After Griffith left the military camp near Tuyang Reservoir, he switched to two horses and galloped along the road toward the old town. He arrived in Old Town at dusk on the 16th and found that the city defense troops in Old Town had gathered. A lot of supplies were piled up in the port area, and the scene was very busy.
The arrangement he received from General Valens was just to rush to the city defense headquarters in the old town, leave the horses with the scouts there, and take a boat to the west of the river to go to the two brigades under the First Army of Verona. Serve as an observer and report the situation to Old Town.
On the surface it still looks like a simple task.
However, Griffith, who had suffered a loss once, was extremely cautious along the way, for fear of encountering another trap. He soon discovered that the military had no intention of taking care of him. The few officers were busy cleaning the port unloading area in the old town and transporting supplies.
The echoing crystal signals throughout the area were so noisy that even the Astrology Tower's time was difficult to hear.
He waited at the headquarters for more than an hour, and finally an officer came to hand over to him.
"You can go to the weapons depot to pick out some weapons. There are no good things left, so don't hold out any hope," said the busy officer. "I'm glad to see you have a nice piece of mail. Our warehouse here is full of empty rats. Nothing at all."
"Why?"
"The supplies have all been transferred to the Eastern Front," the officer replied. "All the armor and weapons were shipped there at the beginning of last year to prepare for the decisive battle. So far, only a few weapons have been added."
Griffith nodded and expressed understanding: "Are there any other orders or war reports. What happened?"
"I don't know," the officer shook his head. "We suddenly received an order to assemble and arm all the city defense troops, then mobilize the militia and organize the ports and warehouses. The time is very tight and we are too busy at all."
After the officer finished speaking, he stood up and showed Griffith the location of the weapons depot. While pointing the way, he said: "If you have time, go check on the city defense troops for us, and then report to your superiors. They have never fought. The battle and equipment are not complete and are of no use at all, so why waste time mobilizing them?"
Griffith arrived at the quartermaster's office with a warrant and found that there were no clothes, boots, armor, or equipment, not even a quartermaster.
A technical sergeant sat there blankly. He saw Griffith coming in and greeted him warmly:
"Hello, I am Senamon, a technical sergeant of the 12th Army Corps of Engineers. I was recently transferred here. The quartermaster went to the port and asked me to look after him here.
"As you can see, there is nothing to manage."
Griffith walked around the empty warehouse and found a short gun, as well as some daggers and hatchets, not even a sword. Technical Sergeant Senamon checked in and spread his hands: "That's all. Our equipment is also very tight, especially armor, not even boots. This is because the boss wants to send you to the Verona Legion. For you.
"You must return it to us when you leave the old town and return to Beyeland! The damage must be compensated."
Griffith took the equipment, dug into his pocket, and placed two shiny silver coins on the table. "Didn't you get some new stuff in the past two days?"
Senamon snatched away the silver coins on the table and said with a serious expression: "Come back and have a look in two days. It is said that a batch of halberds and tiger guns will be sent to coordinate with the city defense army's gun array."
The halberd is good. Griffith immediately remembered it, and then asked:
"How is the situation of the Verona Legion? Is there any news recently?"
Senamon curled his lips contemptuously: "Their legion is now an empty frame, and the experienced veterans have been dismissed. The general lives in his own territory, and where you are going there are only two brigades with less than a thousand people. Commander Maglius is their commander."
"What are they going to do?"
"I don't know. I heard that they will be transferred to the north to attack a large group of rebels." Technical Sergeant Sennamon thought for a moment. "Some people suspect that the local noble coalition cannot defeat the rebels, and some of them may rebel. Please read the previous battle reports. Yes, in fact there must be something wrong. When the superiors send a sergeant like you here, they should also want to understand some of the actual situation."
"Is there someone? Who specifically discovered the suspicion?" Griffith asked vigilantly.
The technical sergeant touched his nose and said: "I guessed it. Of course, the superiors must also have suspicions.
"Have you seen the local city defense troops and garrisons? Those troops do not belong to our system and are directly managed by local officers and nobles.
"They were almost like beggars. I saw them not having enough to eat, and often stealing potatoes from the fields and chickens from the Lord Knight's house, and then being hung up and whipped.
"How can such an army be reliable?"
…
Griffith took a boat up the river that night and boarded a carriage delivering supplies to Maglius' army.
The road was chaotic, with many people like refugees fleeing from far away places. I heard from them that a rebel force was coming from the north, but no one could tell clearly what happened.
At noon on March 19, Griffith finally arrived at the military camp of the Verona Legion.
As soon as he arrived, he heard the news that Sonia and the others were attacked.
What's even more shocking is that the camping group could enter a safer area just by crossing the Beit River, which is not very wide. However, they stayed there motionless for the whole night. In the early morning of the 18th, the horse thieves under the rebel army had already cut off the enemy. The road between the baron's castle and the ferry surrounded them, making it impossible for them to leave even if they wanted to.
Griffith couldn't understand the situation at first and thought it was a made-up rumor. According to his common sense, Sonia and the others were small in number, traveling lightly, and protected by powerful extraordinary beings. There was no doubt that they should break away from the encirclement as soon as possible and join the reinforcements.
This is ridiculous!
There are often some strange battle cases in military history. The army that could clearly escape from the encirclement inexplicably stopped at the last moment of escaping, sitting in the city of sleepiness, singing songs of destruction.
Griffiths laughed it off when he saw these examples of fighting in Homemonworth, thinking that those guys were really stupid.
I didn't expect that this kind of thing would happen to me.
The poor local communication situation left Griffith unprepared at all, and he did not expect that Sonia would be surrounded.
He was worried. From the 18th to now, Sonia and the others have been surrounded all day long. I don’t know if they were besieged or injured...
Griffith immediately came to the camp led by Maglius:
"When will the commander lead the army to attack?"
"Tomorrow morning." The officer on duty answered him readily.
So fast? Sonia's situation is very dangerous, and it would be good to put pressure on the rebels as early as possible. Griffith felt happy in his heart, and then asked: "Have the scouts scouted the nearby terrain?"
"There is no time," the Quartermaster shrugged. "Baron Bethe's castle is on the plain, and there is no ambush nearby. If you want a map here, I'll give you one."
This map is a military version and is quite detailed. Judging from the map, the two legion groups led by Maglius marched quickly and occupied the other side of the river in the southeast of Beit Manor. They needed to cross the Vero River to set foot on the land on the other side. It is not the rainy season, and the river is not deep. With the strength of the legion's infantry, even a foot assault through the water can break through the defense of the rebels on the other side.
The rebels cut off the area east of Beit Manor in an arc. They have at least three camps located in various highlands from the north bank of the Vero River to the west bank of the Bet River, and are besieging several nearby noble territories.
In addition to the Maglius Brigade in Verona, an engineering force was coming from the coastal area. They carried light trebuchets and some ballistae, preparing to storm the rebel defense lines. This reinforcement coming from the east was covered by some light infantry and local militia and moved very slowly.
Griffith is not a combatant of this unit and can act according to his own habits.
Since leaving the Eastern battlefield, Griffith has experienced a series of conspiracies, ambushes and traps. Although he still maintains the instinct and habit of obeying orders, he increasingly feels that there are limitations to being a good and obedient soldier. He began to realize that many things that were taken for granted were actually contradictory and absurd, and it was necessary to make creative and independent judgments based on his own experience and knowledge.
He was not planning to rest in the military camp until tomorrow morning, but planned to seize the time to investigate the nearby geography and rebel situation.
It was just in time for dinner to begin. Groups of infantrymen lined up in long lines, waiting quietly for their meals.
Although the army's supplies improved a lot after the war, black bread, which was easy to store during the march, was still everyone's staple food. The side dish was a stew of potatoes, tomatoes and radishes that looked freshly pulled from the ground. There was no meat in the soup, so the cooks could only pour a lot of lard into it.
Griffith waited in line for five minutes. When it was his turn, he opened the iron lunch box he carried with him and filled it with soup. He took two large pieces of hard bread and walked towards the commander who was eating.
The commander and officers gathered around a table in the headquarters, nibbling their bread. When Griffith walked in, an adjutant beside him reluctantly raised his head: "What's the matter, second-level squad leader?"
"Sir," Griffiths saluted the officer seriously, "I noticed that the upper reaches of the Beit River are hills and woodland, not far from us. I am worried that the rebel troops are hidden there, and after the snow melts in the spring, there may be There will be flash floods, and I recommend reconnaissance of that area."
The officers who were eating stopped and stared at him with incomprehensible eyes.
"So what, military democracy, the Eastern Army," a squadron leader shrugged, turned to Griffith and said, "Second-level squad leader, no matter what your Eastern rules are, in our case, the commander decides, the soldiers Obey, understand?”
"Then go take a look~" The commander put down his spoon, "I have decided that you will conduct reconnaissance in that area. The reconnaissance results must be sent to me tomorrow morning."
The officers sitting around the table immediately smiled with satisfaction.
Griffith looked at the officers in the camp and said slowly: "Can you allocate me some men and horses?"
"Do you think I have extra men and horses here?" the commander asked, "are there any other questions?"
"No more. Excuse me, Lord Commander, sirs," Griffith saluted again with a calm expression, turned around and exited the camp.
Although Commander Maglius did not give him a good look, there was nothing surprising about this. Griffith is still just a small non-commissioned officer, and he is a vassal of a big noble from the center. It would be strange if the Verona local army was polite to him.
There are still several hours before dark, so hurry up and set off. Griffith can reach the foot of the northern mountain before sunset and complete the pre-war reconnaissance of the entire battlefield.
He moved along the east bank of the Beit River to get a preliminary understanding of the situation in Beit Manor and the general situation of bandits nearby, and had an intuitive understanding of the plain that was about to become a battlefield.
If there are not more rebels hidden in the mountains and forests, there will be no suspense in tomorrow's battle. He could rest for a while at the foot of the mountain and return to the camp before dawn to report back and help Sonia and the others together.
