Chapter 447 Basel Conquest War
For Viscount Javier,
The plummeting price of tulips was undoubtedly a sudden and huge disaster.
Because when tulips just started to rise, he always maintained a certain level of rationality and did not act rashly.
This should be a good thing, but unfortunately...
Finally, under the persuasion of his noble friends and the social atmosphere of the entire Kingdom of Basel, he became a speculator who participated in the tulip feast.
In any era, entering the market at a high level is extremely dangerous.
Since Viscount Javier missed the best opportunity to enter, he was more anxious than any other noble in the Kingdom of Basel.
The current market price of tulips has dropped to near Viscount Javier's cost price! And...
The price is still falling! Seeing that the servant he sent out to get the news came back in a hurry, Viscount Javier no longer cared about the dignity of the nobles and asked in a panic: "How is it? Is the price in the market stable now?"
“Still falling!”
The attendant's face looked extremely bad. "The current price is nine gold coins and one shilling. It's almost falling below nine gold coins!"
Hearing this,
Viscount Javier couldn't help but stagger and tremble all over.
You know, just yesterday morning, the price of tulips was still hovering around nine gold and fifteen shillings.
In just one day,
The price has dropped by more than ten silver shillings! "Don't worry about it! Sell it quickly! Since the current market price is nine gold coins to one shilling, let's sell it for nine gold coins! As long as it can be sold!"
finally……
Viscount Javier made up his mind.
"But..." The servant hesitated to speak.
"What's wrong? If you have something to say, just say it now!" Viscount Javier frowned, with some anger between his brows.
"Although the current market price is nine gold and one shilling, this is just the price posted by other nobles. No one is willing to buy tulip bulbs at this price..."
The attendant replied cautiously.
"What?!!"
"And... it is said that in Basel, the price of tulips fell below nine gold coins yesterday..."
Hearing this, Viscount Javier felt dizzy and suddenly collapsed in the seat behind him.
"What should I do... What should I do..."
…
Viscount Javier was very anxious, but in fact,
King Basel was even more anxious than him! Other things were fine, but in order to hire those mercenary corps, he had paid with tulips!
Calculate the time.
At this moment, the battle at Mann's Fortress has just begun.
If news of the tulip crash reaches the northern front...
Then the war launched by the Kingdom of Basel became a complete joke!
actually,
If it were before,
The loss of the war would at most damage the reputation of the Kingdom of Basel, and at worst the kingdom would just have to admit defeat.
But here’s the thing…
This time, in the northern part of the Kingdom of Basel, there are more than 4,000 mercenaries who have not received the wages they deserve!
They were more than 4,000 battle-hardened soldiers! They were real blood-thirsty warriors! If they were filled with anger and turned against me, and came to ask for money...
Not to mention that this war will end in vain,
Even the entire Kingdom of Basel will fall into lasting turmoil!
so……
From the first day when the price of tulips began to plummet, an invisible dark cloud began to cover the sky above the Royal Palace of Basel.
What should I do? How can I save the impending disaster? At this moment, King Clark Polson of Basel felt extremely regretful and questioned himself again and again why he made the decision to attack the Principality of Idar.
but……
After all, the cruel reality will not start over again because of his regret, so King Basel had to make his own decision with tears in his eyes - to save the market! King Basel knew very well that the price of tulips must not plummet at this most critical time! Moreover,
There was always a glimmer of hope in his heart.
Although he didn't know who was selling such a huge number of tulip bulbs, the king stubbornly believed that these bulbs would eventually run out! He wishfully thought...
As long as we can survive this trough, the price of tulips will return to a high level!
As long as they survive this trough, the Kingdom of Basel will surely annex its northern neighbor and become a powerful force that cannot be ignored on this continent! So...
He actually managed to stabilize the price of tulips! Although the army of the Kingdom of Basel had long been weak, the century-old heritage and accumulation of the Basel royal family was not something that any force could match.
As a large number of gold coins from the Basel royal family entered the market, the price of tulips... finally stabilized when it fell to eight gold coins.
However……
Just when all the Basel nobles thought that the price drop had stopped, they also began to buy a large number of tulip bulbs together with the royal family, causing the price of tulip bulbs to show an upward trend again...
The people of Idar finally gave up their long-standing plan to sell tulip bulbs in moderation.
Almost overnight, countless tulip bulbs swept across the entire market of the Kingdom of Basel like a tsunami.
No matter how much the Basel royal family and the nobles close to the royal family purchased, the supply of tulips on the market still showed a slight downward trend.
then……
The price plummeted! With so many tulip bulbs swept away, even the wealthy Basel royal family could not afford such a crazy sell-off.
Seven gold coins,
Six gold coins,
Three more gold coins...
The price of tulip bulbs collapsed completely, and the entire Kingdom of Basel was filled with wailing! Everyone was selling their tulip bulbs.
But……
No matter how much the nobles lowered the price, it could not keep up with the plummeting price of tulips.
It’s over!
It's all over!
Looking at the tulip prices plummeting like a waterfall, the King of Basel felt as if he was falling into an icy cave.
The gold coins that were thrown out earlier were like a splash of water in the ocean, and were of no use at all.
In the craziness of the tulip bubble, almost all of their coins were exchanged for worthless tulip bulbs.
And now...
Looking at the tulips that filled the warehouses, King Basel finally uttered the same wail as the other nobles.
At this moment,
No one cares about the war in the north of the Kingdom of Basel anymore.
because……
Anyone can see that the Kingdom of Basel, which had the ambition to conquer the world just a week ago, is now completely destroyed...
…
Mannfort.
Idar Army Lieutenant General Sam Layton stroked the battlements of Mann's fortress with his hand and looked out at the Basel army stationed not far away.
There, the flag of the Kingdom of Basel still flutters in the wind.
But in contrast... the Basel army's camp had already become dilapidated and no longer had the arrogance and complacency it had when it first arrived.
The army from the Kingdom of Basel arrived at Fortress Maine three days ago.
Then……
They were slapped hard in the face by reality.
In terms of sheer numbers, the Basel army was indeed much larger than the garrison at Fortress Mainn.
But here’s the thing…
The Idar army guarding the Mainn Fortress never intended to run out of the fortress and engage in close combat with the Basel army.
The only thing the Basel army could do was to use the makeshift siege ladders to launch a strong attack on Fortress Mann regardless of casualties.
Let me tell you one thing.
The mercenary corps from all over the continent are indeed extremely brave.
Those warriors who have been tempered by the flames of war are very good at even the difficult task of siege.
However……
After all, the Idar army was not the same army they had encountered before.
This is not only a strong army forged with an unyielding spirit, but also the only professional army with weapons and equipment that transcend the times!
The melee weapons equipped by the Idar army are not daggers, but the well-polished Idar standard sabers; the long-range weapons equipped by the Idar army are not javelins and bows and arrows, but the magic whale hunting harpoons and magic turrets specially used for defense.
so……
The attacking troops were certainly in a miserable state.
In this era of extremely backward cultural beliefs, the scene that was like a thunderbolt from heaven was enough to more than double the deterrent power of the magic cannon.
and……
The bombardment of magic cannons never distinguishes between nobles and serfs, nor between mercenaries and private soldiers.
Bruno, the Duke of Idar, has already explained this point - all beings are equal under the gunfire.
As the magic shells symbolizing justice and peace fell into the Basel army, although the aggressive Basel army did not scatter in a hurry, its offensive momentum could be easily thwarted.
therefore……
Except for the first day of the war, when all the major mercenary groups, noble private soldiers, and the royal guards directly under the Basel royal family rushed in...
In the next few days, all the siege soldiers who went to the battlefield were forcibly conscripted civilians and serfs.
At the beginning, the general of the Basel army, Wilkin Pittis, hoped to use these lowly people to consume the ammunition of the Idar people.
But when he found out,
After the Idar people's artillery fire seemed endless, even civilians and serfs were no longer easily sent to the battlefield.
after all……
If the Idar army had an endless supply of ammunition,
Then the only effect of sending these cannon fodders to their deaths is to continuously attack and consume the already low morale of the Basel army, and to continuously reduce the prestige of Basel Marshal Wilkin Pittis.
The prestige and command ability of the generals in command are common problems in wars of this era.
A large number of noble private armies belonging to different nobles and led by different knights joined together, and it was difficult to balance the interests of all parties.
Moreover, this time, there are not only the private armies of the nobles and the royal guards of the royal family, but also mercenary corps from all over the continent...
So the only thing Virgin Pittis could do was to send a messenger as quickly as possible to ask for the King of Basel's decision.
There is no way, the mission of "capturing Mannfortress" is really beyond the scope!
Even those battle-hardened mercenary legions had never seen such a fighting method that involved bombarding the ground with artillery fire.
Since a sneak attack is impossible anyway, we might as well go back and ask King Basel whether he still wants to fight.
But how could Virgin Pittis know?
Not only was he waiting for news from King Basel,
Even the Idar army on the other side was waiting for news from King Basel.
The reason is simple. The Principality of Idar, which possesses remote communication tools, had already learned about the bursting of the tulip bubble through Idar agents lurking in the Kingdom of Basel.
What’s even more outrageous is that the Idar people not only burst the bubble, but also stopped the food supply to the Kingdom of Basel at the same time!
then,
Before waiting for the latest order from the King of Basel, the Basel army had already heard the bad news of the plummeting price of tulips and the interruption of food supply.
Then……
Mercenary groups from all over the continent are collectively called Sparta.
You know, the reward that the Kingdom of Basel paid them was... tulip bulbs! They were the tulip bulbs that were sold for more than ten gold coins a week ago, but now have dropped to one or two gold coins!
And then...
The Basel army's camp, as it should have been, was in chaos, even without the Idar people's attack.
And those Idar soldiers who had originally planned to make achievements in this war were now left leaning on the top of the city wall and watching the show through binoculars.
"Stop watching the show!"
finally……
When the fully armed Sam Layton once again climbed to the top of the city wall, he brought the long-awaited good news to the soldiers stationed here: "The Duke has issued an order! Anyone who dares to invade the Principality of Idar will be killed!"
Yes,
After these days of gathering, in addition to the necessary troops stationed on the border to guard against foreign enemies, nearly 20,000 Idar soldiers have gathered in the Main Fortress! Why did Bruno provide food and grass to the Basel people?
Instead of bursting the bubble directly and plunging the Kingdom of Basel into civil strife and turmoil? In fact, many senior officials of the Principality of Idar had already raised questions about this issue.
Of course, the reason why Bruno did this was not just to give the Principality of Idar a more reasonable reason to declare war.
after all……
As a time traveler, Bruno does not attach much importance to the so-called dignity of the nobility.
Long ago,
The Idar Ministry of Defense and the Idar Central Intelligence Agency have made many assumptions and judgments about the plan to annex the Kingdom of Basel.
It would be nice to burst the bubble directly.
But in this case, the Basel troops scattered throughout the Kingdom of Basel would inevitably need to be defeated or subdued one by one.
If it were before,
Such a plan is not a bad idea.
However, it is not the best option when the external threat from the Church of Light still exists.
so……
Bruno finally adopted the suggestion made by Defense Minister Sarah Colen, waiting for the Basel army to gather and then... capture them all! In this way, whether it is to reorganize these troops or put them in prison, it will undoubtedly be much simpler and more in line with the long-term interests of the Principality of Idar.
And as Sam Layton's words echoed across Mann's Fortress...
The Idar soldiers, who had been ready for battle and eager to fight, finally showed excitement.
Indeed, war kills people.
But……
In the Principality of Idar, where the standards for noble promotion are becoming increasingly strict, military merit is the most convenient way to obtain a title!
Looking at these elite Idar soldiers in front of him, Sam Layton was also excited.
This is not entirely due to the fighting spirit shown by the soldiers, but because...
Bruno once said to him: "The conquest war of Basel will be the last traditional war of the Principality of Idar!"
"After this, the Idar army will enter the era of chariots and artillery!"
【Today's joke】
"SpongeBob, you're fired"
"Mr. Krabs..."
"You're welcome"
(End of this chapter)
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