City Gate Disturbance
Victor, accompanied by two guards, disembarked and walked along the dock into the city.
More than two years have passed since his last visit to Blackwater City. He has gone from being a nobleman's son to a powerful nobleman in the Northlands.
As Victor walked, he pondered. If he had been asked to guess his future two years later, he would have at most inherited the family's baronial title; he wouldn't have dared to dream of becoming a viscount in just two years. Now, however, he was not only a viscount, but a powerful one at that, with the opportunity to advance even further. The wonder of fate was truly astounding.
Just then, a voice suddenly asked, "What are you doing?" interrupting Victor's thoughts.
Victor looked up and saw what appeared to be a dispute at the city gate. Curious, he led his men over to investigate.
Upon approaching, Victor discovered that the soldiers guarding the city gate had been replaced by soldiers from the city guards two years ago, now Duchy's Direct Legion.
Several soldiers surrounded a carriage. Victor overheard people talking nearby. It seemed that the carriage didn't intend to pay the city entrance fee, so the soldiers stopped it.
"You filthy soldiers, who do you think this is? This is Baron Enos's daughter! The Baron is the garrison commander of Blackwater City! Do you want to die?!"
The coachman shouted angrily.
"Heh, I don't care what kind of garrison officer you are. We are the Second Regiment of the Third Legion. We are only under the Legion Commander and the Regimental Commander of Taros. Who do you think you are?"
After saying that, the men took out their weapons and forced the coachman to dismount.
Just then, a shout of "Stop!" rang out, and a group of soldiers approached from the direction of the city. According to Victor's observation, they were likely the former Blackwater City Guards.
"You soldiers of the Third Legion have gone too far, daring to attack my family. Today I will make you pay."
The city guard was led by a middle-aged nobleman, whom Victor judged to be Baron Enos.
He appeared very angry, and after speaking, Baron Enos led his city guards to surround the soldiers of the Third Legion, preparing to disarm them.
Several soldiers from the Third Legion, naturally unwilling to surrender, immediately began to resist, and the two sides engaged in a fierce battle.
The city guards outnumbered the city guards, but they were completely uncoordinated. The seven soldiers of the Third Legion formed a small formation, with three holding half-shields and hand blades in front, and the other four wielding spears and thrusting from behind, driving the city guards into a retreat.
Perhaps to avoid causing serious casualties, the soldiers of the Third Legion were quite restrained in their use of weapons, attacking only with the shafts of their guns and the backs of their knives. The city guards were badly beaten, but only suffered superficial wounds.
Victor watched the brawl with great interest. Although he wasn't interested in the reason for the dispute, he was quite concerned about the performance of the Third Legion soldiers, since they might become his opponents in the future.
According to his observation, although the soldiers of the Third Legion might have a slightly worse military discipline, their combat skills and battlefield coordination were elite. Although they were not as good as the soldiers in his interception squad, they were enough to serve as backbone veterans in his territory's army. They were definitely one in ten.
However, he was very curious. The Third Legion was clearly a rebuilt corps. Many officers were killed during the Civil War, and even the veterans were scattered. Logically, it should have been mostly made up of greenhorns.
But the behavior of these soldiers puzzled Victor greatly. These soldiers were definitely veterans, well-versed in battle.
However, compared to their opponent's city defense forces, they were far too few in number. Victor estimated that there were about a hundred men in the city defense force. If it weren't for the narrow terrain at the city gate, these few soldiers from the Third Legion might have been defeated at the beginning. But even though they had a certain advantage now, they wouldn't last until the end, since there were too many city guards.
However, Victor was more concerned about the current situation of the Third Legion. If the Third Legion's existing troops were all at this level, Count Colt's view might be very biased. The Third Legion was definitely not a pushover. Even if it was just a broken legion, it would have no problem holding off the two legions from the Northlands with the help of Blackwater City.
Just as Victor was deep in thought, a small squad of Cavalry suddenly arrived. These Cavalry were unarmed, each carrying a long wooden stick, and charged into the crowd, parrying and blocking, separating the two sides.
A blond, blue-eyed man watched as a young officer of about twenty years old leaped out from the Cavalry. "Baron Enos, what is the reason for you leading your men to besiege our Third Legion's soldiers? Are you an enemy spy trying to sabotage our city's defenses?"
"Tackel, don't make false accusations. I, Enos, am a nobleman personally bestowed by the Grand Duke. I am loyal to the Duchy and His Majesty. Ask your men what they have done."
The officer Tackel ignored Enos and dismounted to question several soldiers.
Perhaps after learning the actual situation, Tackel turned around and came to stand in front of Enos.
"Your Excellency, my soldiers have done their duty faithfully, and you attacked them without any explanation. You must give me an explanation."
Enos was furious upon hearing this. "Fine, fine, you're just a Squad Leader, how dare you talk to me like that? Even your Taros treats me with utmost respect. If you don't hand over the person today, I'll take care of you too."
He was about to lead his men to charge forward when he said that.
However, the arrival of one person quickly stopped the conflict.
"Baron Enos, Captain Tackel, what are you doing? A garrison commander of a county town and an officer of a Duchy's Direct Legion are getting into a fight in public. Aren't you afraid of becoming a laughingstock?"
A middle-aged man rode over on horseback. He looked somewhat like Tackel. Victor thought he was Taros, the Second Regiment of the Third Legion, and also Tackel's brother.
His arrival ended the battle; everyone was taken away by him, and the guards at the city gate were replaced by a squad of soldiers he brought with him.
After paying the entrance fee, Victor entered the city.
Victor wasn't surprised that the Taros Regimental Commander was able to stop the conflict between the two sides.
Blackwater City is the county seat of York County. As a directly subordinate to the Duchy, York County's magistrate should be appointed by the Grand Duke himself, usually Court Noble. The magistrate's rank is similar to that of a commander of a directly subordinate Legion Commander.
Although the garrison commander of the prefecture has considerable power, he is at most a mid-level official and his status is not comparable to that of Regimental Commander.
Furthermore, judging from the level of the city's garrison just now, it's clear that Baron Enos's abilities are not very good. He was able to serve as a garrison officer, probably only because of his status Court Noble.