Chapter 14 Military Intelligence

Following Wei's horse, Lei secretly counted his subordinates. No wonder it is said that if Wei promotes herself too quickly, she will provoke the jealousy of the noble knights, she is just a small team leader, and her knight level is only the first order of bronze, but under her own hands, there are five golden knights, twelve silver knights, fifty-nine bronze knights, and sixty-three black iron knights. These guys didn't have any military exploits, so they couldn't get promoted to the ranks. No wonder, no wonder, if you do the position of deputy division commander, there will definitely be more high-ranking knights under your command, how can a little bronze knight of your own be able to shock the scene at that time?

Thinking about the private army legions of various lords, there is no such problem, the high-ranking knights of the family are their own personal guards, and only a few regular knights are sent to serve as the generals who lead the army. However, in order to ensure the combat effectiveness of each combat group, the direct legion of the imperial capital must assign a certain number of high-level knights to each team, and what will be difficult to do at that time is those team leaders, division commanders, and so on.

No wonder Carl and the others are all Golden Fifth Order Knights without exception, otherwise where would his subordinates listen to his orders. Thinking of this, Lei's scalp started to numb again, will these high-ranking knights under him obey him?

As if seeing the strange look on Lei's face, a golden second-order knight leaned over with a smile and said respectfully, "Lord Lei, your combat exploits are very brilliant. Although we have a high knighthood, we don't have any actual military achievements, and the most important thing for the Vatican Empire is military merit, and it is really appropriate for you to be the commander of this team. ”

Ray was stunned, the golden second-order knight nodded and smiled at him respectfully, with a little graceful kindness, and rushed out diagonally, returning to the squadron under his command. Ray shrugged his shoulders and muttered in a low voice: "It seems that there are good people among the nobles, at least these guys are not too arrogant... Alas, Lord Wei is also a good nobleman, but it's a pity that it's cold and frightening. Isn't it difficult for a girl to smile a lot?"

Wei, who was galloping ten meters in front of him, suddenly turned her head slightly, rolled her eyes and glared at him. Lei Da was horrified, this wind was blowing from the opposite side, they were galloping against the wind, this Wei's ear power was too terrifying, right? But looking at the faces of the big guards knights around her, there was a smile on their faces, and they thought that the cultivation of fighting spirit had reached a certain level, and these five senses were much more powerful than others, and it seemed that they would have to be very, very careful when speaking in the future.

In the end, Ray still doesn't know what the military merit rewards of the Van Empire are, in a word, the more enemies you kill at the higher level, the greater your military merit. Killing enemy soldiers like Wei did is not a merit at all. Only after she kills the other party's knight who is at least the third order of gold, or the mage who is above the fourth order of the dragon diamond, can a credit be counted. Therefore, it is difficult for these noble knights to promote their ranks, unless they have a good relationship with the legion commander and are directly appointed, just like Wei was directly appointed by Balu as the deputy legion.

And there are too many nobles in the empire, and the martial spirit is too heavy, so the children of the nobles have more or less cultivated fighting spirit, so they have also made countless high-level knights, all of whom want to enter the army and mix their own knighthood, but they have made the position of an officer more and less porridge, so that some unlucky golden knights can only serve as squadron leaders, and they are even inferior to those bronze knights or silver knights with great merit.

However, this also reflects that the Van Empire's control over the army is still very strict, and there are not too many things like your own relatives who are senior generals and will definitely be able to become generals in the army, which ensures the combat effectiveness of the army to a large extent.

Lei was still thinking about these things, and Wei suddenly shouted an order: "Team leader Lei, take five hundred people and kill them all." Then, the long sword in her hand pointed at the more than 400 Smart soldiers three hundred meters away. Looking at the tattered leather armor on the soldiers, they all thought that they were all recruits who had just been recruited from China, just a team of cannon fodder, who had escaped here after being defeated by the Dragon Legion. Wei also has his own plans, let the monster Lei practice his hands, so that he can dance a gun like the wind, but the lethality is not too great. Perhaps, in the future, Ray will become Carl's three general, his right-hand man.

Lei Yingnuo snorted, felt that the scars on his face were not in danger of exploding, and immediately scolded and rushed out with five squadrons. The gold and silver knights stayed where they were, as Wei had ordered. It was just a bunch of miscellaneous soldiers, and these knights did not have any merit in rushing forward, so as not to waste their physical strength. Killing a few minions is at most rewarding a few gold coins, but the families of these high-ranking knights are not short of these gold coins.

Two bronze fourth-order knights demonstrated by Ray's side, holding the horse in their left hand, the gun in their right hand, and the tail of the gun with their right elbow to produce subtle shaking. Seeing that their elbows shook slightly, more than a dozen spear sparks suddenly flashed out of the spearhead, and after confusing the eyes of several stunned Smart soldiers, a shot hit the heart of an unlucky ghost and picked him flying.

Ray cheered: "Haha, I see. He also shook his wrist in the same way, and then he saw his spear tremble violently, and a spear made of refined steel was actually shocked by a huge force and twisted into a crescent-like arc, and then shot out violently. In the sound of the 'whooshing' wind, the spear turned into an arc-shaped cold light, and smashed on the heads of those miscellaneous soldiers, 'pop pap', brains splashed, and more than a dozen miscellaneous soldiers were smashed to the ground by his shot, and then, the tip of the spear that turned into a big cold light rushed in and out of the chest of a miscellaneous soldier hundreds of times, and after the sound of 'poof', the small soldier's entire chest flew out in a transparent form.

Picking up the spear fiercely, watching a slip of blood slurry fly diagonally from the tip of the spear, Lei Gao raised the spear, and was ready to smash it at the head of a small soldier in front of him. The little soldier screamed, and suddenly threw the thin iron knife away, fell to his knees, and desperately kowtowed and begged for mercy. These people have just been drafted into the army, where have they seen such a fierce and vicious character as Lei, and they have long been frightened by Lei at this moment.

Lei was stunned, and then looked at the miscellaneous soldiers, who actually fell to their knees one by one, and didn't dare to move. Looking at their faces, which were vaguely not much older than himself, and were only eighteen or nineteen years old, Lei sighed slightly, and was about to put the gun down. But his eyes glanced at it, and he just saw that behind the first soldier to surrender, there was a bloody sheep on his back, and it was obviously a domestic one. Ray's anger rose inexplicably, and he remembered the village that had been slaughtered by the Dark's cavalry.

The cobble-egg-thick barrel of the gun slammed down, and with a 'whew', the bones of the soldier's upper body were smashed to pieces, and he fell to the ground before he could howl. Thunder roared: "Whoever has the people's property on it, kill them all... Kill them all, don't leave them alive. As soon as Ray said the first sentence, he immediately added the second order, for he saw that all the miscellaneous soldiers had jumped up and started to flee, all of them carrying the chickens and ducks that had been taken by force from the nearby villages, and so on.

Lei Zongma caught up with a miscellaneous soldier, and the soldier howled miserably: "Oh my God, if you recruit us into the army, but if you don't give us enough food, we will live... If we don't grab food, we won't be able to return home alive. ”

Ray pierced the back of his heart, picked him up and smashed him to the ground, Ray looked at the face that was younger than himself, at most sixteen years old, and muttered in a low voice: "Damn, you want to live, don't we people from the Van Empire want to live? You garbage soldiers can't let you invade our home no matter what. ”

Thinking of Kari Village, Ray's heart hardened a little more, and viciously slapped his horse around in a big circle, catching up with the fleeing miscellaneous soldiers, and shooting them one by one.

Wei in the distance nodded lightly and said in a low voice: "What's the matter, this guy's strength is really amazing, the silver wolf legion's bayonet spear is the heaviest weapon in the entire empire, and it was actually bent by the strength of his arm, what a monster." If possible, I want him to grow into a useful general. ”

A handsome golden third-order knight looked at Lei indifferently: "But, Lord Wei, he is just a civilian, do you think that the army's standard fighting spirit can make him grow into a powerful general? ”

Wei frowned: "Of course I understand. Enough, don't be wordy, keep searching, these damn guys are running around the province like locusts. The commander of the Smart Empire is really inexplicable, he actually arranged a defensive line, and did not even arrange to contain the stragglers' army, does he want to fight a decisive battle in Karatu? ”

Ray rushed back with five squadrons unscathed, and after the group had regrouped, he continued to search all the way south of the province of Xili. On the way, several bronze knights enthusiastically taught various stabbing techniques commonly used by the thunder silver wolf heavy horseman, and when they rested, they practiced swordsmanship and archery with Lei.

As a result, after three days, with his strong body, as if he was born with a comprehension of martial arts, Lei had learned all the set on horseback, and the rest was just to continue to be proficient. As for swordsmanship, with his strong wrist strength and brutal offensive play, if he didn't use his fighting spirit, a silver third-order knight would not be able to beat him. As for archery, since Lei hit a hare a hundred feet away with an arrow on his galloping horse, no one, including several Golden Fourth-Order Knights, was willing to compare this with Lei.

However, the consequence of Ray's release of that arrow was that Wei reprimanded him harshly, and then deducted his military salary for a month. Because with a little force, Ray pulled a good bone bow in two. When the dejected Lei accepted Wei's reprimand, he couldn't help but sigh: "Over there in Kari Village, all the big bows that are nearly a person's height are used, how powerful is that." Why do you have to use such a soft bow and arrow in the army? If one day I can make my own archers, I must choose men to use the big bow. That's a great weapon to kill a leopard with a single arrow. ”

The Silver Wolf Legion, which was constantly running-in, swept up the Xili Province in ten days, probably killing and capturing nearly three divisions of Smart's miscellaneous soldiers, as for the other miscellaneous soldiers, they have probably fled to the Qingfeng Plain, and their goal should be to flee to their homeland when there is no superior general to supervise.

Standing at the junction of Xili Province and Qingfeng Plain, looking at the two thousand heavy cavalry behind her, Wei frowned and asked, "Hasn't the team escorting the captives behind rushed back yet?"

A golden knight replied, "My lord, they have to send the prisoners to the side of the Praetorian Guard's line, and from there to the slave camps in the northern provinces, and it is estimated that it will take three days to complete the formalities, and then they will arrive." ”

Lei whispered to a few bronze knights in the distance: "If you knew it, you wouldn't have taken prisoners, we have captured more than 7,000 people along the way, all of them are ordinary people, what's the use of asking them?"

A golden first-order knight shook his head and said: "Lei, you don't know this, after the war, both sides will exchange prisoners, if we capture more prisoners, then they have to pay to ransom these people, otherwise what will happen to their domestic production? Especially now that they are imprisoned in slave camps, they can also dig pits for those big lords in the north, and mine metals to supply the weapons in front of them, it is really a double win." If it is not necessary, it is better not to kill those captives who are strong and have little combat effectiveness. ”

As soon as the words fell, they saw several horses and a group of soldiers flash out from behind a small hill bag, and judging by their outfits, they were also soldiers of the Smart Empire. Wei waved his hand, and Ray knew that his business was coming again, and he looked at the size of about two hundred people over there, so he rushed out with four squadrons. Along the way, as long as the number of opponents is less than a thousand, the person who dispatches must be Lei, and the other two team leaders are already used to this arrangement, and now seeing Lei rushing out, a gold knight and a silver knight actually began to bet on how long it would take Lei to kill that team.

As for those silver wolf heavy riders, they are secretly gambling to see if Lei, known as 'strange power', will stay alive. They wondered why Ray didn't spare any of the Smart people who had robbed the people, but how did they know that Ray himself was from the province of Xili, and that he could not be angry when he saw his fellow villagers being ravaged, especially since he was still worried about his own home.

Ray took the spear and rushed out first.

The other party suddenly rushed out of a knight covered in silver armor, rushed over with a spear, and then, suddenly ran away in an oblique manner, shouting: "Don't do it, we have something to say." ”

As soon as the knight's words fell, Thunder rushed in front of him, and the tip of his spear almost hit his armor. Hearing the man's shout, the thunderous force withdrew the spear, and the cold wind brought up on the tip of the spear hit the knight's armor with a 'buzzing' sound, so that the knight's face couldn't help but change. Lei looked coldly at the knight who was a third-order golden badge, and drank: "What words, say it quickly." According to the order of our corps commander, lay down your arms and surrender, you can live, and those who resist, kill them all... I added a rule to myself, and our regimental commander also approved, whoever harassed our people, cut off their own heads, and don't waste our time. ”

The golden knight was so angry that he was about to attack on the spot, he was a third-order golden knight, what are you a bronze first-order? He was about to stab out, but the two golden knights immediately came out from behind Lei, looked at the badge on his left chest with malicious intent, and muttered in his mouth: "Look, a golden third-order knight, we are a first-order golden knight, if we kill him, at least we can record a record of killing the enemy by leaping the rank in the military merit book, right? This brother, it's better to be cheap with us. ”

The Smart Knight's face changed, and he slowly put away his spear. The knights of the Smart Empire are basically only equivalent to the knights of the Vantly Empire who are two or the first order of the knights, and their strength is probably equivalent to the level between the first and second orders of the Vant's gold, and fighting with the two Vant's golden first-order is a dead end.

He snorted, deliberately made a haughty look, and drank: "I am Stern, the captain of the personal guard of the Grand Duke of Sharu of the Smart Empire, and I am ordered to protect our duke's son, Lord Count Cleist, back to his own territory. We admit that we have been captured by you, so we demand money in exchange for our freedom. We can swear never to set foot on your territory again until the war is over. ”

Wei had already rushed over and drank, "It's easy to say, how many gold coins can you take out to redeem your freedom now?Also, Duke Sharu is a member of the royal family of the Smart Empire, why did his son appear on the battlefield?"

Stern was stunned for a moment, then looked back, refusing to answer the question.

Lei Leng snorted, raised the spear in his hand, and suddenly, the silver wolf heavy rider behind him slowly raised his spear, ready to launch an assault.

Stern's face changed, and just as he was about to say something, there was already a middle-aged man wearing a gold, very luxurious, but very thin, basically defenseless armor, and two dashing swallow whiskers on his face. He explained in an elegant, soft, mellow voice characteristic of the nobility: "This lord is invited. He took a look at Wei and was surprised to find Wei's beauty, and couldn't help but stare at it a few more times.

With a cold snort, the group of guards beside Wei let out a sour cry in their hearts, and their hands were also on their weapons.

The middle-aged man hurriedly laughed: "It turned out to be a noble young lady." I'm sorry that our two countries are at war at the moment, otherwise I would have invited you to visit my father's territory, which has the most majestic snow-capped mountains, the brightest skies, the most beautiful forests, and the clearest lakes in the entire continent, and you will love it... It's a pity, it's a shame... I am Clester, the son of the Duke of Shalu of the Smart Empire, a Golden Fifth Order Knight of the Empire, and the commander of the new legion in the province of Plenin. ”

Wei sneered, "Mr. Cleist, are you actually a golden fifth-order knight?"

Lei also laughed in his heart: "This guy's internal qi is at most similar to mine, if he can be a golden fifth-order knight, then I can't be the highest-level golden knight in the Smart Empire? It turns out that the knights of the Smart Empire are so easy to be. ”

Krester understood that Wei was ridiculing him for his humble strength, and he quickly explained: "This, this country is different from your country, your country is a knight's rank and a military rank are completely separated, and the assessment is very rigorous. And in my country, as long as you take on the position of the commander of the legion, you will definitely become a golden fifth-order knight, so it's not like I'm bragging about my strength... We are preparing to return to the Smart Empire, to return to my father's territory, we have absolutely no intention of continuing the war, and please honorable miss... Crister smiled charmingly, as if he were at the highest ball.

Wei shook her head: "No, dear Mr. Cleist, you yourself are an earl, your father is the Duke of Sharu, and your status is very valuable to us. I don't know why you only returned to your territory with less than two hundred escorts, but in any case, please come with me... Mr. Stern, it is useless to resist. ”

Cleist rubbed his palms anxiously, gritted his teeth, and said, "Even if you don't let me go back, at least let Stern go back to China to deliver a message to me, okay?"

Wei smiled lightly: "Oh? strange, what the hell is going on? Are you in such a hurry to return home? But I'm not in a hurry at all. Your legions have been routed by us by seven or ten, and your main force has retreated to the city of Karatu, and our army and the newly recruited troops have formed a situation of encirclement of Karatu, and I am not in a hurry at all... Why should I send the messenger when the war is over, I will surely send someone to inform the Duke of Sharu... Grab them all. ”

Stern yelled and was about to resist, but a thick spear had slammed into his head. Stern was so angry that he raised his gun to the sky, but the spear disappeared ghostly, Stern was stunned for a moment, and when the spear appeared again, it was already smashed on his waist with the sound of the wind, smashing his whole person off the horse, and then, the tip of the spear flashing with cold light compared to his throat, as if to remind him not to move indiscriminately.

The two golden knights beside Lei sighed, and Lei smiled embarrassedly and explained in a low voice: "His martial arts are too weak, his fighting spirit is very strong, but his martial arts are too weak." I do not mean to take credit from you ... I swear, he must be the nobles of the Smart Empire, and only the nobles of Smart can have such an unreused golden knight. ”

A squadron leader beside Lei cursed in a low voice: "Damn, what kind of bullshit golden third-order knight, his strength is equivalent to the bronze second-order at most, such a person can actually be the captain of the guard? ”

Crister smiled bitterly, and watched helplessly as Wei knocked his guards to the ground with three fists and two feet, tied them with belts, spread his hands, and sighed, "So, if I exchange some information, can you let me go back?" As for Stern, who was on the ground, his face was already purple with anger from Lei's unintentional sarcasm, and he fainted on the ground.

Wei turned her sword lightly, glanced at Cleist with a pair of pearl-like eyes, and said in an indifferent tone: "Well, tell me about it, maybe I'll be interested." ”

Cleist was silent for a while, and sighed in a low voice: "Well, then, don't you think that it is really stupid that we have only laid out a line of defense in the province of Xili? Moreover, the exact number is nine legions, a total of 360,000 troops, and you have no doubt that they were defeated by you in one day?"

Wei said simply: "Only one line of defense is arranged, it is your commander who is too stupid." Nine legions were easily routed, and do you still want to ask why? Aren't they all civilians who have just dropped their farming tools? What fighting power do they have?"

Crister gritted his teeth and cursed in a low voice, "Yes, but, maybe you're wrong, at least that cripple of Karlin is a shrewd man, and he's calculating everyone. Counting your Vat Empire, you are also counting my father, Duke Sharu. ”

Wei's head flashed with inspiration, and she suddenly remembered what Ray said, Carlin's forbidden spell killed her own army of more than 100,000 people, and she exclaimed: "Carlin himself destroyed a lot of the armies of the Smart Empire, and deliberately caused a lot of unnecessary casualties, those armies are... ”

Krest smiled bitterly: "Those legions are the private legions of the eight most loyal royal lords of our empire, and they belong to our most elite private legions. Carlin didn't even send us any information back to our legions, and they were killed. Then he told us that the army was going well in the Van Empire, and asked us to recruit legions of recruits to seize territory and defend the cities and villages they had conquered. ”

He shook his head and said, "To tell you the truth, the battle report from the front line is that the army of our empire has beaten you beyond resistance, so I personally brought the army here to prepare for a little military merit." But as soon as I and a few other generals sent by the Duke led our recruit regiment to the main defensive line, the defensive line suddenly collapsed, and Karin retreated towards Karatu with his men, and our army was easily routed by you... Originally, these nine legions were used to deal with your people and to obtain a little more grain and grass, and they were not recruited for war at all, so what combat power is there?"

The generals of the Van Empire wondered in their hearts, why did Carlin do this? Wei sneered: "In other words, before and after combined, Carlin put the territory of your eight dukes... ”

Cleist said frankly: "The territory of our eight dukes, the elite legions have been completely annihilated, and most of the newly assembled legions have been killed and captured by you, and there are not many people who have fled back. It's hard to recruit a decent legion in our realm right now. ”

Ray muttered, "That guy Carlin, doesn't he want to be the emperor? Where is he so desperate to kill his own people?"

Wei's eyes widened violently, while Cleist looked at Lei helplessly, nodded lightly and said, "Yes, he wants to be the emperor." The legions directly under the imperial capital have been completely under his orders, and what he wants to solve is the military strength of the eight lords of our empire who are loyal to the imperial family. This is the news that I found out so easily, and it is for this information that I have delayed for a few days, otherwise I would have returned to the Smart Empire. ”

Wei was silent for a while, and suddenly laughed: "Your empire is about to have civil strife, what are you going back for? Do you want to tell your father to let your emperor reorganize his army? I'm afraid it's hard, isn't it? Your emperor, will he believe you?"

Cleist fell silent: "My father is His Majesty's distant uncle, and he should be... ”

Wei shook her head: "This kind of thing is useless, in the royal family, blood relationship can't decide anything." What would you like to do if you returned home?"

Krister gritted his teeth and whispered: "Father should contact the other seven dukes and prepare carefully, although the young adults in our territory have suffered a lot of losses now, it is still enough to recruit an army, and we must be ready before Carlin defeats your army." ”

Wei laughed angrily, "Karin, can he crush our army?"

Crist licked his lips and said, "If I tell you a piece of news, you let me get out of here, it's an equivalent exchange, okay?"

Wei nodded: "Very good, if there is that value... I'll let you go. After all, if you get into a conflict with Carlin within the Smart Empire, it's good for us. ”

Crister nodded gloomily and said, "Very well, but I also hope that you can delay a little more time so that we can buy a little more time to deal with Carlin... What I can tell you is that the Smart Empire and the Wright, Dark, Ritter, and Levy empires sent troops to attack you at the same time. ”

Wei frowned, pondered for a while, and asked, "So what?"

Chief Krester took a breath, pointed to the west, and said, "The province to the west of yours was originally garrisoned by only one Smart Imperial legion, so I estimate that your commander has built a defense line facing the west on the side of the Xili Province, leaving a maximum of 60,000 troops to garrison, right?

Wei nodded: "It should be such a plan, right?"

Wei's face suddenly turned pale, and she could no longer speak. Clester nodded and said softly: "Yes, the legions that have not appeared in the Ryter Empire and the Levor Empire have entered that province, ready to break through your defense line at any time and stab you in the back... How long can you hold out if the armies of the five empires attack at the same time? Moreover, there is only one Turk Gorge from the southern provinces of the Van Empire to the northern territory, and Karatu City is very far away from that valley. ”

Wei's face turned ashen: "If the armies of the Ritter Empire and the Levle Empire break through that line of defense and occupy the Turk Gorge." ”

A golden knight exclaimed, "Well, Lord Kai's legion will not only be attacked from the back, but also cut off the way to retreat. ”

Wei's long sword swung out, and the terrible sword aura shaved Cleist's beard clean, and Wei Li shouted, "Is it true?"

Christ calmly spread his hands: "You look at it, don't you think it's strange, the Wright Empire and the Dak Empire have been dispatched, why are those two countries so calm? I hope you can tell your commander this news as soon as possible, if you move fast enough, maybe you can buy me a little time." If you hold on to the Turk Gorge, it will be difficult for you to break through your defenses based on the strength of the coalition forces. After all, the border between you and the Wright Empire to the east is the forest, the desert of the Bicester Empire is to the north, and the Dak Empire is to the southwest, where there are large rivers, and it is difficult to pass, and the only way for the coalition to attack the hinterland of your empire is from the Turk Gorge. ”

Wei ordered: "Let them go, let them go." Everyone rushed back to the assembly place in a whole team and sent a herald to all the silver wolf soldiers to quickly converge, quickly, quickly, quickly. Send ten men to deliver the news to Lord Kai, and make sure they watch out for raids from behind. ”

The horses departed quickly, leaving Cleist standing where he was: "Hey, noble lady, won't you untie my subordinates, do you want a noble earl to cut the belt with his own hands?。。。 Oh my God, dear Stern, are you still moving? Great, you know, I've never liked weapons since I was a kid, or you take this sword and let go of our people... These Vatican soldiers are really discredited... However, we have to hurry, and I hope Carlin doesn't find his missing mage staff, or we won't be able to return to the Empire... Hurry up. ”

Wei was anxious to lead two thousand heavy cavalry to gallop towards the north, and she shouted: "It's too late, it will take two days for us to rush with all our might, if they attack now, we won't have time to join the brigade... Now our only option is for us to rush to the Tek Gorge and reinforce the defenders there. ”

Everyone led the order in unison, and desperately slapped the war horses under the seats.

Karatu City, Carlin looked at the dense Van army in the distance without caring at all, humming a small tune in his mouth, and muttered in his heart: "That guy Metegan, where did you go?" The day before yesterday, I said that I went out to find two people's girls, and now I haven't come back, what a bastard, this guy, in addition to being lustful, is a good assistant." However, it shouldn't be dangerous, right? He's a sixth-order archmage who drills the dragon... ”

And the 50,000 Janissaries who were in the belly of the Xili Province and formed a defensive line suddenly saw something that made them tremble, dense, boundless, at least more than 300,000 troops, wearing black, purple, and green armor, rushed towards them...