"Lord Baron," Simon sat at the table and looked at this shrewd middle-aged man, "I heard that you are at war with Baron Arnhem. I wonder if you can tell me the ins and outs of it?"
"Of course," Baron Iser pulled up a chair and sat down. "Baron Arnhem is a cunning and shameless guy with no aristocratic honor! Our family's village used to be robbed by bandits wearing fine armor. Robbery. Later, after a surviving witness told me, I am very sure that the leading robber was Sir Kuhn of Baron Arnhem."
In some bad years, there are always some shameless knight leaders who dress up as bandits and rob other lords' villages to obtain extra income.
"In that case, you can take this witness to identify and expose them face to face." Simon said somewhat naturally.
"Silly boy, it's useless. As long as you don't catch him on the spot, even if ten witnesses testify, and there are deep ruts on the ground that clearly lead to the Barony of Arnhem, you can't do anything to him." Baron Purcell sighed bitterly.
"So this is the main cause of this war?"
"That's right. But the main reason is that the greedy Baron Arnhem actually claimed that a forest on the border of my territory belongs to him some time ago." Baron Iser became angry when he said this and knocked with his hand. Knocking on the table, "He also took out a so-called certificate recording that his ancestors once occupied that land! It's too much of a lie, and I really can't bear it anymore. If we can launch a war to defeat the hateful Arnhem The Baron can not only resolve territorial disputes, but also bring long-term peace to my village, and even make a war fortune."
"That's true." Simon nodded in agreement.
"So, this young knight, are you interested in joining my camp as a mercenary?" Baron Iser looked at Simon with bright eyes, "I just saw your soldiers by the window. Good armor and weapons, and they all look like they have killed people and seen blood."
"Lord Baron, I'm just very interested now. Before confirming the employment, I want to know about the current battle situation." Simon felt a little uncomfortable and wiped the sweat on his head with his hand.
"Don't worry, I think the advantage is on my side. Counting my son Sorger who is on his way back, I have four heavy cavalry and eight light cavalry," Baron Iser confidently took the servant and handed it to him. He took a sip from the wine glass and said, "Baron Arnhem only has two heavy cavalry and four light cavalry. This is why he, who is poor, uses various dirty methods to frequently rob me, who is rich."
"What about the peasant soldiers and archers?" Simon also took the wine glass handed by a young servant in white and took a sip of the wine.
"I have to admit that the damn guy in Arnhem has more people than me. He can probably gather nearly 170 farmers and soldiers, 15 archers, and more than 20 pieces of equipment. More sophisticated private soldiers." Baron Iser shook his head, "And I was able to recruit more than 130 peasant soldiers and 12 archers by scraping here and there."
"What about the better-equipped soldiers on your castle walls and along the river?"
"Some of them are my private soldiers, and some are relatively wealthy yeoman farmers. There are only about thirty people in total. That's why I hired you and your soldiers to increase the chance of winning." The baron drank the wine in the glass in one gulp and looked at him. With a sad look.
While the two were chatting, the servants had already begun to carry various dishes from the lord's kitchen next to the wooden tower to the large wooden table on the second floor of the wooden tower.
"God, may you bless me and favor the food I eat. Thank you for giving us food so that we can survive. Amen." Simon and Baron Iser's family made a brief pre-dinner prayer.
After praying, Simon looked at the food in front of him.
This is served as a "dinner plate" on a larger square piece of hard white bread, topped with slices of bacon, smoked fish fillets, and chickpea batter sprinkled with rosemary. On the other side was the broth in a large earthenware bowl, but the whole thing looked grayish-black, probably because the bones used to make the soup had been boiled many times.
In addition, a servant brought half a piece of blue cheese that exuded a strong sour smell, then picked up a knife and cut a piece and placed it on Simon's "brown bread plate."
"Where's the fruit?" Lord Baron said, twisting a handful of salt from the exquisite salt shaker in front of him with his hands, and sprinkled it on his own broth and white bread plate.
"Come up right away, my lord!" a servant who had just finished serving the dishes carefully replied.
It is worth mentioning that in this era, noble chefs did not directly add salt to season food when cooking. Generally, at the dinner table, there will be a container with salt in front of the lord. Those who need it will usually take salt directly from the salt shaker and sprinkle it on their meals.
Simon took a sip of the broth and took a bite of the "bread plate" with the small piece of stinky blue cheese.
"It tastes a bit like fermented bean curd with hard whole wheat bread." Simon tasted it carefully, but couldn't help but think of a well-known food broadcast celebrity on the Internet platform in his previous life.
"Sir!" The leading knight who intercepted the food collection team that Simon first met on the road walked up to the second floor and went straight to Baron Iser.
When the knight passed by Simon, the strong smell of sweat on his body made Simon lose his appetite. Learning to eat with an appetite throughout the Middle Ages was akin to eating and drinking in a filthy public toilet.
"What! Damn it!" Baron Iser listened to the knight's whisper in his ear and couldn't help but slap the table and cursed, "You go down first."
Simon also roughly guessed that the knight's volley failed.
"Hey!" Lord Baron sighed, frowned at the food in front of him and thought about it, without saying anything more. The atmosphere was a little awkward for a while.
"Brave Sir Simon, I sincerely invite you once again to join my camp as a mercenary and help me defeat the damn Baron Arnhem! In addition to the daily wages, I can also use the spoils obtained after winning the war. I will reward you with a tenth of the reward." Baron Iser rubbed his temples and said to Simon sincerely.
"Although the two sides in this battle are almost evenly matched, if Baron Iser can command properly, the chance of victory is still quite high." Simon thought about it in his mind and nodded.
"Okay, Lord Baron, I have officially decided to accept your employment invitation."
"Excellent," Baron Iser frowned, immediately put down the wooden spoon holding the soup in his hand, clapped his hands, and turned his head to a waiting servant behind him, "Go, call the clerk over and write a mercenary contract."
………
The next morning, Simon was discussing battle plans and matters with Baron Iser.
"Sir!" At this time, the castle messenger hurriedly ran into the hall on the first floor of the wooden tower, "Baron Arnhem has just sent someone to deliver a letter!"
As he spoke, the messenger placed a roll of parchment letters sealed with sealing wax in front of Baron Iser's large wooden table.
"Jim, come and read it." The baron broke open the heraldic sealing wax and unfolded the rolled parchment. The clerk standing behind stepped forward and smoothed the letter on the table.
"To the distinguished Baron Iser. Although we are at war, I feel deeply sympathetic to the fact that the villages in your territory were robbed and burned down by unknown gangsters yesterday." The secretary frowned and read.
"Fucking fart! Isn't it obvious that his infamous Sir Kuhn did it? It's really disgusting!" Baron Iser's teeth itched with hatred.
"I believe that if you refuse to change your attitude and stubborn opinions, God may let those gangsters visit your cursed village again." The clerk swallowed, "I, Baron Arnhem, I have always been upright and determined to have a decisive battle with you three days later on the large plain at the junction of our territories."
This kind of letter directly informing the other party of the time and place of the decisive battle was very common in wars of this era. Under normal circumstances, both the sender and the recipient of the letter would arrive at the battlefield as scheduled and engage in a head-on duel.
"Hmph, this complete villain actually still has some aristocratic bearing this time." Baron Iser sneered.
"If that's the case, it would be easy to handle." Simon thought quickly in his mind, and a smile gradually appeared on his face.
"Lord Baron, I have something to ask of you." Simon said to Baron Iser.
"Oh? What's the matter?" The baron looked at Simon.
"In the next two days, I want to hire all the carpenters in your territory and purchase a batch of wood in your territory to make a powerful weapon." Simon said confidently.
"What weapons? Do you want to make a batch of wooden spears for those serfs? Dear God, that is really a waste of money. It is enough for them to hold pitchforks, dung forks, firewood axes." Baron Iser said very strangely said.
"No, Lord Baron, I want to make a catapult!" Simon immediately added.
"What!?" Not only the baron, but also the clerk and messenger next to him looked surprised.
Simon studied design in his previous life, and he once understood the structure and structure of some siege weapons.
If a catapult could be built, it would be able to launch shotguns made of small stones to attack dense groups of enemies. Moreover, after the war, whether it is taken to the port of Aberdoorn to be sold, or brought back to the village of Verde to prepare for the Vikings, it is a very good choice.
