Chapter 194 - 169: City Defense Preparations 3
Chapter 194: Chapter 169: City Defense Preparations 3
Aside from matters like Gold Coins, arranging for the soldiers’ rest, and reassigning non-commissioned officers...
There was still much for Robson to do.
....
"Sir Robson, here are the Magic Crystal Cannon Teams of Thermopylae.
Have a look. Do you see any further issues?" Viscount Sriwizi asked, turning to Robson.
After a day of inquiries and observation, Viscount Sriwizi realized his previous assessment had been completely and utterly wrong.
This Sir Robson wasn’t just some Baron who did Prince Noah’s bidding, nor was he merely an Officer involved in military planning. He was, in fact, the true commander of that elite army; Prince Noah was just here for show.
At first, Viscount Sriwizi found it hard to believe. With a royal Prince and a Count from the Northern Territory present, why would the true commander of the army be this unremarkable Baron standing before him?
But everything that followed—from the meeting Prince Noah convened to Count Valentino’s vocal support—made this fact abundantly clear.
Eventually, His Highness the Prince simply secluded himself in his chambers, claiming he was drained from the prolonged war. He announced that he had already relayed all necessary instructions to Baron Robson and that everyone should simply follow the Baron’s orders.
’This man was no subordinate. If not for the fact that Noah was the Prince sent by the royal family to oversee the front, Viscount Sriwizi would have mistaken Prince Noah for Baron Robson’s underling.’
Still, since His Highness the Prince had no objections, Viscount Sriwizi was more than happy to cooperate.
At the very least, his inquiries revealed that Baron Robson had won battle after battle, boasting an impressive combat record. Moreover, the army under his command certainly looked the part.
Compared to Prince Noah, who had lost O’Neil Fortress, this Baron Robson was obviously far more dependable.
"So, all these Magic Crystal Cannon Teams are under my command now, correct?" Robson asked, looking at Viscount Sriwizi.
’I have to admit, there are some smart ones among the new generation of nobles,’ Robson thought. ’With a great enemy at the gates, not everyone is caught up in petty schemes.’
This Viscount Sriwizi before him, for example, had been extremely cooperative with his work. During the earlier meeting, the other officers at Thermopylae had been somewhat defiant, but Viscount Sriwizi gave them no opportunity to renege.
As soon as the meeting ended, Viscount Sriwizi, along with Mage Norria and Bishop Stanford from Count Valentino’s retinue, immediately took command of Thermopylae’s Mage Corps and Priest Corps.
While Robson was out scouting the terrain, Viscount Sriwizi worked tirelessly, continuing to assemble the Magic Crystal Cannon Teams and conscript ordinary Peasants.
Robson had been worried about arranging quarters and food supplies for his own army, but Viscount Sriwizi had already taken care of everything, even using the same methods Robson himself often employed.
"Of course. With Prince Noah’s permission, all of Thermopylae is now yours to command," Viscount Sriwizi said.
"Ding! Fourteen Tier Three Magic Crystal Cannon Teams have been added to your forces.
Ding! 993 Second Order Frankish Militia have been added to your forces.
Ding! 1,887 Tier One Frankish Peasants have been added to your forces."
Hearing the system notifications, Robson nodded in satisfaction.
With these new additions, the troop capacity slots he had gained from advancing to the Gold tier were finally filled.
Of course, these troops were the private forces of other nobles; they weren’t being permanently gifted to Robson. They would have to be returned once the war was over.
Fortunately, Robson only intended to use them as laborers anyway. The Beastmen were on a forced march, so it was unlikely they would have brought their goblin auxiliaries along.
The coming battle was no place for such low-level conscripts, and Robson had neither the time nor the inclination to train these peasants into an elite force.
What surprised Robson the most, however, were the Magic Crystal Cannon Teams.
Or rather, it was the *number* of them.
Robson had expected Thermopylae to have at least twenty-odd cannons, so he was shocked there were so few.
’It seemed that despite Marshal Grantham being sidelined in recent years, the Kingdom as a whole still had immense faith in him.’
The Kingdom Government hadn’t supplied many Magic Crystal Cannon Teams to a place as critical as Thermopylae, which clearly indicated they believed either the Beastmen wouldn’t make it this far, or that Marshal Grantham surely had his own contingency plans.
In reality, however, Grantham assumed the Kingdom Government had it covered and that he needn’t worry, while the Kingdom Government assumed Marshal Grantham must have had a plan in place and that they needn’t interfere.
This mutual assumption led to the current situation: Thermopylae was completely neglected, and the entire Western Front had descended into chaos.
"You’ve worked hard, Viscount. Thank you," Robson said.
’Fourteen teams would have to do. In any case, I brought back more than a dozen from Sirich City, so that gives me around thirty teams in total.’
’Thirty teams of Magic Crystal Cannons...’
’The thought actually made Robson a little excited. He’d never fought such a well-supplied war in his entire life.’
’Of course, the Magic Crystal Cannons had been effective in the past largely because the terrain had been advantageous and the enemy of such low quality that the cannons could easily sow chaos.’
’Now, however, before Thermopylae lay a wide, open plain, and the enemy was an army of battle-hardened Beastmen Elite Infantry.’
’It was unrealistic to expect the Magic Crystal Cannons to be the deciding factor this time around, as they had been in the past.’
’When all was said and done, it would come down to a clash of infantry.’