There were too few generals available to the Norman Empire, but it didn't take long for Randy to think of a candidate.

Before she left for the Grand Duchy of Moscow, she told herself that she wanted to return to the army.

Joan of Arc ......

"What? Do you want that woman to be the commander-in-chief? That woman's dominance value is quite good, and her talent is also very good, but her prestige is not high because of her status, but if you think about it carefully, she is indeed the most suitable person. ”

"Nope! Let General Anderson take command of this army! ”

"Why? Aren't you afraid that your generals will take control of the army? Isn't a crippled woman better at the mercy than those ambitious generals? ”

"It's because of Joan of Arc's physical condition that I don't want her to continue to fight, it's for her good."

"Are you sure it's for her good? What the woman wanted was a battlefield, blood and glory, not a boring monastery, and if you really wanted her good, you should let her continue to go to war. ”

"How do you know?"

"I just know!"

"Alright! I can appoint Joan of Arc as commander, but she must promise to stay in the army and command, and not go to the front line to kill the enemy, if she can't agree, then let Anderson be the commander. ”

"That's fine!"

After that, the Norman army marched for another ten days to the outskirts of Moscow, 50 kilometers from Moscow.

Along the way, there was not a single Cuman nomad or centaur, so he met the Celtic army that was holding on for reinforcements.

After meeting with the Celtic army, Randy and Artoria were not busy making out, in times of war, the couple greeted each other a little, and went to the tent to discuss the current situation, although they had learned through carrier pigeons that the Celtic army had fought with the coalition army, but Randy still inquired in detail about Artoria's battle with the centaur Cumans that day.

"The homeless people are all rubbish, they have no formal training, they are undisciplined and they are poorly equipped. But those centaurs must be careful, they are very formidable opponents. Artoria was surprised to tell Randy all about the Centaur's powerful charge that day, and the fact that she had gained a huge advantage as a hoplite against the Celtic hoplites.

"I've fought with centaurs before, and I know their brute strength and impact, but I never thought that they could fight like this, advancing slowly like infantry, and if that's the case, then maybe the situation is really the same as the centaur girl said, as long as there is a grassland, all the centaurs have a sphere of influence."

"The centaur girl? Which centaur girl? Artoria didn't hear anything else, but she heard it well.

"It's the only daughter of the centaur Khan Ayujie, named Printhea, what's wrong?"

"Nope! It's nothing! What's next? We now have an army of 100,000 and are we going to fight the enemy? ”

"Nope! We will neither fight nor save Moscow,"

"So what do we do?"

Randy smiled, Artoria was still the same as before, very sharp in military matters, but slow in politics, just like in the Bronze Age BC, Mahabal commented on the famous Carthaginian general Hannibal!

He knows how to win, but he doesn't know how to take advantage of it.

Artoria was also a Hannibal general, but it didn't really matter, because the Norman Empire had a guy who knew how to squeeze the most out of war, or would only start war when it was good, and that was Randy von Hoffmann, a utilitarian and pragmatist through and through.

"Of course not, our purpose is for the Empire, that is, for our own maximum benefit, not to save Moscow, or to destroy something, and if destroying Moscow will give the Empire greater benefits, then it is better to destroy it."

Artoria still looked like she didn't understand: "It's just ...... If we focus only on profits, are we not at a disadvantage in terms of morality and public opinion? ”

"Wrong! The so-called interests should take into account many factors, such as money, army, power, and land that can be seen and touched, but the morality, public opinion, piety, and popular will that you mentioned before must also be taken into account, so that the correct answer can be finally obtained after comprehensive consideration. ”

"Yes!!" Artoria seemed rather shocked.

This made Randy's psychology gain a great sense of superiority and satisfaction, and said with a smile: "Okay, dear, you don't have to worry too much about this kind of thing, it's up to me to meet things you don't understand, and the so-called husband and wife are like this." ”

Artoria smiled at first, and then felt a little inappropriate: "What about me? If it's in your interest, will you give up on me too? ”

"My dear, how could you think that? You have always been in my best interest. Randy hugged Artoria and said.

Although she knew that only half of Randy's words were true, Artoria couldn't help but smile, saying that she hated it, but her heart fell into Randy's arms.

The Norman army of 100,000 was stationed in an open field fifty kilometers from Moscow, and Randy made full use of the few small heights in the vicinity, cut down trees from the surrounding area, and the efforts of the baggage troops, to make it a full-fledged watchtower, shooting platform, and a two-meter-high barbed wooden fence.

The soldiers abandoned their military tents and lived in semi-permanent wooden huts.

Of course, it would not be correct to say that this is a military camp, this kind of perfect equipment, and the huge scale that can station 100,000 people, when the Normans retreat a little use, it is a very useful town, although there are no other resources to use in this vicinity except for a small amount of timber resources.

100,000 troops, a full 100,000 troops!

This is not a joke, even if 100,000 ants crawl together densely, it makes people feel cautious.

When the Randy Army docked on the outskirts of Moscow, there was a shake inside and outside the city.

The Cumans and Centaur tribes outside the city were in an uproar, some of the chieftains who had enough gold and silver treasures were clamoring to go back, others clamoring to kill the Normans, and then several chieftains who had fought with the Celts before were sprayed with spittle.

After sending out the scout cavalry to walk around the Norman camp, the chiefs were all silent when they looked at a firing platform ten meters away, the longbowmen and giant crossbowmen who were showing off their might at the battlement, and the hundreds of ballista catapults mounted on the firing platform.

The Cumans were sure that if they did attack from here, the final result would be disastrous.

The Cumans, without any siege equipment, would be smashed into a mass of fleshy garbage by a raindrop of arrows, crossbows, stones, and the Normans would only have to spend a small amount of things.

And the proposal to attack the Norman supply lines was also rejected!

The Normans had three legions, 15,000 elite light cavalry, and the Celts also had 2,000 elite cavalry, relying on a large number of cavalry groups, as well as horse militias temporarily conscripted from Neo-Scandinavia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and these places, the Normans had enough force to secure their supply lines, a large amount of food and various supplies, through Minsk, Smolensk, and then to the outskirts of Moscow, this kind of road transport front, Randy did not care about the people who transported food, How hard it will be to push a cart to transport food in the weather of dozens of degrees below zero.

The Cumans were like a great enemy, and they cowered in their own haphazard camp for several days, and every day only the rangers moved around, and they did not rush to attack the city, and after a few days the imaginary Norman attack did not happen.

The Cumans outside the city, the centaurs, and the Rus' inside the city shouted "Long live!"

After three days without an attack, and hearing the news of the arrival of the Norman army of 100,000 men, the Rus' and Slavs, shouting God forbid, took out the last bit of food and the treasured wine and began to revel, but in this revelry, Catherine II, who was in the palace, frowned.

"If the civilians outside knew that their so-called savior was actually a robber who came to rob, I wonder if they would still shout so loudly?" Catherine II, who was sitting on the ducal throne, snorted softly and said such words.

"How can you say that! Emperor Randy has come to our rescue with all his might, and although this treaty is harsh, it is also for the good of Muscovy, and the two countries will be close to each other in the future, and nothing like this will happen again. ”

As soon as Catherine II finished speaking, the prince Paul, who was sitting next to her, stood up and shouted loudly, making her mother Catherine II's face even more ugly.

Catherine II was eager to stand up and give him a direct slap in the face.

She really didn't know whether her son Paul was from the Grand Duchy of Moscow, or from the Normans.

Although in a sense, the Grand Duchy of Moscow may soon be called Muscovy, and this country has become a vassal of the Norman Empire in the future, both de jure and de facto, but you are a little conscious, okay? Do the so-called courtiers exist to be loyal to the emperor?

Wrong! As Randy said, everything can be measured in terms of profit.

The so-called vassals, which are also a consideration of interests, when their own strength is insufficient, crouching under the wings of the strong to survive, but when they become strong enough, the first thing to challenge is their former monarch, this is what a qualified vassal should do, pretend to be docile and obedient, and accumulate strength behind his back, instead of being at the mercy of the sovereign and becoming a real vassal, and can only rely on the power of the sovereign to survive the poor worm.

"Your Highness...... We could lose a lot of our autonomy! Semenovsky saw that Catherine II's face was very ugly, and knew that something might happen if she continued like this, so she quickly stood up and explained to Paul, desperately trying to make eye contact with this son-in-law who did not know that he had angered his mother.

"Autonomy? Is that kind of thing more important than life? ”

Paul completely ignored the old general's eyes, and said to himself, and the louder he spoke, as if he was giving a speech, said to the nobles and officials on both sides of the palace: "Compared with the life of the Normans, we are almost like barbarians, whether it is culture, technology, law, the Norman Empire is at least a hundred years ahead of us, and Emperor Randy is a holy monarch who can only be produced for a thousand years, if Moscow wants to continue to develop and become stronger, it must learn everything about the Normans, and at the same time move closer to the Normans, We must be the strongest and most reliable ally of the Normans, only then can Moscow continue to survive, otherwise, we may survive under the attack of the Normans this time, but what about the next time? What about next time? The Cumans or something else are coming, how exactly are we going to fight it? To know that there is at least a point with the Norman Empire, after all, they are people of the civilized world, and they believe in God with us, and what about the barbaric heretics? They will only burn and loot, and will never reason with you. ”

Prince Paul's statement made the nobles show a look of approval.

Indeed, this Kumanian expedition to the west, those barbaric nomads, brought too much harm to Moscow, and the nobility of Moscow, whether it was a Rus' or a Slav, did not want to experience it again, but now how to get rid of the attack of those terrible and barbaric nomads, it seems that there is no other way than Paul's words to fully agree with the conditions of the Normans and move closer to the Normans.

"Damn! You people, sooner or later, you will regret it! ”

Catherine II looked at the vast majority of the nobles, who were moved by Paul's speech, and could not help but be a little angry, if all the nobles of Moscow agreed to the terms of the Normans, then such a force, even the Grand Duke, would have to accommodate them.

Catherine II turned around and left angrily, and the nobles next to her, you look at me, I look at you, they all feel a little overwhelmed, and look at the prince Paul, hoping that he can make up his mind.

"Okay gentlemen, it's okay, the old woman will let her go if she wants to."

The prince Paul looked at his mother, who had always been at odds with him, but felt very happy, and excitedly shouted to the nobles: "Friends, take action, if you still want Moscow to continue to exist, we will write a joint petition asking her to agree to the conditions of the Norman Empire, and that's it." ”

At Paul's instigation, the nobles signed and fingerprinted on the paper that had been prepared for Norman production.

"I'm for Moscow...... God forgive me! In the end, even the old general Semenovsky signed it, and the old general trembled like this, muttering to himself, but the name was written horizontally and vertically, and it was strong and powerful.

"God will forgive you, my general." Paul said this, and after the old general signed it, he couldn't help but laugh as he looked at the application with dozens of names written on it.

"Everyone, rejoice, I'll go to my mother right away, Moscow will soon be saved!"

The aristocrats, as if infected by Paul's cheerful attitude, erupted in laughter, corresponding to the crowd celebrating outside.

"Then it's my job!" Prince Paul turned away and sneered at the success of his conspiracy.

Three days earlier, the Norman Emperor, who had been in correspondence with him for almost two years, wrote again, in addition to the usual and polite greetings, about what had happened to him in recent times, and complained to him about the inappropriateness of his mother, Catherine II, and gave him a copy of something called carbon paper, and told him in detail the purpose of this useful little prop.

For example, forged documents......

After taking the document above, Paul carefully removed the separated layer of paper and took out the review paper underneath, and under the carbon paper was what he really wanted.

(End of chapter)