Unknowingly, Duncan had already traveled to the Middle Ages for nearly a month.
Anya reached a collaboration with Duke of Dingtiger, planning to rebuild her business on Great Britain. She was already preparing, under Severus’s escort, to find a way to contact the fleet to bring over the exiles she had recruited.
Initially, there wouldn’t be too many people, just a private army of more than three hundred.
The leg that Duke of Dingtiger thought he was holding onto was actually the combined assets of two people. Anya indeed had a fleet in the North Africa region, but her original private forces belonged to her deceased husband. After her husband unexpectedly died, she no longer had a private army and instead recruited some hired guards at a high price.
The retired Imperial Guard was captivated by her wealth and beauty, but Anya had no interest in him at all.
These two legs: one was Anya’s, her financial resources, her trade fleet, her connections. The other was Duncan’s, who recruited hundreds of exiles in one battle, most of whom were young and strong. With some training and reorganization, they became a private armed corps.
In the Empire, this small number of people wouldn’t make much of a wave. It might be suppressed before it even started, but on Great Britain, a mixed reorganization could muster nearly a thousand troops.
Duke of Dingtiger was a seasoned old fox as well.
He couldn’t bear to part with his own territory, so he directly claimed in the name of alliance to allocate areas already occupied by the Saxons to Duncan and the others.
At his peak, his territorial expansion reached near Winchester. So with a grand gesture, he gave them Southampton, which was occupied by the Saxons.
Don’t be fooled by his sincere appearance of wanting to recruit Duncan. When it came to giving land, it would probably only be one or two small villages.
The fertile lands of Great Britain were all in the east, around the area of London. He didn’t even have much good land under his own control, so he was even more reluctant to divide it out.
It pained him more than cutting his own flesh.
Talking feelings was fine, but talking land was not.
"This old fox wants us to help him reclaim lost territories."
Anya was so angry her teeth itched. From Cornwall to Southampton, they were all places overtaken by the Saxons. If they could reclaim the port of Southampton, they would have nearly wrested back all the territories Duke of Dingtiger had lost.
But Duncan was unconcerned, and instead, a bit delighted: "It doesn’t matter."
"As long as we have the righteous justification."
For Duncan, the most important thing was the identity of the ally, to legally acquire ownership of a piece of land, even if it was still under Saxon control.
No problem, just find a way to take it back.
In Duncan’s view, taking Southampton port was just conquering less than one-fifth of a province’s area, similar to capturing several prefecture-level cities, which he still had a chance to achieve in one stroke. That would be like capturing more than half of Henan Province, and England would be nearly under his control.
Southampton was a significant port in the England region.
Geographically, it was on a sharp position on the map of Britain, closer to Europe, a small independent island that later became an important ocean-going seaport, naval base, and one of the top ten ports in Britain.
The island was called White Island, which reminded Duncan of White Leg from a certain game.
Severus said in a deep voice, "Even if we capture it?"
"How do we defend it?"
"With the Kingdom of Kent currently in chaos, relying solely on our strength might not be enough to hold it."
News from yesterday suggested that the Kingdom of Kent seemed to be in turmoil, with both the uncle and nephew vying for the throne.
Duncan calmly rose and said, "No need to defend."
"No rush to capture it either."
"First, train the troops."
He turned to look at the Crow Queen - Triss, and said sternly, "The exiles don’t have enough combat power yet. After reorganizing them, we still need training and combat preparation."
"When the time is right, we’ll push to Southampton in one wave."
In his past life, he was a veteran player of Mount & Blade.
At the beginning, it didn’t matter if you didn’t have territory. As long as you had money, supplies, and manpower, you could start an army at any time and capture a piece of land. The exiled groups weren’t all farmers; they were warriors from Gaul dialect, who rebelled because they couldn’t survive.
Where does the money and supplies come from?
Initially relying on Anya’s assets, and later on, sustaining the war by war, robbing the Saxons who plundered the Britons, he led his troops to plunder the Saxons.
In these chaotic times, who feared whom? Everyone was risking their lives.
Severus hesitantly said, "Do they really want to join us?"
Duncan confidently said, "Don’t worry, I have absolute confidence."
The exiles were people on the brink of survival.
The Crow Queen - Triss seemed to have guessed Duncan’s intention, standing up in shock, "Are you planning to..."
Duncan looked at her with a faint smile and calmly uttered two words, but they carried enormous weight.
——"Land Distribution!"
What did he want with so much land, become a big landowner in the Middle Ages?
Land and property distribution.
Give them a real identity to live like a person, as freemen, so they wouldn’t have to be slaves and tenant farmers anymore, living with dignity and honor!
The later stages of the Empire saw severe land monopolization and slavery.
If there were no place to live, where would so many rebels come from!
When Duncan uttered those two words, everyone present fell silent, because everyone understood the weight of ’land distribution’. Even the Gaul Warriors recruited by Severus looked at Duncan with fiery eyes after understanding his words!