Chapter Thirty-Five Revenge

  Count Laatzel issued orders to stop plundering, but for the poor and greedy lower soldiers, such opportunities to plunder wealth were not many, so Count Laatzel's army dragged on in Brunswick for about a few days. These few days allowed the Duke of Saxony to lead his troops back to Brunswick in time, but Count Laatzel was still unaware of this important news.

  "Ah, ah~~~." In the camp on the outskirts of Count Lautrec's estate, several tents with flags bearing the emblem of a bloodthirsty boar stood nearby. A woman's scream came from one of the tents, and several soldiers carrying firewood passed by, revealing lewd smiles, but they didn't stop and hastily left.

  "Hmph, hmph, humph. Those damned guys, daring to look down on me, one day I'll let you know the ferocity of Grover." The eldest of the three wild boar brothers, Grover, had a naked body with a chest full of short, hard black hair. His ugly face was flushed red, looking terrifying. Under him, a village girl was stripped and looked like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, her long hair scattered on her snow-white chest. In the corner of the tent, two girls were squatting with their faces buried in their knees, their clothes tattered and dirty. They trembled all over, occasionally lifting their heads to look at this ugly monster's ravage of their companion, but quickly burying their heads again.

  "Spare me, please!" The village girl trembled all over, her voice shaking as she begged for mercy from Gorfath. Her beautiful blue eyes were filled with terror, and she tried to shrink away from the ugly monster in front of her, but her limbs were firmly tied to the wooden stakes. Even though her hands and feet were rubbed raw and bloody by the coarse ropes, Gorfath showed no pity.

  "Hmm." Grover picked up a pair of specially made iron tongs from the table beside him.

  He was filled with excitement and anticipation, his smile gleaming as he used the iron pincers to grip the girl's breasts, twisting and turning them mercilessly. The tent echoed with the girl's anguished screams once again.

  The screaming continued for a long time, and eventually the tent finally calmed down. When Grover came out of the tent with satisfaction, his face was much brighter. He picked up a piece of linen hanging outside the tent to wipe off the blood stains on his body, put on his leather armor, and walked towards the direction of Count Lauterbach's camp. Two soldiers rushed into the tent to clean up the aftermath for this terrible monster.

  "Ugh, it's really terrifying." The soldiers saw the corpse of a girl covered in blood in the tent, and even they, who had seen many corpses on the battlefield, couldn't help but tremble. The corpse was no longer recognizable as a girl, but rather a bloody gourd completely soaked in fresh blood, with various iron tools placed beside it, also stained with flesh and blood.

  "God forgive..." A soldier made the sign of the cross on his chest, thinking to himself that he was just a soldier following orders, and if God blamed anyone, let him blame that terrible monster.

  The girl's body was buried under a hill where many slaughtered villagers had met their end, and the ugliest aspects of war were soon forgotten as the nobles' struggle continued, with Brunswick men burning for revenge in their hearts, waiting for the moment to strike back in the dense forests and hills.

  "Detestable devil, detestable Count of Lausitz, may God curse you, may the devil devour your body and soul." Colin and his fellow countrymen hid in a dense forest, Brunswick's flat terrain made it good arable land, as the gentry of Brunswick usually lived an idle and peaceful life, although they had long known about the dispute between the Duke of Saxony and the Duke of Meissen, but usually the battles between nobles would not involve them, let alone that the battlefield was mainly in the county of G?ttingen, which was also a distant neighboring province for them. But who would have thought that this devilish army led by Count Lausitz would suddenly attack Brunswick County, where they burned, killed and looted everywhere, even the gentry did not hesitate to kill at will, such behavior made the people of Brunswick deeply resentful.

  "Don't be impulsive, just relying on our people can't withstand this army, we must wait for the opportunity." An old villager, holding Colin's shoulder, comforted him.

  "That bastard killed my father and brother, I won't let him off, I must cut down Count Lauterbach's head with my own hands and hang it on my house for a thousand years." Colin said with tears streaming down his face, gnashing his teeth.

  "Someone is coming, someone is coming." Just then a horseman, a self-cultivating farmer, came towards them and spoke hastily to Colin.

  "Are they the Earl of Lauderdale's men? I'll take them on." Colin's eyes blazed with fury as he drew his ancestral broadsword, beckoning to the men of his clan. They were already incensed and responded with a shout, producing dirks, crude bows and pitchforks.

  "Boom, boom." But what appeared before them was not Count Lauvitz, a troop of cavalry with gleaming armor emerged before them, the knights holding long lances, sword-bearing attendants shouting to each other, tall and sturdy North European heavy infantry wearing leather armor held round shields and shiny battle-axes, light infantry also marched in neat steps under the leadership of their officers.

  "That, that is." Colin hastily climbed up a high place, he looked up and saw a flag composed of yellow and black, the flag was familiar, he suddenly shouted with joy, "It's the Duke of Saxony, our lord has come."

  As a medieval rights structure, the Duke of Saxony had ruling rights over the three counties, but medieval people generally followed what was called customary law, which was their way of life for thousands of years by rural compact. Therefore, the duke actually did not have much governing power over the lower gentry, and could not mobilize these gentry during wartime. The gentry only paid a little money and grain to avoid military service with an attitude of escapism. However, the plundering and burning of Count Brawls' estate ignited the anger of the Brunswick gentry who held land, they broke through the scattered sand state and gathered in twos and threes with horses and weapons towards the Duke of Saxony's army, and the duke's army gradually grew larger.

  "What did you say? The Duke of Saxony is leading thousands of horsemen towards us." When Count Lauzitz received the scout's report, his face turned alternately pale and red, he couldn't believe that the Duke of Saxony had come up with those several thousand horsemen from somewhere. Had the main war already moved here from G?ttingen? Why didn't Duke Meissen tell him a word about it.

  "It was those Brunswick gentry who joined the Duke of Saxony's troops," the scout hastily said, the Duke of Saxony's own knights in their bright armor forming a stark contrast with the surrounding troops made up of gentry, but even so they were no match for the enemy's superior numbers, let alone the fearless and warlike Duke of Saxony himself leading the charge.

  "We are only a thousand men, this is not an opponent, why don't we retreat immediately?" Count Lauvitz's chamberlain hastily suggested, it's not the time to show off, who wins and loses without fighting.

  "Alright, let's retreat quickly." Count Lauteritz also became disheartened and no longer cared about achieving merits; at this point, being able to return alive to his own territory was already a problem.

  But Count Lausitz forgot that he had plundered too much in Brunswick, the baggage was severely overloaded, and the other soldiers also carried full bags on their backs, the morale had long been disheartened. When the order to retreat was given, there was still some order at first, but soon it became chaotic, generals could not find soldiers, soldiers could not find generals, except for the palace knights who remained calm, the other soldiers had long forgotten what discipline was.

  "Rumble~~~." Just as Count Lauterbach was busy loading his spoils of war, the sound of horseshoes rumbling came from the mountain slope outside the camp. On the horizon, a cavalry unit appeared, wearing chain mail and holding lances. They formed a wedge-shaped formation, with an elderly knight at the forefront, his white hair and beard fluttering in the wind as he raised his sword high above his head, shouting battle cries as they urged their powerful warhorses forward.

  "It is the Duke of Saxony, quick, defend quickly." Count Lauzitz lifted his head and saw a cavalry unit rushing down from the hillside, with flags bearing the duke's banner wrapped in blue sashes. He immediately realized that the disorder of his troops had attracted powerful enemies.

  "Hurry, hurry, lancers forward!" The imperial knights hastily mounted their horses, they squeezed through the crowd and loudly organized their troops. The imperial knights wanted to use their own bodies to form a defensive line to avoid the devastating blow of the army. Although Count Lauterbach was a greedy and unwise guy, his knights were elite warriors. Soon before the attack by Duke of Saxony, the imperial knights formed a line and pointed their lances at the enemy.

  "In God's name, charge!" The Duke of Saxony led the way, riding his horse and shouting loudly. The Saxon knights leaned forward in their saddles, their lances straight and aimed at Count Lauvitz's men and horses. The warhorses snorted and galloped with all their might.

  "Grey law~~~." Two elite knights collided violently, and instantly the warhorses' neighing sounds, the snapping of lances, the dull thuds of maces striking shields, and human screams rose up on this plain.

  "Hold on, hold on, kill the Duke of Saxony!" The Imperial Knights shouted loudly, mobilizing their soldiers' morale. Under the reminder of the knights, some of Count Lauzitz's soldiers plucked up the courage to surround the Duke of Saxony with weapons in hand. Long weapons were still quite powerful in close combat, and several Saxon knights' war horses were stabbed to death, causing the Saxon knights to fall off their horses. The Duke of Saxony swung his sword left and right under the protection of his knights.

  "Wah wah wah~~~." Just as Count Lausitz saw the surrounded Duke of Saxony, a loud shout came from the hillside, and countless Saxon infantrymen rushed towards here with their weapons and shields in hand, like dense ants.