I was a knight in the Middle Ages

The sound of gongs and drums indicated that the anti-bandit operation had begun. The Alpha team was ready to go, and even the newly joined monkey Quinn and eagle-eyed shooter Lilia were eager to show their skills on the battlefield, leaving only Ham Hanta to be taken care of by Linda.

In order to ensure the smooth operation and the safety of his subordinates, Alpha equipped each man with a large number of crossbows and round shields. Except for Fattam, the other two heavy warriors also wore large shields. After all, their armor was not as thick as Fattam's, so they needed to use shields to supplement their protection.

Two carriages followed the Alpha Team closely, their wheels rolling, crushing stones and raising a cloud of dust. Monkey and Hawkeye became the drivers and drove forward.

The chariot was heavy and moved slowly. Three heavily armored warriors took turns to guard the chariot. Lina and three lightly armored knights were on guard around it, ready to ensure safety.

"Your team is more comfortable." While the convoy was moving, Will finished his mission and got on the carriage where Alpha was.

"Those who are capable should do more work. You see, the Grand Duke doesn't value you very much and has expanded your team to 500 people." Alpha said half-jokingly.

"This is all thanks to you. Without you, the Grand Duke wouldn't even look at me." Will knows that his current position is already the limit with his own abilities, and continuing to get promoted will only hurt himself and others.

"How could that be? This is all due to your own ability. Don't underestimate yourself." Sometimes, loyalty is more important than ability. A person who is capable but not loyal will hardly gain the trust and attention of his superiors.

"By the way, I came here this time to discuss the bandit suppression with you." Will came here this time, of course, not just to reminisce with Alpha.

"Shouldn't this be discussed with your centurions?" Alpha didn't want to bother himself.

"The Grand Duke said that he wants to discuss something with my think tank, and you are the only one in my think tank." Although Will has limited abilities, he is self-aware, not stubborn, and willing to listen to the opinions of others.

"Brother Will, what will happen when I'm gone? There's a saying that goes: Three cobblers are better than one. You have to learn how to consult with others." Alpha began to teach Will.

"Ah! Three Zhuge Liangs but only one cobbler?" Will didn't understand what Alpha meant.

"What I mean is that there is strength in numbers, and even the wisest man can make mistakes. It's much better to gather everyone together to discuss it than to think hard about it alone." Of course, this method is more suitable for people with average abilities like Will. If Will had superior intelligence, Alpha would not have made such a suggestion.

"I understand! So what should we do now?" Will seemed not to hear a word.

"Let's first understand the Grand Duke's battle plan!" Alpha knew nothing now, so how could he have any ideas?

“Well, the Grand Duke divided the territory around Torres into five areas. We don’t need to care about the three outer areas. Commander Gulist and Commander Morse are responsible for interception.

The remaining two areas were left to me and Robin Hood to handle. We were responsible for the southern area, and Robin Hood was responsible for the northern area.

Although we only have 500 people, half the number of Captain Robin Hood, we are responsible for two-thirds of the area Robin Hood is in charge of, which is a bit short of manpower." Will complained.

"Are there about a thousand people in Robin Hood's area?" Alpha asked.

"Yes, the forest in the north is extremely complex. There are four counties in total, but there are also many small towns there, and the whereabouts are unpredictable. But a thousand people are more than enough." Will nodded.

"So, do you think the five hundred of us can handle the situation in the south?" Alpha frowned.

"It's difficult. The Archduke hopes that we can destroy as many enemies as possible." Will sighed.

"What's the geographical environment like in the south?" Alpha knew nothing about the situation here.

"There are three county towns in the south, and the population is basically concentrated around the county towns. There are not many towns outside." Will spread out the map.

The Western world is vast and sparsely populated. Most people live in counties or towns, and the remaining rural areas are almost empty. It can be said that as long as you control the urban population, you basically control this land.

"What do you think we should do?" Alpha began to think about countermeasures.

"According to previous practice, we should split our forces into three groups and rush to the three county towns immediately, and then start from the county towns to clear out the bandits in the surrounding areas." Will originally thought so too.

"What about the bandits?" Alpha needed to know more information, because only by knowing yourself and your enemy can you win every battle.

“There are two main types of bandits around Torres City. One is the local bandit organization, the Cruz Bandits led by Bahom, and the other is the foreign Truss Bandits.

The Cruz Bandits' Gang is basically composed of civilians. They have low combat effectiveness, but a large number of people. The most important thing is that it is difficult to find and annihilate them. When these people take up weapons, they are bandits, and when they put down their weapons, they are just civilians.

Although the Truss Thieves' Gang is not large in scale, its members are all orthodox knights with strong strength. With their swift and agile movements, they can often escape quickly even if they are discovered.

Our main force in the south is the Cruz Bandits, with a small number of the Truss Bandits." Will introduced.

“Is this information accurate?”

"The conclusions we have drawn through a large amount of espionage and data analysis are basically certain." Will has no doubt about this. These are all given to him by the Grand Duke.

“Then we will focus on pacifying the local bandits and supplement that by killing the foreign bandits. This operation is codenamed Operation Pull Net.

Now divide the team into three teams of 100 people and four teams of 50 people. The teams of 100 people will be spread out every 20 kilometers. We will move forward synchronously from east to west and pull them over directly. "Alpha began to explain the action plan.

"What about the four teams of fifty people?" Will understood Alpha's intention.

"Our operation this time is to completely defeat the bandits and prevent them from resurrecting. So we will leave a team behind every 50 kilometers to handle the follow-up matters.

These people are mainly responsible for the evacuation of residents and the concentration of people within their jurisdiction, as well as subsequent vigilance and town security protection.

The focus of the dragnet operation was on the centralized processing and resettlement of civilians, gathering all scattered civilians near towns and implementing the plan of clearing the countryside.

Even if the bandits hide, there are no civilians around, so they can't rob. They either flee or risk attacking the county town. "Alpha couldn't rule out the possibility of bandits attacking the town. With these fifty regular knights, as long as there is no regular thief knight group like Truss, there won't be much of a problem.

"By the way, can those soldiers in the county be trusted? I'm afraid this operation will also require their cooperation." Alpha once again set his sights on the county soldiers.

"The city lord has already issued an order that all county towns must cooperate with our mission. These soldiers are basically infantrymen. We can ask them to defend the city, but I'm afraid they can't go out of the city to fight." So far, there has been no example of a county town being captured by bandits.

"Let them guard the county and take care of the people, and leave the rest to us." Alpha did not regard them as the main force.

"What if the people don't want to leave?" Will had encountered this situation before.

"It is the off-season for farming, so they don't need to work in the fields. The county will take care of their food and accommodation. If the people have surplus food, we will buy it all. Remember not to leave any supplies for the bandits.

Solve the problem of food and shelter for the people, at least 80% of the people are willing to leave. For those who are unwilling to leave, buy all their supplies. "Although Alpha's order is cruel, it is also a helpless move.

"Then what will they eat? People will starve to death." Will didn't want to see this happen.

"We can't leave any supplies to the bandits." Alpha was not heartless, but he had no other choice. Besides, as long as they were willing to leave, the city lord would be responsible for all the supplies, which was already a great favor.

"Okay!" Will understood that what Alpha said was true. A little impatience can ruin a big plan. Besides, we are catching bandits now. If anyone doesn't leave, we can place him on suspicion of collaborating with bandits and release him later.

"Therefore, we need to speed up our march and reach the southern territory as soon as possible. In addition, we need to increase the number of scouts and keep abreast of the enemy's movements." Relocating the people is only one part of the process, and there are still many things that need to be dealt with.

Alpha stared at Will and asked, "Do they have cavalry? I mean the Cruze Bandits."

"Yes, there are not many of them, but they move quickly. They are elusive, like ghosts, and they are special operations personnel. It is difficult for us to catch them." Will shook his head.

"In that case, we might as well let them fall into our trap. We'll issue a wanted order and offer a high reward for the top brass of the Cruze Thieves' Gang. At the same time, we'll announce our willingness to forgive them and force them to come out on their own initiative." Alpha's eyes gleamed with wisdom.

"Offer a reward to them? Why would they take the initiative to attack?" Will was confused.

Those thieves were all experienced, and the thieves' gang they belonged to was even more established. Although they had rarely fought with the regular army of the empire in recent years, wars and conflicts between them occurred from time to time. The thieves were very familiar with all kinds of traps and tactics, and it was not easy to catch them even if regular cavalry was dispatched.

"We don't need to capture them. We need to let them kill each other, expose their whereabouts, and then force them to fight us in advance."

Alpha cleared his throat and continued, "We need to fortify our defenses and clear the fields, leaving them without the ability to resupply. At the same time, we will use a dragnet approach to eliminate the bandits and drive them to an environment that is more conducive to our combat. The enemy has cavalry, but not many. Most of the bandits' infantry are suitable for fighting in the mountains and forests, so we will drive them to the plains and defeat them in the way we are best at."

"But we don't have enough troops to encircle and annihilate them. Also, we don't have many cavalry. If we fight a decisive battle in advance, we will face great difficulties." Will was still worried about Alpha's plan.

"We still use the dragnet method to eliminate bandits. We have to drive the enemy forward and send troops to pursue them when we see them, mainly to kill the enemy's active forces. We don't seek to annihilate them completely, but we want to make them like a frightened bird, unable to rest in peace.

The success of the net-pulling operation depends on whether the net is strong.

No, you have to select ten people from each of the three teams of 100 people and give them to me, and I will form a mobile team of 50 people.

If someone tears the fishing net, you just need to tie the net properly and let me deal with the fish that slip through the net." Alpha added.

"Okay, leave the net-pulling operation to me, and you will take care of the fish that slip through the net." Will looked at the action plan and was very satisfied. He immediately executed it according to the plan.

Originally, Will's qualifications were not enough to conquer these newly transferred unruly knights, but when they saw Will's net-pulling operation, they immediately admired him and gave his full support and cooperation.

Along the way, Alpha encountered several waves of bandits, but Alpha only sent cavalry to pursue them and did not go too deep.

At noon the next day, the cavalry brigade arrived at the easternmost area. The infantry team still had a few days of travel before they could meet up. The two sides attacked each other, and this was the official start of the dragnet operation.

"Prepare the pot and cook, and take a two-hour break." As Alpha's messenger, Lina conveyed all the messages.

"Lord Alpha, Bach, and Friis are here." Lina called the three centurions over.

"Okay, let them in." Although they are centurions, in fact each unit has only fifty people. Together with Alpha's fifty people, the front force has a total of one hundred and fifty people.

"Captain Alpha, what is the important matter that you asked us to come here for?" Bach was still not convinced that Alpha was the nominal leader.

"The dragnet operation will officially begin in two hours. I will assign the tasks now. Bach's team of fifty people will take the northernmost route, Freese's team will take the southernmost route, and my team will provide support in the middle." Alpha needs to be in the middle to support the situation on both sides.

"Why are you in the middle? Not me?" Bach was obviously dissatisfied with the task arrangement.

"Okay, but the middle will be responsible for the intersection area." There will be gaps in any arrangement. In order to reduce the gaps, Alpha directly adopted the overlapping method.

"You can adopt a 2-2-1 formation, leaving only ten people in the middle area. If bandits appear in the middle area, I will attack. If there are enemies on both sides, the corresponding cavalry will attack, and the middle will cooperate. We must not let the net bag break." Alpha shouted.

"Okay, I'll be responsible for the south." Freese had no problem with this. In this way, the area Alpha was responsible for would be the largest.

"Remember that we are a whole. What we need is cooperation, not confrontation. If the action fails, we will all be punished." Alpha doesn't want to create confrontation, but sometimes he has to establish his authority.

"How about we have a competition to see who can kill the most bandits and who can catch the most bandits?" Alpha needed to divert the conflict.

"Okay, then what about the ones I caught the most?" Bach was obviously attracted.

"You have caught the most, so the operation command will be given to you." Anyway, Alpha is only responsible for the early command. Once he reunites with Will, it will be Will who will be in command.

"Okay, it's a deal." Bach was a practical man. After saying this, he left the tent and prepared to join the battle.

Freese had no choice but to smile at Alpha.

"Lord Alpha, that Bach is so mean. You are the captain, how could he do this to you." There was no one around, so Lina rushed directly into Alpha's arms.

"It's okay. Paratroopers without results will not be supported. Only by producing results can they shut up." Alpha knew that his commander could not convince everyone.

"Lord Alpha, Lina is ready to eat." Fattam came in carrying pots and bowls.

"Ah!" Looking at the two people entangled on the blanket, Fattam blushed, turned around and left the tent.

"How could this happen in broad daylight?" Fattam's mind was filled with the scene of the two of them entangled with each other.

"Fatham, what's wrong with you? Do you have a fever?" Rowling looked at the different Fatham and immediately walked up to him.

"It's okay, I was just a little out of breath." Fattam certainly couldn't say that he saw something he shouldn't have seen.

"Where's Lina? I have something to talk to her about." Just as Rowling was about to lift the curtain, she was stopped by Fattam.

"Master Alpha is in there too."

"It's okay, I'll look for Lina."

"It's inconvenient for them." Fattam was embarrassed to say it.

"Okay!" Rowling blushed, looking a little disappointed. If she hadn't left Alpha, she wouldn't have been caught and abused by the bandits. Now she didn't have the face to ask Alpha for forgiveness. Maybe the person inside was herself. After all, her looks and figure were no less than Lina's.