Northern Strategy

Chapter 47: Strategy for the North

Since Fatty Shi and Yuri became Knights of the Norton Family and were about to embark on the journey back north together, Lorist suddenly found that things had slipped out of his control and were heading in an unknown direction.

First, when Lorist convened a family knight meeting to explain his plan to organize and transport a batch of supplies back to the family, he was met with Fatty Shi's mockery. As a Knight of the family, Fatty Shi showed no respect to Lorist, the lord who was about to become the new head of the Norton Family. He took out the map of the North and argued that on this trip to the North, Lorist should be considering how to clear out the Norton Family's chronic ailments and revitalize it, rather than transporting supplies to keep it alive.

Fatty Shi said that a prosperous family with development potential should possess the ability to innovate and adapt to environmental changes, rather than clinging to the past and stubbornly adhering to tradition. Unfortunately, Lorist's planned action of transporting supplies seemed more like a way to prolong the Norton Family's existence rather than considering how to achieve sustainable development.

Lorist blushed a little and felt a bit guilty, because Fatty Shi had hit his original intention right on the head. He had indeed planned to send some supplies to the family and then wash his hands of it to return to Molent City and live a carefree life. However, he dared not reveal his original plan now, or Fatty Shi would surely pounce on him and fight him to the death. His companions had abandoned their comfortable lives in Molent City and were prepared to accompany him into a fiery pit, only for him to intend to just stroll around the edge of the pit and come back. What would they think if they knew…

Fatty Shi was speaking passionately. He believed that there was only one true reason for the Norton Family's decline: its vast territory and sparse population. If this problem were solved, nothing could stop the Norton Family's rise.

Take the winter beast tide, for example. This was not a problem. If the Norton Family could defend its current safe territory, then with sufficient manpower, it could expand its safe domain. With complete defensive facilities, the beast tide might just provide the family with a large amount of fur in winter.

Regarding the mountain barbarians, Fatty Shi said he had inquired with Sertkamp and discovered a crucial point that everyone had overlooked. That was, in the past hundred years, the conflicts between the Norton Family and the mountain barbarians had intensified, but more often than not, the family had been passively defending, never launching a proactive attack. It was always the mountain barbarians who descended the mountain to harass them, and then the family would send troops to counterattack and drive them back. If they could annihilate the mountain barbarians once or twice when they descended the mountain, the family would gain a long period of peace instead of being entangled with them like this. Therefore, to deal with the mountain barbarians, they had to strike at their nests, kill all those who resisted, and use the rest as labor to build roads, mine, and cultivate land. There were plenty of things for them to do. Fatty Shi said this with a murderous aura.

The third problem facing the Norton Family was the territorial defense force. Fatty Shi believed that the root of this problem lay in the insufficient population of the territory, which led to the family being too deeply involved with the families of the defense force members, making it difficult to make a decisive move. The former Krissen Empire had undergone six years of civil war, resulting in a devastated populace and rampant bandits and refugees. On this trip to the North, they could take the opportunity to gather and select strong young men with families to form a family army. They could suppress bandits and train soldiers along the way, and by the time they reached the North, they would have an elite force capable of crushing the defense force without any problem. Furthermore, the gathered refugees would help alleviate the territory's population shortage, achieving multiple goals with one action.

As for territorial disputes, Fatty Shi was unconcerned, considering them minor issues not worth mentioning. "When we return with our troops, if that Viscount has any sense, he'll obediently hand over the mines and return the illicit gains. Otherwise, we'll just take the opportunity to launch a Lord War, exterminate his entire family, and seize his territory. The Norton Family wouldn't mind expanding its territory."

The only difficult issue was Duke Lugins. This Duke was insatiably greedy, constantly finding ways to extort assets from his subordinate nobles, like a leech sucking blood from the Norton Family. Currently, the Norton Family lacked strength and could only endure the continuous pain of bleeding. How to handle the relationship with this Duke required Lorist's decision. Fatty Shi's suggestion was that if they had strong troops, they should directly slap this Duke to death. If they couldn't confront him directly, then they would have to endure for a while longer and feign compliance.

Fatty Shi grabbed the latest edition of a map of the former Krissen Empire and pointed, "Everyone, look. The former Krissen Empire is now divided into three kingdoms and seven duchies. Among them, the Duchy of Rulm, which borders the Farichu Plains, has already pledged allegiance to the Forde Commercial Alliance. Next is the First Prince's Kingdom of Redlis. He occupies seven of the original twenty-nine provinces of the Krissen Empire, possessing the largest territory and the strongest power. Then there are the Duchy of Fakel, the Duchy of Fulendo, the Duchy of Handra, and the Duchy of Sabaj. These four duchies occupy the richest central region of the former Krissen Empire and have formed an offensive and defensive alliance. They are currently in constant conflict with the Kingdom of Redlis, locked in a stalemate."

"The Third Prince's Kingdom of Antinak has the smallest territory, with only three provinces. However, the former imperial capital is under his control, and he was also the Emperor's favored successor to the throne, enjoying high popularity among the imperial nobles and subjects. If it weren't for the Commercial Alliance instigating the First and Second Princes to rebel, he would have been the new Emperor. Due to the suppression by the Commercial Alliance, his strength is now the weakest, even less than that of a duchy. He should be an ally for the Norton Family. Even if the Norton Family is to pledge allegiance, it should be to him, because he represents the imperial lineage of the Krissen Empire."

"Finally, let's look at the Second Prince's Kingdom of Iberia, where the Norton Family's territory is located. Let's talk about the Second Prince himself. His reputation among the imperial nobles has always been poor: stingy and ungrateful, bullying the weak and fearing the strong, greedy and lustful, fond of scheming in secret, and mediocre in governing and leading troops. To put it bluntly, the nobles of the Kingdom of Iberia are a scattered mess. They only nominally obey the Second Prince, with frequent acts of disobedience and defiance. Moreover, territorial wars and internal strife are common. If it weren't for the strong support of the Second Prince's father-in-law, Grand Duke Fisabrun of the Great Northern Steppe, the Second Prince wouldn't even have been able to establish a kingdom."

"The Kingdom of Iberia occupies the northeastern region of the former Krissen Empire, with a total of five provinces, including the Northern Highlands. There is also the Duchy of Madras, which nominally belongs to the kingdom. The current enemy of the Kingdom of Iberia is the Duchy of Melain, because it is fiercely loyal to the Third Prince and blocks the Second Prince's ambition for the former imperial capital. If the Second Prince wants to capture the former imperial capital, he must first flatten the Duchy of Melain. However, Grand Duke Melain is the former imperial military commander, and his troops are all elites of the former imperial defense forces, resulting in the Second Prince's campaigns against the Duchy of Melain being futile for two consecutive years, with heavy losses."

"The Second Prince has two Dukes, seven Marquises, nineteen Counts, over forty Viscounts, and over a hundred Barons under his command. Of these, over ninety titles were newly bestowed by the Second Prince. The reason for bestowing so many titles is that the Second Prince lavishly granted offices and titles to establish his kingdom, even resulting in the laughable situation where a newly appointed Marquis's fief was smaller than a neighboring Baron's. The two Dukes are his father-in-law, Grand Duke Fisabrun, who was originally the commander of the imperial border army, responsible for dealing with the barbarian cavalry on the Great Northern Steppe. During the war of the three princes, he supported his son-in-law and is the most powerful. The establishment of the Kingdom of Iberia can be said to be entirely orchestrated by this Grand Duke."

"The second Duke is Grand Duke Lugins of the North. As you can see from the map, the Northern Highlands occupy half of the area of the Kingdom of Iberia, but the land is vast and the population is sparse. The Norton Family's territory occupies one-third of the Northern Highlands, all of which is undeveloped wilderness. Grand Duke Lugins's territory is the prosperous southern part of the Northern Highlands, beyond the Mitobro River. In fact, this Duke Lugins has always been ambitious; he wants the entire Northern Highlands to become the Duchy of Lugins. However, his military strength is too weak, and he has always been coerced by Grand Duke Fisabrun's army, forcing him to agree to become part of the Kingdom of Iberia. He is currently busy trying to establish a Northern Army to contend with the army under Grand Duke Fisabrun, which will be the military force his planned Duchy of Lugins will rely on."

"During the establishment of the Kingdom of Iberia, in order to gain Duke Lugins's support, the Second Prince agreed to place all the territorial nobles in the Northern Highlands under his command. This is why the Second Prince transferred the Norton Family's subordinate relationship to Duke Lugins. However, the Second Prince also played a trick. He bestowed over ninety noble titles at once, more than forty of which were granted to the sparsely populated Northern Highlands, bordering the Norton Family's territory. The Viscount there is one of them."

"The Second Prince's stated reason for bestowing so many new territorial nobles in the North was to accelerate the development of the Northern Highlands. In reality, it was to cause trouble for Duke Lugins and infiltrate his territory. After the bestowment, countless conflicts erupted between the new and old nobles in the North, and several territorial wars occurred. Three new nobles and one old territorial noble have already perished, their families destroyed. Duke Lugins has also abandoned his initial strategy of fully preventing conflicts between the new and old nobles in the North. He has even secretly fanned the flames, supporting territorial conflicts and wars to deplete the strength of the noble families in the North, forcing them to seek refuge with him. As a result, the North is in turmoil, with constant smoke from fires. The nobles of various territories are gathering forces for self-protection."

"This is the current external situation of the family territories in the North. It is an opportune moment to fish in troubled waters. As long as we are strong, we might even unify the Northern Highlands. This is why I believe Lorist's plan to transport a batch of supplies to the North is not feasible. Transporting a batch of supplies, a large convoy will only make us a target of envy. Both lords and bandits will want to take a bite out of us. As for gathering a group of refugees, any lord will worry that our target is them. As for bandits, they will be the objects of our family army's training and suppression. We should try to minimize casualties. The strong among them will become members of the death squad, the vanguard for attacking cities and conquering fortresses. Those who are not core members will also become our laborers, accompanying us to the North to reclaim land." Fatty Shi finished explaining his strategy for the North.

Everyone applauded enthusiastically, including Lorist. Fatty Shi had always possessed a broad perspective, as could be seen from his past leadership of their adventure team as mercenaries. He never accepted any mission beyond the adventure team's capabilities. Over the years, his adventure team had experienced injuries, but no one had died, which was proof of his unparalleled ability to avoid harm and seek good fortune.

Unfortunately, Fatty Shi did not know Lorist's intention to simply transport supplies to the family and then extricate himself. This time, Fatty Shi had been provoked by his father and had gritted his teeth, determined to establish himself in the North and earn a hereditary title. Therefore, his considerations were extremely far-reaching.

Lorist weakly raised an objection, believing Fatty Shi's strategy was good but the cost of gathering refugees was too high. If ten thousand refugees arrived at the family's northern territory, it would bring more trouble to the family because the territory already lacked sufficient arable land for reclamation. Moreover, the North was desolate, and it would be impossible to afford the grain needed for so many refugees.

Fatty Shi scoffed at Lorist's words, believing Lorist was contradicting himself. If that were the case, why did Lorist still intend to transport enough grain to feed the entire family territory for five to six years? Should the family members all stay in the castle like turtles hiding in their shells and not go out? It would be better to use this grain to gather refugees, then purchase supplies along the way. He believed that by the time they reached the family territory, there would still be ample grain reserves. With just one or two years of grain reserves, the territory could achieve great development. Yuri asked, "What if the territorial nobles along the way are unwilling to sell us grain?" "What to do? Are our swords and sabers just for show? If they don't want to sell, we'll force them to sell! We are just a refugee group, not an invading force. As long as we leave their territory, that's enough. These territorial nobles won't even gather an army to fight us, because even if they defeat us, it will greatly deplete their own strength, giving other lords an opportunity. Therefore, their best strategy is to provide grain to see us off and leave their territory as soon as possible," Fatty Shi said.

When the refugees arrived at the territory and there was no arable land? That was not a problem. Fatty Shi said to have these refugees engage in mining, road construction, castle building, and hunting magical beasts. As long as the safe territory of the family expanded, why worry about not having wasteland for reclamation? Fatty Shi said many supplies could be removed from the list. For example, ten carts of iron ingots that Lorist had listed on the supply list were heavy and inconvenient to transport. It was better to find professional miners and smelters than to buy iron ingots. Fatty Shi pointed to the map of the family territory and said, "I don't believe such a vast area lacks the mineral resources we need."

Fatty Shi asked Lorist how much Gold Fude he had originally prepared to purchase supplies. Lorist gritted his teeth and said ten thousand gold coins. Fatty Shi said, "Why keep the other twenty thousand? Are you planning to let them breed?" "We are all determined to go to the North with you, sir, and fight for a future. How can we not make thorough preparations? Hand over all the money, and I will be responsible for the procurement of supplies for the northbound journey."

"Damn, this fat guy really calculated my money clearly. Just a few days ago, Er sent the share of profits, along with my previous savings, and now it's all in Fatty Shi's hands. Lorist found himself with very little left and couldn't help but sigh. How could he return to Molent City and live a carefree life like this?"

Fatty Shi held the financial power and was enthusiastically discussing with everyone what to prepare. Supplies still needed to be purchased, mainly in three categories: weapons and equipment, food and clothing, and transportation vehicles. These were not urgent. The most important thing was to have a reliable armed force at hand. Hiring mercenaries, Fatty Shi believed, was unreliable. He was well aware of the shortcomings of hired mercenaries: they could fight well in favorable battles, but they would all flee with even minor casualties.

"Here," Bordefinger pointed to a black dot on the map. Lorist looked and saw it was a port city, labeled Port Nubite.

Bordefinger said, "This is the Kingdom of Haneabada, an island nation. This country does not prohibit the slave trade. Therefore, Port Nubite is Galintea's largest slave trade port. We can go there to purchase a batch of slaves and form a family armed force."

Fatty Shi said, "I know this place, but I've never been there and don't know the market conditions. I've only heard that it's a lawless and extremely chaotic place."

Bordefinger said, "My last mercenary mission was to pick up a batch of slaves from this place, so I've been there once. It is indeed very chaotic. But I met a few acquaintances, former comrades from the army. They are now working as bodyguards in this port, and I plan to contact them to inquire about the market. However, it's best to wait a few days. I will soon be promoted to Gold rank. It will be better to go there after I become a Gold Swordsman."

The promotion through the four tiers of Battle Qi – Bronze, Black Iron, Silver, and Gold – had no major obstacles. As long as Bordefinger could master the circulation route of the Great Bloodline Circulation from the advanced Battle Qi Manual given to him by Lorist, and operate it with ease, he would become a Gold Swordsman.

Fatty Shi nodded and said, "Alright, I'll go with you then. This place will be your responsibility, sir."

Bordefinger asked a question: "Knight Shredder, I know you've never been to the North, but how do you know so much about the situation there?"

Fatty Shi said, "It's very simple. The Forde Commercial Alliance sent people to the former Krissen Empire to mediate the conflict between the three princes and negotiate with various kingdoms and duchies. Those people have returned. I visited one of them through connections and even paid a high price for his diary of his journey. After careful study, I learned about the situation in the North."

Bordefinger bowed his head and said, "Knight Shredder, you have put in a lot of effort."

Fatty Shi nodded and returned the bow, "You're welcome. For the family, this is what should be done."

Yuri then made a suggestion. He believed that there were many disgruntled senior students at Dawnlight Academy, and many in the Swordsmanship Club. On their way to the North, perhaps they should inquire at the academy if anyone wanted to go along. This way, recruiting a group of senior students they knew well would make it easier for them to control the newly established family armed force.

Fatty Shi greatly praised this suggestion. He assigned Telman and Yuri to be responsible for this matter. The requirements were good character, Silver rank strength, and they could be told that this trip was very dangerous. If anyone wanted to return upon reaching the North, they would be given twenty Gold Fude as compensation. If they were willing to join the Norton Family, they would be taken in as family knights by Lord Lorist, but this would be after reaching the North.

Fatty Shi also asked Telman and Yuri to look for professionals who wanted to develop in the North with Lord Lorist, such as alchemists, blacksmiths, and steelworkers. Anyone with a skill would suffice. Fatty Shi said that the development of the family territory could not do without these people.

Bordefinger nodded in admiration.

The family knight meeting regarding the strategy for the North thus concluded. Bordefinger continued his cultivation, Telman and Yuri went to complete the tasks assigned by Fatty Shi, and Fatty Shi was even busier. He had to haggle with the cunning merchants and prepare the supplies for the northbound journey. Thus, everyone bowed to Lorist and took their leave, leaving him alone.

Lorist sat alone in his study, stunned for a long time. Finally, he understood. It was over. This time, he was truly going back to be a lord.