Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Peek from Another World (Part II)

The armed forces that currently take over the city of Itarica and the entire Earldom of Vermar, Princess Pinna's personal guard, the "Knights of the Rose", are not technically a real army, but their influence in the upper echelons of the empire is quite extensive. Follow? Dream?. lā天籁『.『 ⒉

The group was first born as a "knight game" played by Princess Pinna at the age of twelve with her noble children. At that time, Princess Pinna, who was still a child, occupied an abandoned castle on the outskirts of the imperial capital, and gathered a large group of noble children for "military exercises" with great interest. What started out as a pure war game, but then it was slowly formalized, recruiting instructors from among retired Imperial veterans to teach swordsmanship, bows and arrows, horseback riding, raising money to buy ordnance, repairing the fortress's living facilities, and recruiting attendants for the "little knights" - in any case, Pinna was a princess, and the children who played with her were either rich or expensive, as long as they spoiled their parents a few more times, this little thing was still available. Next, Princess Pinna and her companions gradually formulated the precepts and rules of this "game knights", the oaths of the members, various rituals, and the class system to regulate the daily life of the members.

Then, as the first batch of members gradually grew, those male members reached the age when they had to go out to join the army or become officials, so they had to quit the group one after another. Although some of the female members of the regiment left because they had to be trained as brides, there were still many more people who stayed than men, so the whole order became yin and yang, and women made up the majority. However, there are also many younger boys who apply to join, some because they want to cling to the powerful and make friends with princesses and noble heirs, but more often they simply want to "play with beautiful big sisters......

In the end, Princess Pinna's personal guard became a wonderful group of athletic girls and children who operated for two or three months a year, somewhat similar to the Boy Scouts or military summer camps on Earth. And the emperor and the senate also thought that it seemed good to have such a group - the education system in this world was extremely backward, even magicians had to rely on master and apprentice teaching, and there were basically no schools in the real sense. Even the cultural and military learning of the children of the imperial aristocracy mainly depends on the parents to hire private teachers at their own expense, but not everyone has the way to recruit good teachers, and well-educated teachers may not be good at teaching.

Now Princess Pinna has taken the lead in organizing such a group, which can rely on the power of the royal family to recruit experienced retired officers from the army who are good at leading troops to teach military skills and combat experience; Court scholars and precious classics are seconded from the royal family to impart cultural knowledge at the royal level, so that the children of the little nobles involved in it can also access the teaching resources of the royal family. Even children with unenlightened minds can take this opportunity to meet the descendants of many wealthy families and expand their network. It is even possible to find the right person of the opposite sex and conclude a happy marriage. At the very least, you can also control your own stubborn children, and you can't run out to cause trouble, which reduces a lot of trouble for parents.

To this end, the Imperial Senate and Emperor Moult II awarded the establishment and military flag to Princess Pinna's "Game Knights" a few years ago, officially named the "Knights of the Rose", with three detachments of Red Rose, White Rose and Yellow Rose, and also equipped with military camps, training grounds and logistics institutions, thus becoming a semi-formal militarized educational institution equivalent to the short-term military school for the young children of the imperial nobles and the nature of the Boy Scouts of the upper class. Although the veteran generals of the empire did not think so, some of the disciples and retired officers who were keen on drilling camps saw the benefits contained in it, or simply took a fancy to the beauties in the Knights, and squeezed into the "Knights of the Rose" as instructors. The ladies of the empire also felt that this was a social occasion that was as conducive to finding a future son-in-law as a ball and a drinking party, so they were eager to let their daughters or sisters join them.

In this way, Princess Pinna, the founder and head of the Knights of the Roses, has become the host of a military salon in another world, the principal of the Whampoa Military Academy, and perhaps the owner of a marriage agency - although it is only a young military school, it is still in the form of a short-term summer camp, and even Princess Pinna herself does not know how to wield this rather subtle political influence, but it has actually shown some effect...... For example, when Emperor Moult II left the capital for the last time, the reason why Princess Pinna served as regent was because she was the "child king" in the Knights of the Roses and had more or less good relations with the main nobles of the empire. Although those unruly nobles still don't listen to her little girl's instructions, for the sake of their own children still mixing in the Rose Knights, they should also leave her with some dignity......

Of course, at the end of the day, the Knights of the Rose are still essentially a Boy Scout, and they are still a delicate and noble Boy Scout. Although it cannot be said that it is completely ineffective, if it is not a last resort, no one will think of sending this army into battle. Since its founding, the Order of the Rose has served as a guard of honor for only a few ceremonies and ceremonies. Even at the current crisis moment when the imperial capital has turned into an ocean and domestic rebellions are rampant, the Senate has only given the Rose Knight a relatively safe task of evacuating refugees, and has no intention of letting him participate in actual combat - as long as there is still a trace of room for transfer, who is willing to let his daughter and children go to the battlefield?

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To get back to the point, in the imagination of Senior Sister Ma Tong, the "Knights of the Rose" should be a gorgeous combination similar to the women's gymnastics team or the AKB girl idol group. But in fact, in Itarica City, you visitors from the other world did see a lot of graceful and beautiful female knights, but in addition, there were more rough men and sub-humans with the banner of the Rose Knights, and the number was several times that of female knights.

In this regard, Senior Sister Ma Tong couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, but Political Commissar Guo felt that this was normal, and there was nothing unreasonable-"...... Isn't that normal! Originally, the knights of medieval Europe on Earth did not refer to a single person in military terms, but represented the most basic combat unit. A knight usually has to be accompanied by a few to a dozen horseback or foot attendants, who are responsible for duty and vigil, and even serve as infantry and archers on the battlefield to maximize the knight's combat effectiveness. Otherwise, if he was the only one and couldn't get the help of his attendants at all, I was afraid that he wouldn't even be able to wear that iron can armor! And his horse will be quickly crushed by the heavy full-body armor......

At present, the vast majority of the knights in the city, who ride tall horses, look brightly armoured, and are neatly robbed, are indeed children and maidens. The adult men of the Order of the Roses, on the other hand, were mostly poorly dressed and of low status, presumably serving as squires, servants, and infantry—they were not members of the Order, but merely servants who served the members of the Order. You see, after deducting these men who are not members of the Order at all, the Knights of the Rose are indeed basically a force of female knights......"

In short, the Knights of the Rose is such a strange army, with women and children as officers, and adult men as cannon fodder infantry.

Despite this, because the empire at the peak of the expansion period was filled with an extremely strong martial atmosphere, the overall appearance of the Rose Knights did not degenerate to the level of gentlemen and nobles of the late Ming Dynasty that Wang Qiu and the others had seen. In addition, since the regular members of the Knights of the Rose were either rich or noble, they had sufficient financial resources, and the armor, weapons, and horses they were equipped with were also of high quality. Princess Pinna hired an experienced retired officer as an instructor, so in general, this knight order still has a certain combat effectiveness.

When Wang Qiu and the others wandered around the city, they saw a small group of female knights who had been ordered to sweep the Appia Avenue and clear the bandits along the way, carrying many heads proudly and returning triumphantly with a vote of prisoners - although the troops under her command were very limited, Princess Pinna was still constantly sending small troops to fight the bandits, on the one hand, to reopen the trade routes, raise food, and on the other hand, to accumulate some practical experience for her rookies. At present, it seems that the actual combat performance of these new **** knights does not seem to be particularly disappointing.

Of course, even if this knight order still has a little combat effectiveness, it is still vulnerable in front of visitors from the other world who are experienced in combat.

“…… In total, there were about a hundred knights, the vast majority of whom were young women, and less than twenty adult male knights. There were about five hundred attendants and infantry, but there were no priests or magicians in the army, and no dragon knights flying in pterosaurs were found......"

Wang Qiu silently calculated the strength of the defenders in the city, and then smiled, "...... In fact, just a few of us can slaughter the entire knights and take the city. Of course, it would be a pity to kill so many charming beautiful knights casually......"

“…… Even if you don't use Doraemon's black technology props, relying on the active equipment of the People's Liberation Army alone is enough to conquer this big 6. ”

Hearing such vulgar words, Political Commissar Guo glanced at Wang Qiu angrily, but he didn't accuse anything - after having traveled through so many strange plot worlds and experiencing so many catastrophes, if he wanted to talk about any noble and selfless ideological consciousness in another world, it would inevitably seem a little too hypocritical," ...... However, let's not forget that peace is precious, and we are not here to fight, and even if we need to make some military deterrent gestures, it is only a bargaining chip to negotiate and exert pressure with the otherworldly regime. These powerful children of the Knights of the Rose may serve as a channel of communication between us and the rulers of the Empire...... So if it's a last resort, it's better not to kill easily. ”

“…… Wait a minute! Professor Guo, what do you mean by that? The country has mobilized so many troops to come to another world, but it doesn't want to fight? ”

In this regard, before Wang Qiu could respond, Ma Tong was already frowning and couldn't help but lean over and interject, "...... Isn't that wrong? ”

“…… Of course, there is no mistake, we are not the kind of protagonist who shouts 'my life is up to me' all day long, and only knows how to fight and kill! ”

Political Commissar Guo sighed, shook his head and spread his hands...... In fact, as far as I know, the central government has never intended to destroy and conquer this otherworldly empire, and our people's soldiers are not here to conquer this world, because the 'gate' on the Arnus Hill is not a permanent existence, but can only be opened for a few years, and even if more land is laid, the country will not be able to occupy it, and it will not even have time to open up resources on a large scale. Therefore, this world actually only has research value, unless there are hundreds of thousands of Chinese willing to immigrate here permanently, as in the late Ming Dynasty, and are ready to establish a country here and achieve a hegemony...... However, even so, the conquest of the other world is only the business of those immigrants themselves, and the country and the government have no obligation to do it for them - even in the late Ming Dynasty, we have never taken the initiative to send the People's Liberation Army to attack the Qing army, the Ming army, and the Liukou! Those territories were all recruited by the traversers themselves and organized armies to defeat them......"

- Well, I have to admit that although from the perspective of a traverser, Political Commissar Guo's attitude is obviously a bit of a nest - he obviously has the military strength to crush the entire Big 6, but he is so shrunken and values peace...... However, considering the actual situation of the space-time gate, from the perspective of a national civil servant, Political Commissar Guo's view is really very reasonable, and the interests of the state and the government are taken into account to the greatest extent......

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In addition to observing the appearance and composition of the Rose Knights as closely as possible, Wang Qiu and the others were also slightly surprised to notice a subtle sign: those sub-human races who had been discriminated against and abused, naturally had a needless to say about their perception of the empire. Even the citizens who lived in the city had a serious lack of recognition and respect for the imperial regime in their speeches, and most of the citizens gloated at the mention of the great flood that destroyed the imperial capital and the imperial civil war that broke across the mountains of Romania. It feels like the Indians of the colonial era are talking about the world war that broke out in Europe.

However, this is not an overseas colony far from the center of the empire, but a transportation hub only more than 200 kilometers away from the imperial capital!

For this reason, Wang Qiu and the others questioned the girl magician Leilai and the old village chief of Gota Village, and combined with the information they had gathered, they came to a vague conjecture - although from the perspective of the entire Great 6, the imperial capital of Ulabyanka City is roughly located in the south-central location of the Great 6 of Farmatt, but in fact, the core hinterland inhabited by the citizens of the empire is in the southeast of the Great 6. For a long time, the location of the imperial capital was already the westernmost frontier of the empire. Further west of the imperial capital, the human kingdom on the other side of the Romanian mountains, although also human, has been culturally very different from the core ethnic groups of the empire, roughly equivalent to the Catholic and Orthodox camps in Europe

Therefore, the relocation of the imperial capital to its current position is really a bit of a "Son of Heaven guarding the country" feeling - of course, not a passive attack like the Ming Dynasty's capital Beijing, but an all-round strategic offensive like the move of Tsarist Peter the Great to St. Petersburg...... And after a few centuries, the empire has indeed defeated all its opponents and has become the supreme overlord of the entire Farmatt Big 6.

The problem is that while military conquest is swift, national and cultural integration is not so rapid. As a result, like the Tsarist Empire that later established St. Petersburg as its capital, the imperial capital of this otherworldly empire, the city of Ulabianka, was surrounded by people who lacked a sense of identity with the empire. Either the conquered people of the former defeated countries who lacked a sense of identity with the empire, or the vassal states that were beaten half-dead but still unconvinced—roughly analogous to the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries of the Red Bloc in Eastern Europe, simply put the empire in an encirclement of potential hostile powers.

Among them, the old village chief of Gota Village and most of the people in the entire village were fugitive remnants of a small kingdom that was destroyed by the Empire. And the Blue Maiden Wizard Leilai,It belongs to a special ethnic group called the Rurud people.,On the Falmatt 6,The Rurud people have always lived in a fixed place since ancient times.,Live a wandering life.,Roughly equivalent to the gypsies of another world.,The sense of identity with any country is almost zero.。

That is to say, if the Chinese want to find potential anti-imperial forces to act as allies, or at least to co-opt neutral forces to act as leading parties and brokers, there are already large groups around the imperial capital and the "gate", which is really pleasantly good news.

“…… I feel that this situation in the empire is really like Tsarist Russia! Located at the eastern foot of the Romanian mountains and adjacent to the blue sea, the imperial capital of Ulabyanka is equivalent to St. Petersburg, the county of Vermar at the western foot of the Romanian mountains is equivalent to one of the three Baltic states, and the southern kingdom of Elbe, which has been the enemy of the empire for many years and has only recently been subdued, is Sweden or Poland. As for the territories further west of the empire, they were already equivalent to colonies. A huge prison where many nationalities are imprisoned? It seems that this term for Tsarist Russia can also be applied to the Empire. ”

Wang Qiu took out a stick figure version of the Big 6 map provided by Leilai, frowned and muttered, "...... The real traditional territory of the empire is actually in the east of the imperial capital, south of the headhunter grassland, which is now entrenched by the rebels of the Great Prince...... Isn't that a ...... Moscow against St. Petersburg? ”

“…… Listening to you say this, it really seems like this, if the empire is Tsarist Russia, then what is the headhunter rabbit on the steppe? ”

Daiya, the headhunter bunny girl of the traverser, approached with interest and asked, "...... Is it equivalent to the Mongols of this world? ”

“…… Come on! With such a pitiful strength of the headhunter rabbit tribe, it is too far behind the Mongols, right? ”

Wang Qiu glanced at her, "...... At best, the hierarchy of the indigenous tribes of Siberia......"

……

In this way, a group of traversers from the other world, after careful disguise, under the leadership of the world's leading party, successfully infiltrated the nearest otherworldly city to the space-time gate, collected enough intelligence information, and left unharmed.

From any point of view, the entire reconnaissance operation was extremely successful.

However, when they returned to the place three days after the departure with a relaxed mood, and were about to report to the leaders of the relevant departments at the higher level, they were shocked and stunned for a while by the huge changes that appeared in front of them.

Because, just three days later, in the wilderness where the Arnous Hills sit, a city of unprecedented grandeur has appeared......

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PS: The latest archaeological evidence shows that ancient humans first learned to make wine from things like wild fruit grass seeds, and then the earliest agriculture slowly appeared. In other words, long before the birth of human civilization, there were already drunkards...... How can this be evaluated? What is the inferiority of human beings?