Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 745 Arrangement of the Main Attack Team

In the morning, just as the sun rose, horns sounded in the camp.

After quickly finishing their breakfast, everyone left the camp amidst shouts from the centurions and commanders, heading northeast.

“From this angle, the sun is shining directly into our eyes,” La Hire said to Princess Jeanne, munching on a chicken leg. “We need to change direction to enter the battlefield.”

“Friedrich’s men have blocked the road ahead and set up camp. We have to lure them out,” Princess Jeanne explained. “For this goal, we can’t be too picky.”

“There’s no need for everyone to make such a fuss. I’ll go myself,” Lahail assured him. “Give me another hundred Alemanni riders, and I’ll go over there and cause a ruckus. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely get them out.”

“No!” Princess Jeanne refused decisively: “You all stay in the group and are not allowed to wander off.”

Lahail was quite disappointed. He scratched his head dejectedly and took his leave.

"Can they really listen to you?" Sir Hans couldn't help but ask. "I've always heard that French knights never care about their commander's opinion. Even Sigismund can't control them."

"It's alright. I explained it to them, and they weren't that disobedient." Princess Jeanne hesitated for a moment, but then said, "I read Brittany's war history before, and there were quite a few cases of noblewomen being appointed to command troops in times of crisis. Marshal Guéclair said that these people actually performed quite well and encouraged me to learn from them. According to the war history, their vassals were not as disobedient and reckless as people stereotype them to be."

"If women were truly so disobedient and lacked authority, wouldn't they be even more difficult to control? But in actual combat, such things didn't happen. This shows that when it comes to crucial moments, everyone knows what's important."

"...Hard to say." Sir Hans felt that this performance not only failed to break his stereotype of French cavalry, but seemed to conform to another stereotype. Therefore, after struggling for a while, he could only mutter a sentence.

Over the course of one or two hundred years, for reasons unknown, a large number of noblewomen in Brittany took to the battlefield and commanded armies, and many of them were named Jeanne. Because the story is quite legendary, it spread widely.

Because there were so many Jeannes leading troops, it even became a subject of storytelling. To make them easier to distinguish, these Jeannes also had nicknames, such as "Lion," "Wolf," and "Fire," and there was more than one of them.

If Princess Jeanne successfully marries into the family, one of the lionesses might be her mother-in-law, while her husband's family's enemies also include a she-wolf. Princess Jeanne's record is that, in her teens, she led a defeated army in guerrilla warfare, fighting until she turned the tide and defeated various enemies, including the "lioness" and the "she-wolf," even when neither her husband's nor her father's family came to her aid, and rebuilt the duchy.

Since the men on both sides withdrew from the battlefield early on, the later stages of this War of Succession were almost entirely fought between the two Jeannes, making it a reversed version of the "War of the Two Johns." However, Guo Kang burned his prophecy book, so no one knew about this event.

Of course, even without this one, it wouldn't be a problem. Because these kinds of things happen so frequently that conflicts between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law over there are probably resolved by the two of them leading troops into battle... No wonder even Sir Hans knows about this stereotype.

Princess Jeanne, of course, didn't think so much about it. After settling her fellow Frenchmen, she hurried to the front of the group and found Philippe, the Brazilian commander who was leading the attack.

"How are the soldiers doing?" she asked without any formalities.

Philip's Left Commander of the Brazilian Army was among the first to arrive and regroup after the Wu King's last defeat. They have been on the move for a long time now, and today they will again be among the vanguard, fighting the enemy. Therefore, she needs to take special care of them.

“I rested well yesterday, no problems,” Philip replied. “I thought the enemy was coming back for a night raid, so I sent out extra patrols, but they don’t seem to be making any moves at all.”

“Strengthening patrols is the right thing to do. However, there is still hope for Sigismund’s troops, but it is unlikely that Friedrich’s group will be able to do so.” Princess Jeanne shook her head: “It’s not that we can’t gather elite troops, but from his perspective, he probably thinks he is the one with the advantage.”

“If I were in his position, I would also think it would be better to launch a full-scale attack during the day. That way, the victory would be more assured, and even if there were casualties, the majority of the losses would be to the conscripted soldiers and mercenaries who were the first to engage the enemy. There's absolutely no need to risk our elite troops.” She looked up and pointed behind her:
“You’ll understand once you’ve had more contact with nobles; they care about more than just us. If the losses are too great, even if we win, our family’s future will probably be in danger. The scout just said that the enemy hasn’t left their camp yet, so we need to change our plans a bit.”

"Then what do we do? Should we switch to attacking the camp directly?" Philip was a little confused, but he still asked the most important question first.

“That’s my idea.” Princess Jeanne nodded. “I’ll give you all five commanders of Bavaria. You’ll lead the charge. Also, judging from today’s situation, you’ll likely face enemies from multiple directions during your mission, so be prepared.”

"Me?" Philip was even more dumbfounded.

“Yes. Frank also told me that although he has the largest number of troops, he has only ever worked as a stonemason and has never commanded a battle before. Of these commanders, you have the most combat experience, so you will be in charge of this attack,” Princess Jeanne said definitively.

While in many places there's a saying that the poorer you are, the better suited you are to be a soldier, this wasn't necessarily the case in Europe at that time. Currently, the most capable fighters in the Wu King's army are these soldiers from Bavaria.

In many poor areas, the reason why so many people become mercenaries and have more combat experience is because the local agricultural base is so poor that farming is not even enough to feed themselves—especially after the lords start taking taxes.

Even worse, some lords were so poor that they were constantly struggling to make ends meet. Moreover, lords often had a large staff to support, horses to care for, and fortresses, weapons, and armor to maintain, resulting in enormous expenses. This forced them to also venture out to fight for others. Over time, this created the impression that people from poorer regions were more skilled in warfare.

After the establishment of the "Great Ming" regime, the Wu King and his associates actually had limited abilities and lacked long-term planning. They simply acted on instinct, hastily implementing policies to encourage agriculture. The Wu King, along with Qi and Huang, had little experience in farming themselves; although they claimed to be "farming and studying," they were merely going through the motions. However, the imperial court always had policies, and even if they only observed others doing them daily, they would at least have a general understanding. Moreover, because they genuinely lacked expertise, many specific details had to be left to the locals. As for themselves, they spent most of their time coordinating, such as organizing exchange activities among farms in various regions, arranging business trips for local monasteries to the Purple Horde for inspection and research, and purchasing improved seeds.

Because they couldn't intervene personally, their agricultural reforms progressed much faster than the administrative reforms they personally implemented.

As it turns out, the locals' outdated technology and conservative thinking weren't intentional. Who wouldn't want to produce more? It's just that in the past, few people had seen reliable methods. Agriculture, after all, is about food, even the livelihood of the whole family. It's better to be conservative and go hungry as before than to make haphazard changes and make the result worse. The farmers here, even the small aristocratic farm owners, don't really have much "tolerance for error," nor do they dare to be anything but conservative.

Once people saw tangible improvements and discovered that some methods were truly effective, the locals' enthusiasm exploded. In just two years, a large number of people began to proactively approach them, requesting to "join the effort." Even Wu Wang and his associates were surprised, wondering if their inaction had actually brought them benefits, or if they had turned misfortune into a blessing in disguise.

However, when the situation changed drastically and preparations for war were needed, they discovered that the locals' enthusiasm for participating in the war had actually declined due to improvements in agriculture.

As yields have increased, field management has become increasingly important for villagers. They can no longer simply plant whatever they want and then forget about it. Furthermore, the promotion of crop rotation and the widespread use of the lunar calendar have significantly extended the farming season.

In many places, a fish-scale register was established, distributing land to villagers who were originally serfs. These newly-minted farmers were far more concerned about the yield of their land than the serfs, and therefore even less willing to leave.

In the past, a single word from the lord could summon them all to join him as mercenaries. But now, when the government ordered them to prepare for war, the farmers hesitated, feeling that what was happening in Bohemia was too far away and that they should focus on cultivating their land first, and deal with other matters when the war actually broke out.

Even some officials themselves have this idea. The current development momentum is very good. As long as the situation remains stable, there will be a large output every year. The grain output, population, and water conservancy that the court values ​​most are all developing rapidly. These are all real achievements.

Although Europe was frequently embroiled in wars, after gaining some insight, people discovered that most of these so-called wars were simply low-level brawls. In comparison, none of them reached the intensity of the water-grabbing squabbles among villages in the Central Plains described by Master Qi and Master Huang. These conflicts were characterized by a lack of fighting skills but a penchant for destruction, often resulting in enormous losses, yet even the victors gained little to no advantage.

These enemies can hardly be called an army; they're just bandits. Once everyone is organized, the local militia is enough to deal with them. In practice, it's often even simpler than that.

Many of these "bandits" were originally local lords and villagers. When people were short of money and food, they would rob each other. And now, even many of the minor lords who had become bandits were eager to be granted amnesty by the imperial court.

In these remote and impoverished places, these people were nominally nobles, but in reality, they were all a bunch of paupers. Seeing the many benefits here, they no longer wanted to do this tiring and dangerous work. After absorbing them into the new order, and even getting them to actively participate in maintaining it, the local security pressure was quickly alleviated.

As a result, when word got out and everyone started preparing for war, these places, which were originally supposed to be sources of soldiers, had become severely neglected in terms of "martial virtue." The administrative capacity of the Wu King's Palace was also unable to force them to remain pure, resulting in a situation where the military force they could muster was actually less than before.

In wealthier areas, things are actually better. For example, as Princess Jeanne mentioned, the most powerful commander of Frank's thousand households consisted of a group of professional craftsmen.

The area was relatively prosperous, with numerous towns and iron ore deposits, resulting in a large number of artisans working in workshops. However, the prosperity of a region did not necessarily equate to the wealth of its people. Often, the exploitation of apprentices, ordinary craftsmen, and even small towns and guilds by large merchants, guilds, and workshop owners in the cities was no less severe than in the countryside.

Due to customary practices, the Wu kingdom had a great need for construction workers. As a result, all sorts of people, from laborers who could not bear the hardship to master craftsmen who were ostracized and had not yet found their place, chose to leave and serve the King of Wu, helping him with projects everywhere.

Even in the Middle Ages, construction was a highly skilled profession, let alone the various engineering projects planned in the Central Plains, which demanded a high level of construction ability. Therefore, the Engineering Bureau continuously selected and trained personnel and optimized the organization of engineering teams.

Over time, the team grew larger and larger, not only constructing public facilities locally but also traveling to other areas to assist those lacking technical expertise, leading locals in completing construction projects. Everyone became accustomed to working in unfamiliar places under the escort of soldiers. Sometimes, when the government's forces were insufficient, they could take up arms to protect themselves—of course, most of the time, the five thousand-household garrisons of Bazhou would rather bring their own rations and take turns sending soldiers to provide protection. After all, these men were considered the local government's most valuable asset.

Therefore, when real trouble comes, these people are actually faster to act. Leaving aside martial arts skills, they have a significant advantage over the militia in marching, camping, and communal living. And in real war, these trivial matters make up the vast majority of the battle.

Princess Jeanne believed that the soldiers' fighting strength was most reliable after such a long march. Therefore, she decided to put them at the forefront to undertake the most stressful tasks.

As for the other teams, their tasks were already determined during yesterday's meeting.

Most of the officers in the Wu Kingdom were not very professional. To be fair, many of them had actually experienced war, and some were even former mercenary leaders, or low-ranking knights or fortress lords. This was because the Wu Kingdom's officer selection mechanism was even more rudimentary than that for civilian positions. Basically, anyone with a little experience commanding a small unit could be appointed.

However, these people also lacked professional military training. Many of their military experience consisted of fighting other lords or running around with their employers, barely scraping by on the battlefield before rushing to loot. Therefore, Princess Jeanne devised a very detailed plan, personally teaching everyone how to fight.

Fortunately, most of their jobs were relatively simple, and they could just follow the routine. Unlike the main attacking force of the Bazhou soldiers, they didn't need to make temporary adjustments based on the information sent back by the scouts in the morning.

After giving these instructions, Princess Jeanne went to the rear—during this preparation period, they also hastily made some siege equipment. Although it was estimated that they wouldn't be needed in the plan, they still had to be displayed to put pressure on the enemy.

However, Princess Jeanne was worried that their team might not coordinate well with the other teams and that something might go wrong, so she went to check on them. Only after she had finished inspecting everything did she feel relieved and return to the front of the group to continue moving forward with everyone.

(End of this chapter)