Realm of Power

Province of Philippe, Picardy,

The black clouds were very low to the ground, like a black lid covering them. A group of Gallic cavalry came out of the city gate. At the front was a vigorous old man wearing white and silver noble armor. Passing by the door At that moment, a middle-aged guard saluted him.

The old man stopped his horse and glanced at the guard, "Lu Lan, is there anything special happening today?"

"No, Your Majesty the Duke!" the city gate guard replied loudly, wearing a wide-brimmed metal helmet and holding a gleaming long-handled battle ax in his hand. He held his head high. The Duke directly called him by his name, which made him look excited.

"Lu Lan, show off the momentum of a veteran, be careful, and report any situation immediately!"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty the Duke, if an enemy comes, I will sound the alarm as soon as possible!" City Guard Lu Lan replied decisively.

"Then Picardie is left to you!"

Duke Salan nodded and continued to move forward on his horse. Behind him were three retinue officers, the thin guard captain Weiss, the city guard Levin who was a bit fat, and the last one was Simon, the combat officer in charge of recruiting new soldiers. , with a thin figure and a hint of arrogance on his face. When his eyes glance over you, it's like a dazzling javelin, giving people a sense of toughness from the military.

Their target is the recruit training camp three miles outside the city.

In July, in response to the tense situation, the capital of Gaul issued an order for the regions to recruit soldiers on their own. The Duke of Salan, who once served in the imperial military, decisively sold most of his family's properties and used 200,000 gold coins to recruit a military force. A regional force of three thousand people. This army is the life of Duke Salan,

The person in charge of training is Viscount Simon, a serious combat officer. A traditional Gallic officer who served as a combat adjutant in the Eleventh Legion of the Gallic Empire for eleven years. He has average combat experience but rich training experience. The biggest advantage is that this training officer Simon is a Picard. Everyone's goal is the same,

The province of Philippe was a huge flat land in the hinterland of Gaul. The land is fertile and the products are abundant. In the history of the Gallic Empire, it once provided sufficient military food and supplies for the Gallic army to sweep the northwest. For more than a hundred years, no external war threatened this area in the hinterland of the empire. The area, the people here. Although nervous, it is also comfortable,

Picardy is located in the southwest corner of Philippe Province, relatively close to Daniel on the front line of the war, so it is more familiar with the battle conditions on the front line than in other areas. Duke Salan raised his head and glanced at the sky. Some are worried that if the continuous rainy season ends, the Falcon Army's frontline will avoid Daniel and go directly to the Philip Province. In that case, Picardy City in the southwest corner will bear the brunt! This is the idea of ​​Duke Salan. Duke Salan, who was born in the military, is very confident that "the Falcon Army is contained in the direction of Daniel. Once it gets rid of the trouble of the rainy season, it will definitely use the Picardie area as the first point of attack." !”

He was in the capacity of District Administrator. He submitted this idea to the governor of the province, Harald, and believed that the province should place all the currently recruited troops in the direction of Picard.

But Governor Harald's answer to him was that it was impossible. First, most of the regional legions that could be mobilized had been transferred to the front line. Second, the remaining troops were all troops formed by the nobles from all over the province in July. , there are a large number of one or two thousand people, and a small number of only fifty or sixty people, densely packed , swarmed up, everyone wanted to take advantage of Kyoto's decree to recruit private armed forces belonging to their own families. The total number added up to tens of thousands, but in terms of command, they acted independently and could not coordinate at all. They are all private armed forces similar to local guards.

Third, just as Duke Salan believes that the Falcon Army will attack Picardy first, other regions also hold the same idea. Everyone thinks about protecting themselves first, or using their power to obtain more benefits. Even Harald, as the governor of the province, had no power to mobilize their soldiers.

The Governor's Mansion does have a 2,000-strong regular army garrison, but that is the final military force to guard the provincial capital. According to imperial military regulations, this unit cannot leave the provincial capital. Otherwise, it would have been transferred to the front line. It's a battlefield,

The situation in Daniel is like a tight thread, not only involving the Daniel area, but also the hinterland of Gaul behind.

Since the provincial governor's palace is unreliable, Duke Salan can only find other ways. Fortunately, there is no end to the problem. He has always been regarded as the most unpopular person in Philip's province, and suddenly he wants to sell a batch of ordnance and armor. , that man’s name is Angelio, Philip the Consulate in Kyoto New news has come from the regional inspector. This inspector has been promoted again. He will soon leave the tense Philip region and go to Kyoto to take up the position of undersecretary of the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Although his rank is not high, he After all, he is also a minister-level figure in the empire.

Selling most of the assets and purchasing 3,000 sets of infantry equipment from the outgoing inspector was already the limit that Duke Salan could afford. In any case, he would be more certain to hold on to Picardy City. If If you don't encounter the main force of the Falcon Army, but just some scattered small units, you can still deal with it.

But for some unknown reason, Duke Salan seemed to be restless when he got up today. He was always suppressing a trace of unhappiness in his heart. It wasn't until he saw the battle flag of the military camp that his face looked better. The military camp was not big, and all the funds were spent on recruitment. In terms of soldiers and weapons, the cost of building a military camp is minimal, so the military camp looks very simple. It is surrounded by wooden fences along the mounds to form a square. At the four corners of the wooden fence, the flags of the Gallic army were fluttering in the wind. On the wide plain outside the camp, the newly recruited recruits were doing formation training. About three thousand recruits were divided into six square formations, each There are three square formations, like tofu cubes. This is the infantry square formation commonly used by the Gallic army. In front of the formation is a row of erected wooden stakes. This is the "enemy" that the recruits wield their weapons against.

Duke Salan looked at the scene in front of him, and his old face glowed red for the first time. Only here could the old soldier smell a breath of the battlefield. The Philip region has been at peace for so long that the bloody smell of war has been forgotten. Only this old Duke, who had experienced many battles, had a premonition that a storm was coming here.

The sky is a bit gloomy, there is no sun, the dark green leaves are floating in the wind, and the quiet heat blowing in the face clearly tells everyone that the heat is about to end. The rainy season is coming to an end, and the simple barracks and rows of weapons cannot hide the figures of the new soldiers. The rapid and sharp whistles constantly break the short silence, followed by a wave of shouts that seem to resound through the sky. There seemed to be countless giants beating the war drums of the earth, and the Gallic flag fluttering in the wind was like a ball of flames. Against the backdrop of the late autumn wilderness, the old Duke stood on the high ground of the camp, his eyes narrowed slightly. Wire

The area where the flat plains of Phipp meet the Dane. The horseshoes nailed with thick curved irons were like sharp razors, tearing the ground apart completely and turning it into black patches here and there. These were splashed with wet mud and slapped mercilessly on the swamp ground. On the quagmire. At noon, a thin black line appeared in the distance on the horizon.

Hua La La... Hua La La..."

Countless continuous and exciting sounds, as the black line came from the distance, the earth seemed to be covered with black lines, and the black lines became bigger and bigger. It is also getting wider and wider, and in this group of oceans, flags with crescent moons and stars are fluttering in the wind. It was a dense layer of cavalry, crowded in this fertile land. The war horses were almost connected by their hoofs.

Looking across the vast land in front of him, Duo Weiyan, who was wearing a prairie general's armor, raised the whip in his hand and read out a long list of tribal names: "Baisa, Coroline, Zhamusiran..." .Go east! Others follow me to the west!"

After hearing the order, the tribal chiefs immediately divided into two directions. The 60,000 steppe cavalry that crossed the boundary between Daniel and Philip were like waves in a tropical storm and like a flood that broke a bank, invading like fire. Sweeping forward, everything he passed was submerged by the ocean formed by the black armor on the cavalry.

Under the black clouds, the black clouds rolled in quickly, with almost no gaps. The thunderous sound of horse hooves made the wind and clouds in the sky change color.

Countless flying horse hooves trampled across the plains, bringing up sand, gravel and withered grass, and rolled them into a tornado-like team. The gravel collided back and forth in the dense horse hooves until it was completely crushed. Disappearing in the fierce cold wind, the prairie cavalry advanced very quickly,

Skilled equestrian skills gave the grassland people a unique tacit understanding. There were many people, but there was no chaos at all.

Thousands of horses are moving, but they maintain an astonishing speed of advancement, like an extremely sophisticated machine. It is easy to give people the illusion that if someone falls in the middle, he will be crushed to pieces immediately, completely melted into the earth. Not the slightest trace could be seen anymore.

The sturdy prairie horses do not care about the existence of weeds and sand and gravel on the plains. They spread their hooves as fast as possible, galloping freely like the wind in this vast land covered with thin soil. On the ground, the earth was broken into pieces under the splash of horse hooves, or was stepped deeply into the earth,

Occasionally, one or two slightly thicker pieces of mud would be carried flying by the horses' hooves, emitting a dazzling light under the eyes. There are no abundant aquatic plants or abundant prey here. It is not worthy of their nostalgia, and it is not worthy of their slowing down. Their sight is far away.

King Khan only gave him fifteen days. In order to prevent the various tribes from being left empty-handed in this "hunting" with high spirits and asking for compensation from him, the fat man also went out of his way to give selections to the two armies of the east and west. The two guides who were familiar with the Gaul region were among the imperial adjutants who specialized in studying Gaul intelligence.

When they were serving as guides, they were also responsible for recording the work along the way. As soon as they crossed the border of Daniel, the patriarchs immediately called for their attached guides and asked them head-on, "Which area in Gaul is the richest!"

The guide, who was an adjutant, looked around at the prairie chiefs whose eyes were glowing green. He hesitated for a moment and replied, "The place where the last money in Gaul is, of course, is the Kyoto area of ​​Gaul. It is said that there are piles of treasures there." It became a mountain and was the most densely populated and commercially important part of the Gallic Empire. It's a prosperous and wealth-rich area, and you can steal millions of dollars if you can." The guide revealed. With a longing look on his face, he licked his lips very obscenely. I jumped out and said, "It's probably enough to eat for eight lifetimes while lying down!"

The clan leaders all looked at each other and were moved. There was still some hesitation. Some people asked whether the capital of Gaul was too far away, but King Khan only gave him fifteen days.

After taking a look at these grassland bumpkins who didn't know how to adapt, the guide said with some disdain, "Although Kyoto is a thousand miles away from Daniel, for the highly mobile prairie cavalry, eight days is enough time to cross." In this distance, there are still seven days for everyone to hunt freely! King Khan gave it! Fifteen days of complete looting time, but it does not say that the round trip must be completed within fifteen days. As for the areas passing along the way, you can just return to the road and loot again after the fifteen days of looting period. , but according to the rules, one-fifth of the looted property must be handed over to the Khan after fifteen days!"

After listening to the guide's words, the prairie chiefs felt deeply justified. The chief of the Bai'er tribe directly put a three-star glowing moon war flag of the forward army into the hands of the guide, and sent a thousand of the tribe's bravest warriors to escort the guide and lead the way. In this way, the tribal leaders divided into two groups to achieve their goals. , coincidentally fell in love with the richest region in Gaul, the Gaul-Kyoto region! Sixty thousand prairie cavalry are like two sharp arrows. From the bowstring of the falcon called Vecchia towards the heart of the Gauls,

Duke Salan's analysis is correct

Because the direction also pointed in the direction of Kyoto in Gaul, the two troops of the grassland people showed little interest in the hinterland province called Philip in front of them, but it was a pity. The city of Picardie in the southwest corner was located exactly at the starting point of this attack line, which also caused the death of more than two million Gauls. Thirty-nine prosperous cities were destroyed by a huge military disaster in just half a month, which was designated by history as the "Disaster of Picardy"

When the prairie cavalry forward appeared in the Picardy area, Duke Salan was preparing to come down from the watch tower. He heard the urgent ringing of the bell from the watch tower, "To the west, enemies, a large number of enemies!" The sentry's voice sounded very panicked. Following the direction of the sentry's shout, Duke Salan took a breath of air when he saw it.

The gray and dull sky seemed to be condensed with the large, fast-moving black in the distance.

"Cavalry, enemy cavalry, quickly, get on the springboard!"

The sentry clearly saw the whole row of leaping horses and the knights on them. His heart almost jumped out of his chest. The torrent was flowing. The knights on the horses were wearing thin armor. Carrying a bow and arrow on his back, he bent down and clung to his horse's back, holding the horse's belly firmly with his feet, increasing the speed of the war horse to the limit, crossing this vast and desolate land like a sharp arrow. At this moment, the air seemed very heavy and breathing was very difficult. The recruits hurriedly picked up their weapons and ran on the springboard of the wooden fence of the camp. This was the first battle for most of the recruits, and their hearts beat rapidly. Endless tension enveloped him silently from all directions, and the rapid trombone sound of war echoed in his ears.

"Find a way to stop them, for Gaul! And for Picardy City!" Thinking of the city behind the military camp, the old Duke pulled out his sword with determination. The military camp is less than three miles away from Picardy City. If he can't stop it, With these cavalry, once the military camp is breached, the city of Picardy will be completely destroyed.

At some point, necessary sacrifices are inevitable;

"Round shooting formation!"

In the distance, the queue of prairie cavalry began to gradually spread out, like a huge wing. Countless grassland compound bows were raised towards the sky. The dense queue was like blooming petals, opening layer by layer. The tacit understanding is like ten fingers changing patterns, full of a strange beauty.

"shooting"

The black knight and the black horse rushed into the military camp a hundred meters away. The prairie archer with colored grease on his eyebrows followed the order and simultaneously released his hand on the bow string. A flash of cold arrows drew countless shapes in the air. The rapid white light and shadow shot out, spreading its arms of death, and hit the simple wooden fence of the military camp like a storm. "Attention, arrows..." A recruit shouted before he died, but there were large pieces of flying arrows. , once again blocked the sun like clouds, and the dark clouds turned into raindrops in an instant, and metal waterfalls fell from the sky. It was like being punched in the front by an invisible giant. The whole person suddenly flew backwards, and his body was in mid-air. Twisted into an unnatural posture, flipped over and shot into a hedgehog. In the same situation as this recruit, even the Duke of Salan, who has rich combat experience, did not expect that he would run into the rumored archer species.

"Ah!" Not to mention the recruits who encountered cavalry shooting for the first time. They fell over on their backs and fell to pieces on the wooden board. Many people fell from high places, with shrill and frightening shouts like meat patties. Fence boards more than three meters high also fell

"Sir, our army is blocked by fortifications. There is a Gaulish military camp in front! Three miles away, we found a city with no defensive forces." A forward scout on the grassland came to the back with his own team of 10,000 people. Duo Weiyan reported. Duo Weiyan looked at the guide beside him. The guide hesitated. He took out the map and looked at it carefully, and said, "This should be the location of Picardy City in Philip Province. What you encountered may be the local troops of Picardy City!"

"Local troops from Picardy City?"

Duo Weiyan held the riding whip in his hand and ordered the cavalry behind him with a cold face, "Come here, order the forwards to hold the enemy while the others follow me to Picardy City and let it be the starting point of our great hunt!" Stay, kill them all, and pray for our victory with the blood of the Gauls!