Chapter 161: Refugee Camp
The interesting part is that this hot-blooded force, which suddenly became confident and destined to die, was ready to fight more pursuers to the end, but it did not encounter another battle before reaching the forest. Under the scorched earth policy of the Anteli army's strong men www.biquge.info the subsequent invasion of the empire was forced to wait for their own food and grass logistics to be in place, so they were slow to keep up with the vanguard troops that completed the lightning raid. The 50,000 Imperial troops, alone in the depths, could only use their forces to besiege important targets such as towns and fortresses, and when the battle line had already stretched to a certain length, it was really impossible to send more men to chase a few refugees.
In such an environment, the "Royal Queen's Army" went to the Cavehall Forest, and along the way, they scattered and gathered a large number of scattered remnants of defeated soldiers and fleeing recruits, and the number quickly recovered to more than 100, and then gradually grew to 200 people...... Two days after the bloody battle at the Nameless Junction, they had become a rather good-looking army: nearly four hundred in number, steady and orderly in formation, and they even rearranged the scouts for sentry and patrol like a complete formed army. They unhurriedly followed the ass of the slowest refugee, swaggering like a convoy...... It was not at all apparent that it was a rabble of defeated generals with remnants of troops belonging to different lords.
Scouting and patrolling certainly made sense, and the scouts easily spotted the repulsed Midland force during their daily patrols, which were just a few miles behind the Royal Forces, still looking undead. They spent a lot of time waiting for another pursuing force of similar size, but they managed to gather nearly two hundred men to get up to chase after them, and found that they were facing the troops behind the Anteli Palace, which had grown in number and were still more than twice as large as them.
If it weren't for the pain of the previous battle, in the face of the retreating Antelli army, even if it was only one-tenth of the opponent's number, this group of cavalry would dare to rush up and try their luck to see if they could create more results with less. But now, although the "Royal Queen's Army" is only twice as large as them, and although most of them are infantry, this "invincible" red-clothed army did not dare to take the initiative to attack until the end.
Finally, Calvin Hall, the largest forest in Anteli, came into view.
......
Man-made things are always more attractive to the eye than naturally growing trees - the large number of tents set up at the edge of the forest catch their eye, and as they get closer, the sounds and smells waft in.
Noisy, human and poultry noises mingle together to form a chaotic symphony, especially the unique laughter of children...... There was also a smell of food and urine in the air - to survive, people had to have a place to stay, they needed to eat, and then they had to take care of their physical needs, and so they had what they had in front of them, a refugee camp.
"Is it safe here, why don't they continue through the forest?"
"I don't know, but there must be a reason why they dared to stop fleeing here. ”
They quickly understood why, and closer to a few clearings where they could see a few hundred meters beyond the forest, more tents were piled together. The difference from those of the refugees is that the tents are more homogeneous and neatly arranged, surrounded by wooden walls, and wooden watchtowers......
An Antelli army is stationed, thousands of southern armies of the kingdom that have carried out strategic retreats have not continued to flee north, and countless lords and lords who have come from all over the country to respond to the call to fulfill their vassal obligations are also arriving with a steady stream of living forces, and the Antelli army is ready to launch a counterattack on this line, while the main strength of the Midland vanguard army is still distributed in the wide depth deliberately conceded by Antelli in the south, and it is not assembled, and it is safe here for the time being.
......
Soon they were in the stinking, bustling camp through tents, campfires and barns, and Rhodes' unit soon became the focus of interest for the refugees. Because of the shortage of food and grass, the Midland's cavalry pursued and plundered the troops quite actively, and had even appeared in sight south of the barracks recently, and the commander of the army here had shrunk his head and refused to divide his troops south to meet the refugees and the scattered armies of the other kingdoms, and it had been several days before such a decent team as them had arrived.
People gathered at an unbelievably fast pace, and then soon some of them shouted, some screamed, and some laughed and even cried. With his good hearing, Rhodes quickly figured out what was going on: the refugees who had arrived earlier had found their relatives in his group and among the last refugees who had arrived at the same time. I thought that life and death were separated, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that people were still alive, and joy and tears were intertwined.
This family reunion touched Rod, he missed his parents and Roy, and he even began to think that maybe he could pretend that he didn't know anything, just go back to his "family" and continue to enjoy his old life.
"We've done that. The stout officer, who had been the commander of the troops behind the temporary palace for several days, also sighed, interrupting the young man's thoughts: "Many people have arrived here under our cover, everything is worth it, I am going to report to the supreme commander here with these cowards now...... Seriously, young man, wouldn't you really consider being a soldier?
Rod shook his head again, he had had had enough of tossing, and now it was time to find a way to go home.
"Well, I respect your decision, then I'll see you later. ”
The stout officer led nearly five hundred remnants of the defeated army, who did not look like a remnant of the army, to the barracks to prepare to join the general Anteli who was in charge there, and the rest of Rhodes and Ryan wandered around the camp.
The scene of a group of people gathering together attracted him, and even after all the things he had experienced, his instinct to join in the fun was still not extinguished, and he walked curiously towards the crowd.
......
Several tattered wooden shelves, on which three people were tied, were preparing to be hanged.
"What crime did they commit?" Rod asked, casually arresting someone.
"The thin man took advantage of the chaos to rob and kill people, and the stupid big man, who was stronger, probably thought that he could not escape the slaughter of Midland's pursuers, and was ready to die, so he raped the women who fled with him. But I don't know if it's lucky or unfortunate, our Royal Highness troops...... The one that had just arrived stopped the red-clad robbers and murderers, so he barely got here, was recognized again, and still can't escape the fate of death. ”
"Where's the kid?"
"Stealing. ”
"If you steal something, you'll be hanged?"
"I don't know what he stole from, but I heard that he was a repeat offender, and somehow he escaped here...... The refugee camps were already in poor order, and the presence of scum could no longer be tolerated. ”
Rhodes stared at the three men for a moment, he was also bound to the gallows, he was really entitled to empathize, but since they did commit a crime...... Then you should be punished, maybe it is too much to hang them all indiscriminately, but Cieri said, "special circumstances, special treatment", this is a time of war, and it may be necessary to be ruthless.
He sighed, he didn't want to see the execution scene, and before he was about to leave, he accidentally glanced at the youngest of the three prisoners, and suddenly felt a little familiar, and remembered it: it was the little girl who stopped him from begging when he had just stepped into the gates of Sardenberg, how did she come here, and she was caught and tied to the gallows?
――