Chapter 748: Strive for Credit
"—This is our current location, and the city of Avignon, two days away to the south, is here~" In the Chinese army command camp, Art pointed from Wellsburg to Avignon with the wooden stick in his hand. "According to the intelligence collected by the task force, the southern lords have sent a private army of less than 500 people here, and a group of mercenaries being recruited will rush here to fight with us in the future. The number is about 3,000 people." In the command camp, the high-ranking officers listened attentively to Art's analysis of the current military situation.
Since leaving Wellsburg, the legionnaires have not yet had a direct confrontation with the Lombard army in the south. The reason is simple. The military forts and market towns in the south two days away from Wellsburg have long been turned into empty cities.
After the news of the defeat of the Lombard army led by Teerman spread to the south, the lords around Wellsburg began to leave their territories with their property and relatives and fled to the safer south.
When everyone learned about the five hundred private soldiers of the Lombard lords stationed in Avignon, they were as excited as wild wolves who had been hungry for several days to see their prey.
So, for this group of officers who relied on swords to support themselves, this news was like a shot in the arm, which instantly lifted their spirits. As far as the current combat strength of the Welsh Army is concerned, only when they encounter the Lombard army can they have meat to eat. So the captains of each company took the initiative to attack the private soldiers of the Lombard lords in Avignon.
"Sir, I think that the lord's private soldiers should be eaten quickly before the mercenaries arrive in Avignon. Once the mercenaries join the private soldiers in the city, we will probably have to spend a lot of energy to attack the city~" Colin, the captain of the first company, put forward his own opinion on the current situation.
Weitz, the captain of the second company, added: "And we cannot ignore the more than 3,000 mercenaries. We must capture Avignon before they can join together. Moreover, it is extremely necessary to send some troops to bypass Avignon, cut off the connection between the defenders in the city and the south, and disrupt the opponent's deployment!"
Ate quietly listened to the analysis of the two senior officers, and greatly agreed with their views.
At this time, Hans, the captain of the third company who had said nothing, suddenly stood up and said with a smile: "Hey, hey, sir, let's just leave the task of attacking Avignon to our company. I think both of them have very insightful opinions. Let’s leave this hard work to our third company~”
Since he was sent south to intercept deserters during the Battle of Solenberg, Hans always wanted to find an opportunity to fight the Lombards face to face. Now that he had such an opportunity, he would naturally not let it go.
But the other two company captains are also competitive guys, how could they possibly get the advantage of the third company in vain.
Hence, all three of them were determined to capture the city of Avignon and wanted to record more military exploits after the war.
Hans was the first to attack.
“Brother Weitz, your second company killed the largest number of enemy soldiers in the Battle of Solenberg. This time, our third company should be the first to enter Avignon to drink and eat meat.”
In the first company, the high-ranking Lombard officers they captured are worthy of the achievements of the brothers in the third company this time. If I hand over the main attack mission to you this time, I am afraid that the brothers in the third company will never take me as the company captain in their eyes."
Listening to Hans’s sinister tone, everyone present couldn’t help laughing loudly.
At the top, Art naturally knew the thoughts of the company captains under his command. But for the future considerations of the Wells Army, Art decided to hand over this main offensive task to the reserve regiment under Obote.
There are two reasons.
First, in this attack on Vignon, the Welsh Army had a numerical advantage. Excluding the more than a thousand troops of the Palace Guards, the Welsh Legion had more than 3,000 troops. Even a spit from one person can drown the other person in the city. With these thousands of troops as the backing, the pressure on the reserve group will be much less.
Secondly, Avignon does not have a high-walled fortress like Sauron Castle, and with the thunder and lightning destroying the city, this will be an easy siege. This battle allows the reserve group to practice their skills and accumulate experience for future independent siege battles.
Matt glanced at Obote, who was sitting silently at the end of the long table, and shouted: "Obot, listen to the order!"
Obote, who didn't react for a while, thought that Art was going to assign some other task, and immediately stood up suddenly, "Sir!"
As everyone knows, what Art said next made him suddenly at a loss.
Ate glanced at the people sitting in front of him, and then said: "After discussion between the two deputy commanders of the legion and I, we have decided to hand over the task of attacking Avignon to your reserve group."
This news was like a bolt from the blue, exploding among the other company captains.
"Sir, this siege is of great importance. Please think about it again." Company Captain Colin took the lead in attacking.
Weitz echoed: "Yes, sir. The reserve group lacks experience in siege. If they make a mistake, unnecessary losses may be caused."
The person who was most excited when hearing this order was Hans, the captain of the third company. He stood up immediately and stared at Art who was sitting at the top with wide eyes. If Odo hadn't winked at him, he might have started shouting.
"Sir, I also agree with the opinions of brothers Colin and Weitz." After saying this, Hans turned around and sat back, with a look of reluctance on his face.
Compared with these people, Captain Wall of the Tyniec County Soldier Company and Baron Antayas and Baron Nadaud, the captain of the Andermatt Fort Company, seemed to be neither fighting nor competing, and everything was subject to Art's arrangements.
Seeing that everyone was a little unhappy, Art smiled and said: "Look at how you are now, quarreling over such a small profit.
From a long-term perspective, you are the sharpest knives of our Welsh Legion, which are more than enough to deal with those stragglers. The soldiers in the reserve regiment are now weak in combat strength, so leave those guys in Avignon to the reserve regiment~"
At this time, Odo suddenly said, "Sir, who should I entrust to the task of blocking the mercenary group in the south? Do it? "
Art held his chin and said without thinking: "Leave this task to the Palace Guards."
"More than a thousand people versus three thousand people!" Angus was shocked. "My lord, is this too risky?"
Att curled his lips and sneered, "Aren't you all just looking at the city of Avignon? Then I can only hand over this task to Lord Comor~"
"Sir, send our company!"
"Let's go too!"
h After hearing this, several company captains asked for battle one after another, having forgotten all about what happened just now. When the military meeting was coming to an end, Art finally announced the combat mission.
The reserve regiment led by Aubert, with the assistance of the 1st Company and the Grenadier Company, captured the city of Avignon. Art supervises the battle as the commander-in-chief, and Angus assists.
Hence, the remaining ministries, led by Odo, the deputy commander of the legion, and the palace guard legion bypassed the city of Avignon and went south, choosing favorable terrain to block the mercenaries heading north. After the city of Avignon was captured, he and the subsequent army would annihilate this mercenary army in one fell swoop, clearing the biggest obstacle to the port cities along the south coast.
At dawn the next day, the southern expedition army broke out of camp and headed towards the city of Avignon·
On the other hand, when the news of Buriandi's army marching south reached the Milan court, the Duke of Lombardy, who was trying to recruit an army, was overjoyed when he heard about it.
As long as the opponent's current attack target is not Milan, this means that he will have more time to gather troops, reinforce the city defenses, and arrange defenses along the way.
For the Duke of Lombardy, no city was as important as Milan, the seat of the palace. This is not only the center of power of the entire principality, but also the richest area in Lombardy. If Milan is lost, everything is lost.
At the just-concluded imperial meeting, the Minister of Commerce and Trade proposed that some troops should be deployed to reinforce the southern port cities.
The reason is that once the southern parts of the country fall, the maritime trade lines of the Principality of Lombardy will be completely cut off by the enemy. By then, the trade volume of the entire principality will plummet by two-fifths on the existing basis, making the already shrinking business even worse.
Once the food supplies necessary for the citizens are not supplied, it will only arouse the anger of the people. Once a large-scale riot breaks out, it will eventually endanger the rule of the palace.
This proposal was strongly opposed by the great nobles who temporarily served as military ministers. He believed that the palace army was now unable to take care of other places and should concentrate all its forces around Milan to defend the capital.
The supportive opinions are mainly from some palace ministers who have no real power. Most of them view whether to send troops to reinforce the southern port cities from an objective perspective.
Those who fiercely opposed sending troops were mainly some important palace ministers who owned a large amount of territory around Milan. To these people, the fall of various parts of the South was of little concern to them. As long as you can keep the territorial family wealth in your name, it doesn't matter if you lose a few ports.
Watching the fierce quarrel between the two sides, the Duke of Lombardy suddenly felt in a dilemma.
In the end, the Duke of Lombardy made up his mind to put Milan first. But we cannot just watch the southern regions fall into the hands of the enemy.
Hence, after much maneuvering and coordination, the Lombard court assembled an army of more than 500 elderly farmers and homeless beggars as practical support to various parts of the south.
When the lords of the port cities in the south learned that the Milan court was planning to die without saving anything, the big merchants and nobles who still had the last illusion about the court began to pack up their belongings overnight, either heading east to Milan to avoid the disaster, or fleeing overseas by ship.
For a time, people were panicked.
Just as the merchants and nobles were fleeing, dozens of large ships filled with overseas professional mercenaries docked one after another. In the afternoon of the same day, a carrier pigeon flapped its wings and flew north from an inconspicuous corner on the second floor of the hotel near the north gate.