Chapter 18: Professional shit stirre

shit stirre The translation is inaccurate,It was originally a stick used by farmers to stir up manure. The purpose was to mix the settled human feces evenly and use it to water crops.It is a metaphor for a person who stirs up troubles, makes things worse and smellier, likes to make trouble, stirs up trouble everywhere, and mixes good things into bad things in Chinese.

In the Dragon Mountains, there was a gang of street urchins on horseback.

"The breed of these horses is really good, look at how shiny their manes are."

"That's right, these are Saint Martin's special warhorses, their quality is naturally different."

"Still, my warhorse has the best color."

"White gets dirty too easily, my black one is the best."

...

Most of Alexander's troops were riding horses for the first time, and miraculously, they quickly mastered handling warhorses, a far cry from Alexander, who was a complete novice.

It had to be said, Duke Ferdinand was truly a model of nobility when it came to keeping promises. Not only did he send Alexander a batch of warhorses, but he also sent horse armor and saddles along with them.

In return, Alexander naturally couldn't just keep slacking off. He had already found a path up the mountain.

"Boss, it seems difficult to find them like this, isn't it?" Otto asked.

Alexander nodded, "Of course, the Dragon Mountains are so vast. Without a target, how can we find the enemy's troops?"

Otto was puzzled, "Then boss, what's the point of us wandering around here?"

Alexander explained, "Otto, have you ever seen the sea? If you want to keep the fish you catch moving, you have to put a more aggressive fish into the bucket."

With that, Alexander turned to look at the entire team, "We are that more aggressive fish."

Otto nodded as if he understood, while Viktor's eyes lit up—he seemed to get it.

Alexander's words seemed profound, but in reality, they meant one thing: Become a shit stirre.

When they appeared in the mountains, regardless of whether they found the Empire's army or not, as long as an Empire scout spotted Alexander and his group entering the mountains, it would disrupt the Empire's plans. And indeed, it was the case.

Empire's side: "What? A military force has circled around behind us? Damn it, turn back for a counterattack, we must not let them through the mountains."

Upon receiving accurate information, the Empire's commander immediately led the troops to intercept Alexander.

The problem was that Alexander's troops were all cavalry, highly mobile, never staying in one place for long.

Their whereabouts were unpredictable, not even they themselves knew where they were heading, let alone the Empire's army.

The Empire's forces lurking nearby were quickly alerted, unwilling to have a military force potentially circling around behind them. Thus, they began searching in the Dragon Mountains for Alexander.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ferdinand the Grand Duke also entered the Dragon Mountains and headed towards the Empire's territory.

"Tricked!"

The Empire's commanders were frustrated. By the time Ferdinand the Grand Duke had crossed the mountains, they realized that Alexander's forces were merely a diversion.

Forced to do so, the Empire's troops stationed in the Dragon Mountains had no choice but to immediately turn back to pursue Ferdinand the Grand Duke's army, allowing them to enter the Empire's territory, which was definitely disadvantageous to the overall situation.

Now, within the Empire's territory, chaos reigned.

At least four factions were vying for control:

Representing the Empire's legitimate sovereign authority was the Southern Empire, led by Queen Laya.

Representing the border military forces was the Western Empire, led by Border Duke Andrew.

Representing the northern commercial city-states was the Northern Empire, led by Prince Char.

This group of God sticks who were expelled from the empire a hundred years ago have now formed a powerful order of knights, taking advantage of the civil strife in the empire to fight back, hoping to regain their former supreme power.

In addition to the above-mentioned forces, there are naturally other countries taking advantage of the situation.

The Kingdom of St. Martin will naturally not give up such a God-given opportunity.

King San Martin himself ordered the troops to be sent out. In name, it was to help the "ally" Queen Raya, but in fact, she took the opportunity to attack the city and seize territory.

Their target is naturally the nearest Western Empire.

Since the Western Empire borders the Kingdom of Saint Martin, Duke Andrew of the Frontier naturally knows what the Kingdom of Saint Martin is like, and has prepared his army early to guard against assassinations from the Kingdom of Saint Martin.

He personally led his troops into a fierce battle with Raya and Prince Charles.

After Archduke Ferdinand passed through Longshan, a large area of ​​hills and plains appeared.

This is the battlefield where cavalry comes into play.

Once here, both offense and defense have changed.

The cavalry-based army of the Kingdom of Saint Martin is not particularly capable of fighting on the plains.

The generals of the empire were very reluctant to fight the Kingdom of San Martin on the plains. Unfortunately, if they did not stop Archduke Ferdinand and allow him to wreak havoc, the empire would suffer huge losses.

In fact, while they were rushing to pursue Archduke Ferdinand's army, an army also quietly entered the empire.

Alexander looked back at the Dragon Mountains behind him, then surveyed the open plains ahead. He knew they had entered Empire territory.

"Boss, should we go support Ferdinand Grand Duke?" Viktor asked, noticing signs of Empire troops marching. Following these signs would lead them to Ferdinand Grand Duke and the Empire's army.

"Why?" Alexander smirked.

"But..."

"Viktor, have you forgotten? We're mercenaries. Ferdinand Grand Duke isn't our leader. We fight for money," Alexander patiently explained.

Viktor quickly understood, "You're right. And just in the Dragon Mountains, we've been a big help. They tried to surround us several times, but we escaped because of our speed."

Alexander nodded, "Exactly. We've completed our mission. Now, it's time to get something for ourselves."

He immediately turned his horse and led his men in another direction. Perhaps luck was on their side that day, as Alexander's group stumbled upon a village.

"Let's stop in the village and get some rest, and maybe buy some food. Boss, we didn't bring much with us this time," Viktor suggested.

"Buy?" Alexander glanced at Viktor, a smile creeping up on his face. "We have soldiers, we have weapons, and we're in enemy territory. Why would we buy?"

Viktor caught on, "What's your plan, Boss?"

"Let's go and 'borrow' some food!" Alexander ordered.

With that command, Alexander and his men rode their warhorses roaring towards the village ahead.

"Raise the flag!" Alexander shouted halfway through their charge. Whether or not they raised the flag made a world of difference. If they did, it meant they were plundering in the name of the Kingdom of Saint Martin; if they didn't, it was on a personal basis.

Alexander wouldn't dare to raid in his own name. If he raised the flag, it was clear that he was fighting for the Kingdom of Saint Martin.

In the village ahead, the villagers, seeing a fully armed troop charging towards them, momentarily forgot to flee.

Subconsciously, they thought it was an Empire army passing by. After all, the military power of the Karad Empire was so strong that no other country had breached its borders in a long time.

By the time they realized the truth, it was too late—they had already seen the flag.