Chapter 1011: Bastia and the Mountains’ Predicament

Bastia.

Within the majestic castle built against the mountains, the Earl felt a headache looking at the things presented to him.

What lay before him were the various excuses of the nobility.

There were excuses of old injuries flaring up, being too old and frail, sons not being grown up yet...

In any case, there were myriad excuses, some even hoping to buy their way out of military service.

The Barbarians were actually right about one thing: the knightly class of Bastia had been corroded by years of ease, and how many could get back onto a horse to fight again?

How many could charge fearlessly as they did in the past? Would they be willing to give up their estates? The women in their beds?

Why risk their lives with those Barbarians when they themselves were nobility?

Having lost courage, even the best weapon would be useless inside armor.

As a borderland facing the significant threat of the Mountain Barbarian Tribes, if Bastia became corrupted due to years of peace, who knows what cost would be required to regain footing.

The last time was the Hamlet split, something he personally witnessed, and felt how brutal it truly was.

Fortunately, among these messy excuses, there were still some petitions; some knights desired to establish achievements like their fathers, while some, like second sons without inheritance rights, wished to gain their own lands through war.

Not all of Bastia’s men were spineless; this was great comfort to the Earl.

At the same time, the Order of Knights, nurtured with massive investment since youth, still maintained its combat strength, which played a significant role as the Earl anticipated today’s situation years ago.

But while the Order of Knights could maintain an advantage in small-scale battles today, in large legion warfare, they were merely a small group of elites; the main body of a real army consisted of the ordinary soldiers.

The battle reports from the front-line training were even more troubling. The new recruits suffered heavy casualties in confrontations with the Barbarians, and this was in defensive fortifications like camps, not open field battles.

Partly, this was due to the lack of combat experience of the conscripted serf soldiers, being their first time seeing blood.

But another part was because those Barbarian mercenaries took back tactics and weapon equipment when they returned.

Initially, to push the Mountain Barbarian Tribe towards Hamlet, he let those mercenaries go, and now it was like releasing a tiger back into the mountain.

But those were minor issues; the bigger ones were yet to come.

Bruce was leading the battle at the front while managing and dispatching various supplies from the rear, only to discover that the military supplies couldn’t keep up. The newly recruited soldiers lacked even basic armor and crossbows, let alone spears.

Yet, the Earl had always had a plan for reserving these military supplies, and inspections were done every year, so such a situation shouldn’t have occurred.

Upon thorough investigation, it was discovered to be a massive scandal, shocking even the Earl.

The warehouse’s military supplies had been funneled out through various channels, leaving only a pile of trash or empty numbers on the records.

Bastia’s monopoly on the "Mountain—Empire" Trade Route led to thriving trade and a corresponding need for guards, which was the primary reason for the existence of the Barbarian mercenaries. The flourishing of the mercenary market also spurred the accompanying market for weapons and equipment.

Years without war, guarding such wealth, naturally tempted people.

Initially, it might have been just minor thefts, but soon the hefty profits corrupted the entire chain, bringing it down.

Initially, custom equipment would at least make a showing of being stored, but in the end, it was merely recorded on the books; the equipment was sold right out of the factory.

Even more exaggerated was that the equipment was fully pre-ordered even before leaving the factory; however much came out was sold, and there was no business with the warehouses.

During inspections, substandard items filled the warehouses, items that were meant to be obsolete and discarded.

In some cases, it was a matter of reallocating items from one warehouse to another to complete inspections, and after passing, they would directly dispose of them.

These were just shows; worse still, inspections were completed during banquets, on the wine table, or in bed, without ever visiting the warehouse.

Everyone along the line took their share of the money; how could anything be discovered?

If someone really didn’t know their place, threats and inducements were arranged to pull them into the water, and if anyone was truly stubborn, they were directly dealt with. In this era, a few deaths weren’t surprising. No one stood against massive profits.

Even when the Earl personally inspected in previous years, those people always managed to gather a batch of unflawed equipment in a short time to pass inspections, and once done, these items returned to their real owners.

It was probably beyond the Earl’s imagination that things he spent money on, stored in his own warehouse, were not actually his at all.

Once the Earl knew of the matter, of course, someone had to suffer for it. His trusted aides even sealed the city, causing significant chaos, with many thinking that the damn Barbarians had attacked.

Beheadings, confiscations, and sentencing to military service—the Earl swiftly handled the matter with absolute control over Bastia.

Over a thousand were arrested, including many nobles, who supported the audacity of these actions in the first place.

However, the matter also provided the Earl with substantial funds for the subsequent war. These pressed into military service filled the gap left by the rapid loss of serf soldiers, while the women were sold into slavery or sent to brothels and the like.