Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 250 - 19: Still Too Young

Let’s not mention the Riptide component.

First, let’s talk about the abundant supply of mercenaries from the muddy swamps.

There are longbowmen and crossbow shieldmen at a distance, swordsmen in close combat.

Order within chaos, they possess considerable combat strength.

But the cost of hiring mercenaries is also very high, with daily wages far exceeding those of the conscript army.

That Gael could pull together a force of three thousand mercenaries must have cost a pretty penny, this battle won’t settle for less than ten thousand gold coins.

Next is the Church Court’s influence.

Roman slaughtered the Church Priests in his plundering of Kant Territory.

A whole year has passed.

The Church couldn’t pretend to see nothing.

Especially since Duke Gael personally sent a letter to the Pope.

Thus, the Pope dispatched thirty Judgement Knights on the spot, and it wasn’t a matter of individual combat. Including the attending knights’ squires and duty soldiers, the total force was about two hundred men.

But that’s not the point.

The main event is the gathering of nuns from various monasteries, church priests, and believers.

Led by Bishop Merlad, the priests know some basic Divine Arts, and the nuns formed a choir.

The believers are equivalent to the Church’s conscript army, some of them are the kind that brings their families and their own provisions.

There’s no other reason mainly to fight for their faith.

In the past, the Church was unable to organize such a massive army of believers.

The three Black Iron Dukes watched closely, prohibiting the Church from using external armed forces.

Even if they did use them, they could only defend themselves, not attack.

However, the current situation is chaotic, and the old dogmas are gradually becoming ineffective.

Not to mention that this time, it was Duke Gael who initiated it, the Gatekeeper handing over the keys to the prison guard.

Well then, what are we waiting for!

Let’s roll out the red carpet for the soon-to-appear Church forces!

Even the Pope himself took particular interest in this matter.

This is the first show of force by the Church, otherwise, they wouldn’t have dispatched the Judgement Knights.

For over a hundred years, the Church has had a rough time.

Monasteries and churches were built one after another, and believers of All Gods spread across the Seven Kingdoms, but they just couldn’t mobilize them.

It wasn’t just Roman who slaughtered the priests.

The North Ice Pirates were also very enthusiastic about killing priests.

Who can blame them when monasteries and churches have money?

Not to mention the Tithe every year, and both monasteries and churches own their own lands, being able to save some money every year, over the years, that wealth isn’t a small number.

The divergence in beliefs is also a big problem.

The North Ice Pirates came from Igo Land and followed the Dragon faith, swearing to bring the Dragon King’s Fury to the entire land.

This is completely different from the All Gods faith.

Pirates and the Church are very hostile to each other, persecuting each other’s religions.

In the current situation, the pirates have the advantage because the Church has been hampered all along.

Roman’s rebellion ignited Gael’s fury.

The Riptide Grand Duke was preparing to no longer abide by past treaties, releasing some of the Church’s mobilization rights. freёwebnoѵel.com

This assembly pulled together a force of five thousand men.

These were the vanguard. The Church saw Roman as a whetstone to see what the results would be.

Finally, there were the thousand men from Beixites.

But Beixites didn’t wish to become involved in the war.

The force gathered to subdue Roman totals to five figures.

Even without Beixites, it still amounts to five figures.

In other words, neither more nor less.

It wasn’t necessary to travel such a long way, spending money and effort.

But considering Beixites and the Riptide Families were both defending against the pirates, and Gael was the supreme commander, adding to that, Beixites indeed had also participated in the war against Roman before.

Due to these factors, Earl Beixites reluctantly dispatched Flant, leading a thousand men over.

At the same time, they secretly observed the Church’s strength.

During the encampment, the army leaders congregated to discuss how to successfully suppress the rebellion.

Flant, who had crossed swords with Roman, was the first to speak,

"I dare to remind you all, our opponent this time is not simple, perhaps even harder to deal with than pirates."

"If he dares to show his face, I’ll shoot him dead with one arrow! Just like I did to Lord Owen!" Kate Riptide said coldly.

Kate was Duke Gael’s second son, over thirty years old, and theoretically, he should refer to Roman as Uncle.

Nobles intermarried, forming vast and intricate networks of roots, all related to one another.

Even the vanquished and the victors could, due to complex kinship relations, fight each other to the death by day and then after the war, drink together, with the defeated returning safely to their territories after paying a hefty ransom.

In Kate’s view, Roman had cut himself off from the aristocracy; there was no point in making kinship connections!

Even if Roman had not cut himself off from the aristocracy.

A mere bastard from Alster was not worth his attention.

Now Gael was the Grand Duke of the Riptide Family.

The Riptide Family’s inheritance method was for the current duke to appoint his successor.

But the system they followed was feudal.

The first three generations of Riptide Grand Dukes had few descendants, either dying young or in battle, so inheritance was linear.

Alster, the fourth generation, had only one son and one daughter, so there was no chance to enforce feudal division.

But Duke Gael was prepared to follow the ancient traditions.

Whether a firstborn or a second son, legitimate heirs would still receive their due inheritance.

Gael was a man of traditional temperament, strict with himself and never had any lovers or illegitimate children, something Kate and his older brother were always clear about.

So, Kate was not worried about his future, but his disdain for the bastard Roman was extreme.

He should not have received that land; it was a promising piece of excellent land.

Alster had hidden that land away, and after decades, ultimately gave it to Roman.

The world thought it to be a wilderness, remote and harsh, akin to Lingnan.

Yet who knew it was an untouched paradise, that saw heaven and earth turned upside down once it welcomed its second lord.

Now everyone was in doubt.

What kind of output could a piece of land have to sustain such a powerful army?

If possible, after suppressing the rebellion, Kate intended to request his Duke father to grant him that river valley.

"He bears the Riptide surname, and that river valley is said to have no city walls; he won’t be walking on them, so I’m afraid it won’t be easy for Lord Kate to succeed." Judgement Knight Donna Rasol said.

Demon Hunting Knights wore Black Armor, Holy Temple Knights were clad in Silver Armor and White Cloak, and Judgement Knights wore Red Armor.

Red Armor symbolized war and blood; they were the true force on the battlefield.

Riptide’s expression remained cold, without a word.

He was well aware, yet still harbored a sliver of hope, who’s to say?

Riptide Knights are specially trained; their instincts are highly acute, feeling danger like a thorn in their back, especially when targeted by sharp objects, the tingling sensation could even make their scalp itch.

Shattered Archers do not fear any troops, but only another Shattered Archer.

Shooting inaccurately, let alone from a long distance, if the two were a hundred meters apart, unless there was covering fire, Riptides could dodge in a very short time.

He was hoping for Roman to make a mistake.

People make mistakes, especially the young.

He knew his young illegitimate Uncle Roman was only 18 years old now.

"Let’s talk about how to attack the river valley first," Bishop Merlad said.

Just then, Riptide’s scout entered the camp, whispering into Kate’s ear.

Kate’s brow twitched, and he snickered, "It seems we need not attack after all, he’s coming out on his own."

Indeed, still too young.

Afterward, the others also learned of this.

Only Flant frowned; in his memory, that young lord was not one to act rashly.

On the contrary, he was unnervingly composed.

Surviving a war of attrition, he withstood four waves of attack, a bloodbath.

Caught between two fronts, facing warriors as fierce as wild beasts, he still managed to hold the line.

To this day, Flant still found it incredible.

Why was he taking such risks now?

This seemed uncharacteristic.

And so, a question lay before them.

How should they fight this battle?