Mage? Spell Engineer!.

Chapter 528 Generals and Think Tanks

The commander of the Sardinian Kingdom spent the most terrifying three days.

Their troops inexplicably gathered in the center of the valley, and until now no officer has dared to stand up and admit that he issued this stupid order, including Sardinian generals. Even the soldiers and grassroots officers who were asked could not recall how the army fell into the valley and was caught by the National Guard.

The Southern Front of the Valois National Guard was singing in the trucks when they came up and saw the confused and disorderly Allied soldiers. They felt amused, but at the same time they seriously prepared themselves to fight these bulk invaders with at least 80% of their strength.

The National Guard's mobility was beyond their expectations. Both the coalition forces and the church had originally estimated that the enemy would need at least five days to march, and this gap should be used for them to attack Agnion.

If they could take it, they would defend the city, and raising the banner of the Restoration Church would surely attract believers in southern Valois to respond; if they couldn't take it, they would run away, hoping that the National Guard would always be one step behind them.

The above are all valuable experiences accumulated by the Church and the southern countries in many sacred expeditions.

Then they were quickly hit by at least three-star infantry regiments coming down from the Republic-Empire battlefield. The incomprehensible tactics, weapons, mobility speed, and communication efficiency were not only eye-opening for the coalition forces, but also opened their minds and hearts.
Are both you and the Empire so powerful?

The coalition forces were greatly shocked. The National Guard was also shocked. These invaders had no awareness of fighting a war of aggression. After being defeated, the Imperials were able to retreat in an orderly manner and use engineer shovels to build trenches that were disgusting, while the coalition forces surrendered without hesitation and were still dazed when they surrendered.

The reason why the battle lasted three days was that the National Guard had too few mobile forces, resulting in the absolute number of soldiers arriving in the Agnion area being too small.

On the other side, the coalition forces had too many soldiers who raised their hands in an organized manner, and the Valois did not even have time to settle them. Just when the National Guard was hesitating whether to "neutralize" these people, the monks of the "New Church" of Agnion came forward and were willing to give the captured soldiers a way to live.

As long as they identified with the Church of Agnion and attended Mass celebrated by the new Pope, they would survive.

General Galisia watched the "Great Mass of Peace" held in the valley where the Allied forces were defeated. All prisoners were given tools to work. The Church of Agnion asked the prisoners to level the ground and build tents in the name of preparing a place for the mass.

Then the church built a "holy altar" and a "temporary bell tower" on the high ground. The valley was filled with singing for the third time. This time it was from a pure choir. The light and ethereal singing made the prisoners cry:
It feels so good to be alive. Thank the Lord and praise the Lord!

The two men who were observing the prisoners from a high place were very satisfied with this harmonious, orderly and vibrant scene.

"General Garisha, the prisoner-of-war camp you requested can be built before dark. It will be entirely voluntary, and no one will rebel or cause trouble."

It was rare for Duplessis to come out of the Episcopal Palace in Agnon for public activities. He went up to the "holy altar" with crutches and dragging his lame leg, but Garisia almost couldn't catch up with the former bishop who claimed that he was "waiting to return to the arms of the Lord with his broken body."

"Thank you very much. I will report to the committee members and convince them that religion still has merits for the country."

Duplessi frowned slightly at the general's words, but he didn't know whether to accept it or not. He gently brought up the topic: "General, there is still food. It is said that we have nearly 30,000 more mouths to feed."

"Oh yes, so originally we wanted to disarm them and then repatriate them all, or simply send them all back." The Republic itself was short of food, and it was impossible to feed these prisoners of war.

"We can try another approach." Duplessi narrowed his eyes and looked southward: "I suggest you write a stern letter with the new church."

The letter was successfully delivered to the headquarters of the Southern Allied Forces.

"Since the Southern Allied Forces brazenly invaded the Republic, seriously violated our sovereignty and territory, and caused huge losses, your army has captured more than 28,000 people as of the time of writing. Out of humanitarian concern and the teachings of the Lord of Light and Order, our army has taken appropriate measures to resettle them, but will not bear the cost of their food. We require your army and the participating countries to provide food per person per day according to the following standards:
"If you can provide them with ten days' rations immediately, our army will suspend its pursuit of your army. If you cannot provide them with rations before sunset tomorrow, you will bear the consequences yourself!"

The military attaché of Vinaya was in charge of reading it aloud, and he also commented on it after reading it: "Prisoners of war will not be released until the end of the war, unless we use the prisoners we capture to exchange for them. Well, that makes sense.
"Each person shall be provided with at least 800g of refined flour per day, which can be converted into coarse flour, wheat or other grains in proportion."

The military attaché of Vinaya slammed the letter on the table and said, "Is this raising pigs? How can they eat so much?" However, the commanders of other city-states or countries figured it out first: "This is asking us to sign an informal agreement to provide food for the Valois during the war."

"What if we give it to them, but they turn against us and continue to attack?"

"Is Valois short of food? I have a way to get wheat from the Sand Country."

"Have you been in the army for a while? They haven't been able to pay cash for over a year."

"It doesn't matter whether we can afford it or not now. If they can win, we can make money."

The command post started arguing over the "ransom letter". Everyone was talking and exchanging opinions frantically, and somehow the topic turned to the grain trade.

"Gentlemen, we are at war." The Sardinian general spoke. The Sardinian army suffered the greatest losses in the past three days, but it was still the strongest in the coalition. So when he spoke, everyone else shut up and put away their hands to give him the corresponding respect.

He looked around at all the commanders and said, "Since they want food, we can hand over some of the baggage with us. First, it will show our cooperation, second, it will prevent our captured compatriots from starving to death, and third, it will speed up the evacuation of the army.

"But it doesn't mean everything will be fine after we hand over the grain. We still have 50,000 troops left. We can't flee, but must move in an orderly and organized manner. Otherwise, if we are captured by the Valois again, are we left with no choice but to return home and ask the church and your homeland for another 50,000 pigs' feed?"

"That's easy to say, do we still want to defeat such a powerful enemy?"

The person who interrupted was a military officer from a commercial city-state, who had been loudly discussing grain trade before. He was within three steps of the Sardinian general, and after judging the distance, he drew his sword from his waist and stabbed the noisy guy through.

He simply drew out his rapier and stepped on the wailing mouth: "And most importantly, we must unify the command of the coalition forces and implement strict discipline. Act like soldiers, gentlemen!"

The blood of the stabbed man spurted out from the wound, splashing all over the Sardinian general, like an evil spirit, making everyone in the command post speechless.

After the general actually gained the power to command the coalition forces and made the best possible arrangements for the retreat, he returned to his tent, where a handsome bard was playing the strings.

The poet unexpectedly appeared in the battle three days ago and blocked a stray bullet for the general. In order to repay his lifesaver, the general let him go with him, let the military doctor treat his wounds, let him ride on the general's own carriage and rest in his own tent.

The poet claimed that he had traveled extensively and was willing to accompany the general to the Kingdom of Sardinia. During the conversation, the general was impressed by the knowledge and insight shown by the handsome young man.

He introduced the changes in Valois, the Empire and Bavaria to the general, as well as the current situation, and convinced the general that if Sardinia and even the entire south coast of the continent wanted to be as powerful as the above-mentioned countries, they must integrate and unify and carry out reforms.

The general with such ambitions said the first words: "I don't know what happened today, I did something impulsive." He couldn't help but reveal his inner thoughts to his savior.

"But you don't regret it." The bard's bright eyes could still see through the warrior: "You think you did the right thing."

"Yes, I am right. Everything is necessary, Sardin. No, all the southern countries will be unified by me."

"Very good, very good! I must witness this feat and create an epic for you that is worth remembering and singing!" Balaam exclaimed.

(End of this chapter)