On the thirteenth of August,
Over the past twenty days, the six main armed corps of the six giant chambers of commerce under the Commercial Alliance had arrived at the front one after another, pitching their camps roughly thirty-odd li from the Andinak Kingdom's million-strong army. All the scouts and light cavalry could confirm was that all six main corps had reached the front, while the Commercial Alliance's various miscellaneous armed forces were converging around them, estimated to have gathered over five hundred thousand troops in total. Most astonishingly, as allies of the Commercial Alliance, the Qigeda Kingdom had also dispatched a corps of nearly fifty thousand to join the fray.
Lorist hadn't been particularly concerned about the Commercial Alliance's army. He had been preoccupied with safely transporting his family's captured spoils, prisoners, and those immigrants to the Northland. Unfortunately, it wasn't winter. Had it been winter, those immigrants and prisoners would have been perfectly docile—everyone knew that leaving the main force in the bitter cold of winter meant certain death, and no one would dare take that risk. Moreover, using sledges would have been faster, carried more cargo, and required far fewer guards.
But now that wasn't possible. The main reason was that the
All told, the population to be relocated had reached seven to eight hundred thousand. After moving them to the Northland, the total population there would exceed three million—more than the entire population of some kingdoms. So Lorist had been working himself to the bone. Safely relocating seven to eight hundred thousand people to the Northland was no easy task, and even with Lorist and the Norton Family forces' extensive experience in forced population transfers, this time had been utterly exhausting.
After finishing all the miscellaneous tasks and seeing off the last batch of forcibly relocated immigrants, Lorist finally had the bandwidth to look into the current state of their own million-strong army and the Commercial Alliance's countermeasures. That was when he began to feel that something was off. The
The six main armed corps of the Commercial Alliance had arrived at the front about twenty days ago, and the Second Prince hadn't paid them much mind. But as the Alliance's forces continued to grow, the Second Prince merely ordered the scouts and light cavalry to intensify their surveillance and vigilance over the enemy camps, while strictly forbidding any clashes between their scouts and the opposing side's. The Commercial Alliance's army had dispatched its own scouts as well, and with equal tacit understanding, avoided their counterparts. Though no confrontations or small-scale skirmishes occurred, the Commercial Alliance's monitoring scouts were virtually working around the clock. This made Lorist feel that something was truly amiss, which was why he had brought his personal guards and Bodfing to personally inspect the Commercial Alliance's encampment.
"Strange. Is the Commercial Alliance really planning to fight a decisive battle with us?" Lorist muttered while peering through his monocular telescope at the Alliance's camps.
Bodfing beside him was puzzled. "Your Highness, what makes you say that?"
Lorist handed him the telescope. "See for yourself. Did you notice something off? The camps the Commercial Alliance's troops have set up all seem to be temporary—they don't meet any standard for defensive positions. First, they haven't dug trenches or set up barriers. Second, the palisades are nothing but a handful of hastily planted posts with grass rope strung around them. What's the point of this? Does the Commercial Alliance really intend to launch an offensive against our million-strong army? They seem to understand full well that we won't attack them…"
Bodfing raised the telescope and studied the camps for a while, his expression turning grave. "Your Highness, encampments like these are either temporary camps used for overnight stays during a safe march, or they indicate that a force is so confident of victory on the battlefield that it's preparing to attack the enemy. Such camps make a full-force sortie very convenient, but for defense they offer virtually no resistance—they'd fall at the first assault."
"Your Highness, could it be that the Commercial Alliance also wants to reach an agreement with us, and these troops are just here to put on a show? That would explain why they don't care about defense at all," Genorio interjected after overhearing the conversation between Lorist and Bodfing.
Lorist ruffled his hair. He had always encouraged those around him to speak their minds so that he wouldn't fall into the trap of one-sided counsel. He didn't mind Genorio's interruption in the slightest.
"There's merit to what you say. But what puzzles me is this: if the Commercial Alliance is truly determined to negotiate peace and sign a ceasefire agreement with His Majesty, then there's absolutely no need to mass such an enormous force. Mobilizing over five hundred thousand troops is no small matter. If they genuinely wanted to negotiate, a defensive line with a hundred thousand or so would suffice. By the way, His Majesty sent a count to deliver a message last time—over a month has passed. Have any of you heard whether His Majesty has received a reply?" Lorist asked.
"Never mind. I'll go see His Majesty myself to find out." After a moment's thought, Lorist turned to Bodfing. "Ross the Fierce Tiger has been tasked with escorting those immigrants back to the Northland. Right now, only the Rockstone Corps and the family guard battalion are here with us. Here's what we'll do, Bodfing—when you get back, choose a strategically defensible position behind the main camp and establish a fortified encampment. We need to be prepared."
"Understood, Your Highness," Bodfing replied.
After returning to camp, Lorist took Genorio and continued on to the Second Prince's main camp, which was over twenty li from where the Norton Family forces were stationed. By the time they arrived, it was nearly noon. Lorist found that the defenses of the White Lion Corps' camp where the Second Prince was based were extremely lax. The gates were wide open, soldiers drifted in and out freely, the sentries turned a blind eye, and the soldiers lounging against the wooden walls by the entrance paid no attention to the foot traffic. Not a single figure could be seen in the arrow towers flanking the camp gates.
When Lorist and his guards rode up to the gates, the soldiers leaning against the wall finally snapped to attention. The ten soldiers on gate duty scrambled to their feet, straightened up, and lined up to salute Lorist. They all recognized this Grand Duke of the Northland—the most celebrated lord in the Andinak Kingdom.
"Where is His Majesty?" Lorist asked.
"His Majesty is hosting a banquet for the various Grand Dukes and nobles in the central compound's main tent. Shall I announce Your Highness's arrival?" a squad leader answered eagerly.
Lorist flicked his riding crop. "No need. We'll go in ourselves. Genorio, tip them."
Genorio pulled a small black coin purse from inside his robe and tossed it to the squad leader. "His Highness treats you to drinks."
"Thank you, thank you, Your Highness the Grand Duke." All ten soldiers bowed in unison. The soldiers watching from nearby looked on with undisguised envy. Everyone knew this Norton Grand Duke of the Northland was the most generous of givers. That small black coin purse held ten large silver coins—enough to add an entire month's salary for every man on this gate detail. They could only lament that they hadn't been the ones on duty when this magnanimous Norton Grand Duke came by…
Inside the White Lion Corps' camp was a small stone hill, seven or eight meters high. The Second Prince had pitched his main tent atop it and established another encampment around the hill. This was a camp within a camp—the central compound, as the gate guards had called it. The Second Prince had set up this central compound to separate himself from the main White Lion Corps camp, because within it were many noble ladies and young women who had accompanied the army…
These noble ladies and young women were mostly the families of the Commercial Alliance's enfeoffed territory nobles whom the Second Prince had captured during his conquest of the northwestern region. Bringing them along on campaign was their penance—atonement for their husbands, children, parents, and relatives. Everyone understood the exact nature of this "atonement."
Generally speaking, in wars between nobles, the families and children of the defeated were not to be troubled. But this came with a prerequisite: the noble needed to provide a reasonable ransom for relatives who had fallen into enemy hands, whether in gold coins, supplies, territory, or family heirlooms. This would guarantee that their loved ones received very favorable treatment in the enemy camp, with no one laying a hand on them.
But this time, the Second Prince had launched a winter surprise attack and seized the northwestern region. The Commercial Alliance's territory nobles who fell into his hands were basically rounded up whole—people and lands alike became his spoils of war. If a noble happened to have other properties elsewhere—for instance, shops or houses in
But territory nobles who had no outside assets had no choice but to send their wives and daughters to serve the Second Prince. The reason the Second Prince held his frequent banquets—small feasts every three days and grand ones every ten—to entertain the kingdom's Grand Dukes and nobles served three purposes: first, to flaunt the spoils of the northwestern conquest; second, to foster goodwill and display amiability; and third, to project an air of royal magnanimity. Using captured enemy noblewomen as banquet attendants to entertain the kingdom's nobility was an exceedingly glamorous and romantic affair, a splendid show of imperial grace.
Lorist found such matters distasteful, and this was one of the reasons he had repeatedly declined the Second Prince's invitations. The Norton Family had its own established methods for dealing with captured territory nobles. Those who had been cruel and oppressive to their subjects generally ended up with their entire families hanged from the gallows. When it came to enemies, the Norton Family's policy was to err on the side of killing rather than letting one slip through—only in this way could the subjects of those territory nobles be pacified and turned into loyal citizens of the Norton Family.
Those lords who had been merciful toward their subjects did not need to pay ransom. Instead, they were required to serve the Family with their skills and talents for a set number of years in exchange for their family's freedom. As nobles who had received an education from youth, they naturally had advantages over common folk, and each invariably excelled in some particular field. During their years of service to the Norton Family, their achievements were duly recorded. When the agreed-upon term was completed, these nobles would find themselves facing a difficult choice—for their accumulated merits were sufficient for the Norton Family to enfeoff them as nobles. In the end, practically all of them switched their allegiance and swore loyalty to the Norton Family.
After passing through the gates of the central compound, Lorist once again refused the royal guards' offer to announce his arrival to the Second Prince. He ordered his own guards to rest outside the compound and headed toward the main tent with Genorio. Before he even reached it, a buxom noblewoman—scantily clad—came staggering out of the tent on the arm of Duke Kenmes. The two were giggling as they headed toward a small side tent, making it abundantly clear they had already hooked up and were about to engage in a bout of close-quarters wrestling.
Kenmes spotted Lorist and hurriedly released the noblewoman to greet him, spreading his arms wide for a hug. "Ha!洛克—Lorist, what wind blew you here today?"
Lorist pointed a finger at him. "Stay where you are. Don't come any closer. Go about your business—I have matters to discuss with His Majesty."
Duke Kenmes shrugged. "Just asking. Anything I can help with?"
"Relax, don't neglect your lady friend. I don't need any help. I just feel that the Commercial Alliance seems to be preparing for a decisive battle, and I've come to ask His Majesty what he thinks."
Duke Kenmes let out a breath of relief. "Lorist, you're too tense. You should come here more often to unwind. There won't be any decisive battle. We just received the Commercial Alliance's reply this morning—they'll be formally sending envoys in three days to discuss a peace agreement with His Majesty. He was overjoyed, rewarded the messenger handsomely, and threw us another grand feast. Go on in—I don't know if His Majesty's passed out yet, but he was saying he'd send someone to invite you to tonight's banquet…"
Lorist had already pulled back the tent flap and stepped inside. The main tent was enormous, easily large enough to hold over a hundred nobles in wild revelry. Some drunken nobles had collapsed on the fur carpets and were snoring away; others were still drinking heavily; some were entangled with the noblewomen and young ladies; and a few pairs had even gotten down to business in the corners of the tent… Lorist also spotted the Grand Duke of Fisablen. The old man was so drunk his face was red as a monkey's rear, both hands clutching two half-naked serving girls and fondling the generous swells of their chests, while simultaneously demanding that the two girls pass wine to him mouth-to-mouth… Tch! The shameless old goat!
The Second Prince had also drunk his fill. Presumably in excellent spirits upon receiving the Commercial Alliance's reply, he had let himself go completely, and now couldn't even speak properly. "Lo… Lorist, you're… you're here. Cheers… cheers…"
Lorist turned on his heel and left. Stepping out of the central compound with a dark expression, he said to Genorio, "Let's go. We're heading back."
……