Chapter 94: All is fair in war (First update)

Rand waited on high alert for two days, during which time all the looting teams returned.

As the looting teams returned in wave after wave, Rand became increasingly busy because he was caught up in a complicated wrangling process.

As the commander of the infantry corps, Rand has a certain say, but he does not intend to waste time on arguing.

All the looted food and fodder were confiscated and used for military purposes. Rand did not care about the wealth and property, so he let the nobles divide it however they wanted.

Unfortunately, the opposite happened.

Something very unpleasant happened to Rand. The nobles started quarreling, and even the Black and Brown Earl and the Stag Earl got involved. It seemed that the noble blood in their bodies was activated when it came to the issue of dividing the spoils.

Many of the minor nobles were used by Rand as grassroots officers. Since he had established his prestige before, it was relatively easy for him to command them.

But now it’s completely different. Once these people start arguing, there’s no end to it.

Moreover, Rand was not a noble commander in essence. Once the problem came to non-military matters, he had no right to make decisions for these nobles, who actually had considerable titles.

What's more, both the Black and Brown Earl and the Buck Earl are gone.

Realizing the seriousness of the matter, Rand arrived at the meeting tent and discovered the problem.

Since the people sent by the Third Prince did not fortify the city and clear the countryside, the wealth in the countryside was much more than imagined.

And because of the serious food shortage, Rand sent a lot of people out to rob, and because of Rand's instructions, they were required to rob both people and property, so the looting was very thorough, which resulted in a lot of property being robbed.

Although there is not much actual currency, the value of leather, livestock, linen, etc. is very good when converted.

Therefore, the nobles of the 5th Legion were all tempted and were recruited to participate, either actively or passively. They provided their own food and equipment and took the recruited troops and their knights to participate in the war, but so far they have been in a loss-making state.

Some people have even lost their lives. Everyone has accepted their fate and is planning to make a big profit after the war.

But now, suddenly there is an opportunity to share the money, there is no reason not to participate.

Soon the quarrel in the tent escalated into a full-blown fight.

Just when Rand was getting anxious, one of his scouts rushed over and reported: "The enemy's 2nd Legion's camp is only an empty shell."

The other side wants to escape? Rand didn't react immediately. This means he can take over the other side's baggage and property and make a lot of money.

Rand shook his head, realizing that he had been misled by these nobles arguing about the distribution of wealth.

How to escape from the other side? There is only one main road here for marching. Although the rest is flat, it is not easy to walk. If you force yourself not to take the main road, it will be very slow and you can't carry baggage.

Then Rand could just arrange for his men to travel light and pursue the enemy to achieve victory.

If we take the main road, the enemy's army is encircling us from the north. If we flee, we will run into our own army head-on. Isn't that walking into a trap?

Could it be that the other side didn’t actually receive the news that they were surrounded?

When it came to military affairs, Rand finally had a say again. After a light cough, the nobles finally put aside their disputes and quieted down.

After they calmed down, Rand asked the scout for details.

The other side left behind a small number of people, and many of the main forces had already withdrawn, and no one knew what they were doing.

Soon, Rand came to the conclusion that the enemy was going to attack his own legion that was encircling them.

Logically speaking, there is no point in doing this. As long as the Second Legion does not collapse at the first blow, then as long as they delay for a while and wait for the Fifth Legion to arrive with its men, these people sent by the Third Prince will surely fail.

According to military reports, our 2nd Army is very close. Although they are marching very fast, they will not rush forward just to grab the credit and achieve quick success without maintaining their formation or reconnaissance, right?

This definitely won’t happen. This wouldn’t be called outflanking, it’s called delivering food.

Rand felt relieved, thinking that the enemy commander had made a mistake. This enemy commander was quite powerful and had always prevented Rand from finding any opportunities. Now, he finally revealed a flaw.

In any case, Rand would not admit that the 5th Legion and the 2nd Legion of the Third Prince's faction were not very strong. He and the opposing commander must be evenly matched, not just a fight between weaklings.

Fortunately, since everyone had come to discuss the division of the spoils, all the nobles who were supposed to be present in the tent had already arrived, saving the trouble of summoning them.

"So we're putting aside the distribution of wealth for now?" Rand glanced at the wooden table in the middle of the tent.

He gestured from the rough map on the wooden table and said, "Let's gather together. If our friendly forces are defeated, it will be troublesome."

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Rand turned to look at the black and brown earl and said, "Sir, please don't go too deep. If you leave the main force, there may be traps on the other side."

Although the probability is very low, there is still a possibility that the enemy is just pretending to retreat, but in fact it is to force the 5th Army to leave its position and find an opportunity to ambush.

The black and brown earl nodded, then left with the cavalry.

Rand continued to command in the tent. Although there were still many nobles who wanted to discuss the division of the spoils, in their opinion, defeating the Third Prince's Second Legion was a foregone conclusion, and it would not be a bad idea to discuss the distribution of the spoils together.

Based on the principle that the more people there are, the weaker the combat effectiveness, the number of infantry regiments dispatched by Rand this time was not large. To be precise, only more than 2,000 frontal combat troops were dispatched.

Now most of the soldiers in the Thunder-Trap Camp have been killed or wounded, so the Thunder-Trap Camp has been disbanded and mixed in with the frontal combat troops.

As for the useless people in the logistics unit, Rand left them all in the barracks. Originally, Rand was planning to try to train them and make them combat-ready, but he found that it was impossible.

If training is intensified, food consumption will increase significantly. Currently, the 5th Corps is most short of food.

Moreover, many of the conscripts were originally serfs. They could not speak the basic common language well, were ignorant, and could not understand orders. This was too difficult a situation for Rand to give up training them. In any case, in the short term, these people would only be a drag.

These people might be useful in defending a city, but they are completely useless in a field battle.

After everything was sorted out, Rand gave the order to set off. Rand also accompanied the army in the military operation to encircle the Third Prince's 2nd Army.

In Rand's eyes, most of the army's combat effectiveness comes from its formation. As long as an army can maintain its formation, it will always maintain its combat effectiveness. The other small part comes from the individual strength of the army and their proficiency in various skills.

This is totally unrealistic at the moment, and Rand doesn't consider it. He has a bad feeling now. It's not possible that the friendly army that is outflanking them is really sending themselves for food.

(End of this chapter)