Chapter 97 – Exasperation
Chapter 97 Exasperation
After telling Emerson to get lost, Paul and the others continued to stay in the parlor and gathered the other top brass in the Council of State and the military.
This place was now turning directly into a war meeting.
“The Kents must be made to pay!” The military officers were in a frenzy after hearing about what the Kent family’s emissaries had done.
Lakeheart Town had already backed down to such an extent, and the other party even went so far as to raise that kind of excessive demand, it was simply a strange shame.
After a detailed discussion amongst the crowd, several resolutions were quickly reached:
First, the border area should be strengthened and the movements of Emden should be monitored at all times;
Two, the Intelligence Department to do its best to collect information on Emden, from information on top personnel to the gathering movements of the army;
Three, using the current independent musket company as a base, form a third infantry battalion, with Schroeder’s former squire, Joyce, as the battalion commander;
Four, the staff to further intensify the training of the militia and directly supplement it into the regular army when necessary;
V. Order the navy to be ready for battle so that it can go ashore at any time to support the army’s operations.
In fact, if you want to start the war immediately, the army now stationed in the town of Lakewood will be able to leave in two hours, after all, Emden is right next to Alda in the south, and doesn’t need to take a long time to prepare like a long expedition.
This is the benefit of a standing army, a few thousand men in a small, short-distance battle, if you are able to gather up and start at any time.
His opponent, the Earl of Kent, was different, Paul concluded that although the other party’s overall strength was strong, if he wanted to fight a decent war between the lords, how would it take 1~2 weeks to gather his army.
This left one torn, should one lead the army to catch the other side off guard first? Or should one wait for the Kent family to slowly gather their army and fight over?
If he first hit the past, it is likely to poke a hornet’s nest, after all, the Kent family did not cause any substantial harm to himself, he first hand in the moral standing, when he caused his back Ferdinand Duke and Duke of a large number of vassals also have to go down, that would not be good.
But if you just give up the speed advantage passively beaten, think about it seems to be quite stupid, ancient and modern Chinese and foreign militarists do not emphasize “the military is precious and speedy”?
A group of officers led by Bryce looked at Paul eagerly: “Lord Gleeman, let’s fight our way through first!”
However, after much deliberation, Paul still felt a little conservative, after all, the Greiman family is His Majesty’s direct bannerman in the Northwest, the Kent family really want to move their own ideas also have to weigh.
The possibility of war is not 100%.
Therefore, at the end of the meeting, in addition to the above five measures, Paul only ordered the implementation of martial law in Alda and Bairdine, and did not order the declaration of war to Emden.
……
Emden’s lord’s residence, Byram Castle, where there was no town, no farm, just stood a lone castle in which the members of the Kent family and their servants lived.
Emerson waited in the hall with slight apprehension as he paced back and forth constantly.
Finally, footsteps were heard in the hallway, and a figure soon became visible in the hall.
He bowed to the figure, “Uncle Kent.”
Earl Kent seemed to be in a good mood as he walked over to the table and sat down, and immediately a servant brought in twice as much wine, a glass in front of the Earl and a glass in front of Emerson.
“Young Emerson, tell us how that Earl Gleeman of ours responded.”
Emerson looked at Earl Kent, wanting to speak.
“What is it?”
The Earl sensed a hint of something wrong from Emerson’s expression, could it be that that milquetoast little lord had rejected the conditions he had proposed, haha, how could that be?
However, Emerson’s words ultimately confirmed what he had just guessed.
“Uncle Kent, Gleeman has refused your request! I’m sorry, it’s my incompetence.”
Emerson said with an incomparably guilty expression on his face.
Hearing these words, the expression on Earl Kent’s face gradually stiffened.
“How dare he …… how dare he ……”
The Earl naively repeated these words with a slight expression of incredulity on his face. Soon after, he instructed the servant next to him, “Call Jaaius over.”
Soon, Jaaius, who was still practicing his swordplay just a moment ago, arrived.
Seeing that the atmosphere in the hall was somewhat somber, he asked suspiciously, “Father, Emerson, what happened?”
The earl stiffened his face and didn’t answer, and Emerson, who was beside him, said, “The Graiman family has rejected Uncle Kent’s request.”
Jaaius knew why his father had that look on his face, and he sat down as well, asking, “Father, your decision?”
The Count turned to Emerson and said, “Young Emerson, first tell us the details of your meeting with the Gladmans.”
Emerson took a long breath, carefully controlled his expression, and began to add to the “story” of the meeting with Paul.
“…… I have emphasized time and again that this has been a leniency on your part Uncle Kent, and only a small punishment for his unauthorized actions ……”
“…… But Gleeman still arrogantly refused, looks like he has been overwhelmed by the previous victory ……”
“…… The officials under him were all arrogant and said that they wanted to give the Kent family some color ……”
Emerson spent nearly half an hour describing the “aftermath” of the meeting with Paul to the Kent father and son.
With his statement, the expression of the Kent father and son became more and more ugly.
After Emerson finished his statement, Jaice looked at his father, “Do we want to punish the Graiman family?”
“Of course!”
The Count practically growled in a low voice, not hesitating to give his son an affirmative answer.
With an unmistakable tone of firmness, he stared at Jaaius and said:
“The reason why the Kent family is able to gain a foothold in the Northwest is because the other families are afraid of us.”
“For the family’s enemies, if we can’t fight for a week, we’ll spend a month, if we can’t fight for a month, we’ll spend a year, if we can’t fight for a year, we’ll spend ten years, we can hold back for a while, and we can hibernate for a long time, but we’ll definitely not forget our enemies.”
“It is because of this that, except for Lord Duke Ferdinand, who in the Northwest Bay has ever dared to refuse the demands of the Kent family, who has ever dared to disrespect the Kent family?”
“If we let the Gleiman family off the hook this time, letting him insult us without punishment, then other families and will follow suit, and we will eventually be reduced to a second-rate family in the Northwest, and the image that we had previously established will go up in smoke.”
“In short, Gleiman must be punished!”
Jaaius nodded, “I understand, father.”
A cold smile appeared on Earl Kent’s face, revealing his sharp and long canine teeth as he said sorrowfully:
“Hmph! The current Gladman family is not worthy of making us hold back, the tiny bit of power he has now can’t even withstand a single blow from us.”
“Jaaius!”
“Father, please command.” Jaaius immediately answered, his father was about to give an order.
“You immediately gather half of the knights in the territory, inform the family’s vassals that at least 2,000 soldiers must be conscripted for me, and all of them must be gathered in Byram Castle within three weeks.”
“Yes, I will do it immediately.”
The Earl also instructed Emerson, “I heard that you also learned about the military when you were in the royal capital, so this time, I’ll ask you to be Jaaius’s second-in-command.”
Emerson immediately stood up and said, “Uncle Kent, I will definitely help you teach Gleeman a good lesson.”
The earl picked up his wine glass and drank all the wine, then let go of his hand, and the glass just fell to the ground and shattered.
“Gleeman, this is what you will get in the future!”
(End of chapter)