Chapter 209: Military Colonization, A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
“It seems that the military colonization plan needs to be accelerated.” Owen rubbed his temples, which had been throbbing from overthinking, and sighed to Maya.
“I will allocate a batch of supplies from the warehouse and arrange for Howard to train the second batch of military colonization personnel.” Maya nodded.
Owen pondered for a moment and found an option in the Town Center.
The Town Center had branch bases. At level four, there were four slots. Green Shade Town and Mara Town were two of them. Now, to accelerate development, the remaining two must be utilized as soon as possible.
“Prepare to relocate the Barbarian Tribe to the Wild Bull Territory. Grant them a totem pole and rename them the Wild Bull Tribe. Also, inform Bella to take her marching tent and equipment.” Owen decided to use the remaining two slots here.
A Barbarian Tribe and a Nomadic Tribe, perhaps they could play a significant role in the future.
While Owen and Maya were busy with the territory’s development plan, Kayla came to class wearing silver scale armor and carrying a musket.
Seeing the young girl attending the class, Howard rubbed his brows with a headache. He sighed and continued lecturing.
He was no stranger to Kayla. After all, he and Baron Correns were the only ones in the entire territory who had common topics to talk about. So, it was common for them to visit each other. He even intended to create opportunities for his son, hoping to make Kayla his daughter-in-law. Unfortunately, his foolish son was clueless, and the matter was dropped.
Despite this, Howard was not angry. Instead, he regarded Kayla as his junior and therefore did not want her to get involved in this matter. But Ms. Maya’s agreement meant that the Lord had also agreed. Even if he wanted to object, it was useless. He could only ask Charlie and Monk to take care of her and safely escort Kayla to Mara Town. Then, let her father worry about it.
There was not much to train for musketeers. Loading, shooting, maintenance, and that was it. The rest of the training was merely to polish their rough edges, making them understand how to obey orders. Therefore, the training ended after a week. The three, having learned a lot of theoretical knowledge, were ready to set off.
Carrying their backpacks, water bottles, and muskets, with brand new ammunition boxes and bayonets at their waists, the musketeers received a one-handed battle axe as an auxiliary weapon and embarked on their adventure.
They first arrived at Mara Town. By now, Mara Town had already erected a sturdy wall. Thanks to the Floo Network and Space Expansion Bags, a large number of materials were continuously transported. Coupled with the hardworking and capable farmers, civil engineering had always been a strong point of the territory.
Seeing the tall walls and arrow towers, Charlie and Monk nodded in satisfaction. Although their station was not here, Mara Town was their logistics base. As long as the logistics base remained, even if they were defeated, they had a chance to regroup. Otherwise, they would be like stray dogs, killed while fleeing.
At this moment, the town gate opened, and Correns came out to greet them with ten cavalrymen. Charlie hurried forward.
The two had similar backgrounds, but one had already made a name for himself while the other was still striving. Therefore, they had some goodwill towards each other and did not intend to be confrontational.
Correns was not afraid that they were here to seize power, and Charlie was not afraid that they would resort to underhanded tactics. So, after a few rounds of probing, the atmosphere was quite harmonious.
“The camp for you is still under construction, but the tents have been set up. You can go and rest first. I will have someone send over the prepared food later.” Correns did not let them enter Mara Town because they were not yet part of the same system.
This had two implications. Firstly, Correns was the Town Mayor, and he was responsible for the town. He would not allow more than two hundred restless musketeers to enter the town. Secondly, they had not yet been assimilated by the system, so there was still a barrier between them.
Correns had already been assimilated by the system, and his loyalty was fixed. This was why Owen had sent him to Mara Town as the Town Mayor in the first place.
However, assimilation was not brainwashing. Correns was just more loyal to the Lord, more amiable to the people, and more prestigious in the town. His thinking had not changed. He still wanted to stand out and become a noble. So, neither he nor outsiders would notice anything unusual.
Charlie and Monk were not surprised that they could not enter the town. They knew what kind of people their subordinates were. If they caused trouble, whether they shot them or not, it was best to keep them at a distance.
Although military colonization was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, it had everything it needed. The camp not far from Mara Town had already erected fences and tents, and toilets were also built. Only the bathhouse, canteen, warehouse, prison, and so on were not yet completed.
Interestingly, from arrival to departure, the father and daughter, Correns and Kayla, did not speak a word to each other. They did not even make eye contact. But this did not mean that the father and daughter had become enemies. Therefore, Charlie arranged Kayla’s tent between his and Monk’s.
Both of them had ambitions and were not the kind of people who would be immobilized at the sight of a woman. Moreover, Kayla’s family and social connections were the channels they needed most. Therefore, they could not let anything happen to Kayla while she was with them. So, they kept her under their watch to prevent those audacious scoundrels from causing any irreparable trouble.
After just one day of rest, Charlie, Monk, and Kayla led the musketeers to the military colonization site.
To put it bluntly, military colonization was about capturing people to farm. If it were not for the good treatment in the territory, the opportunity to become regular citizens, and the allocation of land and housing, they would be doing the work of slave catchers.
But this job was not easy because they were not capturing refugees but rebels.
Given food, refugees would not rebel if they could avoid starvation. Rebels were different. They preferred to take matters into their own hands, even throwing people into pots to cook, making even Ogres gasp in admiration. That was why they needed to be armed.
However, their luck was not good on the first day. The group of rebels they encountered was stewing meat, and the ingredients were very fresh. Although they had lost their limbs, they were still moaning, perhaps able to last until the next meal.
Facing a group of vicious rebels with bloodshot eyes, Charlie and Monk remained unfazed. Although such scenes were not common, they were not unheard of.
Do not think that life within the Empire was as prosperous as paradise. In reality, the Empire was the one that truly devoured people without spitting out their bones.
Only Kayla’s face was pale and her hands were trembling. Fortunately, she did not lose her composure and vomit. Otherwise, she would be so embarrassed that she could only go home and be a good girl. Because no soldier would obey a female superior who was throwing up.
“Not every place is like Autumn Field Town.” Charlie said to Kayla with some emotion. He had been to many places, and only Autumn Field Town had the happiest people. This was also why he did not dare to open up land near there. Because he could not prevent those serfs who wanted to escape.
“Prepare for battle. These rebels are beyond redemption. Execute them all.” Monk did not have as many thoughts as Charlie. He directly dismounted, picked up his battle axe, and ordered the musketeers around him.
The musketeers were very dissatisfied because if they did not capture the rebels, they would not get paid. But who could blame them when these rebels had eaten people? Few Lords liked to have cannibals in their territory.
“Keep all the spoils of this battle for yourselves. There will be a feast when we return.” Charlie keenly sensed the low morale and immediately spoke up.
As expected, as soon as he said this, the expressions of the musketeers immediately changed from dissatisfaction to eagerness.
