OBS Chapter 218 Heaven and Hell
Chapter 218 Heaven and Hell
"This month, a total of 137 outsiders attempted to illegally enter the territory from various borders, 52 more than last month. Among them, 93 were expelled and 44 were killed due to ineffective warnings or resistance."
Early that morning, John listened to the civil servant's report on the basic situation of the territory as usual while eating breakfast. After hearing about the illegal invasion of outsiders, John swallowed the food in his mouth and asked the civil servant:
"Have our soldiers suffered any casualties? Have we confirmed that all invaders have been blocked?"
After hearing John's words, the clerk flipped through the documents and responded:
"The garrison troops at the border did not send any reports of casualties, and they also said that most of these invaders were refugees fleeing the plague, with a small number of bandits and other illegal armed personnel. And according to them, no non-local personnel entered the territory."
"That's good." After listening to this, John picked up a piece of bacon with a fork and started chewing. For him, the most important thing now, besides hunting the apostles, the most important thing is the stable development of the territory during this turbulent time.
As for those refugees, no matter what experiences they have had and how deep their sufferings are, it cannot change the fact that they are potential plague carriers. In John's eyes, any factors that can threaten the territory must be eliminated.
After the meal, John wiped his mouth and said to the civil servant:
"Notify the officers at all borders and have them be careful during this period. If any outsider crosses the border despite dissuasion, no matter who he is, he will be killed on the spot and his body will be burned for me."
After saying that, John went upstairs to continue dealing with his territory affairs. If there were no emergencies, today would be just another ordinary day for John.
However, the refugees in the refugee camps far away from the border do not think so.
A few hundred meters east of Franche-Comté, a large cluster of tents is located here. At a glance, the entire plain is covered with tents. This is one of the hundreds of refugee camps in Midland.
The refugee camp was built along the river. From time to time, women and children would wash clothes by the river. In the turbulent river, several human corpses would occasionally turn up, scaring the children playing by the river. The women, who were used to it, would hold a long wooden stick and push the corpses away despite the stench. This was only the lower reaches of the river. If it was in the upper reaches of the river, these refugee camps would not be able to wait for the local lord to deal with them, and John would personally lead his troops to expel them for endangering the territory.
Even so, life in the refugee camp is not easy. From time to time, one can see ragged refugees walking hurriedly on the muddy road, and from time to time they have to be careful not to be tripped by people on the road who are unknown whether dead or alive.
The tents on both sides of the road looked lifeless. Even if one could see the refugees inside through the gaps in the tents, they were probably the elderly, the weak, women and children who did not have much strength left. The refugees who could still survive had already gone out to work as soon as the sun came out.
"Give me!"
"this is mine!"
A burst of noise attracted the attention of the surrounding refugees. A group of children under ten years old seemed to be fighting for something. While fighting with each other, they also used their fists and feet to the best of their ability to attack the competitors who tried to join in.
In the center, a boy was waving one hand at the children next to him, and holding something tightly in the other hand. After all the children around him left, the boy dared to look at what he was holding. He saw a tail extending from the boy's fist, followed by a struggling mouse head. This was the food that the boy had obtained with great difficulty.
Because the food supply in the refugee camp had collapsed a month ago, all those who could not work in the camp were now waiting to die without food or water. Hunger forced the children, who were originally in their innocent period, to compete for food with each other like wild animals, otherwise the corpses of the skinny children next to them would be their final fate.
At this time, on the hillside in the distance, a carriage was heading out of the camp, loaded with refugee corpses surrounded by flies, most of which were as thin as firewood and neatly stacked on the carriage. Occasionally, some corpses with relatively strong bodies could be seen, but the cause of death of these people was not hunger, but more likely due to conflicts caused by uneven distribution of resources or power.
Although life in the refugee camp was already hell, the refugees still did not evacuate, because the refugee camp was filled with wanderers from various territories. After a brief exchange, they discovered that the plague had almost destroyed the local order of Midland, and there were plagues and wars everywhere. Instead of looking for a place that had not been affected by the plague, it was better to linger in the refugee camp.
But this is not the ultimate destination of these refugees. The place they most desire and hope to reach is the Franche-Comté territory east of the river.
As early as the establishment of the refugee camp, a small number of refugees had discovered that Franche-Comté seemed to be unaffected by the plague. Just by standing on the hillside, one could see that local residents were carrying out a series of agricultural activities such as farming, just like the daily lives of the refugees before the plague came.
In the past, there would occasionally be some rumors about John's territory heard by refugees, such as that John's people did not have to pay heavy taxes and that the tithes were paid by the lords. These were generally regarded as nonsense by the local lords, but now it seems to be true.
However, this short distance of just a few hundred meters became the gap between hell and sky in the eyes of the refugees because of the tall fortress opposite and the fully armed soldiers.
As they are at the forefront of the plague, the soldiers on the border have now put on thick clothes and bird-beak masks, making them look like monsters from a distance. The weapons they hold are enough to intimidate the timid refugees.
However, even so, there are still some refugees who refuse to give up and try to cross the border at night. But when they wake up in the morning, everything is as peaceful as usual except for the billowing smoke from burning corpses in the distance.
At this moment, a convoy appeared on the distant horizon. As the convoy got closer and closer to the refugee camp, the flag with a black eagle on a white background appeared in front of everyone.
"Here comes the Franche-Comté convoy."
As some refugees shouted, the entire refugee camp was in a state of excitement. Countless refugees walked out of the camp with their families and rushed to the location of the convoy.
The refugees did not approach the convoy, but stood far away from it, quietly waiting for something, thanks in large part to the armed Black Watch mercenaries near the convoy. But as the people in the convoy threw packages into the refugee camp, the refugees immediately started to loot them.
The purpose of this convoy is to transport medicines for treating the plague to the Black Watch mercenaries stationed outside the territory. Before each departure, they will carry enough dry food in case they are unable to resupply during the journey.
Due to the epidemic, all the dry food had to be thrown away when they returned. So after seeing the situation in the refugee camp, the convoy decided to give the remaining dry food after each operation to the hungry refugees.
Faced with such generous gifts, some refugees simply picked up a package and left immediately. Only a few expressed their gratitude to the convoy in the distance. However, they were so hungry at that time that they had no strength to speak. They could only kneel down and kowtow in the direction of the convoy to express their gratitude.
As all the food was delivered, the convoy slowly moved westward under the escort of soldiers, and finally, under the gaze of the refugees, entered what they saw as paradise.