Chapter 124 – Integration of the Auxiliary Forces
Chapter 124 – Integration of Auxiliary Soldiers
Richard and the others stayed in Black River City for two days before they received the order to depart.
Baron Sharp arrived from the territory only yesterday, he brought this army with him with a decent quality, although the equipment is still not as good as Harland’s territory, the soldiers are veterans who have been enlisted for many years, and many of them come from the Wild Lion Legion, which were Sharp’s personal soldiers back then.
Counting the squadron brought by Baron Sharp, the noble allied army under Richard’s command has a total of ten squadrons of soldiers, five of which have good fighting strength, and the remaining five squadrons are hard to say.
Instead, the dozen or so guards protecting the Baron were all riding high horses.
The five barons also had magical beast mounts, and by organizing these people, their fighting strength should not be weak.
The morale of the serf soldiers was very low, and just after leaving Fort Black River, they scattered, barely moving thirty miles after a day of walking.
This army didn’t carry heavy logistic supplies, and there were troop stations along the way to resupply, such a marching speed, in terms of the Morning Glory Continent, was called a tortoise speed march.
Richard observed for a day, and found that many serf soldiers lacked nutrition, and their physical quality was seriously lost.
It seems that Baron Les and others choose people, I guess it is not to pick the strongest, but specialize in picking the poor physical strength.
“Being teammates with such an army is really pitiful.”
Richard shook his head and dispelled the inner gloom, pig teammates are teammates after all, even if they are cannon fodder, it’s always a little bit stronger than having no teammates.
Along the Dragon Canyon, one hundred kilometers south to reach Wright County.
Consul Jerram had only given them four days.
If they couldn’t make it to Wright County in four days, they would be charged with missing the deadline.
If there was no delay in the war and a great deal of damage was caused, the crime of missing a deadline was not considered very serious, and a fine was usually imposed on hereditary nobles.
The amount of the fine varies, ranging from a few dozen to a few hundred gold coins.
Richard was not on good terms with Jerram, so it was estimated that he would be punished severely with a fine of several hundred gold coins.
A fine of several hundred gold coins was also very painful for Richard.
He had only traveled thirty miles on the first day, and it wouldn’t do to continue dragging his feet on the second day.
However, the serf soldiers that had just been organized had very loose military discipline and average physical fitness, so they simply didn’t have the ability to march long distances.
Even though Richard made an example of them and disposed of two deserters, they only traveled forty miles on the second day.
Seeing that it was evening, Richard had no choice but to set up camp.
And the serf soldiers east to west, simply will not repair the camp, many people still have the habit of urinating and defecating, the camp stinks, making Richard very annoyed, once again want to kill.
The next one hundred and thirty miles of road in two days will be finished, looking at the quality of the serf soldiers under his command, Richard also feel a little confused thinking.
At night, Richard called the main officers together and opened the door and said, “I think it’s better to split up tomorrow, the main squadron will rush to Wright City first, and the auxiliary soldiers will follow behind.”
“Baron Richard, leaving the auxiliaries behind, I’m afraid something will go wrong. Without the main force bouncing around, the auxiliaries will flee in large numbers, and I don’t think the charge of missing the deadline is very serious, or should we wait a bit?”
It was hard to hug Richard’s thigh, so it was natural to act together. Upon hearing the news that Richard wanted to split his army, Baron Dak instinctively objected.
“I have never been disciplined for fighting a war, I really can’t afford to lose this person, I think we should split the army when it’s time to split the army.”
Baron Sharpe’s eyes glared and he retorted nonchalantly.
Baron Sharp had been in the main army for many years and was a first generation meritorious baron, his strength was stronger than the other barons. In the past two days, he also very much disliked the serf soldiers brought by the other lords.
In Baron Sharp’s understanding, such soldiers could not be of any use at all in a war. “The serf soldiers are just too lazy and can’t be refined in a short period of time. I think we should do it this way, rely on the method of veterans bringing in new recruits, organize the five squadrons of serf soldiers into the five main squadrons, and the Baron’s own soldiers will be integrated into the second squadron of cavalry.
Let’s try it tomorrow and see if it works. If it doesn’t work, the five main squadrons will march through the night tomorrow night and arrive at Wright City the day after tomorrow.”
Even though Baron Rice’s five men had the intention to oppose it, but their strength was not good enough to speak with a loud voice.
If they all came out with their main forces, Richard had to consider their opinions.
The ones brought out now were serf soldiers cannon fodder soldiers, and if they didn’t accept the integration, Richard would give up on them.
In that case their fate was already sealed, first they would be convicted of a lapse of time at Fort Wright, and then they would be used as expendable by Jerram.
By then the soldiers under his command would be consumed cleanly, and he himself might not be able to save his life.
It would be better to follow Richard, anyway, there are still the parents and relatives of the serf soldiers in hand, even if Richard wants to annex the serf soldiers after the war, the soldiers can not bear to leave their families behind. They may not be willing to follow Richard back to Harland.
A strong slave will be twenty gold coins, a serf squadron of one hundred and fifty soldiers, the value of at least three thousand gold coins or more, as long as it is not a last resort, the baron lord will not easily give up the soldiers.
In the end, under Richard’s stern request, Baron Les and the others still agreed to Richard’s request.
Early the next morning, Richard disbanded the five serf soldier squadrons and then organized them into the main squadron.
The soldiers of the main squadron were required to take one with the other, the main force with auxiliary soldiers, and had to complete the task of marching sixty miles.
There were veterans to lead the way, and if they didn’t listen, they would fight.
The performance of the serf soldiers was finally much better, and whenever they were tired, the veterans would help them piggyback a section of their luggage to make it a little easier for the serf soldiers to relax
By evening the task was finally completed, having traveled sixty miles.
After completing sixty miles today, the serf soldiers’ physical strength and will have been exercised, tomorrow, if they grit their teeth and hold on, they should be able to complete the last seventy miles before nightfall and make it to Wright City.
The next morning, under Richard’s example, he buried his pot before dawn and traveled more than forty miles in the morning.
A bite to eat and a rest at noon. Gritting his teeth he finally made it to Wright’s Castle before dark.
Letting the soldiers camp outside the city, Richard entered the city with a few officers and submitted the draft order.
After four consecutive days of marching, Richard was deeply impressed by the low quality of this auxiliary army.
Since physical quality was difficult to improve in a short period of time, he could only think of a way to enhance their ability to march long distances.
After thinking about it, Richard decided to make a batch of bindings to see if they were useful?
Early the next morning Richard arranged for someone to purchase a batch of coarse cloth in Wright County, then cut it into a binding and issued it to the soldiers.
Just after he finished this matter, he received an order for a meeting in the city.
Richard entered the city lord’s mansion with the main officers. He found that the noble allies of the two counties of Rommen and Leyte had all arrived at the meeting place, and there were also the main officers of the two brigades of the Northern Legion at the meeting place, among which there was Richard’s third uncle, Bernie.
It turned out that the sixth brigade was also in the counterinsurgency army.
The sixth brigade William has been operating for more than ten years, his brother Bernie is still serving as deputy brigadier, although the brigadier changed, William’s influence may last for many years.
With the sixth brigade as a teammate care, Richard’s heart was suddenly relieved.
(End of chapter)