What Simon was most worried about happened.
When the morning light of the next day shone on the wet ground, the grass that had already absorbed water was obviously unable to absorb any more water. The huge camp outside the castle was as muddy and dirty as a swamp. There were sounds of sneezing and coughing one after another. It seemed that many people had caught a cold last night.
"Good day, my lord." Miller, who was packing his bags next to the tent, saw a familiar bright red cloak flash past with his peripheral vision. He raised his head and discovered that Simon had arrived at the camp on foot.
"This place is so rotten. It's not a place that people should stay at all. It's simply a quagmire filled with all kinds of garbage." Simon frowned and shook his head as he came to the tent. "But the good news is, the boys don't have to." Don’t stay in this garbage dump anymore. We are ready to leave and follow the Duke’s army to build a defense line by the Unstrut River.”
"Of course, my lord, but..." Miller looked embarrassed, "The heavy rain last night was really unbearable. Even if I hid in a tent made of tarpaulin, I got soaked, let alone a simple tent. The soldiers. What they need most now is to make a fire, dry themselves out, eat something, and then hit the road."
Simon did not agree immediately. He looked at the soldiers around the tent. Most of them were listless. Everyone looked like they had just been fished out of the water. Wearing wet clothes would be extremely uncomfortable. Simon felt the same way. . Several weak serf soldiers were huddled feebly on the wet straw, their faces flushed, and they looked like they had a fever.
"I think this is necessary, the soldiers need to repair." Simon nodded, Miller cast a grateful look, and then led a few handymen to find dry firewood.
The other lords in the camp were not so considerate of their subordinates. Looking at the soldiers who were obviously not in good condition around him, Simon was a little worried about the upcoming battle, hoping that the situation on the side of the Magyar invaders would not be much better.
"Hey, Simon, it seems like your people don't plan to leave?" Count Lange's unfriendly voice reached Simon's ears.
"The heavy rain last night made the soldiers soaked. They need simple repairs. Don't worry, we will catch up with the main force soon." Simon didn't want to talk to Lange, but in order to prevent Lange from attacking him, he still Choose to explain clearly.
"Didn't you hear what the king said at the banquet last night? We have to arrive at the battlefield before tomorrow to seize favorable terrain?" Lange's words suddenly became sharp, and Simon sighed. He was almost fed up with this person who was looking for trouble. guy.
"I never said that my soldiers would be reconditioned until tomorrow before setting off. Also, don't forget one thing. It has nothing to do with you when I want to set out. You are not my lord, and you have no rights. Tell me what to do." Simon didn't want to get too entangled with Lange anymore. He felt that it was not a sensible thing to argue with someone who specifically criticized his words.
Lange was obviously angry after hearing these words. The surrounding soldiers looked at the silent Lange jokingly, and his faint eyes gradually became sinister. What Simon said was true. Even if he was an earl, he could not do anything to Simon. This feeling of powerlessness made him very uncomfortable.
He wanted to control everything, including Simon's life, so that Simon could only kneel on the ground to please him, instead of disobeying him so "rudely" in front of the servants and soldiers like this.
"Very well, the Duke will know, you lazy guys who wasted the opportunity to fight." Langer said arrogantly, turned and left expressionlessly, but Simon knew that he must have been extremely angry in his heart. For someone like Lange, humiliating him in public would be better than just killing him.
"Don't worry about him, you continue to light the fire." Simon waved his hand, and the soldiers gathered around to watch the excitement dispersed.
The soldiers continued to repair until the afternoon. In the big camp that was still bustling in the morning, only a few noble men were left, as well as villagers from the village of Henneberg Castle who came to the empty camp to pick up rubbish and treasures.
The state of the well-rested soldiers was obviously different from when they were soaked in the morning. The full vitality made Simon feel like he could take them to conquer the entire Europe.
They put out the fire and loaded the unburnt wood onto their mules.
In the wooden basket, I wiped the remaining food residue around my mouth and got ready to go.
The Winstrout River is actually not far from here. Simon can see the river directly with the naked eye from the top of the castle. The energetic soldiers can reach the predetermined location in less than half a day. This is Simon's promise to Miller. reasons and confidence.
Simon's light cavalry scouts opened the road ahead. The wet soil on the road had obvious footprints of people, mules and horses. The muddy pits, deep or shallow, meander across the farmland and grassland to the woods beside the river in the distance. This is the best compass to catch up with the large army.
The hooves of horses, mules and the leggings of soldiers' boots were covered with brown mud. Every time they took a step, the sticky mud on the soles of their feet would stick to the road. It took some effort to pull out the legs and continue moving forward.
After a while, Simon's troops encountered a carriage stuck in the mud and soldiers sitting on the side of the road repairing. There were about three hundred of them.
The soldiers' damp clothes were no better than they had been in the early morning, when they were lighting a fire on the grass beside the road and doing the same thing Simon's troops had done in the morning.
"If I had known this, why did I do it in the first place?"
Simon sighed for them in his heart. These poor guys looked worse than in the morning. Most of them were now covered with mud. It seemed that many of them had lost their physical strength and the weight of their clothes during the march. They fell into the quagmire, and some soldiers even collapsed on the grass from exhaustion and fell asleep.
Soon, Simon learned that these trapped soldiers were the men of Meginhard, Count of Zutphen.
Looking around at the private soldiers wearing bright yellow Earl's family heraldic robes sitting on the ground warming themselves by the fire, a familiar memory flooded into Simon's mind. Immediately afterwards, a guess lingered in Simon's mind-could he have met the Linde brothers here?
The Deventer Church where Brother Linde is located is in the territory of Count Zutphen. If the Count brought clergy and military colleagues to pray for the healing of his soldiers during this expedition, Brother Linde might also follow them. Got here.
Speaking of which, Simon had not seen his half-brother for two years. Since the last separation, the contact between them had only been through occasional letters.
The two territories are not close to each other, and a trip can be regarded as a long journey. The journey is long and dangerous. In this chaotic era, reuniting with loved ones is not an easy task for many people who are wandering away, including nobles.
"This noble knight, I am a subordinate of Count Zutphen, and I bring you the count's sincere greetings." A man who looked like a messenger came to Simon who was riding a horse and saluted him.
Although Simon already holds the title of barony, this does not mean that he has lost his knighthood, so there is no problem in the messenger calling him a knight.
"Send my greetings to him as well. What's the matter?" Simon nodded slightly and reined in the horse.
"Many of our soldiers are sick. It may be due to the heavy rain last night." The soldier did not mince words and said bluntly, "If your army doctor is free, the earl hopes that he can help treat his men. Of course. None of this is free."
"Um……"
Simon looked around, and soon his eyes locked on the yellow and white striped tent at the edge of the woods not far away, and about twenty soldiers lying on blankets with poor faces around the tent.
There were servants wiping away the sludge and feeding the patients, and a brown-haired monk in gray robes was talking to a tall, thin nobleman wearing noble clothes next to a striped tent.
"Let me meet with the count." Simon said to the messenger, who nodded and quickly let the soldiers resting on the grass beside the road make way for him.
"Fat man, Miller, Bill, ask Arthur, the doctor at the end of the team, to go to the tent, and then let our soldiers repair in place for a while."
"Okay, sir."
Arthur came towards Simon with his mule carrying potions, herbs and medicine refining tools, and Simon, who approached the striped tent, saw clearly the man who was talking to Uncle
The monk whom Jue was talking to suddenly opened his eyes wide, and his mind was filled with surprises.
"Hello, this warm-hearted knight, I don't know your name yet!" Count Meginhard of Zutphen ended his conversation with the monk and turned to look at Simon.
"Simon from Fordeburg." Simon smiled at the count, and then looked at the monk next to him.
"Simon, my brother!?" Brother Linde's face showed an expression of incredible excitement.
"Oh my god, do you know each other?" Earl Meginhard was obviously surprised. He did not expect that this strange nobleman passing by was actually related by blood to the monk who accompanied him. This must be God's arrangement.
It turned out that the priest of Deventer Church who was supposed to accompany Count Zutphen on this expedition was already ill in bed for two months. The monks had no idea what illness he had. All they could do was to pray for the sufferer. The revered old man prayed and bled. The count could not wait until the priest recovered. He urgently needed a chaplain, so this position was temporarily filled by Brother Linde, who was elected by the monks.
Since they are all acquaintances, things will be easier to handle.
Simon ordered the physician Arthur to cure Count Zutphen's sick men, and the Count generously took off an emerald ring from his finger and gave it to Simon as a reward.
The Earl enthusiastically invited Simon to drink with him and enjoy a delicious roast deer before moving on, but Simon declined - he had to rush to the assembly point by the river to camp before dark, otherwise God knows who Lange would be. What kind of bad things would a bad person say in front of his fellow nobles to tarnish his reputation.
Not all brothers love and protect their elder brothers as much as the Linde brothers.
