The desire to fight of the armies in this era—or what you might call "subjective initiative"—was extremely low.
Most conscripted soldiers lacked the concept of a nation-state, and they did not seek fame through military achievements; instead, they were forcibly sent to the battlefield by the nobles, serving as true cannon fodder.
The need to form dense formations and execute queue-based firing drills during this period is largely because once the conscripted soldiers with low desire and morale dispersed from their dense formations or even strayed a bit from their officers, they would immediately break ranks and scatter.
Troops such as skirmishers and cavalry, which required a higher degree of subjective initiative, either had poor military discipline and indulged in all kinds of vices, or were simply conscripted bandits who came to the battlefield to rob and get rich.
Thus, even though Anning clearly recognized the approaching French cavalry, he did not dare take them lightly.
He was carrying the spoils from the bandit leader he had taken out last night; to the cavalry, he might seem like a fat sheep.
As for the young master, it was not certain whether the cavalry would dare to openly kill a nobleman from their own ranks, but what if they wanted to claim Anning's achievements as their own?
As the cavalry drew closer, Anning saw the crescent-shaped dog tag on the neck of the leader, indicating that he was an officer, possibly even a noble.
This eased Anning's mind a bit.
However, the young master of the Tolleson family, Kroetz, clearly did not have so many concerns and happily stood up to wave as he saw the cavalry of his household approaching.
The cavalry quickly arrived.
The leading officer halted in front of Kroetz, not even glancing at Anning, and asked directly, "Cavalry Corps No. 20, on General Carnegie's orders for reconnaissance. What's the situation?"
Anning had no recollection of this General Carnegie. With regards to French generals, he only knew about Napoleon's later marshals.
Kroetz shook his head: "It's a disaster. We were defeated by Frederick at Rossbach. He personally led the charge, damn it."
Anning couldn't help but frown; he vaguely remembered that Frederick II died of old age in 1786, and in the present year of 1780, Frederick II should have been an old man too feeble to move, yet he was leading a campaign?
Could it be that Emperor Frederick of this timeline was born a few years later?
So, the history of this world only generally matched the original, but specific details were misaligned?
However, Anning was no history scholar. He only recognized a few famous generals, marshals, and those covered in history textbooks from this era.
Therefore, the nuances in historical details didn't make much difference to Anning.
At this moment, the cavalry officer asked again, "Where are the Prussians? We've been searching from Keroba Village towards this area since this morning and haven't seen a single Prussian."
Kroetz looked at Anning with a pleading gaze.
Anning pointed in the direction they came from and said, "Go in this direction for about 20 miles, and you should be able to see the Prussian camp."
In truth, Anning had no idea how far he had run last night. He simply made up a number; after all, cavalry could cover ground quickly, and by following the road from last night, they would likely soon encounter Prussian reconnaissance cavalry.
The officer glanced at the direction Anning pointed, nodded slightly, then pointed in the direction they came from and said, "Head in that direction, and you will meet General Carnegie's Third Army by noon. He's gathering the scattered troops from yesterday to organize a defense."
After saying this, the officer was ready to leave with his men. Anning quickly stepped forward and grabbed the reins, saying, "Wait a minute! Sir, our young master has a leg injury and can't walk that far. Could you send a couple of men on horseback to escort us to the camp?"
Actually, the young master had no injury to his leg, but after a night of fleeing, he likely had some burst blisters, making his walk more of a limp. Claiming he was injured probably wouldn't be noticeable.
As long as the young master didn't expose Anning's lie, it would be fine.
— He wouldn't be that naive, would he?
Anning muttered to himself inwardly while looking towards the young master, who after a moment of hesitation, ultimately lowered his head, tacitly agreeing to Anning's claim.
It seemed that he too wanted the ease of riding a horse rather than walking by himself.
However, the cavalry officer shook his head, "We still have reconnaissance to do, and we may encounter Prussian cavalry on the road and engage in battle. I need every soldier to accompany me in completing the mission. If you speak German, you could hire a farm cart from the peasants! Good luck to you."
The cavalry officer saluted Anning and Kroetz and then led his men, galloping towards the direction Anning had just indicated.
Anning turned to Kroetz and said, "Shall I go rent a farm cart?"
"Please do," Kroetz sighed.
**
Having boarded the cart, Anning could finally relax a little.
He had been running all night with another person, and now he could at last sit down and rest.
Once he sat down, the accumulated fatigue erupted, making him want to lie down right there on the cart and fall soundly asleep.
But he didn't dare sleep, because the young master he was with was utterly unreliable.
As soon as Kroetz got on the ox cart, he wilted immediately and said to Anning, "Finally, we can take a break, Mr. Frost."
It looked like the young master had finally put his mind at ease.
Anning couldn't help but remind him, "We have not yet reached our troops, it's not time to relax yet, Mr. Tolleson."
"I know. But it's strange, I always feel that as long as Mr. Frost you are here, nothing will go wrong."
Just as the young master was saying this, on the right side of Anning's field of vision where the mission prompt was, suddenly a line of text refreshed.
[Complete the additional mission objective: Raise Croci de Tolleson's favorability to trust. Receive a reward of 50 Crowns, which can be withdrawn at any bank.]
Anning was startled; he thought that the mission system would at most offer some intangible rewards like reputation, but he did not expect it to actually have tangible rewards.
50 Crowns... Well, let me put it this way: for Anning to buy food and water from this old German farmer, plus hiring him to give up a whole day's farm work and use the ox cart to take him and the young master to find the French Army, it only cost one silver coin in total.
And judging from the smile on the old farmer's face, even that one Crown was overpaid.
By that measure, 50 Crowns was indeed a huge sum.
The spoils Anning got from killing a bandit leader yesterday, might not even be worth 50 Crowns.
Why scavenge for spoils? Honestly doing missions is the real way to wealth.
Anning's gaze at the young master now was completely like looking at a hen that lays golden eggs.
At this time, the young master spoke again, "After the Prussians defeated us yesterday, they might continue to march and attack General Carnegie's Third Army; we might still make it to the battle..."
Anning thought to himself, please no, I don't want to fight anymore, I want to send you safely back to your father and then get my reward.
Kroetz looked at Anning, "What do you think? If we participate in the battle again, would you be willing to become my guard? With you by my side, this time I definitely can..."
Anning responded, "Mr. Tolleson, I think that the Prussians might not continue to entangle with us. After all, they don't just have us as enemies, there are also Emperor Leopold of Habsburg and the Russians from the East."
Anning vaguely remembered that another time-space's Seven Years' War was Prussia and the UK fighting the French, Austrian, and Russian coalition.
The UK and Prussia were allies, but in mainland Europe, it seemed the British didn't contribute much, mainly engaging in a bitter fight with France overseas.
Of course, many details of history in this time-space are different, so Anning couldn't go into details, he could only mention the general direction.
"If I were the Emperor of Prussia, I wouldn't delay too long in one direction, giving the opponents the chance to encircle, always maintaining my own initiative," Anning said.
Kroetz appeared reflective, "Does that mean it's unlikely we will encounter the main forces of the Prussian Army next?"
Anning spread his hands, "I am but a leatherworker's son, what I say doesn't count for much."
"You, a leatherworker's son, yet you speak German." Kroetz stared at Anning, "And I noticed you can read the road signs, meaning you recognize German script. It's hard to imagine that you can recognize German but not French, given you're a leatherworker's child; the education you received seems a bit too good."
Anning responded, "My family is in Caen, where there are quite a few people who speak German and English. Knowing an extra language doesn't hurt."
In fact, this excuse looked rather flimsy upon inspection, as Caen is actually far from the German-speaking region, and really does not have many German or Dutch speakers. Additionally, German and French do not belong to the same language family—French is Romance, and German is Germanic.
For someone with French as a native language, it might be easier to learn Italian and vice versa.
Thus, Napoleon from Corsica quickly mastered French to study at a French military academy.
But German is different. For the son of a leatherworker who only goes to Catholic Sunday school, it's not an easy feat to learn German.
However, the young master apparently didn't think too much and simply believed it.
Sure enough, the young master's favorability towards Anning had already reached the level of trust.
At this time, Kroetz's attention returned to the war, "The Prussian Army no longer engages us, curse it. If the Russian Army or Habsburg troops defeat Prussia, and the war ends just like that, what should I do? I must earn merits to get a medal..."
Anning remarked, "Young master, why are you so fixated on earning merits? You are the offspring of the Duke of Orleans; even if you cannot inherit the title, you have a bright future ahead..."
"Because I want to continue my studies at the military academy," the young master replied. "So I must accomplish enough merit in the war to get a medal."
Anning raised an eyebrow, thinking it didn't make sense. For descendants of nobles, isn't going to a military academy usually a simple matter? It doesn't necessarily require achieving merit.
Could it be that the Duke of Orleans doesn't support his son attending the military academy?
As Anning was about to ask, Kroetz, who had been muttering all this while, suddenly leaned to the side and rested on Anning's shoulder.
As Anning looked down, he saw that the young master had his eyes closed, still muttering, but his eyelids could no longer stay open.
After a moment, Kroetz drifted into sleep, emitting a gentle snore.
Anning could only swallow his curiosities.