Chapter 783 Letter from the North
Two days later, the sun was shining brightly and the spring breeze was warm. At this time, the city of Tila quickly regained its former vitality after a brief period of wartime control. There is an endless stream of pedestrians and traders on the streets, and horse-drawn carriages loaded with goods shuttle through the streets and alleys.
·The legionnaires who were on rotation walking in small groups on the street, were often warmly invited into the shops by the waiters in the taverns on both sides of the street, who recommended to them the unique delicious dishes of Tirah City and the mellow wines from foreign countries.
Of course, the coquettish and charming pretty girls at the door of the brothel must also be thinking about the military rewards and generous money these soldiers have just received.
Hunting "Master" made these lonely and unbearable soldiers smile lewdly at these considerate girls. They hugged each other and walked quickly inside under their caress and teasing.
As the most savvy group of people in Lombardy, the merchants of Tira City will naturally not miss this God-given opportunity. With their years of experience in soliciting customers and their irresistible enthusiasm, they quickly attracted these soldiers from the north to their shops and promoted rare items from foreign lands. When the soldiers leave with the purchased goods, these people from Tila City, who know how to do business well, will give these guests some small and not valuable items for free, respectfully send the guests out the door, and greet them to come back next time.
In just a few days, the thousands of soldiers stationed outside the city brought the city of Tila back from the edge of "depression", allowing the city to once again enjoy its former prosperity.
While the soldiers of the legion were wandering among the dazzling array of goods in the city and the hemlines of beautiful skirts, Hans, as a senior officer of the legion, and his friend Berry were sitting alone in an inconspicuous tavern, enjoying a rare delicacy.
"Come, Bury, drink!"
Hans chewed the roast meat in his mouth, his mouth was full of oil, he picked up the wine glass and clinked it with Bury beside him, and then drank it all in one gulp.
Bury drank the food in his mouth and washed it down into his stomach, and then quickly asked the bartender to bring him two large glasses of beer.
"I didn't expect that this tavern may seem inconspicuous, but the drinks here make people more and more addicted." After finishing speaking, Bury took another sip in his mouth, and the cold beer made him feel refreshed.
"Look at you, my lord said, this is the richest place in the whole of Lombardy. If you can't even get decent drinks, how can it deserve such a name!" Hans took the half-eaten ribs in his hand and knocked on the table to explain.
Bury said nothing, glanced at the old man in front of him, picked up a piece of bread, tore off a small piece and stuffed it into his mouth.
"What a pity, I didn't catch anything when I went south this time!" Burry suddenly let out a long sigh. "Tell me, why don't you let our third company go to attack the city next to Tira City? We have to leave such a good job to the guys in Weitz's second company and reserve group."
Hans shrugged helplessly at this outcome.
It turns out that on the night after most of the legion arrived in Tira City, Art sent the third company and the reserve regiment to Carter City, northeast of Tira City. After a half-day siege, the lord of Carter City surrendered the city without any resistance.
Hence, since leaving Wellsburg, the Hans Company, as the main battle company, has failed to win a tough battle. Watching the neighbor brothers drinking and eating meat, they easily captured two cities, which made the senior officers of the third company very depressed. Of course, Berry, who has always been belligerent, was even more angry. This not only means losing one less battle merit than others, but also losing a lot of military rewards.
Looking at Bury pouring wine into his mouth one mouthful and sighing, Hans, as a good friend, comforted him and said: "I say, old man, the men and horses of our third company are also the elite soldiers of the legion, and those who carry Even if I win a fight with a farmer using farm tools, I won’t have the shame to tell anyone. You, Berry, are one of the best flag captains in the army, so why bother with others on such a trivial matter?”
Bury couldn't help but raise his head when he heard Hans boasting about him, and said with a smile: "Hey, hey, you can still talk. Come on, let me toast you!"
"Cheers!"
While the legionnaires and officers were enjoying their rare free time in the streets and alleys of Tila City, Art, who had just finished inspecting the military camp in the north of the city and was about to return to the lord's mansion, met Bob, the Chinese army secretary, who was hurriedly arriving at the city gate.
"Sir!" Bob handed a letter into Art's hand with a smile.
Yate took it and saw that the seal was stamped with the seal of the government. But when he opened it, he saw the handwriting of his wife Lottie inside~
Then Art's eyes glanced back and forth on the paper. When he saw the line of writing in the middle, his pupils began to dilate, the corners of his mouth raised slightly, and his hands began to shake involuntarily.
Odo and Ron who were following him saw this and looked at each other, confused.
When Art read this letter home, his heart could not be calm for a long time, and he breathed a long sigh of relief.
Since the last time Lottie lost her fetus due to an accident, Art has been feeling deep self-blame. Because he was away fighting all year round, he missed a lot of quality time with his family. Now Lottie is pregnant again, which means the Wells family will soon have another member. If the war hadn't been imminent, he would have rushed back to the valley immediately.
"Master, what's wrong with you?" Ron couldn't help but ask.
At took a deep breath and suddenly laughed loudly, "Hahaha, Madam is pregnant, and our Wells family will soon welcome a new life!"
Hearing this exciting news, Odo and Ron hugged each other eagerly, feeling happy for Art.
At this moment, a caravan bypassed the temporary military camp outside the city and slowly walked towards the city gate.
"Master, look!" Ron recognized the man leading the team at a glance, "It's Master Salt!"
Hash When Art turned around, Salt, who was riding on horseback, also saw a group of people at the city gate. So he got off his horse and walked quickly towards Art and others.
Sart's appearance was not a coincidence, but after receiving a secret message from Art a few days ago, he took the caravan south and came to the city of Tira.
Originally, Art planned to arrange for some troops to return the large amount of gold and silver seized this time to the valley. However, the war was about to begin, and it was the right time to use people. So Art used a secret letter to summon Salt, who was purchasing southern goods in Lavati, to the city of Tila further south, intending to let him bring the goods back to the valley through a caravan.
In addition, as the general manager of the European Commercial Bank and the Minister of Commerce, Art hopes that Salt can find out the situation in Tila City early, establish contact with the commercial banks here, and lay the foundation for the subsequent business activities of the commercial banks.
After receiving the secret message, Salt handed over the purchase of southern goods to a steward below, and then led some caravan guards and servants southward overnight, rushing to the city of Tira without stopping.
"My lord!"
Ate patted Salt on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Old man, you moved fast enough. You arrived at Tira City in less than a day and a half, and you almost caught up with my cavalry!"
Everyone laughed after hearing this.
Salt wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked a little serious, and said: "As long as it is an order from your lord, there can be no delay for a moment. Although we don't have the ability to kill enemies with cavalry, we are still much stronger than ordinary caravans."
At heard this, he was satisfied. He nodded and immediately led everyone towards the lord's mansion. On the way, Art stopped in front of a shop selling silk. He went in and bought some pieces of fine silk, and entrusted Salt to take them back to the valley and give them to his wife to make up for his lack of companionship for his wife Lottie as a husband.
In the evening, Art called together high-ranking officers above the level of company captain of the legion to prepare for a preliminary discussion on the battle plan for marching into Milan in a few days.
In the hall of the luxurious lord's mansion in the southwest corner of Tira City, copper candlesticks stood beside the wall, and the slightly swaying candlelight illuminated the huge hall.
The large long oak table was surrounded by high-ranking military officials in armor, looking attentively at the city defense map of Milan and its surrounding areas that occupied half of the table.
At the middle of the left side of the long table, holding a smooth wooden stick in his hand, he slid back and forth on the map from time to time, patiently introducing the general defense around Milan to the people present.
“..—On the way from the city of Tira to the northeast towards Milan, in addition to the three relatively narrow valleys where the opponent’s ambushes may be located, the two military forts along the way may also become stumbling blocks on our way forward. This means that the closest march route from the city of Tira to Milan is likely to have five troops blocking our attack on Milan.”
"However," Art pulled the wooden stick back from where Milan was, and drew an arc, pointing to the city of Tira in front of him, "if we take a detour and use this route to bypass the several places where ambush may be hidden, we can save a lot. time."
Ate glanced at the people who were listening in a daze, put down the wooden stick in his hand and said to everyone: "Now, everyone talks about their opinions."
Everyone looked at each other and discussed in a low voice.
A moment later, Angus, the deputy commander of the legion, spoke first, "Sir, everyone, I think both routes have their own advantages and disadvantages. If we take a detour, we can shorten the march time and reach Milan as soon as possible. But in this way, those Lombards who were left behind by us will definitely turn back to Milan and join forces with the city's defenders to deal with us. If we choose another option, although it takes some time, at least we will clear out all the defenders outside Milan, which will reduce some potential dangers.
So, I prefer to choose the second option, and then engage in a decisive battle with the enemies in Milan. "