Chapter 178 Taner feels a little distressed

Taner was quite comfortable with the possibility of a holiday.

As the main general, when he wanted to sit down, a soldier came over to bring him a stool.

When I think about the time when I moved the stool for Rand, I still feel a little sad.

At this time, he should begin to be thankful for his unique vision and timely decision.

If he had not joined in time at the beginning, no, if he had not chosen to be an undercover agent in time, he would not have been able to achieve his current position so quickly.

After all, even for the highest-level professionals, the most common jobs are personal tasks that require the use of personal force.

If you want to gain the power to command the army, it actually has little to do with personal strength.

And now, he is the den, the first general under Rand.

Although he is only a knight and Rand is only a viscount now, Taner is very sure that the den will gradually become bigger and stronger.

By then he will be promoted gradually.

And most importantly, Taner now believes he is doing the right thing.

This is his justice as a paladin.

But Taner, who had been having a very comfortable holiday, is not feeling very comfortable now.

The second prince led his troops to stay on the defense line, and occasionally sent some cavalry to carry out meaningless harassment.

Then just let the catapult smash it over there.

Taner could basically guess what the second prince was thinking. Anyway, the defense line was not built by him with manpower and material resources, and it could not be broken in a short time. So he just let the opponent break it first and see how the battle situation in other routes was.

If the situation is going well, wait for other routes to come over and encircle and secure the victory.

If the situation gets really bad, just retreat. At least you won't be at fault and you'll have a record of being a leader.

As for fighting against the opposite side, it is true that the military strength of the Frost Moon Kingdom is slightly stronger, but the command level of the two sides' main generals is not on the same level.

Opposite her was the renowned Countess of Snow Fox. This title was not only known in the Kingdom of Lunsa, but was also well-known to the nobles of the Kingdom of Frost Moon.

Although the Frost Moon Kingdom as a whole is very confident, the Second Prince does not think that his chances of winning this route are very high. It would be better to wait for other routes to achieve a great victory and then outflank them.

Anyway, he has taken on the most difficult task, facing the enemy's most famous military commander. As long as he can remain undefeated, it will be an achievement.

As for the defense line that was damaged by catapults during this period, it doesn’t matter, because it was not built by him anyway.

The lost soldiers didn't matter, since they weren't his anyway.

The loss is others', the credit is yours, so why not do it?

Thinking of this, Taner, who had been able to maintain his peace and calmness, suddenly felt a little depressed.

Fortunately, the looting was prevented, otherwise the hideout would have suffered double losses.

But even so, this line of defense that cost a lot of manpower and material resources to build was going to be destroyed by the second prince, and the hideout would not get any credit.

Maybe that's how politics is. After all, he is the second prince. No one really cares if he comes out to gild himself and damages the interests of a viscount.

Moreover, many nobles in the Frost Moon Kingdom already believed that Rand had gained too much, and letting Rand lose some would actually suit the dark psychology of some nobles.

Taner read the intelligence sent by the Viscount of the Traitor again and said to himself, "This Second Prince really trusts the defense line we built. Is he just going to retreat like this? Occasionally send some cavalry to harass us to show that he is not passive in the fight?"

Fenris, who was standing by, had calmed down now. After hearing Taner's mumbling, he continued, "After all, the forces are essentially the same. We have the advantage of the defensive line, and it will be difficult for the other side to break through."

Fenris handed a skewer of roasted meat to Taner: "Why not eat something good? Let Rand handle the political issues."

Taner took it and tore off a large piece of meat.

The second prince also had lunch on the defense line, but the ventilation was not very good, so he could not barbecue like the troops camped behind the defense line.

But it is also served with top-quality bread and caviar for dipping.

And some dried meat.

Just as Taner thought, the Second Prince's interest was to gild himself in this battle. As long as he did not suffer a great defeat, when he returned, his resume would definitely record victory. It was just the difference between a small victory and a big victory.

During the previous meeting, a general suggested sending out cavalry to try to destroy the catapults, but thinking about it, the defenses were so tight that there would definitely be no chance, so it was just a try.

Then the second prince, just like when he held a banquet in the royal city, met the nobles along the way at the defense line, got acquainted with them, chatted with them, and tried to recruit them.

But the effect is not very good.

As for the possibility of being killed by the giant stones from the catapult, the second prince was not worried. This core dock was very strong, and nothing would happen to him here, at least until it was damaged to a certain extent.

If there is any damage, just send someone to fix it. After all, it is not him who will take the risk to repair it.

As for the officers and soldiers stationed in other parts of the defense line, the same thing applies: it was not his people who died anyway.

On the high slope on the other side of the defense line, at the garrison camp of the Southern Kingdom's counterattack corps, the Snow Fox Countess frowned.

During this period, she tried to expose many loopholes, but the commander of this line of defense seemed to be very patient and did not take any action.

He always seemed to be able to see through her deliberate flaws, which was not to actually send enough cavalry to try to destroy the catapults.

Instead, they just kept using small groups of cavalry to tickle us.

Is the commander on the opposite side a powerful figure?

The Snow Fox Countess frowned again and again. She had received intelligence these days that the other armies had been confronting the Frost Moon Kingdom's army, but there had been no progress and some had even suffered minor losses.

After pondering for a moment, the Snow Fox Countess ordered the felling of trees, the conscription of craftsmen, and the construction of more catapults. "Since you don't come, I will build more catapults to destroy the walls of this defense line as soon as possible."

She just couldn't believe it. These turtles were so timid that they remained indifferent even if she built more catapults to smash them.

Although many people in the Snow Fox Territory had been robbed before, the purpose of the Brown Moon Deer Raiding Group was very clear. They only robbed villages and did not attack cities.

The craftsmen in the Snow Fox Territory are mostly in large towns or cities, so there were no losses.

This time, she recruited a lot of people in advance to deal with this line of defense.

The current battle situation is completely different from what she had imagined. She had originally expected it to be a fierce and bloody positional battle.

She was even prepared for the situation where all the surrounding trees were burned to ashes by the people sent from the opposite side, and then the wood could not be cut locally to make engineering equipment, and had to be transported slowly from the rear.

Now it seems that I was worrying too much.

She even couldn't help but want to push the catapult forward a distance to increase its accuracy and power.

Before, she had been afraid that the siege equipment would be destroyed by the cavalry, and she wanted to use the engineering equipment as bait to eliminate the manpower of some soldiers in the defense line. Now, she decided to be a little, well, a little radical.

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She actually knew that she was not a master of military command, but compared to other nobles who only used cavalry charges, her tactics were a little more flexible and varied, which made her invincible on the battlefield.

Well, except last time.

…

At this time, after the autumn harvest, there are still many things to do in the hideout.

For example, drying grain, preparing seeds, or going into the mountains to hunt for meat and leather.

To prepare for winter.

In the past, when Rand did not rule this territory, the villagers did not have much joy about the autumn harvest.

Although they would try to hide some of the money, the tax collectors often had a sharper nose than a dog, and they might also be in the village supervising their autumn harvest.

Then after processing the grain, the lord would take away the products of their hard work.

But I’ve been through this before, and even though it’s painful, I can accept it.

But now, after Lord Rand took over the rule here, a lot has changed.

Rand's taxes are not light, but they are levied proportionally. If only the quantity is considered, Rand's taxes may be heavier than in the past.

But now a very magical thing happened. Even though they were collected more taxes than before, they had more left than before.

They can probably understand why.

The lord sent many missionaries to teach them how to farm more efficiently, and also allocated livestock to villages that lacked livestock. Although the livestock were nominally rented out and rental fees had to be paid, the farming efficiency with livestock was very different from that without them.

In some villages, the livestock assigned to them can talk, and in some villages, the livestock and the missionaries are one and the same.

The village that is busy with farming now is the village closest to the hideout, hideout number three. In the past, it was called Takina Village, and the village chief was Taran.

A strong man with scars on his arms is drying wheat in the drying area. After the wheat is harvested, it should be spread out in time and then dried.

Like wheat and rice, they need to be dried before they can be stored.

If the wheat is not dried, it may sprout or become moldy, which will result in half a year of farming and land care being wasted.

He had once followed Taran to attack Lord Rand's village, but Lord Rand was generous and not only spared them but also taught them farming techniques.

It’s just that the recent government decrees are a bit strange.

After spreading the wheat in the drying area, he and several villagers walked to the signboard. At this time, the missionary of the goddess was already waiting there.

Many villagers were illiterate, so the notices needed to be interpreted by missionaries.

This sturdy man with scars on his arms is considered to be the more knowledgeable man in the village. He usually leads the way when going to the town or the holiday resort to trade.

So he knew what a missionary meant.

However, the missionaries sent by Lord Rand were not very keen on preaching. Instead, they were more interested in telling them how to farm, how to preserve food, and how to teach children who were not yet grown up and did not have enough strength to work to read.

When almost everyone had arrived, the missionary spoke up, "Lord Rand said in the new decree that people are encouraged to have children. Don't worry about not being able to raise them. Families with many children will receive special subsidies from Lord Rand."

That was the only piece of news, but the missionary, who was wearing a men's adventurer suit and looked quite fashionable, explained the details of the decree in great detail.

What is the special subsidy? How many children will you have? What level of subsidy will you get? How long will it last?

This missionary is quite talkative, but the villagers are not impatient at all. After all, these are closely related to their interests.

The villagers gathered there and listened to the missionary explain some health knowledge needed during childbirth and the care that women need to take after giving birth.

The sturdy man with scars on his arms still didn't understand after hearing this. Giving birth to a child would actually earn him a reward from the lord, and the lord didn't seem to ask him to do anything with the child.

But over this period of time they have developed full trust in Rand, and the wheat harvested this autumn is the bond of trust. Now, although they cannot fully understand Rand's ideas, it does not prevent them from being willing to carry out Rand's orders.

What's more, Rand was very thoughtful and relieved their worries.

(End of this chapter)