He recalled that when he first reported to Fukby Hill, the soldier who brought him up the hill spoke of the camp proudly. He said that the tents there stretched as far as the eye could see and that it was a majestic sight to behold.
It was indeed spectacular. Looking from afar, the countless tents were arranged in groups of four, neatly arranged into small squares, and then the small squares were arranged into larger squares. At a glance, the entire area was filled with greyish-white tents, extending all the way to the horizon.
The closer he got to the main camp, the noisier it got. Three of Bluefeather's folk had already been deployed to the frontlines. Only 1st Folk was left in the main camp.
However, according to Perunt, two second-line legions had been transferred from the rear and were stationed in the main camp. One of the second-line legions would follow the 1st Field Division to the Sidins Principality, while the other would be stationed here to replenish Bluefeather's reserves and train the young recruits recruited in Kafreizit Prefecture.
As the guard and stretcher bearers of the infirmary, Claude was with the medical team that Perunt was in charge of.
After settling his men in the tents, Perunt called Claude to the infirmary at the rear of the main camp.
It was located on the rightmost side of the main camp. There were close to a hundred injured people there, most of whom were heavily injured from the frontlines.
Claude noticed that most of them were injured from the fall. After asking around, he found out that 2nd and 3rd Folk fell off the cliff when they were crossing the secret passage in Odin Mountain Range. They were lucky enough not to die on the spot and could still be saved.
Perunt was there to find an old friend of his, Mozart, who was in charge of the infirmary. It was a pity that Mozart wasn't there.
It was said that Prince Wedrick had arrived at Gourneygada last night and was invited to a banquet by the officials in charge of Gourneygada and a few generals of Bluefeather. However, after the banquet, the second prince suddenly felt unwell. Doctor Mozart had been summoned to Gourneygada overnight to treat the second prince and had yet to return.
Hence, Perunt and Claude returned in disappointment.
Claude spent the next three days in the main camp doing nothing. Perunt, on the other hand, was extremely busy.
In these three days, the soldiers of Bluefeather's 1st Field Division fought with the soldiers of the other two second line regiments. Just the 11th Field Battalion alone had fought with the soldiers of the second line regiments more than a dozen times a day, and the military police who were in charge of maintaining order were exhausted.
Fortunately, most of the injuries caused by the brawl were light, and some healing potions and medicines to prevent internal injuries were enough.
Perunt said that the soldiers were easily angered and the slightest verbal conflict could easily escalate into a brawl.
Usually, as long as it didn't escalate into a large-scale brawl, the higher-ups would turn a blind eye and wouldn't even be bothered to lock them up.
When Claude returned, he sternly warned the four nobles under him to watch over their subordinates and to stay in their tents for the next few days. If they had nothing to do, they would sleep more and go out less. They would be able to relax a little when the troops set off.
Another day passed, and an order came from above that there would be a military parade at ten o 'clock the next morning. Prince Wedrick would inspect the first field division and the second-tier division that had followed them into battle.
After the inspection, 1st Folk and the second-line corps would set off for the Sidins Principality.
Since Prince Wedrick wasn't the only one attending the military parade. There were also many high-ranking officials and nobles from the Kafreizit Prefecture. Thus, the higher-ups requested that every soldier had to change into a brand new military uniform and accept the inspection with high spirits and morale.
However, Claude's garrison and stretcher squad weren't part of the inspection. The higher-ups probably knew what kind of people the garrison and stretcher squad were made up of and were worried that they would make a fool of themselves during the inspection. So, they gave Claude a mission to lead the garrison and stretcher squad out of camp to guard the place.
When he heard the sounds of gongs and drums, horns, and even melodious music coming from the army camp, Berklin cursed with hatred, "What a snob …"
He had always resented being excluded from the parade. Be it him, Moriad, Aboyev, or Dyavid, all of them were annoyed that he couldn't attend the parade.
On the contrary, Claude was rather calm.
"Don't you want to see what Prince Wedrick looks like?" Moriad asked Claude curiously.
Claude smiled. "Isn't he the same as us? He only has one nose, two eyes and a mouth. The only difference is that he's of a higher status."
"But if we can gain his recognition, we'll be able to soar to greater heights," Aboyev said, unwilling to give up.
"Hehe …" Berklin snickered. "Forget it. You wish. But can you even get close to him?
The nobles and generals have long occupied all the empty seats around him. There's no way you'll be able to kiss his ass.
Don't get mistaken for an assassin instead. You'll be in for a good show and we'll be dragged into it. "
"Becker's right," Dyavid said leisurely.
"I'm not interested in the second prince," Dyavid said leisurely. "I'm just annoyed that so many noble ladies came to watch the parade today. Our superiors sent us to this deserted wilderness for some sentry mission, so I can't see how beautiful those ladies are. That's why I'm so angry …" "I'm not interested in the second prince," Dyavid said leisurely.
"Forget it, stop complaining," Dyavid said with a smile.
"One of you take a few men to the forest over there to see if there's any game. If you can catch a few, we'll have a barbecue in the afternoon.
Damn, didn't they say the parade would start at ten? I think it's already past twelve now and the parade has just started. It'll be three or four by the time they're done.
I don't think there'll be any hot meals sent over for lunch. Everyone will have to eat their rations. It'll be good enough to hunt some meat soup for everyone. "
Just as Claude predicted, Prince Wedrick only arrived at the main camp at noon. By then, the soldiers participating in the parade had already been standing under the sun for two to three hours.
After the noble prince drank tea for another half an hour in the command tent of the legion's main camp and chatted with the nobles and ladies for a while, he finally remembered what he had to do. Surrounded by the higher-ups of the legion, he stepped onto the high platform and announced the start of the parade.
The original plan was for the parade to start at ten in the morning. The troops would walk past the platform and leave for Sidins.
But they didn't expect Prince Wedrick to be so late. After the parade ended, the soldiers had to stay in the camp for a meal before leaving.
The second-line corps decided to spend the night in the main camp and leave the next morning.
When Claude and the rest returned to camp after a day of sentry duty, they received another order. Eleventh Tribe was assigned as the second prince's guard battalion to accompany him on his journey to Sidins Duchy.
As for when the second prince would leave, they would have to wait for further notice.
What a joke. The second prince was given the same treatment as the eldest prince when he left the royal capital for Kafreizit. Stellin X assigned a battalion of the royal guard to each of his sons. The eldest prince and the second prince were also accompanied by a small team of special security personnel.
He didn't think that Bluefeather would think that the guards weren't strong enough and sent the 11th Battalion as well.
So, Claude stayed in camp to wait for Prince Wedrick's notice of his departure for Sidins. Sadly, the prince seemed to have forgotten about it and stayed in his temporary residence in Gonigada the entire time.
Two days later, according to Perunt's information, the second prince had been hosting banquets and balls in his temporary residence every day, inviting all the noble ladies in Kafreizit Prefecture to attend. He didn't mention anything about going to the Sidins Duchy at all, as if he was having too much fun and wanted to stay in Gonigada for a long time.
It wasn't until the third day that the generals of Bluefeather noticed that something was amiss. They went to the second prince's temporary residence and tried all sorts of ways to persuade him. Only then did Claude receive word that Prince Wedrick agreed to leave for Sidins the next day.
The 11th Battalion was ordered to lead the way. They had breakfast at eight in the morning and rested for half an hour before they were given the order to set off.
Two hours into the journey, a messenger arrived on horseback and requested for the 11th Battalion to set up camp there.
Prince Wedrick hadn't woken up yet. By the time he woke up for lunch and rested, it would be at least three in the afternoon.
As the bodyguards of the pampered prince, the 11th Battalion couldn't march too quickly in case they got separated from the second prince's party.
By the time the second messenger arrived, it was already half-past three in the afternoon. The order he brought was for the 11th Battalion to expand the camp so that Prince Wedrick's party and the royal guard would have a place to camp for the night.
It would be best if the 11th Battalion could help them set up their tents and prepare hot food and hot water.
They would be able to eat and rest the moment they arrived.
The orders from the messenger didn't just cause the soldiers to curse. Even the officers in the camp were discussing it behind their backs.
Did the second prince still intend to go to the frontlines to supervise the battle?
Dillydallying until now, and even treating the 11th Field Battalion as a labor camp to serve him, this made the soldiers of the 11th Field Battalion a little angry.
However, they still had to follow the orders. Under the supervision of the officers, the soldiers of the 11th Battalion finished setting up the tents for the second prince and the royal guard. The supplies were all urgently transported over from the logistics department of Bluefeather's main camp. At the same time, a large number of carriages carrying fresh food arrived.
At around six o 'clock in the evening, the second prince arrived at the campsite with his entourage and the Battle Battalion of the Imperial Guards.
What surprised Claude was that there were quite a few ladies among the second prince's entourage. Judging from their attire, they seemed to be the daughters of noble families.
Around nine in the evening, Claude finished checking the tents of his men and was about to go to bed after making sure that the sentries and stretcher teams had rested. Suddenly, an attendant of Prince Wedrick came to Claude's tent under the lead of a second lieutenant in charge of security. He said that Prince Wedrick wanted to see Claude.
Why would he want to see me?
Claude didn't quite understand, but he still followed the attendant to Prince Wedrick's tent under the envious gaze of the second lieutenant.
That was most likely the command tent of Bluefeather. It was several times larger than the tents the soldiers were using.
Only when he entered did he realize that the tent had been turned into a place for a ball.
In a corner of the tent, accompanied by a band of more than ten people, a dozen pairs of well-dressed young men and women were dancing in the middle of the tent. Beside the tent, there were some sofas and tables, and on the tables were all kinds of exquisite food and wine.
Claude was told to stand at the side and wait for the dance to end before being introduced to Prince Wedrick.
Claude looked around and saw at least three generals sitting on the sofas with glasses of wine in their hands. Their faces were red and it was obvious that they had too much to drink.
When the song ended, a young man with long, curly blonde hair hugged his dance partner and gave her a long kiss. Amidst the cheers of the onlookers, he kissed her for a long time before letting go of her. Laughing heartily, he walked to the long table at the side, picked up a glass of wine, and drank it in one gulp.
The attendant gestured for Claude to follow him and bowed. "Your Highness, the Claude Ferd you are looking for is here."