The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

In a village, Sam is teaching a young man how to use a grey-collared musket.

"That's right, keep your hand steady, but don't worry about whether you can hit it or not. Once you release the trigger, immediately get back into cover."

The young man fired two shots, both of which missed the target.

"Don't worry, when we get to the real battlefield, whether we hit the target or not isn't that important."

Sam patted the young man on the shoulder and then taught him how to load the gun and how to maintain and repair it.

Such scenes are not uncommon in this village. It's not just young people learning to use firearms; many more are women and even the elderly.

After all, most of the young men in the North had been conscripted.

The young people are studying very hard, not only to protect themselves, but also to protect their land.

The lords' knights and officials on this land have been driven away by the resistance. After her last communication with the Grey Collar, Isa began to learn from them and carry out land reforms behind enemy lines.

Of course, they couldn't do as meticulously as the white-collar workers, and since most of the land belonged to lords, the resistance didn't go smoothly at first.

The local lords might have initially turned a blind eye to the resistance, but once the resistance tried to use the lords' land, they would face fierce resistance.

In this process, Isa adopted Lind's suggestion to start with the remote villages in each territory. The village lords had weak control and encountered less resistance, so the resistance army quickly took actual control of these villages.

Unlike other resistance groups, the one led by Isa did not loot or abuse the people; in fact, they even helped buy and sell food along the way, which earned them considerable fame among the people.

With the support of those small and medium-sized merchants, Isa has now established herself in these villages.

The next step was to distribute weapons to the villagers, organize guerrilla warfare, and gradually surround the lord's main towns.

Although the last time the gray-white collar gave the resistance army—no, it was the snowfield that sprouted many heavy weapons—it was still too much for the resistance army to conquer the city. So the resistance army and the local lords gradually formed a balance, each going their own way and not interfering with each other.

Some lords who had a good reputation and didn't pay heavy taxes were even able to collect a normal amount of tax as usual. In the end, those lords reluctantly accepted the rule of the resistance army, which was a way to leave themselves a way out.

The minor lords dared not openly confront the resistance forces and villagers equipped with muskets, while the major lords were somewhat helpless against guerrilla tactics unless they organized a large-scale encirclement and suppression campaign.

While these great lords' power expanded greatly under Doug's command, the price they paid was providing Doug with an army, to the point that Doug had to personally organize the current level of encirclement and suppression.

Finally, these lords thought about it and realized that the resistance had only occupied the surrounding rural areas, and these were mostly small villages. The land loss was not significant, and the original population had been conscripted by Doug, so there was not much output. Therefore, they were too lazy to deal with the resistance any longer.

In the end, more and more villages, guided by the resistance army, formed settlements and began to help and watch over each other.

As Isa watched the village gradually regain its vitality, according to Lind, this place could already be considered a base behind enemy lines. Although Doug was still ruling on the surface, the lords here could no longer collect taxes in these places and had basically given up control over them.

It's hard to say who the lords who are still able to collect taxes actually work for; they seem to be playing the traditional noble skill of sitting on the fence.

Some lords would even tip off the Doug Army when they were about to enter their territories to annihilate them, since the villages under the resistance could collect more taxes than before. Even if the land itself had not yet started producing anything, the group of small and medium-sized merchants who followed the resistance could provide a lot of normal taxes, as long as the local lord did not collect taxes three times.

Finally, the resistance even helped some lords maintain order in their local territories and punished officials who levied taxes arbitrarily, demanding taxes three times a year.

The atmosphere in these territories is strange yet somehow reasonable.

In fact, according to Lind's original plan, it was impossible to help these lords collect taxes; the money should have been kept for the resistance army to use themselves.

However, Isa, who was behind enemy lines, had a better understanding of the current situation. The resistance army had the support of the gray and white collars, and did not lack resources or need these taxes to maintain the army. Moreover, these villages could not collect much tax, but they could use this to ease relations with the local lords and reduce the pressure on the resistance army. Therefore, Isa chose this strategy according to the local conditions.

Of course, this situation is not common. Most lords still have obvious hostility towards the resistance, but they are helpless against it. Moreover, the resistance has not really threatened the foundation of these lords' base. They consider the major cities that are their base, so they choose to compromise.

The encirclement and suppression by Doug's army has never stopped.

Although Doug's upgraded firearms initially caused considerable trouble for the resistance, the two sides differed not only in military skills and discipline but also in weaponry. Furthermore, Isa was always the first to obtain intelligence on the other side, so the resistance did not fall into a significant disadvantage.

However, Isa did not relax. After analyzing the situation, Isa prepared to iterate her tactics. Although Doug's army began to equip all of them with muskets, it also meant that they could capture more muskets after defeating Doug's army.

Furthermore, since they were both produced by gray-collar workers, the captured bullets could be used directly by the resistance forces, and they could resupply on the spot when they ran out.

As for the captured muskets, the resistance already had muskets that grew in the snow, so they certainly didn't need these new ones. However, these muskets could be distributed to the people along the way, and they could be taught how to use them.

Soon, more and more civilians in the areas where the resistance was active had weapons and were no longer so afraid of dealing with ordinary soldiers.

Under these circumstances, Isa finally managed to stabilize the resistance forces.

With the advent of firearms, there was no longer a distinction between civilians and soldiers. Moreover, in order to protect their property and the land they had just been allocated, villagers often displayed a stronger fighting spirit than soldiers. Under such circumstances, in some areas with fierce local customs, the Dogg Army did not even dare to look at them.

"Your Excellency, here is a letter from the Governor."

Layton returned to the village with his patrolling soldiers, bringing with him the latest letter.

Isa breathed a sigh of relief after reading the letter.

"The Pétain Line has been breached, and the governor is about to launch an attack."

"Really? That's great."

Layton and the soldiers around him cheered.

Each time, the bards and the Gold Merchant Alliance brought not only weapons, supplies, and letters, but also many newspapers and magazines for the gray-collar workers. The warriors at least knew that there was a place where people could live and work in peace and that there was a place supporting them.

Although many people have never set foot on the land of gray and white-collar workers, they have already regarded themselves as people of that place.

"But the next encirclement and suppression is coming soon."

Isa looked at the villages with lingering reluctance.