But to Giles ' surprise, while he and his vassals were still assembling their troops, the king's army had already marched south.
Giles was shocked when his scouts brought news to Five Rams City that the Royal Army had left Crystal Radiance.
Although it is certain that the Royal Army will move south sooner or later, based on past experience, there will be a buffer period between when the decision-makers make the formal decision and when the army begins to move.
Giles even envisioned that he could assemble his army before the Kingdom Government and launch an attack on the royal territory.
After the initial shock, the Grand Duke reacted quickly, leading his remaining troops toward Jerful.
Giles ' astonishment profoundly reflects the difference between the kingdom's new army and its traditional army.
In past wars, when lords were about to officially send out troops, very few could keep it completely secret. Generally speaking, news of the expedition would spread early on, either actively or passively. There was no need for spies to go to great lengths to gather information; one could simply sit down in a tavern and countless pieces of information would come to him on their own initiative.
The process of conscripting soldiers, stockpiling supplies, and all sorts of other miscellaneous matters could drag on for a month or even several months.
When they officially set off, the army would be followed by a long "tail".
Within this "tail" are numerous merchants who serve the army. Whenever there is a war, they swarm together like bees drawn to the scent of pollen, following the army's movements.
Their business encompassed everything, selling weapons, armor, food and drink, lending money, and dealing with spoils of war. It wasn't just about anything directly related to battle; it covered everything from eating and drinking to relieving oneself.
Another factor was prostitution. Soldiers in war lived precarious lives and faced immense psychological pressure, often needing to find a place to vent. As a result, the sex trade serving the military was extremely popular.
In addition, there are the families of officers and soldiers. Not only officers, but some soldiers also bring their relatives with them. In particular, many professional mercenaries who make a living in battle often bring their families with them all year round. High-ranking officers will also bring many servants to take care of their daily needs and those of their families.
It's easy to imagine the level of such an army in terms of marching speed and information protection.
The new army that Alda's instructors built for Rodney XVIII was completely different.
This military has a strict top-down secrecy system. Any information that has not been approved is strictly prohibited from being disseminated to the outside world, and violations of secrecy regulations will be severely punished.
The military is a closed system, relatively isolated from society. Entry and exit to military bases are strictly controlled. Soldiers typically need to go through an approval process to leave the base, including submitting a leave application, stating the reason for leaving, destination, and return time, and obtaining approval from superiors. Restrictions are less stringent for senior officers, but they still need to keep complete entry and exit records. Outsiders need to register to enter the base, be accompanied by inside personnel, and are not allowed to approach key areas.
The army's supplies are handled by the relevant logistics departments. In addition to purchasing directly from the market, they also sign long-term supply contracts with certain merchants. These merchants are subject to strict qualification reviews. In short, they cannot allow a large number of merchants to gather around the army without accepting all comers.
Despite widespread speculation that the King was about to take action against Giles, not a word of the Kingdom Army's southward march leaked out before the army officially set out.
The day before the departure, all officers and soldiers involved in the operation had already assembled in the camp. Everyone packed their bags and rested quietly overnight. The next morning, all officers and soldiers lined up on the parade ground. Once the official order was given, each team walked out of the camp in turn, one after another, and embarked on the road to the south.
During marches, it was impossible for traditional armies to have families and merchants following them. In addition, suspicious individuals who followed the army would be detained.
Because there were no large numbers of people unrelated to combat to burden them, and because of the uniform training, the soldiers ' physical fitness was relatively even, thus greatly increasing the speed of marching.
The movement of tens of thousands of people could not possibly be carried out silently, so Giles was able to obtain information that the Royal Army had left Crystal Radiance. However, because it takes time to transmit a message, by the time he received the news, the Kingdom Army had already traveled halfway.
When Giles hastily led his army halfway there, the Kingdom Army had already reached Thorn Fortress, and further south lay the territory controlled by Giles.
In the last war, it was this fortress that first withstood the attack of Greedy Wolf Grand Duke. With the support of Klein and Lester, the fortress commander Duke Dodge held the position with great difficulty. Then the main force of the Royal Army moved south and pushed the battle line back to Giles ' territory. However, after a series of battles with mixed results, the Royal Army, exhausted, had no choice but to retreat, leaving the entire southern territory to Giles.
Now, Aldor will begin to reclaim its glory, starting with Thorn Fortress.
Harrison Abbott was now in command of the Kingdom Army. This ambitious young general was not going to stay put and waited politely for Giles to come and meet him.
He ordered the army to continue south, and the army entered the southern territory under Giles' rule.
The small territories along the way, like those lords who ruled a village or a town, were powerless to resist the Kingdom Army and had no time to ask for help from higher-level lords, so they wisely chose to surrender.
The Kingdom Army advanced south, even reaching the Fürger wilderness where they had fought the last decisive battle against the rebels, while Giles ' main force had still not arrived.
As they continued to push forward, they finally encountered their first slightly harder bone.
Earl Zek, the lord of the Firewood, is a loyal vassal of Giles. He had previously received orders from Five Rams City to gather an army for Giles's use at any time.
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But to his utter surprise, just a few days into his busy work, the Kingdom Army was already closing in on his territory.
After a brief moment of panic, the Earl regained his composure and withdrew all two thousand soldiers to the Firewood Fortress within his territory, determined to hold the position and resist fiercely in order to delay the advance of the Northern army and buy time for Giles to gather more troops in the rear.
Earl Zek sternly rejected the Kingdom Army's attempts to persuade them to surrender, so Harrison ordered an attack on the city.
Fireforest Fortress is a well-equipped and strategically located military fortress. In the past, even if there were only two thousand soldiers inside, they could have inflicted heavy losses on the attacking side.
But Earl Zek's soldiers had never seen gunpowder weapons that had been developed to a high level, and most of them were farmers working in the fields just a few days earlier.
Harrison lined up the cannons and bombarded the top of the wall. Although the defenders hiding behind the ramparts were not killed many times, the flames, thick smoke and whistling shells still terrified them.
After several rounds of cannon fire, the Royal Army, armed with pistols... Soldiers climbed ladders to the top of the wall, and at close range, they could almost always hit their target—Zeke's soldiers had never seen such a weapon before and did not know how to dodge.
Even if they couldn't fire in rapid succession, and there wasn't time to reload, the soldiers had to switch to melee weapons after firing a single shot. But faced with the unstoppable bullets, once most realized their lethality, the morale of the fortress defenders plummeted.
The Kingdom Army captured the fortress shortly after the battle began.