"Reporting to your Excellency, Marshal, this is the Falcon Message just received, sent by General Belklin." A captain officer from the Communications Office handed the gray note in his hand to Claude.
Claude took the note and looked at it, only to see eight words written on it: invincible. He couldn't help but smile. It seemed that the Thunder Legion was progressing smoothly, otherwise Belklin wouldn't show off like this in front of him.
At this time, Claude was heading to Skvia County with the troops directly under the headquarters of the Thunder Legion and the three mountain legions led by King Avitley I of the Kingdom of Breault. It has to be said that once you are used to the fast maneuvers of the light cavalry regiment, and then marching with the pure infantry regiment, it feels like a snail crawling slowly.
The four main light cavalry field divisions of the Thunder Legion had already launched a vigorous offensive against the enemy's defensive front, but the three mountain legions were still slowly moving forward in the rear. It is a very good progress for 170,000 to 80,000 horses to travel thirty miles a day. In the past two days, they could only travel more than twenty miles a day. It seems that they will not be able to reach the mountain city of Hidpath in less than ten days and a half. .
This is not surprising. Avitley I was very ashamed and explained to Claude that the officers and soldiers of these legions in the mountains could travel at least forty or fifty miles a day. On the contrary, it felt wrong to march on the plains. There were always various problems. Trouble delayed the trip. At the beginning, most of the troops were dispatched on flatbed trucks, so they could reach the Wangjing area in about ten days. Now those flatbed trucks were used to load captured grain, grass and other supplies. Everyone walked on two legs, and the speed suddenly slowed down.
"The organization is not good, and the military discipline is not good either!" This was the comment given by Colonel Bockar to the three mountain regiments of the Breault Kingdom, which pointedly pointed out the shortcomings of the Breault Kingdom's army.
The Rock Legion of the Overseas Dominion is also an infantry legion, but it can cover fifty or sixty miles a day on long-distance marches, and can even reach more than eighty miles on forced marches. However, the Rock Legion is a professional professional army, and its training and technical and tactical levels far exceed the combat capabilities of the armies of various countries in the Farea continent. And now the performance of the three mountain legions of the Breault Kingdom during the march is the normal appearance of the armies of various countries.
I get up early in the morning at about six or seven, and make breakfast slowly, which is nothing more than a big bowl of porridge or soup with two slices of black bread. After cleaning up the tents and other things, it was already around nine or ten o'clock when everything was done, and then they started to set off amidst the yelling and scolding of the leading officer. There is no queue, a large group of people gather together and move forward. If they are in a good mood, they can sing a few folk tunes. If they are not in a good mood, they will curse and walk for a while. A few people will find a place to sit down and catch up on some sleep. , these are very common scenarios.
Scenes like this can be seen everywhere, and ordinary officers will not care about them, as long as they can rush back to their troops at night. Colonel Bockal told Claude that in the three mountain regiments of the Kingdom of Breault, it is very common for fathers, sons, and brothers to be in the same regiment. Relatives, friends, and fellow villagers are often organized into the same army, using such This is a way to ensure combat effectiveness, so there is a lack of military discipline for the soldiers, because once they break the law, they often form a group of people, and punishing them will trigger protests from the entire army...
Like the situation of the three mountain legions of the Breault Kingdom, it cannot be said that they have no combat effectiveness. Such an army and soldiers will be very powerful if they fight madly or if they fight smoothly. However, against highly professional and organized professional armies like the Thunder Legion or the Rock Legion, they would end up being crushed. This is also the reason why the Breault Kingdom is unable to resist the Hicks Kingdom. Even if the Hicks Kingdom's army is not as powerful as the troops in the Dominion Military District, it can still be done by pressing the Breault Kingdom to the ground and rubbing it several times. . ...
Avitelli I and Prince Ixdo, who followed Claude as his personal adjutant, were very envious of the Thunder Legion's orders and prohibitions, and hoped to imitate the overseas autonomous military regions in military reform. So Claude decided to do them a big favor and stay at the border of Skvia County for a few days to reorganize the three mountain legions of the Breault Kingdom.
Of course, Claude also had to stop the march. In addition to reorganizing the three mountain regiments of the Breault Kingdom, another reason was that Prime Minister Blancart finally arrived. He wanted to discuss with Claude the participation of the kingdom's troops in the war. The problem. The twenty days of traveling day and night had exhausted him. As soon as he said hello to Claude, he fell on the ground and fell asleep, making Claude dumbfounded.
Prime Minister Blancart slept for about fourteen hours, and it was already the next night when he woke up. He immediately asked to see Claude, and then ate and drank a lot in Claude's tent, and then told Claude about his purpose. Prime Minister Blancarte means that the Kingdom’s army will also participate in this war against the Kingdom of Hicks. At the very least, the Kingdom’s army will also show up in the Kingdom of Hicks...
The Red Dragon Legion stationed in the Royal City of Polyvisia in the Nasseri area is ready to go, and it will only take half a month to appear in the Kingdom of Hicks. Similarly, the Red Dragon Legion can obey Claude's command, but Prime Minister Blancart hopes that the Red Dragon Legion can garrison the King's City of Saint Hyprian in the Kingdom of Hicks. Only in this way can it be shown that the Kingdom of Orvelas is not a soy sauce player in this war...
Claude welcomed the idea that the kingdom's army wanted to take a hand in this war. Because now his subordinates, namely the Thunder Legion and the Storm Legion, are the main force in the battle, and the rest are a half-legion of noble coalition forces, and three mountain legions of the Kingdom of Breault. I won't comment on the combat effectiveness of the noble coalition, but the combat effectiveness of the three mountain legions of the Breault Kingdom is really unsatisfactory. It is difficult to say whether they can be relied upon at critical moments.
As for the eight Hicks Returning Divisions, they are still qualified to maintain local order and carry out basic operations. However, the problem is that the main task of these eight Hicks Returning Divisions this time is to take their families and relatives to immigrate overseas. Dominion goes. Letting them become the main force in the battle, Claude doubted whether these Hicks prisoners could still maintain their fighting power and determination to enterprising in the territory of their homeland.
After all, the overseas dominions are now invaders. These eight Hicks Returning Regiments are, to put it bluntly, puppet troops, and Claude naturally knows how powerful the puppet troops are. Even if an escape route has been found for the officers and soldiers of the eight Hicks Returning Divisions, allowing their families and relatives to immigrate to the overseas autonomous territories together, what combat missions are actually given to these eight Hicks Returning Regiments? Lord was still very doubtful and worried that they would take advantage of the past and mess up the past...
The Kingdom of Hicks is very large, with fifty-three local counties and Wangjing areas. It is also the dominant power in the North. This time, the Overseas Dominion Military Region carefully set up a trap to lure King Medid III of the Kingdom of Hicks and the ministers of the Kingdom into the trap. Then, the Thunder Legion and Storm Legion of the Dominion Military Region attacked Wang Jing with lightning speed. , destroyed the old nest.
It is because the city of Saint Cyprian in Wangjing fell too quickly, the current situation in the Hicks Kingdom is that it is leaderless, and most of the local counties have not reacted. The reason why Claude ordered General Albert to command the Storm Legion and the four Hicks Returning Divisions to immediately launch an inventory operation in Wangjing Saint Hyprian City, and he led the Thunder Legion to attack the Hicks army assembled on the southern coast. , is the idea of taking advantage of the enemy's unresponsiveness to eliminate the opponent's effective forces first and reduce the threat to one's own side.
The resistance forces and organizations in Saint Hyprian City in Wangjing must be eliminated as soon as possible to prevent these resistance forces from leaving Wangjing to mobilize the people to resist the invasion of the overseas autonomous military regions. Only by annihilating the large army assembled by the Hicks Kingdom's standing corps in the southern coastal area can it have a deterrent effect on those local counties and prevent them from resisting.
Seriously, the four local counties on the national highway from the Breault Kingdom to Wangjing are controlled by four Hicks Returning Divisions. Next is the Wangjing area and Wangjing Saint Hyprian City, which fell into the hands of the Storm Legion. Together with the four Hicks Returning Divisions who arrived later, they are conducting an inventory operation against Wangjing.
In addition, there is Dartmouth County, which was purged and plundered by the Thunder Legion, and Skvia County, where the Thunder Legion is launching an offensive. There are fifty-three local counties and the Wangjing region in the Hicks Kingdom. Claude can confidently say that the ones he controls are actually six local counties and one Wangjing region. It's just that among these six local counties, Dartmouth County has been plundered and abandoned, and the other county is in the middle of a battle. No one can say what Scuvia County will look like when this battle is over. clear... ...
Therefore, Prime Minister Blancart rushed over and said that the kingdom also wanted to join this war, and Claude still welcomed it. In particular, the Red Dragon Legion has replaced the new rifles produced by the Dominion Military Region, and its combat effectiveness can be said to be more powerful. In addition, he is willing to accept Claude's command, and Claude is of course very happy. He currently lacks the armed forces to be able to defend one side on his own, so he can let the Red Dragon Legion help him defend one side.
However, Prime Minister Blancart went further and proposed that the Red Dragon Legion should be stationed in the city of Saint Hyprian in Wangjing. This request was immediately rejected by Claude. What a joke, leaving Wangjing Saint Cyprian City to be garrisoned by the Red Dragon Legion, it’s a shame he could think of it. Claude despised Prime Minister Blancart and said to himself that we are just conducting an inventory operation. The property in the royal city will not be cleared until the end of this inventory operation. How can you share such a big piece of fat... .
After the Storm Legion occupied the royal city of Saint Hyprian, the reserves confiscated from the Hicks royal family's treasury alone amounted to 17 million gold crowns, not counting the huge amount of materials confiscated from the treasury. No wonder that Melchid III still had the capital and confidence to continue his unrelenting hostility with the overseas autonomous territories after the Kingdom of Hicks suffered multiple defeats at the hands of the Dominion Military District. It is conceivable that the Hicks Kingdom is so wealthy that Claude made the right decision to take advantage of it and seek wealth and death.
Prime Minister Blancart was not in a hurry after being rejected by Claude. He asked Claude where he planned to place the Red Dragon Army. Claude spread out the map of Hicks Kingdom and analyzed the current situation for Prime Minister Blancart. At present, the aristocratic coalition composed of the Red Dragon Duke and the Griffin Marquis has three divisions with nearly 100,000 troops, covering the ten western counties of the Hicks Kingdom where the defense force is empty. The remaining eleven counties in the north, the remaining nine counties in the east, the eight counties in the south, and the fifteen counties in the center still have a large number of local counties that need troops to mop up. The Red Dragon Legion can choose its own targets.
The Thunder Legion commanded by Claude and the three mountain legions of the Bouleot Kingdom will next have to deal with several standing legions of the Hicks Kingdom gathered along the coast of the eight southern counties. On the one hand, they will clear out the Hicks Kingdom. of effective armed forces, and on the other hand, to seize several seaport cities. The families and relatives of the eight Hicks Homecoming Division officers and soldiers want to immigrate to overseas autonomous territories and need a safe seaport city for the transport fleet to dock...
Since the noble coalition chose the ten counties in the west, let the Red Dragon Legion choose the eleven counties in the north... Prime Minister Blancart stared at the map for a long time and made a decision. The nine counties in the east and the fifteen counties in the center have already been occupied by Claude's Hicks Returning Division, and Claude's next battle is the eight counties in the south. Therefore, Prime Minister Blancart believes that if the Red Dragon Army wants to stand alone, it should do the same as the Noble Alliance and choose the eleven northern counties that the Dominion Military District cannot take into account.
Claude hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and told Prime Minister Blancart that it was best not to choose the eleven northern counties. There were too many variables here. If possible, the Dominion Military Region would even abandon the eleven northern counties. Because the eleventh county of Northland still has the Grand Duke of Northland, Duke Pyrag.
"It is said that the Archduke of the North, Pyrag Xi Ferriot, also has a border guard regiment of 50,000 people. It is a private armed corps belonging to the Ferriot family. It guards the four counties of the North and fights against the highland barbarians. , the combat power is very strong." Claude pointed to the eleven counties of Northland on the map and told Prime Minister Blancart.
"Now adding the two Clyde and Jessica legions who have gone to defect, as well as the garrison troops from various local counties, it is easy to pull out four to five million troops. In addition, there are eight out of the eleven counties in the North. The county is located in the highlands, and the terrain is not favorable to us, so we hope that the Grand Duke of the North can defend himself on the ground and not actively participate in the drastic changes in the Kingdom of Hicks."
After listening to Claude's explanation, Prime Minister Blancart finally cleared up his doubts. The one who could make Claude scruple must be the Archduke of the North, Pyrag. Claude did not hide this, and clearly told Prime Minister Blancart that the Grand Duke of Northland was the supreme commander of the Alliance Army during the Second Eastern War.
That is to say, when he saw that the situation was not good at the end of the Battle of Polivisia, he took more than 100,000 Hicks wounded and remnant soldiers to take the first step, escaped from the pursuit of the Thunder Legion and fled back to the Hicks Kingdom, giving Claude a complete victory. Falling short of success. To be honest, Claude is not afraid of facing off against the Northland Archduke again, but now he doesn't have the time or energy to tangle with the Northland Archduke. The top priority is to collect the results of the victory as soon as possible. When all the dust settles, maybe go and meet the Grand Duke of the North.
"My suggestion is to let the Red Dragon Legion come to sweep the remaining ten or so counties in the central part. The Storm Legion wants to suppress the city of Saint Cyprian in Wangjing and the Wangjing area. It will not be possible to stabilize the situation in the Wangjing area in less than three months. . The Red Dragon Legion sweeps away the local counties in the central region that we cannot take care of. If any troublesome situation occurs, they can take care of each other with the Storm Legion..." Claude said.
Prime Minister Blancart thought carefully and nodded in agreement to Claude's proposal. But then he asked: "Mechid III is dead, so does the Dominion Military Region have any ideas about the future of the Hicks Kingdom?"
Claude shook his head. What he was thinking about now was to calm down the situation first and let the officers and soldiers of the eight Hicks Returning Division take their families and relatives to immigrate to the overseas autonomous territories, and then they would return home in Hicks. The money and supplies plundered by the kingdom were transported back to Beibu Gulf, leaving a mess for anyone to clean up. Anyway, after being messed up by them like this, the Hicks Kingdom will not be able to recover in twenty or thirty years, and will no longer be able to pose a threat to the Overas Kingdom and the overseas autonomous territories.
Prime Minister Blancart laughed instead. He was not Claude's opponent militarily, but politically he had more experience than Claude. In his opinion, Claude's solution was simply too childish, just like a child who pretended to be a drunkard and messed up everything, then left without being willing to clean up and patted his butt, and was finally beaten up by his parents. Lessons will be learned.
"Why not consider dismembering the Kingdom of Hicks?" Prime Minister Blancart said with a smile: "Like the Duke of Northland you mentioned just now, you can completely encourage him to establish an independent Kingdom of the Duke of Northland or something. There are also those around the Kingdom of Hicks For those vassal countries, since you can let the Kingdom of Breault regain its lost territory and give it the four eastern counties, you can completely let other vassal countries take back the occupied border counties from the Kingdom of Hicks...
In this way, the territory of the Hicks Kingdom can be reduced by a large circle, and then in these local counties in the central and southern parts, you can support a few Hicks nobles who have taken refuge with you, and let them occupy the territory of several local counties to establish their own The sphere of influence can be independent or alliance-based. In this way, even if all the troops in your autonomous region are evacuated in the future, there will still be no peace in the territory of the Kingdom of Hicks.
As long as the various forces on this land continue to fight for a long time in the future, they will be less able to pose a threat to our kingdom and your overseas autonomous territories. They will even have to rely on the military deterrence of your autonomous territories to maintain their power. This is much better than your idea of just grabbing a handful and leaving. Doing what you did will only make the overseas dominions the object of hatred for all Hicks people. Doing what I said will only make Hicks people hate those separatist forces..."
Claude patted his forehead with some shame. He had been born in two generations. After staying in the army for a long time, he had forgotten the wisdom of his ancestors in his previous life, such as distant friendship and close attack, division and combined attack, annexation and cannibalization, Sun Tzu's Art of War, Thirty-Six Stratagems, etc. There are so many examples of how to deal with the current situation. But in his mind, he simply thought of grabbing a handful and leaving. It took Prime Minister Blancart to remind him to wake up...