While the bandit leader admired the man's courage, he also felt increasingly worried.
If most of the soldiers under the governor are such brave and fearless men, then it would still be unsafe for him to expand his army to 500 people and take advantage of the geographical location.
But now it's good, Fidel doesn't have to worry about future problems.
His clever behavior completely annoyed Dick. He had been thinking about the weather problem and wanted to wait until spring to take action, but he ended up asking for trouble. Dick came to his door on the fourth day after the incident.
Everyone present breathed a sigh of relief when they learned that the liaison officer was still alive.
Dick thought about it and realized that the poisonous gas in the cave had been spreading for more than half an hour, and the more than 300 people should have almost all fallen, so he decided to rush in to rescue them.
He used his telekinesis to lift him up like a puppy and asked him to lead the way to where the liaison was imprisoned. The entourage included Hongye, Yoel and three private soldiers. The rest were commanded by Rita and continued to guard the front entrance to prevent anyone who could move from taking the opportunity to escape.
The invading soldiers switched to non-lethal weapons prepared in advance - iron-clad wooden sticks.
Among so many bandits, there must be some martial artists who have practiced martial arts. Even if such people are poisoned, they should still have a certain degree of mobility. When the time comes, just hit them on the head with a stick and knock them down first.
After everyone entered the cave, Dick asked the captive to lead the way while comparing it with the map drawn by Ayane.
The smell in the cave is quite bad, a complex stench that makes you instinctively dare not think about what the smell is.
The group soon came to the dungeon where the prisoners were being held. Dick spotted the liaison officer hanging naked from a distance and immediately sent someone to untie his chains. He then threw the captive bandit aside like trash and used his telekinesis to put him down as lightly as possible.
The young man was covered in wounds and had lost consciousness, but fortunately he was still breathing.
"Put him on the stretcher and find some more clothes for him. Hongye, go notify Dr. Natasha's military medical team and have them enter the front earth bunker. There are seriously injured soldiers on our side who need treatment."
"Yes."
After Hongye finished speaking, she disappeared from the spot in a flash. The three private soldiers took off the clothes of the surrounding bandits, put them on their own brothers, and then lifted the stretcher and left.
At this moment, a faint cry for help suddenly came from a cell deep in the cave.
“Help! Ah! Ah! Ah!!”
Looking back at the depths of the dark dungeon, Dick cast a lighting magic. Wherever the flying ball of light passed, it illuminated the crudely made cells. Many prisoners were held in them, but most of them were unable to move due to the effect of the poison gas.
Dick didn't let Lily prepare the deadly poison because he was afraid of harming these innocent people.
So Dick ordered three soldiers to take the wounded out first. The remaining threats had been cleared on the way back, and they all remembered the way.
I plan to take Joel with me to check out the situation of the prisoners here first.
Three flares were set off in succession, completely illuminating the entire dungeon. Dick roughly counted and found that there were more than twenty cells in the huge long cave, and most of them were filled with prisoners, some of which were even crammed with multiple prisoners.
The first two cells did not contain any living people, but instead contained two piles of human bones, which were obviously specially prepared to scare the prisoners.
The two followed the cry for help and found a dishevelled man who looked like an Afghan hound in the middle cell. Even though he was poisoned, he still had the strength to call for help. He must be a martial arts practitioner, but no one knew why he was caught by the bandits.
Dick took count and found that including this guy, there were a total of fifty-seven people in the cell. Most of them were in very bad conditions. Some of them had completely motionless chests and were likely to have stopped breathing.
"Hold on, everyone! I'm Governor Laguge, and I'm here to save you. Help will be here soon!"
Although it was unclear how many people were still conscious, Dick shouted loudly.
According to the original plan, thirty minutes after the poison gas spread, each action team would fire a signal flare (a large rocket), and then begin to break into the cave to capture prisoners.
Knight John, who was waiting with his troops outside, immediately led his 200 soldiers forward.
Except for the centurion, most of these people were new recruits recruited before winter. Dick did not let them participate in the combat operations, but was prepared to give them the part of post-war capture of prisoners.
To use Dick's original words at the pre-war meeting, it was to give these rookies a chance to observe and help these local farmers' children get rid of their fear of bandits, so that when they participated in formal anti-bandit operations in the future, they would not make mistakes due to timidity.
Soon, the intruders and the follow-up team took control of the Vulture Gang's lair.
After Natasha's medical team finished the emergency treatment of the liaison, they immediately rushed to the dungeon area to treat the injured. Black Gun Dai dragged a bruised guy to Dick to ask for credit. She pointed at the pig head whose appearance could no longer be seen and said.
"This is the bandit leader Infidel, the one I caught!"
Dick half-knelt and carefully examined the human-shaped pile of rotten flesh for a while. His armor and weapons had been stripped off. He was lying on the ground, breathing more than he breathed out, and it was obvious that he had been beaten up.
"Did you hit?"
"correct."
"Remember not to hit him in the face next time. According to the standard process, this kind of bandit leader should be hanged in public first, and then his head should be chopped off and handed in for the reward. You beat him so badly that even his mother can't recognize him. The people and the superiors might suspect that we are killing innocent people for credit."
"Uh...sorry."
"It's okay. Just be careful next time. You'll get the credit for this time. What a pity. After catching this guy, we have to keep him in captivity for two days. We can kill him after the swelling on his face goes down. What a waste of food."
Infidel, who was lying on the ground, might have heard what Dick said. He was so angry that he coughed several times. His crooked mouth opened and closed, and although no sound came out, it was estimated that he was cursing very badly.
"Give the order to tie up the captives first, and then give them half a dose of antidote to restore their ability to walk. We have limited sleds, so we can only put our own wounded and rescued hostages, and set off for home at dawn. Brothers, my soldiers, this is the largest and most vicious Vulture Gang in Laguge. Now tell me, what is a bandit?"
"It's nothing!"
Hundreds of soldiers responded loudly to Dick's question, and then burst into laughter, while the bandits trembled and curled up like little girls who had just been bullied.
Although Dick used tricks and even some despicable tactics in this battle, the victory was undoubted. The morale of the recruits was boosted and they had the courage they did not have before. Dick would teach them to be cautious again and use strict training to engrave the rules of obedience into their bones.
In the eyes of ordinary noble lords, such an army is already an elite force worthy of pride and boasting, but in Dick's view, it is just barely passing the passing line.
The wounded rescued from the dungeon were handed over to Natasha's medical team, and they were told to pay special attention to the "Afghan Hound". Dick just took a close look at the boy's clothes. Although they were dirty, they were undoubtedly made of high-quality materials. It was certain that the boy's identity was definitely not simple.
However, this guy fainted as soon as he was carried out of the dungeon.
So Dick decided to go check out the bandits’ “treasure trove” first to see how many gold coins had exploded this time.
The bandits' treasure room is usually in their boss's room. Many bandit leaders have the habit of sleeping on piles of gold coins, just like the legendary dragons that collectively crossed dimensions and left this world.
Dick brought his men to Infidel's room and soon found a secret passage under the big bed.
Dick went in and took a look, and saw that it was a sister-in-law who was getting into the head of state's bed... He laughed.
The huge treasure room was truly glittering with gold. The three currencies of gold, silver and copper were neatly stacked in boxes. There were also various gems and antiques that were obviously worth a lot of money, as well as armor, swords and magic props that emitted magical fluctuations.
The things in this room are estimated to be worth thirty to fifty thousand gold coins!
"This is a big fortune. If I had known the bandits were so rich, I should have taken action before winter came!"
"Master, please be steady, everyone is watching us."
"It's so funny. You can't be calm at all. You knew how much of a headache I had before because of the funding gap for territory construction. But the cure for my headache is right here!"
Dick, who was obviously overexcited, hugged Rita, who came over to advise him to pay attention to his image, and gave her a big kiss, then happily began to examine his trophy.
But as he watched, Dick suddenly remembered something.
According to the empire's fucked up laws, although the empire's high-ranking officials supported local lords in actively suppressing bandits, they had to levy taxes on the proceeds from suppressing bandits, otherwise they would not recognize their achievements in suppressing bandits. And the achievements in suppressing bandits were precisely the only way for many nobles to be promoted or avoid being demoted.
The empire has regulations that, except for a few founding fathers like the Best family, all nobles who were ennobled after the establishment of the empire will be demoted generation by generation, and will only retain the title of "Honorary Lord". The fiefdom under the name of the family will be taken over by the imperial royal family.
If one does not want to be demoted and eventually lose his fiefdom, he must find a way to achieve meritorious service or pay a considerable sum of money to the royal family to retain his title.
Since the empire has "frictions" with neighboring countries all year round, there is no shortage of opportunities for war. The border corps on various fronts will release recruitment quotas every year, and inland nobles can voluntarily bring their own private soldiers to participate in the war. If the number is not enough, the emperor will order the nobles in a certain area to share the quota.
If it is a large-scale national war led by the emperor himself, the entire country will be mobilized, and the lords will be required to provide their own soldiers and food to support the emperor according to the level of their titles and the size of their fiefdoms.
However, foreign wars are highly intense and risky. The timid nobles know their own and their own private soldiers' strengths and weaknesses, so as long as they are not forced to join the conscription, they will stay at home and pay the royal family obediently.
But there were also those who were petty, because they didn't want to pay and couldn't afford to offend the bandits, so they killed innocent people and forged merits of suppressing bandits. The imperial high-ranking officials were not fools, so they immediately patched the law and required a commission on the spoils of suppressing bandits, and they would take half of it.
To put it bluntly, the top brass doesn't mind killing innocent people for credit, but the nobles have to pay!
So now a multiple-choice question is placed before Dick.
The Vulture Gang and Infidel were both wanted criminals by the Imperial Ministry of Justice, so his achievements in eliminating them were great. So great that Dick could earn himself a title of nobility with this achievement! Even if the old duke was willing to help out and give his youngest son a hand, Dick might become a viscount.
But the price is that half of the treasure will be taken away by the royal family, and because of the title, unless the old duke is willing to transfer Laguge to Dick, he will have to wait for the royal family to find other unowned land for him to title, which is likely to be a long wait.
So after pondering for a moment, Dick made a decision in his heart.
He hooked his finger at Rita and whispered an order.
"Don't rush to evacuate yet. Identify the bandits on the spot and 'deal with' all the leaders and Infidel. Find a deserted place to bury the bodies. Let the soldiers speak with one voice. We are not destroying the Vulture Gang, but a group of bandits who just fled to Laguge. They are very poor. Oh, right! Say that I will give out bounties on the spot. Soldiers will get three golds each, centurions will get ten golds, and knights will get twenty! Everyone, keep your mouth shut. All news shall be subject to the official announcement of the Governor's Office."
"I understand, I'll do it right away."
After Rita finished speaking, she turned and left the treasure room, while Dick looked at the room full of gold, silver and treasures with a satisfied smile.
Compared to that little bit of false fame, real benefits are more to his liking.
033. The Succubus Governor and the Sassy Maid
The screening of bandits continued until dawn. Including the bandit leader In Fidel, a total of 33 middle and lower-level leaders and their confidants were screened out, taken outside to a secluded grove, and bled one by one like livestock.
Dick used earth magic to dig a big hole in the frozen soil and buried all these guys in it. He thought that when the weather gets warmer next year and the flowers bloom, the flowers and plants in this area will grow especially well.
As for the other captured bandits, they would be taken to the mining area and assigned to coolie camps as slave laborers, working them in the mines until they died. Dick would then add a sentence to the daily report after a while, in the section on banditry: "The Vulture Gang disappeared after moving their lair," thus putting an end to the matter.
I believe that the old duke, who just married his fourth wife, would not be so bored as to send someone to confirm the movements of a group of bandits.
Back at the thieves' den, Dr. Natasha reported to Dick that out of the fifty-seven hostages, their military medical team had barely managed to save forty-three. Eleven had died before they arrived, and three were about to breathe their last breath, but after being rescued, they managed to say their last words before dying.
Most of the hostages were ordinary local villagers who were captured by the bandits as hostages to threaten some surrounding villages. There were also a small number of traveling merchants who were used as hostages and a noble whose identity could not be confirmed.
He's the guy with hair as long as an Afghan hound. He claims to be the eldest son of Count Doberman. He was on his way to the imperial capital to study when he was kidnapped by bandits and taken to this damn place, where he was imprisoned for two and a half years.
Dick couldn't help but feel a little strange when he heard that he had been held captive by the bandits for so long.
Because under normal circumstances, bandits would not keep someone locked up for so long when they kidnap for ransom.
Unless... they are holding a "long-term hostage".
Since he couldn't confirm the other party's identity and it was winter, it was difficult to communicate with Shannan. Dick was afraid that he would not be able to contact Count Dupin's family for a while.
"Anyway, let's go back first, triumph!"
On the way back, the private army was moving very slowly because they had to escort a large number of prisoners walking, so Dick asked the sled team to take the weak rescued hostages first, and he led his men to escort these strong laborers to the mine.
The accompanying soldiers were all very happy. Although they didn't understand why the governor concealed their achievement of defeating the Vulture Gang and only claimed that they had defeated a group of bandits, the real reward money went into their pockets. Unless they were really stupid, they should have cooperated with the governor and pretended to be stupid at this time.
Anyway, their young governor was very capable. The battle was fought easily, and the largest local bandit gang was wiped out with zero casualties. Most of the new recruits who entered the cave were responsible for tying up the bandits who fell to the ground. It didn't take much effort, but they got a reward of three gold coins.
You should know that the annual salary of the lowest-level infantry is only ten gold coins, and this is a high salary that only the duke's private army can get. The salary of the local soldiers of low-level nobles in remote areas is even lower than this.
So three "gold coins" are definitely not a small amount of money.
Since the Governor is so generous, of course whatever he says goes.
Since they were traveling on foot and most of the captives were still in a state of low-level poisoning, it took their large group three full days and two nights to finally reach the mining area.
The villages where they stayed along the way were scared to death. Fortunately, Dick had been strengthening military discipline, which played a certain role at this moment. In addition, he gave the village some accommodation fees, so they were able to live in peace.
When they finally arrived at the mining area, not only were the bandits frozen half to death, but even the private army soldiers who had been well fed and warmly clothed felt a little overwhelmed.
Marching nearly a hundred kilometers in such a freezing cold season is extremely torturous.
The person in charge of the mining area had already been notified that the governor would personally escort a group of captured bandits to the mining area to replenish their understaffed coolie camp, so they made preparations to welcome them in advance.
The current head of the mine is one of the few people who was retained by David, but he is not a member of David's faction. He was originally a middle-level supervisor of the mine, and was oppressed by the former mine manager. He is familiar with the affairs of the mine, so he was promoted by Dick.
This man was also grateful and swore allegiance to Dick to become his retainer. He strictly implemented the new rules issued by Dick in the mining area and managed the huge mining area in an orderly manner.
After Dick and his party arrived at the mining area, the captives were handed over directly to the mining guards, and the escorting private army also provided them with hot soup, meals and barracks for rest.
Dick directly called the person in charge and asked him to take him around the mining area.
The person in charge immediately understood that the leader wanted to inspect the work, and he had actually been looking forward to this day for a long time so that he could show his talents to the master who promoted him.
"Sir, as you instructed, I have improved the living conditions and treatment of the miners and slaves. I ordered a batch of high-quality tools from the ironmongers before winter. Together with the dwarf experts you invited, our mine now only employs less than 8,000 people, but our output has exceeded that of David's time by 30%. The death rate of workers has also dropped significantly, and there has never been a strike again."
"Well done."
"It's all your reform plan, sir. I'm just an executor."
"No matter how good a plan is, it can only work if there are good executors. You don't have to be modest. I am a person who values rewards and punishments clearly. I never mistreat people who are useful to me. What Laguge lacks most now is capable officials. As the governor, I am eager to recruit talented people."
After hearing what Dick said, the person in charge immediately understood.
The governor said that he never mistreats "people who are useful to me" rather than "people who have made contributions", implying that he values both ability and loyalty, and then reminded him that Laguge is short of officials, which is equivalent to painting a pie in the sky for him. The key is that Dick has been working vigorously and vigorously since he took office. Although he is very strict with his subordinates, he is also generous with his gifts. The pie in the sky he painted can really be eaten.
As they walked, they soon arrived at the dwarves' separate living area.
Thanks to the relationship with Master Dickton, this time we hired a professional team that is said to be very famous, and they provide the full range of services from mining to smelting and forging.
When Dick came over, he saw a few dwarves with long beards arguing over the blueprint, so he went over to take a look. One of the old dwarves subconsciously tried to block the blueprint, but when he saw that the person coming was the little long-eared governor whom he hadn't seen for a long time, he was relieved.
If Dick knew that the "title" that the old man had made up for him in his mind was so insulting, he would have to respond with "Mr. Bucket-waisted and Short Oak Stump".
"Mr. Governor, what brings you here?"
