Chapter 683 Borrowing Flowers to Offer Buddhas
The former Sheriff’s Office of Santia City, which served as the central command camp of the Wells Army after the war, is extremely busy at the moment.
· The war is about to begin. In the office room where the Chinese military secretaries belong, the clerks are orderly handling paperwork, letters and military orders and announcements from various places.
The messengers and officials of the Chinese army who came and went inside and outside the camp were constantly shuttling in various official rooms with different functions, conveying orders and various documents issued by the Chinese army.
In the wider military conference hall on the back side of the camp, the deputy commanders of the army, Odo and Angus, were leading Kazak and other senior officers from the staff and operations department to intensively plan the march route and deploy defenses along the way.
Although the staff department of the Military Affairs Office is mainly composed of personnel with the positions of deputy commander and above, the operations department composed of officers with the position of company captain and above is also often integrated into the discussions of the staff department. An obvious example is that the deputy commander of the branch, the red-haired ghost Kazak, is both a member of the staff and the director of the legion's operations department.
At the beginning of the establishment of the Military Affairs Office, the Staff Department, Operations Department, and Heavy Affairs Department that comprised the Military Affairs Office simply established a framework.
But more often than not, the duties of the three often overlap. The main reason for this is the limitation of the size of the legion. Therefore, when the legion holds a military meeting, it usually calls together the main members of each department to discuss.
The advantage of doing this is that it can finally unify the thinking of all the legion departments and improve combat efficiency. But the shortcomings are equally obvious. Due to different opinions among the companies, military meetings often had to be interrupted midway through quarrels between the parties.
But the quarrel did not mean division and discord among the various branches of the Welsh Legion. On the contrary, different opinions and suggestions can fill up the loopholes that are not easily noticed in combat deployment, march routes and camp defenses.
The Welsh Army has always advocated that officers participating in military discussions should express their opinions and fully discuss the deployment of the Chinese army's command camps,
The deficiencies should be deeply explored and made up for.
In addition to Odo, Angus, Kazak and other high-ranking officers of the corps deputy commander and above who participated in this combat meeting, there were also company captains Colin, Weitz and Hans of the first branch of the Welsh Corps. Except for the absence of Phoenix's Sap Company from the Southern Xinjiang garrison, Andermatt Fort Company Captain Antayas Baron and Tyniec County Soldier Company Captain Wall attended the meeting.
In addition to several officers of the Welsh Main Battle Corps and two company captains of the Southern Border Guard Corps, the commander of the reserve regiment of the Welsh Corps, Obot and deputy commander Benson, Sir David, the captain of the Palace Guards Corps, and the temporary commander of the second branch of the Welsh Corps (Provence Young Peasants and Soldiers), Baron Nadaud, also participated in this combat meeting.
At this time, Odo, who was standing in the middle of the left side of the military president's table, was holding a smooth wooden stick and pointing at the large map spread out on the table.
“…—Here,” Odo moved the wooden stick to the location on the map where several simple city walls were drawn, “is our current location, Santia City. From here along the trade road to the south, in addition to the well-known autonomous city of Lavati, there are also seven military forts and five Towns and more than thirty villages, castles and estates. Among them, the military fort where the Palace Guards Corps is located is here." Odo slid the wooden stick along the business road on the map to a place where a fleur-de-lis flag was painted. "About a day's journey south from here is Sauronburg, which we will attack this time."
"In addition to several rivers with small water volume between the Palace Guards and Sauronburg, there are three strategic locations that deserve our attention. Your Lordship means that before the army attacks Sauronburg, the Palace Guards should send troops to control these market towns and military fortresses in our hands, so as not to delay the attack of the army."
Everyone followed the direction Otto pointed and focused their attention on these two military forts and the market town.
This market town is the most convenient route for us to go south to Solenberg. The market town is located between two highlands, and there are several dense forests around it that can hide hundreds of people. Once the Lombards deploy heavy troops here, they may delay our attack on Sauron Castle. "
Weitz, captain of the second company of the first division of the Wells Corps, pointed at this market town that usually seemed inconspicuous, but it had great strategic value during the war.
"Yes, once the Lombards heavily guard this place, we will have to attack the stronghold. Although it will be a matter of time to capture this market town, it is indeed not conducive to the legion's later operations." Colin, the captain of the first company, also expressed his opinion.
"Yes, that's right."
Other officers present expressed their agreement with the two people's opinions and agreed with Art's idea of sending the Palace Guards to control these important places first.
"Okay, since everyone has no objections, let's move on to the next topic -" Odo continued to preside over the military meeting after hearing this.
According to the intelligence analysis collected by task force captain Stanley on the enemy defenses in Solonborg and surrounding areas some time ago, the total number of Lombard soldiers in the two military forts outside Solonborg did not exceed 800. Among them, there are no more than two hundred elite soldiers, and the rest are old, weak and remnants of soldiers and farmers and soldiers improvised from the surrounding areas. Many of them don't even have a decent weapon~"
There was a burst of laughter in the hall.
"It's really unexpected that the powerful country that once dominated the Southern Continent has now reached this point." Baron Nadaud, who was standing opposite Odo, couldn't help but sigh.
"Hey, Lord Nadaud, you should be happy. The Lombards were so arrogant back then, and they are so arrogant now.
Isn't this what you Provence people want?" Angus, standing next to Baron Nadaud, said casually.
"That's right. The Lombards trampled us under their feet without hesitation back then. Now it's the turn of these bastards to bear our wrath!" Nadaud clenched his fists, his eyes full of anger.
When the Lombards invaded Provence, Nadoud was still one of Balian's personal guards. As a native of Provence, Nadaud lost his mother and a minor sister in that war. From then on, he hated the Lombards deeply and vowed to avenge his mother and sister who died tragically at the hands of the Lombards.
When Art hoped that Earl Balian would send troops to help, Nadoud volunteered and led 800 private soldiers under Balian to the Province of Wales to assist Art in attacking Lombardy.
With hatred for the Lombards, Nadoud and the Provencal soldiers he led went south with the Welsh Army, driving the Lombards south step by step. After several battles, the Provence soldiers killed hundreds of enemies and obtained a large amount of property. The Provence people, who had tasted the sweetness, became more and more courageous as they fought, and gradually became an emerging force with good fighting ability under Art.
"But~" Odo paused for a moment and continued: "Your Excellency has reminded us many times that we must pay attention to the enemy strategically and tactically. You must understand this truth and must not let down your vigilance because of those peasants and soldiers who have been put together haphazardly..."
"Brother Odo, why are you talking more and more like an adult? You always speak politely, and you are almost catching up with those aristocratic gentlemen in the palace~
There was laughter again in the hall.
Odo turned his head left and right, faced Kazak without thinking, and asked: "Kazak, do I really sound like those noble lords in the palace who only know how to flatter?
Kazak nodded silently.
"You!" Odo was speechless.
"Okay, okay, let's move on to the next topic." Odo ended the conversation awkwardly.
"About the issue of the defense of military fortresses in various towns after the legion moves south"
While the battle meeting of the Legion of Wales was in full swing, in the temporary residence of the Earl of Wales, which was only separated by an alley from the Sheriff's Office where the army's central command camp was located, the Bishop of Wales and Art's personal advisor, Father Robert, faced Art's sharp eyes without any dodge.
"Father Robert~" Art unexpectedly added Robert's religious identity after Robert's name. "You haven't answered my last question yet."
At said this, he picked up the wine glass and took a sip of the wine in the glass.
This wine was brought back from Lavati by Art and was given as a gift by Mario, the leader of the Lavati Commercial Guild.
The sunlight outside the house penetrates the body of the wine through the crystal clear glass cup, making the entire wine cup appear an attractive pink color. The mellow wine aroma slowly escapes from the mouth of the cup, making people intoxicated.
Robert looked at the wine in Art's hand and couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva. His obsession with the wine had made him seem to have forgotten his identity as a bishop.
Although he is not a good church winemaker, he can still tell whether the wine in the cup is good or bad.
Matt looked at Robert's every move from time to time, but didn't even ask him to pour himself a drink.
Robert came back to his senses and sighed softly, his face full of helplessness.
"My noble Earl, please repeat the question you raised last time." Robert finally spoke.
Matt smiled slightly, leaned forward, and said: "Last time I asked you, what will the future of the Kingdom of Burgundy be like after the king is gone?"
"Ah~" Robert suddenly realized, "Sir, I think I have already answered this question for you."
"Oh, what is your answer?" Matt asked expectantly.
"My answer?" Robbit touched his bald head, thought for a moment, and replied: "The stories told by the homeless people begging for bows, miscellaneous artists, and troubadours in Santia City are my answer~" I don't know if this answer is also the answer in the adults' minds.
"The one who knows me is Robert!"
Robert shrugged, already not surprised by Art's words.
Art nodded with satisfaction, then stood up in person, walked to the cabinet where the wine was stored, and poured a large glass of wine for Robert.
The two clinked their glasses together and took a sip from each other.
"I have been wondering for the past two days why the Lombards suddenly gave me the title of "Redeemer". It wasn't until I saw what Dennis, the ideological and political officer of the Legion, preached when he was giving alms to the refugees and homeless people in the city that I understood what was going on. Later, when I thought about it carefully, it was probably because you made a mistake while drunk that day and made them think I was~"
"Sir, I didn't say anything!" Robert opened his eyes wide and interrupted Art.
Matt took a deep breath and admired the guy in front of him from the bottom of his heart.
With just one drunken gaffe, Robert convinced the guards guarding the door that day that his "nonsense" was true. Then through these believers who loyally serve God, they find Dennis, the ideological and political officer of the legion, to explain the "miracle" he has seen. Soon, Dennis, who had already become acquainted with the soldiers and was "reasonable", began to preach about the "miracles" seen by Bishop Robert and these guards.
In time, this story will be spread throughout Europe. "What a wonderful move you and Denis did to borrow flowers to offer to Buddha!" Art couldn't help but clapped his hands and praised him.
"Borrow flowers to offer to Buddha?"
Robert slowly raised his glass, not understanding the meaning of this word for a long time.