In late July, the situation in the War of Succession took a sudden turn.
Just yesterday, the city of Vaal received an urgent message from a flying pigeon from the city of Bomledam in the northern war zone. The prince of Burgundy, Flanders, personally led a thousand elite soldiers (professional mercenaries) of the Longxia Army and Five hundred servant soldiers (peasants and miscellaneous soldiers who were on the verge of conscription) captured the Black Iron Castle, an important town in the north of Besançon, and formed a confrontation with the city of Besançon. The Western army gathered on the border of Yona Province rushed back to support Besançon.
On the Eastern Army side, Baron Charis personally led the First Army of the East (the Main Battle Army of the East) and several temporarily recruited private armies of the lords of Yona Province to advance westward one after another, forming an encirclement of Besançon with the Longxia Army.
Earl Baldwin, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Army, also moved the Eastern Army's central camp (command structure) from the city of Yona to the city of Bomledam. Count Baldwin also went to Bomledam to command the Eastern Army's operations.
The Western Army that was defeated by the "conspiracy" of the Wells Army also wandered outside the city for two days and then suddenly withdrew westward. Presumably they received a rescue order from Besancon, but even if Besancon did not order the retreat, they would have to get out because the Western Army had no food.
The crisis in Vaal City has been resolved, and there will be a major war in the north, so the Welsh Army has also received military orders and is about to rush to the northern defense area to assemble and standby...
The gloomy sky is still shrouded in twine drizzle, and the continuous rain for three consecutive days has turned the roads inside and outside Vaal City into They walked out of the North City Gate along the muddy road. In an open space in front of a low hill two miles outside the North City, piles of firewood were neatly stacked. On each pile of firewood was a corpse wrapped in coarse linen. On the chest of each corpse was a cross that they had carried with them during their lifetime.
The military priest Robert and several priests and monks from Vaal City walked through the piles of firewood to pray for the souls of the dead. All the soldiers and officers of the Welsh Army who were not seriously injured and bedridden except the squad leader stood in the open space in front of the hill.
This is the cremation ceremony site of the Welsh Legion. The bodies lying on the firewood pile are the officers and soldiers who died in the battle to relieve the siege of Vaal City.
A total of fifty-eight people of the Welsh Army were killed in this battle, including seven squadron captains, fifteen squad captains and thirty-six soldiers. In addition, there were more than twenty serious injuries and nearly a hundred minor injuries. In particular, the officers and key soldiers of several flag corps on both wings of the regiment suffered particularly serious battle losses.
At the critical moment when the Wells Army fell into a fierce battle and gradually lost power, those officers and veterans played a mainstay role. If they had not sacrificed their lives to withstand the enemy's offensive, it would have been impossible for the new soldiers who had just joined to hold on to the position until the last moment. Therefore, the ratio of the number of deaths in the battle between squadron captains and squad captains (key soldiers) exceeded one-third of the total number of casualties.
The army is about to go north to garrison in the city of St. Leon. The seriously injured soldiers have been sent back to the castle in the hinterland of Yona Province for recuperation and treatment. The soldiers who are slightly injured and bedridden will follow the legion. After settling the military affairs, the command camp will begin to place the soldiers who died in the battle.
Like others, most of the soldiers and officers of the Welsh Legion have no feelings of "returning home after death". Anyway, their heroic souls will ascend to heaven, and they really don't care much about the whereabouts of their physical bodies. It is for this reason that most of the soldiers who died in previous battles were buried on the spot unless there was a special request.
However, after thinking about it this time, Art decided to cremate the remains of the soldiers and officers who died in the war, and take their bones back to the "Heroes Cemetery" specially designated by the civil administration in the valley for proper burial, so that the war dead could "return home."
When a person dies, he dies, and whether he returns home or not is of secondary importance. Art’s move is mainly for the living people to see. The purpose is to cultivate the sense of belonging of the soldiers and officers, so that they can truly regard the Valley Barony as their hometown of soul and body...
Odo, the adjutant of the legion, was wearing a polished gown and mail. Although the robe (livery) still had residual blood stains, he had smoothed it as much as possible.
"Sir, there are only two old carpenters in the city. It's too late to make the bone box you ordered. I asked people to find fifty-eight clay pots. Do you think it's okay?" Otto's tone was very serious. After all, many of the corpses on the firewood pile were soldiers and key officers under his command. In the battle a few days ago, he also ordered all the combat officers above the squad leader to go to the front at the critical moment.
At turned his head to look at the clay pots stacked on the carriage and nodded, "Okay, engrave the names of the corresponding soldiers and officers on each clay pot. After the body is cremated, the bones are put into the clay pots and sent back to the city of Yona to be handed over to the caravan of Baron Antayas. Ask them to help transport them back to the valley and hand them over to the civil administration for burial."
) Otto was choked with sobs.
He lowered his head and glanced at the body lying on the pile of firewood in front of him. This pale and gray face was Odo's personal guard. The young soldier had just joined the Welsh Army. Because of his strong memory, he remembered the power in just one month. All the bugles, military orders and flags of the Les Regiment were personally selected by Odo as personal bodyguards and messengers. During the battle that day, this young soldier, who was less than 18 years old, in order to prevent an accident from happening to Odo who was in the front, he always resisted the flanks together with Odo's other personal bodyguards.
Another of Odo's soldiers was seriously injured, and this young soldier was slashed in the stomach by a battle axe, and his intestines fell out on the spot...
Otto took a step forward, leaned down and touched the blood-stained area on the abdomen of the body, took off the cross pendant from his neck, held it in his hand and rubbed it a few times, "Little guy, don't you really want this cross of mine? I'll give it to you today, and let it accompany you to heaven~"
Otto said as he gently placed his cross on Chai's chest and patted the body.
"...The door of heaven has been opened for you, may your souls enjoy the peace of heaven forever. Amen!" The military priest Robert finally ended the funeral prayer ceremony.
"Amen!" Those who participated in the cremation ceremony prayed in low voices.
Subsequently, a group of officers and soldiers representatives from the Welsh Legion walked into the firewood pile one after another, holding a burning torch in their hands.
Spencer of the Baggage Brigade established a baggage point in the north, so the people responsible for the funeral were the ideological and political officers of the Welsh Legion, Denis and Daniel, and a group of subordinates.
Dennis handed the three torches to Art, Odo and Angus respectively, and then said in a serious tone to Odo, the adjutant in charge of the legion's general affairs: "Lord Odo, it's time to start."
Odo took the torch, nodded slightly to Denis, and then asked Art: "Sir, are you ready to start?"
Matt took half a step forward and slowly moved the torch under the firewood pile. The firewood sprinkled with a small amount of kerosene was immediately ignited by the torch. Thick black smoke rose from dozens of wet firewood piles, as if dozens of souls were ascending to heaven step by step...
当日下午，威尔斯军团冒雨开拔，一支队伍拉着长列朝北部的圣瑞昂方向快速移动......
............
约纳省的另一端，也有一支队伍拉着长列朝着北部进发，队伍由二十五架四轮单驾马车和三十二个护卫随员组成。
The carriages have iron side compartments, and the wheels are also wrapped with a layer of iron sheets. The piles of goods piled high in the carriages are covered with felt cloth; the attendants and guards on both sides of the carriages all wear gray and black uniforms with similar standards. The uniforms were printed with the words "European Trading Company" and the wolf's head badge. The accompanying guards all held short iron-tipped spears. The seven or eight armed guards also wore leather armor under their uniforms, daggers on their waists, and round shields on their backs.
This is a caravan of the European Trading Company under the command of the court frontier baron Art Wood Wells.
Today's Continental Trading Company has begun to take shape. There are two caravans like this. The other one is currently operating in Provence and is mainly responsible for the southern goods trade on the main trade route of the Continental Trading Company in the south. In addition to the two caravans with a size of twenty, there are four caravans ranging in size from five to fifteen carriages. They were all purchased by European trading companies from bankrupt merchants in Provence. They are mainly responsible for collecting low-priced goods from all over Provence and transporting them to the border for hoarding.
At the front of the team, three caravan leaders in slightly more ornate clothes led the team on horseback. They are the Civil Affairs and Commercial Officer of the Valley, Salt, the General Manager of the Continental Trading Bank, Lavin, the Captain of the Armed Guards of the Continental Trading Bank, and Manid, the Northern Manager of the Continental Trading Bank.
Wearing a brocade satin short robe, a thin waistband, and cowhide short boots, Manid, the Northland Steward of the European Trading Company, tried his best to control the horse and follow Salter. He said to Salter, who was leading the way: "Lord Salter, I can see that Hereth The Viscount intends to join the southern goods trade, but the conditions he proposed are too outrageous. We just want to pass the southern goods to Swabia through his hands, but he wants to completely control the entire trade route from Glalu to Swabia. It is too greedy. "
Salter turned his eyes and glanced at this newly arrived businessman. He had exchanged his first month's steward's salary for a set of exquisite brocade and satin. With a gorgeous belt and a handsome face after shaving, it was indeed easy to leave a good impression on others.
“Manid, you are also a businessman who has been involved in the business journey for many years. You should know that the nature of a businessman is to chase money. But you should also know that the most difficult thing in the business journey is to distribute benefits. You have just entered the European Trading Company. , we still don’t know the many forces involved in the European trading houses, from the Southern Merchant Guild of the Count of Burgundy in the north to the sporadic traders in Provence in the south, from the patrons of Provence in the east to the border defenders in the west, and even the Count of Burgundy. The earls, court dignitaries and several church bishops, down to several barons and knights in Tyniec County, dozens of forces are involved in the Continental Trading Company. They are all the owners of the Continental Trading Company, and they all have to take a share from this box containing gold cakes and silver coins. "
"You and I cannot decide how to distribute the benefits. We are just ears, mouth and limbs, and our heads are always with you."
Manid knew that there were many forces behind this newly rising European trading house, but he did not know that it was so complicated. This was a level that the down-and-out businessman Manid had never been exposed to before.
"So you maintained absolute silence when Viscount Herreth proposed the conditions?" Manid asked.
"Yes, I can only decide the type of southern goods, monthly cargo volume, transportation routes, cargo distribution and transfer locations, and price increases and decreases. As for the core issues involved, I will carefully note down and relay them to Your Excellency for him to decide."
Manid nodded, "But Your Excellency is leading an army to go to war, where can we find him?"
After hearing this, Salter laughed, turned his head and glanced at the mountains of goods on the dozens of carriages behind him, and then glanced at the captain of the armed guard Lavin who was following on the other side. He replied to Manid: "You suggested that I go north to Yona Province this time to bring more southern goods, but I insisted on purchasing a large amount of linen and cotton goods from the southern mainland at low prices. You also I don’t understand. I think Sir Lavin can help you with this question.”
After several years of hard work, Lavin, who was born in the army, has become the captain of the armed guard of the European Commercial Bank (the title of Civil Affairs Officer). He is wearing a sophisticated half-mail suit and carries a stainless steel broadsword forged by the Valley Weapons Workshop on his waist. He looks brave and heroic.
“Mr. Manid, you have never fought, so you don’t know the brutality of the battlefield. The two armies are fighting against each other. Countless heads have fallen to the ground, countless heroic souls have died in battle, and countless people have been injured on the battlefield. Now there is chaos in the north of Burgundy. Thousands of people are about to fight against each other. There will definitely be no shortage of wounded soldiers and dead people, and the dead need to be clothed. Wrapping corpses, wounded soldiers need cloth to stop bleeding, so the demand for cloth in war zones is absolutely great. People don't care how much they spend when they are faced with a life-or-death decision, so at this time, the cheapest cloth can be sold at a high price like silk satin. After all, no one wants to be left without a piece of linen to wrap themselves. "
“And we also purchased a lot of belladonna, marigolds, fennel root and other medicines from the army in Provence. These are the things that are urgently needed in the war-torn areas. According to the Lord, these things are "strategic materials." God can save a person's soul, but medicine can save a person's body. I think soldiers not only need God's salvation, but also need medicine for treatment. The medicines in the warehouses of the Northland doctors and pharmacists have probably been looted by the army. As long as we send these things to the war zone, we will definitely make a lot of money. "
"But will these things be robbed by those armies? Those barbaric armies are not afraid of our short spears." Manid raised concerns.
Salter smiled, "Manid, I just told you that the Continental Trading Banks are very powerful. Don't forget that the owners behind the Continental Trading Banks also include high-ranking commanders of the Eastern Army. Which army dares to rob their own lord's things?" The reputation of the regiment is enough to protect our safety in friendly territory. When we arrive in Yona City, we will contact the Eastern Army's baggage team. We can follow the Eastern Army's baggage team to the war zone. "
"Raven, let the guys speed up. We will try to get to Yona City to rest before dark tomorrow..."