In late July, the battle for the successor took a sudden turn.

Just yesterday, the city of Vaal received an urgent letter from the northern theater of Bomledham City, and the "prince" Flender of Burgundy personally led a thousand elite soldiers {professional mercenaries} and 500 servant soldiers {conscripted peasant soldiers, miscellaneous soldiers} of the Midsummer Army to capture the Black Iron Fort, an important town in the north of Besançon, overnight, and formed a confrontation with Besançon, and the western army gathered on the border of Jonah Province urgently returned to Besançon.

On the side of the Eastern Army, Baron Charles personally led the First Eastern Army {Eastern Main Battle Legion} and several temporarily recruited private legions of the lords of Jonah Province to advance westward one after another, forming a joint encirclement of Besançon with the Midsummer Army.

Earl Balwin, commander-in-chief of the Eastern Army, also moved the central military camp {command structure} of the Eastern Army from Jonah to Bomledham, and Earl Balwyn also went to Bomledham to command the Eastern Army.

The Western Army, which was defeated by the "conspiracy" of the Wells Army, also wandered outside the city for two days and then suddenly retreated westward, presumably because it had received a rescue order from Besançon, but even if Besançon did not order a retreat, they would have to get out, because the Western Army had no food.

The Vaal crisis is over, and there will be major fighting in the north, so the Wells Regiment has also received an order to rush to the northern defense area to assemble and standby......

The gloomy sky was still shrouded in a drizzle of twine, and three days of continuous rain had turned the roads in and around the Vaal into a muddy puddle, and even more muddy after the men stepped on them, and they walked out of the north gate, and in a clearing in front of the low hills two miles outside the north city, piles of firewood and grass were stacked in order, and on each pile of firewood and grass were placed a body wrapped in coarse linen, and on the chest of each body was placed the cross they had carried with them during their lifetime.

Priest Robert and several priests of Vaal walked through the woody haystacks to pray for the souls, and all the soldiers and officers of the Welsh Legion above the squad leader and above who were not seriously wounded and bedridden stood in the open space in front of the hill.

This is the cremation ground of the Welsh Legion, and the bodies lying on the pyre are the officers and soldiers who died in the siege of Vaal City.

In this battle, the Welsh Regiment lost a total of 58 casualties, including 7 squadron leaders, 15 squad leaders, and 36 soldiers, in addition to more than 20 serious wounds and nearly 100 minor wounds, especially the officers and backbone soldiers of several flag groups on both flanks of the war group.

At the critical moment when the Wells Regiment was locked in a fierce battle and gradually lost ground, those officers and veterans played a pivotal role, if they had not resisted the enemy's offensive with their lives, those newly promoted soldiers who had just joined would not have been able to hold their positions until the last moment, so the ratio of the number of captains and squad leaders {backbone soldiers} killed in this battle exceeded one-third of the total number of battlemen.

The army was about to march north to the city of Saint-Ryan, and the seriously wounded soldiers had been sent back to the castle in the hinterland of Jonah Province for recuperation, and the lightly wounded bedridden soldiers would follow the legions, and after settling the military affairs, the command tent began to house the soldiers who had died in battle.

Like everyone else, most of the soldiers and officers of the Wells Legion did not have the feeling of "returning to their homeland", and their heroic souls would ascend to heaven anyway, and they really didn't care much about where their bodies went. Because of this, most of the soldiers who died in previous battles were buried on the spot unless specifically requested.

However, this time, after thinking about it, Art decided to cremate the remains of the soldiers and officers who died in the war, and bring their bones back to the valley in a "Heroic Cemetery" specially designated by the civil government for proper burial, so that the war dead can "return home".

When people die, they die, and whether they return home or not is secondary, Yat's move is mainly for the living, the purpose is to cultivate the sense of belonging of soldiers and officers, so that they can truly regard the Barony of the Valley as their soul and **'s hometown......

Legion Adjutant Otto was dressed in shiny robe chain mail, and although there were still traces of blood in his burqa, he had smoothed it out as much as possible.

"My lord, there are only two old carpenters in the city, and the bone boxes you ordered to be made are too late to be made, so I have people find fifty-eight clay pots, do you think it's okay?" Odo's tone was very heavy, after all, many of the corpses on the firewood pile were soldiers and key officers under his command, and in the battle a few days ago, he also ordered all the squad leaders and officers above the battle to the front at the critical moment.

Art turned his head to look at the clay pots piled up on the carriage and nodded, "Yes, engrave the names of the corresponding soldiers and officers on each clay pot, and after the cremation of the remains, the bones will be put into the clay pots and sent back to the caravan handed over to Baron Antaas in the city of Jonah, and ask them to help transport them back to the valley for civil burial." ”

"Yes~" Odo choked up.

He lowered his head and glanced at the corpse lying on the pile of firewood and grass in front of him, this gray and miserable face was Odo's personal guard, the young soldier had just joined the Welsh Legion, because of his strong memory, in just one month, he remembered all the horns, orders and flags of the Welsh Legion was personally selected by Otto as his personal guard and herald, this young soldier who was less than eighteen years old in the battle that day in order to prevent Odo from having an accident in front of him, always resisted the flanks together with Odo's other personal guard.

Another of Odo's own soldiers was seriously wounded, and the young soldier was cut in the belly with a tomahawk and his intestines fell out on the spot......

Odo took a step forward, leaned down and touched the bloodstained place on the abdomen of the body, took off the cross pendant around his neck, pinched it in his hand and rubbed it a few times, "Little one, don't you really want my cross?" I'll give it to you today and let it accompany you to heaven~"

As he spoke, Otto gently placed his cross on Chase's chest and patted the body.

“...... The gates of Heaven have been opened for you, and may your souls enjoy the happiness of Heaven forever. Amen! "Priest Robert, the military priest, finally finished the funeral prayer service.

"Amen~"

"Amen!" Those who attended the cremation ceremony whispered prayers.

Then the officers and representatives of the Welsh Regiment walked into the pyre in turn, each holding a burning torch in their hands.

The Spencer of the Baggage Brigade established the Baggage Stronghold in the north, so the funeral was carried out by the Welsh Regiment Officers Dunnis and Daniel and a group of subordinates.

Dennis handed the three torches to Art, Odo, and Angus, and then said in a sad tone to Odo, the lieutenant in charge of the general affairs of the legion, "Lord Odo, you can begin."

Otto took the torch, nodded slightly at Dunnis, and then asked Art, "My lord, is it the beginning?"

Art took half a step forward and slowly moved the torch under the firewood pile, and the firewood and grass sprinkled with a small amount of fire oil were immediately ignited by the torch, and thick black smoke rose from dozens of wet firewood piles, as if dozens of souls had ascended into heaven step by step......

In the afternoon of the same day, the Welsh regiment marched in the rain, and a detachment pulled the long column in the direction of Saint-Ryan to the north......

............

At the other end of the province of Jonah, there was also a long column of twenty-five four-wheeled chariots and thirty-two escort attachés, marching northward.

The carriages were lined with iron side panels, the wheels were covered with a layer of iron sheets, and the stacks of goods piled high in the carriages were covered with felt cloth; The attachés on both sides of the carriage were all dressed in similar gray-black uniforms, with the words "European Merchant House" and the wolf's head insignia printed on them, the attachés were all armed with an iron-headed short spear, and seven or eight armed guards were also wearing leather armor, short swords at their waists, and round shields on their backs.

This is the court frontier baron Art? Wood? A caravan of the Continental Comptoir under Wells.

Today, the European comptoirs have begun to take shape, and there are two such caravans, and the other is currently operating in Provence, mainly responsible for the southern trade of the main trade routes of the continental comptoirs. In addition to two caravans of twenty chariots, there were four caravans ranging in size from five to fifteen carriages, all of which were bought by the Continental merchant houses from bankrupt merchants in Provence, and were mainly responsible for collecting cheap goods from all over Provence and transporting them to the frontier for hoarding.

At the front of the procession, three caravan leaders dressed in slightly flamboyant clothes led the way on horseback. They were Salter, the civil merchant of the valley and the head of the European Comptoir, Raven, the captain of the armed guard of the Continental Comptoir, and Manid, the northern steward of the Continental Comptoir.

Dressed in a brocade and satin robe, with a thin brimmed belt at the waist, and cowhide boots, Manid, the steward of the European Merchant House in the North, tried his best to control his horse and follow Salt, and said to Salt, who was in the lead, "Lord Salt, it can be seen that Viscount Herois intends to join the southern goods trade, but the conditions he proposed are too outrageous, we just want to ship the southern goods to Swabia through his hands, and he wants to completely control the entire trade route from Glaru to Swabia, he is too greedy."

Salter glanced at the new merchant, who had only recently entered the businessman, and the first month's salary as a steward had been replaced by a fine set of brocade satin, with a gorgeous belt and a handsome face with a shaved beard, which was indeed easy to make a good impression.

"Manid, you are also a merchant who has been immersed in business for many years, and you should know that the nature of a merchant is to chase money. But you should know that the most difficult part of business travel is the distribution of benefits. You have just entered the European Merchant House, and you don't know that the many forces involved in the European Merchant House, from the southern goods guild of the Count of Burgundy in the north to the sporadic merchants of Provence in the south, from the Provençal gold lord in the east to the border guards in the west, to the counts of the Count of Burgundy and a few bishops of the church, to a few barons and knights in the county of Tiniez, more than a dozen forces are involved in the European Merchant House, they are all the owners of the European Merchant House, and they all have to withdraw a share from this money box containing gold cakes and silver coins. ”

"You and I can't decide how to distribute the benefits, we just have ears, mouths and limbs, and our heads are always with adults."

Manid knew that there were many forces behind this newly rising European trading house, but he didn't know that it was so intricate, and this was a level that the down-and-out merchant Manid had never been exposed to before.

"So you kept absolutely silent when Viscount Hereth made the offer?" Manid asked.

"Yes, I can only decide the type of southern goods, the monthly volume of goods, the transportation route, the location of the cargo distribution and transit, and the increase or decrease of the price, as for the core issues involved, I will carefully note down and relay it to the adult, and he will decide."

Manid nodded, "But your lord is leading an army into battle, where can we go to find him?" ”

Salter laughed when he heard this, turned his head to look at the mountains of goods piled up on dozens of carriages behind him, and then at the captain of the armed guards who followed on the other side, Laven, and replied to Manid: "You suggested that I go north to Jonah Province this time to bring more southern goods, but I insisted on buying a large amount of linen and cotton goods from the southern continent at low prices, you didn't understand at the time, I think this question Lord Ravan can solve your doubts."

After several years of hard work, Laven became the captain of the armed guard of the European Merchant House {the title of civil steward}, and he wore a fine set of half-length chain mail and carried a steel broadsword forged from the Valley Weapons Workshop at his waist.

"Mr. Manid, you have never fought so you don't know the tragedy of the battlefield, the two armies fought against each other, countless heads fell to the ground, countless heroes died in battle, and countless wounded on the battlefield. Now that the north of Burgundy is in turmoil, thousands of people are about to fight against each other, and there will be absolutely no shortage of wounded soldiers and dead people, and the dead need cloth to wrap their bodies, and the wounded soldiers need cloth to stop bleeding and treatment, so the demand for cloth in the war zone is definitely great. People don't care how much money they spend when they are faced with a life-and-death decision, so the cheapest cloth can be sold for a high price of raw silk satin at this time. After all, no one wants to die without even a piece of linen to wrap themselves in. ”

"And we have also bought from the army of Provence a lot of belladonna, calendula, fennel root, and other potions, which are so much needed in the war-torn land, and which, in the words of the adults, are "strategic goods." God can heal people's souls, but potions can heal people's bodies, and I think soldiers need potions in addition to God's salvation. And the potions in the storehouse of the Northland Doctor Pharmacist have probably been looted by the army a long time ago, as long as we send these things to the war zone, we will definitely make a lot of money. ”

"But will these things be looted by the army? Those barbarian armies are not afraid of our short spears. Manid raised concerns.

Salter smiled, "Manid, I just told you that the European Continental Comptoir is a huge force, don't forget that the master behind the European Merchant House also has a high-ranking commander of the Eastern Army, which army dares to rob them of their own things?" ”

"Besides, our army has just passed this road, and the Legion of Wales is famous enough to protect us in friendly territory. When we arrive at Jonah City, we will contact the baggage team of the Eastern Army, and we can follow the baggage team of the Eastern Army to the war zone. ”

"Laven, let's get the guys up to speed, we'll try to get to Jonah City to rest before dark tomorrow......"