Translator: Cinder Translations
...
The hall was silent, with everyone lowering their heads and saying nothing.
Everyone knew that the Earl—now Duke—had a volcano brewing inside him, and no one dared to probe further into the matter.
The bad news was that the Grayman army had suddenly advanced south, invading Emden—formerly the Kent family's territory—and had driven out the Kent family's officials and vassal lords along the way.
The good news... well, it wasn't exactly good news, but it was slightly better than the previous one—the Alden army had stopped just short of Bailan Fortress.
Paul Grayman... was simply insane. Didn't he realize what he was up against?
The Kent family had always been one of the strongest families in the Northwest Bay, ranking second. Now that they had attained the dukedom, they were even more powerful. It was only because it was inconvenient to fight right now that they hadn't dealt with him sooner.
Moreover, it was utterly despicable and shameless to stir up trouble while everyone was busy with the spring plowing. According to reports, the Alden army numbered over a thousand. While not excessively many, it was still quite a force, especially for the sparsely populated Alden. It was a real waste to have so many young and able-bodied men not working in the fields.
Ah, they could plunder food instead. It was truly... it was simply... so bandit-like.
Duke Maltz Kent looked around the hall and asked, "Do you have any good ideas for driving the Alden army away?"
Everyone was a bit surprised; the Duke's tone sounded quite calm. Was he really so composed after having his own land invaded?
But since the Duke asked, everyone began to offer their suggestions.
"Your Grace, we only suffered a minor defeat before. Let's regroup our forces and have a decisive battle with them."
"Why not retake Biddeburg and avenge our previous humiliation!"
"The Alden army's firearms are formidable. We need to come up with a way to counter them."
"You bunch of cowards, no matter how powerful they are, can they withstand a cavalry charge from us?"
The hall became a cacophony of voices.
...
Maltz felt a bit bitter inside. The Emden lords who had been driven to Sente City by the Alden army had come to him in distress, their words filled with fear of the Alden army's fire crossbows and thunder hammers.
"After the smoke rose, both men and horses fell. Even wearing armor was useless."
"The thunderous boom could be heard for dozens of miles!"
Although some of the reports seemed exaggerated, the power of the Alden army's weapons seemed undeniable.
Damn it, this clearly resembles magic and sorcery, those biased bastards from the Church.
The commotion in the hall was troubling the Duke. He noticed that his intelligence officer was sitting silently and signaled him to follow him to the study.
"Your Grace, you wanted to see me for...?"
"How's the intelligence gathering on Alden going?"
"Uh... we have some findings. I actually intended to discuss this with you after the meeting, but since you've called me, I'll present it to you now."
The intelligence officer took out a parchment from his pocket and respectfully handed it to the Duke. Since the outbreak of the war, the Duke's residence had prohibited all trade with the anti-Kent alliance, including Alden. Thus, the territories supporting Maltz Kent had no more access to cheap paper, and everyone had to use expensive parchment.
Maltz Kent saw this and, after skimming through it briefly, waved his hand.
"I need to analyze this carefully. You may wait outside."
"Yes, Your Grace."
The officer left respectfully, but he was somewhat puzzled; it seemed the Duke's hand was trembling?
Once the officer was gone, Maltz leaned on the desk, rested his right hand on his forehead, and furrowed his brow deeply before unrolling the parchment again.
Too complacent! Too careless! I should have crushed that Grayman brat last year.
...
Below is the content of the parchment.
---
Respected Duke:
After extensive investigation, we have gathered an overview of the military strength of the Grayman family. The information is summarized as follows:
Since last year's pirate disturbance, Alden has maintained a standing army, which has been growing throughout the year. It is estimated to number around 2000 to 3000 soldiers now. This means that Alden only deployed less than half of its army in the Battle of Biddeburg.
Among these 2000-plus troops is a naval force of at least 600, likely established during last year's pirate extermination. After the pirates were dealt with, it seems that Grayman had plans to develop overseas trade and had already acted on it. Alden has invented a new type of ship suitable for long-distance voyages. People in Frand Port are spreading rumors that such ships have already reached the Horns Bay area.
Regarding military equipment, although their armor coverage is not high, they possess deadly fire crossbows and thunder hammers. When Grayman advanced into Byerldine to quell the rebellion, their troops were a mix of fire crossbows and spears. By the time of the Battle of Biddeburg this year, they were fully equipped with fire crossbows, which had further improved with bayonets, allowing soldiers to engage in both ranged and close combat.
As for the fire crossbows and thunder hammers, intelligence suggests that these new weapons were likely invented by Paul Grayman himself.
Regarding the quality of their troops, reports from scouts indicate that soldiers in their camps are heard chanting slogans from morning till night, with no significant break except on weekends. While we have not discerned their exact training regimen, the six-day-a-week drill rate far exceeds that of typical armies, even the knights rarely train six days a week.
Additionally, high-intensity training necessitates high-quality food supplies; otherwise, the soldiers wouldn't be able to endure it.
Advanced and excellent weapons, ample material support—this army's expenditure must be enormous.
Alden, which was once a barren earldom a year ago, now defies our previous impressions. We analyze the reasons for this change as follows:
Grayman "unified" the neighboring Byerldine. Although Alden was impoverished, Byerldine was relatively better among the Northwest territories. This move alone would significantly increase tax revenues.
The invention of new products such as porcelain, paper, canned goods—things previously unseen—has brought great convenience to people's lives. Before the technology of these products spreads, Grayman will continue to reap substantial profits. Additionally, Alden has developed a method for large-scale salt production, greatly reducing the cost of salt. Now, nearly all salt merchants in the Northwest Bay are sourcing from Alden.
Porcelain, paper, canned goods, and salt—these are what Alden merchants call their "star products."
The rise of industry and commerce in Alden and Byerldine. After the emergence of "star products," Grayman has implemented policies to support local industries, attracting many private manufacturers and merchants to participate in the production and sale of these products. Although tax rates have been lowered due to policy changes, increased scale has still led to a significant rise in tax revenues.
A nightmarish week!
(End of Chapter)
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