Levius did see with his own eyes the troops flying the three-lion flag chasing Leon's troops.
Out of some evil thoughts, Levius did not intend to help Leon out - he actually preferred to see Leon being killed by the pursuing troops...
But when he was about to watch the show, he saw that the army holding the three-lion flag turned around and stopped chasing, probably because they saw his civilian army...
Livius was startled and quickly ordered his subordinates to raise the banner of the "Second Imperial Legion".
Then the army of about 400 people from Bailu Fort stopped.
It seems that they were scared?
Leon's small force made a circle and quickly moved towards the 'Second Legion of the Empire', entered Levius' formation, and began to confront the troops of White Deer Castle.
Levius felt a little regretful that Leon did not die here.
Then he saw thick yellow smoke - it seemed that Fabius had succeeded and White Hart Castle was captured!
Levius was excited for a moment, then he led the army of civilians and began to slowly advance towards White Hart Castle.
But then, his smile froze on his face.
Because the troops of White Deer Fort began to march towards him!
Does this mean that you can see that the two thousand people on your side have little combat effectiveness?
Yes, it is indeed easy to see if you are close.
Fortunately, he still has about a hundred shadow infantrymen around him, and Li Ang also has about a hundred men under his command. If the two sides work together, they should be able to hold out for a while.
It won't be long before Fabius sends troops to support us. This place is only a few dozen miles away from White Hart Castle...
Levius thought.
He was not too worried, but ordered his men to form a defensive formation.
Leon seemed to be very cooperative and dispersed his troops into Levius's lineup to assist in defense, seemingly making up for the defect that the shadow infantry was a single type of soldier and was easily targeted.
The current terrain is mountainous, very suitable for defense. As long as the two hundred people don't panic, they can hold out for a long time.
As long as we can control those civilians and prevent them from causing chaos, it will be fine.
Livius had a lot of experience in fighting, so he was not panicked at all. He even deliberately ordered the civilians to retreat and not join the battle, so as not to disrupt the formation.
The civilians were actually not in chaos at all.
Leon was "actively cooperating" with Levius in commanding the civilians to retreat.
It can even be said that Li Ang was directing the civilians to retreat...
"As long as you listen, no one will die. But if anyone dares to run, I will kill everyone..."
The lord was shouting through a makeshift loudspeaker made of leather.
Since Baron Leon, the 'Monster General' who was praised as a god in Bacchus, was currently on their side, the civilians were not afraid. Instead, they were looking forward to seeing how powerful this 'Monster General' would be on the battlefield. So they followed Leon's command and left the combat team to watch the battle in an orderly manner.
But a minute later, Levius and the civilians collapsed at almost the same time...
Because, just when Leon finished his "defense" and came to Levius, Levius was about to talk to him, but Leon suddenly attacked him!
Neither Levius himself nor his subordinates expected Leon to launch a surprise attack at this time...
As the Lord said "take action", the 'assistants' that Leon had deliberately scattered in Levius's formation raised their swords and slashed at the shadow infantrymen who were most handy beside them...
Half of the hundred or so shadow infantrymen under Levius were killed or wounded almost instantly.
The troops of Bailu Fort also rushed into the chaotic battlefield at this time.
Before the two thousand civilians had time to turn around and escape, they heard Li Ang's voice again.
"Everyone, stop! I just said that as long as you listen to me, no one will die... But if anyone dares to run, I will kill everyone. You can't outrun the cavalry..."
The Lord still holds the leather rolled into a trumpet...
The civilians then realized what the shouting just now meant.
But this time, no one dared to run away. This notorious monster general was said to be the best swordsman on the continent, and he could kill anyone he wanted.
Didn’t he easily tie up a big shot like Levius, a governor-level figure?
Levius was indeed a man of quick wits and quite good at adapting to changing circumstances - he knew that he was no match for Leon, so he surrendered again and became a prisoner, with little resistance.
And these two thousand civilians were also forced by Li Ang to go to Bailu Fort.
Only Li Ang can control these civilians with a small number of people. The reputation of the Monster General is actually very useful.
Amy continued to move south with a force of 400 men to carry out her real mission.
Leon's plans were indeed all successful. Amy reached the Shieldwind Fortress smoothly and set the castle on fire without much effort.
In fact, Amy's mission is the most important - everything is for Amy to set the fire smoothly, and others including Leon are just part of the process.
In order to ensure success, the lord also asked Amy to bring enough people to avoid any accidents.
However, due to the lord's acting skills and some coincidences, Levius did not leave any manpower in Shieldwind Fortress. Amy easily succeeded in Shieldwind Fortress without encountering any significant obstacles.
There were less than thirty people in Shieldwind Fortress, all of them were servants of Levius.
The governor had just taken office and had no plans to live in this border fortress for a long time, so he did not bring his family with him.
When these servants saw Amy's troops approaching, they raised the white flag and surrendered in the city. Amy didn't even have time to verify her musket skills before the city gates were opened...
When Amy returned to the army, she said that this mission was too easy and she didn't have any chance to show her abilities.
But in fact, having no opportunity to perform is the best situation!
The Lord now feels that many things will suddenly become easier as long as Amy is present...
Last time when she went to the Bacchus Empire to help the people of Mettenheim solve their famine problem, Amy was like a goddess, and she easily got corn and potatoes, and even kidnapped an agricultural water conservancy expert...
Think again about Amy's musket skills - the accuracy of muskets these days really depends on luck. The barrel has no rifling, and the charge is not fixed. The trajectory of the spherical lead bullet after leaving the barrel sometimes flies in an S shape!
But Amy was able to hit the target accurately, and she even said it was based on her feeling...
If there is an attribute called "luck value", Amy should have it at the maximum, right?
Another guy with a very high luck value is probably Fabius.
He stood at the front when entering White Deer Castle, facing countless arrows and crossbow bolts, but miraculously he was not shot to death on the spot.
You know, the more than 300 shadow infantrymen who followed him into the city were basically wiped out in Bailu Fort. After several rounds of arrow rain, less than 100 people surrendered alive.
Of course, Fabius was still seriously wounded, his whole body was covered with prickles like a hedgehog, but he was lucky in that no arrow hit his vital parts.
The 400 people outside the city originally planned to retreat, but they were intercepted by Leon who was coerced into running away. Behind them, Sir Roland from White Hart Castle led his troops to pursue them, and they were attacked from both sides.
In addition, the Owl Knights had outstanding scouting capabilities, so these 400 men had nowhere to escape and couldn't fight. After losing about 100 men, Leon asked Levius to order them to surrender.
With Amy's successful return, White Deer Castle will no longer have to face the threat of the Bacchus Empire for a long time.
The only problem was that there were not enough prisons - the original prison had been converted into a cellar to store potatoes, and it was difficult to accommodate more than 400 Shadow Infantry prisoners...
Fortunately, Leon's "reputation" was quite effective, and the two thousand laborers were relatively obedient. The lord could even let them do some work - such as building a temporary prison.
After cleaning up the battlefield, the lord released several injured shadow infantrymen and asked them to take the letter written by Levius back to the Bacchus Empire to demand a ransom.
This time, the ransom he asked for was higher...
The wholesale price is 150,000 dinars.
Who can blame the fact that there are so many captives this time? This is a 30% discount, which is a bargain price.
Moreover, payment will only be valid within one month, no waiting after the expiration date!
In terms of retail price, one shadow infantryman costs 500 dinars, a total of more than 400.
Fabius put the price at five thousand dinars.
As for Levius...I'm sorry, Your Excellency the Governor will sell it last.
That is to say, the Governor will have to stay in prison until the others are redeemed.
The Lord has always been a business man who values ​​'voluntariness' - so Governor Levius voluntarily wrote a letter and asked the Shadow Infantryman to take it back to his family to raise money...
As for the two thousand civilians, after the lord knew that they were forcibly conscripted by Livius, he decided not to release them for the time being. He was going to try to influence them...
These civilians were descendants of the original inhabitants of Pendor. They did not even have any land in the Bacchus Empire and were just tenant farmers. Levius did not dare to forcibly recruit the Bacchus people.
The lord thought that if he gave these commoners some land, he might be able to have another 2,000 strong men under his rule, and maybe even let them bring their families with them...
So he asked Sir Roland to take these people to the Maixiang Territory and try to persuade them to become his subjects.
The reason why Sir Roland was asked to come forward was mainly because the lord 's own image was currently considered as a "monster" in the eyes of the common people, and he probably didn't have enough affinity.
Besides, Li Ang actually thinks this image is pretty good, and it might be useful in the future, so he doesn't plan to change the character for now...
Emperor Marius probably didn't expect that after he exaggerated the Lord into a terrifying general like a demon, the people of the Bacchus Empire actually developed a strange sense of trust in Leon...
Since the monster from the Fierce Lion Country is so powerful and no one can match him, even the Governor was captured by him easily, then wouldn't it be safer to join his side?
Yes, the psychology of ordinary people is so simple...
After all, everyone's life in the Bacchus Empire didn't seem to be very good. The governors and generals of the empire were either conscripting men or collecting taxes, and they didn't have a good life all year round.
On the contrary, this so-called 'Ayrshire Devil' was willing to let them farm, and also provided rations and seeds...
In addition, Sir Roland and a group of old men from the Maixiang Territory came to tell their stories. After learning that this terrible lord never harassed civilians, many civilians were indeed tempted.
A few days later, the lord had Roland erect two other goddess statues in the Wheat Fragrance Territory - the statue of the goddess of justice was placed next to the goddess of order, and the goddess of harvest Damia was placed in a small open space surrounded by wheat fields.
These three goddesses each represent several different beautiful values ​​created by mankind, and the people can become believers of any of these goddesses.
In fact, in Leon's opinion, the best way to prevent his territory from being controlled by religion is to introduce multiple gods - as long as their doctrines are good and lawful.
When a place only worships a single god, it is bound to produce fanatics, such as the Knights of Dawn. And there will inevitably be organizations that seek personal gain in the name of religion.
Because this is a monopoly - and it is a monopoly on world view and ideology, which is more terrifying than a monopoly on the market.
But in the case of multiple gods, even if religious organizations are formed, there will be constant competition between the organizations. The only thing to do is to ensure that no one can completely occupy the market. Before completely occupying the market, everyone will only try their best to attract "customers" with various benefits.
Of course, having said that, the Lord placed the statues of the Goddess of Justice and the Goddess of Harvest mainly because there are already multiple beliefs in the territory.
The statue of Damia actually played a big role. After the statue was completed, some of the laborers tried to find Sir Roland - they were willing to stay here and farm, but they hoped that Sir Roland would agree to let the other people who did not want to stay return to Bacchus, so that their families could also move here.
Roland didn't quite know how to deal with it at the time - in his heart, he certainly wanted to satisfy the demands of these civilians.
But he also knew that many Bacchus people would never come back after they went back. These people were currently considered captives, and whether to release them depended on Leon's opinion...
But what Sir Roland did not expect was that the lord actually agreed to this request out of hand, and even asked Roland to distribute some food as travel expenses to those civilians who planned to return.
In other words, those who are willing to return to Bucks can go back and bring a message to the families of those who remain in Maixiangling, asking their families to move here.
In order to maintain his character, the Lord also added a threat - you can go back, but if I catch you again next time, I will have to kill you all...
As a result, under the influence of the Monster General, only one third of them decided to return to Bacchus.
More than 1,300 people stayed in Maixiangling.
Nearly seven hundred civilians were released and returned home. They traveled together without any danger and soon passed by the camp that Levius had asked them to cut wood and build.
But these civilians didn't know that they had just narrowly escaped danger - shortly after they passed the camp, a team appeared in the forest next to them.
They were a group of Noldor elves.
"Your Highness Islandil, why don't you let us launch an attack? Many humans from the north have entered the forest, including the annoying Ebony Gauntlet Knights. And these people from the south have built a camp here. It's obvious that humans are going to launch a full-scale attack on us..."
A Noldor who was dressed almost the same as Lisadiran said to another tall Noldor elf.
The tall Noldor looked extremely heroic - of course, every Noldor looked handsome, but this one looked more elegant.
In other words, there is a kind of nobility.
He was dressed very gorgeously, with all kinds of mysterious runes all over his armor. There was a huge four-sided sapphire embedded in the center of his helmet, which looked like a crown that only a king could use.
The arm armor and boots were also equipped with silver runes. He wore a special scimitar on his waist and a bow inlaid with gems on his back. The gems were faintly glowing, as if they were alive.
Standing next to him were several Noldor knights dressed in silver-white equipment, who also looked extraordinary.
The plate armor on his body looks ancient and mysterious, and his weapons such as shield, sword and bow seem to be better than those of Lisadilan - just by looking at them, they seem to be more lethal.
These are the Twilight Knights, the best of the Noldor nobles and the leaders of the Noldor elf forces.
Powerful knights like them would appear behind others as followers, and the leader would naturally be the great lord of the Noldor elves.
"Perhaps humans are indeed going to launch a massive attack... but those who just passed by seem to be just farmers. We shouldn't attack a group of unarmed people, even if they are our enemies."
The Noldor lord known as Islandil narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke indifferently, probably thinking about something.
"Your Highness, we should warn these ignorant humans."
A Twilight Knight said.
"You can't kill civilians to warn humans... Did Aldarian go to the north?"
Islandir shook his head and asked back.
"Lord Aldarian said he would kill those foolish Ebony Gauntlets. He organized a large army to wipe out the humans who entered the forest from the north."
The Twilight Knight nodded.
"Since he's gone, we don't need to bother with anything. The Ebony Gauntlet Knights should indeed be taught a lesson... But I would like to ask a human lord why humans suddenly launched a massive attack."
Islandil does not seem to be as arrogant as the other Noldor, and is probably considered to be one of the more friendly ones among the Noldor.
"Humph... What else can humans be motivated by? They can do anything for their own selfish desires..."
A Noldor shook his head with disdain.
"But this time it seems different. Humans have assembled an army of more than 3,000 people between White Hart Castle and Brave Shield Castle... They haven't done this for 300 years. There must be a reason. I must find the crux. If we can't coexist peacefully with humans and keep fighting like this, we will eventually become weaker and weaker. Over the years, we have lost too many of our people..."
Islandil sighed: "There are tens of millions of humans, but there are less than ten thousand of us... We can't afford to die."
All the Twilight Knights were silent.
After a long time, a Twilight Knight finally spoke up and said, "Your Highness, do you still remember the Risadilan you exiled?"