Outside Schleswig, on an early summer night, the moon was sparse. At about 10 o'clock in the evening, from the military camp west of the city of Schleswig, a group of soldiers and horses suddenly quietly drove out.

This army of about 250 men and horses happened to be a company. The company leader Petrak was a wandering knight from the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel of the Welf family.

It's not too early for Petrak to join Marin, but it's not too late either. Being able to join the Third Army and become the captain of a company in charge of 250 people proves that he still has some ability.

However, although his ability is there, it is not high. In the case that others are more capable than him, it is difficult for him to be promoted to a more senior phalanx leader.

Originally, it was nothing. However, since Steindorff, who was born as a civilian, became the commander of the Third Legion, and then promoted three commanders of the phalanx from civilian background, Petrak's mentality was completely unbalanced......

In his opinion, he was a knight of noble blood from a knightly family. If his boss was also from a knight family, he wouldn't have an opinion. However, not only was their legion commander from a civilian background, but now, his immediate boss, the phalanx leader, had also been replaced by a civilian, which made him very annoyed......

In his opinion, civilians are lucky to be the leader of a 25-person squad, serving as the commander of the legion and the leader of the phalanx...... That's just a joke......

He also had never been to the First and Second Legions, and in the First Legion, it was not uncommon for civilians to serve as phalanx commanders.

Why? Because the First and Second Corps were formed relatively early. At that time, Marin's status was lowly and he was not looked down upon. So, no wandering knight is willing to take refuge in Marin.

As a result, the 1st and 2nd Corps had to massively use civilians as senior officers. By the time the Third Army was formed, Marin had completely established a foothold in the East Friesian Lamber, and it was also widely recognized by the outside world. At this time, a large number of wandering knights happened to come to vote, so Marin simply took the new Third Legion in the city.

Therefore, in the early Third Legion, the middle and high-level officers were basically composed of wandering knights, and the officers also had a strong sense of identity with each other.

But later, Steindorff, the commander of the musket battalion of the First Legion, led a large army south to Rome to support the Pope's accession to the throne. After returning from Rome, Steindorff lost his place in the First Army. As a result, Marin transferred Steindorff to the Third Army.

When he first arrived in the Third Army, Steindorff naturally brought a few "his own people" to help him. But Steindorff was from a civilian background, and his subordinates were all die-hard, naturally from civilian backgrounds, and even one of them was originally from a mountain village with him.

At this time, the mentality of some officers of the Third Legion from noble backgrounds was unbalanced, including Petrak......

In their opinion, you Steindorff, a mere civilian, is already a great blessing to be mixed with the commander of the legion. However, you actually promoted your own civilian officers to be the leaders of the phalanx...... It's a bit too much......

You must know that in other countries, the person who can generally serve as a company captain is at least a wandering knight. And as the head of the phalanx, the lowest is a knight with a title and a fief, or even a baron. And the worst who can be the commander of the legion is the baron, who is generally an earl.

For example, the commander of Emperor Maximilian I's earlier army of 15,000 was Frederick II, Count of Hohenzollern of the House of Hohenzollern. Later, although Frenzberg, who had been dug from Marin, was promoted to the new corps commander. However, Frentzberg was also from a knightly family, and was also awarded the double baron of the North Sea Kingdom and the Austrian baron, which is considered a noble blood and a noble status.

……

Therefore, some of the wandering knight officers of the Third Legion, somewhat looked down on Steindorff. But because Steindorff was also made a baron, they didn't dare to talk nonsense.

However, Steindorff's later promotion of the three civilian phalanx captains angered some of the vagabond officers of the Third Legion. Because, of the three new phalanx leaders, only one of them was previously knighted for his exploits. The other two are still white......

Therefore, there were quite a few officers in the Third Army who were separated by blood. Later, because of personnel changes, some of these people were promoted, and there was no emotion. And for those who were not promoted, the resentment in their hearts not only remained, but expanded......

In addition, the 3rd Army was stationed in the province of Schleswig, far from the capital Aurich. Therefore, the later princes who tried to obtain the agricultural secrets of the Beihai Kingdom gave priority to poaching people from the Third Legion. Because, for the most part, the officers of the Third Regiment were wandering knights. Many of them, their fathers and brothers, are still serving in other vassal states. It is more convenient to use their fathers and brothers to win over and buy in the name of "visiting relatives......

Sure enough, a group of disgruntled and hopeless middle- and low-ranking officers of the Third Legion who were from the rank and bottom of the wandering knights quickly wavered and accepted the courtship of these princes, numbering several dozen.

And Petrak, the veteran company commander of the third formation of the Third Army, was the most active among them......

The so-called veteran company captain is not an honor. Because, the Beihai army has frequent wars, many opportunities for meritorious service, and promotion is also fast. The veteran company captain has not been promoted for a long time, but it is not a glorious thing.

Petrak also felt a little humiliated, as several of his men had now risen to the rank of company captain, on an equal footing with him. Even, one of the original subordinates became the leader of the phalanx, which made him very unconvinced.

Previously, after Marin left, rumors appeared that Marin had been killed. At that time, several princes sent people to win over, and although some officers were shaken, they were also due to. Petrak was the first to respond to the woo, and even to help persuade those who were hesitant. Then, the Third Army Corps, with dozens of company commanders and squad leaders, began to centrifuge from Germany.

When Marin's "death" was "confirmed", these dozens of people changed their previous hesitation and took refuge in those princes without hesitation. And Petrak, when everyone was hesitating, took refuge in the prince who came to woo him, the Duke of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel. And the person in charge of wooing him was his father, the Knight of Marley, who had long been loyal to the Duke of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttle.

……

And tonight, Petrak led the whole company to send troops without authorization, intending to attack a nearby fertilizer processing plant and seize the secrets of fertilizer in the North Sea Country.

Previously, Petrak had thought of many ways to get the fertilizer secret. However, the fertilizer processing plant is very vigilant, and he can't find out the secret by any means.

Therefore, this time he planned to directly send troops to attack the fertilizer processing plant and violently seize the secrets of fertilizer. After all, there are only hundreds of guards in the general fertilizer processing plant, and they are all second-line militia.

Petrak's company had 250 men, and they were all veterans of a hundred battles, and they were sneak attacks in the middle of the night, dealing with the hundreds of militiamen guarding the fertilizer field, and they couldn't be captured?

In this way, under the cover of night, Petrak and his company quietly surrounded a fertilizer mill 20 kilometers west of the city of Schleswig......

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