Chapter 682: Noble Troops
Him Taking over the secret message from Comor, the deputy commander of the legion, James, was a little at a loss. "Legion Commander, what are you doing~"
Comor looked at this old subordinate who had been with him for many years seriously and decided to tell the truth.
"You are also aware of the situation in recent days. As long as the king is away, the morale of the military will become unstable. Now the Lombards in the south are ready to make a move. If the situation is as rumored outside, we must take action~" Comor has already made his attitude clear.
After hearing this, the deputy commander of the legion realized the seriousness of the matter, and quickly nodded and agreed, "Remember, you must secretly go to Santia City and hand over this secret message to the two adults in person to avoid accidents~" Comor warned again.
“Yes, Lord Legion Commander.” Legion Deputy Commander James turned and left after saying that. Looking at James’ leaving figure, Legion Commander Comor’s brows were filled with worry. He hoped that things were not as rumored, but he was also afraid that Flanders' assassination would trigger another nationwide riot.
As for what he knows about the Earl of Wales, apart from the words "ambition", "greed" and "wit" in Flanders' mouth that can be used to describe him. Comor has only heard from the outside world. This man is resourceful, brave, and scheming. He has no aristocratic honor at all. In addition, as the count of the southern border of Burgundy, this man has a private army that is no less powerful than the Palace Guards.
There are also several standing legions whose combat power is no less than that of ordinary soldiers. If the Earl of Wales took advantage of Flanders's assassination to seize the position of marquis, the consequences would be disastrous.
Comor was wandering alone in the office, thinking hard about what to do. At noon, after a night of jolting on horseback, Leander and the two accompanying guards finally arrived near a village not far from the city of Santia.
The moment he turned over and dismounted, he felt that his whole body was about to fall apart. Even though he has been with the war horses all year round, running against the biting cold wind all night long in the middle of the night is still a bit too much for him. The condition of the two guards accompanying him was not much better than his own.
"..—Let's take a short rest here, change into casual clothes, and replenish our strength before setting off." As he spoke, Leander sat down on a haystack in the wheat field by the roadside.
"Lord Leond, if we hadn't changed the horses in Lavati this morning, I'm afraid those horses that were so tired that they were foaming at the mouth would have fallen down long ago." A guard accompanying him said as he took out a bulging bag of low-alcohol ale from the bag slung on the saddle and handed it to his companion. He also took out a few pieces of fine wheat bread and dried venison as food.
"I originally planned to rest for a while in Lavati before continuing on my way, but there were too many people talking there, and I was afraid that I might spoil the important things ordered by the Legion Commander
Early this morning, the three of them were hungry. When they arrived at Lavati, the city gate had just opened. As the morning market began, the number of pedestrians on the street gradually increased. For the sake of safety, Leander replaced several fast horses at a place in the north of the city, and then hurriedly left Lavati with his subordinates.
Even though he was physically and mentally exhausted, Leander did not dare to delay at all for fear of ruining the business. So the three of them set off on horseback again and continued northward along the business road.
After a morning of galloping, when passing through several hills, the steeple of the church in Santia city can be vaguely seen,
"Sir Leonde, this is a little coarse salt that I carry with me when I travel." After the guard tore off a large piece of fine wheat bread and handed it to Leander, he took out a small bag of coarse salt from his waist.
Leonder took the coarse salt wrapped in the small piece of parchment paper, slowly opened it, pinched a little, crushed it, and sprinkled it evenly on the bread.
Take two bites of bread, then stuff a small piece of dried venison into your mouth, and swallow it with the low-alcohol ale in the bag.
“Ah, comfortable!”
After Leonde took two large gulps of malt wine, he suddenly felt refreshed all over his body, and most of the fatigue left by a night of running was instantly dissipated.
At this time, the fog in the mountainous fields had already dispersed by the solar disc player hanging overhead, and the temperature began to rise a little bit. The frozen limbs of several people gradually regained consciousness under the sunlight.
After having had enough wine and food, the three of them packed up their bags again, got on their horses, and ran towards Santia City with their whips waving. At this time, one day had passed since the command camp of the Welsh Army Corps issued an order to go south to attack Sauronburg.
As the residence of the Welsh Legion, Santia City was obviously busier than the previous few days.
The horse-drawn carriages traveling throughout the city continuously transport various materials to the large warehouse outside the south gate. From the rations and fodder for soldiers and horses to the ladders and trebuchets used in sieges, all materials needed for war are gathered here.
As the Acting Minister of Defense of the Welsh Army and the Secretary of the Chinese Army, Baron Bob sat at the wooden table outside the warehouse door, holding a quill in his right hand and pressing the parchment flat on the table with his left hand, listening carefully to the radiation. The details of the supplies counted by the ministers "". Thirty-eight sets of full-body mail armor, fifty-seven barrel helmets, and thirty-two half-helmets~" were stored in the warehouse. One hundred and seventy-five long swords, one hundred and sixty-seven short swords, and eighty-five short swords~"
“.-One hundred and seventy-five heavy crossbows, with one thousand, two hundred arrows; two hundred and thirty long bows, with one thousand, three hundred and twenty-one arrows~”
As the officials kept counting, Baron Bob wrote down the numbers accurately at an extremely fast speed. It didn't take long for the parchment under his hand to be covered with dense numbers.
At the entrance of the warehouse, the soldiers belonging to the Radiation and Heavy Department, with the assistance of the servants, continuously sent the materials that needed to be carried for the expedition to the warehouse, and stored them separately according to different types.
For those large and bulky materials, they were loaded in advance on the cart that was separated from the crossbow horse. Once the legion set off, the cart and the horse were directly fixed together and they could set off immediately.
As the Acting Minister of Radiation of the Welsh Army and also the Secretary of the Chinese Army, Baron Bob is not just a name.
Since he concurrently took on the post of Minister of Radiation and Heavy Industry, he has started from the efficiency of the Radiation and Heavy Department, focusing on solving the shortcomings of the Radiation and Heavy Department in providing foster care and transporting ordnance supplies to the legion.
· In view of the problem that the carriage loading capacity of the spokes was too small, Bob ordered the craftsmen to use the width of the trade roads in Lombardy as a benchmark and to widen and heighten the original carriages to increase the loading capacity of the carriages and ensure the material supply of the legion.
For situations where the army enters hills and dense forests for combat on rugged roads, a small rickshaw is specifically designed that is compact and flexible and can be easily moved by only three people.
In addition, whenever there is an opportunity, Bob will replace the outdated crossbow horses of the Radial Heavy Department and use those military horses that are not suitable for cavalry companies as transportation vehicles under the name of the Heavy Department to improve transportation efficiency.
As the secretary of the Chinese Army, once a military order is issued, Bob gets the news earlier than the various combat and logistics companies under the Wells Corps, which also shortens the preparation time of the Radiation Department to a great extent.
As a former landless baron, Bob has an inherent advantage over Spencer, who worked his way up from the bottom step by step. Most of the members of the Radiation Department were from the lower levels, and Bob, as the acting head of the Radiation Department with the title of baron, really made those soldiers and servants of the Radiation Department who had not seen much of the world a little more fearful. Coupled with Bob's reputation as the secretary of the Central Army, it was enough to make those usually lazy guys dare not disobey or slack off in any way.
For the non-combatant soldiers in the Radiation Department, Bob guaranteed in the name of the Minister of Radiation and the honor of the Baron that for those who have made meritorious service to the legion in previous campaigns, in addition to the military rewards issued by the legion based on military merit, Bob will also give additional rewards to these soldiers in the name of the Minister of Radiation. In this way, these guys who usually only drank and gambled in their free time suddenly became active and their work efficiency also improved a lot.
Although Bob's move was intended to win people's hearts, no matter what, it greatly improved the efficiency of the Radiation Department,
and even improved the combat effectiveness of the Radiation Department to some extent.
Since Bob acted as Minister of Radiation, his miscellaneous soldiers and servants have taken the initiative to apply to join the battle sequence as reserve forces.
Since the Southern Expedition, the Yanzhong Division has killed a total of eighteen enemy soldiers. Six of them were killed during a sneak attack on the food and grass of the Central Division, and the remaining twelve were the soldiers of the Radiation and Heavy Division who had made military exploits on the battlefield.
As the most critical battle of the Southern Expedition approached, the top and bottom of the Radiation and Heavy Division were in high spirits since receiving the order, and they worked very hard. Everyone knew in their hearts that as long as Sauron Castle was captured, the southern border of Lombardy would no longer be in danger. Once the Welsh Army marches in, the Lombards will not be far from complete defeat.
Once the Legion pulls out this nail in central Lombardy, it means that more wealth will be put into the pockets of these soldiers.
As the carriages kept coming and going, a large amount of military equipment that had been stored in the city a few days ago began to be continuously transported out of the city and stored here.
In order to ensure the safety of supplies, the Chinese army specially deployed two companies to be stationed around the warehouse to prevent the homeless people in the city from stealing military supplies.
Just after noon, a man dressed like a merchant leading a horse arrived outside the south gate, accompanied by two guards. Looking at the mountains of supplies in the south of the city and the soldiers stationed nearby, the guard on the left took two steps forward and whispered: "Lord Leonde, could it be that the Santia City garrison is preparing to go south?
Leonder slowed down and kept his gaze. In front of the warehouse door, he whispered: "Be careful about your identity and don't expose it. Our purpose is not to spy on the military situation, but--"
Leonder realized that he had almost spilled the beans, and the conversation stopped abruptly,
After a while, the group passed through the city gate, passed through the alley, and settled down at an inconspicuous hotel in the west of the city. Without having time to rest for a moment, the three of them hurried out and walked in different directions.