Chapter 290 – 289 Affirmation from Marshal Loren

Chapter 290 289.Affirmation from Marshal Loren

The pioneering fortress of East Prussia had finally rejoined its owner after not a long time, and it was a joy that ran in both directions.

For the heart of Marshal Loren, returning to his barracks, was also filled with a certain simple joy.

Ah, finally no more need to deal with those annoying nobles and damn tedious manners, he could return to the simple, efficient and pleasant military career, and after carefully inspecting every key position of the fortress with a few guards as usual and not finding any mistakes that he could be reprimanded for, the marshal’s mood was even better.

Even the barracks’ privates’ quarters had been tidied up in an unusually presentable manner, proving that the lads under his command hadn’t wasted their lives nor wasted their time during his absence.

But if they only achieved these appearances, they still could not satisfy the picky marshal.

The general officers of the Pioneer Fortress were well aware of this, so when the Marshal returned to his office in the castle, there was an immediate queue of the chief officers of the various systems who were waiting to report on their military affairs lined up outside the door.

“Hoo.”

The Marshal enjoyed the fine tobacco gifted to him by his cousin Liv’rosa Silverheart in his beloved Dwarven pipe, and after allowing himself to maintain his mood in a state of euphoria, he straightened his instruments before tapping on his desk.

“Come in!”

The door of the room was pushed open, and General Soros, the acting commander of the Pathfinder Legion, entered with great strides, and after a salute that was dry and full of military manners, this fifty-something year old soldier shouted:
“Marshal Loren, in accordance with the Pathfinder Legion’s non-wartime regulations, this officer hands over the supreme command of the Pathfinder Legion and the Pathfinder Fortress to you!”

“At ease, General.”

The marshal nodded and reached out to take the command knuckle staff handed by General Soros.

Because of his height, however, the General had to bend down to accomplish the maneuver decently without irritating the half-dwarf’s strange pride.

“Sit.”

Marshal Loren gestured to the couch next to him.

Although he ruled the military extremely strictly, the necessary closeness and proper relaxation was still necessary when facing his old adjutant who had cooperated with him for many years.

The two of them sat on either side of the sofa in the office, and immediately an orderly brought black tea at the right temperature.

“Is there anything noteworthy here during the time I’ve been away?”

The marshal asked, toying with his pipe.

General Soros, naturally, had long since hit the ground running, and after taking a sip of his tea, he replied:

“The good war was over before you left, Marshal, what else would you expect from this borderland that is worthy of your attention?

But while there have been no major battles, minor conflicts have been frequent, mostly on the side of our ‘neighbors’.

Transylvania.
The Earldom of Cadman and the Scarlet Castle, to be precise.

That good-luck young vampire governor doesn’t look like a peaceful fellow, and he’s made a series of moves of late that I feel compelled to make a report to you about.”

“I heard about it on my way back.”

The half-dwarf said with interest:
“Rumor has it that that fellow routed a rising jackal warlord?”

“Well, a very crisp decapitation, and in conjunction with a two-front war strategy broke the Jackals’ newly-erected backs in one fell swoop while routing the leader.”

General Soros said in an appreciative tone:
“A classic case of doing more with less, taking full advantage of the Bloods’ strengths in the darkness of night, and the unity and superb execution shown by the soldiers and civilians of Scarlet Fortress in those days allowed for a glimpse of a certain power rising in that part of the world.

But most importantly, that vampire governor wasn’t the same obnoxious fellow as his compatriots, and he knew how to unite all the forces he could.

That is the point of my report to you, those Sicor Winged Cavalry, who have been in constant friction with our vanguard for the past two years, appeared in that night’s rout and assumed a rather important role.

It was because of the sudden appearance of the wing cavalry squares that the Jackal vanguard besieging Scarlet Fortress went into disarray in a very short period of time.”

“No wonder it was able to fight such a beautiful battle.”

Marshal Loren grunted, lifting his pipe to his lips and taking a sip, the rich aroma of tobacco dispersing through the office, and in the haze of smoke, the half-dwarf marshal whispered:
“I still can’t forget the ferocity of those winged cavalrymen on the battlefield, for seven whole days during our original attack on the city of Sikor!

Every time our army reorganized its defenses they were broken up, and that was the first time I saw a tenacious opponent that could not be dealt with using artillery in conjunction with psychic energy.

Heh, the plague, if those mages hadn’t used it, our battle under Xike City would probably have been a pile of shit.”

“The Pathfinder Legion at that time was not yet as organized as it is today, our firepower, personnel quality, and logistics were all mediocre at that time, and we even had to resort to that brutal war to use to practice and finish building the final command system.”

General Soros shook his head:

“If it is the Pathfinder Legion two years later that carries out the order to attack the city of Sikor, even the Winged Cavalry will not be able to interfere with our footsteps anymore.

Of course, I know you don’t like such assumptions based on the past, so let me continue reporting on that battle.

The last of the winged cavalry left their mountains, allowing our scouts to finally figure out their establishment at this point.

The good news is that our guess was correct.

After the devastation of Cicco City and two years of conflict, the Winged Cavalry, once a full complement of 5,000 men with an equal number of reserves, is now down to fewer than 500 men of war.

The bad news is that the suffering hasn’t broken the hillbillies, who seem to be more vicious than ever.

This was probably a good thing, considering the situation with the Black Plague on the horizon, their presence meant that Transylvania was a little more likely to hold off the Jackals.

Also, based on some of the clues that our scouts have captured, we can now basically tell that the legacy of Count Sike has not been broken.

The Winged Riders still have masters to whom they can pledge their allegiance, which means that Count Sicor’s domain will likely come under the rule of that young vampire governor in the near future.

It’s hard to imagine, but he did manage to bring all of Transylvania under his rule in only a month’s time.”

“He even went so far as to crush the troublesome Jackals with a quick sword at an extreme disadvantage.”

Marshal Loren grunted and narrowed his eyes:
“It looks like I’m going to have to make a small adjustment to my impression of Lord Murphy; the vampire who wears make-up isn’t a sissy, he’s a capable man who can really hold his own, and a potential adversary worth taking seriously.

But with their current manpower, even if they crush the jackals, the bandits that have been gathered shouldn’t be completely wiped out that quickly, right?”

“It’s no, according to the scout’s uninterrupted reconnaissance, Governor Murphy has sent almost all the manpower under his command to execute the routing battle in the entire Count Cadman’s territory as well as a part of the Andromeda Hills, but we have noticed that they are not just pitting the Jackals in a single wave.

Rather, they captured a large portion of them.”

The human general said with some concern:

“That vampire governor has been throwing jackal captives into the quarries of the barony of Moor Village, plus he’s been capturing dog-headed men and deporting them to the mines in southern Transylvania.

According to our scouts in Nordtorf, the mines have been temporarily divided as collateral under the Winterwolf Legion as a means of securing the grain trade between Transylvania and Nordtorf.

Therefore, I guess that the vampires are planning to use the jackals and dog-heads as expendable items to restart a part of the facilities within their territory, which is not a bad contingency plan when manpower is in short supply.

But the troublesome thing is that that cunning vampire drove a large portion of the jackal routed troops into our territory . There have been sightings of jackals along the East Prussian border and even in the Lake Thulpus area of the Cato region.”

“So you think this is a bad thing?”

Marshal Loren rolled his eyes as he addressed his trusted general:

“It’s a pretty good tactic, and having your powerful neighbors help you take some of the pressure off of your defense is quite a cunning strategy.

But its not a bad thing for us, Soros, our soldiers have been fighting their own kind for years, and they lack the experience to deal with barbarians.

Let’s take these Jackal routed soldiers to give the new recruits practice as a practical training to deal with the Black Plague.”

“Our soldiers are certainly fine! I’m sure even a new recruit doesn’t lack the courage to fight against the Jackals, but the problem is that I don’t trust all the soldiers in East Prussia, Loren.”

General Soros finally voiced his concerns. He watched the marshal’s expression for a moment, before he broke the bad news he had just received, and he whispered:
“Those Jackal routed soldiers crossed the border in a large scale two days ago, but last night alone, they plundered three villages causing over 200 casualties.”

“?”

The half-dwarf marshal’s entire expression froze.

Then a wave of anger visible to the naked eye erupted on his face, and his clenched fists slammed down hard on the table, causing the teacups in front of both of them to jump, spilling the fragrant black tea everywhere.

“I clearly set up perfect defense zones for the borders of East Prussia, with at least one allied army stationed in each zone, and it’s just a mere district of jackal routed soldiers!

It’s not like the Winged Cavalry killed them, how could they make such a big hole in their defense?”

He roared:

“Who is the chief officer of that defense area? I’ll have him court-martialed! This is simply dereliction of duty! No, this is collaboration with the enemy and murder!”

The dwarf’s loud voice made General Thoros want to cover his ears, but he knew he couldn’t or he’d get a note in the book from the careful marshal.

He sat up straight, and only after the lion-like Loren had finished his roar did he report back with a woe-is-me expression:
“All the defense zones guarded by the Pathfinder Corps and even our Sovereigns are steady as a rock, and the problem is one of the Border Guard’s defense zones.

The soldier boys were still having a feast when the jackal rout killed the village.

They got the news even later than the pioneering fortress, and the teams defending those three villages had fled before the battle started.

I’m just glad now that it was the jackals that came and not the regular army of Transylvania, or else this one loophole would have been enough to cause a shameful failure in the defense line we operated.

The commanders and deserters of that defense have already been hanged by the Military Judge, but it exposes the terrible problem, Loren, that those local border guards we’ve collected are a mess.

I even think they’re in league with our enemies!

It is this inaction that seeks to weaken the morale and strength of the Pathfinder Legion, and to discredit His Majesty and us by wreaking havoc on the localities and bullying men and women, and finally to add to our burdens and weaken our fighting strength by gorging ourselves on food and bribery.

This sounds like a joke.

But considering that they were all once soldiers of the Bohemian Confederacy, thus such pathetic machinations may indeed have their existence.”

“Oh, what a disgusting joke!”

Marshal Loren sneered:
“So, your opinion?”

“We’re about to fortify the fortress complexes in the East Prussia region and build massive trench positions in response to the Black Plague, a job that will require a lot of manpower.”

General Soros said with an expressionless face:
“If they can’t do the job as soldiers well, perhaps hard labor that doesn’t require the use of their brains would be more suitable for them, and if wistfulness doesn’t make them grateful, then it’s time for the whip to come out.”

“So be it!”

The half-dwarf exhaled a vicious smoke ring and cursed:

“Let’s start with the defense zone guards who have done something wrong and send our soldiers to take over there while opening up a wide range of jackal hunts.

In the end, we don’t use that much manpower, do we?”

“Well, even if we start all the fortress complex reinforcement and trench position construction at the same time, according to the staff’s calculations, we’ll only need half the manpower of those border guards.”

General Soros replied:

“The other half of the troopers will still be a problem.”

“But it won’t be a problem for us.”

The half-dwarf gave a strange smile as he returned to his desk and swished a marshal’s order as he said:
“Governor Murphy’s victory at this immediate stage means a victory in the preparations for the defense of the Black Plague, and as a member of the civilized camp, we want to show our congratulations and goodwill to our neighbors.

Soros, select the armed bloodservants we captured and send them all back at a good time, and by the way, send the remaining half of the soldier gangs to Governor Murphy as manpower for the Goldenrod Kingdom’s aid to Transylvania as well!
Don’t skimp on supplies, and equip them with the necessary weapons.

Send another batch of artillery that’s going to be obsolete.

Finally, procure a good batch of ordnance that can arm 500 men in my personal name as a gift.”

“Ah, why don’t such a beautiful thing be participated by me as well?”

General Thoros rose with a hearty laugh, and said to his marshal:

“I also gift 200 men’s portions of ordnance as a token of appreciation for Governor Murphy’s help in solving this mind-numbing trouble.”

“700 pieces doesn’t sound very decent.”

The half-dwarf rubbed his chin, rolled his eyes in thought, and said:

“The last 300 pieces will be made up by that ‘Colonel Carpe’ of ours.”

“Colonel? Crossing two ranks at once?”

General Soros tsked:
“It seems that Fraser’s little piece of writing is a favorite of His Majesty, come to think of it, who wouldn’t like a fine young man who can fight, has a family, and has a good hand at writing?
Alas, it took me ten years to grow from major to colonel, and I fought at least six battles”

“Who let you not have a good father?”

Marshal Loren said with a shrug taking out another transfer order and signing his name:

“We also have to send a military master to Transylvania to assist Governor Murphy in putting together an effective defense, and it just so happens that Fraser has been promoted too quickly.

He’ll need some well-deserved military service to prove himself.

You say, if I send the heir of the Capay family to the front line of resistance against the Black Plague, will it get me into trouble?”

“You’re still afraid of them?”

General Soros bristled:

“This family line of yours is comparable to the Carpe Family . Ahem, okay, okay, I’ll stop, I know you hate this topic, all your achievements come from your own efforts, okay?”

“Hmph!”

Marshal Loren let out an irritated snort, added his name to the transfer order, and said:

“Then let Colonel Fraser be the chief officer of the military observer mission sent to Transylvania by the Pathfinder Corps, with your youngest son as his adjutant.”

“Very well, that bastard boy does need a little suffering to get him up to speed.”

General Soros had no problem with this, and he gladly signed his name to the transfer order as well.

A few minutes later, General Soros asked another question, he said:

“The several production lines that the Carpe family was going to send to Transylvania have been pressed into service in our defense zone for a week, are they going to be released now?”

“Certainly.”

The half-dwarf marshal exhaled the last of his smoke rings and said:
“That would have been the power of being the victor, and I only asked you to hold down those shipments before because I didn’t want them to fall into the hands of the Jackals.

Now that people have won the fight, these naturally have to be delivered to Murphy’s hands.

After all, he spent money for this.

That vampire.
Indeed not bad, has shown great promise, perhaps in the future on the battlefield can be divided, a good opponent, tsk, the God of War really favors us.”

(End of chapter)