Volume 1 Forest Knight Chapter 58 Messed with the mercenaries of the Montenegro Regiment
After listening to Gamgee's words, Balian basically understood their relationship. A friend of a friend is his friend. After Balian and Sir Tower greeted each other, everyone took their seats in the lord's hall.
Balian and Gamgee sat side by side, drank a few wines, and ate a few fresh and refreshing appetizers. The servants brought out tonight's main dish of roasted lamb.
These lambs, which were less than two months old, weighed less than twenty pounds each with bones after being slaughtered, so everyone saw a whole lamb in front of them. Balian couldn't help but sigh, they were also guarding the knights.
The avenue is an important trade route, and the rich lord of this territory is really generous. The lamb eaten tonight should be worth nearly a hundred dinars.
At dusk, Balian, who had just seen piles of corpses, was not in the mood to eat meat at all. Instead, he smelled the smell of barbecue and felt nauseated.
Seeing Balian's behavior, Gamgee thought of the massacred village, and was about to tell his uncle Sir Taoer. However, Sir Taoer saw that Balian was reluctant to cut the meat, and he was puzzled.
Asked: "Ser Balian, what's wrong with you? Is this roast lamb not delicious?"
Balian was about to answer when Gamgee, who was sitting next to him, quickly said: "It's not that the roast lamb is not delicious, but we passed a village this afternoon and the entire village was massacred. Sir Balian came into the village to see
After the miserable situation, how can I have the appetite to eat meat now?"
"Oh, which village is it?" Sir Tower asked.
"It's the first village after entering Kurumu County along the Knight's Road. It's the village under your rule. I originally wanted to tell you about it, but I forgot about it when I was drinking." Gamji looked ashamed.
said.
Later, Balian described the scene he saw in the village. When he heard the word "debt collection" written with human heads and the decapitated body was eaten by wild dogs, Sir Tower's wife and the people in the hall
The maids turned pale with fright, and Sir Tower himself clenched the wine glass in his hands angrily.
Seeing them like this, Balian didn't talk too much about the tragic situation. After a few simple words, he stopped talking about it.
After hearing what Balian said, Sir Tower slammed the wine glass in his hand on the table, then stood up and roared angrily: "You bastards of the Black Mountain Regiment, I will definitely skin you alive!"
After he roared, the anger and hatred in his chest eased a little, and then he sat down again. He explained to Balian and Gamgee with a slight apology: "Sir Balian, Gamgee, you don't know something.
In the past two months, I have encountered a big problem."
"Big problem? How could it be? You are not a troublemaker yourself. Besides, you have a good relationship with the county governor and the county's financial officer. How could you get into such a big problem?" Gum said.
Ji was very confused.
"Hey!" Sir Tower sighed, "It's because of my good relationship with the Sheriff and the Treasurer that I got into this big problem.
In the early summer of this year, the county governor invited the famous Black Mountain Regiment to wipe out several bands of bandits who had fled from the Donbas Hills.
The robbers were all wiped out, and there was great joy in the county.
But when it came time to settle the bill, the county governor was unhappy. He didn't know that hiring the Montenegrin regiment to fight would cost so much. After having already paid 10,000 dinars for the departure, and the county provided them with free food and accommodation.
Next, he had to pay the remaining amount of 20,000 dinars. This figure frightened the governor to death. He did not expect it to be so expensive.
The Sheriff was unwilling to pay, so the leader of the Black Mountain Regiment went to the Finance Minister to pay. After all, the employment contract at that time was signed by him, and the contract also had the lacquer seal of his family's heraldry regiment.
But the finance minister didn't have the money to pay, so he simply burned the employment contract and shut down the Black Mountain Regiment. He also asked the county soldiers to drive the Black Mountain Regiment soldiers out of the county town. Not only did he no longer provide food and accommodation, he also banned nearby
Merchants and villagers sold food to the Black Mountain Regiment, which directly forced the Black Mountain Regiment to loot the villages near the county seat.
Just half a month ago, the Finance Minister passed away mysteriously. This debt fell on me because I was coaxed by the Sheriff into signing my name as the guarantor of the employment contract.
So, the leader of the Black Mountain Regiment sent someone to Sith Town to ask me to pay. Of course, I would not ask the stingy Sheriff to pay the bill, so I kicked the Black Mountain Regiment’s envoy out.
One day later, the envoy from the Montenegrin regiment came again. He took out a letter and handed it to me. The letter clearly stated that if they did not receive the money within a week, they would first massacre a village in my territory.
Within five days after massacring the village, if the money is not collected, we will attack the town of Sisi and loot the entire town."
"The magistrate of Kurum is too much! He has no spirit of contract at all. I don't know how such a person got the position of magistrate." Gamji said angrily.
"Twenty thousand dinars shouldn't be too much for you, Sir Tower. Although you won't be able to pay them all, you can still buy peace with a few thousand dinars." Bei
Leon said.
Balian was a little puzzled. Although these mercenaries were seeking money, they would not offend these lords unless absolutely necessary. After all, his main customer base was them. Sir Tower only needed to give about a quarter of the money at that time.
With money, the mercenaries of the Black Mountain Regiment should not go to massacre the village.
Sir Tower told Balian with a heartbroken look, "Sir Balian, if it's four or five thousand dinars, I'll give it to you. It's not only a favor to the governor, but also money to avoid disaster."
But this group of mercenaries from Orion asked me to pay 60,000 dinars, saying that this was the total principal and interest that had not been paid in the past two months. As soon as I heard this, I immediately became angry.
They are so greedy that I am not willing to pay them even a copper coin."
Having said this, Gamji asked Balian: "Sir Balian, among the three of us, you are the only one who has ever entered the village. When do you think the massacre of the village should have occurred?"
Upon hearing this, Balian understood the purpose of Gamji's question. He said: "Looking at the blood stains on the people's heads, it must have been at least two days since the massacre of the village. It seems that they will attack the West by the day after tomorrow at the latest."
Si Town.”
When Baron Tower heard this, he felt annoyed again. He muttered: "If I had known that I would have given them 20,000 dinars to buy them peace, such a thing would not have happened."
Seeing that he was only annoyed and didn't want to deal with it, Balian asked: "Sir Tower, how many men are there in the Black Mountain Regiment? If they attack Sis Town, can you handle it with the troops you have?"
Hearing Balian's question, Sir Tower lowered his head dejectedly, and then replied feebly: "At that time, the Sheriff hired two infantry brigades of the Black Mountain Regiment, with a total of two hundred people. Although there were combat attrition during the suppression of bandits, but
Their total strength should not be less than 180 people.
In addition to two knights and six light cavalry, I only have forty armed light infantry. I have never gone out to fight. The two knights led the troops to suppress bandits. My men dealt with them.
Robbers and robbers are okay, but if they encounter the well-equipped Black Mountain regiment with superb fighting skills, I'm afraid they won't be able to resist for long."
"Then what are your plans now? Give them 60,000 dinars or run away." Gamji saw the discouraged look on his uncle's face and asked quickly.
Sir Tower clenched his fists and gritted his teeth and said: "Where do I have 60,000 dinars now? Moreover, these people have massacred the village. Now I will give them enough money. These people will taste the benefits of robbery."
People will still sack Sith Town.
It's impossible to escape. They will never let me go without getting the money. These guys don't have the guts to go to the county guard and will only bully low-level nobles like me. Then I will guard the Sith Town and fight them.
in the end."
After saying this, Sir Tower looked at Balian and Gamgee with a smile, "I need to expand the troops defending the city now. Gamgee, can you lend me some of your caravan guards?"
Ganmoji nodded, "No problem, they are all family members."
"Sir Balian, your reputation for defeating Sir Yellen and Sir Thorg has spread throughout Brick. I have also heard about the recapture of Maple Leaf Manor and the annihilation of the three major gangs.
If you are willing to stay with your men to help me defend the city, I am willing to pay you a salary of one hundred dinars a day, and I will also provide food and accommodation." Sir Tower wanted to keep Balian to help him.
Balian did not answer him immediately, but instead asked: "Sir Tower, in addition to Gamji's caravan guards and my manpower, do you have any other supplementary troops?"
Sir Tower nodded, "There are thirty town militiamen who provide their own equipment in Sith Town. They have fought with me. Their combat experience and weapons and equipment are all good. In addition, the villages in my territory are all good."
Fifty light infantry and thirty archers have been recruited, and they can be summoned tomorrow."
"Okay, I only want to make two conditions. First, I want to take command of all the troops; second, if we win, all the spoils will be mine. If you agree, I will agree to stay," Balian said.
.
"Uh..." Sir Tower pondered for a while. He thought that since he did not have much combat experience and was facing the brutal Black Mountain mercenaries, it would be better to hand it over to a leading knight like Balian who was highly skilled in martial arts and well-known for his proficiency in fighting.
.
As for the trophies, if Balian could defeat the mercenaries of the Black Mountain Regiment, he would take them all. They were nothing more than some armor, weapons and worthless things stolen from farmers' houses.
"Okay, I agree to both of the conditions you mentioned." Sir Tower was originally prepared for the Lion of Balion to open his mouth, but he didn't expect that these two conditions were not harsh.
Hearing that Sir Tower agreed to his conditions, Balian said with a serious face: "Since you agreed to my conditions, then I agree to stay. In this way, I will call the two knights under you in a moment. I want to
Talk to them."
After a while, Sir Tuor and Ser Ender, who were under Ser Tower, came over. When they heard that Sir Tower was about to hand over the command to Balian, both of them showed shocked affection on their faces.
But Tuor, who was the captain of the guard and the captain of the cavalry, was shocked, but said nothing, because he usually did not have much experience in leading troops in war, and it was not easy for him to interfere in the lord's decision-making.
Sir Ander, who commanded the main armed forces in Sissy Town, had no objections. They had already seen the terrifying combat power of the Black Mountain Regiment when they followed the bandits. He did not want to command his men who only knew how to arrest bandits.
The men who bullied farmers and small traders stood on the city wall to die.
Seeing that Balian stayed and served as the commander of the battle to defend the city of Sith, Sir Tower and his two leading knights also had no objections.
Gamgee also decided to stay and participate in the war. He handed over his thirty caravan guards to Balian's command. These caravan guards and the soldiers of Fort Nolanden ate and lived together along the way, and they were very familiar with each other. On the battlefield
The level of coordination will be higher, and they can also obey Balian's command.
After the matter was finalized, Balian took a few bites of lamb before saying goodbye and leaving. He wanted to think carefully about how to deal with the nearly two hundred mercenaries of the Montenegrin regiment who were experienced, well-equipped, and extremely ferocious.
Of course, it’s not just him, but the leading knight under Tower, Sir Ander, the mayor of Sith Town, Gamji’s caravan leader Grima, and his own guard deputy captain Broda
, Squire Bran and others were all called to the town meeting hall by Balian. This place has now become Balian's headquarters.
After a night of discussion, Balian finally came up with a plan that was feasible and that he thought was reliable. Then, after making some arrangements, he lay down on a bench in the Sis Town meeting hall and fell asleep.
He needs to take good care of himself, as there are still many things for him to think about and make decisions about next.
After everyone ended the meeting, the mayor of Sis Town directly took a few tax collectors and the security team to wake up all the businessmen staying overnight in Sis Town and asked them to leave within two hours.
Not only foreign businessmen, but also those who entered the town to work in the past week, if they were not local residents for more than two generations, were also kicked out.
Because a war was imminent, it was not only to prevent enemy spies from sneaking in and causing chaos during the war, but also to prevent the spies from finding out about the city's deployment.
Balian can only choose to do this for the time being. Fortunately, the control period will not be too long, and Sir Tower also used part of the money to compensate merchants and people.
Not only that, the light cavalry under Sir Tuor were also sent out, notifying each village to gather farmers and soldiers to the town of Sith to assist in the defense. After completing this matter, they went outside the town and informed the passing caravans of the past few days.
They could not enter the town of Sisi to rest, because the mercenaries of the Black Mountain Regiment were going to attack them, and they told the passing caravans the atrocious acts of the mercenaries of the Black Mountain Regiment massacring the village with great emotion.
The purpose of Balian arranging for them to do this was first to make the excessive behavior of the Black Mountain mercenaries known to the world, so that his side could occupy the moral high ground and gain the advantage of public opinion for himself.
The second is to let the mercenaries of the Black Mountain Regiment know that Sir Tower in Sith Town is ready for a decisive battle, but they will not give them money and stimulate them to attack the city quickly.
The third is to create pressure on the Sheriff and nobles of Kurumu County. After all, it is because the Sheriff is unwilling to pay the mercenaries. He wants to easily transfer the consequences. That is too natural.
He is waiting to be criticized by thousands of people.