NOVEL NEXT chapter 46
46. Refugees are coming.
Everyone knows this as common sense,
Going upstream requires a lot of effort and capital.
But going downstream only requires getting on the boat.
No need to row, no need to pull the boat with oxen.
You don’t even need a boat.
Just tie logs together roughly, get on top, and steer with a long pole.
Moreover, if it is a river with a slow flow like the Dallaben River and always has a constant and sufficient flow, the difficulty drops significantly.
And at the end of the Dallaben River is the city of Kalmar.
Even in distant territories, it is common knowledge about the prosperity of Kalmar and its surroundings.
If you go to Kalmar, you can find a job even if you go with an empty body and empty hands.
The port is always looking for sailors, and if you get on a ship, they give you a year’s advance payment.
If you have some skills, it is also good to work in the workshops of Kalmar.
The workshop guilds are always short of technicians.
If you only know farming, you can do day labor in the rural areas around Kalmar.
This kind of rumor, whose truth and exaggeration are unknown, usually did not have much impact.
Kalmar is not a neighboring village, and to get there, you have to take a boat down the Dallaben River for several days.
The administrators of the territories who manage the waterways also set up positions in the middle and prevent people from leaving the territory recklessly.
Decisively, most people grew up and died where they were born.
At most, they went to a neighboring village.
If it was a neighboring territory, it was really as far away as a foreign country that could not even be imagined.
They were born, grew up, aged, and died in such a narrow world.
Among such lands, there is a region called Aalborg.
It is an ordinary place.
It was neighbored by three baronies and one county,
There were some mountains, and it was mainly a place where people farmed and lived.
The special point is that one of the baronies is adjacent to the Dallaben River and is sweetly sucking honey?
It was a land where people thought that yesterday and today were no different and tomorrow would be no different.
But the war of the high lords changed all that.
Duke Maximilian and Duke Glenn were those high lords.
Their light skirmish soon became a territorial war for honor,
And due to their respective circumstances, the territorial war expanded to the level of a civil war.
At first, there was a special tax for the war,
Next, there was a conscription of young people,
And the army requisitioned people and supplies as they passed by.
The requisition was repeated several times.
And if there was nothing more to requisition or if they refused to requisition,
The plundering began.
In such a situation, no one could endure.
So people could no longer hold out and fled.
At first, they fled to neighboring villages and then to the mountains.
However, the situation in the neighboring villages was no different,
and many could not survive in the mountains.
People who wandered, plundering and killing each other to find a way to live, recalled one thing.
The rumor about the County of Kalmar.
They remembered the rumor about a prosperous land with plenty of jobs.
If they had to walk all the way to the County of Kalmar,
most of the people heading to the County of Kalmar would have died on the way.
If that had happened, the officials of the County of Kalmar would not have known who was trying to come to their land.
However, people knew that the Dalaben River was the waterway leading to the County of Kalmar.
Even those who did not know that fact soon heard the rumor and headed for the Dalaben River.
Many people died on their way to the Dalaben River,
and in the Dalaben River.
However, more people came down along the Dalaben River.
Some stole ferries, some made rafts and rode them,
and those who couldn’t do even that just walked along the river.
When they reached the County of Kalmar,
they realized that the County of Kalmar was facing a massive wave of refugees.
It was also a wave of robbers and thieves.
First, reports and dispatches from village chiefs screaming from the border villages of the county arrived one after another at the lord’s castle.
Before the situation could be grasped, reports came through the merchant guild that the logistics of the Dalaben River were blocked.
And the county’s army reported that the merchant guilds moving up the river or along the road beside the river were plundered.
The officials gathered at the lord’s castle had anticipated the arrival of refugees, but the scale was too large and sudden, leaving them bewildered and unsure of what to do.
*
“Report.”
“This is a report from the vigilante of Nika Village. About 50 residents from the Baronies of Berggren and Namson have arrived in Nika Village and are receiving relief. There are no young men, half are old people, women, and children. The rest are middle-aged men, and many are injured. According to them, many more people, at least hundreds, are coming behind them. The village chief of Nika is providing relief with the village’s communal warehouse supplies for now, but he is asking what to do if more people come. And the head of the vigilante is requesting the dispatch of the county’s army, saying that it is dangerous to accept more external refugees with less than 40 vigilantes currently.”
“Are there more reports from the village chiefs?”
“Reports have arrived from five places. They are all requesting the dispatch of the territory army and food supplies. According to the village chiefs’ reports, it seems that at least 2,000 to 3,000 refugees will arrive within a day or two.”
Countess Linnea, with an expressionless face, demanded that the report continue.
Even while the clerks of the lord’s castle were compiling and organizing the reports, messengers kept arriving.
“Urgent news!”
“What is it?”
“It is reported that the wheat being transported by the Jensen caravan to Baron Paterson’s territory was looted by refugees. All the mercenaries and merchants escorting it were killed, and only two managed to escape and bring the news.”
This was a different kind of problem than refugees flocking in and waiting for relief.
If the entire caravan transporting food was massacred, it means that the armed group composed of refugees is quite large.
Perhaps they are not refugees but a group of deserters. Or maybe mercenaries who have turned to looting.
Whatever their identity, such armed groups must be quickly eliminated.
Otherwise, they will settle down and become bandits or pirates collecting tolls.
Like I did in the past.
“Master Johan. What should we do?”
“We will use the territory army to aid the refugees and the mercenaries to suppress the bandits. I will instruct the village chiefs in the rural and mountain areas to give food to the refugees and send them to Kalmar City. We will proceed with the plan to establish a refugee camp on the outskirts of Kalmar City.”
The territory army is a reliable force in terms of loyalty and combat power, but its numbers are too small to cover the entire county.
Even the currently assembled territory army is only about 1,000 strong.
While preparing for the territorial war with Baron Paterson, we managed to gather 1,000 soldiers, but under normal circumstances, even 300 would have been considered a lot.
We will divide them into units of 100 and deploy them at the borders and key points of the county, guiding the refugees to the refugee camp.
Thanks to the preparations for the territorial war with Baron Paterson, we also have five mercenary groups, each with 100 men, on standby.
In hindsight, Baron Paterson’s provocation turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
We were able to gather the army in advance.
“I will command the territory army. Sir William will take charge of the mercenary groups. The guard unit will remain on indefinite standby, with half of them deployed to the refugee camp. Sir Arexon, please make the preparations.”
Countess Linnea retained Arexon as the captain of the guard as a conciliatory message to the influential figures of the county.
Although he originally belonged to the Morgan faction, he showed that loyalty to the count was all that mattered.
The influential figures, who had been unsettled by the simultaneous purging of Friberg and Hogberg, were now pledging their loyalty, reassured by the count’s message.
In these chaotic times, the stability of the influential figures is beneficial to the county.
I went to the waiting mercenary groups according to the division of duties.
Each of the five mercenary captains had recruited and organized their own mercenary groups, each with about 100 men, totaling around 500 men.
Mercenary Captain,
About 10 skilled sergeants who always accompany him,
About 30 experienced senior soldiers who are hired first if there is recruitment,
About 60 mercenaries who pass if they have sound limbs and can see and hear properly.
That is the composition of one mercenary unit.
In other words, it is a centuria composed of 40 skilled soldiers and 60 unskilled soldiers.
All armaments are self-provided.
However, basic armaments for unskilled soldiers are provided on credit.
The five mercenary captains were extremely friendly to me.
They seemed to think it was necessary to make a good impression on me because I am the fiancé (to be) of Lady Linnea, the ruler of the Kalmar territory.
Thanks to that, there was no unnecessary dispute over command authority.
The mercenary captains all swore absolute obedience to my orders.
That made things easier for me.
Two mercenary units were sent to the Dalraven River,
Two mercenary units were sent to the main roads of the count’s territory,
And I set out with the remaining mercenary unit to pursue the armed group that had committed the plunder.
“Sir Noren. The mercenaries’ armament is impressive. I like it.”
“Thank you, Sir William. We are making efforts to ensure proper armament even if it means overextending ourselves.”
Noren, the captain of the Noren mercenary unit, was a seasoned middle-aged mercenary.
He applied the policy to his mercenary unit that even new recruits must be provided with armor, helmets, and swords, as mercenaries who are not properly armed die easily before gaining experience.
Perhaps because of this, the proportion of skilled soldiers was higher than in other mercenary units.
Noren also emphasized that he had led his mercenary unit in five territorial wars.
He was appealing that he had built his career through combat, not by escorting merchants or guarding influential people.
“In fact, the most important thing for a mercenary captain is to secure good jobs. The sergeants can handle the command, and the senior soldiers can handle the fighting. The reason I am emphasizing the skills of the Noren mercenary unit to you, Sir William, is because I don’t want to miss out on a good employer.”
“The Count of Kalmar seems to be a good employer?”
“Yes. It may be presumptuous of me to say, but he is the best employer I have served so far.”
“Why is that?”
“Because his calculations are clear. The commissions are clear, and the commission fees are paid in advance. There is no lack of loyalty.”
“Why? Are there cases where the commission fees are not paid?”
“I haven’t experienced that yet, but there have been cases where we were told to make up for it through plunder when it was done on credit.”
“Hmm, it seems the lords’ money hasn’t dried up yet?”
“Sir William, you are aware of the problems that arise when territorial wars drag on. That’s why we don’t want to leave Kalmar. Many territories will face serious issues in the future.”
The two of us headed to the site where the Jensen caravan was attacked by refugees, engaging in a conversation that was close to idle chatter.
The site was clean.
The wagons and food had disappeared together, and so had the traces of the battle.
Upon investigating the area, we found a large pit where the dead had been buried. We also noticed that not only the weapons but also the clothes and shoes had been neatly taken away.
They weren’t just refugees.
They were organized.
“Captain Noren, we found wagon tracks. It seems they went along the mountain path.”
“Doesn’t it look a bit dangerous?”
The sergeant, who acted as his deputy, frowned deeply at the mercenary captain’s question.
“As you can see. They cleaned up neatly. They aren’t just riffraff.”
“Tsk tsk. Have the new recruits carry shields and put them on the front line. Place the ones who will be in the shock troops right behind them. Make sure the ones in front check their armor and helmets again. At least let’s make sure they don’t get pierced by arrows.”
Nodding at Noren’s words, the sergeant returned to the mercenaries.
After a while, Noren’s mercenary band began to move along the path.