Claude had originally thought that he would have some time to rest after taking over Blackmaple Castle. Apart from having 1st Ranger Tribe defend Billy Town and Blackmaple Castle, he also had to clear out any resistance in the Pikleit Mountains.
As the flank of the army, the Pikleit Mountains were located in a secluded area, so there were no signs of resistance. Whether it was the townspeople or the villagers of the seven mountain villages, they all calmly accepted the fact that they were under the rule of a foreign army.
What 1st Ranger Tribe didn't expect was that after the defenders of Blackmaple Castle completed their occupation mission, they received another order from their superiors three days later.
It wasn't a reward for completing the mission. Instead, 1st Ranger Tribe was required to send men to scout out the smuggling routes in the Pikleit Mountains and Askilin Duchy. At the same time, they were to lock down the mountains to prevent any leaks.
One look at the map was enough to tell what the higher-ups were planning, but orders had to be obeyed. Despite the harsh winter weather and snow, the soldiers of 1st Ranger Tribe still had to wear their winter coats and head up the mountain in search of the smuggling tunnels.
Half a month later, Bluefeather set off for Billy Town and took over 1st Ranger Tribe's mission. At the same time, they tread lightly through the snow into the mountains and followed the cleared smuggling routes eastward.
1st Ranger Tribe became Bluefeather's vanguard and scout tribe. They even spent their first night in the wilderness.
Liedefonk took out a bottle of fine wine he carried with him and gave it to every officer of 1st Ranger Tribe to take a sip in celebration of the new year.
On the seventh day of the first month, Year 579 of the Sacred Light Calendar, the Bluefeather Legion appeared out of nowhere. They crossed the Pikleit Mountains in the middle of winter and appeared in the three southern prefectures of the Askilin Principality. They easily conquered the three prefectures.
1st Ranger Tribe, on the other hand, was ordered to stand guard at the main roads to prevent enemy spies and local garrisons from escaping or ambushing them.
"Lieutenant Claude, I think it's best if you take a platoon to guard this place. I won't feel at ease letting anyone else do it," said Liedefonk as he looked at the map with a furrowed brow.
Claude nodded. He knew the place Liedefonk was referring to. It was a hilly area that bordered the Pikleite Mountains.
There was a mountain path that led to the Great Plains of Canas, and another to the east of Askilin. It was a fork in the road.
Although the mountain path was too narrow for large four-wheeled carriages, a small number of pack caravans and people could still pass through.
Considering that even the Bluefeather Regiment was able to cross the Piklete Mountains through the smuggling route, it was not surprising that Major Ledefonk valued this fork.
"I'll equip you with two light infantry cannons and two artillery teams, as well as a group of carrier pigeons and a signalman. You'll take Makeqi's platoon with you.
From now on, we'll send you supplies once a week … "At the same time, Major Ledefonk strengthened the squadron's firepower and manpower.
"Alright, I'll set off in the afternoon," Claude said without hesitation.
Maziq was a veteran. He only joined the Ranger Camp because he coveted the bounty offered by Rosler, the first officer in charge of the camp.
In the beginning, he was rather lucky and managed to ambush four enemy cavalry scouts with his comrades and received his first bounty.
But he wasn't able to gain anything else after that. Instead, he was chased into a sorry state by the enemy cavalry scouts. Three of his comrades were killed and even their heads were chopped off.
Just as he thought he was going to die for sure, he was saved by the other Ranger Battalion soldiers who rushed over.
After three months of recuperation in the infirmary, he was promoted a rank out of the blue and became a sergeant major.
After asking around, he learned that the Ranger Battalion had performed outstandingly in the battle to retake Wilf Hill and had been rewarded by the first prince. The first prince had ordered all the soldiers in the Ranger Battalion to be promoted one rank. Even the injured soldiers in the infirmary had benefited greatly.
After Maziq recovered, he came out of the infirmary and reported to the Ranger Battalion just in time to meet the new recruits. Since he was promoted to sergeant major, he was given the position of acting platoon jarl. He was rather diligent in training the new recruits and was eventually given the title of acting platoon jarl.
However, as a veteran, it was inevitable for him to slack off and play dirty during missions. Every time they went out on a mission, something would definitely go wrong. That was why Major Ledefonk decided to let Claude lead the battalion. He didn't have much confidence in a veteran like Maziq.
However, Maziq was rather well-behaved in front of Claude.
Even though he was seven years older than Claude and had more experience in the military, his rank was lower than Claude's. Claude's plan to take Blackmaple Castle left him in awe.
For a veteran like Maziq, the most important thing was to have fewer casualties. As for whether it would take too long, he didn't care.
As he was the lowest ranking officer, he was only slightly better than a regular soldier. Even so, he couldn't avoid the fate of being the vanguard of the battlefield.
Originally, entering the three southern prefectures of Askilin would have allowed 1st Ranger Tribe and Bluefeather to attack the cities and plunder the territory together, earning them a large amount of merit.
However, Bluefeather didn't want to share the merit with 1st Ranger Battalion.
Everyone knew that the Askilin Dukedom was completely defenseless, exposing its soft underbelly to the Bluefeather Army.
Bluefeather could then sweep through the entirety of Askilin and outflank the anti-Auerian forces in Rimodra from the rear. That would be an achievement that would be recorded in the annals of history.
In order to wash away the humiliation of being trapped in Emilia Plains in Sidins, Bluefeather also wanted to monopolize the merit of conquering the city. That was why Bluefeather ordered 1st Ranger Battalion to guard the main road and split 1st Ranger Battalion into the local guard battalion.
Although Major Ledefonk protested vehemently, a rank higher than him could crush a man. Moreover, 1st Ranger Tribe had received orders from the first prince to cooperate with Bluefeather when they crossed the Pikleit Mountains. They had to obey their orders.
Compared to the unwilling officers like Ledefonk, the soldiers of 1st Ranger Battalion were more than satisfied with their new assignment.
It meant that they had a chance to earn some extra income and wouldn't have to risk their lives on the battlefield.
Claude learned quite a number of ways to earn extra income from Maqic. The simplest was collecting fees for passing through the checkpoints. Of course, a portion of that income would have to be handed over.
The unwritten rule was that 30% of the income would be handed over. As the leader of the battalion, Claude would get 20%, the other officers would get 20%, and the last 30% would be shared among the soldiers.
It was an unwritten rule that the Aueran army used to divide the spoils. Be it setting up checkpoints or robbing people, all the spoils would be distributed according to that rule.
It wasn't just a rule of one country's army. Almost all armies in this era had such unwritten rules. The only difference was the ratio of the spoils.
After a day and a half, Claude arrived at his destination with Maqic's squadron, two five-man cannons, and two light infantry cannons.
According to the information he got from the prefectural capital, there was a village called Squirrel Village near the fork in the road. It belonged to a Baron Norvikewei Flinsland of Askilin.
Naturally, the baron was currently spending the winter in Askilin's capital, Swan Castle, and wasn't in his territory. Squirrel Village naturally became the kingdom's spoils of war.
After entering Squirrel Village, Maqic became lively. He sent his men to capture the frowning village head and demanded that he provide the village's young labourers to build camp. He also demanded that he hand over the village's stockpile of food and other valuables, as well as the villagers' war taxes. Lastly, he asked for a list of widows in the village for him to choose from.
However, the village chief's reply greatly disappointed Mazik and made him fly into a rage. The village chief said that there was not a single able-bodied man left in the village and that they had all been forcibly conscripted into the army, saying that they were going to fight in the Principality of Rimodra.
As for the food and valuables in the stockpile, they didn't exist at all.
After all, this was the baron's territory and all the food and valuables belonged to him. The villagers didn't even have enough food to last through the winter. They hoped that Claude could provide them with some so that they could get through the winter.
So, there was no need to even think about the war taxes. There wasn't a single valuable item in the villagers' homes. Their dilapidated wooden shacks were proof of how poor their living standards were.
As for the widows in the village, there were only two of them. One was in her fifties and the other in her forties.
Claude found it strange that Maqic was looking for widows in the village.
Seeing that he couldn't get anything out of the village head, he pulled Maqic outside to ask him what was going on.
It was one of the unspoken rules of occupation. When troops were stationed in another country, the nearby villages had to provide widows to the camp.
One was to get a job in the camp, such as washing clothes or helping in the kitchen.
The other was to solve the problem of the lower half of the soldiers' bodies and maintain military discipline so that they wouldn't violate the women of good families.
In the cities, there were taverns where the maids could help the hot-blooded soldiers vent their lust. On the other hand, the villages that didn't have taverns had to provide the village widows. This was the only way. Of course, every time the soldiers looked for the widows, they had to pay a certain amount of money.
Some of the widows welcomed the presence of the army as it would give them a way to earn some extra income. At the same time, they might be able to have their own children and rely on them when they grew old.
However, the village head of Squirrel Village said that one of the two widows was in her fifties and the other was in her forties. How could Maqic not be infuriated when he heard that? He cursed the village head for being too cunning.
However, the village head explained that the young ones wouldn't stay in the shabby village and that they would have long gone to the city to make a living.
Claude's horizons were broadened. It was the first time he understood the inner workings of the kingdom's army.
There weren't any officers who would teach him that, nor would there be anyone who would tell him about it. Only after coming into contact with them would he understand that there were so many shady deals going on.
Maqic wanted to station his band in Squirrel Village and send some men to set up outposts on the mountain path.
However, he looked at the layout of Squirrel Village and shook his head to reject the suggestion. He rode his horse around Squirrel Village and found a spot he liked.
It was a gentle slope that jutted out of the cliff, and on it was a stone warehouse that was five to six meters tall. Next to it was a row of four two-story log cabins. There was also a log fence surrounding the side of Squirrel Village.
On one side was a cliff and the three-way fork in the road had a drop of more than ten meters.
On the other side was a tall mountain with a steaming stream flowing down to solve the water problem.
On the other side was a road that led up the mountain. He didn't notice it when he went to Squirrel Village earlier.
The last side was Squirrel Village with a fenced fence in the middle.
The terrain wasn't bad. It was easy to defend and hard to attack.
"What's this place? Whose house is this?" Claude asked the village head.
"This is the baron's holiday home. The stone warehouse is where he stores the mountain goods and food he collects from us. Every autumn, when the goods are full, he sends people to transport them to the city.
The two-storey wooden huts are where the baron stays when he brings his guests and friends to hunt. He comes here once a year to hunt and transport the goods back, "the village head said.