Chapter 692 "Catch the wind and wash away the dust"
".—The count has an order, the whole army hastened forward!"
After a while, after hearing the order, the captains of each company began to urge their soldiers to speed up their march. As shouts conveying orders intermittently spread among the team, everyone's marching speed suddenly increased, and soon they were able to drive away the vendors who were following behind.
According to the march plan, most of the Welsh Army will arrive at Solonborg in two days. Stop briefly for resupply while passing through Rawati. Then continue south and camp that night outside a market town half a day's journey south of Rawati.
At the front of the team, Hans, captain of the third company of the first division, was walking leisurely on the roadside on a green-brown war horse, walking side by side with his flag captain and friend Berry.
As senior officers of the Welsh Legion, the two of them each received a war horse from the Chinese army command camp after the battle in Santia City, as mounts for officers of the legion flag captain and above. These horses were captured from the defeated Lombard cavalry. Most of the high-quality war horses captured will be used as the expanded cavalry of the Welsh Army after the war, and the remainder will be distributed to officers above the level of flag captain. In order to make the best use of the materials, the smallest part was finally sent to the Radial Heavy Department to be used as a crossbow horse to transport supplies. The rest who were injured in the battle and could still breathe, were all slaughtered by the radiation soldiers in the heavy division and used as military rations based on the principle of no waste.
Sitting on horseback, with a long sword hanging at his waist and a riding whip in hand, looking back at the light armored infantry who was half a body shorter than himself, Hans was instantly satisfied.
"..Pengpeng~Brother Hans, don't tell me, the horses of the Lombard cavalry are really good! The limbs are thick and powerful, the coat is shiny, and the body is strong and tall and powerful. It is many times stronger than those mountain horses in the North! The key is that the endurance of this horse is very good~" Berry kept stroking the soft hair on the horse's back and praised the grassland horse under him.
"It is indeed a good horse!"
Hans was still immersed in his own world after saying this. Immediately, he lightly patted the horse's butt, and the horse beneath him consciously sped up. Bury also lightly pinched the horse's belly and chased after him.
“It’s a pity that the army only stopped in Lavati for a short time. Otherwise, I would have had a good night’s sleep on the velvet bed in the luxurious mansion last time.” Hans still couldn’t forget the luxurious mansion of the wealthy businessman when he entered Lavati last time.
"Yes, if the Lombard army had not arrived so quickly, we could have enjoyed the life of the wealthy gentlemen in that bustling city for a few more days. These damn Lombards are so hateful!" Burry said angrily and cursed at the Lombards.
"I said, man, Lavati is now back in our hands. After this battle is over, we will come back." Hans said a word of relief.
"That's right~"
When the team arrived at a village fort near Lavati, it caused quite a commotion.
The last time we saw such a large formation was when more than 3,000 Lombard court mercenaries passed through.
Because they were rejected outside the city of Lavati, this foreign army, which was short of food and supplies, used the excuse of supporting military supplies and swept through almost all the villages, castles and estates from Lavati to Santia City, plundering all the wealth in these places. As small as chickens, ducks, cattle and sheep, as large as gold and silver, they took all they could find for themselves.
The residents of Cunbao Manor along the way watched helplessly as their property, which they spent half their life's hard work on, was wiped out by this group of bandits, and they dared not speak out in anger.
At this time, watching a large group of Wujuejue people walking towards the village, the villagers hiding in their houses shivering thought that the group of bandits had come back to visit their village again, so they could only silently pray for God's blessing.
Just when everyone thought disaster was about to strike, the team left the place along the business road in a swaggering manner, with no intention of "patronizing" this place.
Looking at these soldiers gradually disappearing, the fort residents finally felt relieved. Those who were more daring quietly followed the army for a while, and then returned home with confidence when they were far away.
In the afternoon, there were crowds of people outside Lavati City, all looking forward to it. Everyone wanted to see this group of northerners who defeated the thousands of cavalry of the Duke of Lombardy.
Obviously, the news that the Welsh Army was heading south again spread almost throughout the streets here.
A few days ago, the citizens of Rawati were deeply disturbed by the arrival of these soldiers. Although he was very polite on the surface and entertained them with good wine and meat, in his heart he did not welcome these barbarians from the north.
But with the break between Lavati and the Lombard court and the alliance between the Welsh Legion and Lavati, the attitude of the Lavati people took a 180-degree turn.
Materials piled up like mountains in the open space outside the city. In addition to donations from the business guilds and wealthy businessmen and nobles, the citizens of Lavati also voluntarily used the remaining grains, fruits and vegetables at home to help this victorious army.
.·Almost there! Lord Mario, Count Art, and the others are almost here! "
Not far away, a fast horse galloped over and reported this exciting news to the heads of the commercial guilds and others who had been waiting outside the city and dressed up to receive Art and his party.
The citizens who heard the news cheered, talked a lot, and trotted toward the hillside where the army was about to appear.
After a while, a huge wolf-head heraldic flag slowly rose from the other side of the hillside. The steward standing next to Mario shouted excitedly: "Sir Mario, it's them! They are coming, Count Arter and the others are coming!
Mario immediately stood up on his toes and looked in the direction of the hillside.
As the heraldic flag climbed higher and higher, the leader slowly appeared in everyone's sight on a horse, accompanied by guards. The large group of people behind him held short spears and came in an orderly manner with firm steps. "Good day, Earl~"
"Your Earl, God is with you, and Lavati is with you~"
"With the greetings coming from the Earl, more and more citizens came forward.
At, who was sitting on the horse, was smiling and waving to the crowd, looking extremely kind.
"Hello, free people of Lavati ~ God bless you."
For Art's safety, Ron asked the earl guards to surround Art in advance, forming a human wall to separate Art from the crowd.
Ron, Angus and Robert were right next to Art, forming a second line of isolation, always keeping an eye out for suspicious people.
Caution is necessary. After all, there was an attempted poisoning and assassination attempt on a conference participant just a few days ago, and the murderer is still locked up in the dungeon in Santia City.
There are many people here, and unexpected things can happen if you are not careful. As Art's bodyguard, Ron didn't dare to be careless at all.
At this time, Mario, the leader of the Lavati Commercial Guild, led a group of merchants and nobles in the city and walked towards Art, accompanied by his guards.
"Your Majesty, you have had a hard time on the road. Welcome to Lavati again!" Mario led everyone to bow and salute, welcoming Art's arrival.
"Welcome, Lord Count!"
At immediately dismounted from his horse and walked quickly to Mario and others. "Mr. Mario, what are you doing~"
At all unexpected, Art had no idea that the original march would be turned into a triumphant return celebration ceremony for these Lavati merchants and nobles.
Mario stood up slowly and looked at the citizens of Lavati who had taken the initiative to bring drinks and food to the soldiers of the Wells Legion. He smiled and said to Art: "My lord, the Lavati people have long been looking forward to you going south again. I heard that the army arrived today. In order to welcome you,
The citizens had brought their food and drinks to wait outside the city gate early, you see~"
What was originally a short stay has now turned into a warm reception, and Art could not refuse anything. "Well, it's just that I didn't expect the Lavati people~"
"Your Majesty, Lavati is the territory under your name now, and the Lavati people are the people under your rule. Is it time to change the name?"
Everyone burst into laughter.
Matt naturally understands Mario's intentions, and it is better to obey than to be respectful.
"Ron, here's the order, everyone is resting outside the city. They are not allowed to enter the city to disturb the people, and they are not allowed to get drunk and make trouble. Anyone who disobeys the order will be subject to military law!" Ao ordered the escort around him, "Let them get out of the way and ask the Earl to enter the city!"
"Yes!"
The soldiers then dispersed the crowd from the middle to both sides, leaving a passage a few people wide.
"Your Majesty, Earl, everyone, please come this way!" Mario lowered his head slightly and raised his hand to invite Art and a group of high-ranking officers around him to enter the city. ”
Immediately, Art followed Mario and others to Lavati City under the escort of the Earl’s Guard.
While the noble merchants of Art and Lavati exchanged glasses of wine in the most splendid tavern in the city, the soldiers outside the city also received good hospitality.
As early as the night when Mario returned to Lavati, he discussed the supply issue of the Wells Army with members of the Commercial Guild. So preparations were made overnight and the edible fruits and vegetables were sent outside the city by carriage. He also ordered people to build stoves outside the city and temporarily set up more than fifty deep copper pots.
As soon as the day breaks, the temporary kitchen outside the city starts to get busy. A cooking team of hundreds of people plus servants prepared food for the army non-stop.
In order to show his kindness to the landlord, Mario specially asked the guild to purchase hundreds of pigs, sheep and a large amount of fruits and vegetables to entertain the soldiers of the Welsh Legion.
In the cold winter, it is extremely rare to have a hot bite while marching. But at this time, the soldiers of the Welsh Legion were holding large bowls of hot mutton soup in their left hands and gnawing on the oily stew in their right hands. Not to mention how happy they were in their hearts.
The original marching and fighting forced these Lavati people to "take the wind and wash away the dust".