Fifteen miles south of Marseille, this place is already the intersection of plains and hills. Looking eastward, you can see many mountains. On the other side of the mountains is the southern region of Lucerne Province.
On a windless midsummer night, the air in this hilly area is extremely stuffy, and even the chirping of frogs and birds seems very irritating.
On the road between the hills, the rearguard team of the Welsh Army, which had just ended a tragic blocking battle, was setting up camp for repairs under the leadership of Angus. This rearguard team, composed of cavalry, chariot teams and a small number of elite infantry, had been pursued by the enemy for two days. Although more than a hundred people were able to move quickly with the support of horses and chariots, blocking was not a retreat. Frontal combat was absolutely indispensable, so casualties were unavoidable.
As the sharp sword of the Welsh Army penetrated directly into the heart of Codor, the pursuing Codor army became more and more crazy. At noon today, more than 150 enemy cavalry launched a desperate charge against the rearguard led by Angus. They did not care about the obstruction of the car formation, vowing to destroy these enemies huddled in the car formation and then immediately charge to Marsi Fort.
The whole day's blocking battle was very fierce. One hundred and fifty enemy cavalry launched six charges. Although Angus commanded the army to fight and retreat under the cover of the chariot formation, the opponent was far superior to us in both strength and equipment. The pursuing enemy troops joined the vanguard, and Angus and the others began to be unable to resist. The cavalry captain Lusignan was even hit by an arrow in the abdomen during the evening battle. Fortunately, it was only a long shot from the enemy's cavalry bow, and the arrow did not penetrate the abdominal cavity. It was not fatal, but Lusignan was also fainted from the pain.
After paying a painful price of five deaths and nine serious injuries, Angus finally couldn't resist, and had to order a retreat when the enemy's offensive was slight...
As night fell and entered the hilly area, the pursuing cavalry did not dare to attack rashly, so they stopped the pursuit, and the team led by Angus got a chance to breathe.
It was said that they were setting up camp for repairs, but in fact no tents were set up. It was impossible to set up a camp when the enemy was chasing behind them, so the cavalry and infantry could only lean against the chariot and fell asleep with their armor on. The constant roars of the wounded soldiers could not wake up these sleeping soldiers.
Soldiers could fall asleep on the ground after a fierce battle, but Angus, as the commander of this army, did not dare to be careless. He led the cavalry deputy captain Jafar (Lusignan was injured) to once again inspect the defenses and sentries around the camp. After making sure that nothing was missing, he dragged his armor covered in blood back to the "camp" to rest.
"Being chased to death by those bastards like dead dogs, this battle was really suffocating!" Jafar heard the wails of the wounded soldiers on the medic's carriage, and his stomach was filled with anger for no reason.
"Get some food." Angus did not answer. It was useless to talk at this time. The most important thing was to replenish his physical strength during the war.
Jafar quickly took out a piece of bread from the pouch at his waist, took out his knife and cut off most of the bread. He made a slit and put a small piece of bacon in it and handed it to Angus. Then he made a portion for himself with the remaining half of the bread.
Angus saw Jafar giving him most of the bread, but he did not intend to be polite. He took a piece of food and put it into his mouth and bit down half of it. This kind of chewy bread was not delicious. Angus chewed it for a long time before swallowing it. But the battlefield is not so particular. As soon as he swallowed a mouthful, Angus stuffed the bread into his mouth again.
"Has Lusignan woke up?" Angus asked vaguely.
"I just woke up and I can't die." Jafar had already finished chewing the bread in his hand, and while talking, he was looking for the water bag on his waist.
Before Angus could ask any more questions, the soldiers on guard outside had already hurried over with a dark shadow.
"Lord Angus, the Chinese army command camp has sent an urgent military order." As soon as the black shadow saw Angus, he couldn't wait to hand him a note.
Angus stuffed the remaining bacon and bread into his mouth, stood up, took the note, unfolded it, and read it carefully with the weak candlelight by the candle inserted in the carriage.
"Master Sergeant, what are the orders from the Chinese Army?" Jafar came over.
Angus was a little distracted. He raised his hand and handed the note to Jafar, "The army has captured Fort Marsi, but your Excellency asked us to stop the pursuers at all costs and buy the army one more day."
Ja'far did not read the note, "Why? Marsi Fort has been captured. According to the plan, we should immediately withdraw to Marsi Fort and join the army to defend the city."
Ja'far's eyes were fixed on the messenger.
The messenger was stared at with fury, "Lord Jafar, we did break through Fort Marsi, but the enemy defenders set a fire in the castle just before they broke through. The granaries, arsenals, and residences were all set on fire. Your Excellency organized troops to clear out the remaining enemies while also scoring points. Send troops everywhere to put out the fires. "
"If the fire in the city cannot be extinguished in time, it will be useless even if we take Fort Marsi. We can't expect to hold on in a scorched earth, right? So whether we defend or leave, the army will still need a day to deal with it."
"If the fire in the city consumes all the food and baggage and we are blocked in the city by the pursuing Kodor army, the consequences will be~" the messenger added.
Jafar punched the carriage next to him hard, almost extinguishing the candle, "A vicious enemy."
"Lord Ja'far, this vicious enemy is an old friend of our Welsh Legion~" The messenger paused, because Angus also stared at him.
"Master Sergeant, do you still remember the battle we had with the Western Border Army in the north of Tyniec County that year? The man who led the Western Border Army at that time was a Viscount named Sauron."
Angus recalled for a moment, "That's the guy we beat so hard that he ran away in panic?"
The messenger nodded, "Yes, that's the old bastard. The garrison commander of Malburg is this old guy, but now he has become a down-and-out baron who was sent to the mountains to guard the border. We found his body in the inner castle. He committed suicide."
"Suicide? Impossible? Isn't he afraid of being whipped by the church after death?" This was the first time Angus had heard of a nobleman who committed suicide. This was a very dishonorable and malicious way of death.
Angus did not think about the torture Sauron would suffer after his death. He was more concerned about the war.
"No wonder Fort Marsi is so well-defended. It turns out that he is an "old friend" who has dealt with us. He was defeated by us twice. He should really drink his sword and kill himself. But before he died, this guy burned and killed soldiers and civilians all over the city, which was really abominable. "
Angaston thought for a while, then took the "order receipt" and the hardwood charcoal stick from the orderer's hand, signed his name and handed it to the orderer, "Tell your Excellency, we will fight to the last man!"
"Yes! The sergeant major returned the order - we will fight to the last man." The orderer repeated it and immediately turned around and left. After a while, a torch filled with solid combustible materials gradually disappeared amid the sound of horse hooves.
Looking at the light disappearing at the end of the road, Angus closed his bloodshot eyes, took the water bag from his waist, pulled out the cork, and raised it above his head, still being drenched by the cool well water.
After wiping the water stains on his face, Angus whispered to Jafar beside him: "Man, wake up the officers above the squadron commander. Let's discuss how to complete your military order. We don't have much time left..."
…..
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These people are among the great nobles of Codor Province (to be precise, the nobles in the central and northern parts of Codor). The main reason why they gathered together is that the army that jumped out from the southeastern mountains has pierced the heart of Codor like a sharp sword. These nobles who have not fought for many years have to pick up the rusty swords again.
An old guy with a big belly stood up with difficulty while holding on to the armrest of the chair. "Our most valiant warriors were all forced to fight against the rebels on the northern front by Count Bernard. Now the palace is sitting back and doing nothing. How can we fight the enemy?" As for how long ago "when I was young" refers to, the old guy must have almost forgotten it.
Everyone in the hall nodded in agreement. These people are all land nobles. They rely on the fertile land and rich products of the Kodor Plain, and the bones of the military nobles have long been softened by candied fruit. The Welsh Army invaded the hinterland of Kodor. Of course they were anxious, but now it was extremely difficult for them to organize their own troops to resist the enemy.
What the fat-bellied old guy said is the truth. Codor does not have a strong army to begin with. Moreover, after the East-West Successor War started, Count Bernard successively recruited thousands of soldiers from here in the name of the palace to fight on the northern front. Even the elite private guards of many noble families were taken away. The remaining young and strong warriors were also gathered in the two counties south of Codor to prevent the Longxia Mountain People's Army. The lords of the northern land of Codor had almost no troops to fight.
After a long time, silence slowly returned to the hall. The candles that were about to burn out swayed and the flames stretched out the shadows of everyone.
"Your Majesty, Codor is your territory after all. I'm afraid you have to come up with the solution in the end, right? We can't provide the soldiers, but we won't be stingy with money and food." A hook-nosed baron finally broke the silence, and others agreed. Anyway, the nobles of Codor Province are not short of money and food.
Earl Codor, who was sitting at the top of the hall, almost dropped his face to the ground. All night long, these nobles could not say a word that was really effective. In the end, they had to do their best.
"Okay, everyone, it seems that your bones have been softened by honeysuckle over the years, and I can't count on you for the war." Count Codor sighed longly.
“I have ordered all my earl guards and half of the garrison of Kodor City, totaling 400 infantry and 100 cavalry, to garrison Diguan Town. In addition to the 200 county soldiers and mercenaries around Kodor City, there are a total of 700 soldiers to resist the enemy army.”
"Nearly a thousand troops from the two southern counties are also stepping up their pursuit of the enemy. In less than two days, we can annihilate those hundreds of bastards south of Diguan."
As soon as Count Codor finished speaking, the hall started to be noisy again, but this time everyone looked happy. After all, Count Codor had made military arrangements, and they didn't have to lead the troops to fight (send death) themselves.
"Don't be too happy too early. I'll take care of the soldiers' matters for you, but it's up to you to do the military pay and food matters."
"Eight hundred thousand pfennig military pay, 600,000 pounds of grain and grass, all sent to the city of Codor within five days for assembly. This is a military order, even if one copper coin or one grain of wheat is missing!" Count Codor's tone was blunt, without any room for maneuver.
Everyone was in an uproar....