I, the prince in distress, send money

Chapter 157 The Reasons Why Gamblers Are Crazy

Isaac had never been a high-ranking official in the Bohemian Empire before, so he lacked experience in commanding large and medium-sized troops.

However, Isaac is definitely a veteran. He has basically experienced or witnessed everything on the battlefield and has extraordinary battlefield experience.

Therefore, when the Republic's Third Infantry Regiment collapsed collectively, he realized what was happening at the first moment, and immediately separated half of his men, asking them to follow the adjutant to encircle the enemy in the trap, while he led the remaining half of the infantry to rush towards the enemy's camp.

As a result, the First Infantry Regiment arrived at the Republican Army's camp almost at the same time as the defeated soldiers, and took control of most of the supply storage points before the defeated soldiers and civilian laborers destroyed the supplies in the camp.

Isaac's command ability was fully demonstrated when the soldiers of the 1st Infantry Regiment rushed into the camp.

Although he had no experience in commanding large-scale troops, he made up for it with his battlefield intuition and decisive decision-making.

He quickly divided the soldiers into several groups, each responsible for protecting key areas such as granaries, armories, and stables. His voice was remarkably calm amid the chaos.

"First and second companies, follow me and guard the food! Third and fourth companies, protect the armory! The rest of you, guard the stables. We must not let these supplies fall into enemy hands!"

The order was correct and the soldiers' execution was also in place. However, when they interrogated the captured civilians, obtained the location of the above-mentioned place, and quickly rushed there with torches, they were surprised to find several problems.

First, the so-called grain was still placed on two hundred horse-drawn carts, and the sacks were bulging, appearing to be filled with barley and rye.

However, when Isaac happily used a knife to cut the rope that tied the bag and prepared to check the quality of the grain, he only found a sack of hay.

Isaac's face twitched, and his expression instantly turned ashen. He could hardly believe his eyes, but the facts before him were undeniable...the sacks were not filled with food at all, but useless hay.

To prevent this from being an isolated case, Isaac ordered an inspection of all the sacks on the carriages to check their weight. The bags filled with food and those filled with hay were definitely different and could be distinguished at a glance.

It turned out that the sacks picked up by the soldiers who checked were all light without exception.

In addition to failing to find food, the troops guarding the stables quickly sent people to find Isaac and report the bad news.

There were no horses in the so-called stable area, not even a donkey. They asked the laborers and learned that the carts were pulled by manpower this morning and the animals had been slaughtered long ago.

There was no other way, no food, and no livestock. This saved Isaac a lot of manpower, and he could then take his men to do other things.

At the same time, the defeated soldiers who ran back scattered in the tent area. Many of them tried to loot supplies. Even if they were not stopped in time by Isaac's troops, they could not grab anything. Apart from some knives, guns, sticks and clubs, they had nothing to eat or drink.

Some civilians were also frightened by the chaos and ran around in panic.

Isaac was so angry about this that he took the initiative to attack with his soldiers, punching the fleeing soldiers hard and shouting that they would not be killed if they surrendered.

Some people squatted down obediently, while others tried to resist or even run away.

However, no matter how brave a person is, after fighting for most of the day without eating anything, he will basically turn from a tiger into a sick cat, weak and limp.

Although he had fewer people, Isaac quickly defeated the resisters and then ran around the camp, capturing prisoners.

This situation lasted for half the night. The people of the Republic were running, and Isaac and his men were chasing after them, as if they were playing hide-and-seek in the camp. They chased the fleeing soldiers until they had no strength to run anymore.

There were also some fools who ran into the mountains and forests with their heads turned, but Isaac ignored such fools.

There is no food or water in the camp, and they certainly don't have much food on them. How many of them can find food if they run into the woods now?

First of all, hunting was almost impossible. The defeated soldiers who were able to run four or five kilometers from the battlefield back to the camp must have been in a state of disarray, with only one weapon in their hands at most.

If a person is not a hunter, even if you give him a flintlock rifle, he may not be able to kill a rabbit. If you escape into the mountains without food, water, or clothes, you will either starve to death or freeze to death.

Isaac only needs to wait until tomorrow morning, set up a few large pots on the edge of the forest, cook rice porridge, and when the aroma spreads, these hungry fools who are dizzy and weak in the hands and feet will naturally come down the mountain and fall into the trap.

What Isaac needs to pay most attention to is to guard against the prisoners left in the camp from causing trouble. As for the rest of the matter, he believes that Prince Chris will consider it carefully.

This was indeed the case. When Isaac was able to control the defeated soldiers and several times more civilians in the main camp with only 500 people, the follow-up support arranged by Chris arrived.

Three hundred players and more than a thousand militiamen came over pushing carts, carrying large pots, and holding torches, and started cooking in the open space of the camp.

When the water in the big pot boils, the rice is poured in and boiled. The unique aroma of the cooked rice is released with the steam. This warm and rich aroma can quickly fill the entire camp.

When the originally restless civilians and defeated soldiers smelled the smell, their stomachs began to growl. They immediately calmed down and no longer thought about escaping. Instead, under the enemy's arrangement and whipping, they began to wait in line for porridge.

In this era, soldiers basically joined the army for food and money. The Third Infantry Regiment of the Republic could sit back and watch the kingdom collapse before, but now they are starving and can naturally give up resistance for a bite of food and serve as prisoners peacefully.

Isaac stood in the center of the camp, looking at the defeated soldiers and civilians who were once extremely ferocious but now lined up quietly like tamed beasts waiting for food, and he couldn't help feeling a little emotional.

The cruelty of war lies in the fact that it can make the strongest people vulnerable to hunger and fatigue.

"Sir, the porridge is almost ready." A soldier walked up to Isaac and reported in a low voice

.

Isaac nodded, his eyes sweeping over the captives. Their eyes were devoid of any will to resist, only a thirst for food. He knew that, in this situation, they had lost the courage to fight.

But Isaac did not let his guard down, for he knew that if he gave these people a glimmer of hope, they would likely rally.

"Let the prisoners come in batches to receive the porridge."

Isaac said in a deep voice.

"Pay attention to maintaining order and don't let them take the opportunity to cause trouble."

"Yes!"

The soldier responded and turned to convey the order.

"Remember, everyone can only drink one bowl of porridge, not two."

"But, Lord Isaac, the prince has ordered..."

"He made the prisoners in Bolas's custody drink two bowls of wine. I've stipulated that the prisoners here drink only one bowl. If there's any problem, I'll talk to Prince Chris about it later. If there's any punishment, it should be me... Follow the order!"

"Yes, my lord."

After eating a bowl of hot porridge, the militia and defeated soldiers were no longer so hungry. Isaac sent people to drive them to work under the light of torches, collecting various supplies abandoned in the camp and gathering them in the open space.

Some people are unwilling to do it and want to eat more food.

Isaac showed no mercy to this guy who couldn't tell the big king from the small one. He directly ordered his men to fire at the crowd, firing indiscriminately... What's the matter, do you still think you are here as a guest?
After the death of the twenty or so leaders and instigators, the remaining prisoners became obedient in the smoke. They were already hungry and had no strength, and even if they drank a bowl of porridge, they would at most not starve to death. They had no ability to pick up weapons to resist.

(End of this chapter)