Today is another good day for crows.
It had been dawn for some time, and Antonio, a young monarch with blond hair riding a white horse, led two hundred soldiers towards a road ahead.
The soldiers' shields and armors were engraved with a winged horse, which was the emblem of Pegasus, and behind them stood fifty soldiers without emblems and with different equipment.
The farmers who were tending the wheat fields were looking at Youzaiyouya's armed army with fearful expressions. They all knew that this was the monarch next door who wanted to conquer their own monarch, and the two sides had already agreed on the front. If a war breaks out, victory or failure will determine the ownership of the Holy Seal and territory, as well as the fate of farmers like them.
The peasants with smiles on their faces looked at all this with cold eyes. This was already the norm on the island. As long as a powerful monarch did not appear on the island to unify the entire island, the disputes would not stop.
"Baron Antonio, I told you yesterday, let your army withdraw from my land, and I can forget the past sins."
Bruni, a middle-aged knight who also rode a white horse, led his own army of more than 200 people and confronted the young monarch next door from a distance, talking to each other about their conditions.
"What crime, what crime can there be? I just like your land, and my soldiers will also like it, and we want to settle here. Baron Bruni, now accept my ultimatum."
Antonio said with a frivolous tone. This confident attitude almost made him say by name, "I just want to bully you."
"I have three hundred people, and your army is less than two hundred. Even if you include the mercenaries you invited, it is only two hundred and fifty. From a baron's point of view, the size of this army is not bad, but my people are better than yours. If there are too many, and you still have a castle as a good location to hold on to, you can't possibly win."
Baron Bruni was trembling with anger. In a sense, this young monarch who doesn't know the heights of the sky is really a model of youthfulness and vigour.
The territories of the two of them are not close to each other. Even if they defeat themselves and obtain the Holy Seal and land from themselves, what they will get is just an enclave, which will be coveted by other similar monarchs and may be seized at any time. Got robbed.
Even if he wins the battle, there will be no benefit. He cannot completely wipe out the opponent's army, and if he goes all the way to conquer another territory, his side will lose troops and generals, and all the condolence money paid to the soldiers will be spent. Empty the finances of the entire territory.
As long as the economic accounts are taken into account, this is a loss-making business that will lose money no matter how you calculate it. As for the baron, the knight is just a large village chief who owns several villages. With the financial level of the baron territory, he can already afford two hundred soldiers. We are stretched thin, and if we want to develop an army with force of 300 troops, it will increase the burden on the people. Although we are not worried about the people in the territory resisting us, they are all long-legged. If they cannot survive in their own territory, , they will defect to other monarchs, and the territory that loses its people will naturally decline, and may even be deprived of the Holy Seal by the Magician Association.
"You are simply a two hundred and five." Baron Bruni thought to himself, of course he also knew that the other party would not accept his vassalage.
"Okay, do you want to hand over the Holy Seal or die? I advise you to plead guilty immediately and let go, otherwise I will use your blood to pay for your evil deeds. Look at you, look at your collar How miserable the people are."
Antonio pointed his sword at the cowering farmers on the side. Nearby was the wheat field they were tending. It looked sparse and did not look like it had been carefully tended.
The soil in the wheat fields was hard and fragrant. The soil was not well plowed before sowing. Crops such as clover were not planted a year before the harvest for livestock to eat, and their excrement was used as fertilizer to fertilize the land.
It is not because the peasants are lazy and cunning, but because the lords who rule them are too incompetent and greedy. In order to maintain their rule, they need to pay heavy taxes to maintain their own army and their own luxurious enjoyment, leaving the peasants in a state of starvation and inability to eat. The state of being full prevents them from eating enough. Z.br>
This means that no one has the energy to plow the land deeply. If there is a good harvest, most of the food will be taken away.
There is only a small amount of rations left, and there will be a small amount of rations left without a good harvest, so what incentive is there to farm?
Of course, Antonio is not a messenger of justice. He only speaks high-sounding words in order to take away the other party's holy seal and land in the name of justice. Presumably, by taking away the other party's holy seal and land, he will become a quasi-viscount. status.
"Speaking of which, with this meager salary, are your soldiers really willing to fight for you?"
Antonio's understatement made cold sweat break out on Baron Bruni's forehead. In fact, half of the three hundred soldiers he called were temporarily captured farmers. They were weak due to long-term poverty and hunger, and even He couldn't even hold the gun firmly. He was forced to wear a soldier's armor just because of his arrogant orders. Without strict training, he could not be his opponent.
His rule was not popular among the people, but as a mediocre and ignorant monarch, he had the clearest self-awareness, that is, he did not have the ambition and power to conquer other monarchs and unify the entire island.
Since you cannot conquer others, in this cruel era, as a monarch, you can only be conquered by others.
I see.
What the other party values is definitely not its own territory, but its own Holy Seal. Only by continuously integrating the Holy Seal can it increase the power of the Holy Seal and improve its own title. It is not surprising that one day it can even unify the entire island.
Bruni looked ugly. People without the Holy Seal were not qualified to be monarchs, let alone rule the territory and people. The reason why he was targeted by the other party was because he blocked his way.
"Then let's follow the oldest rules and challenge each other!" Baron Bruni had an idea and looked at the young monarch's relatively elite army and said, "If the soldiers suffer too many casualties, the money for the compensation alone will be quite a lot. Soldiers are different from farmers. Those who can pick up weapons and fight are not like leeks in the field that can grow again after being cut casually."
In the past, monarchs obtained the Holy Seal because they eliminated Chaos, instead of relying entirely on inheritance as the mainstream of the current era. All monarchs are good at martial arts. In order to avoid the losses of their subordinate armies, monarchs all like to fight in single combat. This is also to protect their subordinates from injury.
In today's era, monarchs are hereditary and aristocratic, and long swords have become decorations. It is normal for soldiers to charge and the monarch to command remotely from behind.
In the past, if you didn't accept the challenge, you would be ashamed, but now it's completely different, so Antonio has no need to accept the other party's request.
Baron Bruni is a knight who has been famous for a long time. Although he is dim-witted, as a non-hereditary monarch, his military force cannot be underestimated. As a hereditary monarch, whether Antonio's military force is strong is a question mark in everyone's mind.
"Do you want to agree? If you don't agree, then I will defend the castle." Baron Bruni said while the iron was hot.
"According to the current tradition, we can fight on our behalf. Both of us can invite our generals to fight on our behalf. This is also tradition."
Baron Antonio said with a chuckle, and with a wave of his hand, he followed behind his troops. Troops wearing various armors rushed over behind him, holding high a flag with a sharp knife inserted into the neck of the evil dragon.
"This is the mercenary group I invited with a large sum of money, the Dragon Slaying Mercenary Group."
