgent needs of Salem City. To be honest, we will soon start a war with the northern city of Marduke. There is a serious shortage of logistics and military personnel. That business road is very important and you need to continue to support it."

Sio also stood up and drank the wine in the glass: "Cheers to God Amon! I also have a hope to open a business in the city of Salem. When this war is won, it will be my great victory."

Aesop nodded immediately and said, "No problem, I will issue a document now, designate the best location in the city, and send someone to build your shop and warehouse immediately. You don't have to worry about anything yourself, just do business."

...

The war is imminent, Amon is still practicing in the Garden of Eden, and Perlan Rose is still building a space magic array. Except for Medanzo, Gabriel, and Moses, everyone else in Eden has returned to Salem City. Medanzo has temporarily lost his strength, Moses cannot enter the Duke Plain, and Amon does not want Gabriel to participate in this war.

Five hundred soldiers were stationed in the two fortresses north of Salem City, and the great magic array could operate at any time, but to exert the full power of the formation, two great magicians needed to preside over it. Raphael happened to catch up and volunteered to help to guard one of the fortresses.

Raphael is not a warrior on the battlefield, but it is quite appropriate to preside over the formation in the fortress. Yunmeng also requested to go together. In the same fortress as Raphael, he said that he could take turns to preside over the magic array in fierce battles. In fact, he was worried about Raphael's safety. The iron armored beast king has now turned into a beautiful girl, and she is also a great magician.

Aesop originally wanted to send Yunmeng to another fortress, but Yunmeng was going to be with Raphael, and George and John were still going to stay in Salem City to take charge of the overall situation. He really couldn't draw out another great magician, so he had to look at Link for help.

When Link saw this scene, he smiled and said, "Lord Aesop, now you and George are commanders, so just treat me as subordinates and send me to guard another fortress."

All preparations for the war were arranged, and Aesop sent people to Philistine, the lord of the city of Enrile, and a letter and something was sent to Philistine. The letter told Philistine that the tribesmen of Duke had arrived in Salem and asked him to visit the city of Salem as a guest in Salem. But Philistine would never come, because the latter part of the letter also said that Goliath and one hundred giant soldiers had been wiped out, and there were 62 prisoners.

If Philistines came to Salem as a guest, please bring the ransom for redeeming prisoners of war, each of which would be twenty divine stones! And in the name of Enriel, he would never invade the city-state of Salem. His giant soldiers could accept the employment of Salem and continue to mine the fine iron and divine stones in the mines. Salem would pay half of the reward.

The thing sent with the letter was a large painted wooden box containing Goliath's huge head. After magical techniques and medicine treatment, it was not yet decayed, and you could still see the terrified expression when you died. Aesop knew very well that once the letter and wooden box were delivered to Philistines, the war would begin immediately.

The city lord, who was born as a slave, has been trying hard to stop the outbreak of the war. He would like to delay as long as he could, but now he has chosen the opportunity to start the war because Amon specifically told him what he said. Amon was a general of the Eju Empire, commanding thousands of troops, and under the guidance of Mary, he had studied various military books. Before leaving the city of Salem, he specifically said to Aesop—

"Some people regard war as doing business, but the battlefield is definitely not a business field. It is possible that both sides will make profits when doing business, but when they go to the battlefield, the soldiers on both sides will only be killed or injured, more or less. I know that you have been accumulating strength, and the city of Salem is far from powerful enough, but you must remember that behind the other side's God of Enrile, there is a kingdom supporting it, your strength is growing, and the other side's strength is also growing.

If war is inevitable, the most appropriate time is not when you think you are strong, because by then, the enemy may be much stronger. You have to choose the time when the power balance between the two sides is most favorable, and this is the opportunity for the weak. The victory or defeat is unpredictable, but if you decide to accept the fate, don’t be afraid in advance and don’t regret it afterwards.”

So Aesop chose to start a war when everything was ready and the morale of the people reached its peak. His letter seemed to tell Philistines: "You chose this war, but the war will not go on according to your will."
Chapter completed!