King's Landing in France

Chapter 5 Encounters with Hussars

In this era, the military's combat desire-or "subjective initiative" is very low.

Most conscripts do not have the concept of a nation-state, nor do they want to get ahead through military exploits. They are just sent to the battlefield forcibly by noble lords, and they are cannon fodder in the true sense.

One of the reasons why it is necessary to line up in a dense formation to shoot in this era is that once the conscripts with low desire and low morale disband the dense formation, or even if they are a little farther away from the officer, they will immediately collapse.

Skirmishers and hussars, which require relatively high subjective initiative, either have poor military discipline, eat, drink, prostitute, and gamble, or they are simply conscripted robbers who go to the battlefield to rob and make a fortune.

So even though he could clearly see that it was the French hussars, An Ning did not dare to neglect him at all.

I am carrying the booty from the bandit leader I killed last night, and I may be a fat sheep in the eyes of other hussars.

As for the young master, the hussars might not dare to openly kill the aristocrats on their side, but what if they want to take the credit for An Ning for themselves?

As the hussars approached, An Ning saw the half-moon dog tag on the leader's neck, which meant that he was an officer, possibly a nobleman.

This made An Ning feel a little relieved.

The young master of the Tollestel family obviously didn't think so much. Seeing his own hussars approaching, he stood up and waved beamingly.

The cavalry soon arrived.

The leading officer stopped in front of Crotz beckoning, without looking at An Ning, and said directly, "The 20th Hussar Regiment, ordered by General Carnegie to conduct reconnaissance, how is the situation?"

An Ning had no impression of this General Carnegie at all, but of the French generals he only knew the marshals after Napoleon.

Klotz shook his head: "Too bad, we were defeated by Frederick in Rossbach, he was the one who marched in person, damn it."

An Ning couldn't help frowning. He vaguely remembered that Frederick II died of old age in 1786. In 1780, Frederick II should be an old man too old to move.
Could it be that Frederick the Great of this time and space was born a few years later?
So the history of this world is roughly the same as the original history, but the specific details are misplaced?

However, An Ning was not the kind of person who specialized in history. He only knew the famous generals, marshals, and those who had taken history textbooks in this era.

So the dislocation of historical details doesn't make much difference to An Ning.

At this time the hussar officer asked again: "Where are the Prussians? We searched all the way here from the village of Koloba this morning, and we didn't see a single Prussian."

Crotz looked at An Ning and cast a look for help.

An Ning pointed to the direction she came from and said, "Go in this direction, about 20 miles away, you can see the Prussian camp."

In fact, An Ning didn't know how far he ran last night, so he just made up a number. Anyway, the cavalry ran fast, and if he ran along the road he came from last night, he would probably meet the Prussian scout cavalry soon.

The officer glanced at the direction An Ning was pointing at, nodded slightly, then pointed to the direction they came from and said, "Go in this direction and you will meet General Carnegie's Third Army at noon. He is gathering the troops that broke up yesterday. Organize your defense."

After saying that the officer was about to lead the team to leave, An Ning hurriedly took a step forward and grabbed his rein and said, "Wait a minute! My young master has a leg injury and he can't go that far. Could you send two people to take us there on horseback?" To the barracks?"

In fact, the young master didn't have any injuries on his legs, but after running away all night, his feet probably had a few blisters or something worn out, so he was limping when he walked, and he probably wouldn't tell if he was injured.

As long as the young master doesn't expose An Ning's lies, it will be fine.

——He wouldn't be so dazed, would he?

An Ning looked at the young master while muttering in his heart, but he hesitated for a while, and finally lowered his head, as if he had tacitly agreed to An Ning's statement.

It seems that he also wants to ride a horse to be lazy, and he doesn't want to go by himself.

However, the cavalry officer shook his head: "We still have to do reconnaissance. We may encounter Prussian cavalry on the road and fight. I need every soldier to carry out missions with me. If you can speak German, you can find farmers to hire ox carts! So, good luck to you."

The cavalry officer saluted An Ning and the two, and then led his men to gallop in the direction An Ning just pointed out.

An Ning looked at Crotz and said, "Shall I rent an ox cart?"

"Please." Crotz sighed.

**
An Ning was finally able to relax a little while riding in the bullock cart.

He had been running all night with someone, and now he could finally sit down and rest.

As soon as he sat down, he felt the accumulated tiredness burst out, making him want to lie down directly on the bullock cart and have a good sleep.

But he didn't dare to sleep, because the young master he brought was unreliable at all.

As soon as Klots got into the bullock cart, he immediately sank down. He looked at An Ning and said, "Maybe I can take a rest, Mr. Frost."

It seems that the young master has relaxed his mind.

An Ning couldn't help reminding: "We haven't reached our army yet, and it's not time to relax, Mr. Tollestel."

"I know. But it's very strange. I always feel that as long as you are here, Mr. Frost, everything will be all right."

Just as the young master said this, a line of words suddenly refreshed on the task prompt on the right side of An Ning's field of vision.

[Complete the extra mission objective: Increase the favorability of Crotz de Tolestel to trust.Receive a reward of 50 crowns, which can be withdrawn at any bank. 】

An Ning was startled. He thought that this quest system would at most give him some intangible rewards such as prestige, but he didn't expect that there would be real rewards directly.

50 crowns... Let's put it this way, An Ning bought food and water from this old German farmer, and hired him to give up a whole day of farm work and take a bullock cart to send himself and the young master to the French army. In total, it only cost one crown of silver coins .

And An Ning could see from the smile on the old farmer's face that the krona had been returned too much.

In this way, 50 crowns can be described as a huge sum of money.

The loot I got from killing a bandit leader yesterday might not be worth 50 crowns.

What kind of spoils are you looking for? Honestly doing tasks is the right way to make a fortune.

When An Ning looked at the young master again, he was looking at a hen laying golden eggs.

At this time, the young master said again: "After the Prussians defeated us yesterday, maybe they will continue to attack General Carnegie's Third Army. We should still be able to catch up with the battle..."

An Ning thought goodbye, I don't want to fight anymore, I want to send you back to your father safely and get the reward.

Crotz looked at An Ning: "What do you think? If you participate in the battle again, are you willing to be my guard? With you by my side, I will definitely be able to..."

An Ning: "Mr. Tollestel, I think the Prussians may not continue to entangle with us. After all, their enemies are not only us, but also Emperor Leopold of Habsburg, and the Russians from the East .”

An Ning vaguely remembered that the Seven Years War in another time and space was the coalition forces of Prussia and Britain fighting against Austria and Russia.

Britain and Prussia are allies, but the British in Europe don't seem to contribute much, mainly fighting inextricably with France overseas.

Of course, the details of this space-time history are different in many places, so An Ning can't go into details, but can only talk about the general direction.

"If I were the Emperor of Prussia, I wouldn't delay in one direction for too long, give my opponents a chance to encircle me, and always maintain my own initiative." An Ning said.

Crotz looked thoughtful: "You mean, we are unlikely to be attacked by the main force of the Prussian army in the future?"

An Ning spread her hands: "I'm just the son of a cobbler, and I don't count what I say."

"The cobbler's son can speak German." Crotz looked straight at An Ning, "And I noticed that you will read the road signs on the road, which means that you know German. It's hard to imagine that you know German but Without knowing French, your education as a cobbler's boy is a little too good."

An Ning: "My family is in Caen, where there are quite a few people who can speak German and English, and there is no harm in knowing a little more language."

In fact, this statement is very false at first glance, because Caen is actually far away from the German-speaking area. In fact, there are not many people who speak German and Dutch. In addition, German and French are not in the same language family. French is a Romance language, and German is a Germanic language.

It may be easier for a native French speaker to learn Italian, and vice versa.

So Napoleon, who was born in Corsica, quickly mastered French and entered the French military academy to study.

But German is different, just the son of a cobbler who goes to the Sunday school of the Catholic Church on Sunday, and learning German is not an easy thing.

However, the young master obviously didn't think much about it, and believed it directly.

Sure enough, the young master's affection for An Ning has reached the level of trust.

At this time, Crotz focused on the war again: "The Prussian army will not continue to fight us, damn it, if the Russian army or the Habsburg army defeats Prussia, the war will end like this, what should I do? You have to make meritorious deeds..."

An Ning: "Master, why are you so obsessed with making meritorious deeds? You are the heir of the Duke of Orlan. Even if you cannot inherit the title, you still have a bright future..."

"Because I want to enter the military academy to continue my studies." The young master replied, "So I must make enough meritorious service in the war to get a medal."

An Ning raised her eyebrows, thinking that it didn't make sense, isn't it easy for noble children to go to the military academy, and they don't have to make meritorious service.

Doesn't the Duke of Orleans support his son's going to military school?

Just as An Ning was about to ask a question, Klotz, who had been muttering, suddenly tilted his body and leaned on An Ning's shoulder.

An Ning lowered her head and found that the young master had closed his eyes. Although he was still muttering, his eyelids could no longer be opened.

A moment later, Crotz fell asleep, snoring softly.

An Ning could only swallow her doubts into her stomach.

(End of this chapter)