industrial lord

Chapter 534 You Command This Army
Frederick has a house in Hamma City, which has been basically used for Baron Adiken and Lilu to stay in when they pass by over the years. It is rare for him to stay there during this period.

Another day of bickering ended. Frederick lay in bed with a dull headache, and Catherine was gently massaging his temples.

Frederick breathed a sigh of relief and said to her, "Count Weissen will come tomorrow. He is a man I trust. You can go with his convoy."

Catherine responded softly. This day was bound to come, and she had been prepared for it.

The night passed, and the book did not go into details.

The next morning, Count Weissen came for the interview wearing a tight blue suit and looked like a big balloon.

Frederick patted his arm when he greeted him at the living room door. Despite his big belly, the muscles in his hands were still very strong. It was quite good for him to maintain this state in his late middle age.

After both parties sat down, Count Weissen looked at Catherine curiously and immediately realized that this woman had an affair with Frederick, and at the same time felt that she looked somewhat familiar.

He suddenly thought of someone and decided not to think about it anymore. Frederick would tell him what he should know and not ask what he shouldn't know.

After the maids served tea, Frederick got straight to the point and said, "I called you here this time because I have a very important mission for you."

Count Weissen said confidently: "I have heard about the Rhine Alliance army coming. Don't worry, I will ensure the logistics support."

He had reasons to be so confident. Over the years, he had made a lot of money doing business with Frederick's support. He had a large transport fleet and was familiar with the people on both sides of the Elbe River. He was well-versed in both purchasing and transportation.

Frederick smiled and said, "I heard that the Weissen family is now very famous on both sides of the Elbe River. You, Fran and Lori's lovers are all over the Elbe River Basin."

When Count Weissen heard Frederick making fun of him and his two sons, he did not understand what he meant for a moment, so he could only go along with him to show his loyalty: "All my achievements were made under your protection."

He wondered in his heart, was Grand Duke Wesson hinting at him to find a lover?
Frederick nodded and said, "You also agree that the Elbe Treaty Organization should establish a defensive army."

Count Weissen immediately said, "Yes, I agree."

These days, Frederick has contacted the powerful and influential members of the organization through telegrams and other means. Now that the Kingdom of Sverrieres is heading south and war is raging, everyone agrees.

Frederick said to him solemnly: "I intend to give this army to you to command."

Count Weissen's brain suddenly stopped working. It took him a while to react. He waved his hand and refused: "No, no, no! I don't have the ability to command this army. You should do it."

His heart tightened as he wondered if he had done anything to offend Frederick during this period of time and was now being punished.

He thought about it and it seemed that the incident of not flushing the public toilet in Weissenburg last month was contrary to Frederick's policy. It couldn't be this incident, right?

Frederick ignored the thought in his mind and continued, "This is a defensive army, used only to defend the territories of each member, not to participate in any offensive operations, and without heavy weapons."

"The difficulty in forming this army is not how to organize the battle, but coordinating the relationship between the various members of the army and the relationship between the army and the garrison. You are the most suitable in this regard."

Count Weisen realized that he was not being criticized but was really being asked to take command, so he calmed down and began to think about the problem seriously.

Frederick was a little worried. This army was different from the traditional feudal army between lords and vassals. It was a temporary alliance formed by various families in the face of external threats. Because the degree of threat was different, the thoughts of each party would be different.

This requires the military commander to be able to coordinate relations among all parties, at least to maintain harmony on the surface.

Frederick was impressed by the connections that Count Wiesen had accumulated over the years, and he was the most suitable person to handle it.

And Frederick was not worried about his loyalty, as he had already pledged his allegiance in front of William's coffin.

Count Weisen thought of some of the doubts in the members' minds, so he said: "The name of this army is very important. I think some members will have some ideas. It is better to state that it is only a temporary army and will be disbanded after the threat is lifted."

Frederick nodded. The power of each family had originally reached a balance, and the emergence of this army would undoubtedly destroy the balance.

Count Weisen continued, "The second problem is military expenditure. Some members are far away from danger, and they are not willing to spend money in vain." This is the most practical problem. If it is not handled properly, the organization will be in a mess and may even collapse.

Frederick said to him, "I think there is still some time. You might as well visit the members and listen carefully to their opinions."

"Tell them the two points you just made, and then listen to everyone's opinions. Don't agree to anything easily. Collect their concerns and opinions, and then solve them one by one."

Count Weissen agreed.

Forming such an army is not something that can be resolved in a few words. There are many internal and external issues to be resolved. Frederick determined the general direction and the specific matters were handled by Count Wiesen.

"You may know something." Frederick suddenly became helpless, "Our Majesty Rudolf is going to lead the army in person."

Count Weissen's fat body jumped up and said nervously: "Didn't you stop him?"

Frederick shrugged and said, "You want me to tell him, Your Majesty, you killed my father the first time you went to the battlefield, and I captured you the second time. I am afraid that you will kill yourself and me the third time. I think you should stay in the palace and eat, drink and have fun."

After sitting down, Count Weissen said, "You can persuade him to leave an heir before going to the battlefield. The country cannot be without an heir."

Then he thought for a moment, raised his lips slightly, and said, "Your Majesty, it's a good thing to go to the battlefield. There are not so many accidents on the battlefield. If there were an accident..."

He stopped talking. It was clear when the previous king passed away that if Rudolf died without an heir, Frederick would succeed him.

Frederick rolled his eyes at him.

Count Weissen did not mention this again. He cleared his throat and said, "I have a suggestion. Let Your Majesty form a team of centurions himself."

"Recently, many coastal areas in the north have been robbed. The strength of those bandits is not strong. Your Majesty can prove himself on the battlefield."

Frederick nodded, this method is feasible.

After several days of wrangling, the command of the army fell into the hands of Franz the Younger, who was recommended by Frederick, and Rudolf was sidelined.

But trouble will arise when people are idle. Count Pisto and his men are having a headache about how to find things for the king to do, so it would be best to let him go out and kill some people.

One hundred people is just the right number. If there are more people, military officers can be appointed to manage them. But if you have so many people, you have to manage them yourself, and there must be a lot of trivial matters involved, which is enough to be a headache.

"That's right." Frederick said with a smile, "I stole this idea."

"One thing to note is that the Pact's army does not obey Rudolph's command."

Count Weissen nodded. There were many nobles in the organization who were not from the Rhine Alliance, so there was no reason for them to care about Rudolf.

Frederick continued, "This time the Rhine Alliance does not need you to send troops. Just let your son lead a convoy and follow our orders. Although the credit may not be much, I will reward you if you do a good job."

Count Weissen immediately said, "I'll let Fuan lead the team. It's time for him to come out and earn military merit."

After discussing military matters, Frederick asked Count Wiesen to arrange for someone to send Catherine home.

When Count Weisen heard the destination, he immediately knew Catherine's identity and couldn't help shouting, "Didn't you die of food poisoning while hunting last fall?"

“Haha…” Catherine laughed contemptuously, “That loser didn’t even dare to announce that I was kidnapped by people from the Piast Kingdom.”

Count Weissen looked at Catherine, then at Frederick, lowered his head and drank tea without saying anything. After finishing his tea, he slipped away under the pretext of preparing a comfortable car for Catherine.

Frederick didn't say much about this matter. He got up and went to discuss with Count Pisto about letting Rudolf do the dungeon.

(End of this chapter)