Chapter 362: Expedition

From the majestic Mr. Colonel on horseback, Joan naturally thought of his grandfather.

The two old men are about the same age, Edmund Harrison can still gallop on the battlefield like a young man, but his grandfather is sick, like a candle in the wind...

After comparing the two, Joan couldn't help but be deeply envious of Colonel Harrison's healthy and healthy body.

Just when Joan was thinking wildly, he suddenly heard someone calling his name. Looking back, Major Vassar was waving at him, as if he wanted to introduce himself to Colonel Harrison who had just dismounted.

Joan restrained his nervousness, walked over quickly, and bowed to Colonel Harrison.

"It is an honor to meet you, Mr. Colonel."

Colonel Harrison was fiddling with his horsewhip, and his gray-blue eyes looked at the thin, immature boy in front of him without the slightest emotion. His brows were slightly frowned, showing a vague disapproval attitude.

He kept silent, and Joan didn't know what to say next, standing there at a loss, feeling very embarrassed.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Vader, I hope you have a good time in the barracks." Colonel Harrison finally broke the silence.

Although what he said was just routine polite words, Qiao An was relieved, and hurriedly replied, "Thanks for taking care of me, I am very grateful", then retreated into the crowd and hid in an inconspicuous corner.

Colonel Harrison glanced at him again, seeming to be unimpressed by his reserved and clumsy speech and behavior. He stroked his horned beard lightly, with a sneering arc on his lips, and turned back to Major Vassar, "This kid is very handsome, unfortunately Still too lacking in experience, his temperament is not like a soldier, but like a student."

"Joan was originally a student. He is only thirteen years old this year. He is studying arcane art at Leiden Academy. He is the proud disciple of Master Robert Rawls." George Vassar introduced at the right time.

"Oh? He's the 'military mage' you specifically mentioned in your report. Just to hire such a little boy, he spent a whole 1,000 gold and duo plus military expenses?" Colonel Harrison's expression darkened.

George Vassar's face froze slightly, and then he straightened his chest, his expression became extraordinarily solemn.

"Mr. Colonel, I guarantee on my own reputation that Joan Vida's ability is worthy of our large sum of money to hire! In this year's hunting competition, Joan's performance is obvious to all, and he once—"

"Okay, okay, George, you don't need to explain to me, anyway, the report you submitted has been approved, and my personal opinion is irrelevant."

Colonel Harrison shook his whip with an air of impatience.

"But I think I have an obligation to explain it to you. After all, you are our supreme commander. When formulating a battle plan, you should fully consider the special role of the accompanying mage."

"Ha! You speak as if you are the supreme commander of this army. Do you want you to teach me how to do things?" Colonel Harrison gave Vasa an angry look.

Major Vassar's face changed slightly, and he quickly bowed his head in repentance: "Mr. Colonel, please forgive my offense!"

"George, you are my old subordinate. I handed over this knight training camp to you. I believe you are not the kind of young man who doesn't care about the importance. It doesn't matter if you have something to say."

Colonel Harrison sighed softly, then addressed Major Vassar:

"As for the little mage you hired, frankly speaking, I don't dare to expect his spellcasting ability to be worthy of the commission. As long as he doesn't get scared by the gnolls and pee his pants, it's worth our thanks to the gods."

Joan didn't deliberately eavesdrop on the conversation between Colonel Harrison and Major Vassar, but the voices of the two still reached his ears vaguely, which made him feel extremely complicated.

He was grateful to Major Vassar for defending himself again and again, but also deeply displeased with Colonel Harrison’s disdainful attitude. He secretly vowed to prove to the arrogant Colonel Harrison with his actual performance on the battlefield that he was worthy of the 1,000 gold Dujia commission .

...

At 8 o'clock in the morning on August 21, the assembled troops set off from the Delin River Valley Barracks, and officially launched the southward campaign to suppress bandits.

The imperial regular army plus mercenaries that went out this time totaled more than 500 horsemen. Although it cannot be compared with the large-scale battles organized by the countries of the Old Continent, in terms of the war history of the Yalfheim colony, It was already a massive military operation.

The main combat strength of the troops going south is 300 imperial cavalry from the Derlin Valley camp. Most of them are only 18 or 19 years old. They have joined the army for only two or three years. The level of training is impeccable, the only thing that is still lacking is actual combat experience.

In addition to receiving military training, this young army will occasionally perform some actual combat tasks such as expelling wild beasts and sweeping up goblins. However, these tasks are too simple and belong to the militia business, so sending regular troops is overkill.

The only challenging task that the Knights have performed in recent years is the battle to rescue the town of Delin at the beginning of the year. They performed well in the face of the Lizardman and Hobgoblin coalition forces that far outnumbered their own. Delin town.

This time they went south to fight, and the Knights were dispatched in full force. Most of them, not to mention the experience of fighting wolf man, had never even seen a living wolf man with their own eyes.

However, the morale of the troops was not affected by this. The young trainee knights were full of longing for the upcoming war, eager to make contributions on the battlefield, and be promoted to real knights as soon as possible like the Tyndall brothers.

Accompanied by the knights, there were 200 Asa hunters from the Algonquin Valley, led by Magni Powhatan, the young master of the Algonquin tribe.

The reason why the Yalfheim military is willing to spend a lot of money to hire Asa hunters to participate in the southward battle is that in addition to making up for the shortage of troops, there is another important factor, that is, considering that the "Asa hunters" can just make up for the Vaasa knights. Weaknesses in experience and tactics.

Including Magni Powhatan, the members of the Asa Hunting Cavalry are generally around twenty-five years old. They have far more actual combat experience than those eighteen or nineteen-year-old apprentice knights, and they are more calm on the battlefield.

In addition, although the two units are both cavalry, their weapons and equipment and their functions on the battlefield are different.

The imperial cavalry wore steel helmets and breastplates, and their standard weapons included a lance, a kite shield, and a long sword or morning star hammer. They belonged to the standard "heavy cavalry" organization and were responsible for attacking fortified positions on the battlefield. Defeat the main force of the enemy.

"Asa Hunting Riders" are a group of hunters on horseback, wearing light and flexible leather armor and jungle camouflage cloaks, and their weapons are their iconic composite hunting bow and a short and sharp machete, which is a typical "Light cavalry" are good at riding and shooting, disturbing the enemy, scouting, patrolling, and chasing defeated enemy troops.