Chapter 44: Things you can obtain in someone else’s territory (7)

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Sixty thousand elite soldiers gathered at Luxenbaum, a border territory in the southern part of Roserun.

The king of Bridget, Bautor, immediately gave the order to attack. With that 40,000 infantrymen began to charge at once. Bautor watched the scene with a satisfied expression on his face; a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Compared to the Lunan and Narja kingdoms, Bridget had always been a rank lower, Bautor didn’t like that. That was why this war had great significance.

It was impossible for Luxenbaum troops to stop 60,000 elite soldiers. The defensive force was about 4,000 and if the troops that had been hastily recruited in response to the declaration of war were added, the total would be 7,000, but even that was not enough.

The terrified soldiers and the lord were unable to fulfill their duties. Ganev, who had climbed the city walls, sneered at the lord. He was one of the three most powerful swordsmen in Bridget.

“Kill him!”

The lord stepped back in surprise but Ganev’s sword was faster than him. As the name “Ganev the Good” suggested, his sword pierced the lord’s heart.

Bautor smiled broadly when he saw this. Roserun kingdom was not so different from what he had expected.

“This is the moment you’ve been waiting for, jump into the castle!　Enjoy it!”

Immediately, the soldiers started cheering. It was like a death sentence for the people of Roserun.

“Aaaaah!”

“Come here!”

The soldiers turned into beasts, looking around madly for young women.

“Help me……!”

Everyone except the young women was killed on the spot. A woman hiding inside a house was grabbed by her hair and pulled out. Dozens of soldiers slobbered and attacked her.

“No, no, no……!”

There were screams of desperation everywhere. The king, however, did not kill the 100 people he captured at random. He let them witness this hell before releasing them.

“Go and tell them what you have seen. We, Bridget, have no mercy!”

This was done not only to relieve the stress of the soldiers but also to teach the people of Roserun that there would be no mercy.

His next destination was the Briant territory. Of course, that territory also fell without any resistance at all. Bautor created another hell in the fallen castle and like before let some of the captured leave to spread the rumors.

After marching onward with no difficulty, Bautor advised the two lords of Kesenbein and Cilant to surrender.

“Surrender and I will spare your life. It’s better to live than to resist us and die!”

Day after day, he made a surrender call in front of the castle. The lord of Cilant, who had already heard many times how cruelly the people in other territories ended up having no intention to even fight, raised the white flag in surrender.

“Your Majesty, we’re willing to open the gates immediately if it will guarantee our safety!”

“All right, then. Disarm the enemy soldiers.”

Winning without fighting is the best way.

“Good! Massacres in Cilant territory are forbidden. Spare his life.”

“Wasn’t that just a deception tactic?”

Ganev tilted his head and asked, but Bautor looked frustrated.

“Oh, no, it’s nothing!”

“The territories that have not yet surrendered are to be razed to the ground. Kill all the men, take the women to the Cilant territory, rape them and then kill them. Let it be engraved in the brains of the Roseruns how big is the difference between a surrendered territory and a non-surrendered one!”

This very tactic had a major impact on later battles. It created confusion among the lords, the people, and the vassals. One after another, the territories surrendered. As a result, Bridget lost less than 1,000 men in the course of their march to the royal capital.