"How is the situation?" Griffith quietly asked Berthier who was standing aside.
"Pierrefonds cannot hold it without strong reinforcements," Berthier replied softly, "I asked the brigade to prepare for dispatch, but the prince still prefers to dispatch regular legions."
After saying this, Berthier seemed to feel that it was inappropriate to say this in the camp, so he took Griffith and the others outside.
According to the emergency report received by the headquarters, the problem with Pierre Feng's defenders was not whether they could hold on. There is a town there. Although it is not big, it is completely possible for the defenders to build fortifications and persist for a period of time.
The real problem is supplies. Those trapped there were not only the Anjou girl and the three thousand border soldiers around her, but also tens of thousands of refugees. These people consume large amounts of food and drinking water every day. The originally small supplies will collapse in the blink of an eye after being consumed several times. Even if they persist, thousands of refugees will suffer misfortune.
The nearby regular army mobile units have been concentrated near Jingze. Other armies each have their own defense areas and are difficult to mobilize.
"Will we be allowed to attack?" Sonia asked, "It seems that it is difficult to mobilize the regular army. Our auxiliary army should still be able to move."
"The prince will take into account our lack of strength," Griffith said. "It is nearly 600 miles from here to the town of Piefeng. After the rapid march, we must immediately go into battle. Most of the soldiers in the auxiliary legion will not be able to do it..."
At this moment, the prince's roar came from the military tent, which could be heard clearly outside the tent.
"I order you to attack, Modres. In the name of the future king, I order the Ninth Legion to set off immediately!"
Everyone hurriedly looked into the tent and found that the staff and generals were looking at the excited prince indifferently. General Modres, the commander of the Ninth Army, was very calm:
"Your Highness, I must point out that the task given by the Senate to the Ninth and Twelfth Legions is to arrive at Teutoburg within the designated time limit to join the Sixteenth Legion. According to the plan, the Ninth Legion must also set off today. We do not have the strength. Provide support. My suggestion is to mobilize a support army from the direction of Varna and go north."
"That will take at least half a month!" Prince Commodus banged the table hard, "Maximus is not here, I am your commander-in-chief, and I want you to execute the order!"
"With all due respect, Your Highness," the legion commander shook his head, "We have not received an order from the Senate to change the commander-in-chief."
"You!" The prince reached out to draw his sword, but a group of guards and staff rushed to stop him.
Griffith left the command post, there was no point in listening to them continue arguing.
General Modres is also a senator, and one of the heads of the Senate's military department along with Count Chalon. Without the cooperation of the Senate, the king of Beyeland was just a coat-hanger holding a crown.
General Modres expected it, and it was easy to predict what attitude the regular army would take towards the order to rush for reinforcements.
First of all, the saintly system of Holy Light Church has been abolished for many years. Her identity is very sensitive. If the spokesperson of the Holy Light Holy See is allowed to expand its influence, other parties in the mysterious world will be very dissatisfied.
Secondly, the command of the regular army is under the name of the Senate. If the prince is allowed to reach out and change the appointments and plans of the Senate, it would be better to hang himself with a rope to all the senators.
Prince Commodus' only choice, and the inevitable choice, was to dispatch an auxiliary legion composed of the king's vassals. The army starting from Odessa needs to march more than 600 miles in less than a week, otherwise the Saint will probably be dead when they arrive at the destination; even if the Saint is still alive at the destination, the reinforcements cannot collapse due to exhaustion.
This means that the reinforcements of the auxiliary legions must be strong enough...
Since King Hadrian was killed by the man who had the records erased, the king's direct vassals have begun to get closer and closer to the Senate. They hold various public and military positions, but the auxiliary legions have also become weaker and weaker.
Counts such as Earl Larmore, who were directly subordinate to the king, have now become elders. A certain general who participated in the mysterious meeting in Homonworth could not even produce half a squadron, so how strong an auxiliary legion could be expected.
After receiving the news, Griffith immediately took action. The infantry squadrons of Berthier and Dedeus who arrived together were in good condition and were probably the main force going together. The prince had no choice. No matter how much trouble he made, there was only one choice in the end.
…
Sure enough, the prince, who could not get the support of the regular legion, issued an order to the auxiliary legion to support Pierre Feng.
Many of the troops in the auxiliary legions are knights and poorly trained infantry or light infantry. Although they are not without combat effectiveness, they do not have the discipline and organization to carry out long-distance attacks.
The only ones that could be counted on were Sonia's Storm Squadron, Berthier's and Dedeus' nine infantry squadrons. A small group of people from the 603 Technical Test Squadron, led by Bernard, also insisted on participating. They must maintain a marching speed of more than 100 miles per day and start fighting immediately after arriving at the local area before the saint, her parishioners, and militia forces are annihilated.
Griffith first confirmed with the three of them whether they were prepared to carry out the prince's order for support, received a positive reply, and then started preparations for the emergency march with Berthier.
They face many problems.
The Storm Cavalry Squadron has sufficient mules and horses, but no matter how good the war horses are, it is impossible for them to carry out high-speed maneuvers for several consecutive days. War horses are not like infantry. Forced marches will cause a large number of horses to die from exhaustion.
In order to complete a 600-mile march in 5-6 days, the cavalry troops also had to abandon all their horses. According to the arrangements of Griffith and Berthier, the entire army marched forward on foot and in vehicles. Sonia and Dedeus stayed in the headquarters to ensure safety. At the same time, in the name of the prince and the army headquarters, they coordinated in advance with the Beyonders, officials, and merchants in the towns along the way to provide meals and carriages for the troops.
The local carriages allowed the soldiers to rest for a period of time to recover during the daily march, but they could not keep up with the speed of the march, and they would never be able to find enough in a hurry.
Therefore, the foot cavalry and infantry could only rest in limited carriages in rotation. They relied on towns and villages for supplies along the way and only carried combat equipment.
After the reinforcements of 1,200 people arrive at Pierrefond, they must immediately go into battle to rescue the saint and civilians. Nearby friendly forces are either held back on the border or are militias without much combat effectiveness. Therefore, not only must there not be a large number of laggards along the way, the entire army must also maintain strong combat effectiveness and morale.
Only a very small number of elite soldiers in history can do such a thing.
After the operation began, Griffith and Berthier took a small number of people and took the lead by relying on the horses at the inn. It was naturally impossible for Prince Commodus to lead troops on a reinforcement mission, but he also gave a lot of support.
Many small and medium-sized towns and villages along the way have received reception arrangements arranged by the army, and barracks, hot food and drinking water have been prepared for the infantry in advance. After Griffith arrived, while inspecting the preparations, he asked them to prepare hot water for all soldiers to wash their feet.
The march on the first day was surprisingly fast. Relying on the carriages provided by Odessa and the cooperation along the way, the entire army traveled a full 150 miles. When Nona, Rean, Bernard and officers from each squadron brought the soldiers to the village where they were camping, the villagers had already prepared bread, bacon, vegetable soup and large jars of honey.
After everyone washed their hands and faces with hot water, each team was given two large buckets. One of the barrels contained solid brown bread. In rural areas, white bread is still very rare. This kind of hard bread is similar to what Griffith ate when he left the Eastern Front a year ago. If you bite into it accidentally, your teeth may be knocked off.
In another vat was boiling hot soup, mixed with chopped radish, cabbage and tomatoes. A large amount of butter, meat and potatoes were also added during the cooking process. Everyone from officers to soldiers can ladle a big bowl of vegetable soup and eat the brown bread soaked in the hot soup.
Paxiu and Desai were also queuing up, eagerly watching when it would be their turn. In one day today, they first took a carriage and then walked, covering 150 miles back and forth, as fast as flying. By the time they arrived at the village where they were camping, almost everyone was going crazy with hunger.
Watching the black bread that could be used as a shield swell in the thick soup, Paxiu immediately took a big bite. An extremely pleasurable sense of fulfillment immediately captures the brain. The entire army gnawed away like a nest of rats. There is a lot of butter in the soup and it is very greasy, but it is very helpful for the troops on forced march to restore their strength. If anyone can't stand it, they can also ask for a large spoonful of honey to spread on the bread.
Desai ate faster than Paxiu, stuffing bread and soup into his stomach in a blink of an eye. He took a deep breath and lay down on the haystack with the dried meat in his mouth.
"Ah, not bad~"
His second sentence was: "Is this girl really a huntress? She must be fake!"
What? Paxiu raised his head from the soup in surprise, looked at his companion, and then followed his line of sight to the front, and found that he was staring at Karen.
"Really, why do you ask this? Kallen is very powerful."
"No, no, no, I've seen a huntress," Desai shook his head, gestured on his chest, and said seriously, "A real huntress has big breasts. Look at her, she's as flat as an anvil. Same, false..."
…
"What happened outside? Is the camp roaring?" Berthier, who was having dinner, heard the screams and crackling sounds of fighting. He immediately jumped up and asked Griffith who walked in with a surprised look on his face. When he was a child, he often heard stories from his parents about military riots. It was the first time he led an army on a forced march and he was extremely nervous.
"No, it's just some fighting," Griffith shook his head. "Desai and Paxiu of my squadron were injured. Fortunately, they were not seriously injured and they don't need to take the bus tomorrow."
"That's good," the eldest son of the Earl's family felt relieved, "More information has been sent. The orcs are building a double-layered defense line around Pierre Feng, with one layer surrounding the town and one layer facing the outside world. They have learned from our Bijeran. The fortifications. Even if we arrive in time, it will be difficult to relieve the siege in a short time. Things are not easy to handle. "
"It's expected." Griffith nodded and walked to the door to wave. "This orc army appeared very suddenly. There were many abnormalities. It was obviously coming for the Saint of Anjou. Lean Lieutenant Lieutenant and Lieutenant Bernard brought us the equipment and tactics tested by the 603 Squadron, please introduce them to us."
