Chapter 344: A war without moral principles (I)
The slums in Dutata City are not like the temporary residences for the poor, unemployed and migrant workers that have appeared in Innadri in recent decades. The history of the slums in Dutata City can be traced back to the Rhine Kingdom's National Protection War two hundred years ago.
The first batch of slum residents were landless farmers who moved to the central region from the south, west and even parts of the north.
These landless farmers have lost their land and homes, and are unable to migrate to areas where they can obtain land by themselves or their small families. They can only rely on cities for survival, are forced to become handicraftsmen and tertiary industry practitioners, and have lived here for generations.
What they have seen since they were born are narrow alleys and low, densely packed sheds. Growing up, they received the most help from old neighbors. The towering city walls separated them from the people in the city like a natural moat. They have never been paid attention to by the old men in the city, let alone received any support and assistance.
For the slum dwellers in such a situation, they really have no interest in whether the lords in the city will be driven away - many of them don't even know the name of Count Ezekiel.
Anyway, no matter who is the lord, life in the slums will not get worse.
If the beautiful big houses in the city had new owners and the new owners wanted to recruit new servants, the residents of the slums would be more interested - being a servant in a good family would be a class leap for the residents here.
The gangsters who took money to do things ran from one end of the alley to the other, and they were tired of saying the same thing. Few residents were persuaded by them.
The son of the water carrier looked annoyed and said to his companions, "This is totally useless. The poor guys here are too lazy to move even if a knife is put to their necks, for fear that the fat in their stomachs will slip away if they move too much. The higher-ups said that they want these poor guys to deal with the Innadeli people, how can that be possible!"
"Why do you care so much? We should just do what the higher-ups tell us to do." The tired companion squatted on the ground, looked around to see that there was no one around, waved mysteriously at the others, and lowered his voice, "Hey, I heard... I heard from the old lady next door that the Innadri people would pull a tricycle into the alley in the afternoon, and there would be a radio and a loudspeaker hidden in the tricycle..."
The water carrier's son and several other thugs' eyes suddenly widened.
Speakers are not rare items, but radios are undoubtedly very valuable.
One of the thugs hesitated and said, "Let's not do it. Many of our brothers fell into the hands of the Innaderites yesterday. I heard that all the small gangs in Xicheng District were killed. Not a single one is left."
The water carrier's son, who had just become excited, immediately calmed down.
The radio is indeed valuable, but if you sacrifice yourself and die enjoying it, then the money you earn will be worthless.
The thugs who proposed the idea were also very afraid of Innadeli. They only moved around in alleys that they were familiar with and did not dare to walk out of the maze-like alleys, for fear of encountering Innadeli and having no chance to escape.
"Forget it, let's continue working." The thug who made the suggestion stood up on his knees and gritted his teeth, "Wait until chaos breaks out... maybe there will be a chance."
The greed that had just been suppressed by the water bearer's son and several other thugs was aroused again. They cheered up and continued to incite people from house to house. Whenever they saw a teenager who was able to hold a weapon and had the power to cause harm, they would grab the boy and threaten him with words like "your sisters will be taken away by the Innadeli people, and your house will be burned down by the Innadeli people".
Not everyone has the ability to correctly distinguish right from wrong. After an afternoon, the thugs who were paid for doing things actually tricked hundreds of people and dragged them to the riverbank southeast of the slums.
The big leaders of several gangs squatted in the reeds to bask in the sun for the whole afternoon. When they saw that the younger brothers they had let out had only brought so few people, less than their own gang members, and most of them were teenagers, their faces turned red with a hint of black...
There's no other way. No matter how few people there are, the job has to be done. After all, the gentlemen in the city have been quite generous this time and have paid enough money in advance. They can't just not do the job after receiving the money.
After some discussion, several big leaders asked their gang members to take off their leather shoes and hats, and put on rags and rush sandals commonly seen in slum dwellers. They then divided into several groups and led the teenagers who were tricked into coming back to the slums.
Meanwhile, volunteers from Innadeli had once again pulled their tricycles deep into the alleys of the slums, selling cheap groceries and playing radio dramas; the sound from the loudspeakers could be heard clearly even by the laundry women on the riverbank.
The gangsters dragged the teenagers back to the alley, but after a few turns, the teenagers who had been tricked with great effort regretted their actions and quietly slipped away...
The maze-like alleys are familiar to thugs, but they are even more familiar to the teenagers living in the slums.
The hooligans also knew that it was not easy to catch these loach-like guys, so they could only curse and keep a close eye on the teenagers who had not escaped, and then ran to the place where the horn sounded the loudest in different alleys.
The water carrier's son had already gotten information from his mother about where the Innadri people who came to their alley to play the radio would park their tricycles, and he led the people to the place with familiarity.
And then, nothing happened.
The gang, who were dressed in rags and empty-handed in order to disguise themselves as locals, saw a tricycle parked at the corner of the alley and the locals who were surrounding the tricycle to pick out cheap groceries. They also saw two Innadeli operators standing not far from the tricycle, wearing half-body armor, holding weapons, and staring at the surroundings with a fierce look.
Under the half-body armor is an Innadelli operator uniform. For two consecutive mornings, the men in the operator uniforms rode their bicycles through the alleys to restock the tricycles selling cheap vermicelli. The local residents have seen them more than once or twice and have a good acceptance of them.
When the operators escorted in a tricycle loaded with cheap groceries and radio speakers, the volunteers accompanying the vehicle also explained to the local residents that after all, it was a war period and it was dangerous for them to move around. In order to prevent the masters in the city from attacking these unarmed women, they needed Operator Inadelli to follow and protect them - the local residents were very understanding of this.
After all, there are indeed many women among the Innaderis who sell cheap vermicelli and cheap general merchandise to the locals, and the nobles in the city are indeed not very good at doing things. From time to time, there are rumors of people being killed in carriage accidents or being beaten to death while collecting taxes. When the local residents think about it carefully, they can't help but worry about the friendly Innaderis.
The water carrier's son and the thugs who came with him to cause trouble stared blankly at the two operators who had fierce expressions, amazing auras, and who might even have professional-level strength for two seconds, then backed away, and backed away again.
Not only were they wearing armor, they were also carrying weapons; although they might not be able to move freely in such a narrow terrain and crowded place, the first group of people who rushed forward to cause trouble would definitely die a miserable death.
Gangsters usually act tough and aggressive on the streets just to scare people, not because they are mentally ill.
The water carrier's son exchanged glances with his fellow hooligans and pushed out the dozens of teenagers who were sandwiched between them.
These young people were quite "obedient". They rushed forward when told to do so and ran towards the tricycle with their heads down.
Then... most people scattered halfway through the run and ran back to their homes.
A small number of people were so stubborn as to try to snatch the groceries on the tricycle... but they were unable to squeeze into the crowd and were scolded by the women, elderly people, and other teenagers surrounding the tricycle.
"Who is this kid rushing around here? Can't you see there are so many people here?"
"What are you going to do, you little brat? Believe it or not, I'll tell your mother!"
The two Innadeli agents who came to provide security ignored the dozen stubborn teenagers and stared sternly at the group of suspicious people who were hiding at the entrance of the alley and looking around. They looked much fatter and healthier than the local residents.
The thugs looked at each other and retreated silently.
——It’s not that they are unwilling to do the job, it’s just that this matter really cannot be done!
More than a dozen gangsters were defeated and retreated to the riverbank in disgrace, where they were naturally scolded again by their boss.
With no other options, the gang had to return to the slums again and try to find older male residents to trick and deceive them...
The difficulty of incitement this time was obviously much higher than at noon - many people were listening to the gangsters' nonsense and their attention was drawn away by the radio drama playing on the loudspeakers. Although they were still responding with "hmm" and "ah" with their mouths, even a blind person could see that they were not listening seriously at all.
When the son of the water carrier passed by his house, his father, knowing that his son had tried to take away the family's property in the morning, chased him out with his water-carrying pole and chased him for two blocks...
The gang members tried their best but failed to cause any trouble in the slums, and the nobles in the city knew nothing about it for the time being.
In the eyes of the nobles of Dutata City, the hundreds of thousands of poor people outside the city are a huge powder keg. As long as they take some steps to make these ignorant fools panic and attack the Innadli people's camp, the lives of these inferior people can buy more time for the masters in the city to prepare for war.
The Innaderites were very unsportsmanlike. It was clearly a battle aimed at the noble honor of the O'Neill family. Count Ezekiel was still considering sacrificing Viscount O'Neill for the happiness of the entire Adler Territory. However, the tip of the sword turned to his nose, which almost made Count Ezekiel's nose crooked.
Seeing that he had to fight with Charles Rex, who was still dissatisfied after swallowing up the Bartles family, Count Ezekiel was angry and frightened, but not to the point of panic. The military strength of the Ezekiel family was far superior to that of the Bartles family, whose history of prosperity only reached the fourth generation. Not only did they have an organized family private army, but they also had a well-organized national garrison and a large number of militia teams.
If Count Ezekiel did not engage in a wild battle with the immortal Tarantan Undead who could exhaust the elite knights of the Cult of the Fiery Sun, but instead withdrew his forces to defend the city, he was confident that he could drag the war until November - by then all the territories in the country would have to send taxes to the royal capital and the Church of the Gold Coin, and if Charles Rex did not want to offend both the Rhine royal family and the Holy Land of the Church of the Gold Coin at the same time, he would have to go back to Innadeli and do his business.
But... the terrible thing is, it’s the autumn harvest season now!
In order to ensure tax collection, Ezekiel's family's private armed forces were not all stationed in the city. Instead, nearly half of the troops were dispatched to the central and eastern regions to cooperate with the tax officials in paying taxes!
It would also take time to gather the militia from all the towns and villages in Adler to defend the city!
At this moment when Innadli's camp is at the gates of the city, the only armed forces available in the city are the National Garrison, the City Police and the operators of Dutata City Hall!
Count Ezekiel had his cronies stay on the city wall and use telescopes to watch the Innadri camp, while he kept sending people to urge the private soldiers scattered outside to return for the rescue. He also had to keep calling various towns to urge the local militia to quickly march out to "serve the king." It can be said that he had never been so busy as he was now in his more than 20 years as a count.
"After this incident, I must give that damn illegitimate child an unforgettable memory!"
Count Ezekiel, who had never been so embarrassed, swore secretly.
Not long after the Earl swore his oath, the butler came running in with a pale face and reported: "Master! The dead are coming!"
"What?! So fast?" Count Ezekiel roared in disbelief.
The private soldiers had not yet been fully recalled, and the militias from various towns had not yet entered the city—Charlie Rex, that bastard, had no intention of giving him the opportunity to withdraw his troops and defend the city to the death? !
The butler's emotions were even more out of control than the Earl's. He staggered and fell to the ground, screaming miserably: "The undead, the undead did not appear in the enemy camp outside the city, the undead appeared directly in the city!"
Count Ezekiel: “???”
"The streets outside are full of undead!" The old butler cried out in despair, "There are undead everywhere outside, sir. The entire Midtown area is already full of undead!"
Count Ezekiel fainted on the spot due to shock and anger.
In a high-end hotel .
Sitting in the tea room on the top floor of the hotel, Yang Qiu calmly picked up the thermos cup of fat otaku happy water and smiled at the young man and woman at the same table: "Your battle of revenge has begun, enjoy it, Coulson."
Coulson O'Neill: "..."
China Darcy: "..."
The cousins stiffly withdrew their gaze from the chaotic street scene outside the French window and stared blankly at the black magician in front of them.
"You can see Viscount O'Neill's Mansion from here. This is the viewing area I specially selected for you two." Yang Qiu said sincerely.
Coulson wanted to say something, but considering that he was not very familiar with the dark magician, he turned to his cousin China for help.
Qina: “…”
Well, she and Mr. Yang are not very familiar with each other...
After hesitating for a moment, Qina, who was full of confusion, still gritted her teeth and said carefully: "Mr. Yang, is it really okay to let the undead appear in the city directly...?"
Yang Qiu smiled cheerfully: "Since we have already announced the reasons for declaring war and have also delivered a formal declaration of war document to the other side in accordance with the rules, why should we be so particular about the form of attacking the city?"
China & Coulson: "..."
Yang Qiu's smile was still bright, and his attitude was still very frank and upright: "We officially declared war yesterday, and our large army also appeared at the foot of Dutata City yesterday. Since the declaration of war, the enemy and us have entered a formal state of war."
"The defenders of Dutata City were too careless and failed to clear the city in time, giving us the opportunity to break through from the inside. This only proves that Lord Adler is very weak in governing the territory and the army. The Ezekiel family is just sitting there doing nothing. How could we be wrong in making full use of various self-interested conditions to launch an offensive?"
——He, the summoner, is already inside the city, yet he specifically orders friendly forces to summon the undead from outside the city and slowly go through the siege process. Isn't that crazy?
Where were the hundreds of thousands of poor people who lacked grassroots organizations hiding outside the city? Why did they deliberately engage in a fight with the enemy outside the city ? Were they afraid that they would not implicate innocent poor people or what?
China & Coulson: "..."
The two cousins, who had received traditional aristocratic education in this world, kept their mouths shut.
——That’s right! The nobles played much more dirty tricks than this. Summoning the undead army to the central city directly was very fair as long as the details were not disclosed!
Yang Qiu glanced out the French window, pointed downwards with a smile, and said, "The undead have discovered Viscount O'Neill's mansion. The fun is about to begin."
Hearing this, Coulson couldn't help but look over there...
