In mid-January, it is the depth of winter in Ambergris and the watershed. The river banks were frozen with layers of ice, and there was floating snow on the river surface, but the water flow was still turbulent, rushing towards the outlet of Jinfen Port.
The fertile land on both sides of the river is covered with thick snow, the soil is frozen, and life is blocked.
A suburban farm family gathered around the stove, snowflakes falling outside the windows. The man of the house complained about the cold this winter, while the woman knitted a sweater and scolded the children playing behind her from time to time to tell them to stop being too noisy. A big dog and a fat cat lay lazily at their feet, warm and peaceful.
The floor suddenly shook. It was very small at first and no one noticed it, but then it became bigger and bigger. First, the windows shook, and the snow on the edge of the windows fell one after another, and then the ice picks on the eaves fell with a spluttering sound.
The farmer's family all stopped what they were doing and looked at each other.
"I'll go out and take a look."
The male host walked to the cupboard in a few steps, opened the cupboard door, and took out the rifle inside. This is usually used for hunting wild ducks, and occasionally used to prevent bandits. However, this is a satellite signal coverage area and a place governed by law, so there is basically no danger.
"Be careful!"
The male host nodded to the female host, held the gun and pushed the door open.
"Woo..."
The north wind is howling, and snowflakes are blowing in the face. There was a vast expanse of white between the sky and the earth, and the visibility was very low, only about ten meters.
The male host walked seven or eight meters away in the wind and snow, and groups of gray shadows appeared in his sight.
Orange-red spotlights shine forward, and the roar of the engine comes mixed with the snowflakes.
Taking a few steps closer, he saw trucks full of soldiers passing by outside the farm, followed by mechas and infantry.
The man of the house was immediately shocked, turned around, ran back into the house, slammed the door, and locked all the door pins.
"It's the Northern Alliance army, they're coming!"
The hostess stood up suddenly, and the sweater she was knitting fell to the ground, making the cat and dog jump away in fright.
"Get into the cellar quickly!"
The hostess quickly rushed to the corner of the room, pulled away the wooden planks on the floor, and revealed the entrance to the cellar.
At this moment, a broadcast sounded outside.
"The troops are not allowed to disturb the people when they pass by the farmhouse. Violators will be punished according to military law!"
"Retrial, violators will be punished by military law!"
The host and hostess looked at each other and both breathed a sigh of relief. As the expeditionary force advertises, soldiers are not allowed to harass or rob civilians.
On this day, Chen Xing personally led an army of 150,000 to besiege the Silver Eagle Territory.
He learned the policy of not disturbing the people from his ancestors, which is called "not taking advantage of the masses."
Now is the internal war of the United Kingdom of Ambergris River. It is very important to win the popularity. Maybe the land changes hands and these civilians will become new territorial citizens.
Of course, even if he conquered the Silver Claw Principality, Chen Xing would not be able to get too many fiefs.
According to the aristocratic laws of the United Kingdom of Ambergris River, changing the territory and changing the royal family is by no means a simple matter. Only the king has the right to take back the fiefdoms of the great nobles. As long as the Silver Claw royal family does not betray the kingdom, no matter how fierce the civil war is, the land will still be left to their descendants in the end.
The victor can only have an impact on the income of this land by supporting the bloodline of the Silver Claw royal family.
But then again, if Aaliya insists on enfeoffing the land acquired by Chen Xing to him, that is not impossible, but the premise is that Cuilisi on the other side of the river does the same, otherwise all the neutral nobles will fall to Cuili. Liz's side.
Changing the rules of the game at the lowest level means shaking the foundation of the kingdom. Unless there is preparation for a major change of blood among the nobles, the rules must be followed.
Neither Aaliya nor Trilis would do such a thankless job.
Land was acquired but neither ownership nor corresponding citizens were obtained, so looting of civilians during the kingdom's civil war was very common. Even if the Human Survival Committee repeatedly calls not to harm civilians, the military is still keen on doing so because it is the fastest and easiest way to obtain military expenditures.
Chen Xing was short of military funds, but there were three reasons why he did not rob civilians.
First, the ideal of establishing a country through mercenaries needs support from the public. No people will be willing to support a tyrant in establishing a country.
The second is that some people in the expeditionary force cannot accept robbing civilians, such as Huozui and Lelionka.
Third, looting civilians will affect the combat effectiveness of the troops. During the looting process, soldiers will definitely hide some of their belongings. After making enough money, they will naturally go home and buy a car, a house, pick up girls, and live a happy life. Who has the heart to fight?
Therefore, the wisdom of our ancestors still needs to be learned.
Just three days ago, Chen Xing sent someone to escort Wei Qinghai, the third prince of Silver Claw, back to Silver Eagle Territory.
The reason is simple. He collected a ransom of one million gold coins from Wei Haitang.
The purchasing power of one gold coin is equivalent to one thousand soft girl coins on earth, and one million gold coins is equivalent to one billion soft girl coins.
It's still a good deal to spend so much money to exchange for a piece of trash. Wei Qinghai has a disabled body and a rubbish personality. It is difficult for him to become a great weapon. Even if he is put back, he will be a freeloader and cause trouble. He will not pose a threat to the subsequent siege battle.
On the other hand, Chen Xing is really short of money.
In previous battles, the expeditionary force had lost more than 80,000 men. According to the minimum standard of two hundred gold coins per person, the pension was as high as sixteen million.
Although the military department of the Red Dragon Principality is responsible for most of the pensions, it is only a figure on the document for the time being and no actual payment has been made.
If Chen Xing successfully captures the Silver Eagle collar, money will naturally not be a problem. As long as he cleans up the middle and upper-class nobles of Silver Claw, all problems will be solved.
But if the fight fails, Aria may have to think of a solution.
In addition to pensions, military expenditures are also part of the package. Among the current 150,000 people, in addition to the remaining 120,000 before, the additional 30,000 are mainly mercenaries from all over the world and young people from the Red Dragon and Black Feather countries.
Reorganizing the troops, purchasing ordnance, and replenishing supplies all require a large amount of funds.
Chen Xing used to read the news, and experts and scholars always said that money is what fights in wars. Now it seems that this is simply a wise saying.
During this period, he was like a local gangster, extorting money and collecting protection fees. Only then was he able to fill the funding gap and reorganize this 150,000-strong army.
This force has experienced large-scale wars and has matured a lot. Although the number is not as large as at the beginning, its combat effectiveness is stronger than before.
The difference between new recruits and veterans is simply that they have gone through a brutal war. For example, although there are only more than 6,000 people left in the Zuo Army, these 6,000 people were fought in the most brutal battlefields, and a large part of them can be promoted to junior officers. As long as there are sufficient troops, the combat effectiveness will recover quickly, because the combat effectiveness of the army mainly depends on the command ability of grassroots officers.
At the same time that Chen Xing's expeditionary force was approaching the Silver Eagle Territory, the major armies of the Red Dragon and Black Feathers also began to move to restrict the troops of the Red Rock, Hanling, and Black Spear countries.
