OBS Chapter 243: The Bloated Army
Chapter 243: The Bloated Army
"The one in the front center is General Laban. Just go in. I won't bother you anymore."
After the accompanying officers withdrew, John ordered his men to guard outside the door and entered the fortress's meeting hall alone. After showing his nobility certificate to the guards, John was able to enter the slightly empty meeting hall.
There was a long table in the center of the council hall. A group of generals in armor were pointing at the map on the table and discussing the next layout. Although John had not seen Laban for many years, his thick dark brown hair allowed John to find Laban's location. He was now surrounded by people and was giving instructions to everyone while looking at the map on the table.
"Let the soldiers who have been stationed in Rona for more than five years go home and replace them with soldiers who were just recruited last month..."
John walked towards Laban, who had his back to him. At this time, Laban was arranging troop movements with other generals. From some words, John speculated that this might be about military movements on the front line. By allowing soldiers who had served too long to return home, other troops could see the hope of being able to return home, which was also a disguised spiritual encouragement to the soldiers.
Seeing that Laban was busy, John did not interrupt him immediately. When Laban finished his instructions and was about to leave, John saw that the time was right and shouted to him:
"Laban!"
When Laban heard the voice, he turned around and saw that it was John. He was surprised and said happily:
"Earl John, why are you here?"
However, when John saw Laban again after many years, he was shocked by his appearance. The young, handsome and ambitious young man in his impression has now become a middle-aged uncle with a thick beard. Although his eyes still retain the original vitality, through the deep dark circles under his eyes, John knows what kind of pressure he has been under on the front line for all these years.
"I was just passing by on the way to the new territory. But you, how come you have become like this after all these years?" John turned the topic to Laban. In addition to expressing his concern for him, he also wanted to understand the current situation on the southern battlefield through his words.
"Don't mention it. Since I came here, I have basically had little time to rest. There are too many things to deal with and too many people to take care of..." Sure enough, as soon as John finished speaking, Laban explained to John the miserable situation he had faced over the years as if complaining.
"I originally thought that after the plague, the Yoda people would take a break before attacking again, but what I didn't expect was that the Yoda army seemed to be unaffected by the plague. As early as last year, they began to focus on attacking the castle of Rona Territory again, and now the Yoda people's offensive is getting more and more fierce. On the other hand, we are short of manpower in various places on the front line."
"Didn't the king send troops here? Since the king is able to transfer tens of thousands of standing troops to the southwest border, wouldn't the problem be solved by taking some of them?" John continued to ask. Before this, the southern battlefield had always been the top priority of the dignitaries in Windham. Why did it seem to be abandoned this year?
"Originally, the king was going to send the standing army, but I don't know who said at the court meeting that the war in the south was currently at a stalemate and there was no need to send the already elite reserve army. As a result, the king actually listened to his advice and transferred the standing army to Earl Hawes to the southwest border, but what he sent to us was a group of..."
"A bunch of weak farmers and mentally retarded and arrogant fools, keeping the food will only waste it."
Just then, a familiar voice appeared outside the crowd. John looked out the door and saw General Conseil leading his men into the parliament hall.
"Hello, my old boss." John greeted General Conseil as he approached, and gave Conseil a hug. During the hug, John noticed that Conseil's hair was already half white, indicating that his retirement date would soon be approaching.
"Although you are disappointed with those soldiers, I think that these are the troops brought by His Majesty the King after all. Will your analogy shake the morale of those soldiers?" John advised kindly. In his opinion, perhaps the quality of the soldiers did not meet Conseil's expectations, which made him say these angry words.
"Metaphor? I'm not using a metaphor. I'm stating the truth. Some of them are really fools, downright fools. If you don't believe me, follow me."
After Conseil finished speaking, he led John out of the council hall and rode to a camp outside the fortress. After John saw the appearance of those soldiers, he understood why Conseil said so:
Everywhere John went, he saw people who were obese, and almost everyone had a signature silly smile on their face. Some people even drooled on the ground, forming a small puddle below. John felt that this situation was becoming more and more familiar. Isn't this Down syndrome?
"Is everyone in this camp like this?" John pointed at these people and said to Conseil. He also thought that the nobles of today were really worse than the previous generation. Although some of the nobles John had met in the past were bad and cruel to the core, they were at least intelligent people. Nowadays, some people may not even know how to ride a horse.
"Most of them are. However, I have arranged normal people in the leadership. After all, these people are the sons of nobles. Although their parents send them to the battlefield, if there are any unnecessary casualties, they will definitely make a fuss with me for a long time. The king really should come down and see what kind of soldiers he brought." General Conseil responded helplessly. Fighting at the same time and taking care of these mentally ill people really made him, an old man over fifty years old, feel tired.
At this time, a man who looked like an officer came out of the tent in the middle. When he saw Conseil across from him, he ran up to him and shouted loudly:
"Captain of the Sixth Cavalry Squadron reports to you!"
"Well, how are these fools doing now?"
"They are all doing well. We have just solved their feeding problem. Apart from some silly giggles, no one was crying or making a fuss." The captain of the supervision team reported to Conseil. John felt that this person looked familiar. After thinking for a long time, he remembered that he seemed to have joined the supervision team with him and other noble children 8 years ago.
At this moment, another man who looked like an officer walked out of the tent, carrying a large wooden barrel with both hands. Although one could not see what was in the barrel, the stench that could be smelled from a distance indirectly proved that this thing was not a good thing.
After putting the barrel into a carriage surrounded by flies and watching the carriage drive out of the camp, the man immediately walked up to the captain of the supervisory team and complained:
"Captain, if this work continues like this, the brothers will definitely go on strike."