"So, you are saying that the troops sent out to hunt down those Violet deserters a few days ago not only failed to complete their mission, but also had people attack the prisoner of war camp?"
In the Earl's Mansion, Charlotte sat on the lord's seat, frowning slightly as she looked at the noble officers responsible for chasing down the defeated troops.
Facing her gaze, the noble officer looked embarrassed and hurriedly bowed to his leader and said:
"Lord Earl, this is my dereliction of duty. I misjudged the extent of the Violet Bandits' trouble..."
"But don't worry, our prisoner of war camp is heavily guarded. Although it was attacked by a sneak attack, it did not cause much damage."
Charlotte shook her head:
"It's embarrassing to be attacked. It was just some rout after the Battle of Beigang."
As she said that, she paused again:
"Moreover, you said it didn't cause much damage, which means... it caused some damage? What was lost?"
The noble officer swallowed his saliva and said cautiously:
"There are...about two to three hundred Isaac prisoners who took advantage of the chaos and escaped."
Charlotte:……
"Did you catch it?"
she asked with a frown.
The nobleman's expression became even more embarrassed:
"No...no..."
Charlotte's frown deepened:
"Oh? It doesn't matter if we can't clean up the scurrying broken troops. We can't even capture the prisoners who escaped in the chaos?"
Facing the girl's full gaze, the noble officer swallowed hard and quickly explained:
"Uncle... Lord Earl, it's not that we don't work hard, it's just that those bandits are too cunning..."
Charlotte:……
Damn, why does this familiar sentence pattern sound so familiar?
"Weren't we capturing prisoners? Why are we involved in Violet's rout? Could it be that you want to say that Violet's rout incorporated the prisoners of war that Isaac escaped from?"
Charlotte frowned.
However, after she finished speaking, she saw that the noble officer looked even more embarrassed and did not refute.
Charlotte:……
She was stunned:
"So, were they really absorbed by Violet's defeated troops?"
The noble did not dare to answer directly, but said cautiously:
"We... we also found traces of the Isaac Cavalry while tracking the broken troops. They... they seemed to have merged."
Charlotte:……
"Don't these defeated soldiers know that we have negotiated peace with Violet?"
she asked with a frown.
After finishing speaking, without waiting for the noble's reply, she shook her head again and said to herself:
"No, the news of the victory in the war has been known to everyone for a long time. Even the drunkards in the tavern know that we have signed a peace treaty with Violet. It is impossible for these defeated troops who attacked the town not to know..."
The noble officer also nodded: Come on
"They must know that in order to dispel their thoughts of resistance, we even shouted to them during the hunt for them, but for some reason, not only failed to make them surrender, but it seemed to have the opposite effect."
"Not only that, they have connections with many unruly people in the villages, so the news is certainly not secret..."
Charlotte felt a little uncomfortable as she listened:
"Wait...you mean there are still many people in the territory helping them?"
The noble officer sighed:
"It's like this. These rogue soldiers are quite cunning. They are completely different from the ones I know. They are very good at exploiting the hatred of the unruly people towards the nobles. When attacking villages and towns, they only pick out the nobles that the unruly people don't like. He attacked merchants, but never robbed unruly people."
"Not only that, after plundering money and supplies, they only took half of it with them, and the rest was distributed to the local unruly people, so that those unruly people were willing to cover their whereabouts and inform them..." Forced
"The biggest reason why we haven't been able to clear them out yet is because they always know our movements in advance and evacuate before we can successfully surround them."
Charlotte:……
Why does she feel that the more she listens, the stronger her sense of déjà vu becomes?!
"What happened to the nobles and merchants they attacked?"
Sherlock asked again.
The noble hesitated for a moment and said:
"Most of them were released after paying the ransom, and a few were killed by the unruly people."
Charlotte was stunned:
"Killed by the people?"
"Yes, they tied up those nobles and handed them over to the villagers, and then those nobles were killed by the unruly people!"
The noble officer said angrily.
Charlotte:……
"Those nobles who were killed were all notorious ones, right?"
She paused and suddenly said:
The noble officer subconsciously wanted to deny it, but faced Charlotte's gaze that seemed to penetrate people's hearts, he finally hesitated and said honestly:
"They...their reputation may not be that...well...not that good..."
After listening to his words, Charlotte's expression was a little strange:
"So, these broken soldiers are clearing the door for me, Castel."
The noble officer's expression changed slightly and he quickly said:
"My lord, don't think so! Everywhere these defeated troops go, they will plunder or destroy all the military supplies stored by the local noble families, and they will even incite the people and lords to fight against each other!"
"They...are shaking our rule!"
Charlotte glanced at him:
"If Castel's rule is shaken because of this, it can only be said that Castel is indeed unpopular and it is time to rectify it."
The noble officer opened his mouth but stopped talking.
Charlotte touched her chin, with a hint of interest on her face:
"This rout is a bit interesting..."
"To be able to do this, there must be a leader, and he is definitely a talent!"
As she said this, she looked at the noble officer, feeling somewhat interested in recruiting the leader of the Violet Army:
"Do you know who the person who integrated these broken troops was? Can you have a conversation with the other party?"
After hearing Charlotte's words, the noble officer was stunned for a moment and shook his head in embarrassment:
"I don't know yet... yet."
"These broken troops are very well organized. We failed to capture any prisoners. We don't know exactly who is commanding behind them..."
"As for dialogue... we would like to, but the other party is very hostile to us, Castel, and we have no chance at all."
"However, the opponent should be a down-and-out nobleman named Violet. According to those civilians who have seen the defeated soldiers, they have seen the defeated soldiers calling their commander 'Sir' or 'Baron'..."
After hearing what the officer said, Charlotte's heart skipped a beat:
"Baron...what..."
At this moment, she inexplicably thought of Baron Bertel, who was still missing after the Battle of Beigang and had been transferred to her by the Violet Principality...
"Is it such a coincidence?"
Charlotte couldn't help but murmured.
After thinking for a while, Charlotte said:
"Pass my order. Within three days, I want to know the name of the 'Baron' behind the rout."
……force
Charlotte quickly issued an order to investigate the identity of the commander of the defeated army.
With the lord's direct order, the efficiency of the nobles has become higher. In addition, the rout of troops active behind Castel has become more and more popular recently, making it increasingly difficult to conceal their whereabouts. The bigger.
Just two days later, the information about the opponent's commander was finally obtained by Castel.
"Guillaume de Bertel-Willet?"
Looking at the name presented, Charlotte was slightly startled.
She clicked her tongue and chuckled:
"It's really Bertel, and he's from the Willett family. No wonder he refuses to talk to Castel..."
As she spoke, she thought for a while and said to Shirley, the maid serving beside her:
"Shirley, go and call Agnes over. She has a new job to do."