[If you say the ban is lifted, it will definitely be lifted! I won't break my promise. I hope everyone will vote to support it.]
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Chapter 74
Seeing Reuenthal's army hurriedly disperse in the distance, the defeated troops in the wilderness were like ants moving towards Reuenthal's main army. Reuenthal was indeed a cunning wolf on the grassland, quick to see opportunities. , upon seeing the defeat of his cavalry, he immediately ordered a retreat, without giving Rody and Ruben any chance to pursue and expand the victory - in fact, Rody and Ruben did not want to pursue at all. Ruben's fighting force was less than 40,000, while Rody's 10,000 Wolf Fang Army had been on a long-distance attack for three days. They had just fought another battle and were already exhausted, and had no ability to pursue them.
Ruben hurriedly ran down the city wall with the support of his own soldiers, and saw Rody leading the Spike Army into the city gate.
Seeing the flaming tulip battle flag, Ruben felt his body sway and his eyes blurred.
How long has it been since I saw that battle flag? Five years? Or ten years? Ruben couldn't remember clearly, but when he saw the Central Cavalry Corps slowly entering the city from the city gate, although each soldier's face was full of exhaustion, the excitement and perseverance in his eyes could not be concealed!
The general on the horse headed by him had blood stained on his slightly old leather armor, his golden hair was flying, his sword eyebrows were raised high, and the murderous look in his dark blue eyes had not yet disappeared - he looked like a few warriors. The old Duke was young ten years ago! Especially behind him, looking at his old comrade Commander Sieg, who was holding a saber and was high-spirited, Ruben couldn't help but tremble in his heart, almost thinking that time and space had gone back...
A few steps back, Ruben almost threw away the soldiers who were supporting him, rolled down the steps of the city wall, fell to his knees in front of Rody's horse, and cried loudly.
Rody was startled. Seeing a middle-aged man wearing a high-level general's armor kneeling in front of him, Rody immediately jumped off his horse.
"Ruben has met the Duke!" Ruben's voice was trembling. How many years has it been since he said this
Rody panicked, and quickly pulled Ruben up from the ground, and said hurriedly: "Is it the commander of Ruben's army? Your military rank is higher than mine, how can you kneel down to me!"
Ruben's eyes had already filled with tears. He looked at Roddy carefully up and down, and then pulled his thoughts out of his memories - after all, the old Duke has been dead for many years!
However, Sieg, who was next to him, saw Ruben's gaffe and stepped forward to gently pull him twice. Then Ruben shook his head and loudly ordered his officers to lead the Central Cavalry Corps to the military camp, while he pulled Roddy. Go to the garrison mansion.
At this moment, the city was already erupting in joy, and both civilians and soldiers were extremely excited when they learned that they had won the battle. Seeing the imperial reinforcement cavalry outside the city entering the city, both civilians and soldiers rushed to the streets to watch. From time to time, enthusiastic civilians stuffed fruits and vegetables into the hands of the cavalry, and many children followed. Running after the cavalry line.
You must know that the reputation of the murderous devil Reuenthar has spread throughout the northwest. Wherever the iron hoof of Dayue Kingdom goes, he burns, kills and loots. During the siege of the city a few days ago, the civilians in the city were in panic, fearing that one day the city would be broken and their families would be destroyed and their lives would be tragic. Now that I heard that the enemies outside the city had been beaten away by reinforcements, how could I not feel happy
Along the way, Rody looked at the civilians who were cheering and beaming with joy. Thinking of what he had experienced in the village the day before, he felt a sense of emotion in his heart. Andy's mocking voice suddenly came to his mind: "What's so strange? The Empire and Reuenthal, one is a creditor and the other is a robber. Although the creditor comes to take away half of your things every month, but If you encounter a robber, you will steal everything regardless of the circumstances. Compared with the two evils, the creditor is of course a little more lovable. "
It's just that Roddy is young at heart after all. He is still immersed in the joy of winning the first battle and doesn't pay much attention to Andy's words.
The headquarters of the Northwest Army was established in the original garrison mansion of Watt Fortress. As soon as they entered the headquarters, they saw two men in military uniforms striding out from inside. With a flattering smile on his face, he was led by a fat guy who looked more like a rich man than a soldier. The man next to him was three points thinner than him, but a little taller. He was smiling all over his face, but he looked more like a cunning businessman. These two people were wearing the uniforms of the commanders of the Northwest Army, which made people feel a little nondescript.
The guy who looked like a rich man immediately used the courtesy of a subordinate meeting his superior: "I am the guard of Watt Fortress Feiduo. I have met the Duke." The man who looked like a businessman said: "I am the guard of Fort Trier. The military commander, Ferrara, has met the Duke."
Ruben's originally quite happy face immediately sank. These two people, hiding in the garrison, were very well informed. They actually knew about the Duke just after he arrived.
Rody frowned and looked at the two men, then just nodded. Logically speaking, although he has the title of Duke, his military rank is just that of a commander, and is not higher than these two men. However, along the way, Zig, who was also the leader, treated him with the courtesy of a subordinate. Rody was already used to it, so he didn't think there was anything wrong with the two of them being so polite at this moment. Just when he heard the names of these two people, Rody couldn't help but feel stunned. He seemed to be thinking of something, but he didn't think of it for a moment.
Ruben was already impatient and pulled Roddy into the hall, then directly pushed Roddy down to the coach's position and forced him to sit down. Rody was shocked, jumped up from his chair and shouted loudly: "General Ruben! This is not okay! I am just a commander, how can I sit in this position!"
Ruben said sternly: "Your Majesty the Duke! You are the Duke of Tulip! Wherever the tulip battle flag goes, how can the position of commander be left aside! Besides..." Ruben's face darkened, and he smiled bitterly: "I am probably the same as the commander of the regiment at this moment. It's time to sit till the end. I'm pale in the northwest. Your Majesty, I'm afraid..." At this point, Ruben chuckled, but his laughter was even bleak.
Rody wanted to say something else, but saw Siege wink at him, then nodded, and said loudly: "General Ruben, we will discuss this matter later! It's just that His Majesty asked me to come, firstly to bring reinforcements , The second is to appoint me as the special envoy to observe the northwest military affairs. Now that the city siege has been lifted, please tell me immediately about the current situation of the northwest army! "
Ruben nodded. Since Rody had carried the emperor out, he no longer insisted on anything. Anyway, since the Duke has been appointed as the special envoy to the northwest, it is logical to control all the rights in the northwest.
At that moment, Ruben immediately sent an order to summon all his officers above the deputy commander level.
First, he briefly introduced his generals - two of the five commanders who were originally the main force of the Northwest Army had already been killed in battle, and the deputy commanders took over. As for the local garrison, the commander of Blackstone Castle was intercepted by the Reuenthal cavalry on the way to help, and died heroically in battle. The garrison was also defeated. The garrison had canceled its weaving and could only wait for the war to reorganize. At this moment, Ruben introduced the commanders of his subordinates to Rody one by one. Most of them were middle-range soldiers. Rody looked around, but there was no one who was as eye-catching as Sieg at first glance.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes and saw a slightly younger officer in his thirties standing among the crowd, with a thin face, resolute lines and sharp eyes. Roddy couldn't help but look at Ruben.
Ruben grinned: "This is Gislent, the acting commander of the Northwest Army's Right Cavalry Regiment. He was originally the captain of my men, but... both commanders of the Right Cavalry Regiment were killed, so I asked him to temporarily replace him. ... Just now... He was the one who led the troops out of the city to meet the Lord. However, the left and right cavalry regiments of the Northwest Army suffered heavy casualties at this moment. The original 30,000 people were only left with a total of 10,000. Although he was said to be the commander of the right cavalry regiment. , in fact, he is currently the commander of all the cavalry in the Northwest Army."
Rody nodded and took another look at the man.
When Gislend saw the Duke's eyes glancing at him, although his expression did not change, his eyes showed excitement. His body straightened up twice as well, and his eyes were fixed on the tulip family emblem on Rody's chest. . But under the excitement, his body that was standing straight could not help but tremble slightly.
Ruben smiled lightly: "Gislent has been following me for many years. He is the most loyal warrior under the Tulip War Flag!"
Rody nodded and smiled bitterly in his heart: He is another passionate young man who blindly worships the Tulip family just like he was back then.
When he introduced the two rich men and the fat businessman, Ruben's tone was not so pleasant, and he simply introduced their military ranks. The only thing that slightly surprised Rody was that the commander of Fort Trier, the fat merchant Ferrara, was actually a noble with the title of viscount!
Rody nodded slowly. After asking about the current situation of the Northwest Army, Ruben showed an embarrassed look on his face. He looked at everyone, gritted his teeth, and said slowly: "Your Excellency, the Northwest Army retreated into the city that day. There are 91,000 people in the city, and they have suffered heavy casualties in the past few days. At this moment, the Northwest Army still has more than 70,000 people in the city, but among them there are 4,000 wounded, and only less than 50,000 people remain in combat strength!"
"What?" Rody frowned and couldn't help but ask: "You said there are still about 70,000 people, but after subtracting 4,000 wounded soldiers, how come there are only 50,000 left? Are there more than 10,000 people left?"
Ruben looked extremely embarrassed, glanced at the commanders present, and then sighed, about to say something. The Viscount of Ferrara from Fort Trier suddenly said: "Your Majesty, Duke, for the calculation of these heads, it's okay to ask your military secretary to submit the register to you for review. The enemy troops in Reuenthar outside the city have just retreated." , there are still many things to decide.”
At this moment, Rody was no longer the young boy who didn't understand anything. He felt something in his heart. Although he still couldn't figure out the problem, he vaguely understood that there must be some enlightenment in it. He nodded, then glanced at Ruben and stopped asking the question.
Subsequently, the subordinate officers and logistics personnel at all levels reported the losses of the city defense and equipment one by one. The losses of horses and weapons, the repair of the city walls, and the post-war pension issues were all piled up. .
Roddy had no experience and was at a loss for a while. It can be seen that Ruben also has an embarrassed look on his face. It seems that he also has a lot of headaches about these things on weekdays. For him, taking charge of the military and political power of a legion was far less satisfying than being a commander who only wanted to kill the enemy and charge.
Fortunately, Sieg was an experienced and talented person - during his years in the Central Cavalry Corps, he had never been short of air force pay and ordnance supplies. He personally took care of almost all the logistical supply issues of the Wolf Fang Army. He is very experienced in these issues.
The messy data made Roddy dizzy. With the help of Sieg, he finally managed to get rid of the logistics secretary, officer and purser, and arranged all the tasks in an orderly manner.
It was just that Ferrara and Fedo saw that Rody didn't seem to be very good at handling military financial supplies, and there was a hint of joyful smile in their eyes.
After everything was settled, Ruben took Roddy and Zig to the residence of the garrison mansion. The residence originally belonged to the garrison commander Fei Duo. Later, after Ruben was defeated, he gave it to Ruben. At this moment, Ruben insisted on giving it up.
After sending everyone away, Rody left Ruben behind. Then he winked at Sieg. Sieg immediately turned around and walked outside, leaving Rody's soldiers to guard the outside. Then he turned around and entered the room. The door was closed again.
Rody was still hesitating and didn't know how to ask. Sieg looked really angry and suddenly said loudly: "Ruben! What a good thing you did! There is no room for more than 10,000 people!! You... you soiled the tulip flag. !”
Ruben originally looked worried, but when he suddenly heard Sieg's question, his face turned red, and he jumped up and shouted: "Sigur! Don't talk nonsense! I, Ruben, have never done anything in my life to tarnish the tulip flag. Things! Those things…”
Siege looked gloomy and said fiercely: "Then tell me! What happened to these more than 10,000 vacancies! How can you explain to the dead old Duke, Ruben, who was a strong man back then!!"
Ruben's face showed a look of deathly gray. After hesitating for a moment, he finally told what happened. This statement shocked not only Rody, but also veteran experts who were used to seeing such rude things in the military as losing air force pay.
"The Northwest Army is known as 200,000 people! The main force of the Army is 100,000, and the surrounding local garrison forces are 100,000. It sounds so majestic! But do you know? In fact, the Northwest Army does not have that many people at all! The true strength of the Northwest Army, plus The total actual number of the main force and local garrison under my direct command has never exceeded 130,000!"
"My main army is pretty good, but the actual situation of the local garrison is scary! The number reported at the beginning for Loulan Fort was a total of 15,000 people, a fully-equipped infantry regiment. But later on Loulan Fort retreated, and I realized something was wrong!"
"The commander of Loulan Fort is dead, but his family has escaped... Hum, did you know? There are actually a hundred and fifty servants and guards in his family! Moreover, all of these heads are hanging on the In other words, the commander of Loulan Fort was using the empire’s military pay to support his servants and servants! And later I tortured several officers who escaped and found out that the entire Loulan Fort The real army of the fort is less than 8,000 people! Humph! The reported infantry regiment is indeed 15,000! His commander in Loulan Fort has eaten up the vacancies of 7,000 people! Army, this is mostly the case!”
"You've never noticed any of these things!" Sieg's tone was solemn.
Ruben looked embarrassed. He was originally a military general. He was asked to lead an army of ten to twenty thousand people, train every day, train a strong force, and then charge into battle. That was his specialty, but he was asked to be the commander of an army and then be in charge of the entire army. All things, that is really not what Ruben is capable of. It was often the material information submitted by his subordinates. Ruben got a headache when he saw those booklets, and he usually approved them with a stroke of his pen.
"What about your main army? Didn't you say that the main army has 100,000 people?" Sieg asked again.
"The main force is slightly better. After all, these people are in front of me, so they are not that bold! But not long ago I found that my three infantry regiments and the right cavalry regiment all had short quotas, but they were a little better than the local garrison. , the total strength is only a little over 80,000."
Sieg let out a long sigh and suddenly sat down on the chair.
Rody looked gloomy and said slowly: "You said that the Northwest Army, which is called 200,000, only has 130,000 people, and the 70,000 people are all empty? But how much is the military salary of 70,000 people a year? Those officers will fight for it Dare you do this for the crime of beheading!"
Zig glanced at Luo Dui and said slowly: "Your Majesty the Duke, you are young and don't know much about things in the army... The numbers don't work that way." Zig thought for a moment and slowly explained to Rody.
A soldier's annual military salary is only three gold coins. In total, the military salary deficit for 70,000 people was only 210,000 gold coins, but the actual number was far more than that.
A longsword for an infantryman cost five silver coins each, and a hoplite's armor cost three gold coins. Archers’ bows and arrows also cost money! The cavalry is even more powerful. Each war horse costs five gold coins, not counting the cost of feeding and fodder for a year. The armor of cavalry is more expensive than that of infantry, and the price of spears and sabers is also more expensive than the long swords used by infantry.
Eating a soldier's free salary actually means swallowing the annual cost of these equipment. In total, a soldier costs the empire seven gold coins every year, and a cavalry costs nearly fifteen gold coins! There are also the costs of repairing and maintaining the equipment! All of these add up to a huge number!
For the vacancy of 70,000 people, the empire would have to pay nearly one million gold coins in one year! And these nearly one million gold coins continued to flow into the hands of those corrupt officers!
Rody's face turned livid when he heard this, and he couldn't help but jump up suddenly, and slapped the table with his palm, causing a wooden table to fall apart immediately.
"Is this the Northwest Army, which is known as the three main armies of the empire?! Is this the elite army that guards the border for the empire?!" Rody's eyes burst with anger, and suddenly his heart moved, and he said loudly: "General Ruben, that special What about Fort Lille! What about that Ferrara!"
Ruben looked ashamed and said slowly: "Him? His Fort Trier is almost an empty city! The reported 15,000-strong infantry regiment is actually less than 5,000..."
"Asshole!!" Rody cursed loudly: "No wonder I passed a village around Trierburg on the way here. I heard that there was an incident where the imperial army forcibly recruited young men! It must be that the war was about to start, and Ferrara pulled him Knowing that I can’t hide it anymore, I force the farmer to make up the money!”
"Ruben! Since you know this now, why don't you punish these people!" Sieg pressed the hilt of his sword in his hand and said angrily: "Are you also involved in these things?"
Ruben suddenly became excited and said loudly: "Punishment?? How should I punish!! Reuenthar is watching covetously outside the city! How should I punish him at this time? Now the commander of the city, plus Ferrara and the guard Fei Duo , there are seven people in total, and four of them are involved! What can I do? Capture them all and chop them up? How can I defend my senior officers now that they are already unstable? City! How to fight!"
"Then... where is Old Seven?" Sieg suddenly whispered: "I heard that Old Seven was the commander of Blackstone Castle, and when he led his army to support your main force, he was intercepted by Reuenthar on the way?"
There was a solemn expression on Ruben's face: "Lao Qi was once your personal soldier, so naturally he would not do such a thing! I checked, there are fifteen thousand defenders of Blackstone Castle, and there is no shortage of them! Lao Qi He died in the battle, and his men who escaped told me that when Lao Qi was in Blackstone Castle, his family had no money left, only a house and two horses! "
Sieg immediately sat down on the chair, with a sad look on his face, but the anger in his eyes could no longer be concealed.
Rody felt extremely stuffy in his heart. Before he came, he really didn't expect that the situation of the Northwest Army was so serious - to put it bluntly, half of the entire Northwest Army was already rotten! What about the other legions of the Empire? The Northwest Army is known as the three main legions of the empire. If this is the case, then the other legions of the empire... Rody suddenly thought of what he saw that day at the most famous Central Cavalry Corps in the empire, and his heart was filled with despair.
The joy of winning the first battle today has long since disappeared.
I don’t know how long it took, but Rody slowly said: "Lord Ruben, the war has just ended, you should go take care of things in the army first... Let Commander Sieg accompany you. I... I want to be alone for a while ”
Sieg and Ruben looked at each other, and then Sieg strode out of the room without even looking at Ruben. Ruben felt ashamed, so he just sighed and went out.
Roddy was sitting alone in the room, thinking about it, and when he thought about it, he felt so angry that he wanted to rush out and draw his sword and kill Ferrara and Fedo immediately. At this moment, the soldiers outside knocked on the door, and then the soldier captain strode in. After giving a military salute, he whispered: "Sir, Fei Duo, the garrison commander of Watt Fortress, invites you to a dinner."
"What kind of dinner party!!" Rody yelled suddenly.
The captain of the soldiers was shocked. Ever since he followed the young Duke, he had never had any airs with his subordinates, but now he didn't know where he could get so angry.
"It's a dinner to celebrate today's victory." The captain of the soldiers whispered.
Rody snorted and sneered twice, and was about to say no, when suddenly an idea flashed in his mind. Then he took a deep breath and said coldly in a deep voice: "Tell them, I'm going!"
At this moment, Rody's eyes flickered, revealing a strange edge.