The news that the Kingdom of Hicks wanted to form ten new standing legions to fight this colonial war on the Nubisian continent, and that it was fighting to the death with the Kingdom of Overas, did not make General Michelchi pay much attention. He knew very well that ten standing legions could not be created by just touching the upper and lower lips. Even if the Kingdom of Hicks is the dominant power in the northern region of Farea, it will take at least two to three years to form ten standing legions.
General Michelich ordered the intelligence staff officer to increase efforts to collect information about the armament status of Vibato Colonial County of the Kingdom of Hicks, and at the same time wrote a letter requesting the Ministry of War of the Kingdom to pay attention to the information and information on the formation of the ten standing corps of the Kingdom of Hicks. progress. In addition, he personally went to the Cromwell Territory and the Beringana Territory to conduct geographical inspections, preparing to build an unprecedented defensive front to deal with the massive invasion of the Hicks Kingdom's ten standing legions in two or three years.
It was not until December of the 587th year of the Holy Light Calendar that the rewards for the victory in the Battle of Beringana belatedly reached the Ranger Legion. It's just that the rewards this time are relatively stingy. It is said that this is because the kingdom is in a difficult economic period, and the cost of this colonial war has exceeded the budget. As a result, all the officers and soldiers of the Ranger Corps who participated in this battle were not very satisfied with the rewards they received.
The only exception was General Michelic. He was promoted to Field Marshal of the Kingdom for planning this battle in which the weak defeated the strong, successfully annihilated the five standing legions of the Kingdom of Hicks, and defeated the Sea King fleet. , becoming the seventeenth king to take up the marshal's scepter since the founding of the Kingdom of Ovilas three hundred and eighty-three years ago. At the same time, his honorary earl title was also canonized by the kingdom as the third earl, which can be passed down to descendants for more than three generations. General Michelic was given a royal manor near the royal capital.
Compared with the royal favor received by General Michelich, the rewards received by the officers and soldiers of the Ranger Corps who participated in this battle seemed a bit harsh and ungrateful. The average soldier only received a gold crown. Rewards: two gold crowns for non-commissioned officers, five gold crowns for lieutenant-level officers, and ten gold crowns for school-level officers. Only those officers and soldiers who have definitely killed and wounded the enemy will receive the meritorious service required for promotion due to the registration of military merit.
As for the rewards received by the officers and soldiers, it is said above that the victory of the Battle of Beringana mainly relied on General Michelchi's strategic planning, which put the enemy in a dilemma. In addition to annihilating Tanya and Kuzoa in advance, the two legions also needed the Ranger Legion and the First Overseas Field Legion to cooperate with each other to fight. The subsequent three legions of Viklen, Sebok and Febot basically There weren't many fierce battles with the Rangers. That is to say, after annihilating one division sent by these three legions to escort the transportation of logistics supplies, and mopping up the light cavalry scouts who came out for reconnaissance, the enemy huddled in the barracks and could not move for a few moments.
Later, the only truly fierce battle related to the Ranger Corps was the artillery battle that crippled the Sea King Fleet of the Kingdom of Hicks, but the three artillery regiments of the Ranger Division and most of the light infantry field artillery teams participated in the battle. The enemy's Sea King fleet was falling into the trap set by General Michelci on the Dolinibara River and became the target of three heavy field artillery positions hidden on the river bank. Just like in training, in this seemingly fierce artillery battle, the artillerymen of the three artillery regiments suffered few casualties. The main contribution lies in General Michelich's pre-war planning and layout.
In fact, in this miraculous Battle of Beringana, the heaviest casualties were an artillery garrison regiment of the First Overseas Field Corps guarding Port Patres, the capital of the Robidodo Territory. The Port of Patres was almost reduced to rubble by the Sea King fleet. Less than 600 people from the artillery guard regiment of more than 4,000 people survived, which was already a casualty rate of more than 80%.
However, the surviving officers and soldiers still did not give up resistance. With the remaining eight heavy artillery pieces that could still be used, they continued to fight back against the enemy warships from the sea, forcing the Sea King Fleet to give up its plan to capture the Port of Patres and directly Going upstream from the Dolinibara River leads to traps and destruction.
Therefore, in the view of the evaluators of the Kingdom's Army Department, the victory in this battle had little to do with the vast number of officers and soldiers of the Ranger Corps. The minimal casualties were a good proof. In the later stage, except for the small teams that eliminate enemy scouts and light cavalry, most of the officers and soldiers of the Ranger Legion are just soy sauce characters. They followed General Michelchi's instructions, tracked, monitored and followed the march of the enemy's three standing legions, and then waited for the desperate enemy to surrender and gathered the enemy's prisoners to complete the task and win the entire battle.
As for the 131st Ranger Regiment, which burned down the enemy's supply warehouse at Wickham Castle Logistics Base, the capital of Cromwell, their early performance was pretty good. They successfully cut off the enemy's logistics supply channels, raided and captured the enemy's supplies. transport fleet. But in the middle of the campaign, there was nothing to show for it, because the enemy could not retreat and no longer sent material transport convoys to the three standing corps on the front line. As a result, the 131st Ranger Regiment had no place to perform meritorious service if it wanted to.
As for the later feat of burning down Wickham Castle, it was also based on the advance planning of General Michelci. If General Michelci had not instructed the 131st Ranger Regiment to dig the road leading to the outside of the city when the strong wall was clearing the field, Secretly, it would be impossible for the 131st Ranger Regiment to easily sneak into the castle, nor would it be possible for them to cooperate inside and outside to seize the castle gate and occupy the entire castle.
General Michelich also asked for credit for Claude. Claude used the food and supplies captured in Wickham Castle to build a camp in advance, thus avoiding the deprivation of food and clothing for the nearly 200,000 enemy prisoners who surrendered. , the dilemma of having nowhere to treat but to wait for death, prevented the Rangers and the Kingdom from being blamed by various countries for the large number of casualties suffered by the captives. However, this was rejected by the Kingdom's Ministry of War. Instead, Claude got into trouble because of the logistics supplies of more than 800 four-wheeled freight carriages seized from Wickham Castle.
There was still merit. Claude was credited with one major merit as the commander-in-chief of the 131st Ranger Regiment. He still needed to achieve two more major merits to become the youngest major general in the history of the Kingdom of Orvilas. Because Claude was only twenty-nine years old at this time, as long as he became the kingdom's major general before the age of thirty-five, he would become a legend in the king's world. From civilian to general, it only took Claude more than ten years
On the other hand, Claude's younger brother followed Claude into Wickham Castle as a sergeant. He performed outstandingly and was promoted to three levels in a row. He has become a non-commissioned officer and is currently receiving training as a non-commissioned officer of the Ranger Division. As for his personal adjutant, Claude's cheap brother-in-law Mike also performed well. He has already accumulated two first-level meritorious service after making another great contribution. If he does it again, he can be promoted to major.
Claude's trouble is the unknown whereabouts of a military expenditure worth more than half a million gold crowns. This is not the kingdom's military expenditure, but the Hicks Kingdom's reserves at Wickham Castle to pay the salaries of the officers and soldiers of the five standing legions and Military expenditures subsidized by wartime welfare. According to the confession of the captured enemy logistics officer, this military expenditure worth 500,000 gold crowns is basically the three currencies of the Kingdom of Hicks: gold kepu shield, silver kaile and copper feeni, but its whereabouts are currently unknown.
Wickham Castle has become a large ruin due to the explosion of the gunpowder warehouse, especially where the ammunition warehouses are located, forming a large pit. The captured logistics officer of Hicks Kingdom said that the warehouse storing these gold, silver and copper coins is in the middle of these warehouses storing ammunition, guns and ordnance, because that warehouse is the strongest and safest.
Even the strongest and most secure material warehouses could not withstand the explosions of the surrounding ammunition warehouses. If they were all turned into big holes, where would they be able to find the whereabouts of these military expenditures? General Vansnik, the logistics director of the Rangers who was unwilling to give up, mobilized many soldiers to search in the ruins for several days, but found many deformed Copper Feeneys. However, no trace of the two gold and silver coins, the gold Kepu shield and the silver Kaile, was found.
Therefore, General Vansnik began to suspect that Claude's 131st Ranger Regiment had secretly swallowed up the military expenditures of the Hicks Kingdom. He summoned and questioned Claude three times in succession, asking Claude to transfer the money. Huge military expenditures were handed over.
Of course, Claude complained. He said that he had never seen the so-called military expenditure worth half a million gold crowns. We initially occupied Wickham Castle, and it was only in the morning that we fully occupied the castle. Then we monitored and managed more than 7,000 prisoners, carrying supplies to carriages, choosing only straw and logistical support supplies, without paying any attention to the enemy. ammunition storage warehouse.
The reason is very simple. The enemy's ammunition, guns and ordnance are not compatible with the kingdom's standard equipment at all, and they are not light in weight. They take up a lot of space and transportation capacity on the carriage. Only when you are full and full will you move the waste.
Claude asked General Vansnik to ask the soldiers on guard duty and the officers in charge of patrols at the time, and they found out that he had not entered the ammunition and gun reserve area at all. After knowing that it was a warehouse area where ammunition, guns and ordnance were stored, Claude also ordered a squadron of soldiers to guard all entrances and exits to prevent the soldiers from going in and wasting time.
From fighting all night to occupying the entire castle in the morning, the next step was to gather the prisoners and escort them to carry supplies. By around four o'clock in the afternoon, the entire 131st Ranger Regiment had evacuated Wickham Castle. By that time, almost most of the material warehouses had been set on fire.
Claude asked General Vansnik how he had time to inspect the material warehouses filled with ammunition, guns and ordnance one by one. Even those captured enemy logistics officers did not bother to interrogate. This can be proved by the confessions of those captured enemy logistics officers at Wickham Castle. Therefore, he and all the officers and soldiers of the 131st Ranger Regiment did not know that among the ammunition, firearms and ordnance warehouses there was also a warehouse containing military expenses worth nearly half a million gold crowns.
But General Vansnik is still very suspicious of Claude, because he has two pieces of evidence that show that Claude cannot escape suspicion. First, when evacuating Wickham Castle, Claude was the last to leave with his cronies and guard team, accompanied by five fully loaded four-wheeled freight carriages.
During the march, many officers, soldiers and prisoners of the Ranger Division saw the deep ruts on the five large carriages, which indicated that the items loaded on the carriages were very heavy. It is very possible that Claude and others secretly hid the Hicks Kingdom's military expenses in a carriage and smuggled them out.
The second evidence is that Claude loaded a carriage with the honorary sabers of the Hicks Kingdom and distributed them among the Rangers as trophies of the victory at Beringana. Almost every officer of the Rangers had one. An honorary saber.
The honorary saber is an honorary saber that can only be obtained by the Hicks Kingdom in the military to reward those officers who have fought bravely and made meritorious deeds on the battlefield. Inlaid with gold edges and silver ornaments, it is very gorgeous and sharp. It is a trophy that enemies of the Hicks Kingdom can pass down to their descendants to boast about the bravery of their ancestors.
The problem is that the warehouse containing these honorary sabers is in the ammunition, firearms and ordnance supplies area. Claude can get a carriage of honorary sabers, which means he is lying when he says that he did not enter the ammunition, firearms and ordnance supplies warehouse area. Therefore, it makes sense for General Vansnik to always suspect that Claude and others secretly hid the Hicks Kingdom's military expenditure.
However, Claude did not admit it. He believed that General Vansnik's suspicion was grounded. Although he was the last one to evacuate Wickham Castle, it was because he was the leader and commander of the 131st Ranger Regiment. To lead troops, you should always uphold the attitude of charging first and retreating to hold the line. Only in this way can all the officers and soldiers of the regiment be convinced and obey their orders. This is also the foundation for the 131st Ranger Regiment to win continuously from battalion to regiment.
As for the five large four-wheeled freight carriages loaded with deep ruts, the items on them were all high-end luxury goods stored in Wickham Castle by the Kingdom of Hicks, such as those given to senior officers of the five standing legions. Enjoy the precious wine, gold and silver tableware, many gorgeous and rich decorative arts, as well as pure white cashmere blankets, etc.
In fact, these things can be said to be the trophies of the 131st Ranger Regiment, and according to the rules of the battlefield, they do not need to be turned over. But Claude still gave the division headquarters four four-wheeled freight carriages filled with these luxury goods, so that every officer in the entire regiment who participated in the battle could share a share of the spoils.
Claude pointed out that the total value of these five four-wheeled freight carriages loaded with luxury goods exceeded fifty or sixty thousand gold crowns. If he was really as greedy for money as General Vansnik accused him of and hid that huge sum of money, As for military expenses, then I don’t have to hand over these luxuries at all. These are my legitimate spoils of war.
It is understandable that the ruts are very deep. Anyone can imagine how heavy a carriage loaded with dozens of boxes of precious wine would be. Moreover, it was just after the February melting period, and the roads in Cromwell's demesne were not very good to begin with. It could not be said to be muddy, but it was not very solid either. The fully loaded four-wheeled freight carriages passing by left deep impressions. Deep rut marks are normal, but deep rut marks are abnormal.
There was also that car of honorary sabers. Claude asked General Vansnik to ask the captured enemy logistics officer to see what his answer was. Because the material warehouse containing the honorary saber is right at the front of the ammunition, firearms and ordnance supplies area, and is the most luxuriously decorated, even the soldiers standing guard at the entrance to the road in this area know that the items inside are honorary sabers.
So after Claude received the following report, he ordered the soldiers who were guarding the ammunition, firearms and ordnance warehouse area to move all the honorary sabers in the warehouse in front before evacuating. He did not enter the ammunition or firearms area himself. Ordnance and supplies warehouse area
Even if there is witness evidence for everything Claude said, even the trophies distributed to the officers and soldiers of the 131st Ranger Regiment can be checked in the account books. All seizures were made openly and openly, allowing inspection, but Claude still couldn't get rid of this trouble.
General Vansnik, whose mission was to find this huge military expenditure and hand it over to the Sterling royal family, still regarded Claude as the most important suspect, and ordered Claude's subordinate officers to go to him at regular intervals. office for questioning and review. In the end, Claude couldn't stand the anger and had a big quarrel with him in the office, almost beating General Vansnik. The lawsuit eventually went to General Michelchi.
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