[If you understand the ban, you will definitely lift the ban! You will not go back on your promise. I hope everyone will lose their votes to support it.]

`

Chapter 74

Seeing that Luo Yantar's army was scattering in the distance, the defeated soldiers in the wilderness gathered towards Luo Yantar's main force like ants. Luo Yantar is worthy of being a cunning wolf on the grassland. Seeing the opportunity, he immediately ordered his retreat when he saw his cavalry defeated, and did not give Roddy and Ruben any chance to pursue and expand the results of the battle. In fact, Roddy and Ruben did not want to pursue. The military strength of Ruben was less than 40,000, and Roddy's 10,000 wolf-fanged army was raiding for three days in a long distance. He had just fought again and was already exhausted and had no ability to pursue.

With the help of his personal soldiers, Ruben hurriedly ran down from the city wall and saw Roddy leading the Wolf Tooth Army into the city gate first.

Seeing the tulip battle flag like flame, Ruben felt his body shaking and his eyes blurred.

How long has it been since I saw the battle flag? Five years or ten years? Ruben can't remember it, but when he saw the Central Cavalry Legion slowly entering the city from the city gate, each soldier's face was full of fatigue, but the excitement and perseverance in his eyes could not be concealed!

The main general on the horse, covered in blood stained on the slightly old leather armor, with golden hair flying, and sword eyebrows raised high. The murderous aura in the dark blue eyes had not yet disappeared - that look like the young Duke decades ago! Especially behind him, looking at the old comrade-in-arms Zieg who was holding the sabre, Ruben couldn't help but tremble, and almost thought that time and space had flowed back...

In the next few steps, Ruben almost threw away the personal soldiers who were supporting him, rolled down from the steps of the city wall, and plopped down in front of Roddy's horse, crying loudly.

Roddy was startled. Seeing a middle-aged man wearing high-level general armor kneeling in front of him, Roddy immediately jumped off the horse.

"Ruben has seen the Duke!" Ruben's voice trembled. How many years have he not said this?

Roddy panicked and quickly pulled Ruben from the ground and said hurriedly: "Is it the commander of the Ruben Legion? Your rank is older than mine, how can you kneel down to me!"

Tears had already appeared in Ruben's eyes. He looked at Roddy carefully, and then he pulled his thoughts out of his memories - after all, the Duke had passed away for many years!

However, Zieg, who was next to him, saw Ruben's disobedience and stepped forward and pulled him gently twice. Then Ruben shook his head and loudly ordered his officers to lead the Central Cavalry Corps to the barracks, while he pulled Roddy and walked towards the garrison mansion.

At this moment, there was already a lot of joy in the city. Whether the civilians or soldiers knew that they had won the battle, they were extremely excited. Seeing the imperial reinforcements outside the city entering the city, both civilians and soldiers rushed to the streets to watch. From time to time, enthusiastic civilians subdued the fruits and vegetables in their hands and stuffed them into the hands of the cavalry, and many children ran happily after the cavalry line.

You should know that Luo Yantar's reputation as the devil who killed the devil has spread throughout the northwest, burning, killing and looting wherever the iron hooves of the Dayue Kingdom went. A few days ago, the civilians in the city were panicked, fearing that one day the city would be destroyed and their families would be destroyed. At this moment, when they heard that the enemy outside the city was beaten away by reinforcements, they were not happy in their hearts?

Roddy looked at the cheerful and joyful civilians around him, remembering the experience in that village the day before, and felt a sigh in his heart. But suddenly, Andy's mocking voice came from his mind: "What's so strange? The Empire and Luo Yantar, one is the creditor and the other is the robber. Although the creditor comes to take half of your things every month, when he encounters a robber, he will snatch them all, regardless of whether it is the two evils. In comparison, of course, the creditor is a little cute."

But Roddy was young after all, and was still immersed in the joy of winning the first battle, and didn't care much about Andy's words.

The commander-in-chief of the Northwest Legion was set up in the original garrison mansion of Wat Fortress. As soon as we entered the commander-in-chief, we saw two men in military uniforms strode out from inside. We had a flattering smile on our faces. The fat guy looked like a soldier, but he looked more like a rich man. The man next to him was three points thinner than him, but he was a little taller, with a smile on his face, but he looked more like a cunning merchant. However, these two men were wearing the commander-in-chief uniform of the Northwest Army, which made people feel a little inappropriate.

The guy who looked like a rich man immediately gave a manner to the subordinate to meet his superiors: "I am the garrison of Watt Fortress, and I have met the Duke." The man who looked like a merchant said, "I am the commander of the Trier Fort Ferrara, and I have met the Duke."

Ruben's face, which was quite happy, immediately sinks down three points. The two men hid in the garrison palace, and the news was very well-informed. They knew it after the Duke arrived for a while.

Roddy frowned and looked at the two men, and just nodded. Logically speaking, although he had the title of duke, his military rank was just a commander, not higher than these two men. However, throughout the way, Sieg, who was also the commander, treated him with the following etiquette. Roddy had long been used to it, so he didn't think anything was wrong with the two men gurus like this. But when he heard the names of these two people, Roddy couldn't help but be stunned, as if he had thought of something, but he didn't expect it for a moment.

Ruben was already impatient, pulled Roddy and walked into the hall, then directly pushed Roddy to the coach's position and pressed him to sit down. Roddy was shocked and jumped up from the chair and shouted: "General Ruben! This is not possible! I am just a commander, how can I sit in this position!"

Ruben said seriously: "Dude! You are Duke of Tulip! Wherever the Tulip Battle Flag goes, how can the commander be left behind? Besides..." Ruben's face turned dim and she smiled bitterly: "At this moment, my legion commander, is probably about to sit down. I'm pale in the northwest, and your Majesty is probably..." Speaking of this, Ruben smiled, but his laughter was even bleak.

Roddy wanted to say something, but saw Sieg wink at him, then nodded and said loudly: "General Ruben, let's talk about this matter! But His Majesty wants me to come, one is to bring reinforcements, and the other is to appoint me as the Northwest Military Observation Envoy. Now the city siege has been lifted. Please tell me about the current situation of the Northwest Army immediately!"

Ruben nodded. Since Roddy lifted the emperor out, she would no longer insist on anything. Anyway, since the Duke has been appointed as the Northwest envoy, it is natural to control all the rights of the Northwest.

At that moment, Ruben immediately ordered all the deputy commanders and above officers under his command to summon them.

First, I briefly introduced my generals - the five commanders of the Northwest Army's main force had already been killed, and the deputy commander took over. The local defenders, the commander of Blackstone Fort, was intercepted by the Luoyantar cavalry on the way to rescue, died heroically, and the defenders were defeated. The defenders had been re-engineered and could only be reorganized after the war. At this moment, Ruben introduced the commanders of his subordinates to Roddy one by one, most of whom were medium-range soldiers. When Roddy looked around, there was no character like Zieg who looked particularly eye-catching.

Suddenly, his eyes were one or two, and he saw a thirty-year-old slightly younger officer standing among the crowd, with a thin face, firm lines and sharp eyes. Roddy couldn't help but look at Ruben.

Ruben grinned: "This is Gislunt, the acting commander of the Right Cavalry Regiment of the Northwest Army. He was originally the captain of my subordinates, but... the two commanders of the Right Cavalry Regiment were both killed and I asked him to temporarily replace him... Just now... he was the one who led his men out of the city to meet the Lord. However, the two cavalry regiments of the Northwest Army suffered heavy casualties at this moment. The original 30,000 people were only 10,000 left. Although he was the commander of the Right Cavalry Regiment, he was actually the commander of all the cavalry of the Northwest Army at present."

Roddy nodded and glanced at the man again.

Seeing that the Duke's gaze swept towards him, although there was no change in expression on his face, he showed an excited gaze in his eyes, and his body was doubled up. He looked at the tulip family badge on Roddy's chest. He was only excited, but his body that was stopped straight could not help but tremble slightly.

Ruben smiled faintly: "Gislent has been following me for many years. He is the most loyal warrior under Tulip War!"

Roddy nodded and smiled bitterly in her heart: Another passionate young man who blindly worships the Tulip family like himself back then.

When he introduced the two rich men and fat merchants, Ruben's tone was not so pleasant, and he simply introduced their military ranks. The only thing that surprised Roddy was that the commander of Fort Trier, the fat merchant Ferrara, was actually a nobleman with the title of viscount!

Roddy nodded slowly. After asking about the current situation of the Northwest Army, Ruben showed an embarrassing look on his face. He looked at everyone, gritted his teeth, and said slowly: "Dude, there were 91,000 people who retreated into the city that day. There were heavy casualties in the past few days. At this moment, the Northwest Army was in the city, and there were still more than 70,000 people, but there were 4,000 wounded soldiers among them, and there were less than 50,000 people who maintained their combat power... there were less than 50,000!"

"What?" Roddy frowned and couldn't help asking: "You said there are about 70,000 people, but if 4,000 wounded soldiers are subtracted, why are there only 50,000 left? What about 10,000 people?"

Ruben looked extremely embarrassed. He glanced at the commanders present, then sighed and was about to say something. Viscount Ferrara of Fort Trier suddenly spoke: "Duke, for the calculation of these heads, it's okay to turn around and let the secretary of the military machine under him submit the registration list for you to see. Now the enemy troops in Luoyantar outside the city have just retreated, and there are still many things to be decided."

Roddy was no longer the boy who didn't understand anything at the time. He felt a little moved. Although he couldn't figure out the problem, he vaguely understood that there must be something Mingtang in it. He nodded, then looked at Ruben and stopped asking this question.

Then, officers and logistics personnel at all levels of subordinates reported the losses of city defense and equipment one by one, including the loss of horses, weapons, the repair of city walls, and the aftermath of the war.

Roddy was at a loss for a moment. It can be seen that Ruben was also embarrassed, and he thought he had a headache about these things on weekdays. For him, the military and political power in charge of a legion was far less enjoyable than being a commander who only killed the enemy and charged.

Fortunately, Zieg is an experienced talent. During the years he has been in the Central Cavalry Corps, he has always lost military pay and military supplies. He has almost personally arrested all the logistics supply issues of the Wolf Tooth Army. He is very experienced in these issues.

The messy data made Roddy dizzy. With the help of Zieg, he finally played the logistics secretary, officer and secretary, and arranged all the tasks in an orderly manner.

But when Ferrara and Ferdo saw that Roddy seemed not very good at handling military and financial supplies, he showed a hint of joy and smug smile in his eyes.

After everything was handled, Ruben took Roddy and Zieg to the residence of the garrison mansion. The residence was originally Fedou, the garrison commander, and later Ruben retreated to the land and gave it to Ruben. At this moment, Ruben insisted on giving it out again.

After supporting everyone away, Roddy left Ruben himself, then winked at Zigg. Zigg immediately turned around and walked outside, letting Roddy's personal soldiers guard outside, then he turned around and closed the door again.

Roddy was hesitating and didn't know how to ask. Zigg did look angry and suddenly spoke loudly: "Ruben! The good thing you did! The empty amount of more than 10,000 people!! You... you defiled the tulip battle flag!!"

Ruben was nervous, and suddenly heard Zigg's questioning, his face turned red, and he suddenly jumped up and shouted: "Zigg! Don't talk nonsense! I, Ruben, have never done anything to defile the tulip battle flag in my life!! Those things..."

Zigg's face was gloomy and said fiercely: "Then tell me! What's going on with this empty amount of more than 10,000 yuan! How did you explain to the dead Duke who was so strong back then?!"

Ruben's face appeared as dead as hesitated for a moment and finally told the story. This statement was not only Roddy, but also the old experts who were used to corrupt matters such as deficits in the army, and were shocked.

"The Northwest Army is known as 200,000 people! The main army is 100,000, and the surrounding garrison troops sounds so majestic! But do you know? In fact, there are not so many people in the Northwest Army at all! The real strength of the Northwest Army, plus the main army and local guards I directly commanded, has never exceeded 130,000 people in total!"

"My main legion is pretty good, but the actual situation of those local garrison troops is scary! In Loulan Castle, the number reported in total was 15,000, and it was a fully-built infantry regiment. But later when Loulan Castle retreated, I realized that something was wrong!"

"The commander of Loulan Castle is dead, but his family escaped... Hum, do you know? There are 150 servants and guards in his family! Moreover, these heads are all hung in the name of the defenders of the Loulan Castle! In other words, the commander of Loulan Castle is using the imperial military pay to support his servants and servants! Later, I tortured a few escaped officers and realized that the real army of the entire Loulan Castle is less than 8,000 people! Hum! The reorganized infantry regiment reported is indeed 15,000! One of his commanders in Loulan Castle ate the vacancy of 7,000 people! This is the case in other places!"

"You have never noticed these things!" Zieg's tone was stern.

Ruben looked embarrassed. He was originally a military general. He asked him to lead a troops of 10,000 or 20,000 people every day, train a strong brigade, and then charge and fight. That was his goodness, but asking him to be the commander of the first army and then take charge of all the things in the entire army was not something that Ruben could do. Often the materials submitted by his subordinates, and he had a headache when he saw those books, and often he criticized them with a big stroke.

"What about your main force! Didn't you say that the main force has 100,000?" Zieg asked again.

"The main force is slightly better. After all, these people are in front of me and are not so bold! But not long ago, I found that my three infantry regiments and the right cavalry regiment had empty spaces, but they were better than the local defenders, and the total number was only more than 10,000 people. The actual military strength of my main force was only a little more than 80,000."

Zieg sighed and sat down suddenly on the chair.

Roddy's face was gloomy and said slowly: "You said the Northwest Army, which is known as 200,000, only 130,000 people, is the 70,000 people empty? But how much is the military salary of 70,000 people a year? Those officers dare to do this with the crime of beheading?!"

Zieg looked at Luo and said slowly, "Duke Duke, you are young and don't know what's happening in the army... the numbers are not that calculated." Zieg thought for a moment and explained to Roddy slowly.

A soldier's annual military salary is only three gold coins. In short, the military salary of 70,000 people is only twenty-one thousand gold coins, but the actual number is far more than that.

A long sword used by an infantryman is five silver coins, and a heavy infantry armor is a set of three gold coins. Archers' bows and arrows are also money! A cavalry is even more powerful and requires five gold coins for a war horse, which is not counted as a year's feeding cost. The armor of a cavalry is more expensive than that of an infantryman, and the price of spears and sabers is also more expensive than that of a infantryman.

Eat a soldier's empty salary, which is actually a waste of these equipment. In fact, a soldier costs seven gold coins from the empire every year, while a cavalry costs nearly fifteen gold coins! There are also the costs of repairing and maintaining equipment! All of these are a huge number!

The vacancies of 70,000 people, the empire will have to pay nearly one million gold coins in a year! And these nearly one million gold coins are constantly flowing into the hands of those corrupt officers!

Roddy's face turned pale when she heard it, and couldn't help but jump up suddenly, slapped the table with a "splash", and immediately slapped a wooden table.

"Is this the Northwest Legion known as the three main legions of the Empire?! Is this the elite army guarding the border for the Empire?!" Roddy's eyes burst into anger, and suddenly felt aroused, "General Ruben, where is that Trier Fort! Ferrara! So what about him!"

Ruben looked ashamed and said slowly: "He? His Fort Trier is almost an empty city! The 15,000 reorganized infantry regiment reported was actually less than 5,000 people..."

"Bastard!" Roddy cursed: "No wonder I passed a village around Fort Trier on the way. I heard that there was an imperial army forcing men there to force them to strengthen their men! I guess the war was about to begin. Ferrara knew that he could not hide it anymore, so he forced the farmer to charge the numbers!!"

"Ruben! Since you already know this, why not punish these people!" Zieg pressed the hilt of the sword in his hand and said angrily: "Are you also involved in these things?"

Ruben was excited and shouted: "Punishment?? How do I punish me!! Luo Yantar is staring outside the city! How do I punish me at this time? The commander in the city, including Ferrara and the garrison Fedou, has a total of seven people, of which four of them are involved! What can I do? All of them are arrested and chopped down? Now the morale of the army is unstable, and at this time, I suddenly cut half of the senior officers under my command! How can I defend the city! How can I fight!!"

"Then... what about Lao Qi?" Zigg suddenly whispered: "I heard that Lao Qi was the commander of Black Stone Fort, but when he led his army to support your main force, he was intercepted by Luo Yantal on the way?"

Ruben showed a solemn expression on his face: "Lao Qi was once an adult's personal soldier, so he naturally would not do such a thing! I checked that there were 15,000 defenders in Black Stone Fort, no one was bad! Lao Qi died in battle, and the person who escaped from his subordinates told me that when Lao Qi was in Black Stone Fort, there was no Yucai at home, only a house and two horses!"

Zigg sat down on the chair, with a sad look on his face, but the anger in his eyes could no longer be concealed.

Roddy felt extremely frustrated. Before he came, he really didn't expect that the Northwest Army was in such a serious condition - to put it bluntly, the entire Northwest Army had been rotten halfway! So what about the other legions of the empire? The Northwest Army is known as the three main legions of the empire. If so, then the other legions of the empire... Roddy suddenly thought of the scene that day in the empire's most famous Central Cavalry Legion, and his heart was dead.

The joy of winning the first battle today has long disappeared.

I don’t know how long it took, Roddy slowly said, “Mr. Ruben, the war has just ended. You should go and cook military affairs first… Let Commander Sieg accompany you. I…I want to stay alone for a while.”

Zieg and Ruben looked at each other, then Zieg walked out of the room without looking at Ruben at all. Ruben felt ashamed, but sighed and went out.

Roddy sat alone in the room, thinking about it, and when he was angry, he really wanted to rush out and draw his sword and kill Ferrara and Ferdo. At this moment, the personal soldiers outside the door knocked on the door, and the captain of the personal soldiers strode in, gave a military salute, and whispered: "Sir, Ferdo, the garrison commander of the Watt Fortress, invites you to the dinner."

"What dinner!!" Roddy roared suddenly.

The captain of the personal soldiers was startled. Since following the young duke, he has never had any airs to his subordinates, but he doesn't know where he got so angry.

"It is a dinner to celebrate today's victory." The captain of the personal soldiers whispered.

Roddy sneered twice, and was about to say no, but suddenly a thought flashed through her mind. Then she breathed a sigh of relief and said coldly in a low voice: "Tell them, I'll go!"
Chapter completed!