"How many casualties?" Linde asked, looking at Nameria not far away, who was still dismounting her armor with the help of a few handmaidens, not yet out of the excitement of battle.
Scarface, who had set out with Nameria to suppress the bandits, immediately stepped forward and replied, "Seventeen dead, thirteen injured, three of whom are very seriously injured and will not be able to fight again even after they recover." He paused, then added, "The casualties were all from the Tengshi Town guards; our people suffered no losses."
Linde turned to look at Scarface and said in a deep voice, "Don't say such things again in the future. The Tengshi Town guards are also our people, understand?"
"Yes, my lord." Scarface nodded.
As Tengshi Town became more prosperous, bandits from surrounding areas continuously approached. Although White Deer Wenda's people could deter some bandits, that was only for small groups. Once the number reached one or two hundred, White Deer Wenda found it difficult to completely stop them.
Therefore, Linde and Nameria also needed to periodically cooperate with White Deer Wenda to clear out bandits attempting to approach Tengshi Avenue.
Initially, Linde would personally lead the team because those bandits were too easy to deal with, feeling like using a Greatsword to kill a chicken. So later, he fully entrusted it to the warlike Nameria, and he only dispatched the Second Cavalry Regiment to assist.
The bandit group eradicated this time was one that had migrated from the Stormlands, numbering nearly three hundred. Many of them were people who had previously fled from the Mander River to the Stormlands and had now returned as collaborators.
This bandit suppression was also Nameria's third operation after expanding her army. The final result was not particularly satisfactory, with the death toll reaching double digits, which was clearly a side effect of the large-scale expansion.
A month had passed since the oath was signed with Rhys Farwell for the exclusive procurement merchant. With a sufficient supply of equipment, Linde's Cavalry Regiment and Nameria's garrison guards had both expanded accordingly.
However, Linde, who emphasized elite soldiers and strong generals, and with the warhorses not yet delivered, did not expand many people, only less than a hundred, most of whom were Free Riders and mercenaries who had heard the news and come.
All these people were incorporated into Scarface's Second Cavalry Regiment, temporarily serving as Rangers and responsible for patrolling Tengshi Avenue.
This should be the last time Linde hires so many Free Riders and mercenaries. Although these people all have excellent skills and can immediately form combat power, they are used to freedom and have a lax character, unable to adapt to the strict discipline of a true army. That is why Linde incorporated them into the Second Cavalry Regiment, which is mainly composed of mercenaries, rather than into the Royal Guard.
Compared to Linde, who only expanded by less than a hundred people, Nameria expanded her garrison guards by three hundred people, and all of these people were not residents of Tengshi Town but refugees from the Riverlands.
Duke Tywin's army withdrawing from the area west of the Mander River was no secret. In fact, before the withdrawal, Duke Tywin actively publicized that the bandit suppression plan targeting the Golden Road had been successfully completed, and withdrawing and disbanding the army became a matter of course.
However, while withdrawing his army, Duke Tywin also plundered all of Nameria's nominal territory west of the Mander River, taking everything that could be taken, destroying everything that could be destroyed, and even burning the nearly ripe wheat. As for the people in those villages, not a single one was left behind, all abducted to the Westerlands, effectively clearing out that area.
However, often people's desires cannot be stopped by distant commands. Duke Tywin's order to plunder was aimed at Nameria's nominal territory, but the army dispatched to execute this task, after completing it, had already become red-eyed from looting, directly disguised themselves as bandits, and began plundering the surrounding areas.
Even more, Duke Tywin's two mad dogs, Amorey Lorch and Gregor Clegane, directly crossed the Blackwater River and went to the Riverlands to rob. By the time Duke Tywin received the news and sent troops to arrest the two and bring them back to Casterly Rock, the villages in the Riverlands near the Blackwater River had been greatly harmed, and a large number of refugees directly poured into King's Landing.
Although King Robert sent an envoy to order Duke Tywin to King's Landing to explain the matter, Duke Tywin used an old injury relapse as an excuse to send him back. At the same time, Duke Tywin also sent over a hundred heads, publicly announcing that these executed people were the rogue soldiers who robbed the Riverlands this time.
In reality, everyone with discerning eyes knew that these hundred-plus people were just over a hundred prisoners used as scapegoats, but this scapegoat was a very good step, and Duke Tywin was also willing to compensate the lords for their losses.
As for those lords, although they appeared to suffer heavy losses, in reality, they profited greatly from it because they could use the law of territorial defense to declare that the fleeing refugees automatically abandoned their existing land, and this already cultivated land was all reclaimed by them.
It seemed that Nameria's method of reclaiming the territory west of the Mander River was similar to this method, but in reality, there was a fundamental difference between the two: one was uncontrollable Free Folk, and the other was liege subjects who should be protected by oaths.
Ultimately, this farce ended with Duke Tywin paying compensation, the Riverlands lords increasing their private cultivated land, and the refugees having nowhere to appeal.
During this process, there was also a small interlude. Linde had Nameria, as the Earl of Tengshi Town, send a letter of complaint to the Iron Throne, complaining along with the Riverlands lords about Duke Tywin's plundering of the territory. As a result, Duke Tywin also compensated her, and most of the expenses for her subsequent army expansion came from this compensation.
Compared to other territories that were extremely repellent to refugees, Tengshi Town, which was in the process of regaining control over its territory, was very welcoming to these refugees.
Under Linde's conscious guidance, most of the refugees gathered in King's Landing came to Tengshi Town and became its liege subjects.
For this, Prime Minister Jon Arryn even awarded Nameria a commendation letter, praising her actions for sharing the nation's burden, as these refugees had become a big problem for King's Landing while they were there. Now that someone was willing to take them in, the Iron Throne was naturally happy to see it happen.
After those refugees became liege subjects, Nameria did not allocate them to the eight villages that had been recovered. She accepted Linde's suggestion, re-demarcated a piece of land, and let these newly joined liege subjects build their own villages. A portion of the young and strong among them were selected and joined the Tengshi Town garrison guards.
The expansion of the garrison guards inevitably led to a significant weakening of Tengshi Town's defensive combat power. The dozens of casualties in the recent bandit suppression operations, despite having an absolute advantage, were the best proof of this weakened combat power.
However, Linde did not say anything, as these casualties were predictable. Before the expanded personnel completely transformed into warriors, such casualties would continue.
"There was a good fellow among the bandits this time. He could actually take two of my axes head-on. I originally wanted to capture him alive, but I didn't expect that guy to turn and run away. I directly chased after him, grabbed his nose, and smashed him against a rock. His face was completely smashed."
After returning to the office, Nameria, while personally wiping and oiling her Great Axe, excitedly recounted the details of the battle to Linde. This had become her habit.
Linde listened quietly from the side, occasionally pointing out problems that arose during her combat.
It must be said that after undergoing the baptism of real combat, Nameria's combat ability improved rapidly, as if she was born a warrior. As long as Linde pointed out her combat problems, she could quickly correct them.
In her most recent sparring session with Linde, she performed much better than Red Viper. With Linde using his Lost Country Knight's Greatsword, she not only withstood three consecutive attacks from Linde but also launched a very dangerous counterattack, which was much better than Red Viper being completely passive throughout.
However, this does not mean that Nameria's strength has surpassed Red Viper. Her excellent performance was only because she was familiar with Linde's attack style, unlike Red Viper, who was only encountering the Lost Country Knight's swordsmanship for the first time.
"Did you send someone to investigate the situation on the west bank of the Mander River? Do you have results now?" Linde asked as Nameria put her Great Axe back on the weapon rack.
"Ruins, all I saw were ruins. Let alone people, there wasn't even an animal. All the farmlands were burned, the wells were filled, and even the Septs were destroyed by those guys from the Westerlands." Hearing this question, the excitement on Nameria's face quickly faded, and resentment surged.
Although those Free Folk were not Nameria's liege subjects, they were more like a group of bandits who forcibly occupied Nameria's land. However, the land destroyed by the Westerlands army belonged to her, and it was understandable that she would feel angry seeing her land arbitrarily trampled upon.
However, after sulking, a smile appeared on her face again, and she said, "But I was lucky. Someone found some good things over there."
As she spoke, Nameria took out a short note from her pocket and handed it to Linde.
Linde took it and looked at it, immediately becoming serious. After returning the note to Nameria, he asked, "Who else knows about this?"
"Besides the person who discovered it, only you and I know." Nameria paused during her reply, then added, "And the nearby Free Folk should also know."
"Nearby Free Folk? You mean the Free Folk who were abducted by Duke Tywin?" Linde asked, stunned.
Nameria nodded.
Linde frowned, pondered for a moment, and said, "It seems we need to advance some plans. I'm going to the Savage Tribes in Buttocks Ridge tomorrow. Do you want to come with me?"
"Of course." Nameria excitedly responded.
The information recorded in the short note Nameria took out was simple: a silver mine had been discovered in Nameria's territory on the west bank of the Mander River. The mine entrance was concealed by trees and showed signs of excavation, likely by those Free Folk without authorization.
Although the value of a silver mine is far incomparable to a gold mine, for a minor lord like Nameria, a silver mine is already enough to allow her to grow tenfold or even more.
Because of those Free Folk, Duke Tywin will sooner or later know about the silver mine, and for Duke Tywin, this silver mine is undoubtedly a piece of fat that can be taken at will. Therefore, Duke Tywin will definitely take action, even if he doesn't directly send an army to occupy the silver mine, he will disguise his army as Free Folk to seize it.
Therefore, Linde definitely needs to send people to protect this silver mine.
However, Tengshi Town is currently in a state of disrepair. Even though many refugees have joined Tengshi Town, the manpower is still scarce for the overall reconstruction and expansion of the town. Moreover, Nameria's army is already struggling to maintain the safety of Tengshi Town and the surrounding areas, making it impossible to spare personnel to go to the other side of the river.
As for Linde, he could lead his Royal Guard to garrison near the silver mine, leaving the First and Second Cavalry Regiments to assist in maintaining order in Tengshi Town.
But if he did that, Highgarden would certainly know about the silver mine. At that time, if Highgarden ordered him to mine the silver mine nearby, he would probably be in a dilemma.
Therefore, Linde can only seek other external assistance, such as the Savage Tribes.
For this trip to the Savage Tribes, Linde only plans to bring his Royal Guard and the First Cavalry Regiment, totaling over a hundred people. As for the Tengshi Town garrison guards, Linde does not intend to bring them, because when it truly comes to combat, those garrison guards would become a burden.
However, Nameria was not going alone with Linde to Buttocks Ridge this time; she also brought her newly formed Lord's Guard.
This Lord's Guard consisted of twenty people in total, half of whom were members of the garrison guards, and the other half were recruited Free Riders and mercenary knights with a certain level of strength. This 'certain level of strength' meant being able to withstand one round of Nameria's attacks.
Every time Nameria finished her sparring practice with Linde, she would go to her Lord's Guard for more practice, seemingly intending to regain the confidence that Linde had crushed. The benefit of doing this was that it made Nameria's position in the hearts of her Lord's Guard very high.
In addition to the Lord's Guard, she also planned to bring her two handmaidens with her.
These two handmaidens were members of a circus that passed through Tengshi Town on its way to Highgarden. They were twins who performed knife-throwing stunts in the circus and also knew some scimitar and spear techniques from across the Narrow Sea and the Free Cities Alliance.
Nameria took a liking to these two sisters because the scimitar and spear techniques they displayed came from the arenas of Meereen, which stirred some memories for Nameria, so she directly offered to recruit them as her handmaidens.
At first, the two sisters, accustomed to a free life, did not want to accept such a serving job and refused Nameria's kindness. It was only when Nameria stated that if the two could meet her requirements, she would confer upon them the title of female knights, which was extremely rare in the Seven Kingdoms, that they changed their minds and became Nameria's handmaidens.
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