When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 1186 Will we make it in time to leave tomorrow morning?
In April 1459, a bird's-eye view along the muddy roads of the Roaring Corridor revealed hordes of carriages heading south.

The pale sunlight shone on me, but instead of the warmth of spring, it brought an indescribable heat.

Green grass and jade-like hues, purple flowers and emerald green flowers, the stream pushes the remaining snow on the bank, turning it into foam as it flows forward.

Following behind the long line of gray-clad archers, the carriages were not loaded with valuables, but with women and children.

These women used long sticks to restrain the crying children, as if they were herding sheep.

Most of these women carried a baby on their backs. According to the shooting army's policy, the baby's mother could come along, but she had to take responsibility for caring for the other children.

Riding on his horse, Alexei looked at the woman and child swaying in the carriage and felt an indescribable pang of sorrow.

The local free people and villagers were furious when the soldiers tried to flee.

But when he offered to take the children with him, his anger vanished instantly.

People simply left on their own, sending their children over, the young men taking the rations issued by the shooting army and hiding, while the old men remained where they were.

This was almost an unspoken rule in Norn: when a blizzard came, children would leave, young people would hide, and the elderly would stay.

Many officers who had initially questioned whether Alexei's presence with children would slow down the journey suddenly understood why.

They were originally going to have to deal with the local villagers for a while, but now they don't need to, and it's actually faster than setting off directly.

However, compared to the praise he received for his methods, Alexei was not in a good mood.

This isn't some kind of tactic... it's clearly the villagers becoming numb from countless moments of despair.

Even the smallest hope is enough to win them over.

They're terrified of being killed and terrified of dying!
What Alexei saw as a bad ending was, in the eyes of many villagers, already a good ending.

But Alexei could not accept it.

However, this bitterness cannot last long, because there are more pressing issues to address now.

"What does it mean that Blood Knight Rangers have appeared on the main road?" Alexei asked in surprise, pulling on the reins.

“It means exactly what it says,” Groyev said in a low voice. “The vampire rangers have not only caught up with us, but they’ve also blocked our way.”

Another officer immediately spoke up: "They are too few in number, and it's daytime. They probably won't dare to confront our fortress head-on. They're probably planning to harass and intercept us at the front."

A murmur immediately broke out among the surroundings.

"They actually caught up with us?"

"I told you we shouldn't have brought those kids; they slowed things down too much."

"Let's just abandon them now..."

Faced with his humanoid subordinates' comments, Alexei pursed his lips even tighter, and after a long while, he finally spoke: "Their 30,000 troops are definitely not all here. This pursuer is probably just the first batch of troops to arrive."

"We understand that, but even so, are our three to five thousand men really our match?"

Alexei fell silent again. Lacunio truly lived up to his reputation as a renowned general who had spent so much time on the frontier.

Upon realizing something was amiss, without the slightest hesitation, they immediately dispatched the vanguard, which rushed directly towards the firing squad.

As for the vampire army and its minions, they were surprisingly efficient.

They actually carried out the order, and did so quite well, managing to catch up at the last minute.

It's important to know that Lacunio was originally just a staff member of Prince Condé, a second-ranking commander.

If he has such a high level of ability, what about Prince Kong Dai? What kind of battles did the Holy Grandson and his men fight back then?
Alexei forced himself to calm down: "How far ahead do you estimate they are?"

"It's about several dozen miles, and we arrived by evening."

"That's pretty accurate!" Groyev cursed angrily.

If we continue as planned, we will inevitably be harassed by the Blood Knights, and our advance will certainly slow down.

However, if they deliberately slow down and arrive at the area at sunrise, then the delayed-fire army will achieve its objective.

Damn it, if only they had a proper hussar force, or even just hired one!

He initially decided to recruit the Death Hussars because he felt that the discipline, morale, and combat effectiveness of the Hussars were too poor.

But now it seems that we should first solve the problem of whether or not we have it, and then solve the problem of whether or not it is good or bad.

"Or should we choose to take a detour?"

"Where do you go? May I ask?"

"Let's abandon the carriages and supplies and go directly along the Wind Chasing Path."

“We should abandon these children and leave quickly.”

“How much faster would it be to abandon these children? The carriage can’t pass through the Wind Chaser Path.”

"Wait a minute, the end of Wind Chaser Path is a fishing village on the Fittcat River, do you think I've never been here before, you Blood Spy!" "You idiot, let's build a pontoon bridge and cross over, while the snow hasn't completely melted and the water hasn't risen yet!"

"Is this already our final resting place?"

"Or we could surrender first, feign allegiance, and then regret it later. Even with His Highness Alexei's status, he would still not be a Grand Duke. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Sure enough, Sun Yat-sen's article mentioned that defeatist strategists and capitulationist strategists had emerged.

Amidst the conflicting opinions, Alexei astutely discovered a reliable account: the Wind Chaser Trail and the Fittcat River.

When Saint Sun first lectured at Saint Tangi Military Academy, he mentioned, "Never do what the enemy wants you to do."

Whether we speed up or slow down, we are just going through the motions of the enemy's thinking; they must break free from that mindset.

Taking a detour or using a pontoon bridge is a good option.

This is because there are readily available small boats and rafts at the ferry crossings and fishing villages, and the Fittcat River is not very wide.

It is tens of meters wide in some places and only a dozen meters wide in others.

The shooting force estimated that it would take half a day to build the pontoon bridge, and with a half-afternoon and a whole night, it would be enough to transfer all three to five thousand people.

After crossing the river, destroy the pontoon bridge and burn down the ferry crossing. If the royal army wants to catch up, they will have to take a detour, which will take at least two more days.

With these two days, Alexei should be able to reach the support range of the Holy Alliance fortress complex.

Both the Royal Court and the Holy Alliance are currently in a sensitive period, and neither is willing to provoke an enemy. Instead, they are quietly accumulating strength.

If Lacunio dares to pursue them into the vicinity of the Shattered Stone Plains fortress complex, Andrei would probably be happy to swallow up those ten thousand or so people.

"Shut up, listen to what His Highness has to say." As soon as Alexei opened his mouth, the guard beside him immediately shouted.

The lords then stopped and gathered around Alexei.

Alexei straightened his back as much as possible and spoke in the condescending tone he once hated most: "Women and children, get off the carriage and take the Wind Chaser Path ahead of time. Recruit people to cut down trees."

The carriage continued forward, then the harness was removed. Those who could ride horses stayed behind to continue fighting the Blood Knights. I would lead the team myself.

Regardless of their previous opinions, when Alexei spoke, they all pounded their chests and said, "Yes, Your Highness."

…………

"Smack!" Inside the hamburger, Lacunio slammed the warrant onto the table and took off his helmet.

"Your Excellency?" Pokkins asked curiously.

Lacunio pointed at the command token with a strained expression: "These idiots, they really think that Alexei is planning to abandon the children and entangle the Blood Knights to make it easier for the Shooting Army to pass through?"

“Oh?” Pokkins picked up the warrant and glanced at it. “Lord Lacunio has a different opinion.”

"That kid must have taken the Wind Chaser Path; he made it too obvious."

Is it possible to succeed?

Lacunio rolled his eyes: "Does he think his shooting army is the Holy Alliance's savior army, or does he think the road to Bearhold can compare to the road to Thousand Rivers Valley?"

Lacunio tossed the leather gloves onto the table, picked up his beer, and took a sip: "He did learn this trick from Horn, who's full of ghost water, but he forgot that all the surprise tactics on the battlefield have one prerequisite: intelligence gaps."

Horn was able to devise ingenious schemes and break through the Prince's encirclement multiple times, firstly because the nobles and priests of Thousand Rivers Valley were too corrupt and lazy, and secondly because of the natural mountainous and swampy terrain of Thousand Rivers Valley.

If you move Horn to the plains and hills of County Hotham, the Prince will have him burned at the stake in less than three days!
After becoming a powerful force, why did they make peace with the Kush Knights? Wasn't it just for battlefield awareness?

The terrain of Norn makes it even more necessary for knights, and even more so for cavalry to conduct reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance.

Alexei, however, brought in the infantry from the Thousand Rivers Valley, neglecting the cavalry. Wasn't he just asking for trouble?

"Does Lacunio not trust these frontline commanders?" Pokkins removed his hood in the afterglow of the setting sun.

In the setting sun, his pale face faded, and his eyes gradually turned a jewel-like red.

"Mr. Pokkins, I'll have no choice but to come with me."

Pokkins did not respond immediately, but instead looked out the window.

As the last rays of the setting sun fell upon the castle, an eerie silence descended.

"Die, you devils!"

"what--"

"Old man, old man! I'll fight you to the death!"

Hearing the screams, Lacunio's expression changed, but Pokkins smiled.

Like those vampires who emerge from the shadows of the eaves.

"If we leave tomorrow morning, will we make it in time?"

(End of this chapter)