Chapter 169 - 155: Elite Army
Chapter 169: Chapter 155: Elite Army
"Alright then, my lord. Come with me to Sirich City, and let the soldiers get some rest..." With one matter settled, Prince Noah let out a sigh of relief.
"I’m afraid not. Time is short. We must depart now," Robson said, shaking his head.
"It’s nearly two hundred miles from Sirich City to Thermopylae," Robson said, pointing to a faint ink line on the map that marked the road between the two locations. "We have to use the great highway His Majesty built all those years ago to reach Thermopylae at top speed, before the enemy has a chance to react."
It had been built thirty years ago, after the counter-offensive on the Western Front, when Louis III mobilized the manpower of the Northern Territory.
At the time, the Beastmen had just been defeated. Louis III was at the zenith of his power, and his word was law throughout the kingdom.
In recent years, Marquis George had made a series of moves using Grantham as a pawn. Although Marquis George eventually found it difficult to control Grantham, the King’s power was significantly diminished as a result.
"Now?" Prince Noah questioned. "Perhaps the soldiers need some rest? Isn’t this a bit too rushed?" He suddenly worried, ’Is Robson being too eager for a quick victory?’
"War waits for no one. My soldiers are always fully prepared.
Bo Yang, go sound the horn. Everyone has one hour to receive three days’ worth of rations. We’re traveling light. I will make separate arrangements for the equipment.
The first regiment will be the vanguard. The other regiments will follow in order. The fifth regiment will stay behind to handle logistics and transport.
I’ll have other business to attend to. You are to control the pace of the march. Our goal, ideally, is to reach Thermopylae within three days.
At the latest, the entire army must reach our destination by the fifth day. I have other arrangements, so for the first day, you control the pace. The most important thing is to get the army into a forced march. Stability is key. Without causing any disruptions, gradually accelerate to a pace of forty miles a day," Robson commanded Bo Yang sternly.
"Understood, my lord," Bo Yang nodded.
Viscount Fuman gave Robson a grateful look. ’The Viscount knew that Bo Yang wasn’t the only capable man under Robson’s command now.
Most importantly, this was a chance for him to shine in front of the Prince.
Nobles were a very strange group. When they united, they could defy the authority of both the crown and the church; at times, they even dared to disobey the Emperor’s commands.
But as individuals, they held these same powers in the highest reverence. Louis III had seized upon such opportunities in his day to slowly restore the power of the royal family.
With Bo Yang’s current merits, he was certain to earn a knighthood in the future. If Viscount Fuman pulled some strings, a barony was also a sure thing.
If he had the Prince’s support, Bo Yang’s future path would be much smoother.
"Claude, hm? Where’s Claude?" Robson wanted to give the Knight Team their orders but found that Claude wasn’t by his side.
"Here! My lord, I’m here!"
Robson looked over and saw Claude struggling to squeeze his way out of the crowd.
Bo Yang had woken him up. By the time Claude came to his senses, a crowd already surrounded Robson. ’Remembering his earlier embarrassing display, he felt awkward and had kept to the fringe of the noble gathering.’
"My lord, ready for orders!" Claude said, his eyes shining with eagerness.
"Next, select a sufficient number of Rangers and take charge of reconnaissance around the army, understand? I want to know every enemy movement within a three-mile radius, crystal clear," Robson said.
The Knight Team had always been tasked with this, as Robson didn’t have any professional reconnaissance Cavalry under his command.
’But it didn’t matter. Even if they lacked reconnaissance experience, the experience provided by the Mount & Blade System would make up for it.’
’Of course, I can’t just let Claude do all the scouting. I’ll need the griffins in the sky, every last one of them.’
From this point on, Robson’s army would be traveling light. The slightest intelligence failure would risk the annihilation of the entire force.
Robson then briefed a few of his regiment commanders on the upcoming matters before entering negotiations with Valentino about the transport of mules, horses, and equipment.
...
"Ready the troops! Quickly! Drop whatever you’re doing and assemble at top speed!"
Once Robson’s orders were given, the regiment commanders rushed back to their camps and began to organize and deploy the entire army.
Hans was still shooting the breeze with Odin, a thick, fatty piece of pork in his hand. Hans’s ancestors were standard Peasants; for people like them, there was no such thing as so-called table manners.
When there was meat, you grabbed it quick and ate it.
’Of course, today was different. I don’t know why the higher-ups are being so generous, but I’ve eaten so much meat I’m actually sick of it. I’m starting to miss the wild greens from my village, those flowers that tasted both fragrant and bitter.’
"What’s going on?" Hans asked, hearing the messenger’s orders echoing through the camp. He looked quizzically at his old captain, Jason. Jason was also holding a piece of meat, though he was eating it a bit more civilly than Hans.
Captain Jason seemed to be waiting for something.
Then, six horn blasts echoed throughout the camp: three long, three short.
"Emergency assembly!" Jason exclaimed.
It was no easy feat to pass the rigorous selections to enter the first regiment, let alone become a Non-commissioned Officer in it.
Jason himself was a Tier Six Soldier, and he knew all the various horn calls taught by the higher-ups by heart.
What surprised Jason was the meaning behind this particular horn call.
Three long, three short. Ever since Jason had joined Robson’s army, he had never heard this call, no matter how urgent the situation.
"It’s from the main camp! Urgent military situation! Prepare at once!" After saying this, Jason devoured the large piece of meat in his hand as fast as lightning.
"Get ready! What are you standing there for?" Jason said, his mouth still stuffed with meat, as he looked at the soldiers under his command.
"Three long, three short means assembly is the priority! Traveling light! Go back to your tents now, grab your essentials, and be ready in five minutes! Then you’ll follow me to the first regiment’s assembly point! Understand?" Jason said.
This time, Hans understood. Imitating Jason, he stuffed the meat into his mouth and immediately ran for his tent.
Military orders were like mountains. In Lord Robson’s army, this was no laughing matter. If you caused delays, you’d lose your qualification to share in the Gold Coins, and your daily rations would be cut. Even your closest brothers-in-arms would have no choice but to grumble about you.
...
Having finished giving his orders, Robson had already rushed back to Sirich City with Valentino and a group of Sirich’s nobles to implement the matters they had just discussed.
From this point forward, the entire city of Sirich, aside from its essential grain reserves, was to serve Robson’s forced march.
Robson had to ensure his army could still fight after the forced march, which meant he couldn’t let his soldiers march with heavy loads. Transport by horse was essential.
Prince Noah, meanwhile, remained with Robson’s army. He was also very curious about whether this force was truly reliable—or more accurately, whether Robson was reliable.
Fortunately, the rumors were not exaggerated. In fact, one could say the reality even surpassed Prince Noah’s imagination.
The entire army operated in a perfectly orderly fashion, possessing a kind of beauty akin to being cast from a single mold.
Prince Noah had originally worried that a night march would shake the army’s morale and affect their efficiency. Now, it seemed that worry was entirely unnecessary.
Prince Noah couldn’t help but feel a swell of emotion. ’If the rank-and-file armies of the entire Frank Kingdom could be this efficient and elite, wouldn’t repelling the Beastmen be just a matter of time?
Perhaps, in the future, they might even have the chance to contend for the lands south of the Qisnov River.’
Unfortunately, limited by the constraints of his era, Prince Noah would likely never understand that the source of Robson’s army’s elite status wasn’t the Mount & Blade System.
The true formula was a corps of highly responsive, elite non-commissioned officers, and a Kingdom Government capable of satisfying any and all needs.
Right now, Robson could field five thousand elite soldiers, and that was his limit. The Kingdom Government could not possibly bear all of his expenses.