When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 1080 The Siege of Owen City

As the two had predicted, on September 5th, 1455 in the Imperial Calendar, the Leia army moved.

According to news from the Kingdom of Fran, the Leia people launched their attack on September 5th and are expected to reach the border region of Dawn Island in two weeks.

Given the current situation, they are most likely to be stationed at Skellow Keep, the county seat of Waterwheel County, out of the fifteen counties of Dawn Island.

Across from Lake Aono, opposite Square Wolfenburg, lies the city of Wonne, one of the Five Cities Alliance.

In terms of strategic intent, the Leia made no attempt to conceal their intention: to target Owen City.

Because the Fran army stationed at key transportation routes throughout Leia was the eyes of the Holy Alliance.

They couldn't hide it no matter what they wanted to do, and they could only confront it head-on on the front lines.

"That concludes the intelligence we have gathered." The envoy from Owen City said gravely, "Owen City needs your assistance."

Seated at the head of the table, Jeanne remained silent, wiping her face with a hot towel while reviewing the intelligence reports handed to her by her staff.

The identity of the Owen City envoy who stood in the camp seeking help was not simple.

His name is Drum Riddell, and his father is Piatus Riddell, the mayor of Okinawa.

In the Five Cities Alliance, Longbow Fortress is the undisputed core city, aiming for second place and striving for first in leadership.

However, the initiator of the Five Cities Alliance was not Longbow Castle, nor Silvercastle, which also belongs to the wealthy city, but Owen, a city famous for its wine.

As for why the Leia people chose Onu City first, it was mainly because, compared to other cities, Onu City was far too attractive to the nobles.

Owen is a relatively new city among many, with a history of only forty or fifty years, but it was once the capital city of the Duke of Owen.

The Wrenville family has been in Wrenville for three hundred years, while the current Riddle family consists of armed farmers.

In his youth, Piastow was a mercenary. After the extinction of the Onu family line, the local citizens hired him to resist the noble army and establish a free city.

Ultimately, Owen did not achieve the same success as Jeanne d'Or, but instead, local merchants and nobles reached a reconciliation.

The city could have returned to the rule of the Leia royal family, but the ordinary citizens and monks were clearly dissatisfied.

Piastu saw this opportunity and led the citizens in a coup, hanging the noble representative.

He then engaged in bribery, assassination attempts, and even married the Duke of Owen's illegitimate daughter. Through his connections with monks and religious orders, he sought refuge with the Church.

After much political maneuvering and the outbreak of the Battle of Windmill Land, the Kingdom was preoccupied with other matters, which allowed Owen City to become an independent free city with the help of the Church.

The Riddle family of Piastú were outright tyrants with very little legitimacy in their rule.

Putzillo, a renowned imperial general known for his bullying of the weak and fear of the strong, has already branded the city of Vaughan as a place of the underdog and is preparing to unleash a massacre.

Jeanne put down the hot towel: "Do you know anything about the specific troop strength?"

Drum's face darkened: "The enemy force may number 20,000."

"They can mobilize another 20,000 people? Where did they come from?" Tora could hardly believe his ears.

Leia was previously decimated by the Holy Alliance and the Fran, so how come they suddenly have 20,000 mobile troops again?

"Now that Leia has implemented a system of selling official positions, and with the blockade of the continent, the price of precious metals in the Thorn Garden has risen again, so the Regent has a lot of money and grain in his hands."

As for manpower, the infantry came from wandering soldiers, bandit knights, and some border knightly orders.

"The Frontier Knights?" Jeanne repeated, wondering why it was another old friend.

"Yes, after the fall of the Holy Throne City, the northern defenses of the Border Knights were basically unable to hold out, and they retreated to the vicinity of the Rova River. Due to the loss of a large amount of territory and the pressure from their old rivals, the Norn, many Border Knights will head south."

They didn't want to be mercenaries; instead, they accepted lower pay and went to serve in Putzlio.

Therefore, Putzillo's troops were not the ragtag army that everyone imagined, and their fighting strength was probably not weak.

"What do you all think?" Drum looked eagerly at Jeanne at the head of the table.

Taking down this high-ranking officer of the Holy Alliance is equivalent to taking down both the Holy Alliance and Longbow Keep.

With the Holy Alliance and Longbow Fortress as his guarantors, he could use this as leverage to travel to other cities and, with these guarantees, mobilize even more troops.

“Mr. Drum,” Sochette paused for a moment, “we did not expect the enemy to abandon their direct attack on Longbow Fort and instead choose Wonyu City.”

Because it's such a terrible choice, it actually presents an opportunity, giving us more time.

"Can't Longbow Fortress provide support?"

“Your Excellency Joan of Arc, but I think I can explain.” Tora confirmed with Jeanne before speaking, “Supporting supplies is possible, but supporting soldiers is difficult.”

One major problem with the Five Cities Alliance was that its troops were well-trained but few in number.

In Jeanne's view, the only core combat forces were the recently formed First and Second Corps, the Third Corps which was still in training, and a cavalry regiment of five hundred men, totaling two thousand men.

If Putzillo and his men only numbered two thousand, Jeanne could have easily crushed them.

If it's four thousand, then we need to plan carefully, but we can still win.

However, with 20,000 against 2,000, a tenfold advantage, winning would require luck and long-term planning.

If Jeanne were to gather her forces and combine the mercenaries from the five cities with the volunteer troops who had defected from various towns, she would have a force of over ten thousand.

If Ranna were to lead this ragtag army of just over ten thousand men to fight against the same number of Leia's troops, the outcome might be uncertain.

Putzillo commanded elite border knights and elite infantrymen hardened by ten years of bloody warfare. Although not the entire army was like this, the total number of men exceeded ten thousand.

这可不是1+1=2，而是1+1<2的结果。

"...So I think the best solution is for Owen City to hold out for about six months until the army is fully trained and can come to the rescue."

Drum's expression turned somber; he and his father were well aware of this principle.

However, the city was dominated by the aristocratic and church factions, and their position as tyrants was inherently unstable.

If they fail to secure support this time, not only will Drum lose his hereditary mayoral position, but Piast will also be hanged.

Jeanne, however, did not jump to conclusions: "That's the general strategy, but we won't just sit idly by and do nothing but train our troops."

“What does Your Excellency wish to do? Even if it’s just a gesture of sending troops, we are willing to accept it.” Drum said as if he had grasped at the last straw.

Jeanne closed the intelligence book in front of her: "My brother... cough um, Saint Sun once said that in war, if you can do it, you should show that you can't, and vice versa."

Therefore, when your strength is inferior to the other side, you should take the initiative to strike and intimidate them.

Knowing Putzillo as I do, he will surely hesitate, unwilling to exert his full strength, in order to buy you enough time.

Jeanne walked up to the map, her hands behind her back, her gaze silently scanning the map, occasionally calling over Tora, Michel, and others for questions.

Under Drum's anxious gaze, Jeanne took a deep breath: "The vanguard battle, we'll fight in Shovel Town, and we'll make Putzlior suffer in this battle."

　P.S. I'll be adding two chapters today to make up for yesterday's work. There will be two more chapters after midnight to make up for today's work.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)