The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

"What's so surprising?"

The young knight glanced at his disbelieving comrades around him.

Only then did the veteran realize that while everyone else looked pale and sickly, the knight actually looked even stronger.

The veterans initially thought it was because the young man was physically strong or had special privileges, but they never expected it to be this privilege.

However, the veteran had never thought of it that way. After all, the knight had talked to him about ideals, noble ladies, and how he had lived and worked with Doug Lars, wanting to kill enemies and get promoted. No matter how you looked at it, it didn't seem like he was an inside man.

The veteran even suspected he was an inside man, never imagining the knight would be.

"You know what? I feel like my beautiful wife is actually an old lady after she takes off her makeup."

Where can I find middle-aged women?

The veteran, mimicking the knight's tone, said, "Don't ask me that."

"Ok."

The knight shrugged and said, "I know where the supplies are. I can take you there tonight."

The people in the room quickly accepted this reality, and once they accepted this premise, they even felt that the matter of defecting to the enemy became insignificant.

The moment the thought of defecting to the enemy arises, the world suddenly seems vast.

"Compared to this."

The veteran asked, "When exactly did you become an inside agent?"

"Guess why they've stopped sending people out on patrols?"

By evening, the veteran finally understood what the knight's answer meant.

The figures darting around at night were no longer scouts from the gray-collar workers or special forces, but rather other inside agents within the Pétain Line.

The knight even greeted the spies quite naturally, and then led everyone to a corner.

"This is it, the designated 'meal pick-up point'."

Before the knight could finish speaking, the veteran and the other soldiers burst into tears and began to wolf down their food.

After they finished eating, the knight didn't rush to take the veteran back. Instead, he asked, "This is different from what you ate before. Do you know what that means?"

"of course."

The veteran wiped his mouth and said, "Tell me, when do we start?"

"About three days later, before we start the operation, we will be given weapons. At that time, everyone will have gray strips of cloth wrapped around their arms. Those with gray strips of cloth are our own people."

"Are they already in such a hurry?"

The veteran looked at the high walls of the fortress behind him. The Pétain Line in the darkness was truly a fortress of despair, making it impossible to even think of attacking it.

"That's right, I originally planned to wait until the last day to confront you all."

The knight explained, "This is no longer urgent; there are indeed very few supplies left in the fortress."

"Were they really all sold?"

Although the veteran was somewhat surprised, he managed to keep his composure. After all, Lars's army had done many outrageous things before, and he had seen it all before.

"That's right, I handled it myself."

The knight lowered his head slightly, his eyes revealing undisguised disappointment, along with some anger.

Upon hearing this answer, the veteran suddenly understood why the young knight who had once told him he wanted to kill the enemy, wanted to be promoted, and even thought that Doug Lars would promote him, had suddenly become an inside man.

Three days passed quickly, and on the night before the uprising, the veteran, holding his musket, sat down with the knight in a corner to wait for dawn.

"Look at the workmanship, look at the materials, this is what a weapon should be."

Every veteran has a special affection for their weapon, but the moment the gray-collar workers' weapons are handed to the veterans, they abandon their old comrades without hesitation.

"No wonder that small place could overpower Governor Doug. Now it seems that Governor Lind is the true master of the North."

This veteran wasn't joking. With his rich combat experience, the veteran understood a lot when he saw the knight's musket, which was exactly the same as his own. Although he didn't have the concept of quality control, he could immediately see the difference between it and the weapons handcrafted by the alchemists on Doug's side.

"I feel like we've defected to the enemy too late. I even know a few of those people who were handing out weapons. They disappeared while on night patrol. I never imagined they'd actually defected."

“This is not called defecting to the enemy, this is called abandoning darkness and turning to the light.”

The knight sat quietly, clutching his weapon. He no longer possessed the sharp edge he had when talking to the veteran before the battle began; in fact, he had become even more composed than the veteran.

Although the distribution of weapons was very quiet, some noise was still inevitable, but the soldiers inside the fortress ignored it.

In this fortress closest to the gray-collar workers, there are mostly soldiers at the lowest rank. Although they are usually inconspicuous, they are extremely familiar with this fortress and even this defensive line. Several irrelevant soldiers who wanted to shout loudly or leak secret reports were controlled. The rest were either inside agents or soldiers who were just watching the show.

After all, most people were too hungry to cause any trouble. Everyone just wanted this bizarre and unpredictable life to end as soon as possible, no matter which side won. Some even joined the uprising that night, since at least they could have a full meal that night.

"What do you want to do after all this is over?"

Looking at the moonlight, the knight struck up a conversation with the veteran first, but before the veteran could answer, the knight said to himself, "I want to find those guys I used to play football with and play a couple more games. It would be best if I could find that old lady next door and apologize to her."

But before the knight could finish speaking, the veteran covered his mouth and said, "Pah, pah, pah! It's taboo to say such things on the battlefield. People who say such things usually don't live to see the next day."

The night ended in a commotion.

Early in the morning, the commander-in-chief of the Pétain defense line began a meeting concerning the life and death of the Pétain fortress in the deepest part of the defense line and the most fortified fortress.

"Commander, my soldiers have been acting strangely lately. They've only been eating one meal a day, but they don't seem hungry at all. I suspect they've all become traitors within the ranks."

One knight looked worried; his men seemed to be becoming increasingly disobedient lately. But the others didn't seem to care much. After all, in this environment rife with rumors, which soldiers would actually obey orders? Besides, some of the things weren't just rumors.

“Knight, you’re mistaken.”

The deputy commander next to the commander-in-chief said, "My soldiers and I are all well-fed. Am I also a traitorous mole?"

The commander-in-chief reassured him, "Knight, you're being too sensitive. The rations I distributed were carefully calculated; how could anyone be starving?"

The knight who raised the question was speechless for a moment. After all, every batch of rations was skimmed off during handling, leaving very little for the lower-ranking soldiers. Could this be said?

"And that's not the main problem anymore."

The commander-in-chief slapped the map on the table and said, "Our supplies have been cut off. We can no longer hold this line. We must find a way to break through and join up with Lord Doug's other troops."

"Isn't it a bit late now?"

The knight who had spoken earlier stood up again and said, "All the cities that supported us have been captured. Where can we go after we leave the defensive line?"

Before the knight could finish speaking, the sound of cannon fire came from outside.

The commander-in-chief's eyes lit up. Was the enemy about to attack? Although the supply lines to the Pétain defense line had been cut off, all facilities were still functioning normally. If they could win, they might even be able to capture some enemy soldiers and exchange them for food.

But at that moment, a guard rushed in, shouting, "Commander, something terrible has happened! The soldiers have mutinied!"

"what?"

The commander-in-chief panicked for a moment. He had come here to take command because he heard that the Pétain defense line was impregnable. His actual skill level was better than Keith's, but not by much. Usually, the affairs of the fortress were mainly handled by the deputy commander.

Thinking of this, the commander-in-chief turned to look at the deputy commander.

"Deputy Commander, what do you think we should do now?"

The deputy commander remained calm and said, "Commander, don't panic. I have a plan to resolve this situation."

The commander-in-chief didn't notice anything amiss when the deputy commander suddenly became so scholarly; he even played along by speaking in ancient Chinese: "Tell me quickly."

Before everyone's eyes, the deputy commander took off his cloak and waved it around. Embroidered on the back of the cloak was a North Wind Bear, the crest of the old Lars family. Doug not only no longer used it, but he also forbade his men to use it, because it was the emblem still in use by the Gray and White Collar rebels.

"We respectfully request that the Commander offer his head!"