Chapter Five Hundred and Twenty-Three The Royal Capital
Jinlongdu, the palace hall.
There was a depressing atmosphere permeating the splendid hall, and Ren's worry was completely displayed on his face. With Ren's demeanor, he could keep his emotions and anger hidden most of the time, which made the ministers below
They always speculate on his mood to maintain the mystery of his superiority.
But the recent spate of bad news has made him too lazy to maintain his composure. From the defeat of the army in the middle to Thor's life and death, as well as the bad news about the departure of the golden dragon and the large number of white dragons assisting the orcs in fighting, Renn instantly aged ten years.
Years old, in the face of the orc crisis, other things are not important. After all, the orcs will not care about his kingly demeanor and will only talk to him with the battle ax in his hand.
What Ren has been doing during this period is to continuously transfuse blood towards Long Xing Pass and use the power of the entire kingdom to increase the strength of the defenders at Long Xing Pass. However, while continuously supporting Long Xing Pass, Ren has actually done a good job in Long Xing Pass.
The expectation that Xiguan would be lost was evidenced by the continuous training of the local garrison.
"How is the work of sorting out the garrison in Under Armor City going?"
Because Renn himself is diligent, the order of business in the Golden Dragon Kingdom has always been that the ministers wait below. Renn will ask questions and discuss first. After Renn has discussed and decided on the matters he considers important, the ministers in the hall will come out to supplement.
, if there is nothing to discuss, just disperse the court.
At this time, the first thing Ren asked was about the garrison. The military system of the Golden Dragon Kingdom roughly divided the army into three categories. The Royal Guards, directly commanded by Thor, were considered the first level in the kingdom.
The army is different from the useless Forbidden Army in most countries. The Guards under the leadership of Thor have always maintained good combat effectiveness, use the best equipment, and receive undeducted military pay.
The second level belongs to the Kingdom's regular armies stationed across the country. These armies are fully funded by the Kingdom and provided with equipment. From time to time, they have to train to deal with the Kingdom's inspections. Therefore, most of the combat power of this part of the army still has a bottom line.
The officers may be on free pay, but they can still pull out troops when there is a real war. Now half of this army has been pulled up to the battlefield of Longxiguan to receive the baptism of actual combat.
The third type of army is the garrison army in various cities in various places. This part of the army is jointly funded by the kingdom and local officials and nobles. It accounts for most of the country's army, but its combat effectiveness level is a little erratic.
There are also some private soldiers of the nobles. Typical representatives are the former Lanster family, the current Ross family in the West, and the Hunter family, which is currently at its peak. Let’s not mention these for now.
In some places, a part of the garrison has been completely reduced to a paper soldier. This person was there when the kingdom paid per capita. During the war, this person will probably disappear out of thin air. There is also a small part that acts as a facade and hangs around every now and then.
It's okay to go for a few inspections, but it's definitely not okay to fight.
There are still a very small number of people who are particularly capable of fighting, which may not give the kingdom peace of mind. While the kingdom's regular army has abundant military virtues, the local garrison actually does not receive much attention. They are all cash cows for local officials. If
If the garrison in any small town has sufficient soldiers, is well-equipped, and is well-trained, it is very likely that the church has used its influence to secretly infiltrate the nobles and officials here and feed them with the skins of the kingdom's garrison.
His own army was just like when Richard was attacked by the small town garrison when he first entered the royal capital.
After all, the Golden Dragon Kingdom can be said to be vast in terms of land and resources no matter how it is calculated. This kind of land has exceeded the limit of national control in the feudal era. It can maintain the central authority for hundreds of years and ensure long-term obedience from all regions. The regular army is basically
Maintaining fighting power is already considered as a sign that the monarchs of the Charman family are able to govern the country well. They cannot ask the king of Jinlongdu to control the local area with the strength of a modern country.
Therefore, in the past, the kingdom's senior officials did not care much about how bad the local garrison was, and they could not control it. However, it is different now. The war has lifted the lid on the situation. Basically, all the regular armies that can be mobilized have been mobilized. The kingdom is currently
In a situation of shortage of troops, it is natural to use the garrison army, which consumes a large amount of the kingdom's military expenditure.
This part of the military expenditure was once a cash cow for local officials and nobles, and they could not be easily moved. However, under the pressure of the general situation, they had to move even if they did not move.
The person responsible for this matter is Wren's eldest son, the eldest prince Wolf.
At this time, the eldest prince was dressed like a real general, standing in the main hall in a general's uniform. Hearing Ren's question about the garrison, he immediately stood up in line and replied to Ren:
"The reorganization work of the Under Armor City garrison is still in progress. It will take at least a month to form combat effectiveness."
"Why is it so slow?"
Frankly speaking, the eldest prince Wolf has some abilities, otherwise Richard would not have put him on the same level as Paley and judged him as a mastermind. You know, Richard would have been so demanding.
It is not easy for people to give such a high evaluation.
But Renn still felt that the opponent was a bit slow. After all, judging from the previous military situation, the situation at Longxing Pass was definitely not optimistic. The orcs could break through the pass at any time, and they did not have enough time.
Under Armor City is a large city lying across the central plain. It is three to four hundred miles east of Golden Dragon City and radiates to several small cities around it. Several legions of the kingdom's regular legions were originally stationed around it, but they have long been transferred there.
On the front line of Longxiguan, only half of the flag regiment remained. If there was an enemy attack, the main task of defending the city would have to fall on the garrison.
Faced with Ren's doubts, the eldest prince Wolf also had to quickly explain.
"When I took over the Under Armor City garrison, its normal number of soldiers in the camp was less than 5,000, and the combined armies of the surrounding cities were only 10,000. After excluding the old and weak, there were less than 5,000 soldiers available.
, all the remaining vacancies were filled later, and the training time at this time was only one month."
"Hiss~"
After the eldest prince Wolf told the specific situation, Renn really took a breath. Although Renn was the master, human energy was limited after all. Renn could not know everything about the kingdom, or that
, the greed of local officials and nobles in the kingdom completely broke Ren's understanding.
The garrison of Under Armor City plus the surrounding small towns and markets was supposed to number one hundred thousand. In addition to paying full military expenditures to the regular regiments with serial numbers every year, the kingdom also provided half pay to these garrison troops.
It is said to be half pay, but half pay is not a small amount. The kingdom has always treated the army preferentially. The pay of a regular soldier directly under the army is enough to barely support a family. Although the garrison is half pay, it can still support the family.
There is absolutely no problem if you have one more person, and according to the regulations of the kingdom, the local government should also contribute part of the money to maintain the garrison.
The kingdom's annual garrison salary is definitely not a small figure. Thinking about it in Rennes, after spending so much money, there must be a sound. He had never imagined that there would be 100,000 full and well-trained soldiers.
The garrison soldiers must have a strength of 20 to 30 thousand people anyway.
In the final analysis, Renn still had a lack of understanding of the greed of the bureaucrats and aristocracy. He knew that these people would be greedy, but he did not expect that they could be so greedy that they could directly wipe out an army of 100,000 people.
Being able to pull out these five thousand people can be regarded as a somewhat intimidating force for the center of the Golden Dragon Kingdom, and it must be prepared to deal with inspections from the kingdom from time to time.
As a result, the eldest prince Wolf, who was responsible for reorganizing the garrison, was naturally troubled. He could only recruit a new group of young men to pull up the team. Such a large proportion of recruits was equivalent to having to train them all from scratch.
, and training has a direct impact on the army's combat effectiveness. The army that has only been trained a month ago is still in the recruitment stage. It is estimated that various weapons have not been used yet. Wolf said that it will take another month of training to form combat effectiveness. Wolf is extremely confident.
’s statement.
"Those officials responsible for this matter..."
"Already executed."
Ren was already angry, but Wolf had obviously done things in advance and had already physically sent away those greedy officials and nobles. The Golden Dragon Kingdom might not be able to use the same method to eliminate all similar officials and nobles in the country, but
The power of the royal family allows them to verify and process batches.
"Um"
Hearing Wolf's answer, Ren just nodded and said no more. Wolf did what he wanted to tell him. But behind this calmness, at least a thousand heads fell to the ground, and many ministers in the hall were thinking.
After all, Renn completely acquiesced and supported Wolf's killing behavior.
"If you have any need, you can ask local officials to cooperate. If you encounter any obstruction, you can kill first and then attack. Let the garrison have the strength to fight as soon as possible."
"yes!"
Wolf responded briefly and stood back in the queue. At this time, Wolf's speaking and acting style became more and more like that of an officer. I don't know if he got it during the process of reorganizing the army, or because he wanted to get along with other officers.
…
However, Wren didn't care about Wolf's slightly excessive behavior. He gave up power on his own initiative. He was not afraid of his sons seizing power, but he was worried that these people would not use it well. Now it seems that Wolf has used it well.
After discussing a few more minor matters, when Rennes was about to end this semi-monthly meeting, an ordinary official stood up.
"Your Majesty, the internal officer Peggy falsely conveyed your majesty's order, ordering the nobles to hoard the autumn grain stored in the castle to the big city. This has caused dissatisfaction among many nobles on the Great Plains. Please deal with Peggy..."
Although Ross's order was to prepare for the fall of Dragon's Breath Pass and to reduce the supply source of the orc army as much as possible, this order actually harmed the interests of the nobles on the Great Plains. Naturally, it caused widespread dissatisfaction.
With a pretext, someone came out to make trouble. There was a serious error in the order procedure.
In fact, everyone knew who gave Peggy's order in the name of Renne, but at this moment no one dared to stand up and accuse Rose. After dealing with Peggy and blocking the order, the goal was achieved.
Some of the better-informed officials in the hall already had some understanding of the matter, and they all lowered their heads in silence, waiting for Ren's reaction.
When Ren heard someone mention this, his expression moved slightly. He knew about it. After all, the black prison under Varys was not a decoration, and Peggy later explained the situation with a bird message.
As a king, Renn was instinctively a little disgusted with Rose's behavior of pretending to be in his name and acting first and then making up for votes. However, he also understood the principle of obeying authority in emergencies, so he had no intention of pursuing it. He just didn't expect that it would happen so soon.
It was brought up during the court meeting.
After a slight pause, Renn still replied:
"Pechi did not pretend to convey the decree. It was me who gave the order, asking the nobles on the Central Plains to fully cooperate with the action without delay."
"Yes, Your Majesty..."
There is definitely something wrong with the process of this matter. This kind of order usually has to be announced in public at a court meeting, but now it is being implemented without this step at all. There must be something wrong.
But with Ren's endorsement, no one dared to stand up and question it.
After the court meeting dispersed, Renn gave Varys a warning.
"Let the black jail check that person just now."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
…
Longxiguan
The fighting was still fierce, with the orcs attacking the pass almost day and night. A large number of corpses were dropped along the pass on both sides, and even occasionally a few white dragon corpses could be seen among the layers of corpses.
The human resistance is not unyielding. Even with the help of the white dragon, the orcs fought with each other at the first pass for several days. They used their lives to withstand the breath of the white dragon, and even defeated it with the help of the divine crossbow.
Several white dragons.
However, at this time, the defenders of Guancheng had reached the end of their strength, and almost all the powerful crossbows and other large instruments had been destroyed. Bailong once again took the risk and rushed to the city wall with the orcs.
Planks fell from several wells. The orc warrior was the first to land on the city wall and smashed several soldiers away with an axe. There were more orc warriors who completely ignored the stones smashed above their heads and poured hot oil on them.
The formation carries the long ladder to attack.
"General Taize, the southern section of the city wall has been lost. Do you want to send a reserve team up?"
"It's useless. Order the army to withdraw and abandon Guancheng."
"Let the reserves organize a defense line in the trenches and cover the retreat."
"Lord Taize, what is this?"
Taize's order to abandon Guancheng made the officers next to him hesitate. After all, in the eyes of many people, Guancheng is the strongest barrier. You can't just give up.
"Excuting an order!"
"Yes, General!"
Under Taize's strict order, the human army gradually withdrew from the surrounding areas of the city. After grinding the orcs on this flesh-and-blood millstone for several days, they finally captured the first barrier of Longxing Pass...
