The rain splashed on the armor, making a splashing sound.
Because of the rain, there was no one on the street.
The whole city was as silent as a tomb.
Earl of Malleore's bad premonition became stronger and stronger, and he couldn't help but urge the guards to speed up their pace.
And when he was still some distance away from the city gate, he suddenly heard the sound of killing and the sound of a warning horn mixed in with the sound of rain.
Malleore felt a chill in his heart.
"Enemy attack!"
At this time, the city gate has been opened.
Kovir soldiers rushed in continuously.
Malleore There are not many standing soldiers in the city. Although Earl of Malleore has issued an order to recruit citizens to join the army, this order was only conveyed during the day. By night, only a few hundred militiamen were barely recruited.
Moreover, these militiamen didn't even have time to fire their spears, they just summoned them.
When the demon hunters took advantage of the rainy night to launch a sneak attack, even though Earl of Malleore had ordered twice as many people to keep vigil, it was in vain.
The late night and heavy rain are enough to provide the attacker with too many advantages.
This night attack was even smoother than Lan Exeter's. The heavy rain not only obscured the sound, but also greatly hindered the defenders' sight.
Then, when the demon hunters opened the city gate and let the Kovir army outside enter the city, it was impossible for the Malleore defenders to organize effective resistance.
Even after that, Earl of Malleore and his personal guards also joined the battlefield, but with smaller numbers, they could not save the defeat.
But it was just a desperate struggle.
When the darkness is dispersed by the sun and morning comes, the battle is already over.
Citizens hiding in their homes cautiously opened their windows and looked outside with fear and confusion.
They were surprised to find that Earl, who had ruled them arrogantly before, seemed to have been defeated.
But the victor's army went against common sense and did not plunder the city. Instead, they maintained order on the streets and arrested those who took advantage of the chaos to steal and rob.
By the next day, citizens were taken from their homes to the square in the center of the city, and soldiers holding weapons stood around the square.
This caused quite a bit of panic.
Some citizens even mistakenly thought that they were called here to directly carry out a massacre.
However, what they feared did not happen after all.
A young man, surrounded by a group of soldiers, walked onto the high platform in front of the square.
He first introduced himself and informed everyone present that they would accept his protection from now on.
When most of the citizens heard this, they breathed a sigh of relief and felt relieved.
Then, the young people promulgated several regulations:
Most of the regulations are not much different from those formulated by the previous ruler, Earl of Malleore, who died in the rainy night the day before yesterday.
For example, a curfew is implemented at night, and civilians, except for the military, are not allowed to stay outside;
Another example is that private duels are not allowed between civilians, and any problems that arise should be reported to the city hall for resolution, etc.;
However, there are several new regulations that are different from those of the previous rulers.
Among them, there are three most important provisions:
The first is that no one is allowed to defecate anywhere in the city.
If you are caught for the first time, you will have to pay a fine. If you are caught three or more times, you will be whipped. If you are caught more than ten times, you will have the tools confiscated.
Secondly, no one is allowed to drink river or well water directly, but must boil the water before drinking;
Last but not least, the new lords lowered the taxes they had to pay.
When Earl of Malleore was still there, citizens had to hand over almost 60% to 70% of their income.
But the new lord told them that from now on, they only need to pay 40%, and the remaining 60% can be kept for themselves.
This made the citizens instantly feel that it actually had no impact on them whether the ruler was changed or not. As long as the new ruler could fulfill his promise, it would actually be better if the ruler was changed.
Malleore was once a city-state, and its territory naturally included not only this city, but also a large area of land outside the city.
The land outside the city originally belonged to Earl's vassals, but in the battle to invade Principality of Talgar, many of Earl's vassals died.
And in the fierce battle on the rainy night the day before yesterday, the remaining vassals also died and fled.
In other words, the city and the large area of land outside the city suddenly became an ownerless land overnight.
So Lynn promoted the demon hunters and the most outstanding and heroic soldiers who fought the night before to knights one by one.
And each of them was given a knighthood.
The reaction of the witchers was not bad.
They have long believed that following Lynn will have a bright and promising future.
These soldiers are different.
They couldn't say that the promise Lynn made to them before went in one ear and out the other, but at least it could be said that they didn't take it to heart.
Lynn did say before that soldiers who are loyal and brave in battle will be rewarded, promoted to knights, and given land.
But with these words, they thought Lynn was just painting a cake.
After all, in this world, it cannot be said that there are no examples of civilians being promoted to knights, but it can be said that they are rare.
Besides, they are guilty.
Being able to get a salary that is higher than that of ordinary soldiers is already extremely generous. How could you expect to get more?
Therefore, even Julia, including the commander, did not dare to have other extravagant hopes.
Until now, Lynn has awarded the knight and the land to the soldier who performed the most bravely that night.
At this time, the soldiers realized that Lynn was actually serious.
Suddenly, the soldiers became excited.
If there is a numerical value, you can see the loyalty of the soldiers to Lynn, which instantly increased.
Next, the army rested for a week at Malleore.
During the break, Lynn was not idle either.
He recruited two hundred people from among the citizens to form a police force.
After that, he planned to leave another hundred soldiers to defend Malleore together with these two hundred guards.
At this time, Hengfors League had already been severely weakened. In addition to Caingorn, the nobles of other city-states were also dissatisfied with King Niedamir to the extreme.
Therefore, even if King Niedamir knew that Malleore was occupied and he wanted to recruit nobles from all over the country to form an army, other nobles would not respond.
Therefore, the task of these three hundred people is only to defend against robbers and bandits, which is definitely enough.
Moreover, these two hundred people Lynn still took the time to check one by one with Axii Sign.
I'm sure they are all good family members who are willing to work hard.
You can absolutely rest assured when you leave the city to them.
As for the original officials in the city, Lynn only made some minor adjustments.
As long as Axii Sign is found to be from Axii Sign, Lynn will let them continue to work at their posts.
He would only take it down unless it was someone who was a vegetarian or someone who was dissatisfied with him.
A week later, Lynn led the remaining army to Creyden, which borders Malleore.
The process is not much different and the result is the same.
Creyden, which had few defenders, was captured by Lynn again.
Lynn also granted some lands to brave soldiers again and promoted them to knights.
If any modern person sees this, he may have understood what Lynn is doing.
In fact, it is a modified version of the Tweet Order.
In this era, if you want to do what Lenin does, there will be too much resistance.
One is that productivity has not increased, and the other is that enlightenment ideas have not yet appeared, and they openly confront the general environment, and in the end they will only end up with a bloody head.
If you take too big a step, you may easily pull something off.
In Lynn's home world, there are no such examples.
In this era, people's desire and persistence for land are deeply rooted in their bones.
No matter how much salary you give them, it is still not as good as giving them a piece of land of their own.
In the Witcher 3, there is exactly such an example:
The Sangreal wine specially supplied to the Toussaint Duke family is stored in Castel Ravello Vineyard, and Fabio, the butler of this manor, has food and drink, and also receives the high salary paid to him by the duchess.
In the eyes of others, this means that he must work hard in this position to repay the kindness of the duchess.
As a result, Fabio secretly sold the Sangreal wine in the manor and put the money into his own pocket.
The reason why he did this is even more incredible:
Simply because he needed a large sum of money to purchase the family estate that had been sold by his father who had spent all his money.
Of course, Fabio's crimes were eventually exposed and he received the punishment he deserved.
But his deeds are enough to serve as a warning.
This is why Lynn distributes land to the soldiers and promotes them to knights.
Because in doing so, you can not only set an example, inspire the three armies, and let the people under your command fight bravely, but at the same time, you can firmly bind these people to yourself.
After all, if their own regime collapses, everything they own will naturally be lost with it.
Therefore, they must also spontaneously defend the Lynn regime in order to protect their own fruits.
Finally, there is another important reason:
The reason why Nilfgaardian Empire is able to have a professional army with more than 300,000 standing soldiers is actually based on the soldiers' military exploits on the battlefield and then entrusting the land.
Therefore, Nilfgaard has been continuously expanding externally for decades, becoming stronger and stronger.
As we all know, Cintra and Skellige are both martial and fighting nations.
However, in First Northern War, Cintra was quickly defeated, and then even the royal city was captured by the Nilfgaard people. Queen Calanthe also jumped from the tower and committed suicide on the day the city was destroyed.
Why does this happen?
What about the promised fighting nation?
In fact, this is mainly due to Kingdom of Cintra's institutional problems.
Northern Kingdoms are all still traditional medieval feudal systems, and Cintra is no exception.
Therefore, when the Nilfgaard army entered Marnadal Valley, Queen Calanthe had just mobilized her direct troops.
As for the vassal armies in Cintra, let alone rushing over, they have not even completed their mobilization.
By the time the armies of other vassals were assembled, the royal city would have already planted the Sun Flag.
Therefore, if we want to fight against the black army of Nilfgaard, strengthening centralization is a must.
Don't people in this era yearn for land?
OK.
Then I won't ask about bloodline or origin.
Anyone who is brave and loyal to me Lynn·Augustus can be promoted to a knight and obtain land.
The land is given to you, and you don't have to worry about anything.
I will arrange for you the stewards, tax collectors, tribunes, legislators, and supporting officials under their command.
Some people may wonder, where does Lynn find so many talents?
Actually this is not difficult.
There are so many Novigrad colleges and Oxenfurt University graduates every year. If you go to the most prosperous Hierarch Square bulletin board in Novigrad and post a long-term recruitment notice, there will naturally be an endless stream of applicants.
In short, I will help you handle all the affairs in the territory. All you have to do is lie down and count the money.
Furthermore, your land can be inherited by your direct descendants.
In the future, your descendants can become knights like you and continue to fight for the Augustus Family.
Of course, the knight here is literally a knight whose status and power are higher than that of ordinary civilians, rather than a sergeant who has lost his personal freedom, shouldered heavy and arduous duties, and suffered heavy exploitation.
These knights that Lynn enfeoffs will be the basis for his future rule of Hengfors League.
If someone opposes him because of his non-noble and demon hunter background, it is tantamount to standing on the opposite side of those knights who have gained actual benefits.
Not only that, after Hengfors League is completely occupied by Lynn, Lynn will arrange for these knights to receive officer knowledge and military training uniformly.
In the future, they will also be the key to the grassroots and middle-level command system of the Lynn's Army team.
After Lynn successively occupied Malleore and Creyden, King Niedamir, who was wrestling with the domestic opposition forces, finally reacted belatedly.
Realizing that the opponent was coming fiercely, King Niedamir took the initiative to make concessions, recognized some of the conditions of the opposition nobles, and temporarily reached a reconciliation with the domestic opposition forces.
After eliminating the risk of civil war, King Niedamir barely scraped together an army.
Prepare to implement defense at City of Creyden.
After all, based on previous experience, the Kovir army should soon continue to march towards the hinterland of Hengfors League, which is City of Creyden, after capturing Creyden.
However, King Niedamir waited and waited, but the Kovir army never showed up.
This made King Niedamir and the nobles under his command murmur.
Isn't the Kovir army ready to occupy the entire Hengfors League territory?
A few days later, the Kovir army still had not arrived, but the nobles in City of Creyden were in a quarrel.
The nobles of Holopole city who were conscripted believed that they should be allowed to lead their troops back to Holopole.
Because the Kovir army has not appeared for so many days, it is very likely that it has bypassed City of Creyden and attacked Holopole city.
You must know that the nobles of Holopole city responded to the call of King Niedamir and brought all the troops in the city over.
If the Kovir army really goes to Holopole City, then I am afraid that when Kovir's flag appears outside the city, Holopole City will surrender directly.
The nobles of Holopole city wanted to withdraw their troops, and the nobles of Caingorn and City of Creyden naturally refused to agree.
Just kidding.
Now is the time for everyone to work together and fight the enemy together.
If you want to withdraw your troops and he also wants to withdraw his troops, then should we still fight this war?
It's better for everyone to surrender Kovir.
Anyway, everyone split from Kovir, so surrendering now is not considered betraying the country and surrendering to the enemy.