Chapter 679: Improving Military Discipline
Late at night, in the camp of the Royal Guards of the Burangdi Marquis.
After winning a complete battle with the Lombard cavalry, the Praetorian Guards were ordered by the Chinese army to continue southward, annihilating the remaining enemies, and once pushed the battle line southward to a military fortress one day's journey north of Solenberg.
As the most elite army under Flanders, they never took a step back in this battle even when faced with thousands of Lombard cavalry.
Most of the officers and soldiers in the legion were brought by Flanders from the Longxia Mountains. Like the tigers descending from the mountains, they became a sharp sword for Flanders in the process of seizing the position of marquis.
Longxia Mountain people have always been tough and fierce, aggressive and unafraid of life and death. Whether they were guarding the lords' homes in the Southern Continent or fighting on the battlefield as mercenaries, the soldiers of Longxia left a deep impression on the sponsors.
In a battle with thousands of Lombard cavalry, the soldiers of the Praetorian Guards fully demonstrated the bravery and fearlessness of the Longxia mountain people. In their eyes, the head of every Lombard cavalryman was like a dazzling gold coin hanging on the horse's back. Therefore, the moment the Imperial Guards came into contact with the enemy, the blood of these Longxia mountain people began to boil, and the guys in their hands roared and pounced towards the opponent.
The Lombard cavalry, which had the upper hand, had never seen such a formation before. Seeing the Lombards in small and large groups coming towards them with sharp blades, they instantly panicked. In the blink of an eye, the Lombard cavalry on horseback had been chopped into a pile of mud.
In the eyes of the Lombards, these Burgundian soldiers showed no fear when facing the attack of thousands of cavalry. On the contrary, the Burangdians looked like dead warriors crawling out of hell, rushing towards their own positions at all costs.
· What was originally a duel with a huge disparity in strength ended up being a unilateral massacre by the Praetorian Guards. The Lombards, who had lost their troops and generals, abandoned their armor and wolves and foxes all the way. Except for a small number of people who followed the Duke of Lombardy and fled back to Milan, most of the Lombard soldiers were killed or captured in this massacre, and a very small number of them fled into Fort Solon.
After setting up camp in a military fort one day north of Solenberg and two surrounding highlands, the Guards Corps has been waiting for orders from the directly-controlled camps of the Chinese army to continue moving south.
It has been many days now, and the senior officers of the Guards Corps have not received the order yet, which makes the senior officers of the Guards a little disappointed. In addition, the grassroots officers and soldiers under them are looking forward to breaking out of camp as soon as possible and continuing south to harvest the heads of the Lombards.
In addition, Flanders, the commander-in-chief of the Chinese army camp, has not shown up for many days since the war. Even the acting commander-in-chief, the Earl of Wales, disappeared after giving the order to the Guards Corps. What is even more strange is that the Kingsguard and some soldiers who were beside Flanders during the battle that day were all missing after the war. It is impossible for no one to doubt this series of unnatural events. Even so, no one dared to publicly stand up and question these unreasonable phenomena.
Because the Palace Guards Corps inherited the tradition of the Longxia Legion-the order of the legion commander is above all else and cannot be questioned.
At first glance, the Palace Guards may seem extremely conservative, but in fact they became more disciplined under Flanders' leadership. To a certain extent, the Imperial Guards were actually Flanders' private soldiers.
Hence, as the commander-in-chief of the Palace Guards Corps, Flanders's disappearance for many days inevitably aroused suspicion among the top brass of the regiment.
Late late at night, a total of twelve people, including company captains and senior officers of the Royal Guards Corps, gathered around the long discussion table in the lord's hall of the military castle. Among them were Sir Comor, the captain of the legion of the Guards, and Sir James, the deputy commander of the legion. These two were both Flanders' right-hand men in the original Longxia Legion.
Since the War of the Successors, the two have been the highest military commanders of the Legion of Loncia besides Flanders. As Flanders' old subordinates, the two have always been loyal to Flanders. In view of this, the two naturally became the commanders and deputy commanders of the newly formed Guards Corps.
As the absolute leadership core of the Guards Corps, the two men specially summoned senior officers above the company captain to discuss the solutions to the issues that the grassroots officers below have been concerned about in recent days. "Comer, the legion commander who was sitting in the main seat, looked at Sir James, the legion's deputy commander on the side.
"Come back to Lord Colmo, everyone is here." The deputy commander of the legion replied softly to Colmo.
“Well, let’s get started.” Comor glanced at the parchment in his hand, and then threw it aside. "It is said that some among the soldiers are talking, saying that the reason why we did not send troops to attack Soronborg is because the monarch was injured by a Lombard spy, and his life and death are unknown~"
This sentence was like a sharp sword suddenly pressed against the necks of the officers in the hall, which caught everyone present unexpectedly.
Commer is in his late forties, tall and strong, with a few deep wrinkles beneath his gray hairline. The scars at the corners of his eyes are the "glory" left by his previous battles. These scars also make his eyes always look fierce.
His chain mail shone with golden light under the candlelight, and the raised arm guards made the black shadow projected on the wall behind him appear taller.
Comor’s voice was not loud, but his rich voice gave these words a bit more majesty.
As soon as Comer finished speaking, the officers lowered their heads and did not dare to respond.
"It seems that someone is indeed spreading the news of the monarch's death in the army~" Comer said calmly while playing with the short knife in his hand.
As for this rumor, it has actually been spread among the officers in the past few days.
The cause of the matter is this -
On that day, although the scene of Flanders' assassination was obscured by heavy fog, it was still seen by many sharp-eyed soldiers. But in view of the imminent war, no one took this matter to heart.
After the war, the joy of victory swept away the gloom of the siege in the days before the war. In addition, chasing down the remnants of the enemy and searching for loot from the enemy kept the soldiers of the Guards so busy that they had long forgotten all about what happened before.
In addition, the Chinese army command camp issued a strict military order - anyone who spreads rumors and causes trouble will be killed immediately.
In this way, the news of Flanders's assassination did not spread.
But since the Guards Corps moved south to station here, Flanders has not been seen for several days, and he has not yet received an order from the Chinese army to command the camp. The idle soldiers began to talk about it, thinking that the reason why the army had not moved south to capture Sauron Castle must be because there was something wrong with the Chinese army's command camp. At this time, I remembered that the soldier who saw Flanders being stabbed a few days ago told his companions about this. Soon after, rumors began to spread in the army that King Flanders had been assassinated.
Even though the company captains have given repeated orders not to spread rumors and cause trouble, or to cause trouble without doing anything. But maybe there are a few guys with short memories driven by curiosity who gather together to chat about this matter.
As the saying goes, there is no airtight wall, this matter soon reached the legion commander Comer.
As one of the core figures of the Guards, he would definitely not allow such rumors to shake the morale of the army to spread among the soldiers.
Hence, there was a military meeting involving company captains and above.
"Lift your heads up!"
Comor roared and inserted the dagger in his hand into the table.
This move frightened the officers present, and they all raised their heads and faced Comor.
Comer took a deep breath, stood up slowly, walked around behind the captain of the crossbow company, patted the guy's shoulder, and whispered in his ear: "I heard that one of your crossbowmen couldn't keep his mouth shut and broke the rules~"
"Legion Commander! Lord Commander, please calm down~" As he spoke, the captain of the crossbow company was already half-kneeling on the ground, bowing his head. As his body shook, the cold sweat on his face kept dripping to the ground.
"Come here!"
Comer shouted. Two armored and armed guards immediately entered the hall.
"Take this guy down to me and keep him under strict supervision! He will forfeit three months' military pay."
"Yes, Lord Commander of the Legion."
"Also, cut down that little bastard who talks nonsense and warn the whole army!"
"Yes!"
h Immediately afterwards, bursts of cries for mercy resounded through the hall~
Looking at the scene of the captain of the crossbow company being dragged down by the guards, the other officers in the hall were all chilling, and no one dared to speak.
Commer put his hands behind his back and continued walking slowly along the table. Everyone dared not take their eyes off him for a moment, for fear that it would be their turn next.
Happily there was a false alarm, and Comer returned to his seat.
The war is about to begin, and Comor himself understands that he cannot send all the officers who know the rumors to the dungeon. Even the captain of the crossbow company who was dragged down just now only gave him a small lesson and warned others.
After sitting down, Comer continued: "Everyone, the war is about to begin. I don't want to hear any more news about the assassination of the monarch. If you can no longer control your soldiers, you know the consequences!"
"Follow the instructions of the legion commander!" Everyone stood up immediately and replied loudly.
"By the way, the captain of the third company, Sir Leander, is also the captain of the crossbow company for the time being."
"Yes, Lord Commander of the Legion." Leander replied.
"Okay, today's military meeting ends here. After you return to the station, gather your junior officers together, convey the agenda of today's military meeting, and strictly demand your soldiers."
"Yes, the commander of the legion!"
Everyone stood up and left.
uceucelegous Leander can “Just as Leander turned to leave , James, the deputy commander of the legion, stopped him.
"Yes, Mr. Vice-Chancellor~" Leonde replied with a slight bow.
After everyone left, only Comor, James, and Leander were left in the hall.
"Come here, serve the wine!" Comor shouted.
"Legion Commander, what are you doing~"
Leonder was a little overwhelmed by this.
"Brother Leander," Komor called his subordinate politely, "I heard that you have a good relationship with the captain of Earl Art's guard.