dognovel Chapter 250 250: Have you no heart?!
Chapter 250 250: Have you no heart?!
Henry sat atop his warhorse with a cynical, self-satisfied look etched onto his features, his eyes scanning the carnage of the border with a cold lack of empathy.
' Hahaha, little sister, you really came through for me this time around!' Henry thought to himself, his chest swelling with a pride he couldn't quite control.
In truth, even he had been somewhat skeptical of the plan; he hadn't expected Esmeralda's "contribution" to be this effective or this devastatingly thorough.
He had known she was capable of such things, but seeing the results firsthand was a revelation.
Thanks to the beast tide doing the messy work of eliminating the enemy's forward scouts and border guards, the path ahead was now wide open.
It allowed his forces to seamlessly march into the McClain lands without facing even a hint of organized resistance.
The strategic advantage was massive, and Henry intended to milk every drop of glory from the situation.
As for Esmeralda, he had already seen to it that she was out of the way, having procured a fast carriage for her to return to the family estate long before the main army reached the border.
While he certainly appreciated her help in clearing the board, he wanted nothing more than to claim the lion's share of the fame for this victory.
He knew that by presenting himself as the sole architect of this successful invasion, he would solidify his position as the undisputed heir even further once he returned home.
As the army continued its advance deeper into McClain territory, the column didn't just march blindly forward. Henry's army commander, led specialized squads to branch off and scour the immediate area. Their orders were simple and brutal.
They were to hunt down and slaughter any lingering members of the McClain forces who might have somehow survived the initial encounter with the beasts.
They moved through the forest and the outskirts of the woods like harvesters, ensuring that no witnesses or survivors remained alive to report back to the McClain stronghold.
It was a cold-blooded mopping-up operation that turned the border into a true graveyard.
The soldiers continued their relentless march for several more miles until they crested a hill and came upon a small, peaceful village located just a short distance from the McClain border.
The villagers, mostly farmers and craftsmen, were caught completely off guard by the sudden appearance of a foreign army on their doorsteps.
At first, a few of the younger men tried to grab pitchforks and farm tools to resist the intrusion, their faces pale with shock and confusion.
However, once they saw the sheer number of soldiers pouring over the ridge and the professional coldness of the knights on horseback, their will to fight evaporated.
They were forced to drop their makeshift weapons and submit without a single blow being struck, realizing that resistance against such a force was nothing more than a form of suicide.
Henry watched the surrender with a bored expression before turning to his officers with a series of curt instructions.
He ordered his men to immediately begin pillaging the village's resources, seizing grain, livestock, and any other supplies necessary to maintain the momentum of their forces.
He had no intention of slowing down, and using the village as a makeshift supply hub was the most logical step.
Under his direction, the soldiers began to construct a fortified encampment around the village perimeter, turning the peaceful settlement into a grim military outpost in a matter of hours.
The villagers could do nothing but watch in a state of catatonic grief as their hard-earned possessions were hauled away.
Their homes were broken into, their larders emptied, and their livestock slaughtered for the army's mess kits.
Those few brave or foolish souls who tried to protest or protect their families were quickly apprehended by the Montgomery guards.
To ensure complete compliance from the rest of the population, Henry had these dissenters slain in the center of the village square, their bodies left where they fell to serve as a bloody warning to anyone else harboring thoughts of rebellion.
It was a truly pitiful and heart-wrenching sight, as the wails of the bereaved echoed through the streets, ignored by the soldiers.
The atmosphere within the captured village had shifted from the vibrant buzz of rural life into a stagnant, suffocating silence, broken only by the constant thud of armored boots against the dirt paths.
All the villagers could do was cower within the perceived safety of their homes, peering through cracked shutters with eyes wide with terror as foreign soldiers patrolled their streets as if they owned it all.
Mothers huddled in the darkest corners of their cottages, holding onto their children with trembling arms, their hearts hammering against their ribs as they prayed to any god who would listen for the nightmare to end.
The once-welcoming hearths were now cold, and the air was filled with the horrid scent of blood and the bitter taste of smoke, creating a landscape of pure, unadulterated fear that hung over the settlement like a shroud.
Unfortunately, the misery of the captives was only just beginning, as some of the villagers found themselves targeted by the darker impulses of the occupying force.
The village women, in particular, were the most vulnerable, as their presence happened to capture the wandering, lustful eyes of soldiers who felt emboldened by their recent victory.
In a planned and cruel move to boost the morale of his men and ensure their unwavering loyalty, Henry chose to turn a blind eye to the rising chaos.
He allowed his troops to roam freely, giving them unspoken permission to go about molesting and forcing themselves on the local women without fear of reprimand or punishment.
It was a tactical decision born of pure malice, treating the dignity of the innocent as something to be spent on the satisfaction of his subordinates.
When the husbands and fathers of the village tried to fight back, their desperate resistance was met with the cold, brutality of the trained Montgomery infantry.
Against the superior equipment and combat experience of the invaders, the farmers and laborers stood no chance, and they were quickly beaten into a state of total humiliation.