Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 720: Unknown Commander Combination
More than a hundred miles southwest of Prague, a convoy was driving slowly on a country road.

Jessica was sitting on a baggage cart, frowning as he looked at a pile of letters in his hand. At this moment, a rider carrying "Wu" came running from behind and shouted from a distance: "Commander Yang! Your letter!"

Next to him, a deputy on horseback turned around, took the letter box, and looked at the seal on it.

"It's still the prince's." He threw the mailbox to Jessica and said.

Jieshika took it, opened it quickly, took a look, and said to everyone, "The prince and his men have already arrived at East Village. Let's hurry up and get to the river before noon to get some water. In addition, after crossing the river, we will be out of Qingshi County and arrive in Huanglin County. Has their guide arrived?"

"They should be on their way." The deputy told him, "This morning, Brother Matt from Huanglin County sent a letter saying that guides and supplies have been prepared, and their team is heading towards the river. They will probably arrive at noon."

"Let me take a look..." Jessica opened the map.

He had spent a long time in Bohemia before, but only in his hometown or near Prague. He had not been to this direction very often. Moreover, the administrative divisions here had not been established for long. Without looking at this map, he himself did not know where the border was. Even the locals were not very familiar with these things, and usually relied more on landmarks such as rivers.

About two years ago, the King of Wu sent an envoy here to invite several villages along the road to surrender to the Ming Dynasty. Everyone was confused about this, but the envoy told them that all the villages along the way had joined. As long as they surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, His Majesty would send people to sort out the land and taxes, so they would not be afraid of the master coming to rob things. In the future, if there are disputes over water sources and farmland, they can also go to their side for mediation, which is much fairer than the earl's court. On the other hand, if people from other places surrendered to the Ming Dynasty and this side did not participate, they would definitely suffer in the future.

Everyone thought it made sense. The heads of several local villages also tried to find out about the conditions of the other villages he mentioned. After discovering that they really had these benefits, they briefly discussed with each other and decided to join this rural mutual aid organization called "Da Ming".

Soon, everyone found that the imperial court would organize people to build roads and distribute iron farm tools to them. Sometimes, they would send people to reduce the power of the local bandits and beat them into submission. As a result, everyone gradually recognized the idea and, consciously or unconsciously, promoted it to their relatives and friends. Gradually, villages across the county joined in.

As the population and territory increased, the imperial court sent officials to inspect and prepare to set up prefectures and counties for further management. Huang Zicheng, an important official of the Wu clan, personally led a team here to compile maps and books and to demarcate boundaries.

However, this was the main area of ​​influence of Hussist doctrine. At that time, Huang Zicheng had just been beaten by Hussite priests. He was suspicious and did not dare to say too much. He threw all the specific work to his subordinates, claiming that he would focus on surveying the mountains and rivers, and then go out to play every day. After returning, he began to name these places based on the collected common names, the surveyed terrain, and the collected historical allusions and folk legends.

Although his military and political abilities were mediocre, Huang Zicheng seemed to be very good at collecting folk songs and literary creation. The Chinese place names he created, their meanings and even their pronunciations, were all related to the local area, and both the original and translated parts were quite clever. Moreover, after work, he was tempted to compile and rewrite the folk stories of these places, and even compiled them into a booklet, saying that this was his hobby and distributed them to people everywhere.

Except for the big towns, these places didn't have proper names. Moreover, most residents didn't have the opportunity to receive geography education, and they probably didn't know many place names outside their hometown. Therefore, his travels and his unprofessional achievements were very popular. They were soon translated into the local language by local priests, and spread everywhere as a tool for education and entertainment.

From the officials in the government to the common people, everyone admired him very much. Some people even came to visit him just to listen to his stories. Huang Zicheng was very proud, and his self-esteem, which had been hit before, was greatly satisfied. These names were therefore spread quickly - but people still couldn't remember the specific divisions.

Fortunately, the government has been making maps, refining them, and updating them from time to time. Therefore, Jessica and his team can still use them to complete their work.

After looking at the general map, he called a local guide and asked a few questions, and he got a rough idea.

"The bridge over this river is very old. It's probably not easy for our vehicles and the firearms and weapons of the prince and his men behind us to pass through. We have to check the specific situation first and decide whether to reinforce it or build another floating bridge. This will take some time." He thought for a moment and said to his deputy, "During this period, we have to set up a camp. There is a slightly higher place by the river, which I think is more suitable."

"Also, after we meet up with the people coming from the other side of the river, please have an extra lunch with the guides from Qingshi County before we go back." Jessica instructed, "Any new news from the monks? I heard that Sigismund sent troops to aid Prague, but I'm not sure where they are now. We have to take this into consideration as well."

"Not yet." The deputy told him, "The situation in their county is quite chaotic right now. On the way here, I heard from people in other counties that after the war, the Cumans hired by Sigismund came to their area. These people have poor discipline and plunder everywhere, making the public security here very bad. The county militia is relatively weak and can only try to protect themselves. Therefore, during this period of time, no one dared to go out and wander around casually, and the speed of obtaining information was also much slower."

"Our main mission this time is to send the prince and the princess to find His Majesty, or at least to gather troops and restore the court. So I think it's better to avoid fighting before the situation is right." Jessica explained: "But now the Ming Dynasty is in chaos, His Majesty can't be found, and we can't stop to help them. In this case, let's be careful. We will find a way to gather intelligence ourselves." "I don't know where the herdsmen the Romans gave us went." The deputy scratched his head: "At first I thought they would be responsible for the vanguard and gather intelligence."

"That group of people is unreliable." Captain Jessica shook his head. "They are not regular legions. I heard that some time ago, the Romans carried out reforms in the Rus region and prepared to reclaim land and build water conservancy projects in suitable places. Some places that were originally pastures were converted into arable land. The local grazing tribes also accepted the reform. Some people turned to farming, and others who were unwilling to change their lifestyles were sent to other places to graze, or recruited to serve as cavalry. This group of people given to us came from this. Although they are called Beiya soldiers, they are not actually Beiya regular troops."

“This is quite complicated.” The deputy shook his head.

"Rome is very large, so the army is organized in many ways, which is naturally complicated." Jessica said, "But I have heard them say that in the southern part of the Rus region, on the steppes to the east, there are three large cities, namely Timur Sarai, Yesen Sarai and Yelig Sarai. The Romans set up three Wanhu Mansions there as the center of their rule. The standing army of the three Sarai is the elite of the Northern Yamen."

"These soldiers are not necessarily herdsmen. Many of them are farming around the city or even working in the city. It's just that the local area has a tradition of horse riding training, so it can provide very good cavalry. Every year, the government will pay for recruitment. Anyone who passes the assessment in all aspects of the grassland can join and get paid. Their organization has nothing to do with the tribe, but is a regular army organized by battalion. Each battalion has eighty tents and uses eighty iron pots, so it is also called the 'Eighty Iron Pot Army' by the grassland people. These are the most capable in the Beiya army."

"In addition, in places where the Romans' rule was stable, herders generally did not roam around, but stayed in fixed pastures. The environment in such places was generally relatively rich, and sometimes they could grow some crops. The Romans recruited soldiers from there every year and sent them to fixed locations for training. These soldiers had unified weapons and discipline, and received military pay from the government, so they were also relatively regular and were the main force of the Northern Yamen."

"In addition, the Romans have many vassal tribes, but the quality of these people is uneven. The ones assigned to us this time are these temporary tribal soldiers. Their riding skills are okay, but their discipline and fighting spirit are hard to describe. Even the Roman officers themselves often can't control them, let alone us."

"I think the Romans are really overwhelmed this time, so they can only throw some people to us to make up the numbers. The prince also knows their situation, so he didn't say anything. I think it's good that these people can move around and help share the pressure. Don't expect them to cooperate with us in detail. Look, they haven't even started the war yet, and they have disappeared. How can they communicate intelligence with us?"

After listening to his explanation, the deputy also felt that it made sense.

"But we ourselves are pretty ragtag," he agreed, "You're right, we do have to be careful and try to avoid fighting."

"Yes. Our vanguard is fine. We have three or four hundred people here, and they are all veterans now." Jessica sorted out: "As for the main force, the prince still has several hundred veterans, but there are more than a thousand people who defected to us along the way. Although they also fly the banner of our Ming Dynasty, I think they are just following the trend to resist the lord's fellow villagers. I am afraid they don't have much formal military experience. In this special situation, they will be a drag on the team."

"Miss Tang said she has experience and is good at leading this kind of team. The prince also spoils her and lets her take charge. But..." He scratched his head: "We still have to be careful."

"The ratio of our team to the number of people and firearms is a bit too much, so the team is quite long, which is quite dangerous to be honest. There is also a lack of manpower to manage the firearms and baggage. The person who is temporarily managing the gunpowder is still the half-grown kid named Urban. The princess and the others also go there to play every day, and it seems that they have treated the military camp as a place to play. Sigh..." He sighed:

"I don't expect to provide much firepower support. Anyway, Father Prokop said that he would bring thousands of brothers to support us, and the prince will give them some firearms when the time comes. We just need to transport them over first."

"Behind the baggage, there is only Li Li, who is leading a hundred people. Although there are few people, fortunately, both the people brought by Miss Tang and the people we sent over are good. We can only hope that they can perform better and reduce the risk."

"Now that we have put it that way, we really need to be more proactive." The deputy nodded and said, "The enemy situation is a little unclear at the moment. If we don't find out, the rear team will probably be in danger."

"Yes. Sigismund has many capable people. Whether it's Hans from Hamburg or Francis from Milan, they are all famous mercenary captains today. Unlike us, there are either frustrated veterans like me who lose more than they win, or newcomers or even women, all of whom are unknown characters." Jessica said guiltily: "If we are not careful enough, we will become the sinners of the Ming Dynasty. Tell the brothers to be more observant and report any situation immediately!"

"Yes!" The deputy responded, "The prince often said that diligence can make up for lack of talent, so let's work harder!"

(End of this chapter)