In the temporary camp on the outskirts of Bomledam, Art gathered a group of officers above the flag captain of the Welsh Army and the military priest Robert in the tent to discuss matters.
After listening to Art's brief introduction of the situation, Robert who followed the army was the first to speak, "Sir, although this meaty bone is big enough, I'm afraid it is very difficult to chew. If you are not careful, a fang will break."
At's hand rubbed the gold-rimmed pre-appointment letter for a while and threw it into the sand tray on the wooden table.
This title of Viscount was already in Art's possession. This time, Baldwin just used a formal document to draw the piece of bread floating in the sky. Art did not show much excitement about it. Moreover, the prerequisite for obtaining this so-called Viscount of the Frontier was to defend the Swabian attack in the east and come back alive, which were two very difficult tasks.
What Jean Yat finally agreed to was not the so-called pre-award document, but the joint signature of Flanders and Baldwin.
"Father Robert, the bone has been put to my mouth, and I can't help but chew it."
"The Liberation Army has turned into a pot of minced meat with the Western Army outside the city of Besançon, and both sides can only... Keep adding meat to the pot, and no one can take the risk of withdrawing troops at this time. Don't forget that there is a large group of people watching beside the pot. Not to mention, Kodor and Lucese are both provinces, and their positions alone can determine the life and death of the old and new factions. "
"Now that Swabia invades the border, it is obviously the conspiracy of that old bastard Bernard. He exchanged the land of the county for foreign support. This will inevitably make Codor and Lucesian resentful of the Besançon court. As long as the Liberation Army can stabilize the war situation on the western front, and we can barely block the foreign enemies on the eastern front, I think those who are watching the excitement will also know which side to choose."
We all understand the truth, and everyone in the tent does not understand the difficult situation that the new faction is in now, but reason and understanding cannot buy victory.
As the adjutant of the legion, Odo is mainly responsible for infantry training, soldier armaments and the supply of baggage and food. The wounds of the Battle of Vaal City have only just healed slightly. "My lord, the Wells Army has just regained its strength after two or three months of renovation and training. If all 600 of the army are sent to the east, or There may be a slight possibility of victory, but they still have to leave half of their infantry to garrison Vaal City. How can two or three hundred people defend the eastern border? "
"Don't ask me this question, you can't answer "how" to win a battle with almost no chance of winning. "Art didn't hide it in front of his subordinates.
Robert sighed and said slowly to everyone: "Think on the bright side, at least we don't have to get involved in the mess on the Western Front battlefield. We have a strong army in the East. No one is restraining us, and no one is taking credit."
Everyone could only laugh a few times.
"Sir, who do you plan to keep to garrison Vaal City?" Angus stopped thinking about useless questions and directly asked Art about his plans.
Yate looked around at the officers in the tent. They were all elites who had survived the battle, and many of them indeed had the ability to lead an army on their own.
"The military order given to me by the commanding camp is to hold on to the eastern border for two months. However, according to the current situation on the western front, we may not be able to capture the city of Besançon in three months, so we must be prepared to hold on in the eastern border for at least three months."
"After entering the Eastern Territory, we need to immediately recruit soldiers to form the Jonah Border Legion and raise food, wages and equipment. These general tasks are Odo's strengths, so Odo must follow me to the Eastern Territory."
There are only two adjutants in the Welsh Army. Odo will be taken to the east to handle the matter of recruiting troops and transporting food, so only Angus will be left behind.
However, Art obviously had other plans. "The Swabian army is powerful, and the newly built army needs commanders who are good at fighting. The entire eastern frontier is too long, and I can never lead troops to fight in person all the time, so the sergeant major must also follow me to the east to command the battle."
The three legion commanders have left, and no one can really guess who will be left to lead the defenders.
"The red-haired ghost!" Art shouted.
Kazak immediately stood up.
“You are the first person to follow me, and you are also the flag captain with the oldest qualifications, the highest military exploits, and the most capable fighting skills of the Welsh Army. I now promote you to the commanding adjutant of the Welsh Army. You are responsible for leading the remaining troops of the Welsh Army to be stationed in Vaal City. Before I come back, you must use your life as a guarantee to lead the brothers of the Welsh Army to win the battle and survive. Come. "
"Red-haired Ghost", this is the alias given to Kazak by the guys when he was working as a laborer. Since he joined Art's army, few people have called him this name. With the promotion of military positions, especially after he was promoted to a trainee knight and became a noble, this slightly joking title has never appeared again.
Humbling this name from Art’s mouth today touched Kazak’s heart and made him feel warm.
Of the three people who came out of Lucese's labor shack, Odo has always been the adjutant of the army, and he has been promoted the fastest. Bass was idle for a period of time after his head was seriously injured in the battle of Boulder Town, but now he has also become the commander of the garrison. Only Kazak has a slightly lower military rank.
Now that Kazakh Fireline has been promoted, he is of course excited.
"Be loyal to your lord, and you will never regret it until death!"
Odo took the lead, and everyone in the tent cheered for Kazak.
At patted Kazak's shoulder heavily, "You deserve this, because I'm going to tell you bad news next."
Ate has always been honest in front of his confidants, and Kazak should also be prepared.
"The command camp requires me to leave half of the infantry to garrison Vaal City, which is impossible. Not to mention whether Vaal City needs so many elite soldiers, even if it does, I can't leave half of the elite troops. There is only one castle that needs to be garrisoned, but there are more than twenty castles in the east that I need to go to. Guard..."
Kazak took advantage of the excitement and said, "Sir, tell me how many people you can leave at least for me!"
At the end of the day, Art glanced at Kazak, and Kazak stared at Art's eyes, his eyes sincere enough.
"In order to cope with the command camp, I will leave all the soldiers of the first company behind, but after a while I will hire more than a hundred peasant soldiers from the hinterland of Yona Province to come to Vaal City to replace most of the legion soldiers. I will leave you the first flag team of the first company under your command, and leave one third of the baggage soldiers in the baggage team. One flag soldier plus the remaining baggage soldiers and more than a hundred peasant soldiers, this is all the force under your command."
"In addition, I will leave you 150,000 pfennigs for emergency military pay alone. If the Liberation Army cannot pay the military pay on time, you can use this money to advance. As for grain, grass and baggage, there are reserves in the warehouses of Var City. , enough for you to use."
"Do you have any other requirements?"
"Sir, I don't ask for heavy armored infantry. Can you leave me some crossbowmen?"
“No, the Eastern Territory needs crossbowmen more than you.”
“My lord, can you leave some cavalry?”
“No, but I can leave you some horses.” "The task force remains in the city?"
Art lowered his head and thought for a while, "Half of the task force is left in Vaal City."
"Are there any other requirements?"
"No!" Kazak replied firmly.
"Kazak, your mission is to hold on to the castle. You cannot leave the city to fight unless it is absolutely necessary, no matter who's order!"
"Yes!"
"In addition, if you have done your best and your duty, I allow you to lay down your weapons and accept the honor~" Art's voice was so low that everyone buried their heads... At the end of September, the entire second company of infantry, all the cavalry, all the crossbow corps, all the heavy armored infantry, most of the baggage corps and half of the task force, as well as the command camp of the army's central army, a total of more than 370 people and 45 carriages marched east-west along the King's Road next to the city of Waal.
The war in the east is spreading, and time is victory.
It took less than four days for the Welsh Army's eastward march to reach the castle called Bramont, southeast of Jonah. It was less than two days away from the forefront of the Swabian invasion. The 500 Swabian forward troops were blocked by a strong city called Wallonborg.
Bramond City, refugees fleeing the war are constantly gathering here from all over the east. Compared to the borders that are ravaged by the Swabians, at least there is no fear of life here.
At the gate of Bramond East City, a group of troops wearing black robes and uniforms were led by an officer. They set up two bonfires at the base of the outer city wall and put two large clay pots on them. The pottery pots were boiling with fragrant vegetable leaf wheat paste.
In front of the bonfire clay pot, five or six draft soldiers carrying short swords and short sticks separated the surrounding refugees. There were also a few draft soldiers carrying sticks wandering among the crowd to prevent anyone from inciting to rob food.
Beside the pottery pot of the bonfire, a few wooden frames built a simple wooden platform. A neatly dressed and charitable-looking guy was shouting at the top of his lungs at the refugees surrounding him.
…Brothers, you are all warriors sent by God to the world. Can you just watch the Swabian barbarians invade your land, plunder your wealth, insult your wives and daughters, and kill your relatives? Can you? Can you just watch the paradise that God gave you being razed to the ground by barbarians? Can you just watch as your homeland is eroded and annexed little by little? "
The guy on the stage stopped for a moment to let the crowd watching in the audience digest.
"You have already lost an opportunity to take up arms to resist foreign enemies, and now we give you another chance. As long as any of you are willing to join the Jonadon Legion, you can get a piece of wheat porridge. From now on, you can eat wheat porridge for every meal, and you can be full for every meal!"
After speaking, the guy on the stage looked at the refugees surrounding the bonfire with eagerness and hope.
The refugees thought they would be able to eat a mouthful of wheat porridge after hearing this, but they did not expect that they would have to join a border regiment before they could receive food.
If these people had the courage to join the army, they would not be chased around like rats by the Swabians, so no one responded to the words of the man on the stage...
The man on the stage was already dry, and he waved to another soldier beside him, who continued to go on stage to agitate in his place.
“I said Dennis, your mouth is really good at inciting. I said it’s a pity that you don’t become a bard.” Spencer, the baggage officer who directed the troops to cook wheat porridge beside the pottery pot at the bonfire, held a half-eaten pear in his hand.
"Can this thing be eaten raw? Aren't you afraid of getting sick?" Dennis raised his throat and swallowed hard while looking at the pear in Spencer's hand.
"You can't eat it, and it tastes delicious." Spencer picked up a large pear from a wicker frame and threw it to Denis.
Dennis took it and sniffed it, then looked up at Spencer and took a small bite. The taste was really sweet and the juice was plentiful.
"Brother Spencer, do you think we can recruit soldiers today?" Dennis slurred with a large mouthful of fruit pulp in his mouth.
Spencer had already gnawed the pears in his hands clean, and he threw the core into the clay pot used to make porridge for the refugees, and replied: "I think there are some difficulties. For the war on the Western Front, the Jonah court had already recruited almost all the peasant soldiers. This time Swabia invaded the border, and the army of the lords who stayed in the east once again forced the peasants who were barely able to fight. They were able to escape two peelings. Most of them are old and weak, women and children. Do you expect these people to join the army? Your Majesty's requirements for recruiting landowners are higher than them~"
"Hey! Hey! Hey!! There are bastards who want to rush in and grab the wheat paste, fight them out!" Spencer saw two and a half-year-old boys trying to get in and steal food, so he picked up a short stick and called the soldiers to fight them.
Dennis glanced at the crowd of young refugees, and then at Dennis, the ideological and political adjutant on the stage who was shouting encouragement. He shook his head and sighed softly, "One hundred people! God, when will the task assigned by you be completed~"