Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1688 1660. War Begins

"Sir, have you heard?" A logistics adjutant sweating profusely squeezed through the people at the table and came forward to shout, "The order has come! An urgent order! We are going to go to war! From the moment I speak, there will be no delay!"

"Quiet." Logistics Director Eftson frowned. "You're making my head split. Yes, I heard it. Only a deaf person can't hear such a loud noise."

The adjutant looked at him in surprise: "Aren't you happy about this, sir?"

"Happy." Eftelson took a deep breath, "But I want to celebrate quietly and then work efficiently."

The logistics officers fell silent and looked at each other.

'It's like a pack of puppies.'

Eftson looked at his men and thought calmly.

Yes, the war suddenly started again. And we have always been invincible. Everyone looked at the occupied land, thinking about the immigration decree issued by the emperor and the huge preferential policies they should enjoy as soldiers.

But the soldiers sang loudly outside the tents, carrying armor and weapons and mobilizing pack animals and livestock on the cold and wet mud.

Inside the tent, the enthusiasm of the young people in the logistics department was no less than theirs.

After all, the logistics department is a lucrative job, and who can get in with a simple background?

The soldiers were happy with the small piece of land that the policy gave them, but what they were looking at was much bigger than that.

Eftelson suddenly reached out, gathered the maps and documents on the table, and then looked around.

"Quiet, I need to issue an order."

The subordinates all stood up straight in anticipation.

"Each of you has heard the speech given by Marshal Menno Cuhoon, who was transferred here not long ago."

He spoke carefully.

"But I remind you, gentlemen, that what the marshal says to his men does not apply entirely to you. You are actually carrying out other orders—my orders."

Eftelson wiped his brow.

"The marshal said at the time: give war to the castles and peace to the villages. It's the same old thing. He demanded this in the last war and on the Eastern Front. Unfortunately, we lost badly at that time."

"Now, I ask you to forget this order. And follow a completely different order, which will also be our slogan when we go to war again: leave no one alive, no grass or tree."

"From this moment on, our troops will cross the unmarked armistice line, and we must leave a scorched earth behind us. Even if we fail and retreat, the other side will only get the scorched earth."

"But sir," said an aide-de-camp hesitantly, "are we going to do this? The marshal..."

"The marshal is very busy." Before the other party could finish, Eftelson interrupted him forcefully.

"And this time we set out suddenly. To be frank, we need to strike fast and attack quickly. At most, he gave an order to the rear troops. Do we have to work according to a rough order? If there is a shortage of food for people and horses one day, that is when we will be held accountable!"

Eftelson cleared his throat and returned to the subject.

"Before our troops turn the land behind us into a scorched earth, your mission is to scoop up all the money from that land! The army is a money-eating beast, my friends. You can't go hungry for even a day."

After giving orders for a series of detailed but necessary tasks, Eftelson walked out of the tent.

Black smoke columns were clearly visible on the distant horizon, and black smoke was rising one after another in other places.

As soon as Menno Cuhoon received the news that day, he dropped all preparations for the armistice and rushed to the battlefield.

However, many tasks cannot be stopped at will. His quick departure, according to Eftelsen's calculation, was equivalent to immediately scrapping at least half a month's worth of supplies for the entire military camp.

The clerks also wasted more than a month's work.

The scale of the involvement and the huge cost were almost enough to make someone of Menno Kuhoon's status go to the Imperial Military Court.

But Eftelsen knew clearly that his decisive start of the war would not only not damage the marshal's reputation, but also the emperor's trust.

On the contrary, this is called "making decisions when necessary, with the style of a marshal."

Because of some news or a certain period of time, many things that originally seemed extremely important are no longer important.

Menno Cuhoon led the charge, and when he left, the principles of the army naturally followed him.

What remains are the principles and slogans that Eftelsen left for his logistical adjutants.

A long column of siege engines was moving along the avenue, their wheels rumbling, leaving ruts and splashing mud on the ground.

Their destination was the Mayena Fortress on the southern border of Temeria. After the fortress was captured, they continued north to Maribor.

Peter Eftelson was counting and calculating. He was the finance minister of the Nilfgaardian Empire and the army's chief logistician during wartime.

He has been in this position for more than twenty-five years, and counting and calculating have become the meaning of his life.

A heavy catapult costs five hundred florins, a light one costs two hundred, and a ballista costs at least one hundred and fifty.

If these things are of the newly developed type, the cost will be doubled. A team of trained operators will be paid nine and a half florins per month.
A group of light cavalry passed by Eftelsen who was walking out of the tent and passed by the convoy of siege equipment.

Judging from the blue rose pennants carried by the riders, this was a tactical cavalry regiment from the province of Nasser.

'They must be delighted.'

Eftson thought. The war was about to start again, and they were united in the invincible Nilfgaardian army. The land they saw would be a part of the policy benefits in the future, and they would not have to fight the enemy's regular army head-on.

Because of the need for a quick attack, Menno Cuhoon would gather his strongest forces and the strongest legions to the front, while the troops from the provinces and vassal states would serve as rear guards.

They would guard the rear of the army, aiding in transfers and maneuvers, but more often they would loot, burn, and massacre, destroying stragglers and pursuing retreating rogues.

They would be happy because it would be an easy war, at most exhausting but unlikely to kill anyone.

Eftelson was calculating in his mind.

This tactical cavalry regiment includes ten cavalry squads, totaling about 2,000 people. Menno Cuhoon will not arrange them to fight hard battles, but small encounters and pursuit battles are enough to make them lose one-sixth of their strength.

They will camp in the wild, facing the risk of food poisoning, unclean water, and typhoid fever, with a quarter of the population dying.

Then there are the various but ever-present casualties, which usually cost one in five men.

In the end, the number of people who could return to Nasser alive was at most 800, no more.

Generally speaking, the troops that can persist in fighting despite the fear of losing one-tenth of their numbers are the elite among the elite.

However, the limiting condition of this statement is "during a battle". Large numbers of casualties in a short period of time will certainly scare people and make them collapse.

However, if the number of casualties is distributed over a prolonged timeline and front, the soldiers' insensitivity will be beyond imagination.

The boring and tedious marches and daily accidents will make people numb.

The cavalry continued to pass along the road, followed by the infantry, and then the longbowmen, crossbowmen, and the great shieldmen and spearmen from Vicvaro and Aetolia, their armor as thick as crab shells.

Next came a motley rabble, mercenaries from such places as Metina, Mecht, Giso, and Ebbing.

Crowds of people surged, and guns and blades were everywhere. In this weather that had not yet fully warmed up, the mobilization of the army made everyone's heat turn into white smoke in the cold air.

Then countless white smoke gathered together, stretching out like a huge beacon fire.

It was not until this moment that everyone realized the reality of this extremely sudden moment - the war had begun!
-
In the royal palace of Vizima, Foltest was meeting with a dwarf and a human.

Although it was called a negotiation, in fact, the real things to be discussed had already been settled. They came here just to go through the procedures with Foltest and create momentum.

"I am very grateful to Great Elder Brovar Hogg for his insight."

Foltest personally poured a glass of vodka for the dwarf at the table.

In front of the long table of the royal council, the dwarves and humans each had a seat.

"I have nothing to say." The dwarf downed a vodka in one gulp. He was wearing expensive and sophisticated clothes like a dwarf banker, but his behavior was like that of a dwarf soldier. "The Great Elder did not want to get involved in the fighting between humans, but you also know, Your Majesty."

The dwarf wiped the wine stuck on his beard and said, "We have no good life in front of the Nilfgaardians. So let's do what we have to do. According to you humans, you are still the protector of Mahakam, right? We have fulfilled our duties."

"But in name, we still cannot be considered as a force sent by the Mahakam government. We are just Mahakam volunteers."

"Of course." Foltest nodded solemnly. "At this moment, as long as I can provide help, what else can I ask for?"

The dwarves in the Mahakam Mountains are finally coming out to fight for the north. This is an almost unthinkable move for the conservative, closed-minded and stubborn elder Brovar Hogg.

Back then, he had to fight a war with Foltest to maintain the closed state of the Mahakam dwarves' autonomy.

Later, Demavell of Aedirn mediated and negotiated peace, thus avoiding a war. Demavell himself was given a lead ring as a gift, a symbol of the dwarves' respect.

And now, perhaps this old dwarf had received some news from his fellow tribesmen in the south, or perhaps he himself knew what the Nilfgaardians were like in terms of racial issues.

In short, a troop of several thousand short iron-studded men will join the Temeria camp as support.

The leader is Colonel Barclay Eyles in front of us.

The human at the table had the Red Eagle emblem of Redania on his collar. This was Queen Hedwig of Redania, an ambassador who came to provide support to Temeria.

Receiving two groups of reinforcements at one time was an arrangement made by Foltest to increase his momentum.

But just as the two envoys were greeting politely the members of the royal council present, the door suddenly opened!

A waiter trotted over to the frowning Foltest.

"Your Majesty," he was visibly nervous, so nervous that his eyes were unfocused and his tongue was tied, "There's intelligence coming from the front. Nilfgaard's Central Army has attacked the Mayena Fortress!"

"."

For a moment, the hall fell into silence due to shock.

But then, in this increasingly grim atmosphere where everyone was looking at each other, Foltest suddenly stood up, and his expression did not look bad.

"A sudden war? Is Menno Kuhoon crazy? Apart from the advantage of the first wave of surprise attack, the rest is all disadvantages! Everyone, he is confused, this is our chance!"

The king said this loudly, and raised the wine glass in his hand, as if celebrating this "enemy's mistake".

However, the waiter had evidently not finished his words, for he had not yet withdrawn.

"Your Majesty," the waiter stammered, "But, but the Mayena Fortress has been breached."

Silence fell again.

(End of this chapter)