Chapter 788: Clever differentiation

"If what the commander said is true, we will not only help you, but also not ask for any food. We will do our best to help you and send food to the front line. Compared with us, the fearless people on the front line need them more." Patlem replied solemnly.

The traditional customs of the Kingdom of Leatherman have destined this country to produce few cowards.

The tribe in front of them has maintained a relatively complete system and has a large number of young and strong people, which shows that they have a special mission.

Raising food for the army on the front line is their most important task.

The latitude of the Kingdom of Leatherman is relatively high, and the interior is mainly plateaus and mountains. The weather is dry and cold. Only one season of food can be harvested a year, and the rest is supplemented by vegetables and grazing.

This structural model makes them relatively poor in disaster resistance.

In a good year, they can barely maintain self-sufficiency.

Once they encounter a disaster, not limited to natural disasters, but also war disasters like the current one, they will have a huge gap in food.

In the past, when simply fighting against the Kingdom of Sel, the merchants of the Kingdom of Sesk would spare no effort to provide assistance because of the reason that the lips and teeth are interdependent. They would not only sell a large amount of grain in their own kingdom, but also find ways to transport low-priced grain from other kingdoms.

But this time, the nomadic invasion even alarmed most of Faerun. When the Kingdom of Sesk was in danger, it naturally had no way to supply the Kingdom of Leatherman regardless of cost.

In desperation, the Kingdom of Leatherman could only set its sights on the Great Valley and the Kingdom of Inbutu across the bay.

But neither of them was very reliable.

Although the Great Valley was a druid regime, the dominant belief was also the Earth Mother, Chontia.

Unlike the earth priests of the Golden Sheaf Monastery in the Misty Valley, they belonged to another branch of the Earth Goddess believers. They worshipped the primitive and natural side of Chontia, advocated the primitive way of nature, and only obtained the materials necessary for life from nature. They considered themselves to be the true priests of Chontia.

They jokingly called the priests who were dedicated to farming and served the believers in towns, cities and civilized areas town priests.

Although they are not hostile to the more civilized priests, and sometimes even can be called warm and cordial, there are still big differences between the two sides in some views. When the two meet, they often fall into a long debate, which leads to a bad end.

The druids regard the city disciples as the newly rich, while the more civilized priests believe that the era of druids has passed. Although druids still have their value in the wilderness, the rising countries need a more organized and professional faith controlled by more reasonable and rational clergy.

This leads to the fact that although the Giant Valley has extremely fertile land, the cultivated area is very scarce. Those small settlements and towns maintain the relatively primitive and conservative lifestyle of the druids - living through small-scale hunting, cultivating small open pastures and collecting dead branches from the forest.

It is worth mentioning that this lifestyle originated from the druids, not the elves. Ninety-nine percent of the population in the Giant Valley are humans, let alone elves, even half-elves are very rare.

When it comes to forests, the first thing people think of is elves.

This is vividly demonstrated in the valley. Although most of the elves in the Great Forest of Komanthor have joined the great retreat, there are few pure elven villages and communities there.

However, the influence of the elves there is permanent - living customs, life philosophy, a large number of half-elves, etc., which will not change with the great retreat of the elves.

In the two forests in the Great Valley, apart from the scattered stone marks of ancient elves in the depths, no other traces of elven civilization can be found. It is said that these two forests suffered disasters against the elves in ancient times, resulting in the death of a large number of elves, and the rest were forced to leave. It was not until two thousand years ago that humans migrated here in large numbers that it became lively again.

In short, if some people are migrated here, they can draw nutrients from the two forests and be self-sufficient, which is still no problem.

But it is completely wishful thinking to collect a large amount of food from here to supply the front line.

As for Inbutu across the Eastern Bay, this country is often jokingly called a forgotten country, and its biggest feature is that it has no characteristics.

They are surrounded by difficult-to-cross mountains to the west and north, and the Fallen Star Sea to the south and east.

This makes them relatively isolated. They have no powerful external enemies, but also lack ambition. Convenient sea transportation makes their trade as prosperous as that of the Kingdom of Sambia.

However, their system of using holy warriors as the ruling class makes them far less aggressive than the Kingdom of Sambia. Since their founding, they have adhered to the tradition of non-interference and let neighboring countries handle their own affairs, unless such a non-interference policy seriously affects the people of Inbutu.

This is also an important reason why the Great Valley can maintain the Druid regime. If there is a country like the Kingdom of Sambia as a neighbor, even if the Great Valley does not perish, it must develop a stronger regime to protect itself.

This policy makes the Kingdom of Inbutu an excellent trading partner, but also the worst ally in wartime.

The grain transport team from the Kingdom of Cormier has arrived. Until now, this country has not responded effectively to the invasion of Tukan. It has neither sent its own reinforcements nor raised large-scale military supplies to support the Kingdom of Leatherman.

This is also related to the fact that the Kingdom of Inbutu has the will but not the strength. They do not have powerful external enemies, but they are always short of small enemies.

The Tuma Spur Mountains and Gutu Mountains, which are larger than the land area of ​​Inbutu, are the incubators of various monsters. Every year, a large number of monsters emerge from here and sweep across the entire Inbutu from the inland.

The northern neighbor, the Kingdom of Damara, has a new king, Garros*Dragon Nightmare, who has been causing trouble here for more than ten years.

This is a great joy for the Kingdom of Dalauma, which has been in dire straits for many years, but not for their neighbor, the Kingdom of Inbutu.

The fleeing monster army under the command of the Witch King Zhengyi poured into the Kingdom of Inbutu in an organized manner, colluding with the local monster forces to cause trouble in the inland of this ancient kingdom.

They have now lost control of most of the inland, and the royal decree can only be maintained in the port city guarded by high walls.

These densely populated cities have no way to be self-sufficient in food and must rely on the support of the inland plains. Their famine is foreseeable, not to mention squeezing out excess food to supply the Leatherman Kingdom.

"Words are not enough." Gavin has rich experience in dealing with these straightforward and heroic people, and said directly, "Our fleet is not far from the dock. You can go on board to check the food first, and then make a decision, but the roads along the way are controlled by the brothers of the Sword Brotherhood. Whether they will let you pass is an unknown."

"If they want to stop us, they must have the ability to do so." Patlem burst into a huge roar that was inconsistent with his short stature, "The Fang Team assembles."

With an order, a large number of Leatherman people poured out from various tents.

Most of them wore animal skins or leather armor, and there were also a few who were bare-chested like the Fang leader. Without exception, they all had magic tattoos on their chests and backs, but the tattoos were not exactly the same, and most of them were tigers and bears.

The weapons in their hands were also different, mostly axes, spears and two-handed swords, and a few bows and arrows.

They formed a relatively loose formation, in groups of three or five, led by the fang captains with magic tattoos.

And dozens of fangs gathered to form the entire fang team, which was only about a hundred people at most, but the ages of the members were different.

There were young people with immature faces and no beards.

There were also white-haired old people who were entering old age.

There were even more than a dozen strong women.

The young and strong people who were really in their prime accounted for less than one-third.

These Leathermen used practical actions to interpret what it meant to be a nation of soldiers.

Except for those who were really old, weak, sick and disabled, all the rest responded to the call.

At the same time, four more masked Leathermen witches appeared silently behind the first witch.

The witch moved her lips several times, but did not make any sound.

The tusk leader showed an obvious listening expression. After a few minutes, he ordered again in a loud voice, "Everyone, change your weapons to wooden sticks. If there is a conflict later, try to cause as little killing as possible."

"Tusk leader, isn't this unnecessary? Once our fearless men start to go berserk, it is difficult for them to control their emotions and actions even in normal times, let alone on the battlefield. How can we control casualties then?"

"Don't tell us that we can't even use berserk later?"

The Leatherman soldiers said with a smile while changing their weapons to wooden sticks.

"When we use berserk later, we must be cautious and can't use it unless it endangers the lives of our own people." The tusk leader Patlem added.

"Leader of the Fangs, why don't you just let us tie our hands?"

"You are the one who talks too much. If you talk more, Leader of the Fangs will really do it."

"To deal with these street thugs hiding behind the city and armor, do we still need our fearless to go berserk?"

"That's right. To deal with these cowards, we don't even need sticks. We can beat them with our fists."

These Leathermen were talking and laughing, full of pride, and didn't take the Blade Brotherhood of Usmer City seriously at all.

Surrounded by this Leathermen Fangs team, Gavin and his team walked along the original road to the port of Usmer City.

Compared to regular city institutions, these street gangs have a common feature, that is, they are sensitive to information and highly efficient in action, because this is the foundation of their survival.

The Blade Brotherhood is no exception. As soon as Gavin stepped into the temporary camp of the Leathermen, the news reached the ears of the top leaders of the Blade Brotherhood.

"What? The other party went directly to contact those uncivilized Leatherman barbarians?" Duis, the leader of the three sword brothers, crushed the wine glass in his hand and stood up in anger.

The other party did not play by the rules at all.

Under normal circumstances, they should send people to find a way to contact them, find out each other's bottom line, and try to resolve the issue through negotiation.

Even if it was an abnormal situation, they would directly show their strong muscles, tell them that they were not easy to provoke, and then negotiate with them.

The only thing they did not expect was to contact the Leatherman outsiders.

"Brother, what should we do now? Those Leathermen are rude, unreasonable and extremely clingy. If they reach an agreement with them, should our people stop them or not?" Brady, the second leader of the Sword Brotherhood, also asked anxiously.

He has dealt with those Leathermen a lot recently, and basically has no good memories. Many things don't make sense with these barbarians.

"Of course we have to stop them. We must stop them." Ferikan, the third leader of the Sword Brotherhood, said with high morale, "This is not just a dispute over loading and unloading, but also a dispute over the ruling power of Usmer. This time we took the initiative to give in. What should we do if a similar dispute arises next time?

The battle of Tukan's invasion has just begun, and more and more Leathermen will come next.

If we can't even suppress these hundreds of Leathermen, how can we resist the invasion of more Leathermen and defend our city?

The berserkers of Leathermen are indeed powerful, but those brave men will stay at the forefront of the war and it is impossible for them to run to Usmer, which is 500 kilometers away.

They must be a group of cowards who are afraid of fighting. Let me tear off their disguise veil myself and completely shock them."

"What Ferikan said makes sense." Brady nodded involuntarily, "These Leathermen advocate the use of force. It is completely unreasonable to reason with them. The only way is to prove to them that we have more powerful than them. "If we don't use force, they will sit down and listen to what we say."

"It's not just about the Leathermen." Duis frowned, "There are also these foreign Cormiers. If the two sides unite..."

Before they could discuss a unified opinion, another messenger rushed in, "The two sides have reached an agreement. Those Leathermen have entered the city, about a hundred people."

"We can't wait any longer." Felican pushed the chair away and stood up, saying loudly, "There are only a hundred people, but we have five hundred brothers in the city now. We can drown them. I am willing to lead the team myself."

"At this point, we can only resist." Duis gritted his teeth and said, "When you take action later, try to restrain yourself and don't cause too many casualties. Those cold Leathermen witches are notoriously protective of their shortcomings. If you send powerful witches to intervene, it will be troublesome."

"I will do it, brother, don't worry, I promise to control the timing." Felican patted his chest and promised.

As the top leaders of the Sword Brotherhood agreed on a countermeasure, countless members of the Sword Brotherhood poured out from the streets and alleys and gathered on the main road of Usmer City.

This small town only has such a main road, which is the only way to the port area. The dirt road that had just been drenched by an autumn rain was very muddy. The excrement of humans and animals and the muddy water on the dirt road were mixed together after being stepped on by countless big feet, and it was difficult to distinguish one from the other.

"It's time to fight, it's time to fight, the Sword Brotherhood and the Leathermen are going to fight."

"Haha, I knew this day would come sooner or later. The Sword Brotherhood is overbearing and trying to control all walks of life in Usmer City. We must swallow our anger. Those rough Leathermen will not tolerate them."

"It's good to fight. In recent years, the Sword Brotherhood has been too arrogant and suppressed us. We really need someone to hit them."

"You mean, those Leathermen will win?"

"Of course, Leathermen's berserkers are the best in the world, and the Sword Brotherhood is the best. How could the Brotherhood, a group of hooligans from Imbtu, be their opponents? "

"If those powerful Leatherman Berserkers came, it would be the case, but among a group of refugees, there are probably only a dozen shirtless Berserkers, and the rest are a group of old and weak people who are just filling in the numbers. It would be difficult for them to win against the powerful Sword Brotherhood."

"In this kind of street fighting, even if you have more people, it is useless. There are only a dozen people rushing to the front, and the courage to fight is particularly important.

Thirty years ago, the three brothers of the Sword Brotherhood had just come to our Usmer. , they used six short swords to cut from the West City Pier to the East City Gate, and then cut back from the East City Gate, cutting hundreds of people from the Tiger Gang of Usmer into pieces, laying the foundation for the Sword Brotherhood's current foundation in Usmer City.

What did they rely on at the beginning?

It was the fearless courage. In this regard, I am afraid that no one can compare to the Leathermen. Even those ordinary Leathermen are said to be as tough as those berserkers on the battlefield. "

"Isn't what you said contradictory? The three brothers of the Sword Brotherhood were so tough thirty years ago. How come they are so tough now? Possibly? Especially with so many brothers? How could they easily lose to these old, weak, sick and disabled Leathermen. "

"Hehe... The current strength of the three Jianci brothers may be stronger than thirty years ago, but the courage in their hearts may not be really higher than thirty years ago."

"Why do you say that?"

"It's not that simple. Thirty years ago, they had nothing but three worthless lives and six short knives in their hands. If they wanted to gain wealth and glory and gain a foothold in a strange land, they had to fight with their lives and exchange blood. When people are extremely poor, they will have no scruples.

But what about now?

They have been dominating the city of Usmer for many years, and have squeezed countless benefits and values ​​from us. They have already made themselves fat and strong. They now have too many things, such as wealth, women, prestige...

Once people have concerns, their courage will easily melt. Do you think they will still fight for their lives now?

And what do those Leatherman war refugees from remote areas have now?

The current situation has returned to thirty years ago, but the identities have changed. The Sword Brotherhood has become the former Tiger Gang, and those Leathermen have become the Sword Brothers. "

"It seems to be true."