The "Rioters" on the Attack

"And half Lieue. 👤💝 💀👹" At the head of the group of "farmers," Blanche, wearing a tattered felt hat, put away his Telescope and said to the middle-aged man with light brown skin beside him, "This mission is incredibly dangerous. God help us, those guys won't just fire directly at us."

"Probably not. Rioters came here before, but they barely fired any shots." The middle-aged man spoke with a heavy the South accent. "After this mission, you'll be the second-in-command of the Action Team."

Upon hearing this, Blanche's complaining expression vanished instantly. Indeed, while the mission was dangerous, the reward was substantial—a direct upgrade of two levels.

Furthermore, according to what he had heard, the Police Intelligence Division was about to be upgraded to the "Intelligence Department." This would make the Second Commander of the Operations equivalent to the Assistant Police Commissioner!

He grinned and said politely to the middle-aged man, "You should be getting a promotion this time, right?"

The latter waved his hand dejectedly. "Don't you know the situation with the Royal Police? You can only get promoted by bribing your superiors..."

The two spoke in hushed tones, and soon they could vaguely see the narrow stone fence of the Manor.

Blanche gave his men some instructions as planned, telling the unarmed agents to stand in front and the armed ones to stand behind, and then he led the way toward the Manor gate.

The soldiers of the Montcalm Legion guarding the Manor quickly spotted the more than three hundred "rioters" in the distance and shouted, "Halt! This is Earl of Serulier's territory, get out of here immediately!"

The "farmers" in Blanche, speaking with the South accent, cried out, "We're starving! Give us some food!"

"Please have mercy, sir..."

"Let us in, we'll just take some food..."

The soldiers at the gate exchanged glances and then raised their guns.

"Let's charge in!" Blanche shouted, pulling a sling from his pocket, spinning it a few times, and then flicking his wrist, sending a stone flying toward the soldiers.

Other "rioters" followed suit, and soon the "whooshing" sound of the rotating ropes filled the air, and stones flew towards the soldiers like raindrops.

This catapult could easily throw stones seventy or eighty meters, making it a veritable weapon of rioting, smashing the soldiers until they screamed and retreated.

As the warning sounded, a battalion of soldiers soon emerged, advancing towards the "rioters" and firing wildly in an attempt to disperse them.

The rioters immediately shouted, "These soldiers are going to kill us!"

"That despicable guy, he even wants to take away our right to eat!"

"It's just a gun? We have those too!"

"Fight them!"

Suddenly, a "rioter" in the back row pulled out a gun hidden behind his back and fired at the soldiers outside the Manor through the gaps in the crowd.

The soldiers were clearly not expecting them to actually have guns, and after a brief moment of surprise, they immediately returned fire with even greater intensity.

Just as the fighting began on the west side of the Manor, several figures quietly slipped into the Manor from the northwest corner and set fire to the Flax field...

Inside the luxurious castle-like building at the heart of the Manor, the Marquis of Saint-Viran carefully chose his words: "Duke Excellency, this misunderstanding caused by the rioters... has created a rift between His King and his army. Now, only you can help me explain the situation to His Majesty..."

The clerk quickly scribbled down the notes, then handed the paper to him. "Your Excellency, please take a look."

The Marquis of Saint-Viran glanced at the letter casually, signed it with annoyance, and mentally calculated how much money it would take to motivate the Duke to lobby on his behalf.

200,000 Livre? Forget it... 300,000 is safer.

In an effort to gracefully end his current embarrassing situation, he has already spent over 1.2 Livre pulling strings at the Versailles Palace. Not only did he use all the "funds" the Duke of Orléans had given him, but he also spent over 200,000 of his own money.

Just as the Marquis of Saint-Viran was stamping the envelope with his personal seal, he suddenly heard a distant "bang" sound.

As an officer, he was all too familiar with this; it was the sound of Charleville's gunfire.

"What's going on?" He frowned and looked at the servant.

The latter hurriedly ran out to inquire about the situation, and returned a moment later, reporting to the Marquis: "My lord, a group of rioters attempted to break into the Manor, and it seems they have guns. Three of our men have died."

"Gun? Has the Police Department been robbed?" The Marquis of Saint-Viran looked out the window and roared, "These lawless scum! Have Major Bruen disperse them as soon as possible!"

"Yes, General!"

Just as the Orderly Officer was about to leave, the Marquis of Saint-Viran suddenly remembered something.

Didn't the Royal House ask you to quell the unrest? Now these rioters have conveniently delivered themselves to our doorstep; we might as well use them to curry favor with the Royal House.

Just then, an officer rushed in and knocked on the door, urgently reporting to the Marquis of Saint-Viran, "General, the rioters have set fire to the Flax fields of the Manor!"

The latter quickly turned to the other window and, sure enough, saw thick smoke billowing and churning in the distance.

"These bastards!" Marquis of Saint-Viran ground his teeth together.

Earl of Serulier was an extremely influential Nobility, and the fact that he couldn't protect his Manor despite having his army stationed there was a humiliation to him!

Marquis of Saint-Viran roared, "Order Bruen to take two regiments and arrest all these rioters! Anyone who dares to resist, kill them on the spot!"

"Yes, General!"

Half an hour later, Major Bruen led more than 3,000 soldiers and charged toward the "rioters." There was even a Cavalry Company on the left side of the column.

Blanche sensed something was wrong upon hearing the sound of hooves. He grabbed his Telescope and glanced inside, immediately breaking out in a cold sweat. He frantically shouted to his men, "Run! Run! Drop your guns!"

According to the "script" given to him by his superiors, he was supposed to repeatedly provoke the Montcalm Legion, and the other side, annoyed by his repeated provocations, would send some soldiers to attack him.

How come there are thousands of troops right from the start?

Hundreds of "rioters" ran desperately toward the woods on the east side, pursued closely by a large army.

After a frantic run, the "rioters" saw that they were only two or three hundred meters away from the planned woods when the Montcalm Legion's cavalry caught up.

The dozen or so slowest runners were instantly cut down by Saber, letting out screams of agony.

Blanche resisted the urge to look back, and finally, in the brief moment when the cavalry turned around and regrouped, he plunged into the grove of trees.

Major Bruen frowned as he looked at the grove of trees and ordered three Infantry to go in and pursue the enemy, while the rest of the troops surrounded the grove from both sides.

His orders were carried out quickly.

However, just over ten seconds after the three companies of soldiers casually stepped into the woods, a burst of gunfire suddenly erupted from the forest, and a large amount of Powder Smoke rose from between the bare trees.