Chapter 1420 - 763: The Force of Righteousness (Part 2)

Chapter 1420: Chapter 763: The Force of Righteousness (Part 2)

"Which one of you is the Lord?"

"The Lord isn’t here. You can just tell me what you need."

Barton decisively raised his hand to stop their nonsense; time is indeed precious.

The two were evidently ready to cooperate, with one playing the weak role, which meant the other must be strong, immediately accusing Barton upon seeing his impatient look.

"Why are you invading our territory? We warn you to withdraw immediately, or else..."

"Cut them down; keeping them is just a waste of time." Reynard interrupted that person’s barking, his voice was full of pressure, but nothing compared to the oppression of the longsword he always held.

We’re all people of society; who do you think you’re playing this game with?

Indeed, that single sentence stifled the person, their tone had risen too high, wanting to continue speaking but daring not to, it was extremely awkward.

"It’s all a misunderstanding~" The other appeared with a smile, seemingly trying to ease the atmosphere, yet none of those present wanted to play such boring games.

"It’s not a misunderstanding. Your occupation of Hamlet’s territory is an established fact, and our determination to reclaim it will never waver."

Barton felt somewhat disappointed, having expected they’d send someone with a bit of brains, rather than such inexplicable bureaucrats.

He couldn’t understand what gave them the confidence to bark here.

"Take a message back to your baron: surrender is the best option for both sides, and it’s your smartest choice. Don’t hold any fantasies about the war; resistance leads only to death."

Without wasting time on them further, he waved them away.

"Hey! Wait, we haven’t finished yet!"

The two were suddenly anxious. Being chased out after just five minutes, where would they put their face upon returning?

Not to mention the most important matter they came over for had yet to be accomplished.

"Well, go ahead and speak."

The two were at a loss on how to continue; could such matters be directly spoken out? They could only emphasize.

"I can only say it to you privately."

"There’s nothing that can’t be said here. If you don’t want to speak, then go back."

Barton wasn’t falling for it, shouting outwards.

"Come, take them away!"

As soon as the words fell, soldiers entered. Looking at their actions, if they didn’t leave they’d be "sent" away.

Anyway, the lord wasn’t here, whether they convinced them or not, even planting a seed internally would suffice.

Immediately, without further ado, he spoke up:

"Our baron said, your lord is so stingy he won’t even give you a piece of fief, not deserving loyalty as a lord.

As long as you support us, the baron will grant each of you fiefs. Isn’t it better to have your own territory than being under that dictator?"

At these words, everyone was briefly stunned, even the indifferent Laura turned her gaze here, her sharp eyes slightly shadowed beneath the hood.

"Hahaha!"

"Who do you think you are?"

"..."

Yet the next moment, Barton and the others couldn’t help but laugh, filling the atmosphere with mirth.

Mysterious as they were, it turned out to be just this?

What made that baron think he had the qualifications to persuade their people? Ridiculous confidence...

Let’s not mention the reasons they came to Hamlet and grew to this stage, anyone who interacted with the Lord would not dare to entertain any thoughts of betrayal.

Moreover, Hamlet’s unique military structure means even if they wanted to betray, those below wouldn’t follow along.

The significance of a commander is in the army — a solitary commander going over would likely see the baron break his promise and instead become a fool.

More importantly, no one wants to become an enemy of the Lord, because even if your rebellion achieves a military advantage, it would attract the honor guard, or even the Lord’s attention.

That would spell disaster; everyone knows the Lord despises traitors.

In front of loyalty, the baron’s temptations were but jokes to them.

What they thought was a heavy bomb didn’t even make a splash upon detonation, with the mocking words making them appear like clowns.

"Aren’t you leaving? Then stay!" Barton directly indicated for the soldiers to arrest them, "Seize them, interrogate separately, if their stories don’t match, cut both."

"Wait... I’m just a messenger, not the one who said those words."

"I’ll leave immediately! I still need to relay a message for you."

Neither expected Hamlet’s people to lack honor, warring armies wouldn’t harm envoys, that was the rule, how could they act like this?

"Take them away!" Barton reined in his emotions, waving coldly, the soldiers directly dragging the two out.

No wonder there’s no goodwill; fortunately, he didn’t really engage with them in private talk, otherwise, they’d fall for a counter plan. Even as loyal, he’d face suspicion — too vicious.

Yet, he didn’t overly mind; people weren’t important, the situation was their mission.

"They’ve already shown fear, hastily sending people over to sow discord would delay us, indicating the baron hasn’t fully reacted yet."

At Barton’s words, several commanders understood something; they’d overestimated other noble lords’ control over their territories.

Lance daring Amanda to sell information to the Romani was fearless of their gathering. On the contrary, it was intentional to rally them.

This would allow them to eliminate rebellious forces at once, avoiding the hassle of taking on each fortress individually.

More people meant the enemy dared to engage in battle, creating space for artillery, whereas light artillery struggled with fortress assaults.

Simply put, it was an efficiency issue, aiming for the shortest time.

Originally, they’d been discussing which battlefield to choose, but never expected the baron to be so useless, unprepared even now.

"If we move now and capture that baron, the rest likely won’t surrender, for these feudal aristocrats can’t abandon their territories; we’ll still need to fight them one by one."

"We can’t afford to give him too much time; time is not on our side."

"We’ll advance the three routes we divided yesterday, devouring the borders and continue pressing forward, forcing them to speed up."

"No, those knights’ strength can’t be ignored in skirmishes, if they seize an opportunity they can easily cause harm.

Moreover, intelligence indicates they can muster a force of three to five thousand; we can’t assume they’re unprepared based solely on conjecture, what if it’s tactical deceit?"

"We’ll push through directly; no need to risk these choices."

"I have no objections."

Barton couldn’t believe that the disruption in plans stemmed from those nobles’ inefficiency, but they couldn’t stop now, necessitating an engagement of some kind.

Stated as three thousand, prior defense divisions reduced their force, even here requiring manpower to control towns, the effective combat power was actually two thousand, even less.

But uncertain of the enemy’s exact status, splitting forces could weaken their advantage.

Thus the most stable approach was an all-out advance; Barton made the decision, others soon concurred.

After breakfast and resupply, the army continued its march, advancing with confidence...

That baron, having dispatched messengers overnight, surprisingly enjoyed a good night’s rest, dreaming of himself leading knights through the battlefield, easily defeating the enemy.

The foes surrendered upon seeing him, cheering his name; even the Lord of Hamlet could only kneel, begging for mercy.

"Baron, sir! Sir!"

But a call shattered his dream, forcing him to push aside the woman beside him and rise angrily.

"Why all the shouting! What time is it?"

"Sir, news just arrived, several knight domains lost again, that Hamlet army is advancing."

The steward didn’t waste any time, urgently relaying the news just received, instantly panic arose in the baron.

"Ah!"