Since the Eight-National Princes coalition are all following the script, Marin can't delay it. Because it's already September. Within half a month, the four provinces in East Friesland, Oldenburg, West Friesland and North Münster that use rye will mature in advance. If you don't counterattack in time, it will affect the autumn harvest.
So Marin called Kohler and ordered:
"Notify Steindorf that you can close the net!"
Steindorf was the commander of the Third Legion, and the Third Legion was also the most infiltration army in the North Sea Kingdom. Before, Marin asked Steindorf to act because he was afraid that the noble officers who were bribed in the Third Legion would disclose the secrets. Therefore, he asked Steindorf to take his men and horses on his back to confront some of the Second Legion, as if he wanted to fight.
At the same time, Kohler and Sauer sent a large number of civilian and military spies to investigate which officers of the Third Legion were scattered.
In addition to investigating these people, Marin also arranged a group of graduates from the teenage military officer class to secretly go to Schleswig Province, ready to replace the betrayed officers at any time. After all, if they were eliminated, there would always be an officer to replace them.
As for why we are not promoted on the spot, it is not that Marin doesn’t want to, but that we lack so many literate officers...
Why did Marin recruit those wandering knights from noble origins as officers? It was not because the literacy rate in Germany in this era was too low. Most of the literate people were nobles, priests and wealthy merchants.
But Marin could not recruit priests as officers. The children of merchants were too careful and belonged to the group that Qi Jiguang "refused to accept". Therefore, Marin could only choose to recruit those wandering knights who were literate and had a military theoretical basis.
But Marin did not expect that these wandering knights from noble families had so much thoughts and wanted to betray him. But Marin had no choice at that time because he really had no suitable candidates.
As for ordinary soldiers from civilian origins, even if Marin arranged a literacy squad in the army, the results were limited. After all, the issue of illiteracy and the basis of military theory cannot be changed overnight.
Fortunately, Marin started the crash course for young officers, and now many graduates are available.
Although these young young officer crash course graduates are still young and immature, they have solid theoretical foundations. What they lack is practical experience. But this is not a problem, because the coalition of princes of the Eight Kingdoms is a good opponent to hone their war experience and are not afraid of failure.
After all, in this war, the Third Legion was not the protagonist. Even if dozens of officers were replaced, it would affect the combat effectiveness for a while, and the problem would not be big.
After receiving Marin's secret order, Steindorf remained silent. Then, that night, he held several banquets and specially sent someone to invite the people on the list...
In the evening, dozens of people on the list arrived. Steindorf first looked at the list, then counted, and found that the targeted people had arrived. So he didn't say anything and just asked someone to eat.
After eating, Steindorf wiped his mouth and said:
"Today's meal is the last meal I have with you..."
As soon as he finished speaking, a large number of soldiers suddenly surged around the restaurant, subduing dozens of officers who were still dining with betrayal of the Beihai Kingdom.
Before taking the seat, the weapons of these officers were all dropped by the guards. At this time, they were all naked and faced with the bright swords and guns of the guards, they were unable to resist. Unless they wanted to be shot into a sieve by muskets.
At this time, an officer who had heard Marin tell a historical story suddenly changed his face and said:
"Hong...Gate Banquet..."
Steindorf smiled and said:
"That's right, it's the 'Hongmen Banquet'! It seems that you have a good experience, but since you have such knowledge, why do you betray the Beihai Kingdom?" In the end, Steindorf's face was already full of harshness.
"You...you have betrayed you too..." An officer stammered.
"No, you are wrong. I have always been a loyal minister of the Beihai Kingdom! Walton's phalanx leader, don't you think about it. I, Steindorf, was promoted from a hunter in the mountains to a high-ranking official like the commander of the legion, and even a hereditary nobleman. Will I betray the Beihai Kingdom so easily?"
"Then...why do you pretend to betray..." asked the phalanx leader named Walton in confusion.
"Because I want to confuse you bastards!" Steindorf said for granted.
"Mr. Steindorf, even if you arrest us, it may not be useful. Except for myself, my company is loyal to me. If something happens to me, my company will cause trouble." A company captain named Nowitz shrugged.
Steindorf was not anxious at all, but said with a smile:
"I know, you have managed your company like a ironclad. But it doesn't matter, my people have almost surrounded your company's base at this moment. If you are willing to continue to obey the orders, you will naturally be at peace. If you keep calling...haha..."
...
While Steindorf was "chatting" with the group of betrayed officers, Steindorf's confidants mobilized five thousand soldiers and surrounded the barracks of the betrayed officers' troops.
In addition, the two thousand Cossacks sent by Alsace to support the Third Legion also appeared beside the camp to help scoop the formation...
"All the soldiers of the Eighth-Platform Company B shall obey the order. From now on, Mr. Heltz will take over as the company captain of your company!" As soon as the messenger finished speaking, a young man in his 20-year-old stood in front of the battalion of the Eighth-Platform Company B, waiting to report his duties. This Eighth-Platform Company B is Nowitz's company.
"Why? Our captain of Nowitz Company is doing a good job, why should we replace this doll to replace him?" Nowitz said right. There are still many loyal people in this company.
The commander said expressionlessly:
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content behind! "I am here to announce the order, not to ask your opinions. Either obey or accept sanctions!"
"Do you think I dare not make trouble?" Nowitz's loyal adjutant Hamil said furiously.
The messenger's face did not change at all, just repeated:
“Either obey or accept sanctions!”
Then, a team suddenly rushed in, and hundreds of muskets pointed at Adjutant Hamil...
"This... are you too arrogant, you actually aimed your gun at your comrades?" Hamil was also a little dumbfounded. He knew the military rules, one of which was - he would never allow swords and guns to point swords and guns at your comrades.
The messenger was silent for a while and explained:
"Captain Nowitz Company is suspected of betrayal and has been controlled. As his subordinates for many years, you are also suspected of following betrayal. Therefore, we only prevent you from following the rebellion and have no intention of harming your comrades. Also, the order to replace Nowitz is an order directly issued by the North Sea Military Department, and you must implement it. Otherwise, it will be regarded as treason! Once treason is treason, you will no longer be our comrades, do you understand?"
Hamil opened his mouth and said unwillingly:
"But the leader of the Legion, didn't he betray the Beihai Kingdom? Why did he accept the orders of the military headquarters?"
The messenger said impatiently:
"The 'betrayal' by the Legion Commander was also carried out according to the command of the military headquarters. I have no time to quit with you. I will decide whether to accept the order. If you accept it, then put down all the weapons and accept the new company captain. If you don't accept it, we will open fire!"
Because it was not during the war, although the soldiers of the B Company of the Eighth Square Formation also had weapons, they were all cold weapons. They were not prepared enough and had no main general. Hamil struggled for a long time, but he chose to cooperate, handed over the weapons and accepted the new company captain. After all, he was not stupid. The ones surrounding Company B had three times the strength. Not only did the B Company lose the main general, but he also had no chance to line up to fight. If he resisted stubbornly, he would definitely die without a burial place.
However, not everyone is as conscious as Hamil. Some companies, even square formations, disobey...
"You really don't accept the order?" asked a messenger with a dark face.
"I will never accept it! I am only loyal to our company captain!" a second-hand adjutant said stubbornly.
"Okay, beat him to death!"
The messenger waved his hand, and then, the stubborn adjutant was shot into a sieve by a musket like Xu Wenqiang...
...
That night, the Third Legion camp was extremely lively. After hundreds of people were killed and injured, the situation finally settled down. Fortunately, most of them were conscious of the current affairs and were used to obeying the orders of their superiors. Therefore, only a few hundred stubborn guys insisted on being with their betrayed boss. Then, they were directly washed away bloodily...
As for the betrayed officers who were detained at the "Hongmen Banquet", they were not executed, but temporarily detained and waited for trial afterwards.
The next day, all the troops belonging to the betrayed officers were dispersed and reorganized, avoiding the small groups of the past group from continuing to make trouble. Although most of the people who stayed behind were those who knew the current affairs and obeyed the orders, Steindorf was not willing to take risks. Therefore, it was still necessary to break them apart and reorganize them.
After Steindorf completed the great purge of the Third Legion, he immediately sent people to rush back to Orich to deliver the letter...
Chapter completed!