With the armour enchantments destroyed, the commander lost its protection, however, he was still a high levelled individual, he was able to knock back Fred quite a bit with each swing, luckily for Fred, the commander was either struggling to get through Fred’s armour or Mendes was intercepting him quite a bit.

Fred was now aiming for the joins, with his lightning Esper power running through his sword, the joint armour was starting to melt, the commander was starting to feel the heat from inside, the commander swung at Fred, who managed to parry the blow, and now they were in a deadlock, with their swords,

The commander was pushing down on Fred when they heard a cheer from the west side. The commander broke off to see what was happening, and Fred used this breather to look as well.

They saw the Normandy line on the west had crumbled, with many of them fleeing north,

Half of the Aquitaine line started chasing them, while the other half started running over to the eastern side.

The commander saw that most of his men were dead, leaving about 20-30 men left, and a platoon of Aquitaine’s horses, split off and was charging the eastern side as well.

Fred rushed the commander, trying to prevent him from focusing on the battlefield, with the commander being distracted, Fred managed to get another graze on his right shoulder armour, effectively welding the joints together, this was severely hampering the commander’s ability to fight, and Fred was slowly acuminating strikes onto the armour,

At this, the commander dropped his sword, and raised his left arm, “I surrender,” he couldn’t raise his right arm due to the melted armour,

“Tell your troops to stand down!”

“Lieutenant blow the horn for surrender!” he shouted out,

Fred had his men send the signal for the end of the fight also.

This should signal the end of the war; Fred would just have to make sure the town of Gulledge was taken and the runaway troops were taken care of, to prevent banditry.

___

With the end of the battle, Fred moved up to Gulledge the next day, Daniel had just finished clearing out the town this morning, they just had one more issue to deal with up north, and hopefully, this matter would be resolved shortly.

“How’s it going with Ludnus?” Fred asked Daniel,

“It’s fine, the civilians are a bit gloomy, but it shouldn’t be a major problem,” Daniel explained,

“Alright, we will give all cities food tax exemptions and tax cuts for 2 years,” Fred stated,

“Tax cuts for 2 Years? Are you mad? We are financially suffering, and you want to decrease our tax revenue even further,” Mendes argued.

“We have just been in a state of war for 2 years, we will either have to cut costs until then, or take out loans, but the economy needs a massive boost, and the people need a break, this is the best solution,” Fred explained

“We should be raising taxes to refill our treasury after such a war,” Henry argued.

“Look, Taxes are a net deficit to the economy, the less we take, the less damage we do to it, and it will grow faster,” Fred conjured,

“Many people in the mainland won’t be happy with this,” Henry complained,

“And I have the perfect rebuttal, so I don’t have to care about their complaints.” Fred shrugged,

“Oh, do tell,” Daniel asked.

“Swabian war, 45 years ago,” Fred stated.

“What do you mean?” Henry asked.

“The kingdom went to war with the empire and conquered these lands,” Fred stated.

“Yes, my father participated in that war when I was 8” Henry answered

“So, why aren’t those lands still under us?” Fred asked.

“They broke away from our control,” Henry explained. “They were too tough for us to subjugate.”

“No, they weren’t tough, you just didn’t even try,” Fred stated.

“What? Of course, we did.” Mendes argued.

“No, after the end of the war, all of the duchies raised taxes to fill their treasury, which caused the peasant rebellion, the following year, no duchy or the king had time to deal with the issue, this gave the separatists time to fortify the Swabian area, and after 8 years of putting down rebels, your truce with the emperor was over, allowing him to guarantee the Swabian independence.” Fred took a sip of his beverage.

“At this time, the Swabian separatists demanded independence, backed up by the emperor, and you all were trying to recover your economy, and to this day, the Swabian area remains a part of the imperial lands.” Fred finished his explanation.

“I actually remember reading about that,” Jacques said. “The kid is right.”

“So, what’s the plan now?” Daniel asked.

“We need to head north, and proclaim our stance on the border,” Fred said.

“Right, we can get there within 4 days,” Daniel said.

“Is it wise to send the entire army up north?” Mendes asked.

“For now, it should be fine, we are only going there to scare them, we can nab a few villages while we are there,” Fred shrugged.

“You want to start a war with them,” Henry asked in shock,

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“it’s a few villages, I am merely showing my resolve,” Fred said.

“Fine,” Daniel said, “I like that plan, it’s decisive.”

___

4 days later, the army arrived at the border, he stationed the army in the west and middle west fort and called over Derek for the meeting in the middle west fort.

The enemy had withdrawn their forces a bit with the added pressure of the army,

“Right Derek, what have you seen at the border with the enemy?” Fred asked.

“Right, the lowland’s have been using skirmishers to harass our lands as well as diplomats visiting demanding that we cease using ‘their lands’ and that the raids will carry on until we stop,” Derek explained.

“Is it diplomats from the duchy or local lords?” Henry asked.

“Local lords,” Derek said.

“Who is the most active Lord?” Fred asked.

“Baron Weinsmark,” Derek answered.

“I see,” Fred replied and pulled out a piece of parchment and began writing a letter.

“What are you up to this time?” Mendes asked.

“I am just going to write him a friendly letter,” Fred said, then placed the letter in an envelope.

“What did you write,” Henry asked this time.

“I simply said: I will not tolerate your shit, signed Frederick,” Fred answered.

“I thought it was going to be a lot worse,” Daniel replied.

“Oh yeah, there was something about fish bait, and testicles,” Fred quipped.

“What?” the room was speechless, bock Jackson and Ronald burst out laughing.

“Are you mad?” Henry snapped. Derek and Corinth just looked at each other, what had they signed up to.

“I’m joking, I’m joking, I was saving that bit for a second letter if needed,” Fred tried to calm down Henry.

“So, what do we do now?” Jacques asked.

“How many skirmishers have you seen?” Fred asked Daniel

“A bit less than 500 although they barely act in groups larger than 70-80, mostly infantry with 100 light cavalries,” Derek answered.

“I see, we will station 250 troops in each fort, for now, Derek, you will man the two forts east, and centre east, and withdraw the armies to Ludnus, Bristol, and the rest of your men to your county,” Fred recommended.

“Is this wise?” Henry said, “I thought you were going to take a few villages,” Henry said.

“I don’t want to do anything until the king sits on his thrown, we need to rest, we need to recuperate, and I’ve got other stuff to do while we wait for the king’s return,” Fred said, “Derek, Albion is undergoing harvest tax exemptions and tax cuts, for the next two years, the same goes for your town,” Fred stated.

Derek and Corinth were shocked, this would cause a lot of issues paying their men, they were already tight, and was just living off the loot they gained in the war.

“We will dual fund the men stationed in the fort at 1:1 ratio, furthermore, I will allow you to keep the full tax collected in the four eastern towns to fund your troops for these two years. Any men you have to dismiss due to lack of funds, I want you to transfer them over to my army,” Fred finished his explanation,

“Is this wise,” Corinth asked.

“I don’t want a repeat of the Swabian revolt, as well, lowered taxes should give your economy a huge boost,” Fred responded.

“I see,” Derek responded,

___

Fred started withdrawing his troops to Ludnus, after leaving 500 men by the border, he had 1600 men left.

Once in Ludnus, they went to the main castle to speak, this time Derek and Corinth weren’t with them,

“So, why are we withdrawing troops, I thought you wanted to take some villages to make a point,” Daniel asked,

“First off, I cannot be stuck in a skirmish with them for now, we have 1600 troops left, we need to rebuild. It is Harvest season within 2 weeks, we need to get the people back to the towns and villages to harvest,” Fred explained.

“That would be wise,” Henry responded,

“Plus, I need to know where the family stands,” Fred said.

“What do you mean” Jean asked.

“About 4-500 men belong to the mainland, most of you showed up for the war, which is now over, I also need to figure out how to best govern the towns, I don’t exactly have many retinues to give land, so most of it is going to fall under me. I also need to reward my men, the men that came over, and you lot,” Fred explained.

“I see,” Henry commented.

“Actually, the troops from the mainland are staying,” Jacques said.

“Say, what?” Fred asked.

“Yeah, we are also staying for a while,” Arthur said.

“Why I thought this place was considered Social exile,” Fred said.

“Well, the two counties, in the southwest of Summerset were under Arthur and myself,” Jean stated.

“And, I and Jackson, were looking for counties over here.” Jacques said, “our current county was solely financed by a now flooded Iron mine, we have been in talks with your parents and the dukes about relocating here.”

“I see,” Fred thought, he knew he would have to play ball with the houses, and a lot of what he has was supported by them, “Your old county, does it still have miners?”

“Almost half of them have been moved up here for your metal mine, we stopped working the ore about 8 years ago,” Jacques answered.

“And the mine, it’s just flooded, if not for that would you be able to return to peak performance?” Fred asked.

“Yes, if we could remove the water, we would be able to reopen, for about 150 years+”

“I see, what about you, Daniel?” Fred asked him

“I haven’t been given a county, we are running out of counties on the mainland, I was planning to head to Castile for a county,” Daniel answered.

“Are you interested in moving over here?” Fred asked him,

“Yeah, very much, but I am interested in getting more combat experience before I settle down to manage a county,” Daniel explained.

“Hmm, and Jacques, have you discussed what county to be given over, with my parents and the duke,” Fred asked.

“No, we haven’t,” Jacques answered,

“I can give you Vachegue, which has an iron mountain, it is underdeveloped yet, or En Traindelire which is mainly livestock farms,” Fred asked Jacques.

Neither of them was well developed at the moment, but both of them crossed the main highway between Bristol and Ludnus,

“Let me tell you this first, this iron mine in Vachegue, I plan on opening its production up a lot, and that will require a huge investment, and I will want to see returns on that investment, but the quantity of ore being mined should give you a higher income,” Fred explained. “I also wish to open up the nature mountain, which is also a coal mine,”

Jacques had to think about this, he knew Fred and Bristol had a hungry appetite for Metals, but on the other hand, his descendants could fall into the same problem he is facing. But then again, however, he knew that if Fred was going to invest in this mine, he would want it to last a while.

With this, Jacques made up his mind, “I’ll go with Vachegue,”

“Alright then,” Fred agreed,

With this, his next task was to set up governing bodies in each town, this was a headache for Fred,

“What about the towns that are under you, how are you going to manage them?” Henry asked the question Fred was mulling over,

“Proto-parliamentary council system is what I’m thinking,” Fred murmured.

“A proto-parlia-what?” Henry asked.

“Just let each town elect a mayor each year, to govern the town, and I’ll send a representative to oversee the mayor. Then the town elects a representative to go to Bristol to discuss problems with the town.”

“Let the town elect a mayor, that’s madness,” Henry argued.

“Hey, it’s still in the early stages yet, I haven’t gotten the kinks out yet.” Fred just shrugged.

“Just send a representative to manage it,” Mendes said.

“Yeah, but it’s not ideal, you end up with a bloated bureaucracy if it’s not implemented right, and the system is very susceptible to rot,” Fred moaned.

“You are going to have another issue,” Jacques said,

“What?” Fred asked.

“The church on the mainland has been wanting to send people over to here for a while now, and if it develops, they will, if you want to turn Bristol into a city, you need a church or cathedral,” Jean said.

“But Ludnus didn’t have one,” Fred argued.

“They had a church, but they were suppressed by the king’s brother, right now, the king has lost a lot of power, and he will need the support of the church,” Jean said.

“But these are my lands now,” Fred argued again.

“You need to justify your claims, compensation for being attacked only goes so far, you also need the king’s approval to claim the title of Prince of Albion,” Arthur commented.

“The church has a lot of power, and it will be hard to fight against them,” Henry said.

“Fuck,” Fred commented,

“They are not all that bad,” Ronald commented,

Fred looked at Ronald, “You’re barred from speaking for the next 5 minutes.”

“What?” Ronald was shocked.

“He’s not wrong, and a lot of people are believers,” Jean came to his defence.

“I’ll have to read up about them,” Fred muttered.