“Sir, there are two important military reports from the north.” As soon as Art stepped into the Lord’s Hall, Angus had already greeted him.
Hand up with Angus was an old man dressed like a monk, covered in dust and fatigue.
Matt glanced at the old man who looked like a monk, and then turned his attention to Angus.
Angus did not have time to introduce this monk to Art, he was anxious to report the military situation.
"Sir, there are two urgent military situations. First, the army from the north of Codor has arrived three miles north of Marcy Castle and is now building a fort on a valley flat. Almost at the same time, the county soldiers chasing from the south have also arrived outside the city. They have been contacted and it is estimated that they will join forces tonight. The total strength will be more than 2,000. The soldiers are mixed, but there are many with strong combat capabilities. "
At nodded lightly, this was what he expected.
"Another military incident." Art straightened his clothes and armor, walked towards the long table in the hall and sat down on the wooden bench.
Angus motioned for the middle-aged monk to follow him, and then replied: "The second top-secret military information comes from the Central Army of the Liberation Army. The old monk bluntly said that he must convey it to you personally."
Ate raised his head and glanced at the old monk.
"Yes, my lord, this is the emissary sent by the Marquis of Flanders. He set out from Besançon, went south along the Lucesene Province, and came to Marsy Castle from the mountain path that runs through the mountains between the Saône and the Côte d'Or. I just found the monk when I led the troops out on patrol. He recognized me." Angus replied.
Att did not rush to ask the new king Flanders for his secret order. Instead, he looked at the old monk repeatedly and felt that he looked familiar.
"Earl Art (Earl of Art has been named Forest Earl before, although it is a false title), the last time I saw you, you were still a guest in Longxia City." The old man said first.
"Who are you?" Art was full of questions.
"I am the chief monk of the Longxia City Presbytery." The old man revealed his identity.
"So it's you, no wonder I always feel like I've seen it somewhere before." There was a bit of surprise in Art's tone.
"Count Art, I have been ordered by the new king, the Marquis of Flanders, to convey to you the military orders of the Liberation Army." The old man paused. and cleared his throat.
"The Welsh Army led by Atwood Wells must defeat the Codor army within fifteen days, and use this to form a trend of attacking the city of Codor northward and knocking on the Saone Province. The Liberation Army will launch a final thunderous attack on the Western Army in the early morning of the fifteenth day in an attempt to completely defeat the Western Army. With this order, the ruler of Burgundy and the new king of the Liberation Army, Flanders Otto, was ordered."
After hearing this, Te was stunned for a moment, "What? Defeat the enemy within fifteen days? Do you have to go north to attack the city of Cordor?"
The old monk waved his hand to indicate to Art that he should not be surprised, "Earl Art, the Marquis of Flanders will not let you fight alone. He has secretly ordered all the troops in the Longxia Mountains to go north secretly, join forces with the Welsh Army, and appointed you as the commander-in-chief of the southern coalition forces."
After hearing this, Art didn't say anything. He was quiet for a moment and sorted out his thoughts. "Isn't this in line with the previous strategic plan of the Liberation Army? Why did the new king want to attack suddenly? Is there some huge change?"
"Strategic overall situation? This is a new word." The old monk asked a question and did not hesitate anymore. He continued: "Earl Art's guess is correct. Just before you arrived at Fort Marci, the external situation of the Burgundy Country changed drastically..." The old monk's face suddenly became a little more worried.
Matt looked at the old monk nervously, thinking that the change that could make the calm and seasoned Flanders suddenly change the overall strategic situation must be two extremes - extremely unfavorable or extremely beneficial.
"Two major changes. One, under Lord Galvin's lobbying, the Principality of Provence has completely sided with the Marquis of Flanders. They will fund a million pfennigs in military expenses and send a cavalry regiment of 500 people north to assist in the battle." With the strong lobbying of the husband's bishop, he agreed to loan five million Fenni to the new Burgundy County to support the new king in unifying the County. Art suddenly realized that Provence's support and participation in the war would not make Flanders suddenly change its previous strategy. The support of the Knights of the Holy Order was the most fundamental reason.
It's very simple. Behind the Knights of the Holy Order is the Pope, and behind the Pope is the Kingdom of France (if you have any objections, please refer to the relationship between the Pope and the Kingdom of France around 1300).
"The Kingdom of France is finally going to take action against the Principality of Burgundy~" Art whispered softly.
"Why should I believe what you say?" Art suddenly asked the old monk with his cheeks tense.
"Of course, you have the right to doubt everything. But I believe you should know this..." the old monk said, taking out a ring wrapped in silk from his arms and handing it to Art.
Matt took the ring and looked at it for a moment. This was the eagle and iris ring symbolizing royal power that Flanders wore when he was canonized as the Marquis of Burgundy.
Seeing this power ring was like seeing Flanders himself, so Art gave up his doubts.
"Matthew! Arrange for the old monk to rest immediately. Then ask the kitchen to prepare some fine food and Welsh beer brewed in the valley for the old monk." Even though the military affairs were busy, Art did not forget to seize every opportunity to promote the unique goods of his valley. After all, after the war, business would revive again.
After Matthew led the old monk out of the lord's hall, Art turned to Angus and said, "Sergeant major, summon all officers above the flag captain except those performing security duties to the hall for a military meeting."
"Yes, sir." After that, Angus walked out of the lord's hall quickly.
At held Quan Jing tightly in his palm, "This is asking me to sacrifice my life to lead the wolf." He couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
………
The pre-war military meeting in the Lord's Hall of Marseille lasted for a whole day. Faced with the sudden order, the officers who participated in the pre-war military meeting were at a loss.
On the one hand, Fort Marsi had just been captured and the soldiers were in urgent need of some rest. The recent wars have exhausted the strength of the officers and soldiers of the Welsh Legion. If they immediately plunge into a new attack without taking a rest, the mood of the officers and soldiers will inevitably fluctuate.
On the other hand, the Welsh Army went deep alone this time and was not prepared for long-distance operations in enemy territory. If it had not captured Fort Marsy and captured half of the food and baggage, most of the soldiers of the Welsh Army would have either starved to death or been wiped out by the Codor army.
What's even more deadly is that the combined northern and southern armies of Kodor total more than two thousand people, well-equipped and menacing. Even with the help of the Longxia Legion, Art did not dare to say that he was 100% sure that he could win the battle of Marsiburg. Even if he wins, he may end up killing a thousand enemies and losing eight hundred to himself.
The Welsh Legion has always been as cunning as a fox and will never engage in such a loss-making business.
………
Late night, in the Lord's Hall of Fort Marsi. In the stone candlesticks placed on the four walls of the hall, the burning flames jumped up and down, and the entire hall was brightly lit. There were wooden cups neatly placed beside the table, some of which still had a sip of beer left in them. This was left behind by a group of high-ranking officers of the Wells Corps who left the Lord's Hall after the military meeting and took their orders.
This seems to have become the practice of the Welsh Army. Whenever there is a major military meeting, Art will order the baggage team to bring out the Welsh beer produced in the valley and serve a glass of beer to all the officers participating in the military meeting. In this way, not only can major affairs of the legion and strategies to defend against the enemy be discussed in a more relaxed atmosphere, and the tension of the officers can be relieved, but also the relationship with the officers can be connected. This is also a good way to win people's hearts.
In the side hall of the lord's hall, in front of the table with half of its legs cut off, Art was writing quickly on the paper produced in the valley workshop with a quill dipped in ink under the light that was not too bright. Since the process is not yet complete, the surface of the paper is still somewhat rough, and if you look carefully, you can sometimes even see tiny weeds embedded inside. But this does not affect writing.
Every time he goes on an expedition, Yat will carry a certain amount of valley paper, mainly to convey military information and formulate military plans. Paper is much thinner than parchment and birch bark, and can be folded into various shapes for easy portability and concealment. As a strategic material and important export commodity in the future of the valley, the production process of paper is strictly confidential, and its use requires special approval. Generally speaking, only Art, Odo, Angus and other legion leaders are eligible to use it.
"Dong dong dong," just as Art was inserting the words he had just written into the small wooden strip that was hollowed out in the center, there was a rapid knock on the door.
"Come in." Art said as he looked at the door.
"Sir, four soldiers from the task force have been ordered to come." Art's personal guard opened the door and reported to Art.
“Send them in,” Art said to Matthew.
"You guys, come in." Matthew turned around and called the four task force members behind him who were already waiting outside the door.
"Sir!" The task force members put their right hands against their backs and their left hands close to the edge of their left legs, bending down to salute Art.
"You should know that calling you here is definitely not a trivial matter." After hearing this, the four people looked at the other people around them, and then looked at Art.
In the southeastern mountainous area of Kodor in August, after the intense heat faded all day long, the temperature suddenly dropped sharply. The crickets hidden in the lush green grass made a shrill chirp, which was blown intermittently by the mountain wind.
The bright moon is in the sky, and under the moonlight, the tall birch trees on the edge of the business road cast black shadows in the middle of the road, like soldiers crawling on the ground.
"Open the city gate!"
"Open the city gate!"
In the north city of Marciburg, a city guard team captain ordered several of his city defenders after receiving the order from his superiors.
With the sound of a thick wooden bar fastened to the inner door opening of the North City Gate being taken down, the gate was opened with the combined efforts of four soldiers.
With the sound of whips, four black figures wearing black robes and hoods ran out of the city gate and rushed towards the forest on the edge of Fort Marci, disappearing into the endless night...
These were four members of the Wells Legion task force. After receiving their orders in the side hall of the Lord's Hall of Fort Marsi, the four of them simply packed up and then rode out of the city. The four people formed groups of two. One group passed through the mountain trail between the Codor and Lucese provinces, traveled south all the way back to Tynets day and night, mobilized the Tynets County Battalion of the Second Division of the Welsh Army and the rest of the Valley Guard Corps, and then rushed to Marsiburg via the Lucese mountain trail in seven days.
The other two people rushed to Sap Fort, mobilized the Sap Company of the Second Division and some of the young peasant soldiers of the Third Division that had been stationed here for a long time, set out a stone fort, and then moved west to join the Longxia Army heading north to stand by...
It was a dark and windy night, leaving the city of Marsiburg and heading north into the dense forest. The four members of the task force were divided into two groups.
"You two, go in the direction of Sapp. Remember, you have to travel day and night. Even if you run your horse to death, you still have to deliver the order. This is related to the life, death and honor of the Wells Army, and there must be no sloppiness." Oliver, the deputy captain of the task force, said to the two team members.
"Yes, sir!" the two soldiers responded.
"Let's go!" Oliver gave the order, and the four of them rode off in two directions.
Yat stood on the wall of the north city and watched the soldiers who were diverted to the territory to mobilize troops for reinforcements in the moonlight.
Suddenly a gust of cool wind hit him. Art unintentionally shrank his neck and put his hands on his chest.
Matthew, who was standing behind him, saw this and quickly put the sheepskin coat that he had prepared on Art's shoulders. Atal pulled up his collar and still stared into the distance.
"Sir, I'll take you back to rest. Oliver and the others will definitely be able to complete the task, so don't worry too much." Matthew advised.
Att turned around and looked at the personal guard who was almost as tall as him, and said to Matthew, "Matthew, you have been following me for a long time."
"Yes, sir." Matthew replied respectfully.
"This time is different from the past, are you afraid of death?"
Matthew held the long sword at his waist with his left hand, and his eyes revealed perseverance.
“Don’t be afraid! No soldier in the Wells Legion is afraid of death!” Matthew said excitedly, his saliva almost spraying into Art’s face.
"Okay! These are the soldiers of my Welsh Legion!" Art's tone was filled with pride.