A month later, when the Storm Legion took turns to attack the remaining four central counties that had not been swept away, Claude encountered strong protests from the Red Dragon Legion, who demanded that one central county be left for them. Against the Red Dragon
For the legion, this local county means a profit of two to three million gold crowns. After they robbed it, they can return home. This time they came to the Kingdom of Hicks to participate in the war. There were few casualties, but the profits reached nearly ten million gold crowns.
, it was really a good journey.
But of course Claude would not encourage their desire to rob. He told them straightforwardly that who told them to move so slowly? If they were gone, they would be gone. The Storm Legion would not give up the food in their mouths to them. Just with Red
When the dragon army was entangled, Claude received a reply from the Grand Duke of Northland and the Grand Duke of Sunset River.
The reply from the Grand Duke of the North, Duke Pyrag. Ferriott, was very simple. He just said that if the Dominion Military District did not come to the 11th County of the Northland, he would not send troops out of the Northland. Now his mission is to protect the 11th County of the Northland.
.But at the same time, the Grand Duke of the Northland also strongly condemned in the letter the troops under the Dominion Military Region for looting and arresting the local counties of the Hicks Kingdom. His tone was extremely angry. Along with the reply, there was a list of nearly a thousand names.
...
"This is a list of the nobles of the Kingdom of Hicks who are related to Duke Pyrag H. Ferriot and the Ferriot family, as well as blood relatives and other related people. The Grand Duke of the North hopes that we can
These people were handed back to him." Colonel Bokoal explained: "I checked and found that most of them are in our prison camp, and only a dozen or so are missing..."
"Then select these people and give them to the Grand Duke of the North. Anyway, we are raising them in vain, and they cannot be used by us. Let everyone go with them. There are more than 200,000 people in the prison camp.
, not less than these thousands. Since the Grand Duke of the North has given us this list, it means that he has no intention of going against us and is not willing to send troops to the North to attack us. Our goal has been achieved...
"Claude made his decision.
"Okay, I will go to the prisoner camp tomorrow to select all the people on this list and send them to the Northland." Colonel Bokoal replied.
"By the way, where is the reply from Grand Duke Sunset River?" Claude asked.
Colonel Boker shook his head: "The reply is not with me. The Grand Duke of Sunset River sent someone as a special envoy. The reply is in the hands of the special envoy. The special envoy wants to see you..."
"Well, at ten o'clock tomorrow morning, I will give the special envoy half an hour." Claude said: "Have you seen the special envoy, do you have a feeling about the purpose of the special envoy?"
"I feel like he is hesitant. After all, the conditions you gave are like pie falling from the sky to the Grand Duke of Sunset River. I think everyone will doubt your intentions..." Colonel Bockaar laughed.
When he realized it, he was not optimistic that the Grand Sunset River would fulfill Claude's wish.
"Let's meet this special envoy first," Claude said thoughtfully: "Since the Grand Duke of Sunset River can send a special envoy to see me, he is obviously interested. The problem now is that he has no way to get the guarantee that I am not here.
To deceive him, of course, maybe this special envoy has other intentions and wants to find out our details..."
The next morning, Claude met the special envoy sent by the Grand Duke of Sunset River. He was an old man in his sixties with a very fashionable long beard. It could be seen that this old man took care of his beard better than his hair.
Careful, at least the beard is coated with fragrant oil, which looks much better than his sparse and bald hair.
"Your Excellency, Marshal Claude, my master, the Grand Duke of Sunset River, Duke Niertu Ze. Se Hicks, greets you." The old man made a very standard half-bow.
"Sit down wherever you want," Claude waved his hand, indicating that there was no need to be polite: "What's your name? By the way, do you want black tea or fruit wine?"
"Oh, thank you, I want black tea." The old man still stood respectfully: "Dear Marshal, my name is Kekic Biphank, and I am my master's butler."
"Captain Fahsselin, give him a cup of black tea." Claude pointed to the sofa: "Since you are the steward of the Grand Duke of Sunset River, you should be someone he trusts very much. No wonder he asked you to bring the message...
....”
"Here is the letter. Please read it, Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Marshal." The old man took out a letter from his arms and put it on the desk in front of Claude respectfully.
"Sit down, wait until I finish reading the letter." Claude picked up the letter, checked whether the wax seal stamp was complete, and then opened the letter.
The letter from Grand Duke Sunset River was just as Claude expected. First, it contained a piece of paper and a half written with the words of "Claude Claude's command and invincibility", and then a piece and a half of paper written with his grievances.
, such as the pain of being bullied by the Grand Duke of the North and having no choice but to leave the family fiefdom. The real topic was not until the last piece of paper. The Grand Duke of Sunset River was very interested in Claude's proposal, but he asked Claude to prove
This was not a trap to trick him into falling for...
"Haha..." Claude shook his head and laughed. He said to the old envoy who was sitting on the sofa: "How does your master want me to prove that I didn't set a trap for him? To be honest, I prove it.
No. Now your master, Grand Duke of Sunset River, has a hostile relationship with our Dominion Military Region. I just made a suggestion. Since your master doesn’t want to believe me, there’s no need for me to ask for trouble. You can go back and I’ll tell you.
Master, he still has more than a month to eat more good food and play with more women, because in more than a month, the Storm Legion of our autonomous military region will sweep away the six local counties in the west where you are entrenched."
"Oh no..." The old man's special envoy jumped up: "Dear Marshal, please give us a little more time. I think if you were my master, you would also have such a proposal.
Doubtful, we need more time and patience to understand and trust each other."
"You are very good at talking, but there is no more time. We are proceeding as planned. This has been scheduled for a long time." Claude looked at the old special envoy: "Let's put it this way, originally your master was with us.
Within the scope of the attack, who made him scream so loudly? He wants to drive out the invaders like us and revive the Kingdom of Hicks. I don’t care about these slogans, but we must eliminate the threats behind us.
of......
Writing to your master and proposing to hand over the city of Saint Cyprian and the Wangjing area to him was not a whim of mine, nor was it fear of your master, but I happened to find that he might be the person we need, so I
With such a proposal, it doesn't matter if you don't understand. You can suggest your master to take a good look at the current power map of the Hicks Kingdom. To be honest, the six counties in the west he occupies have no development prospects.
Not only our autonomous military region wants to send troops to attack the territory currently occupied by your master, but also the countries surrounding these local counties in the west. The Kingdom of Monadillo, the Principality of Tumaco and the Kingdom of Isabela all have an interest in the ten local counties in the west.
They are watching with eager eyes. Because the ten western counties of your Kingdom of Hicks were snatched from them. Now, it is the best opportunity for these three countries to regain their lost territory...
If your master does not follow my advice, if you continue to stay there, you will not only face the sweep of our autonomous military region, but also resist the invasion of the armies of the three surrounding countries. Even though your master has gathered so many troops, these few days
A hundred thousand troops are actually just a mob, and they cannot win the future of this kingdom for your master. Not to mention anything else, even the Grand Duke of the North cannot tolerate your master growing into a force that threatens him.
Therefore, I suggest that you advise your master to accept my suggestion. I can only guarantee that my proposal has no intentions or malice towards your master, but I cannot prove anything to make your master believe what I say. This is very important to you.
It is a big gambling game for your master. It depends on whether he dares to place a bet. You can go back now and tell your master what I said. It depends on his choice.
....."
Claude tapped the old man of the special envoy with his finger and motioned to Captain Fahsselin who was standing aside to take the old man out. Captain Fahsselin hurriedly came to the old man of the special envoy and made an invitation gesture towards him. Special Envoy
The old man wiped the sweat from his forehead, gave another half-bow to Claude, and then followed Captain Fahsselin towards the door.
As soon as the old special envoy left, Colonel Boker opened the door and came in.
"Have you finished your work?" Claude asked.
Boker nodded: "I gave the list of the Grand Duke of the North to Colonel Mehad in the prison camp. He will organize people to find the people on the list, but it will take three days. This efficiency is really
Too slow."
"I just met the special envoy of the Grand Duke of Sunset River. He actually asked me in the letter to prove that my proposal was not a lie to him or a trap for him." Claude laughed and said: "I don't know where he got his confidence.
Do you think you are too shameless? You want me to give him this face? I told the old envoy he sent, forget it if you don’t believe him. I don’t know what kind of spinach he is. I made such a proposal just to see that he is more ambitious and more ambitious than you.
The recommended Patriotic Front character was much stronger, so I gave him a chance..."
Colonel Boker picked up the letter from the Grand Duke of Sunset River on his desk and read it: "Actually, this Grand Duke wants you to send a few people as hostages to ensure that he will not be plotted by you."
"I know what he means." Claude said gloomily: "But I don't want to agree to his request. Since you don't believe my guarantee, forget it, screw him, at worst, choose a suitable candidate from the prisoner camp.
....."
Mentioning the prisoner camp Bokoal, he thought: "By the way, Colonel Mehad of the prisoner camp asked those captured local garrison troops and some standing army soldiers if they could release a group? The families of these prisoners came to the prisoner camp.
He came and walked around the prisoner camp every day, and it was as crowded as a vegetable market. He felt that these captured soldiers did not pose a big threat to us, so he might as well release a group of them, so as not to waste our food reserves by eating and drinking here every day.
.”
Claude touched his head and felt a little embarrassed: "I seem to remember seeing this document somewhere. It was submitted by the prisoner camp. The meaning is similar to what you said. It's just that I don't know where to put it. I remember that I approved it.
Yes, did you forget to send it? By the way, there is a dark red animal skin folder in the stack of documents..."
Colonel Bockard searched for a long time on the table filled with various animal skin folders that Claude pointed to, and finally found the crimson animal skin folder. When he opened it, he saw that it was indeed the prisoner camp folder.
Submitted documents.
Regarding the prisoners currently held in the prison camp, there are mainly three categories. The most noble ones are naturally the territorial aristocracy of the Hicks Kingdom. The prisoners of the higher Hicks royal family were immediately packaged and sent to the royal capital by the Dominion Military Region.
Went there. The people with the second highest status were those whose homes were confiscated, such as wealthy merchants and gentry from various local counties who were captured, as well as those local officials who served and officers in the army. The ones with the lowest status were those who were in the local garrison.
soldiers.
The Breault Kingdom and General Skerry of the Beibu Gulf each took 50,000 prisoners from the prisoner camps to serve as laborers, but the 100,000 prisoners were all officers and soldiers of the Hicks Kingdom's standing army and those who resisted, and were considered prisoners.
The burden of the battalion was reduced. However, as the Thunder Legion swept through the nine eastern counties, the Storm Legion took turns to raid the four central counties. As a result, the prisoner camp added hundreds of thousands of captured local garrison soldiers...
Colonel Mehard, the director of the prison camp, is right to think that these prisoners pose no threat to the Dominion Military Region, because the armed soldiers recruited to guard the areas are mostly farmers, handicraft workshop workers, fishermen, small traders, etc.
, there are people from all professions. Some soldiers who were captured in areas closer to Wang Jing even found their families in the prison camp. They crowded outside the camp every day to look for their relatives, with tears in their eyes. It was strange to see them.
Poor look.
Colonel Mehad said in the document submitted that many of the people recruited into the local garrison were the only main labor force of their families. Without him, it would be like a disaster for the family. Anyway, the Dominion Military Region did not want to occupy Shik.
There are so many captives in the Kingdom of Sri Lanka, and they are locked up in the camp to eat and drink for free every day, with no work to do. It would be more appropriate to release them all. At worst, just like the last time in the Nasseri area, they will be stabbed in the thigh to let them go.
They are free. If they are caught next time and find a wound on their thigh, they will be shot directly...
The prisoner camp of more than 200,000 people has already involved the troops of two Hicks Returning Divisions to guard them, and the daily food consumption is not a small amount. If all the prisoners who were guarding the armed forces in these places were released,
The number of prisoners can be reduced by two-thirds, and the pressure to take care of the prisoners will not be so great. Now the two major consumption and expenditure problems in the Dominion Military District are military dependents and prisoners, both of whom are free to eat and drink. Fortunately, the Kingdom of Hicks
Wealthy, the captured grain and grass supplies are sufficient to meet these wasted consumption.
Claude had already signed the document submitted by the prisoner camp as read. Colonel Bockard said with disdain: "No wonder Colonel Mehard asked me to ask why there has been no reply to this document. You just wrote this
What kind of approval is it that you have read it? You are asked to make a decision below, agree or disagree with the prison camp proposal. You just said that you have read it but have no other meaning. They thought you hadn't thought it through yet, so this document has been kept.
It’s here with you.”
"It was my mistake. I confused it with the documents I was asked to review." Claude was a little embarrassed, but he still admitted his mistake. He took the document from Colonel Bockard and was about to sign it.
, Claude remembered something again.
"Wait a minute, has your Military Intelligence Department finalized the distribution plan for the ten local counties in central China?" Claude asked.
This was a distribution plan that Claude asked the Ministry of Military Intelligence to consider a month ago when he suddenly had the idea to hand over Wangjing Saint Hyprian City and Wangjing area to the Grand Duke of Sunset River. Because the leading parties of the Patriotic Front really had some support.
They couldn't afford it, so Claude thought that instead of giving them the responsibility of the entire ten counties in the central region, it would be better to select ten leaders and let these leading parties form ten small groups, and then assign each local county in the ten central counties to a small group.
Be responsible, this is more reliable...
When the Dominion Military Region withdrew from the Kingdom of Hicks, the ten central counties decided to leave them alone. Whether they killed each other or formed alliances and cooperated, it all depended on the abilities of these small groups. This was like raising poisonous insects.
Put them into a jar and let them fight among themselves to determine the final winner. Claude believes that such a competitive environment will allow these leading parties to grow faster.
"It has been allocated." Colonel Bock'al replied: "However, the Red Dragon Legion and the Storm Legion are still sweeping the five central local counties, so they have only established small groups and allocated these ten local counties, waiting for the transfer.
.”
Claude quickly wrote a reply on the document: "Take this document to them and let these small groups go to the prison camp to recruit soldiers first, and each form a garrison regiment. All the equipment will be captured from us.
The weapons and armaments of the Hicks Kingdom are spent on weapons and armaments. Let them remember that it is best to recruit only those locals from the local counties they are assigned to, so that they can be controlled. The rest will be as Colonel Mehard said,
He will be released with a stab in the thigh. If we catch him again in the future, if we find a stab wound in his thigh, we will shoot him immediately!"
Colonel Boker nodded: "I understand, let's do it now."
"Wait, there is one more thing." Claude thought for a while and said: "You go to the special envoy of the Grand Duke of Sunset River. There are some things that I can't say, but you can wake him up. You can tell him my strategic intentions directly.
Tell that envoy that they are the separatist forces who want to achieve a balance in the Hicks Kingdom after the withdrawal of our Dominion, so this is the best opportunity for his master to dominate Wangjing.
I can't prove it to him, but his master can take his private armed forces into a local county closest to the Wangjing area before we leave. I will send a division to monitor nearby just in case. After we evacuate, his
The master can occupy Wangjing Saint Cyprian City and the Wangjing area as soon as possible, and we will leave some weapons and equipment for his master in the city..."