I, the prince in distress, send money

Chapter 176 The advantage is mine
Chris gave orders to select reliable people from the thousands of people still in the prisoner-of-war camp to form five transport teams, each with a hundred guards, forty two-wheeled carriages and a hundred carts, and more than two hundred accompanying laborers.

This was an experimental order, but more people responded positively than Chris had expected. Almost overnight, the 500 escort positions in the five transport teams were filled, and the number of civilians exceeded the quota by three times.

Following the advice of Isaac and others, Chris gave it some thought and then increased the number of convoys to ten.

In the same situation, the five additional transport teams were full in one morning.

Chris's officers again suggested increasing the number of transport teams to 20, but this time he rejected the suggestion, believing that 10 transport teams were enough.

Chris knew that the prisoners of war could be used to support the cause, and that more transport teams could be formed, but he needed to keep some manpower to work on Bolas's side... such as forming a second infantry regiment, or a construction corps.

Things cannot be rushed.

The captured Oncandra is very important, but Bolas's side is not insignificant either. We can't just focus on the head and ignore the butt.

Basically, 80% of the materials shipped to Oncandra were purchased by Chris from later generations, and only 20% were produced in the handicraft workshop park in Beach Town.

Basically, it can be said that Chris alone is a huge industrial base. As long as he stands next to Oncandra, no matter how many hungry people there are inside, he doesn't have to worry. They will definitely not starve to death or freeze.

However, Chris really doesn't dare to leave Bolas at the moment.

Because according to the report from the scouts he sent to Helgeland, the battle situation there was somewhat dangerous, and the Republic might break through the defense line of the Restoration Army and then stab Chris from behind.

The situation in Bagnia is very strange now. Not only is its land area an equilateral triangle, but the situation is also a triangle. The three parties are in contact with each other and are at war with each other.

Among them, Chris reached a certain tacit understanding with the Restoration Army, and both sides fought against the Republic together, but such a tacit understanding was fragile and had no mandatory binding force.

If Count Dirac of the Restoration Army felt that Chris had captured a large city and was the most dangerous of the three parties, and that a balance was needed, he could secretly let the Republic army come.

When Chris left Bolas and the remaining troops were not on guard, Isaac's First Infantry Regiment and militia might not be able to withstand the attack of the professional army.

Therefore, before taking any action, Chris had to consider the possibility of the enemy attacking from the north and reserve resources and plans.

Chris is not a strategic genius. The only thing he can do is to use his own tricks to defeat the opponent with force.

……

The rain stopped.

A thick morning mist drifted through the trees, causing Wallace's calloused fingers to slip on the bowstring.

He licked his cracked lips and stared at the winding mountain road below... Forty iron-clad two-wheeled carriages were rolling through the muddy dirt road, leaving deep ruts wherever they went.

Wallace was not a stupid man. He was just limited by his knowledge and background, which made him short-sighted and narrow-minded.

When he ambushed the player but was beaten badly instead, Wallace retreated from the groups of foot knights, and did not dare to attack them even though they were few in number.

Through observation and information gathering, Wallace already knew who was the force that had impersonated him and robbed and killed the master of the Republic...Prince Chris's men.

Originally, Wallace did not dare to provoke the nobles, but now Wallace is fearless, so he plans to take revenge on Chris. After hurting the latter, he will leave this area and hang out in other places.

Wallace was no fool. He knew of the surrender of the Oncandra city guards and understood that Prince Chris would eventually rule this region. Relying on the dense forests, Wallace could continue to circumvent Prince Chris, but one day he would be caught, and he and his old brothers would die in the woods, perhaps even their bodies hanged and paraded for public display.

Therefore, Wallace's plan was very pragmatic... just do two jobs, grab enough supplies, and then escape from Prince Chris's sphere of influence.

"Is this the convoy?"

Wallace turned his head to ask the person next to him, and a gangster with a broken front tooth reported in a low voice.

"Yes, yes, Boss. The horse-faced man in the town ahead said that this caravan is carrying clothes and food, which are very valuable."

"That's really fat."

Wallace licked his lips. No matter who he was before, he was now a gangster who only wanted to rob the fat sheep below.

However, this fat sheep is not easy to eat because it has horns.

Forget about those civilians wearing ordinary clothes, Wallace did not regard them as enemies.

The only thing he cared about was the guards, about fifty people in number, walking beside the carriage. They wore iron helmets and strange gray robes.

This piece of clothing looked neither like chain mail nor plate armor. The surface was just a layer of gray cloth, and one could feel the thickness of the clothing even from a long distance away.

Is the weather very cold now?
Why are these people wearing thick cotton coats now?
In addition to clothes, Wallace was more concerned about the weapons in their hands... halberds, swords and shields, and crossbows, but there was no long flintlock rifle that fired quickly and fiercely.

This is a good thing.

What Wallace feared most was the musket. A flintlock rifle was as powerful as three crossbows. No matter what kind of armor you wore or what kind of shield you held, you would die if you were hit by the lead bullet.

And since there were no flintlock rifles, Wallace felt there was nothing to be afraid of.

The enemy had more than fifty soldiers, and our side also had fifty men.

It is not easy to ambush a transport team. Wallace's reputation was greatly damaged after he was beaten up and forced to flee in a panic, unable to even take away the bodies of his brothers who died in the battle.

As a result, many people abandoned the rebel leader and returned to their hometowns to live a peaceful life, or went to join other leaders.

The size of Wallace's rebel army dropped sharply, from a peak of 400 people to a few hundred people.

Wallace attached great importance to this robbery and sent all his men to ambush. However, the transport team advanced very cautiously. While moving, they sent cavalrymen on horseback to advance one kilometer in front and behind to conduct reconnaissance and explore the way.

Ambush sounds simple, but in fact the selection of terrain and the requirements for the ambushers are very high. Because of the existence of these mounted scouts, Wallace was forced to reduce the number of ambushers by half.

When there are too many people, it is difficult to hide in the forest, and the startled birds will reveal their presence.

Now it's fifty against fifty, and we're well prepared while the other one is off guard. Wallace confidently believes that the advantage is on his side.

(End of this chapter)