At the end of the Tang Dynasty, it was a feudal town, but in Western Europe

Chapter 316 The Battle of the Army

"It's good to stick to Brunswick, but it's not the way I, Charlie, should go." Charlie stood up, walked to the middle of the crowd, picked up a wooden stick and drew a map on the mud.

"I'm Charlie, Frank's chosen king, the king chosen by the heavenly father. How could I run away without seeing the enemy?"

"But Your Highness...we only have one thousand soldiers at the moment, but there are three thousand in the locality. Their cavalry will soon be equal to our entire number. Moreover, His Excellency Anthony's elite army of one thousand is still in Hamburg, so it's too late. "Charlie's valet knight hurriedly stood up and advised him.

"Anthony, what do you think?" Charlie looked at Feng Sen.

Feng Sen stroked his chest and saluted: "My minister, please call the nearby Eight Banners Legion to join us."

With a soft snort, Charlie glanced at Feng Sen, seemingly a little dissatisfied, and stood in front of the simple map on the ground: "We're neither going to Brunswick nor Dessau, we're going here!"

As he spoke, he drew a circle at the location of Blankenburg.

"But isn't that going to march towards the rebels?" A knight asked with wide-eyed eyes after carefully observing the terrain.

"Of course, if you can't retreat to the left or right, then don't retreat at all." Charlie drew a line on the simple map on the ground, "Let's start from here in two directions, and the infantry will go to Blankenburg. This fort is built on a hill and only needs to defend the southeast and northeast directions.

And three hundred cavalry, together with me, went to Greichenstein, marched in the direction of Kassel, and made the intention of crossing the river and joining the army of Würzburg.

Both infantry and cavalry carried my banner, and Hadlard had two choices, either he pursued my cavalry, or he attacked Blankenburg.

From what I know of him, he will inevitably choose to pursue the cavalry and return to Kassel or Schmalkalden. At this time, we did not cross the river, but returned to Blankenburg in the opposite direction.

The time gained was enough for Saxony's reinforcements to mobilize. "

"Wonderful!"

A valet knight applauded and praised, and the surrounding nobles also offered rainbow farts.

"And what if Hadlard goes on to storm Blankenburg?"

"We'll join up with the Würzburg Legion directly."

"Is the regiment in Würzburg not moving?"

"Of course we have to move." Charlie continued to draw lines on the ground, "We can send one or two light cavalry to take the straight road built by Anthony, notify the nearby nobles along the way, and then find the Würzburg Legion and let them send troops."

"His Royal Highness!" The nobles present excitedly said, "Then, the siege of Blankenburg will be resolved."

"Who said that I want the Würzburg Army to rescue Blankenburg? Isn't that because there are reinforcements from Saxony?" Charlie asked, "The Würzburg Army, don't rescue them, just go north, go to Fulda, go to Schmalkalden, and attack Thuringia directly."

Sometimes, Feng Sen has to admit that there are indeed geniuses in this world. Some people hardly read any military books, and can make extremely correct decisions just relying on their beastly battlefield instincts.

In war, mastering the initiative on the battlefield is a high-priority strategy. You must not be led by the nose by the enemy, you must lead the enemy by the nose.

With this arrangement, apart from the high risk of Charlie leading the three hundred cavalry as the general, and the possibility of sacrificing those hundreds of infantry, Feng Sen basically can't think of any major disadvantages.

If Hadlard besieged Blankenburg, then Charlie would join up with Würzburg's army, and if he pursued the cavalry, he would be consumed and mobilized everywhere.

When Charlie entered Blankenburg, Hadlard realized that if he chose to smash Blankenburg, his hometown in the rear would be taken over by the Würzburg Legion. If he returned to the rear, he would be sandwiched between Feng Sen and the reinforcements brought by Charlie.

At least from Feng Sen's point of view, he couldn't think of a better plan.

If he were Hadrad, there would be no other good way except relying on high-quality dental soldiers to play against the sky, but in other words, if he were Hadrad, he would never have reached the point where he had to fight back.

Feng Sen also needs to take the initiative. If he wants to rebel, the timing of the rebellion must be in his own hands.

"Anthony."

"The minister is here." Feng Sen stepped forward and waited for the question.

"In three days, you need to pull out at least [-] soldiers. It doesn't matter if you don't have cavalry. The main thing is to stick to and pull Hadrad." Charlie nodded in Magdeburg with a wooden stick.

Feng Sen stood beside Charlie, looked at the map in front of him, shook his head and said, "Three days is too short, I can mobilize at most four thousand households, which means about 1000 people, Hamburg is too far away after all."

"Only your Eight Banners Legion?" Charlie frowned, observed the map carefully for a while, and said, "Where are your North followers? I remember that there are quite a few of them. There are 800 in Magdeburg."

"Yes, but North Yicong must promise enough land to go out. Maybe you can move some of the counts of Saxony to Thuringia to free up some..."

"Don't be so troublesome." Charlie nodded in Thuringia, "There are so many earls and knights who have vacated fiefs, and I'm afraid that without them, I will arrange them in Thuringia and take as much as I can!"

"Yes, Your Highness." Feng Sen clapped his hands to Charlie and responded.

Turning around, and walking to the small table that was split in two, Charlie picked up the roll of letter paper on the ground and suddenly laughed: "Anthony, it seems that we are going to fight side by side again!"

"My pleasure, Your Highness."

Walking from Charlie's big tent to his own tent, Feng Sen poured a glass of beer as soon as he entered. After thinking for a while, he called the guard captain Sun Jingxiao: "Jingxiao, you go and inform Magdeburg, and come according to the prior arrangement."

Although it was somewhat different from what he had originally thought, it did not hinder the normal progress of the plan. After all, he had known that Hadrad would revolt in advance and had already made sufficient preparations in advance.

Of course, this is by no means Feng Sen secretly informing foreign enemies, and he didn't intend to disclose the news to the Jews. He just spoke a little louder when talking with his subordinates after drinking.

As for why the Jews dared to disclose this news, it was the decision of an Abby named Ruben, which had nothing to do with Feng Sen himself. Although he was Feng Sen's creditor, didn't Charlie help Feng Sen pay off the debt? So the two have nothing to do with each other.

As for how the Jews helped Hadrad find evidence of their uprising by Charlie, it was even simpler. Those knights and servants who came in and out of Charlie every day were surrounded by forests. It was normal for one of them to get lost and disappear while marching.

Even if someone reported it, Feng Sen could still say aggrievedly, I am the No. [-] loyal minister in Tianzi, and I didn't even bring even one more soldier. How could I leak the secret to Hadlard? What good would it do me?

"Jieshuai!" A dental soldier poked his head in from outside the tent. "The Frankish cavalry encountered three Han Chinese. I don't know if they are spies. However, they don't seem to be Han Chinese from Hamburg, but from the Central Plains."

"What about people?"

"Escorted by two dental soldiers, he has already gone outside the tent."

"Quick, let them come in." Feng Sen was gearing up, he couldn't wait to see what surprise he got this time.

Accompanied by a few tooth soldiers, three big men in black and red robes came in. The three seemed to be companions and knew each other, and the first man with the beard was the leader.

The bearded man took a step forward and bowed his fists first, saying: "I have seen the general, I am respected by Shi. These two are my brothers in the army. We lost our way in the forest and were rescued by the general's subordinates. I just don't know where this place is in the Western Regions. Why are the forests so dense? And is there a land connection with our Celestial Dynasty?"

Chapter 317 Loan to fight, bring your own dry food

On the plains of Schmalkalden, a long line of soldiers marched slowly along the dirt road. Most of these infantry were composed of free people, and there were also armed slaves of the princely knights.

The clouds are surging, the sun shines on the shoulders for a while, and hides behind the clouds for a while.

The soldiers carried their spears and caught lice on their bodies while following behind the captain, stepping mechanically and stepping on the slightly wet ground. The occasional splashes of mud stained their shoes and calves a yellow mud color.

Compared with the cavalry and infantry captains wearing chain mail, ordinary infantry basically wear straw armor, wooden armor and cloth armor (armed clothing), and even Feng Sen's rattan armor can be seen.

But among these soldiers who can be equipped with "armor", there are also some soldiers wearing short shirts and bare buttocks. Most of these soldiers come from strong serfs recruited forcibly, and they have received little training.

Although each has its own strengths and weaknesses in terms of protection, Hadlard is not stingy in terms of weapons. He gave every soldier an iron-tipped spear, some rusty daggers from warehouses and even ordinary civilians’ homes The short knives were also pulled out and distributed to the soldiers.

In addition to weapons, Hadlard also prepared shoes for the infantry, just to enable them to march quickly. Compared with those iron spears, this item cost more.

In fact, Hadlard's focus on the military is not a lie. In the process of fighting with Feng Sen before, he also learned a lot of experience.

The most important of these experiences is that the army must obey only one order.

In other words, the days when the earls led their own troops to the battlefield are gone forever. All the earls only led the cavalry to act with them. As for the infantry, they had to be organized according to the region, re-divided and elected squad leaders by themselves.

Had it not been for the pressure that Charlie and Feng Sen had brought to Hadlard, and if it hadn't been for the resentment that the queen had brought to the nobles, I am afraid that Hadlard's reform would not have been so smooth.

But after the pain of the reform, the benefits of this reform are visible to the naked eye, at least in terms of infantry marching speed is much faster than before, which is Hadrad's confidence in being able to catch up with Charlie - the infantry's marching speed impact is greatly reduced.

"Your Excellency the Duke." A cavalryman led a horse and came running in small steps from the front. His face was gloomy, and a few dusts of dust could be shaken off his body with every step he took.

Hadrad held the horse, while the soldiers on the right continued to move forward like flowing water: "What's wrong?"

"We found the trace of Charlie." The soldier coughed, his voice hoarse as if he had been exposed to the sun for three days, "They appeared in Greichenstein, but he only brought cavalry with him, not the infantry and servants."

Hadrad stretched out his left hand, and the knight guards at the side pulled out a roll of parchment from the sleeve. On the paper was a map of the vicinity, and this map came from the bishop of Fulda Abbey, Father Balda.

"Gleichenstein...I understand, they want to join the Würzburg Legion! He even abandoned those infantrymen and noble relatives." Hadrad gesticulated on the map and almost danced. "Sendley, where do you think those infantrymen went?"

Sendley's index finger slid across the map for a while, and finally stopped at the location of Blankenburg: "They must have put the infantry here. Although the castle here is not as strong as Brunswick, it is easier to reach after all, and the terrain is dangerous, which is convenient for a small group of infantry to defend."

"Okay!" Hadlard made a decisive decision, "The infantry, led by the Earl of Fort Lobuda, attacked Branken and blocked the way for Saxony to send troops. I will personally lead the team and lead [-] cavalry to pursue Charlie!"

Just when Hadrad led the army to split into two groups, two dental cavalry carrying red flags rushed into the streets of Magdeburg in a cloud of smoke.

The horse's hooves hit the stone slabs, making a dull thumping sound, which was intensified in the ears of passers-by on both sides of the road.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"

"Get out of the way, emergency military report!"

The crackling of the horsewhip was mixed with the screams of the people, and behind the horse's tail, a scene of chaos rose.

The goods spread on the ground were trampled by horseshoes, and the sheds built by the peddlers were knocked over. A pile of apples rolled out of the box. Amid the boss's furious roar, children and hooligans immediately stepped forward to pick them up, and blatantly carried the apples through the streets.

Clothes and hats crookedly brought three or five archers in a hurry. They carried fishing nets and spears on their backs. It seemed that they were going to show off these two bastards who rode the street, but they saw their clothes and backs. After the red flag, Li Zheng immediately stopped his movements, and instead took the initiative to organize the archers to make way for the two messengers.

"It's urgent!" Sun Jingxiao yelled as he got off his horse and rushed into the courtyard of the guard. In the courtyard, Zhenhui was giving cultural lessons to hundreds of households with a ruler in his hand.

Seeing the arrival of the messenger, the drowsy hundreds of households immediately woke up, and those who sat back even straightened up, wanting to see what happened.

"The Commander-in-Chief has ordered Hadlard to rebel, ordering the South Saxon Guard to send troops immediately without delay!"

Although the familiar Sun Jingxiao was in front of her, Zhenhui still said seriously: "Please show me the Tiger Talisman, Transfer Order and Seal Festival."

Sun Jingxiao took out the tiger talisman, transfer order and seal festival from the package, as for Zhenhui, he immediately ordered someone to take out the tiger talisman, and called a small official to check them one by one.

In less than a stick of incense, the little official checked everything was correct, and Zhenhui immediately yelled at the attendants around him: "Notify the four thousand households that within half an hour, we will gather at the guard for a meeting, open the treasury, check the weapons and armor with the clerks, hurry up to make bread, and immediately collect money from the villagers to buy salted fish and bacon. Go right away."

The hundreds of households who were tortured by learning Chinese characters had a splitting headache immediately stood up like chicken blood, lined up neatly, and filed out from the door. In less than a quarter of an hour, the school grounds were also boiling.

"It won't take a day." Zhenhui said with a smile to Sun Jingxiao, "Tomorrow morning the whole army will be assembled and we will be able to set off!"

Yes, it is that fast, because it has been assembled in advance.

Of course, this has nothing to do with Feng Sen's attempt to pick peaches. It is simply to advance the time of the Eight Banners Summer Training a little bit. Therefore, most of the flags in the South Saxon Guard are currently in Magdeburg. As the auxiliary soldier, the upper coat should be summoned.

In addition, [-] dental soldiers are also waiting in Magdeburg in the name of training bannermen, ready to send troops at any time.

The hustle and bustle of people was like a wave, wave after wave, at first it was only the school grounds, and then even the streets were boiling.

Li was beating the gong with the archers, loudly delivering the news in the streets and alleys of Magdeburg.

"Jieshuai dispatched troops, recruited from [-], each person brought three days of dry food, set off tomorrow, those who are interested go to the port to register."

The North servants who just came out of the tavern with belches sobered up instantly. No matter what they were doing now, they immediately left the work in hand and returned to their log cabin excitedly, or bought dry food with silver coins, or It is to take out the dry food that has been prepared.

At the port, in addition to the small officials who were in charge of expropriation, some merchants from the West Britain Company and even Jews crowded in. .

"Small loan sword, easy to borrow and easy to repay!"

"The interest is only five cents, so you can make a profit at a loss!"

"Instalment payment, mortgage roster, installment payment is acceptable!"

Obviously the war is imminent, but Magdeburg actually added three points of excitement and prosperity.

Chapter 318

The silent Changyuan is dotted with traces of deserted villages left by the ancient North Germans. Golden, yellow, white, and purple wildflowers blend into a colorful ocean in the green grass that has rendered green halos.

Bees move back and forth from flower to flower, laboriously transporting pollen to various locations.

The blue sky was pasted on the top of the mountain, and the green and black forest at the foot of the mountain was stretching its branches, until the leading knight drew out his long sword and cut off the annoying branch blocking the way.

Then the horses under the crotch of the cavalry raised their heavy hooves high and crushed the poor branch.

More than 300 knights lined up into three thick long dragons, galloping quickly along the barely visible dirt road. The dust and sweat made lines on Charlie's face, but he had no time to wipe them off.

The original warm sunshine pierced into the flesh and blood of Charlie and the other knights like needles. Looking up at the knight leading the way, Charlie could see his calf twitching uncontrollably.

But more people opened their mouths wide, and everyone felt a piece of red-hot coal stuck in their throats, steaming all the water out.

Almost at the limit, Charlie coughed, and vaguely saw a sparse black in the distance from the corner of his eyes, and ran forward for a while, only to find that it was a sparse grove.

"Pass it on, go to the grove ahead to rest."

After dismounting, many knights couldn't even stand upright. Compared with people, some horses even wailed on the spot after stopping, and fell down directly.

If they hadn't prepared a spare horse, one-third of the people present would have to walk back.

"We won't rest here for too long." Taking out the water bag, gulping and gulping a mouthful of water, Charlie wiped his mouth and said, "Rest for a quarter of an hour, and then send someone to search around, get water and see if there is any No village can buy food."

"As ordered!"

Sitting on a large bluestone, Charlie handed the water bag in his hand to a knight beside him: "There is still a lot of water here, let's all take a sip."

These knights are basically Charlie's bodyguards. Their fiefs are in the territory directly under Charlie, and many of them come directly from the royal family. They can be regarded as Charlie's elite personal guards. Although their combat skills and tactics may not be as good as Feng Sen's teeth soldiers, their fighting awareness and morale are actually comparable.

Licking his chapped lips, Charlie calculated the time according to the azimuth of the sun. It has been a day and a half since he set off. During this day and a half, Charlie and the others only rested three times, two hours each time.

After traveling day and night, I arrived at Greichenstein ahead of schedule.