Matt's eyes widened. He didn't know how to describe the team that appeared on the southern road and slowly walked towards the recruitment office. What should it be, refugees? Refugees? beggar? Anyway, if anyone dared to say that this was an army recruiting for the war, Art would definitely dig out his eyes and make a stew for him to drink.
This is a very special team. The whole team is led by a fat man wearing a thick cotton robe who rides a lame horse. The fat man does not even have a weapon. Behind the man on horseback are a dozen soldiers who look like soldiers carrying spears and sticks, carrying short swords, and wearing tattered armor. These guys can only guess that they are probably soldiers, because their armor and weapons are really shabby, and there is no energy at all on their old and numb faces.
Behind the dozen or so soldiers is a long queue of refugees. In this team there are old men carrying rag bags, cripples carrying wooden sticks, peasant women leading sheep and chasing chickens, and young children with big noses. In short, there are a lot of old, weak, women and children you can think of in this team.
Except for the lack of young and strong men, there is no shortage of anyone here.
It must be corrected, if the dozen or so "soldiers" at the head of the team who are over ten years old and whose grandchildren can run all over the ground can be considered young and strong, then there are still some young and strong in this team.
Before the others in Ate could recover, the man on horseback had already led the team to approach the recruitment area, and several vigilant soldiers immediately stepped forward to stop them.
"I am the lord near Capuledie in the south. My name is Bob Wolfgang. You can call me Bob. The soldiers at the sentry post have already confirmed my identity. Do you want me to confirm it for you again?" The fat man on the horse grabbed the front saddle and came to the black-robed soldiers with the help of the soldiers. His tone was very calm and he was not angry at all because of the soldiers' obstruction. It was obvious that this was not the first time he had encountered this situation.
"This is Baron Bob Wolgan!" The soldier next to the fat man finally couldn't help but remind him.
The black-robed soldier was doubtful and turned his attention to Ate and the others aside.
Matt was also curious about this weird team. He raised his hand to signal the black-robed soldiers not to be nervous, and then walked up to the fat man with interest, "Are you a baron?"
The fat man looked Art up and down, and then replied respectfully: "Your Excellency, my name is Bob Wolfgang. I come from a territory near Capulediere. Although I don't want to admit it, I am indeed a baron." Bob shrugged and shook his chubby head.
This Bob is not the Tinets Sheriff who opposed Art when he was a patrol officer.
When Art heard that he was still a baron, he couldn't help but become even more curious. This was the most shabby and shabby baron he had ever seen.
"Baron Bob, hello. I'm Art Wood Wells." Art politely saluted Bob and introduced himself.
The fat man's narrowed eyes suddenly widened. He looked at Art with an unbelievable expression for a long time, "You, are you the Baron Art who killed countless Swabians? I didn't expect to see the real person so soon!"
The fat man's excitement seemed not to be fake.
"Baron Bob, what are you~?" Art pointed at the huge team behind Bob.
"Sir Art, you don't have to call me Baron Bob, just call me Bob."
"These are all citizens of my father and brother's territory..."
Listening to the simple self-narration of the poor baron in front of him, Art actually had a strange feeling.
It turns out that this fat guy named Bob Wolfgang is the second son of a frontier baron on the border. His family originally had a manor, a village and two farms as fiefdoms. However, his father was killed in the hands of the Swabians in the national war in which Swabia invaded the border a few years ago, and the family fiefdom was also invaded by the Swabians.
Him Burgundy later regained its lost land. In order to punish the Wolfgang family for their crime of losing land, the Besançon court deprived the Wolfgang family of two farms.
Bob's brother inherited the baronetcy and the only remaining manor and village.
A few months ago, Swabia invaded the border again, and the Wolfgang family's border was the first to bear the brunt. In order to revenge and defend against the enemy, Bob's simple-minded baron knight brother with strong limbs forced all the young and strong men in the territory to go to the border to defend against the enemy. As a result, the entire army was wiped out in less than two weeks. His brother was trampled to a pulp by the iron hooves of the Swabian heavy cavalry, and returned home with only one arm left.
Bob has no intention of titles or fiefs. He has not been loved by his father and brother since he was a child, and was even ignored after his mother died. The only thing that kept him company since childhood were the books locked in the castle. He had no other hobbies except reading. His father once forced him to practice the seven skills of knights, hoping that he could become a knight under his brother. However, this fat boy had no interest in knights' things at all, and he was unable to move because of his bloated body.
This fat man who has not been taken seriously since childhood is only a trainee knight.
His father and brother were killed in the war, and Bob had no choice but to inherit the title of baronet. Obviously, inheriting the title at this time is not something to be happy about. The Swabians are about to come with their swords raised, and the territory has no defense capability at all.
At the critical moment, Bob chose to escape without any hesitation.
But Bob's escape was not just to pack up his gold and silver and run away on horseback. He actually took all the people in the territory away, leaving no one left...
“...I just thought about these people who have been following the Wolfgang family for hundreds of years. I really can’t bear them to be massacred by the Swabians again, and I firmly believe that as long as the people around me are still there, I can always build another barony, so he took them all with him, not a few. "However, we have been living in other people's territories during this period, and now everyone has no food left. The money and supplies we brought from the village were quickly used up. No, when I heard that you were recruiting troops on a large scale, I brought all the people in the territory."
Bob said it very easily, but Art knew that it would definitely not be easy for him. If he only cared about the safety of himself and a few cronies, he would still be able to live a good life as a baron heir. But now the two hundred tails behind him are just two hundred burdens. No matter how strong the body is, it will be dragged to death, not to mention the body in front of him is by no means strong.
Matt glanced at the team behind Bob. The old man was coughing and the children were crying. The women looked helplessly at the old people and children around them. Art was really unwilling to accept such a burden.
"I'm sorry Baron Bob, this is not a church relief hall, and I do not help refugees. What I want to recruit is an army that can accompany me to fight." Art directly rejected Bob without any hesitation.
Bob was not surprised at this result, nor was he upset at Art's refusal. "Master Art, I know these people cannot fight for you, but there are still many capable people among them, including blacksmiths, carpenters, leatherworkers, tailors, hunters and soldiers. Although they are all old guys (the younger ones have followed his brother and become meat under the iron heel of Swabia), they can still squeeze out some oil. As for those who Women, they are very hard-working people. As long as they are fed a bowl of rye every day, they can work better than men. "
"Master Art, if you can manage these people, I don't want a single copper coin, so you can treat them as hard labor. Your army also needs people to make fires, cook, cut down trees, etc. As long as you give them some food, they will all be at your mercy, including me." There was a hint of begging in Bob's tone.
"Baron Bob, now I am short of food and unable to supply the army. But I admire your kindness. I will give you two hundred pounds of food. You can take your people to the hinterland. There may be a way to survive there." Art said and turned to leave.
Bob immediately stepped forward, "Lord Art, half a manor! If you can give the people behind me a glimmer of hope to survive, I will give you half a manor, and I can write the documents immediately. Of course, I can't fulfill my promise until you regain the lost land."
Art stopped. This was the first time he saw a lord who exchanged his territory in order to keep the humble people alive, and he was a little moved.
"Three hundred pounds of grain, save some and it will be enough for you to go to the next county." After all, Art did not take over the burdensome group.
…
In the following days, Bramon City successively received troops from all over the country, and soon gathered more than 1,200 troops and miscellaneous laborers from all over the country.
Odo hurried back to Bramon City. Patrol captain Obot, who came from the southern valley barony, also led Redoan, Benson and others and led more than forty soldiers who rushed to Bramon City in advance.
The number of troops that Art can control has exceeded 2,500, of which more than 1,200 are directly under his own army.
Thousands of people consume huge amounts of food every day. However, in order to establish a basic command system for this patchwork army, Art convened several military meetings with the commanders of each army. After lengthy debates and compromises, he finally managed to organize the more than 1,200 armies from various places into several sub-groups (the Yona Border Army has a complete command system, so there is no need to worry).
This army, totaling more than 2,500 men, was divided into two combat units and a baggage unit.
Att's Jonah Border Guard Corps is mainly responsible for fighting against Swabian reinforcements and resisting the offensive of Swabian peripheral armies.
The combined armies in the east were commanded by Viscount John, with three border barons and seven or eight defeated army leading knights as the main commanders. They were responsible for attacking Geneborg.
Those miscellaneous soldiers and laborers who were eliminated from various armies formed a baggage force, led by Spencer, the baggage officer under Art, and assisted by several officials and squires in the border areas. These three hundred people were mainly responsible for the purchase and collection of food supplies, the supply of food, the construction of barracks, and the production of siege equipment when attacking castles.
On the third Wednesday of December, a message from the dove of the court of Jonah was delivered to the hall of Lord Bramon.
· Art and Viscount Jon, who were holding a pre-war military meeting, read the fire-painted order letter and stood up from the table. "The court of Jonah and the command camp of the Central Army of the Liberation Army have authorized us to send troops to recover the lost territory! The Principality of Burgundy will send troops to the north to shock the Principality of Swabia!"
· The war begins.