In early October, the outskirts of Culona were very lively.
The northern frontline army led by Kalad was now stationed in the outskirts of the city. This army of more than eight thousand people consisted of about five thousand five hundred infantry and two thousand knights and squires. They were from all the duchies in Brittany except Carcassonne.
Since most of the news from the frontline was good, this army did not go to the northern coast to set up defenses. Instead, they were stationed in the famous Diana Manor in the outskirts of Culona. This used to be the family manor of Baroness Diana, Richard's eldest son. This manor was less than five kilometers away from Culona. After Charles was turned into a vampire by Matthew Bard, the manor was confiscated as a matter of course. In the auction after the war, Hendrick Haus of the Aniug family spent a lot of money to buy the manor's land deed and use rights for a hundred years through his connections.
This businessman was very famous in the Old World. The Aniug family was one of the top food, wine, and raw material importers in the Old World. He loved to talk nonsense after drinking.
Some time ago, this brother of his said the most classic sentence, "I have killed many people in my life. My next goal is to defeat the enemy that is impossible to defeat."
No one knew where Hendrick Haus' confidence came from, but the next thing he did was to negotiate with his peers to lower the purchase price of food. He tried to make a huge profit by selling food to the north of the Empire, Araby, the borderlands, and even Ossouin.
Everyone knew what happened next. These businessmen could not compete with Laing's endless treasury. They all declared bankruptcy, and the manor returned to Laing's hands. Laing then arranged Diana Manor for Kalad's army.
Covering an area of more than three hundred hectares, Diana's Manor had an oval-shaped lake shaded by green trees. The scenery was beautiful and suitable for large-scale grazing. More than eight thousand troops were stationed here for military training. Every ten days, they would rest for a day and watch the harvest nearby. The soldiers enjoyed it quite a lot. No one thought that this was a hard job.
This time, the army was full of arrogant soldiers, especially the elite infantrymen who had participated in the Eight Peaks Mountain Expedition. Fortunately, Laing had chosen Kalad as the commander-in-chief. This legendary Brittany hero, a mid-level Sanctuary powerhouse, had not only personally participated in the Eight Peaks Mountain Expedition, but also had countless military exploits. He had slaughtered several green-skinned warlords, a dozen green-skinned warlords, goblin warlords, giants, and even the Skaven warlords, Ghost King Straga, and the Fearful Beast. As soon as he announced that he would be the commander-in-chief, all the soldiers obediently followed Kalad's orders without any hesitation.
The ranger knights who were eager to make a move and whose minds were filled with the desire to make a name for themselves naturally obeyed the orders of the great hero, Kalad. The Great Holy Grail of the Sanctum quickly completed the integration and incorporation of the entire army.
During this process, two very interesting things happened.
The first thing happened two days after they had settled in. A young ranger knight could not stand the complacency of the newly built elite infantrymen and provoked them verbally. The free soldiers angrily retaliated. After the two sides cursed at each other for a long time, it caused a confrontation between the free soldiers and the noble knights. In the end, it reached Kalad.
Kalad did not know how to deal with it, but Berliat immediately gave him an idea. Following which, Kalad had the two sides engage in a duel of honor.
The result of the duel was naturally this veteran who had been through hundreds of battles and whose equipment was on par with the ranger knight.
Kalad then conferred the free soldier as a knight, then gave a speech to the knights, saying that if all of the noble knights who had been recruited were like this, then they should just obediently go home and farm. Don't be a knight anymore and bring shame to His Majesty Laing and the lady.
The ranger knights instantly felt a bone-deep shame and shame. From then on, they began to train seriously and take the initiative to seek guidance, swearing that they would never bring shame to the lady and the king.
Meanwhile, the free soldiers also instantly felt that their social status had increased. They trained even harder. Everyone hoped to be able to obtain the title of a knight, or even have the opportunity to become a knight!
The second thing was also suggested by Berliat. That was, they could occasionally hold 'competitions', allowing the knights and infantrymen of different duchies to team up and compete. The knights would compete in polo, while the free infantrymen would compete in football.
This kind of competition quickly became the favorite of the army. There would be a competition every two or three days. Not only would the winner be rewarded, but the knights or soldiers who performed the best would also be able to obtain additional meals.
After a series of competitions, a serf from Winford, Ethan, won the supreme honor of being fed the same meals as the Knights of the Holy Grail. After hundreds of years, another serf-class soldier openly ate roasted venison marinated in pepper, saffron, and cinnamon.
In this way, relying on the endless activities, the combat power and tacit understanding of the entire army were improved.
Under the beautiful autumn night sky, Kalad personally sat together with Torras, Berliat, Meretskov, and the others to discuss the possible invasion of the barbarians.
Kalad learned a very good habit from Laing. As the commander-in-chief and the Great Holy Grail of the Holy Grail, Kalad was willing to condescend and use the same meal as the soldiers. Moreover, he rarely gave himself any special treatment. Whatever the soldiers ate, Kalad would eat, but the amount would be much larger. Everyone understood this point. The Great Holy Grail must have eaten a lot.
Berliat actually wanted to find a halfling chef to give him special treatment, but when he saw Kalad doing this, he had no choice but to eat with Kalad.
The standard ration for the Northern Front Army was as follows: 750 grams of fresh wholemeal bread every day, 100-150 grams of pork, mutton, chicken, or duck meat every day, plenty of fresh vegetables and soups made from various tomatoes, potatoes, and corn, the occasional fish, as well as a daily supply of ale and cider for each person (locally produced inferior goods, drunk as water).
The senior knights were able to eat better buttered white bread, beef, and good quality eels, as well as enjoy the Empire's domestic beer and Curona's wine. It was clear that the food was better, but overall, there wasn't much of a difference between them and the free soldiers.
Kalade ate one kilogram of buttered whole-wheat bread, more than one kilogram of stewed pork with cream, finished a large bowl of vegetable salad, and drank a large bowl of corn soup. Then, Count Garament said to everyone, "According to the current intelligence, the north is very quiet. However, barbarian ships still appear on the Chaos Sea from time to time. We can't relax. We have to be vigilant at all times."
"Yes." Tulas, Marquis of Loire, stuffed his mouth with bread. "The young men are still very energetic!"
After chatting for a while, Berliat wanted to say something, but he could not join the conversation. So, he said to General Meretskov, the acting commander of the Ugor Legion, "You've been studying for many days, right? What do you think?"
"Well, I can't really say what I think, just a small opinion." General Meretskov said carefully, "It's just a small opinion. I think the barbarians are most likely to land in two places. I mean, if the barbarians attack, these two places are most likely to be attacked."
"Port Endei in the northeast and … the town of Shantiron in the north of Colona? Why? "Kalad asked curiously.
"Because … this is what I think. If the barbarians want to land on the northern coast, their most likely choice is not the deserted coast, but the densely populated port, the manors and villages with farmlands, and the places that are most likely to directly and quickly threaten Culona."
"Look, if the barbarians land in these two ports and destroy the defenders, they can instantly attack Alançon Castle. This is the north gate of Colona, and there are many villages along the way that they can rob. The barbarians like to attack like this the most. Once Alançon Castle falls, the barbarians can immediately attack Colona, but they can also turn around and rob the most prosperous areas in the north, such as Garne and Ferragus Forest. Meretskov said cautiously, "Based on my understanding of the Noskas, yes. Of course, all of you are famous heroes of the old world. If you have any suggestions, please make them."
Meretskov's analysis was reasonable and in line with the barbarians' usual style. Kalad could not help but think of that again.
The female Tsar really does not know how to use people.
How many talents had Laing acquired from Taobao in Kislöw?
"Hmm … Send messengers to these two ports and inform the nobles there to remain vigilant! Once there is an enemy attack, report it immediately! "Kalad decisively gave the order.
"Yes!" Berliat was the first to respond.
… I'm warning you about the section divider …
Kalad and the ordinary soldiers were stirring spoons in a large pot.
Kislów Castle, Tsar Bokha Palace, Georgiev Hall.
This hall was the most famous hall in Bokaha Palace. It was the masterpiece of Kislöw's craftsmen.
The hall was oval in shape, with six gold-plated chandeliers hanging from the dome, each weighing nine hundred kilograms. The dome and the walls around it were painted with enormous frescoes of the battles won by Kislev's army over the course of a thousand years.
There were 18 pillars in front of the hall, and each pillar had a statue of Tsar.
Now, a grand state banquet was being prepared in this hall.
The attendants were loudly announcing the names of the dishes.
"Frozen fish and shrimp with mung bean sauce ~"
"Brittany matsutake soup ~"
"Kislöw braised pork trotters ~"
"Flame grilled chicken skewers ~"
"Spicy foie gras with thin red sugar sauce ~"
"Meaden snowflake steak ~"
"Red onion perch with red gourd sauce ~"
"Örengrád caviar ~"
"Ossouin hazelnut chocolate mousse ~"
"Brittany Bordeaux first-class wine ~"
"Now, let's welcome our most honorable Kislöw Tsar, King of Kislöw, Grand Duke of Kislöw, Grand Duke of Örengrád and Prague, leader of the Ice Witches Sisterhood, heir of Queen Miska's bloodline … (18 titles omitted) … Prepare to eat!"
The female Tsar, Katarina, was wearing a Tsar crown and an ice-blue classical embroidered dress. She slowly walked to the main seat of the long dining table under the guidance of the attendants. The female Tsar was obviously not in a good mood.
She slowly sat down and looked at the dishes in front of her. She was irritated and had no appetite. She said casually, "I can't even move my fork with this."
The attendants and servants immediately knelt down in fear. No one wanted to be turned into an ice sculpture.
Katarina's face was cold. In fact, her accusation was reasonable. Normally, a standard state banquet should have 13 dishes, but today's state banquet only had 11 dishes. Two dishes were missing, which was enough to put many people in the Qitar prison.
Like many Garan witches, she also liked luxury, especially the standard life of a queen. For the sake of Kislöw, the female Tsar had sacrificed a lot. Two dishes were removed from the standard 13 dishes. Why couldn't the soldiers and Poillé, who were always complaining about their pay, endure for the sake of their country?
Also, why were her subordinates so useless? Those who were capable were not obedient and loyal, and those who were obedient and loyal were not capable enough? Why didn't Kislöw have people like Marshal Rick Helberg, Marshal Hunter Wolfhart, or Laing's Holy Grail such as François, Berchemund, and Kalad who could take charge of their own affairs?
Katarina was very unhappy.
The female Tsar didn't touch her knife and fork, and no one dared to move until Katarina told them the latest news.
Although Prague didn't report that Vosglade Fortress was surrounded by the Army of Chaos and that the scouts were missing, Katarina was never a person who was ill-informed. In fact, when the 5,000 reinforcements didn't reach Prague for a long time, Katarina had already received the news from Ye Ruofu, the person in charge of Qitar.
Compared to General Pavlov and Prague's Duma representative who were still hopeful about the 5,000 reinforcements, Katarina had already deduced that the 5,000 reinforcements were in a hurry and had no news for a long time. It was basically certain that they were ambushed and wiped out.
The inexplicable invasion of the Barbarians made the female Tsar very unhappy. We are preparing for the millennium celebration here! Why didn't the Barbarians attack the Dark Elves? Why did they suddenly come down south to attack us?
"I have a deduction, Your Majesty." Kislöw's Marshal Konev said seriously, "I think that no matter how big the Barbarians' dragonship fleet is, it is limited. This means that not all of the Barbarians have the ability to participate in the war with the Dark Elves."
"You mean that some of the Barbarians may not be able to participate in the expedition, so they targeted us?" Kislöw's Marshal Dimitri Zayev said, "It's possible that they couldn't get a chance to show off in front of the God of Darkness, so they turned around and went south."
"So, can we assume that an Army of Chaos of at least 10,000 people surrounded Vosglade Fortress and used the strategy of encirclement to destroy Prague's reinforcements?" Kislöw's Marshal Romanov, the Griffin Legion's Marshal, expressed his opinion. "The current question is, what's the situation at Vosglade Fortress? Are the defenders still resisting?"
"The defenses of Vosglade Fortress are very strong. They have more than 30 cannons and more than 300 firearms imported from the Empire. The soldiers there are also experienced, so it shouldn't be a problem for them to hold on for a week." Kislöw's Northern Military Region's Marshal Zachary Fedosov said, "I went to check the defenses of Vosglade. They are very strong. There's no reason for them to fall so quickly."
"Other than that, there's also news from the frontline. It seems that the Barbarians are still besieging Lone Dragon City. In the end, after spending a week, not only did they only break through one line of defense, but they also lost more than 3,000 people. Lone Dragon City only lost a dozen people." Imperial Minister Petrov hurriedly said, "This means that the Barbarians only look strong and powerful. In fact, they are just going south to plunder. Your Majesty only needs to gather the army, and these Barbarians will pay the price for their stupid decision."
Bear Cavalry's Marshal Rokossovsky felt that something was wrong. The handsome Bear Cavalry's Marshal with brown hair and blue eyes felt that everyone was too optimistic about the situation, so he quickly said, "We lack more information at the moment. It's still too early for us to make a judgment. Also, the Barbarians could reach Prague City at any time. We have to gather the army as soon as possible!"
"That's right!" Tsar, who was sitting on the throne, suddenly stood up.
"This time, I will lead the army personally!"
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