Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 314: Lieutenant Colonel Manridge

The Ibnister Plains are the largest plain in the eastern part of the Farea continent, with fertile soils for thousands of miles. In Gukherz, Ibnister means a place of light, which can also be translated into fertile soil in the sun. In countless works of literature, the Plains of Ibizester are described as a rich land of honey flowing in the sun, blessed by the Mother Earth.

After seizing the Ibnister Plains, Sterling I, the founding king of the kingdom of Auvellas, decided to build a royal city here as the foundation of the kingdom of Auvellas, which stood in the eastern part of the continent. It was not until Sterling III came to power, after nearly 80 years of construction, that the Imperial City could be completed, and it is conceivable how large it is.

From Sterling III to Sterling VII, successive kings of the Kingdom of Orvillas continued to devote considerable funds and energy to the expansion and renovation of the Royal City, which continued to grow in size. Only by the time Sterling IX was king, the Royal City had become one of the four major cities of the Farea continent, the largest city in the eastern part of the continent, with a resident population of more than one million, and the Royal City was henceforth known as the King's Capital.

The entire Ibnister Plains is under the jurisdiction of Wangdu, whose four cities of David, nine towns and fifty-six villages provide adequate security for the material consumption of more than one million people. At the same time, it has brought prosperity and prosperity to Wang, making Wang the largest commercial city in the eastern part of the continent. It can be said that Wang Du's commercial prosperity has affected the economic development of the entire kingdom and even the eastern part of the continent.

Lake Blanópez, the second largest freshwater lake in the Farea continent and the largest inland lake in the eastern part of the continent, is situated next to the Ibniste plain. The abundance of freshwater resources brings abundant harvest and joy to the agricultural development of the entire plain year after year, while guaranteeing the water needs of more than one million people in Wangdu.

Successive kings of the kingdom of Auvellas have attached great importance to water engineering, digging canals on the Ibnister plains, building farmland water irrigation networks and adding a logistics transport channel for water transport to the kings while safeguarding agricultural harvests.

“In fact, you don't have to go to Kaleben Village before Wang, which will only extend the entire trip.” Donobi, the merchant, pointed to the map and said to the three Claudes, then drew a straight line on the map: “You can cross from Lake Branopez directly to the village of Calebon, which will reduce the distance by at least two days. ”

“Can Lake Blancopes cross?” Claude asked.

“Of course, I went to Kaleben village in November to deliver, but I hired three riverboats. But it's winter, and the boat can't get off the lake, but the lake has a thick ice layer that you can cross directly over on the lake. Or you could hire a guide from the lakeside village of Brada to take you across the lake, which would be even safer.” Donoby, the merchant, said with certainty.

“Can I hire you to lead the way? Mr. Donoby.” Claude said, "I wouldn't have bothered you if it weren't for being too tight. But as you know, this weather, along with this strange place, will allow us to waste a lot of time searching for our way to Calebon Village, and if you don't mind, I'm willing to offer you a Golden Kroner as your reward. ”

Claude, there's no way. It's better to find someone to lead the way than if the three of you were twirling around like headless flies. Now the entire wilderness is covered with thick snow, along the national highway to Wang and then to Kaleben Village, to ensure that the direction is not lost. Leaving the country highway is a straight line, as Donoby said, and it looks simple on the map, but it's actually very easy to get lost after the road is unfamiliar...

“This…” dealer Donoby was a little hesitant.

His merchant friends heard what Claude said and agreed: "Come on, Donoby, it's only been five or six days. Anyway, you missed the return date you agreed to with your wife, so why don't you help these three kingdom warriors and take them to Calebon Village and make some wine money and go fast. As for your wife, just say hello to her when we go back, proving that you don't come home to help others and earn money, you weren't seduced by other women...”

“Well, then, I'll take you there.” The merchant Donobi was determined not to deny that a Golden Kroner's commission was attractive to him.

Heavy snowstorms stopped for two days and one night. The snow on the road is half a metre thick. It is 11 January and reported 15 days ago, which means that the village of Calebon must be reached on 14 January. To make the journey easier, Claude took Donoby's advice and stopped riding. Instead, all three of them crammed onto a delivery snow plow brought by Donoby, letting their three golden horses follow lightly behind the snow plow.

The merchant Donoby was not lying, and it took only two days and two nights for Claude and the three of them to stand at the door of the Royal Caleban Army School. After giving Donoby a golden crown and shaking his hand goodbye, Claude and the three of them weighed the suspicious sinuses in what was actually a snowy place called the military academy...

That's right, the only decent entrance to the Royal Caleban Army School did hang the sign, and McJackie used to dust the snow on the sign to make sure there were no omissions.

“This place seems abandoned. Look, there's not even a post outside the gate...” McJackie muttered to Claude.

“Let's go inside and ask.” Claude can only lead the way in.

“Hey, stop, what are you doing!” As soon as they entered the gate, the three of them were stopped drinking. Instead of having no guard post, the guard posts were hidden inside the gate and burned in the booth.

“Are you here to report?” Several soldiers drilled from the booth stared suspiciously at the three Claudes: “How did you get here? Didn't you get notified? ”

How did he get here... Claude was speechless, but he was still strange: "What notice? We were on family leave to report directly. We ran into a heavy snowstorm on the way. Afraid we wouldn't make it to school, we found a guide to cross Lake Branopez directly to Caleban...”

The soldiers suddenly realized: “Turns out you didn't come from all the kings. No wonder I didn't know how you could get here. I dare you to go the other way. So you haven't been notified, because the heavy snow storm the previous two days buried the king directly. Now the road from Kaleben Village to Wangdu is full of snow, said to be more than one meter deep, unable to pass. Therefore, the opening date of our Royal Caleban Army School was delayed until February 1, and the notification was sent to the trainers of the various units..."

Claude and the three of us are foolish to listen to, so what about the three of us? We rushed back so hard. One is to check in and two is to cancel the leave. It's okay to check in now. Where can we cancel the leave? Even returning to the Ranger Battalion could not find the man in charge, and Major Skerry's letter informed them that he had removed the Battalion Commander from his post and had another appointment, while the Ranger Battalion was to be reconstituted.

That is, even if the three Claudes were to return to the King immediately, they would not know if they could find the formation of the Battalion of Rangers, not to mention that Major Scully had already forwarded their files in advance to the Royal Calebon Army School and had nothing to do with the Battalion of Rangers.

“You go to the office building over there to find Lieutenant Colonel Manridge, and now he's the chief officer who stays here, and I think he should be able to solve your leave and check-in problems.” An officer at the post gave Claude three ideas.

The so-called office building is actually a double wooden house with a row of logs, only half of the first floor is a basement, that is, nearly two meters deep underground, so that the second floor roof can lean directly to the ground without fear of being crushed by snow accumulation.

Lieutenant Colonel Manrich, a middle-aged officer with a plain face, was wearing a thick leather coat because the half-blooded office was very shady and, to save money, he did not light the fireplace. He didn't burn the fireplace until the three Claudes arrived.

Claude explained the reason why the three of them had come to Lieutenant Colonel Manridge, which was soon resolved by Lieutenant Colonel Manridge. Instead, he personally went to find the files of the three Claudes, then went to the military school training roster, stamped the names of the three Claudes with the stamps of check-in and cancellation, and signed his own name.

Claude was relieved at last because the military academy delayed the check-in date to the point where the three Claudes had a half-month difference between their holiday and check-in dates. If Lieutenant Colonel Manridge did not help Claude, even if Claude reported to the military academy on 1 February, he would be subject to military justice for a half-month delay in the holidays, even on file, which would have a significant impact on his future family visit leave.

Even though Claude objected, the delay in the cancellation of leave became a fact. Even if this is due to exceptional circumstances, it needs to be discussed and studied above, and what should be done about such situations? However, the military law had to be disposed of first, and there was no way. That was the rule of the military, and there was no wrong punishment. It's none of their business why this mistake happened...

After a smooth formality, Claude took an interest in Colonel Manridge. He was curious to ask Lieutenant Colonel Manridge why he did everything himself, without deputies, paramedics and guards to help him run errands?

Lieutenant Colonel Manrich replied with a grin that the military academy had not allocated him and that he had not recruited anyone himself, mainly because he did not have the capital. Old, small piles of his family, all on his lieutenant colonel's salary to feed their families. After all, his family lives in Wangdu. The cost of living is not low. With his monthly income of two gold crowns, it can only be said that it can force nine people in the family to live well...

Two Golden Kroner a month is not too low, Claude is excited to go get two bottles of fruit wine he bought at the Fangtooth Tavern and prepare to have a good chat with Lieutenant Colonel Manrich. He is now a captain of the kingdom, with a monthly salary plus welfare allowance and all that, plus a golden kroner's income, which for Claude is already three times the salary of his late father, Mr. Morsan.

Lieutenant Colonel Manridge, who poured two glasses of fruit wine down, had had sex. Anyway, he was bored to be here alone. He said he had never had such a pleasant drink since he got married. His experience was simple: of civilian origin, after graduating from the Juvenile Military Academy, he entered the Royal Ministry of the Army as a civilian officer, became a lieutenant colonel and, in any case, the Ministry of the Army. Promotions were easier than in the army. Many of his classmates who graduated with him are now major.

Civilian officers of civilian origin, such as Lieutenant Colonel Manrić, will never be clerks in the Ministry of the Army and will not have the authority, at best, to become deputies to the head of a department. And Lieutenant Colonel Manridge had no ambition. He was very satisfied with his situation, and his biggest hope was to work diligently to handle all the things he had done, so long as there were no leaks.

Lieutenant Colonel Manridge was married at the age of 27 and became a family member with his neighbor's daughter, the Green Plum Bamboo Horse. By the time he was promoted to Major, both parents were old and he and his wife were only children, so the maintenance of the four elderly became a burden on their couple. Plus three children, so there are nine people in the family. With the age of both parents, the cost of recurrent care and treatment becomes the biggest expense for the family, with the accumulation being gradually expended during the year.

Lieutenant Colonel Manridge said he forgot how many years ago he had bought a bottle of fruit wine all by himself, and Wang Du's cost of living was much more expensive than the outside world. Claude talked to him for a while and discovered that even regular honey bread was twice as expensive as it was in the field. Whereas most of the rye in the tavern is from San Fenni to Five Fenni, Wangdu's tavern sells one Sooner, almost two to three times more expensive.

As for coming to the Royal Calebon Army Academy, Lieutenant Colonel Manrich had some regrets, and he did not know how he had entered the eyes of Grand Prince Hansburg and promoted him to the Academy as chief of administration. Lieutenant Colonel Manrić would not have promised to leave the Army Department had it not been for the welfare allowance of one more Golden Kroner a month for greedy military schools.

It was only here that Lieutenant Colonel Manridge discovered that the military academy was still in the preparatory stage. And what he heard from Wang Du's friends seemed to be some bad prospects for this military academy. Not just military schools, but even the formation of the Rangers is said to be a major problem.

If Claude wasn't a captain and wore a knight's medal, perhaps Lieutenant Colonel Manrich wouldn't be so happy to talk about it in front of him. Of course, this is probably why Lieutenant Colonel Manridge was drunk and wanted to talk to someone about his inner frustration and anxiety, so Claude soon found out why he didn't like the school.

Prince Hansburg's bid to form a Ranger Regiment is to hope that the Sterling Royal Family truly holds a credible armed force that obeys only the royal orders and that no officer of noble descent will join the Regiment. Likewise, however, the formation of this Ranger Corps has been boycotted, large or small, and neither the royal nobility nor the royal nobility would want the Sterling family to be armed with an independent legion.

The war has just come to an end and the Kingdom lacks sufficient funds for reconstruction. So having no money is the best excuse. The Four Ace Field Regiments, the Red Dragon Regiment and the Lizard Regiment will be placed on the border of the Kingdom of Nasserley to serve as a threat to the oppression of places by the enemy. The reconstituted Blue Feather Corps, on the other hand, would be placed on the border between the former Duchy of Eskirin and the Duchy of Kanas in case of enemy incursions.

As for the Guardianship Corps, it will return to Wang Du. It is also indispensable that the first three of the four standing regiments to be formed be based in the three newly occupied Principality territories. So the Ranger Corps, as a mobile armed corps, became the epitome of a number of royal nobles and ministers who proposed to cancel the corps to save the Kingdom's military spending, so much so that even the Royal Caleban Army School, which had been set up to specialize in training Ranger Corps officers at the grassroots level, was hit by a pond fish disaster and school funding was cut by half. The delay in the start of the school day was due both to the snow disaster and to efforts to raise funds...