The sudden death of the Marquis of Ivrea, the ruler of the County of Burgundy, left the people of Burgundy suddenly at a loss.
This middle-aged man, who has been ill for more than two years, is the last string that connects the four provinces, twenty-four counties and several autonomous cities in the entire country. The other end of this string is connected to the earth-splitting dispute.
However, the County of Burgundy is currently in eerie silence, and everything is as orderly as usual.
On the day the Marquis died of illness, the Palace Finance Minister was the first to arrive at the inner court. The news of the Marquis's death was also sent by Bernard to the palace dignitaries. Not long after the news spread, Bernard immediately convened a meeting of the palace ministers.
According to regulations, meetings of important ministers are convened by the palace prime minister, but at that time, everyone cannot calm down and think about regulatory issues. But Baldwin thought about it. The moment he heard that the Marquis died of illness, his heart suddenly felt empty. It was a feeling that the sky was falling.
Originally, I wanted to ease the relationship with Bernard's group before the Marquis recovered from his illness. Once the Marquis recovered from his illness, he would be able to take advantage of this period of time to regain his advantage and overwhelm Bernard. However, everything was in ruins at this moment.
Baldwin excused himself from attending because Bernard was not the convener of the meeting of important ministers. Then he entered the inner court with dozens of elite guards wearing heavy armor and saw the Marquis of Ivrea lying in the temple.
This is an unchangeable fact that the Marquis has passed away. With the death of Ivrea, the last hope and bond in Baldwin's heart also completely disappeared...
从内廷归来的鲍尔温没有返回府邸，他直接以宫廷军事副臣的名义带着数十位精锐的伯爵近卫住进了宫廷禁卫军团第三团指挥营帐。 The third regiment, with a total of 650 men, was Count Baldwin's direct army in Besançon. Half of his Earl's Guards were selected from the Praetorian Guards. In the afternoon of the same day, a group of Earl Baldwin's relatives, escorted by more than fifty guards of the Earl's Guard, left the city of Besançon and returned to the Yona Province of Baldwin's territory with a small amount of valuable belongings.
At the same time, a military order to alert the entire territory was also sent back to the Yona province from Besançon. Baldwin's captain of the bodyguard, Baron Charles, quietly brought the secretly formed army to the western border of Yona Province, and then sneaked back to the city of Besancon with a small number of bodyguards.
The Eastern Frontier Army has not yet been mobilized due to its defense against the Swabians, but the first batch of peasant soldiers have begun to be recruited from various parts of Jona Province. This group of peasant soldiers will rush to the castles and fortresses on the Eastern Border after completing their assembly in the city of Jona. They are obviously preparing for the mobilization of the Eastern Frontier Army.
…Sir, the newly-built First Army of Yona Province has been secretly assembled in place, with three hundred light infantry, fifty cavalry, and one hundred crossbowmen. They are temporarily led by Baron Walter to lurk in the hills on the border. The Second Army was only formed last month, with a total of three hundred and twenty men. David The knight is training them in a farm outside the city of Yona, and it is expected that they will be able to form an army and march to the western border to join the First Army in a month. The 800 Baldwin regiments (the count's private soldiers) in Yona province have not been mobilized for the time being. "As soon as Charis sneaked back to Besançon, he came to the military camp to find Count Baldwin and reported to him the mobilization of the armies in the east.
Baldwin nodded solemnly, raised his head and asked, "Have the collection of grain supplies and military supplies been in place?"
"Military expenditures have been fully collected, but most of the military rations have not been received. Only one-third of our military supply granaries on the western border are full, and another one-third of the grain is in full supply. During the transportation from He County, Sir David led the food collection team to collect all the military supplies in the territory directly under the earl near the city of Yona. "
At the end, Charis sighed: "We did not expect that the Marquis would suddenly die of illness, and the time was really too short."
"Sir, do you think the Marquis's sudden death of illness will be related to Longxia~"
"Shut up!" Baldwin suddenly shouted angrily.
"Even if there is something fishy about the sudden death of the Marquis, it is definitely a conspiracy by Bernard and the inner court. They were worried that the Marquis would deprive the heir of the throne after knowing Robert's true identity, so they plotted to kill the Marquis!" Baldwin said seriously.
"Yes, sir~" Charis knew that he almost said the wrong thing and quickly lowered his head.
Baldwin stood up from his chair, walked around the wall of the barracks filled with military flags and weapons, and then said to Charles: "At the meeting of ministers five days ago, Bernard took out the "Marquis" succession will given to him by the inner court. The will stated that the title and county would be handed over to the crown prince Robert, and that the palace prime minister, the chamberlain and the minister of finance would jointly assist the prince, and ordered the ministers meeting to obey the orders of the three ministers. "
The more Charles listened, the angrier he became. "The prime minister is too old to care about the military affairs, so he asked the chamberlain and Bernard to assist the government? Even a fool can see that Bernard made up this will. Anyway, the Marquis died of illness in the chamber, and they have plenty of means."
Baldwin nodded, "So I use the name of deputy minister of the court of the Count of Burgundy. Justice sent a complaint to the Duchy of Burgundy, stating that Bernard and the inner court claimed that the death of the marquis was intended to seize the title of marquis for Robert, who was not the marquis' direct descendant. "
"If the duchy confirms Robert's true identity, then the title and rule of the Burgundy county should be inherited by the Earl of Flanders. Bernard will not tolerate such a thing, right?"
Baldwin nodded, "The Western Border Army has already started to take action, and Bernard also used the so-called Marquis' Will to win over the palace dignitaries..."
Baldwin had a secret conversation with Charis, and Count Baldwin's advisor opened the camp door and walked in.
The advisor said: "Your Excellency, we have contacted the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Privy Seal, and there is no problem. Other palace dignitaries who are friendly with us have also visited one by one, and they expressed their willingness to support you as the Assistant Minister..."
"Where is the Minister of War?" Baldwin was more concerned about the attitude of the Minister of Military Affairs. After all, the entire Palace Guards, one cavalry regiment (500 cavalry) and three infantry regiments (1,300 men), were all commanded by the Minister of Military Affairs according to regulations. Although Baldwin actually controlled the third regiment of the Guards Infantry, the remaining cavalry regiment and two infantry regiments were in the hands of the Minister of Military Affairs. The army was the core resource at a time when it was about to collapse. However, the military minister who originally belonged to Baldwin's faction has begun to slip out in recent years.
"I was unable to enter the residence of the Minister of War. The servant said that the Minister of War was seriously ill in bed today and could not attend to foreign affairs." The advisor replied in a low voice. He also knew that this was a shirk, but as a count's official, he did not dare to force his way into the mansion.
A look of contempt appeared on Baldwin's face, "How long have you still wanted to be an impartial fence-sitter? Go and tell him that there are only pros and cons. Forget it, I'll go find him personally. There can't be any mistakes at this time."
"The marquis's funeral will be held tomorrow, and we must win over enough people before the funeral."
The count's advisor nodded in agreement.
He was still worried about not being able to see the Minister of War. He hesitated for a while and said to his advisor: "There can't be any mistakes with the Minister of War. You ask the mansion to prepare some of the most precious medicinal materials, and we will go to the Minister of War's mansion to see him immediately."
Baldwin was about to leave with his advisors when he suddenly stopped and asked Charis: "Charis, have you sent a secret order to the Welsh Army in the south?"
"It was sent out two days ago."
"How are they prepared?"
...................
"How are the convoys prepared?" At the busy legion assembly area outside the garrison camp of Jushi Town, the baggage officer Spencer just came out of the medical team and walked towards the convoy. Forty-six were parked in the open space outside Jushi Town.
The captain of the transport team is a disabled veteran who retired from the military. He was originally an ordinary soldier who retired with injuries. After joining the transport team, he was promoted to the squadron-level transport captain, which was considered a good destination.
"Sir, baggage officer, all the carriages have been loaded with military rations and baggage." The baggage captain used his broken right palm to press the rope of a carriage and secure the grain bag firmly.
Spencer nodded with satisfaction, "All grain must be covered with felt cloth. It will be troublesome if it gets wet by rain." It’s covered with felt cloth. But Lord Transport Officer, how can we solve the problem of carrying so many mules and horses forage? It’s not enough to just eat hay for a long distance, and our transport team doesn’t have enough people to graze and harvest the grass.”
"Mr. Odo has already made arrangements. A certain amount of the military expenses for the war will be used to purchase forage and black bean wheat bran from farmers in the battle areas. In addition, in the next two days, more than twenty serfs recruited from three territories in the North will join the baggage train. At that time, I will allocate a few people to your baggage train who can raise mules and horses."
Spencer exchanged a few words with the transport captain, and then continued to run to several armed transport soldiers sent from the legion's arsenal to double-check whether the armaments and weapons transferred from the arsenal were fully loaded. It was not easy to replenish weapons and armor when the legion went on an expedition, so he had to ensure that there were enough weapons in reserve to supplement battlefield losses.
The busy baggage officer Spencer had just returned to the military tent in Boulder Town, took off his belt and planned to sit down and take a sip of water, when Art's bodyguard Matthew found him.
Matthew saluted to Spencer and said: "Sir Spencer, your Excellency asked you to go to his barracks. It seems that he is planning to arrange some supply points for the Northland~"
Spencer quickly put down the water bag that was brought to his mouth, picked up the belt on the table and tied it on as he walked, frowning slightly, thinking in his heart, "It's really hard to live." But the steps under his feet were even faster...
"Sir, are you looking for me?" Spencer entered the door and bowed to Art first.
Matt saw a sweaty Spencer enter the camp. He stood up and picked up the clay pot with wine from the simple wooden table. He poured a large glass of wine for Spencer. He walked over to Spencer and handed the wine glass to his hand. "Spencer, Odo still has to be responsible for military operations. Everything about the baggage train is complicated and complicated. Thank you for your hard work."
Spencer took the wine glass with both hands and drank in one gulp. "My lord, it is indeed very difficult, but I am willing to do my best for you."
Att tapped Spencer on the shoulder and led him to a simple topographic map hanging on the wall in the corner of the camp. Pointing to a few points drawn with carbon rods, he said to Spencer: "The legion is about to go north. Food and baggage are the first priority. No matter how powerful the army is, it cannot march on an empty stomach. Therefore, we must be prepared in advance if the army's baggage lines cannot be transported normally. "
"Look, these are the baggage collection points I have prepared. I have already asked Eagle Eye to check the situation nearby. These places are food-rich areas..."