Munitions Empire

Chapter 114: All tricks

"We're back!" At the entrance of the Great Tang Group, where only the sign remained, an old worker who had followed the scout troops to the Northern Ridge excitedly raised his arms and shouted.

Escorting a motley assortment of items, the scout troops returned out of the blue to the place from which they had set out just over a dozen days ago.

When they had departed, it was an imposing crowd, comprising 360 musketeers from three infantry companies, over 30 elite rangers led by Luff, more than a hundred temporary artillerymen, as well as over 40 cavalry under Tagg's command. The team also included six C64-model field breech-loading cannons, and more than 40 corresponding carts.

The return was likewise a long procession, but it was clear that most of the people had not returned to Brunas.

The most numerous in this team were carts, one after another, as Tang Mo had brought back more than 130 captured warhorses and dozens of carts to his own base.

There was no choice, in order to bring all 40 cannons back for recasting, Tang Mo had to bring back the corresponding carts as well.

Of course, among the many carts were also the severely wounded, as well as the seized loot and prisoners, and the iron and copper mines that had been excavated and smelted by Northern Ridge these days.

In short, what had set out as a combat unit had now become a convoy transporting spoils of war on the return.

The reason why only 40 cannons were sent back was mainly that Earl Fisello had purchased some Shireck field cannons and almost all of the munitions.

He had never fought such a lavish battle before, and now his Northern Ridge Legion possessed 59 cannons, including six of the C64-model field breech-loading cannons.

Such artillery was enough to chill any adversary, especially since, apart from the expensive breech-loading cannons, the munitions were also plentifully grim.

With so many cannons, Fisello could hold the position more confidently, helping Tang Mo steady the rear, while Tang Mo himself could sweep northwards more courageously and boldly.

At this very moment, the highest-ranking frontline commander in the southern part of Suthers was still Tang Mo's old acquaintance—the Viscount Romel who had fled in panic from under his very nose, sprinting back to his own country.

Everyone who knew him was aware that he was little more than a buffoon... Well, such inept nobility was in fact quite common in this world.

Usually, everybody was a buffoon, similarly incompetent and unreliable, so it was not obvious, and thus life muddled along just the same.

But now, when faced with a gifted newcomer as the adversary, it highlighted just how disappointingly inept these pitiful nobles really were.

Viscount Romel had fled back home in a mad rush, and the first thing he did was to try to absolve himself of blame, shifting all responsibility for the military defeat onto Tucci, who would never be able to defend himself again.

He first wrote a letter to the capital, explaining to his king the process of the defeat: blaming Tucci's greed for glory and reckless advancement, for not heeding his, Romel's, advice, leading to the chaotic dispersal of the troops at the crossroads due to enemy cannon fire, which ultimately resulted in the loss.

Then there was he, Viscount Romel, wise and valiant, who risked his life to bring back the defeated army, a silver lining in an unfortunate situation, barely managing to preserve the young blood of the kingdom.

Truth be told, just reading the content of the letter almost moved Romel himself. Thus satisfied, he sent off the letter, then began to gather the scattered troops in a pretentious manner.

What followed... was a slap in the face.

As he was gathering the broken troops, finally reaching a total of 1,000 men, they ran into a northbound unit of the Northern Ridge Troops.

The troops of Suthers could not possibly have any cannons. They had abandoned their cannons on the run, which had become Tang Mo's spoils of war.

And Suthers Kingdom, which had initiated the attack on Leite Kingdom and been the first to advance southwards, could not possibly have left an artillery unit on their southern border.

Thus Romel's troops, devoid of cannons, were essentially "light infantry," most of them armed only with a Shireck flintlock gun, and many even without bullets.

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It was an unavoidable situation—on the run, anything that got in the way was discarded. Belts, gunpowder, bullets, bayonets—anyone who still had such things on them at this point was, in Romel's opinion, already the elite of the kingdom.

And the northern-bound Northern Ridge Troops were equipped with needle guns, which in both range and accuracy far surpassed the Suthers troops' matchsticks.

The result was that Romel's troops, which he had painstakingly gathered, once again disintegrated upon contact, routed by more than 300 men from three companies of the new recruits camp led by Tang Mo.

In the wake of these routed soldiers, Tang Mo effortlessly captured two small towns, and even broke open the vault of a local nobility on the outskirts of the towns.

Then came the truly exciting part—Tang Mo took the initiative, emulating the story of the legendary bandit king by performing the classic move of opening the granaries to distribute grain.

After all, it wasn't his own turf, so whether it gave him a headache or made him cough up blood, that was all Fisello's problem to deal with, right? It had nothing to do with him, Tang Mo.

So, he had his soldiers loudly proclaim that they fought for the freedom of the Northern Ridge, that farmers would only pay ten percent in taxes, and merchants would be charged a mere twenty percent—shouting slogans that helped spread Fisello's fame far and wide.

Besides, he also revised the land deeds, distributing the noble's land certificates to the local farmers, which directly caused massive chaos.

Land can't be moved after all, so there it was—divided! And the same went for the heaps of grain that the nobles couldn't take with them; better to distribute generously among the locals rather than setting it ablaze.

More ruthlessly, Tang Mo only wanted Gold Coins, and he went with the flow by distributing even the remaining items in the noble estates, like tables, chairs, benches, and condiments such as salt and vinegar.

As a result, a vast number of locals, knowingly or unknowingly, followed behind Tang Mo's troops. In just a few days, they swept through the southern part of Suthers Kingdom.

The excited Tang Mo even recalled a godly show he had seen, and so he distributed the unneeded Shireck Flintlock Guns he had seized to these farmers... 'Gun in hand, follow me! Rob mansions, GO GO GO!'

This cheeky tactic hit the Suthers Kingdom right where it hurt, and farmers who received grain and land truly became the 'King of the Northern Ridge's' entourage.

Based on the simple principle of 'he who feeds us is the good guy,' they joined in the joyful party of 'zero-cost shopping' at noble estates.

Overnight, Suthers Kingdom's nobility felt endangered and began to flee northward frantically, their flight causing even more local defense forces to collapse.

When Tang Mo was still over 100 kilometers away from the King City of Suthers Kingdom, wild rumors began spreading within the city, and even the forces defending it started to desert.

The pandemonium served as a mighty blow to the Suthers Kingdom, prompting the King of Suthers, despite the repeated requests of the Shireck Consortium envoy, to hastily send out his own envoy bearing a white flag to find Tang Mo leading the 'Brunas 300' warriors.

The envoy from Suthers didn't even bother with trying to struggle, suggesting that as long as Tang Mo agreed to halt the zero-cost shopping spree with his 300 locust-like warriors, the Suthers Kingdom was willing to pay an immediate ransom of 63,100 Gold Coins...

Why exactly 63,100 Gold Coins? That was because it was all the King and nobles within the King City could scrape together at the moment...

Thus, the two parties happily reached a preliminary agreement: All of Tang Mo's looted goods from the zero-cost shopping would be considered legitimate spoils of war, with no future claims from Suthers.

Suthers would pay an additional 63,100 Gold Coins as compensation for the fatigue incurred by Tang Mo's fresh troops. Plus, they would pay damages for those injured or killed during the campaign.

Under the assurance that Suthers would not hold its civilians accountable for looting noble property, Tang Mo would cease providing cover and support for the civilians' attacks on the nobility.

Tang Mo's troops would immediately withdraw to the south of the Crystal River, and Suthers promised to seriously consider ceding the territories south of the Crystal River to the Leite Kingdom in the negotiations for a comprehensive end to the war.

By that time, the situation within the Leite Kingdom had also seen a massive shift. The Suthers forces, having lost their logistical support and running out of both ammo and provisions, completely abandoned the plan to attack the King City of the Leite Kingdom and began a full retreat.

Previously, the strategically encircled Suthers forces had not panicked, reallocating their troops in hopes of reopening their cut-off supply lines.

But the Northern Ridge Legion that lay before them was like a nail hammered into place, withstanding vicious attacks from the Suthers forces without budging an inch.

Despite changing commanders three times and relentless assault by five legions, Fisello's forces suffered no major casualties.

The mere presence of 59 heavy artillery pieces was enough to bolster Fisello's forces and give them an overwhelming edge in stymieing the Suthers forces' breakout attempts.

The ammunition for the Shireck field guns was practically 'infinite.' What Fisello had stockpiled earlier, plus what was captured on the battlefield, was enough for the Northern Ridge Legion to waste for a good while.

And the domestic news that finally seeped through the defenses sent the Suthers forces into complete disarray as they experienced what 'besieged on all sides' truly meant.

The news brought word that the Leite forces had invaded deep into Suthers territory, causing havoc, looting, and arson; noble estates were up in flames, and the enemy's strength was reported at a minimum of 8,000 men—and not a single one less!

This vague and unsettling news made the homesick Suthers forces utterly chaotic; the military hierarchy built by the nobility and their retainers lost all will to fight and began to worry about their own estates.

What they didn't know was that this so-called 'Great Northern Ridge Army' of eight thousand was actually just a bunch of civilians role-playing zero-cost shopping with their Shireck Flintlock Guns.

Hence, when the organized Suthers forces began retreating from the outskirts of the Leite King City, a sense of relief finally swept over the city.

Unbeknownst to anyone, the young man who had stirred the pot was sitting atop a carriage roof at that very moment, a withered straw dangling from his mouth, grinning foolishly at the carts of Gold Coins trailing before him, heading for the Northern Ridge.