Chapter 784 Preparation before the war
"I object to Lord Angus's views!" At this time, Obote, the leader of the reserve regiment on the side, stood up, "I think we should not spend too much energy on the enemy forces on the periphery, and we should concentrate on attacking Milan. By then, the enemies on the periphery will The army will surrender without a fight. The longer it takes to capture Milan, the worse it will be for us. "
"Yes, once the opponent has reinforcements, we will have to pay a higher price to capture Milan." At this time, Odo, who was standing next to Art, also agreed.
Odo has a deep understanding of this kind of siege warfare. Once the time is extended, it will not only affect the morale of the military, but may also cause more battle losses. Coupled with the iron-barrel-like defense of the city of Milan, a quick victory was even more necessary.
The two parties with different views had a heated debate on this issue, and it was difficult to make a final decision for a while.
At this moment, Ron, the bodyguard who was listening to the argument, suddenly interjected, "My lords, why don't we divide our troops into two groups and march at the same time?"
As a bodyguard, Ron should not have intervened in the military discussion, but standing aside, he couldn't stand it when he saw everyone arguing.
"Yes, sir, it would be a good idea to march in two ways." Odo said to Art. Art did not answer. He put his hands on the table and moved his eyes back and forth between the two lines of advance.
The task force currently lurking in Milan has not yet reported the number of defenders in the city and the deployment of defenses. There are indeed many risks in a rash attack. The most important thing right now is to find out the specific situation on the march and then make plans.
In this way, this military discussion did not reach any substantive conclusion.
After everyone left, Art came to the attic on the top floor of the lord's mansion alone.
· Pushing open the wooden window facing the sea, a gust of sea breeze blew in his face. Although there was a faint salty smell in the air, it still made Art feel refreshed.
Matt stuck his head out and looked around. The lights on the pier were twinkling like stars hanging in the sky.
He put his hands on the window, jumped hard, and sent his whole body up. He leaned against the stone wall and sat comfortably on it.
The intense heat during the day has long since subsided, leaving only the coolness brought by the sea breeze at night. The waves on the distant sea roared in waves, and the boundless dark sea swallowed up everything in sight like a magic carpet.
Att’s hands were crossed, separated between the hard window frame and the back of his head. His left leg’s knee was slightly arched, and his right leg was placed on it. His whole body seemed to be integrated with the window.
He has never been so relaxed and at ease as he is now for a long time. Facing the sea, the stars above your head, the breeze blowing on your face, the surroundings are peaceful.
At this moment, he seemed to have returned to those days when he was hunting alone in the dense forest many years ago. At that time, there were no endless military affairs, no worries about marrying and having children, one person had enough to eat, and the whole family was not hungry. Although lonely, yet at ease.
Matt took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling with the airflow in and out. I closed my eyes slightly, and the cool sea breeze took away all the fatigue from my body. The next morning, the sky was just slightly bright, and the colorful waves floated on the sea like jade belts under the morning light.
At this time, the golden morning sun began to rise, glowing with a faint light, dyeing everything facing the east into gold.
Morning light crept in through the open window of the attic and completely enveloped Art, who was lying on the floor and sleeping soundly.
A feeling of warmth came over him. Art stretched and slowly opened his eyes. His eyes were facing the entrance to the attic. At this time, the sudden appearance of the human head made Art scream in fright~
"Ah!"
The frightened Art quickly got up from the floor, and then he saw the appearance of the person clearly.
"Ron, what are you doing here?" Art asked sternly, covering his violently beating heart.
"Hey, sir, I went to your room in the morning and found no one, so I looked around. Who knew you opened your eyes as soon as you showed your head, you can't blame me. Who knew you would stay in a place like this instead of sleeping on a comfortable bed."
Art knew he was in the wrong, so he stopped defending.
"What do you want from me so early in the morning?" Art asked casually.
Ron hurriedly took out a newly translated secret letter and handed it to Art. "There is news from Milan.
Art took the small piece of paper handed over by Ron and opened it slowly. Looking at the content on it, he couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth - "Master, what should we do now?"
"Go to the city and invite Lord Balian, as well as the Sergeant Major and Odo, all come to me."
After saying that, Art walked down to the attic.
When Balian and others arrived at the lord's mansion, Art had already had a sumptuous breakfast prepared.
After several people sat down one after another, Art walked slowly down from the bedroom on the second floor.
“Earl Art, you called us here early in the morning, could it be that you wanted to treat us to a breakfast?” Balian pointed at the vegetable soup with minced meat batter and a few pieces of fine wheat bread on the table.
At no explanation, he just walked straight to the table, picked up a wooden spoon, and filled a bowl of hot wheat paste for Balian beside him.
"Count Balian, news has come from Milan. I wonder if your soldiers are ready?"
Att glanced at Balian, and then handed another bowl to Odo.
Balian, who had just picked up the bowl of porridge, couldn't sit still when he heard the news, and asked hurriedly: "What do you mean?"
Art tore off a piece of bread, turned to him and said: "The time is ripe to attack Milan~"
A few people looked at each other and smiled.
Subsequently, Art informed Balian and others of the contents of the secret message received this morning.
According to secret messages from Milan, the Lombardy court is ordering craftsmen in the city to strengthen the city walls in order to protect this centuries-old capital. In the past few days, Milan has been basically in a closed state.
In order to fight against the allied forces of Burgundy and Provence that were about to march into Milan, the Lombard court had recruited a total of two thousand mercenaries in the past half month. Including the 2,000 elites of the palace guard and more than 1,500 young men from the surrounding territories, the total number is 5,500.
".. Counting the peripheral laborers and servants, the total number is about seven thousand. "
"Seven thousand!" Angus almost spit out the porridge in his mouth.
No one expected that the Lombard court could still retain such strength after being defeated several times. It was really shocking.
Especially the five thousand elite soldiers guarding Milan, which will definitely be a big trouble for the attacking side. Coupled with the strong defense of Milan City, it is absolutely impossible to crack this tough nut without a pair of good teeth.
Odo put down the wooden bowl in his hand and said, "Sir, although our total strength exceeds 10,000, excluding some of the soldiers stationed and occupying the city, it is estimated that the actual number that can be mobilized will not exceed 10,000. Although we have an advantage in terms of numbers, as a party attacking the city, we may suffer considerable losses."
As to this issue, Art did not avoid it. He immediately explained: "To capture Milan, it is indeed not a task that can be completed in three or two days. But since the Lombard court has asked Rome and the Principality of Swabia for reinforcements, and the troops are very fast, we must smash through the walls of Milan before the enemy's reinforcements arrive! Once the enemy's reinforcements arrive, then we We will fall into a passive situation, and may even spit out the occupied areas that we have swallowed. "Count Arter is right, if you don't take Milan, it won't be a real victory!" After Balian said this, he slapped his hand on the table to show his determination.
After breakfast, Balian hurriedly said goodbye to Art and returned to the camp to prepare to mobilize the army to march towards Milan.
Yate once again called together officers above the company captain level to discuss the battle plan for attacking Milan. In addition, Commander Moore and Deputy Commander James of the Palace Guards Corps, as well as Commander Gray Wolf and his deputy commander of the Mercenary Corps also attended the military meeting.
“.. Regarding the issue of the march route that we discussed last time, after comprehensive consideration by the legion staff, it was decided to divide the troops into two routes and march towards Milan. There are two reasons for this decision. First, the enemy fortresses and camps along the way must be cleared to relieve us of worries. Second, the troops who arrived outside Milan first can catch them by surprise, which not only can test By knowing the strength of the opponent, we can cut off the enemy's communication with the outside world as soon as possible and block them in the city. After the follow-up reinforcements arrive, we can launch a fierce attack on the city of Milan. "
"Everyone, this attack on Milan is a long way, so we must ensure the supply of food and grass for the army. I will give you two days to prepare the weight of food and grass for this expedition."
"In addition, after the army leaves, some soldiers need to be left behind to guard the occupied city to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of the chaos to stab us in the back. Otto, it is up to you to arrange the manpower for this matter."
Odo patted his chest and promised, "Don't worry, sir, I'll take care of it."
"Lord Comor!"
"Yes!" Comor took two steps forward.
"As the vanguard of our army, we will explore the way first. Remember, if the opponent is determined to resist, we must not fight to the death. Our goal is the city of Milan, and we must preserve our strength."
"Yes, Your Majesty the Earl."
At the follow-up military meeting, Art successively gave his own views on issues such as marching ranks, radiation support, and military discipline.
It was not until the afternoon that the military discussion officially ended.
When the officers left the lord's mansion, the officials sent by the government to the southern occupied areas also arrived one after another.
In fact, when Art led his troops to leave Wellsburg, he had already sent someone to notify the government and ordered them to arrange for their men to go south as soon as possible in order to take over the newly occupied place.
After receiving the news, Cooper, the chief of the Government Affairs Office, immediately summoned the chief officials of the Government Affairs Office at all levels to discuss the candidates to be sent to the south this time.
Due to the gradual expansion of the area occupied by the legion, the number of valley school students who agreed to the request was far from meeting the requirements. In order to solve this problem, the government decided to recruit young students who had not yet graduated from the academy and sent them to the south. However, considering the lack of experience of the new students, some experienced officials from the territory were selected as the backbone, and these new students were rushed to the occupied areas to manage local government affairs.