Chapter 81 Strategy, Position, Provocation
The strategy proposed by the Second Prince sounded okay, and Rand did not pretend to know the answer and comment on it.
He knew that some military theories were already learned in the university's military training courses, so it would be ridiculous to talk about the strategies of the medieval magic world.
The strategy of the Second Prince's faction was very simple. They relied on the fact that they had more soldiers than the Third Prince's faction, gathered all their forces together, and slowly crushed them. This perfectly avoided the possibility of being defeated one by one.
The second prince himself would also follow the army instead of staying in the rear to avoid a surprise attack from the enemy in the rear.
If the Second Prince is lost, the legal basis of this war of sovereignty will be over. Rand knows very well that the Second Prince is protected by a number of top professionals and has an elite group of knights always by his side.
It is probably the same for the third prince, otherwise the assassination would have started long ago.
It is not as efficient to fight and consume each other as to directly destroy the opponent's king. But there is no hope of doing so at present.
However, although the troops are concentrated in one place, they are also commanded by different corps, that is, a pyramid command structure from top to bottom. Otherwise, if everyone is under unified command, it will be chaos.
The Second Prince’s faction consists of a total of eleven powerful earls and one grand duke. The Second Prince himself also has actual fiefdoms and is almost an earl.
The title of Marquis is mostly an honorary position in the Frost Moon Kingdom, and its specific strength is not much different from that of Earl, so it is also regarded as Earl in war.
The Three Princes Faction consists of ten powerful earls and one grand duke.
The strength of both sides is actually not much different. In the Frost Moon Kingdom, the population of a standard barony is in the thousands, about two to three thousand to four to five thousand people, and the population of a standard earldom is in the tens of thousands, basically around 60,000 people.
A powerful earl would usually enfeoff 8 to 10 barons.
In short, in this civil war, the military strength of both sides was only a few thousand cavalry and tens of thousands of infantry.
The Second Prince divided the army into five corps, each with 5,000 men and 500 cavalry. The extra men were the Second Prince's direct legions, which served as reserve forces and fire brigades and did not participate in the formal war.
Because of his good performance in previous local conflicts and his brother-in-law to the Second Prince, Count Black and Brown became the commander of the 5th Corps.
One of the lieutenants was another earl in the legion, and the other was someone who surprised everyone: Rand.
Moreover, in terms of the distribution of military forces, at least during the march, Rand was authorized to command a standard infantry regiment of 5,000 people plus 1,000 mercenaries, totaling 6,000 people. Many small and medium-sized nobles such as viscounts and barons were also assigned to Rand's command.
Another earl and the black-brown earl himself, plus some remaining brave minor nobles were all in the cavalry. It seemed like a standard 500 cavalry, but with some private goods of the nobles, it was normal for a cavalry regiment to have 600 or 700 people.
Such a heavy responsibility made Rand sweat profusely. He didn't know he was so capable and could command so many people? To be honest, in his previous life, Rand was the highest official he ever held, a squad leader, managing a squad of more than 30 people. Sometimes he was overwhelmed. After traveling through time, he was only managing a Crescent Moon Territory with a population of several thousand.
But Wanyueling is easy to manage, and the villagers can be self-sufficient most of the time. As long as he doesn't cause trouble, the villagers themselves will not have much trouble. The main troubles are concentrated in the hideouts.
Since he has a high reputation in the hideout and is like a sage king, it is not very difficult for him to play a simulation management game. The Adventurer's Association also helps manage the affairs of the holiday villa.
But now being the commander of a legion of 6,000 people is indeed a bit beyond his ability.
It was also obvious that this made many viscounts and barons assigned to this legion dissatisfied. Rand had no reputation before, and the most famous event was Taner's conflict with the Marquis of Greenleaf.
Except for the Black and Brown Earl, most of the nobles were not aware of the details of the battle. At best, they only knew that they won by defeating the larger force with the smaller one, but they were unable to comprehend the tactical content involved.
What's even more outrageous is that Rand isn't even a proper noble, he's just a tacit approval. Although as a feudal lord, it's basically a done deal for Earl Black and Brown to agree to the fiefdom, but hasn't it been approved by the king himself?
There is not even a king yet.
In contrast, they, nobles with a long family history and powerful ancestors, had to obey the command of this wild man who came out of nowhere? And although Rand had expected that he would be entrusted with an important task from the beginning, he did not expect it to be so exaggerated. Did the Black and Brown Earl trust him so much?
Rand ran into trouble on his way back to the camp.
Several people who looked like nobles were blocking the middle of the road, and it was obvious that no one could pass.
Ellie behind him whispered, "Is this the classic plot of the web drama you mentioned before?"
Rand nodded tiredly. Now it seemed to be true. It was completely understandable that these nobles wanted to cause trouble like hooligans. After all, Rand himself felt that he was not worthy of his position.
But now that you have obtained the formal command authority, prestige is very important. If you are stepped on by others, it will be wishful thinking for you to command the army.
Now we can only fight against the enemy with our troops and block the water with earth.
Rand stood still and said, "Get out of the way."
Ellie whispered to Rand that the leader was a viscount and the other two were barons, and all three were assigned to Rand's command.
It was obvious that these three people had no intention of giving way.
Rand sighed, but it didn't matter. It was better to come and cause trouble now than to disobey orders after a fight. If that situation really happened, it would be a big deal.
A pair of white gloves was thrown over from the other side.
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"Are we going to have a duel?" Rand turned around secretly and asked Ellie behind him.
"Yes."
"Should I pick it up then?"
"Need not."
Unable to bear Rand's whispering, the leading viscount spoke up: "Do you want to provoke us?"
"You are clearly provoking me." Rand sighed again: "A duel cannot prove command ability."
"Coward." The leading viscount sneered without hesitation.
Rand raised his eyebrows and was about to accept the duel when Olenna walked in front of Rand and threw a white glove on the ground.
Ellie explained from behind Rand: "A noble's duel can be delegated."
In fact, if Rand fights himself, the probability of winning is very high. Although he cannot beat Olenna and Ellie, even Ellie is a serious superior professional.
The possibility that these nobles could train themselves to a higher level was slim, and with the blessing of Blessing 1, Rand would recover quickly unless he was directly fatally injured, so the possibility of losing the duel was slim.
But Olenna still stood in front of Rand and whispered, "What I am best at is dueling."
Rand actually didn't agree with Olenna. He felt that Olenna was best at taking care of people. At least he had never directly faced Olenna's aggressive side.
And Rand was also itching to fight. In the hideout, he couldn't beat any of the people with some skills. Now that someone came to beat him, he was very excited.
(End of this chapter)