vstars Chapter 266 Traces of Spies
Chapter 266 Traces of Spies
"In view of the serious situation on the southwest border, Governor John is specially ordered to assist Earl Hoss in launching a counterattack against the Lana army that invaded Midland. If necessary, the standing armies in the west can be directly mobilized and taxes from the western free cities can be levied. At the same time, all matters involving the nobles, except for the death penalty, deprivation of territory and title, other punishments can be carried out first and reported later."
After the royal envoy finished reading the king's letter, John stood up and walked to the envoy. After stuffing a bag of money into his pocket, John asked:
"How's the king doing?"
"Huh?" The envoy was very surprised when he felt the extra weight in his pocket. In the past, John never gave him a penny, but it seemed that this time John wanted something from him.
"Angry! Huos will most likely be excluded from the palace's power circle this time, as will Governor John..."
The envoy said to John seriously:
"The king has issued a death order this time. You must drive out the Lana army at all costs. If you can break into the Lana Kingdom, the king will not only transfer you back to your original Forest Governorate, but the new governor will not be able to take away any of your property in the Southwest Governorate."
"Okay, so they are just treating me like a brick." John thought. But it doesn't matter this way. The Southwest Governor's Territory is too big. John spent several years in the Forest Governor's Territory to gain complete control of every place. The Southwest Governor's Territory is too far away from his base camp. There is no need to spend so much money to control it. It is better to support a vassal here. As long as he can help him gain enough benefits in the Southwest Governor's Territory, he can be considered competent.
After thinking about this, John leaned over to the envoy and whispered:
"Go back and report to His Majesty the King, and I will be able to drive Lana's army to the other side of the mountain next spring."
Hearing this, the envoy felt relieved. If someone else told him this, he might not believe it, but if John told him, it was most likely true. After all, all the nobles in Midland who had the same military experience as John had gone to fight Yoda. As for the rest, those who could ride horses and hunt were considered good among the nobles, let alone fight.
After the envoy left, Earl Hawes stepped forward and asked:
"What did you tell the envoy?"
"Nothing much, just telling the envoy to drive the troops out next spring," John said.
"Winter is coming soon. Both the soldiers' combat and marching will be affected. In other words, we only have about a month to fight. Isn't it a bit too hasty?" Hoss was aware of his standing army. Although he did not get along with John, he hoped that John would play more cautiously when he thought that he would be reprimanded by the king when he returned.
"So we definitely can't fight at that time." John responded.
"That's good."
"We'll start the fight early next year and catch them off guard."
"what?"
Hoss looked at John with a confused look on his face and said, "Brother, you are very brave."
Seeing Hoss's shocked expression, John felt very strange. Is the winter in Mont-de-Marsan the same level as that in Franche-Comté in the north and the Chus-Danan-Grant Islands further north? In the past, when it snowed so heavily in the north, it did not affect John's army's march and fighting. How heavy could the snow be in a place like Mont-de-Marsan where it is not even cool in winter?
On the other hand, in neighboring Lana, since the cold air is blocked by the mountains, few Lana people have probably ever seen snow. What's more, their army is freezing in the mountains, so their combat effectiveness in winter will definitely be greatly reduced.
John never regarded the standing army as the main force of attack. For this kind of offensive combat mission, his own army must take the lead, otherwise the standing army would definitely not go.
"And let me ask you, how many Lana troops are there in the mountain opposite?" John turned and asked Hoss.
"do not know."
"Who is the opposing general?"
"do not know."
"How many artillery pieces does Rana's army have?"
"I don't know, but it's a lot."
"Then why did we send you here!" John pointed at Hoss's nose and cursed. They had been fighting for several months, but he didn't even know the specific information of the enemy. If he were an ordinary officer, John would have slapped him twice.
"Rana kept firing cannons when the war started. After the bombardment, troops from all over the mountains and plains rushed towards us. These standing troops haven't fought for several years. They were defeated after a few waves. What can you let me do?"
"That's it, then. You go back and urge the standing army to prepare for training, and I'll make a plan for the attack."
After seeing off Hoss, John recalled the reasons for Hoss's overall failure. In addition to the fact that the quality of soldiers, equipment and improper command were lower than those of the enemy, he always felt that the enemy must have spies in the southwest or in Mont-de-Marsan.
"Report, the slum patrol said they have something important to report to you, sir."
Just then, the report from the guard outside the door interrupted John's thoughts.
Since Jacques's wartime patrols have not been formed yet, most of the night patrols in the slums are currently carried out by John's army. Moreover, the wartime patrols and John's army are currently two independent systems. Although the task of night patrols is completed by the wartime patrols, due to insufficient numbers, the army often does not want to inform Jacques and acts on their own, and finally hands the report to John in person.
"Let them in."
When the patrolman entered the house, he immediately explained to John the reason for his visit.
Originally, they were patrolling in the slums, and found three people moving things out of a store in an alley. So the squad leader in charge of the team went over to negotiate. Although the other party said that they were helping the store to move goods, the dagger hidden in the sleeve was still seen by the squad leader because it was poorly concealed.
So the sergeant immediately captured the leader alive, and then ordered the soldiers to search the two men. During the search, they found three daggers and a short-handled axe. Who would leave a moving company with such things?
Under the questioning of the squad leader, several people immediately confessed to the fact of robbery and the location where the shop owner was kidnapped by them. So the squad leader at that time classified this as an ordinary robbery case.
After rescuing the shop owner, the sergeant was about to take these people back to prison for interrogation. However, the leading robber heard this and immediately said that he had important information, and even had information about who had an affair with Rana, so he brought them here.
"Whatever you say, bring them in!" John couldn't help but feel happy when he heard this, but he was also curious about how these robbers knew all these things.