Chapter 25 The King and the Minister of War
Even if the Downeys were able to spot the other side's changes, it was almost impossible to respond, because they didn't have the habit of keeping a reserve team, and they couldn't get the troops in the fierce battle to pull out their troops in time to resist. Failure was only a matter of time.
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"Hu Chi! Hu Chi!..." Adoris gasped, staring at the rout soldiers in front of him.
He didn't expect that when the team had just circled behind the flank of the enemy's army and was about to pounce on it, the enemy would be defeated in panic. In order to catch up with the enemy, he threw away the long shield, and later threw away the lance, and just drew out the short sword, hoping to kill an enemy, and it was worthwhile to participate in this battle.
But the damn Downeys are running too fast!
The team he belongs to has been solemnly instructed by the captain in advance, how dare he let him take risks alone and follow him all the time, and all of them are exhausted and out of breath at the moment.
"Woo! Woo! Woo!..." The bugle to stop the pursuit resounded through the battlefield, and the entire team finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But Adoris didn't hear it, and continued to chase.
The squad leader was anxious, rushed up and shouted angrily: "Adoris, are you going to violate the military order?!"
Adoris then stopped unwillingly, looked at the distant enemy, and angrily threw the dagger to the ground.
"Don't worry, the enemy can't run away, our cavalry corps won't make it easier for them." The captain comforted him.
Adoris lowered his head and did not speak. He was too angry: in this battle, he did not even touch a hair of the enemy, and it ended in victory.
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"Congratulations, Commander, you won this battle and completely defeated the main force of the Downeys!" The surrounding officers congratulated Alexis.
Alexis said lightly: "We have more troops than the Downeys, our training is stricter than the Downeys, and our equipment is better than the Downeys, so victory is deserved, but it's not a complete defeat. The main force of the Nepalese...let the messengers immediately notify the various legions, quickly gather the troops, rearrange the formation, and then march towards Hedonia!"
"Yes!" The herald galloped away.
"Lord Commander, do you want to write a battle report to Turii?" Adjutant Eumatius said excitedly.
Alexis nodded slightly: "Tell Your Majesty,
We have defeated an army of about 20,000 people from the Downeys on the Ovanto River, and we are going to take the city of Hedonia next, so he does not have to worry. "
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"Report to the corps commander, Prince Adoris has not suffered any damage, and has gathered with his squad to the fourth brigade."
Olivers' expression suddenly became much more relaxed. He smiled and said, "It's okay, it's okay!"
Afterwards, he remembered something, turned his head and greeted the adjutant: "Write a private letter to His Majesty in my tone, telling him that Adoris was heroic in the process of detouring to the enemy's flank by his fourth brigade, and his charge was At the front, after the enemy was defeated, he was still in hot pursuit... In short, it is necessary to write about Adoris' excellent performance in battle without exaggerating, do you understand?"
"Understood, Legion Commander." The adjutant replied, and immediately went to get a pen and paper.
"After writing it for me, stamp it with my stamp and send it back to Turii." Olivers urged.
"Yes!"
"Everyone, our next target is Hedonia!" Olivers pointed to the front of his right hand, his legs tucked together, and the horses moved forward. The officers and guards around him followed him.
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"This Olivers!" Davers couldn't help laughing when he read the letter sent by Olivers' messenger. Of course he knew that there must be a lot of water in the letter, but Adoris was safe and sound, so he was relieved.
"You send someone to send this letter to the home on the mountain and give it to Cristoia." Davos said, at least this letter can relieve the family's worries about Adoris.
"Yes, Your Majesty." The clerk Henepolis took the letter and turned to leave the King's Office.
A person came on the way: "Lord Henepolis."
Henepolis hurriedly replied, "Master Antonios."
Although Henepolis served as the king's clerk, he was only a mid-level official, but he was also the elder of the Senate. This was one of the rewards given to him by the Senate after he offered to merge Laos into the Kingdom of Dionia. One, he is the youngest elder in the Senate. Of course, the reason why the high-ranking Antonios is so polite to him is mainly because he is the herald of Davos. Apart from his family in the kingdom, he can be said to be one of the elders closest to King Davos. .
Antonios asked softly again, "Is Your Majesty there?"
"Waiting for you."
Antonios took another small step forward, lowered his head and asked in a low voice, "Lord Hernepolis, can you tell me... why did your majesty call me over today?"
Henepolis glanced at the vague gloom on his face, hesitated, and spit out a sentence: "Middle and low-ranking officers are promoted to the roster."
Antonios was taken aback.
Every year, the Ministry of Military Affairs decides who will be promoted based on the performance and record of the soldiers and officers of each legion. In the general case of no war, the promotion of officers needs to reach a certain number of years. The promotion of middle and low-ranking officers can be directly decided by the Minister of Military Affairs, and only needs to be reviewed and approved by the king, which is stipulated in the "Dionysian Military Law". Since Davos established the Ministry of Military Affairs, he has seldom pointed fingers and fingers on it. Often the roster is handed over, and no one has ever been called back. At most, a few names are occasionally added.
This year's roster was handed in five days ago, because I was worried about my brother-in-law Paphos, and I forgot that His Majesty Davos hadn't sent someone to send the roster back to the Ministry of Military Affairs...Antonios thought of this, and was secretly shocked. , while thinking about what went wrong with the booklet, he walked slowly to the king's office.
As the guard at the door rolled his name, he heard a familiar voice from inside: "Antonios, come in."
Antonios took a deep breath, stepped on the marble floor as smooth as a mirror, and walked into the king's office named by Davos.
It was indeed a hall, not a room. Although it was not as large as the palace hall on the first floor, it was three or four times larger than the room where Antonios worked in the Ministry of War. There are red wooden chairs neatly placed on both sides of the hall. That is where ministers and officials sit when they are called to discuss matters. There are rows of small windows on the top of the stone wall that the wooden chairs are close to, and the sun shines from here. Come in, to ensure sufficient light in the hall. The aisle in the middle is very spacious. When necessary, several long tables can be placed, maps and documents can be placed, and important military and political affairs can be discussed. In fact, the office is the place where King Davos and his ministers discuss and deal with the affairs of the kingdom. The palace downstairs is mostly used for large-scale court meetings to receive foreign guests and major festivals.
At the end of the aisle is a large and heavy desk. On the wall behind the desk is a huge map of Italy, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica inlaid with colorful mosaics. There are two smaller wooden tables on each side in front of the desk, which are where the clerk and clerk work. This shows that Davos is busy with government affairs, and the documents collected by various departments in the office every day are divided. He needs the clerks to help him sort out, classify, file, recite, and then write according to Davers' oral instructions, then hand it over to him to sign, and finally send it back...
But now there is no one in the always busy office, except Davos sitting behind the desk, the stacks of documents on the desk half cover his face, making Antonios feel a little nervous, he has been here in the past Countless times, he had never felt this way before, but Paphogres' crime, Asisters' persuasion, and Davos's attitude towards Laodician in the Senate the day before yesterday made him feel uneasy.
"Your Majesty!" He walked to the desk and shouted respectfully.
"Sit down!" Davers stood up, pointed to the wooden chair next to him, and watched Antonios sit down slowly. Davers picked up a document on the table and asked in a calm tone, "This is the officer promotion roster. Have you read it in detail?"
Sure enough, it is this roster. Could it be that His Majesty is dissatisfied with some of the candidates? ! Antonios' thoughts turned sharply, and he answered cautiously: "There are too many people to be promoted this time. I only focused on checking the name and performance of the captain and company captain..."
Davos was noncommittal, and asked again, "Who initially drafted this roster?"
"...mainly the officials below, preliminarily drafted according to the list recommended by the commanders of various places..." Antonios said truthfully.
"The current inspector of the Ministry of Military Affairs is Zantiparis, right?" Davos asked again casually.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Zantiparis, one of several mercenary leaders of the Persian Expeditionary Force, was too old and lacked physical strength and energy. Davos remembered his old fighting friendship, and because of his decades of combat experience, Zantiparis was familiar with military affairs, so he was transferred to the Military Affairs Department as an inspector, responsible for supervising and reviewing officer promotions, military expenditures, etc.
"Let's take a look." Davos handed over the roster when he saw Antonios still puzzled.
Antonios hurriedly got up to take it, he didn't sit down, he just stood and started to read. But the current kingdom of Dionia is different from ten years ago. There are ten infantry corps, not to mention four naval fleets and four cavalry corps, so there are hundreds of promoted personnel in this list, ten Several pages of papyrus scrolls, densely populated with names of people and units, were dazzling. How could Antonios have discovered the problem in such a short period of time.
"On the page of the Eighth Legion." Davos' indifferent sentence surprised Antonios, because the Eighth Legion was also known as the Sicilian Legion, and the headquarters of the Legion was in Catane.