In this era, the military's desire to fight - or "subjective initiative" - is very low.
Most conscripts have no concept of a nation-state, and do not want to stand out through military exploits. They are just forcibly sent to the battlefield by the nobles, and they are cannon fodder in the true sense.
One of the reasons why people in this era have to form dense formations to play queuing to kill is that once the conscripts with low desire and low morale break up the dense formations, or even stay far away from the officers, they will immediately collapse.
Arms such as skirmishers and hussars that require relatively high subjective initiative are either very poorly disciplined and indulge in food, drink, prostitution and gambling, or they are simply conscripted robbers who go to the battlefield just to rob and make a fortune.
So even though it was clear that the French hussars were coming, An Ning did not dare to neglect them at all.
He was carrying the trophies he got from the bandit leader he killed last night, so he might be considered a fat sheep in the eyes of the hussars.
As for the young master, the hussar may not dare to openly kill the noble master on his side, but what if he wants to take the credit for An Ning's work to himself?
As the hussars approached, An Ning saw the half-moon-shaped dog tag around the leader's neck, which indicated that he was an officer, possibly a noble.
This made An Ning feel a little relieved.
The young master of the Tollestaire family obviously didn't have so many ideas. When he saw his hussars coming this way, he stood up and waved happily.
The cavalry quickly arrived.
The leading officer waved to Crotz and stopped in front of him. Without even looking at An Ning, he spoke directly: "The 20th Hussars were conducting reconnaissance under the orders of General Carnegie. How is the situation?"
An Ning had no impression of General Carnegie at all. He only knew French generals like those marshals after Napoleon.
Kreutz shook his head: "Too bad, we were defeated by Frederick at Rosbach. He was the one who led the expedition himself. Damn it."
An Ning couldn't help but frown. He vaguely remembered that Frederick II died of old age in 1786. In 1780, Frederick II should be an old man who was too old to move, but he actually still led the army to fight in person?
Could it be that Frederick the Great in this time and space was born some years later?
So the history of this world is just the same as the original history in general, but the specific details are misaligned?
However, An Ning was not the kind of person who specialized in history. He recognized the famous generals and marshals of this era, as well as those who had studied history textbooks.
Therefore, the misalignment of historical details does not make much difference to An Ning.
At this time, the hussar officer asked again: "Where are the Prussians? This morning we started searching from the village of Koroba all the way here, and we didn't even see a single Prussian."
Crotz looked at An Ning and cast a look of help.
An Ning pointed to the direction he came from and said, "Go in this direction and you can see the Prussian camp about 20 miles away."
In fact, An Ning didn't know how far he ran last night, so he just made up a random number. Anyway, the cavalry ran fast. If he ran along the road he came last night, he would probably encounter the Prussian reconnaissance cavalry soon.
The officer glanced at the direction An Ning was pointing, nodded slightly, then pointed in the direction they came from and said: "If you go in this direction, you will encounter General Carnegie's Third Army at noon. He is gathering the troops that were defeated yesterday.
Organize defense.”
After saying that the officer was about to lead his team to leave, An Ning hurriedly stepped forward, grabbed his reins and said, "Wait a minute! Sir, our young master has an injury on his leg and can't walk that far. Can you send two people on horseback to take us there?"
Going to the military camp?"
In fact, the young master's legs were not injured, but after a night of escaping, he probably had a few blisters and other scratches on his feet, so he limped when he walked. If he said he was injured, it would probably not be revealed.
As long as the young master doesn't expose An Ning's lies, everything will be fine.
——He wouldn’t be so stupid, would he?
An Ning murmured inwardly while looking at the young master, but he hesitated for a moment and finally lowered his head, acquiescing to An Ning's statement.
It seems that he also wants to ride a horse and be lazy, and doesn't want to walk alone.
However, the cavalry officer shook his head: "We still have to conduct reconnaissance. We may encounter Prussian cavalry on the road and there will be fighting. I need every soldier to perform the mission with me. If you can speak German, you can find farmers to hire ox carts! That's it!
With that, I wish you good luck."
The cavalry officer saluted An Ning and the two, and then led his men to gallop on their horses in the direction that An Ning just pointed.
An Ning looked at Crotz and said, "Shall I rent a bullock cart?"
"Please." Crotz sighed.
**
Sitting on the bullock cart, An Ning can finally relax a little.
He had been running around with him all night, and now he could finally sit down and rest.
As soon as he sat down, he felt the accumulated fatigue burst out, making him want to lie down directly on the bullock cart and have a good sleep.
But he didn't dare to sleep, because the young master he brought with him was completely unreliable.
As soon as Crotz got on the bullock cart, he immediately withered. He looked at An Ning and said, "I can take a rest, Mr. Frost."
It seems that the young master is relieved.
An Ning couldn't help but remind: "We haven't reached our army's formation yet, it's not time to relax, Mr. Tolestel."
"I know. But it's strange. I always feel that as long as you are here, Mr. Frost, everything will be fine."
Just as the young master said this, a line of words suddenly refreshed on the task prompt on the right side of An Ning's vision.
[Complete the additional mission goal: Raise Crozier de Tolestel's favorability to trust. Obtain a reward of 50 crowns, which can be withdrawn at any bank. ]
An Ning was shocked. He thought that this mission system would only give some intangible rewards such as reputation, but he didn't expect that there would be tangible rewards.
50 crowns... Let's put it this way, An Ning bought food and water from this old German farmer and hired him to give up a whole day of farm work and take an oxcart to send herself and the young master to the French army. A total of one crown's worth of silver coins was spent.
.
Moreover, An Ning could tell from the smile on the old farmer's face that this krona was too much.
In this way, 50 crowns is a huge sum of money.
The trophy I got from killing a bandit leader yesterday might not even be worth 50 crowns.
What kind of loot are you looking for? Doing tasks honestly is the right way to make a fortune.
When An Ning looked at the young master, she was looking at the hen that laid the golden eggs.
At this time, the young master said again: "After the Prussians defeated us yesterday, they might continue to advance to attack General Carnegie's Third Army. We should still be able to catch up with the battle..."
An Ning thought goodbye, I don't want to fight anymore, I want to send you back to your father safely and get the reward.
Crotz looked at An Ning: "What do you think? If you participate in the battle again, will you be my guard? With you by my side, I will definitely be able to..."
An Ning: "Mr. Tolestel, I think the Prussians may not continue to entangle with us. After all, their enemies are not only us, but also Emperor Leopold of Habsburg, and the Russians from the east.
.”
An Ning vaguely remembered the Seven Years' War in another time and space, when Prussia and Britain fought against the allied forces of France, Austria, and Russia.
Britain and Prussia are allies, but the British don't seem to have contributed much in Europe. They are mainly fighting with France overseas.
Of course, the details of this time and space history are different in many places, so An Ning cannot go into details, but can only talk about the general direction.
"If I were the Emperor of Prussia, I would not delay in one direction for too long, give my opponents a chance to encircle them, and always maintain my initiative." An Ning said.
Crotz looked thoughtful: "You mean, we are unlikely to be attacked by the main force of the Prussian army in the future?"
An Ning spread her hands and said, "I'm just a cobbler's son. What I said doesn't count."
"But the cobbler's son can speak German." Crotz looked directly at An Ning, "And I noticed that you can read the road signs on the road, which means you know German. It's hard to imagine that you know German but
You don't know French, and as the child of a cobbler, your education is a little too good."
An Ning: "My home is in Caen, where there are many people who can speak German and English. There is no harm in knowing more languages."
In fact, this statement is false at first glance, because Caen is actually far away from the German-speaking area, and there are not many people who speak German and Dutch. In addition, German and French are not in the same language family. French is a Romance language and German is a Germanic language.
For a native speaker of French, it may be easier to learn Italian, and vice versa.
Therefore, Napoleon, who was born in Corsica, quickly mastered French and entered the French Military Academy to study.
But German is different. For a cobbler's son who goes to the Catholic Sunday school on Sunday, it is not an easy thing to learn German.
However, the young master obviously didn't think much and believed it directly.
As expected, the young master's affection for An Ning has reached the level of trust.
At this time, Crotz focused on the war again: "The Prussian army will not continue fighting with us. Damn it, what if the Russian army or the Habsburg army defeated Prussia and the war ended like this? What would I do?
You have to make some meritorious deeds..."
An Ning: "Master, why are you so obsessed with making meritorious deeds? You are the heir of Duke Orlan. Even if you cannot inherit the title, you still have a bright future..."
"Because I want to go to the military academy to further my studies." The young master replied, "So I must make meritorious deeds worthy of a medal in the war."
An Ning raised her eyebrows and thought it didn't make sense. Isn't it easy for noble children to want to go to military school? They don't necessarily have to make meritorious deeds.
Doesn’t the Duke of Orleans support his son going to military school?
An Ning was about to ask a question when Crotz, who had been muttering, suddenly tilted his body and leaned on An Ning's shoulder.
An Ning lowered her head and found that the young master had closed his eyes. Although he was still mumbling, his eyelids could no longer be opened.
After a while, Crotz fell into sleep, snoring softly.