dognovel Chapter 246 The dove takes over the magpie's nest
Chapter 246 The dove takes over the magpie's nest
1452 Summer
Although the southwest region is synonymous with remoteness and barbarism in the history of the Kingdom of Midland, as the only large city in the southwest region, Mondemarsan has always been the pearl of successive kings.
Not only because it has a population and building scale far exceeding that of the surrounding areas, but more importantly, as the largest royal territory in the southwest, Mont-de-Marsan symbolizes the king's rule over this land. It can be said that Mont-de-Marsan is equivalent to the local version of Wyndham.
As one of the many large buildings in Mont-de-Marsan, the Embassy, which is dedicated to receiving the king's envoys, has always been the second largest building after the Mont-de-Marsan Conference Hall. In addition to the magnificent building itself, the Embassy is maintained every day. The glittering exterior and the royal emblem inlaid with gold in the center of the building make everyone who passes by sigh at the wealth and power of the king thousands of miles away.
In a room in the embassy, Count Hoss, who had become a marshal, sat on a chair behind his desk. Although there were some documents scattered on the table, Count Hoss was not in the mood to read them. Instead, he supported his head with his left arm and looked out the window boredly. Only his fingers tapping on the table showed that he was actually worried.
"Sir, a messenger has come to report."
The voice of the guard at the door made Earl Hawes stop what he was doing. After rubbing the back of his neck and adjusting his sitting position, he asked the guard to bring the messenger in.
The messenger who came from afar saluted Earl Hawes and handed the letter to the desk with both hands. After opening the letter and reading the contents, Earl Hawes closed his eyes, exhaled lightly, and said slowly:
"It's finally here."
After ordering the messenger to leave, Earl Hoss closed his eyes and rested in the chair, as if the previous series of defeats had not affected his mood at the moment.
Earl Hawes had guessed in advance that the newly appointed Governor of the Southwest might be the person sent by the King to check and balance him, but Earl Hawes was also prepared for this.
According to Count Hawes's plan, as soon as the governor arrives, he will contact the Mont-de-Marsan City Council, Chamber of Commerce and a series of other forces that are friendly with him to jointly trip up the governor and make it impossible to implement any new policies of the governor.
If this goes on for a long time, even if the king is angry with Earl Howth, he can use the excuse that "the governor's poor execution has led to difficulties in supplying the army". Coupled with the instigation of some of Windham's allies, the punishment he gets in the end is at most being dismissed from his post and withdrawn from the front line, which is exactly what he wants. He was originally engaged in party struggles in the rear, but was suddenly transferred to a remote area, which directly disrupted his layout in Windham. Now he must return to Windham as soon as possible to take charge of the overall situation, so as to prevent some people with ulterior motives from encroaching on his interests.
However, good things come in pairs, and the arrival of another piece of news made him ecstatic, that is, the governor this time was John, who had been his enemy before. Earl Hawes still remembered clearly that the court had cheated him out of 500 gold coins that day. Money was naturally not lacking for him, but the harm was not strong, and the insult was extremely great, so that for a period of time afterwards, Earl Hawes became a laughing stock among some local nobles, and even his allies expressed doubts to him euphemistically.
Thinking of this, several veins appeared on Count Hoss's Behelet-shaped head, and he put the envelope together. After all, this was one of the few failures in his life, and it was a very shameful one.
In his eyes, a momentary humiliation must be compensated by a hundredfold price. If he could successfully make John lose his foothold in the southwest, the king would surely be disappointed in him; if the consequences were more serious, John would certainly be punished by the king.
As a court earl, Earl Howth had no territory, and unless he rebelled, he would at most be dismissed from office. But John was different. He was a local noble with territory, and if he caused particularly serious consequences, there was a high probability that part of his territory would be reduced. Being able to cut off the opponent's flesh and arms at the cost of his own skin was a good deal.
Looking at the blue sky in the distance, Earl Hoss felt much better. He walked to the window, overlooking the people in Mont-de-Marsan, and thought to himself:
"This time, we must make the Southwest Governor's Territory the place where John will be disgraced!"
However, a week later, looking at the blue sky and white clouds outside the same window, Earl Hawes felt extremely tormented in his heart. The reason was nothing else but that John was missing.
Ever since John entered the Southwest Governor's Territory last week, there has been no news about him. No matter how hard the scouts searched, they could not find any trace of John's army. It was as if John and his army disappeared from this world in an instant.
"Report to the Lord!"
A scout pushed the door open and came in. After saluting the anxious Earl Hoss, he said:
"We have found out where Count John is. He is stationed with his troops in the city of Causse, north of Mont-de-Marsan."
"Kas?" Count Hoss didn't have much impression of this place, or rather, he didn't know many towns in the entire Southwest Governorate except Mont-de-Marsan.
But it was too late now. The army of the Lana Kingdom had already occupied the mountains on the border. The entire Southwest Governorate could be invaded at any time. It was impossible to rely on his weak army. John's victorious army was necessary to stop the other side from advancing.
"Come on, prepare the carriage to go to Cass City!" Count Hoss made the decision in an instant. As a marshal in the war against Lannes, if he lost Mondemarsan before John took office, the king would definitely deal with him first. Not only would he fail to deal with John, but he would also be regarded as a waste in the eyes of the nobles.
Thinking of this, Earl Hawes immediately got on the carriage, and after an afternoon of bumpy ride, he finally arrived at the city of Cass before the sun set.
But when Earl Hawes met John, he found that the governor was leisurely enjoying the local specialties, as if he was not here to be an official but rather to travel.
"Earl John, no, Governor John, what are you doing here?"
When asked, John pointed to the dishes on the table and said:
“As you can see.”
At this moment, Earl Hoss's head was like a Behelet that could turn into a god's hand. He slammed the table and shouted angrily:
"Earl John, aren't you afraid that His Majesty the King will sentence you for malfeasance?"
"Ok?"
John calmly put a piece of beef into his mouth, then wiped his mouth and asked:
"Malfeasance? How have I been malfeasant in my duty? Am I not in the Southwest Governorate? His Majesty the King asked me to take up my post in the Southwest Governorate, but he did not specify which city I must go to. Why are you so concerned?"
This made Earl Hawes speechless for a while, but he soon continued to question:
"Don't you know what the current situation on the border is? The Southwest Governorate is in danger, but you are enjoying yourself here. Isn't this dereliction of duty?"
However, when he said this, he found that John's eyes briefly revealed a hint of cunning, and then John continued:
"Oh, you mean to let me go to Mont-de-Marsan, right? I want to go there too, but isn't that already the front line?"
"What front line? How come I don't know about it? Governor John, please don't slander me maliciously!" Earl Hawes didn't understand and could only continue to talk back.
"Isn't it the front line? Then why is Marshal Hoss, who should be commanding the battle on the southwest border, stationed in Mondemarsan, the heart of the Governor-General's Territory? Could it be that the southern part of the Governor-General's Territory has already fallen?"
These words hit Earl Hawes directly in the heart, because he really lost all the border mountains and had no choice but to return to Mont-de-Marsan, the only place that could withstand the siege of a large-scale army. Although it could not achieve what John said, if John did not come, the fall of the southern part of the Governorate would only be a matter of time.
While Earl Hawes was sweating profusely and didn't know how to respond, John continued to exaggerate and said:
"Even if the border was lost, you should have been commanding the battle in Monde Marsan. Why are you rushing north now? Could it be that Monde Marsan is going to be lost too?"
"No, no, no, Governor John, please be careful with your words. You should have confidence in the king's army. The front line has only suffered a setback right now, and it has not yet reached the situation you said. So as the highest officer in the governor's territory, please hurry to Mont-de-Marsan to take up your post." Upon hearing this, Count Hoss immediately waved his hand and said, if John really told this to the king, no matter it was true or false, the king would definitely send a special envoy to check it out, and in the end his own failure on the front line would still be exposed.
"Oh, I would like to go too, but you may need to move to another place. After all, you and your army have been in Mont-de-Marsan, which makes me feel uneasy about the front line. Moreover, I am new to the position and I have too many people with me. The embassy may not be able to accommodate two of us. So please ask Marshal Hoss to lead the army to the front line, and I will stabilize the rear and provide you with supplies. What do you think?"
Faced with this proposal that almost explicitly meant to drive them away, Earl Hoss had no cards to support him even if he wanted to refute it. If he continued to drag it on, no one knew when Lana's army would attack.
"Okay, then it's a deal. I'll go to the front line and you'll stay in Mont-de-Marsan." After the discussion, Count Hoss left the place without looking back.
After he left, John ordered the dishes to be removed and replaced with a map of the southwest region, which marked towns and villages, river crossings, and even mountain fords.
Looking at the generals on both sides, John began to assign them the next military tasks:
"Don't worry about the southern part of the Governor's territory for now. Appoint a White Wolf Knight and a Crusader Knight to take over each of the remaining towns and villages belonging to the royal territory. The remaining soldiers will follow me to Mont-de-Marsan."