Military Provisions

Seeing that he was about to be killed, Jinduan was completely terrified. He immediately kowtowed and shouted, "My lord, I was wrong. I didn't mean to say anything wrong. I was just too scared and couldn't control my mouth."

Then, Jinduan started slapping himself in the face, "Slap!" "Slap!"...

After a dozen or so blows, Jinduan's face swelled up, and his mouth was covered in blood, showing how much force he had used.

But the knight behind him paid no heed. Taking advantage of the moment when he slapped himself in the face, he kicked him from behind, pinning his back down with his foot. His sword was pressed against the knight's neck, and with just a little force, he could kill him.

Just then, Alex spoke up to stop him, "Wait, don't kill him yet."

Upon hearing Alex's words, the knight sheathed his sword and took a few steps back. Jinduan, feeling that he could move his body again, quickly got up and continued to kowtow to Alex.

"Thank you, sir. If you have any questions or instructions, I will tell you everything without holding anything back."

"Tell me everything? You won't lie to me?" Alex said with a smile.

Jinduan quickly kowtowed again, "I would never dare to lie to you!"

Alex didn't care. In his opinion, after these threats, the junior officer from the Duchy named Jinduan wouldn't lie to him anymore.

"Tell me, who are these supplies from your convoy going to, and what kind of items are they?"

"Reporting to you, sir, these items are all for the Imperial Guard Legion. They mainly consist of military rations, some arrows, and daily necessities. Oh, and a lot of paper too."

Alex wasn't surprised after hearing this, since that's what most military supplies consist of. However, he had a new idea when he heard about paper.

He sent several knights to check, and sure enough, the items matched what Jinduan had described.

Alex suddenly decided to bluff him. "This alone won't save your life!"

Jinduan quickly continued, "That's not all. The amount of paper transported this time is very special; it's much more than usual."

"And sir, I also know where the Duchy Army's granaries are."

"Very good, I am very satisfied with these two pieces of news. You have been granted the right to live. If you can provide some more important intelligence, I can spare you from doing hard labor and may even give you a position in my army. If the intelligence you provide is very important, I may even promote you to a higher position."

And I have good news for you: if you make a significant contribution, it wouldn't be unreasonable for my father to personally bestow a title upon you after the war.

Upon hearing Alex's words, Jinduan was stunned. He only wanted to save his life and dared not think about such things. However, looking at Alex's serious face and the guards around him whose eyes were burning with jealousy, he was shocked.

"My lord, I do indeed have more information!"

Jinduan suddenly spoke up to Alex, saying, "Sir, this information is very important. Could you please have them keep their distance?"

After speaking, Jinduan pointed to the guards surrounding Alex.

This action immediately drew rebukes from the guards. "What are you trying to do, you bastard!"

"Young Master, be careful. He might just send us away and use that as an excuse to do something wicked."

Seeing the guards so agitated, Alex would never do anything to demoralize them. He said, "These are my most loyal men. I trust them like I trust my own family. Tell me what information you have, and I will give you a fair evaluation."

Jinduan looked around, sighed, and then said, "Since it is your request, sir, I will speak."

I've done similar transport missions before. Because both of our legions suffered heavy losses in the early stages of the war, the War Department assigned us a lot of miscellaneous tasks.

In particular, the Imperial Guard Legion, relying on their status, basically never do these escorting tasks, and we have no choice but to grit our teeth and continue to help them transport supplies.

However, during these supply deliveries, I discovered a problem with the Imperial Guard Legion's rations.

"Is there a problem?"

Alex's tone rose.

"Yes, it's a big problem. According to the previous plan, the Imperial Guard Legion's military rations in the rear warehouse should be stored for at least six months."

"But after I went there, I delivered rations to the Imperial Guard Legion three times, each time enough for the Imperial Guard Legion to eat for 10 days. However, the rations in the rear warehouses are now at least one-third less. Therefore, I believe the rations are insufficient, far below the six-month standard they mentioned. The total ration reserves are at most only three months' worth."

After Jinduan finished speaking, his intelligence was truly extraordinary, and Alex and his guards were stunned.

After a long while, one of the guards finally spoke up, "They actually dared to eat up the army's supplies at a time like this. These guys are courting death."

If supplies run out, it could directly impact the morale and fighting capacity of the army.

Alex shook his head. "Actually, it was my oversight. This kind of thing is common in the Duchy Army. So what if it's the Royal Imperial Guard Legion? So what if the Grand Duke personally leads the army? Does that stop these people from making money?"

Then he said to Jinduan, "Your information is very important. I will give you an explanation, don't worry!"

Alex had Jinduan taken away. He stood there, stroking his chin, deep in thought. At that moment, his subordinate asked him, "Young Master, what should we do with these supplies? Should we destroy them?"

"No, take it all. It would be a waste to destroy so much grain. Our logistics are also very tight. Since we can't determine a winner in the short term, we should prepare for a protracted war. Getting so many supplies from the duchy is a huge win for us."

And so Alex and his army escorted the captured Serf Soldiers and laborers, driving the wagons back to White Earth City. During this time, the duchy's Cavalry caught up with them, but they were outnumbered and dared not intercept them.

However, these ducal Cavalry were also unwilling to give up and continued to follow Alex and his men until they were about to return to their Alex before slowly retreating.

Upon returning to camp, Alex first ordered half of the Cavalry to dismount and help pull the wagons, doubling the size of the entire convoy. He then had his men raise flags and even sent people to beat drums and blow horns to announce the victory.

Seeing so many wagons and soldiers, the Northlands soldiers in the camp also believed they had won a great victory and cheered along, boosting the morale of the entire camp.

Later, after Alex had dealt with the spoils and prisoners, he found Count Colt and told him about the day's events and intelligence.

"Father, I thought the Imperial Guard Legion was the elite of the Duchy, and that guy Borei was a strict fellow. I never expected that they would secretly sell military rations."

I think this is a good opportunity. He used the news of our defeat on the western front to demoralize us. I also got a lot of paper this time, so we should make use of it too. I plan to make a batch of leaflets and secretly drop them in their camp to create chaos."

Count Colt noticed that Alex was in high spirits and did not interrupt him, after all, he did not think that this matter would have any impact on the Duchy Army.

However, he still agreed with Alex's idea, "Let's do it, it won't take much effort anyway!"

A few days later, leaflets began to appear in the Duchy's military camp. The leaflets described how the Duchy Army's officers were profiting from the resale of supplies, disregarding the lives of their soldiers, and indulging in lavish feasts every day.

However, just as Count Colt had thought, there was no impact. The order of the Duchy Army remained normal, as if nothing had happened. Hawk and the others told Alex that no one in the Duchy Army really cared about this. To the soldiers, it was normal for the officers to do this.

Inside the Duchy Army camp, some officers secretly discussed among themselves, "Those guys from the Northlands are really scoundrels, sending out these leaflets."

"Yes, they don't even consider how many of our soldiers can read."

"We should still be careful. The Legion Commander also told me to just make sure the Grand Duke and the others don't see us."

"Even if we see it, it's fine. We can say it's a conspiracy by the rebels in the Northlands."

"What if the Grand Duke goes to inspect the military rations and finds that the rations are really short?"

"Foolish! Just say that the military rations were looted or destroyed by the Northlands rebels during transport. Would the Duke really ask?"

"Great idea, indeed a good way to balance the accounts!"