When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 1231 The Sullen Person
【Yanke Village】

3:30 PM

Golden sunlight pierced through the gray clouds, casting beams of light onto the fuzzy green grass.

However, the grassy area was in complete disarray.

The grass was uneven and pitted, the trees were broken, the houses were collapsed, and the land was stained brownish-red with blood.

But the earlier cacophony of cannon fire, the dense barrage of gunfire, and the repeated shouts of "Praise the Holy Wind" were all gone.

The sparrow was overjoyed and hopped around pecking at the rotten meat.

Meanwhile, the orderly soldiers acted like post-war scavengers, cleaning up the battlefield and looting spoils.

According to the rules of the Holy Alliance, spoils of war are distributed according to merit, and hoarding spoils is a serious crime.

Its severity is on par with the wanton killing of civilians, and in severe cases, it can even lead to beheading.

The first encounter between the Holy Alliance and the vampires ended in just two hours.

Strangely, the warband leader Michel did not pursue them for long before choosing to turn back.

Clearly, the fighting power of this vampire army was somewhat beyond his expectations.

It wasn't the kind of unexpectedly low level that the Empire reached, but rather an unexpectedly high level.

Whether it was the speed of changing formations, the willpower on the battlefield, or the accuracy of firearms, they were all beyond his imagination.

Even his pursuit was just for show; the recruits were relying on sheer willpower, and their actual situation was far from optimistic.

This was just a chance encounter with an ordinary vampire army. What if we actually encountered an elite army?
The officers of the new battle group initially believed that their own battle group was fully capable of eradicating the vampires, but now they had doubts.

However, Hansk was unaware of all this; he only knew that the Holy Alliance had defeated those vampires.

This is truly inspiring.

He hummed a little tune as he pushed a cart containing a high-ranking vampire, which he was about to send to be burned.

Many vampires have the ability to fake their death; if they are hastily buried, they might just dig up the soil and run out in the middle of the night.

The vampire in the cart had only a severed arm attached to its right shoulder, from which flowed foul-smelling, dark red blood, emitting a pungent odor.

This is a high-ranking vampire, yet it is being pushed around in a rather rudimentary wooden cart, like a piece of trash.

"Are you happy?"

"We won a great victory."

Hanske thought the team had performed very well, but Pierre thought otherwise: "You're wrong if you think that way; this battle can only be considered a minor victory."

"why?"

The main reason why this vampire army was able to effectively counterattack and retreat today is that the Holy Alliance Legion's coordination was poor.

The original plan was for three or four corps to launch a salvo attack together, breaking through one side of the enemy and ensuring that the enemy would not have time to provide support.

There's only one reserve force; you can't support several collapsing battleships at the same time.

However, in actual combat, the 8th Army Corps of the 4th Army Corps advanced recklessly during the march, failed to coordinate well with friendly forces, and got too close to the enemy.

The other corps either failed to keep up with the pace of the Fourth and Eighth Corps, or they couldn't resist stopping their exchange of fire.

This led to the Fourth Army Corps defeating the vampire formation they were facing, and they immediately encountered the vampire reserves.

The vampire commander on the other side was quite capable; he had prepared a reserve force in advance and used the time difference to catch the Fourth Army off guard.

If it weren't for the cuirassiers coming to the rescue, the Fourth Army would have been almost defeated.

The movement of the cuirassiers and the 4th Legion completely disrupted the overall strategic deployment, ultimately leading to chaos in all other legions.

"Now you understand?" Pierre exhaled a smoke ring.

"I still don't understand. Didn't you say they practiced this marching formation hundreds or thousands of times?"

"You've never witnessed a battle procession. You don't know that even the most elite Imperial Guards can't guarantee perfectly straight rows..."

The terrain on the battlefield is ever-changing, especially since a corps can often be deployed in a horizontal formation that is 80 to 100 meters wide.

Their route included bushes, grass, streams, embankments, and even fences and fallen trees. Each corps advanced at a different speed and encountered different obstacles, so corps commanders and battle group commanders had to maintain the horizontal formation as neat as possible.

Clearly, the corps commanders of the new battle group were not very experienced.

They may have performed well in training, but they still showed their weakness in actual combat.

Some moved too fast and strayed out of the support range of other corps.

Some moved too slowly and were unable to provide support to other corps covering one side.

There were even deserters among the new recruits, and their numbers were not small.

If the vampire army hadn't been intimidated by the volley fire tactics of the Fourth and Eighth Legions and hadn't retreated, the outcome of this battle would have been uncertain.

While volley fire tactics are indeed extremely powerful, they are not a panacea on the battlefield and cannot guarantee victory with a single application.

Hearing Pierre's account, Hanske was also stunned: "Didn't they say that the Holy Alliance infantry were fearless and had high morale? How could there be deserters?"

“Of course there are! There were deserters in Grey Valley back then!” Pierre rolled his eyes at him. “Morale isn’t a shield; not all soldiers have that high level of awareness.”

"The Holy Alliance seems to be very strict with deserters. Will they be exiled to the Trinity Training Corps?"

“Of course, but don’t think that the Holy Grandson is heartless. His Majesty the Holy Grandson is very humane.” With his hands on his hips, Pierre pointed to the campfire in the camp. “The deserters of the Holy Alliance are soldiers who have fled the army.”

If you flee the battlefield out of fear, officers will gather the fleeing soldiers behind you, and there may even be priests to comfort you.

After reorganizing, they still had to fight, and despite fleeing multiple times, they were only forced to retreat.

The key criterion for the Exorcism Court to judge deserters is that they cannot leave the army without permission.

Hanske suddenly realized what was happening, but the thought of the corpses he had just seen on the battlefield sent chills down his spine.

That was a terrifying battlefield where death could be a matter of time; with every step you took, someone would fall beside you.

Even watching from a distance, he was so frightened his legs went weak, let alone being there in person.

Two gunshots shattered the soldiers' spirits; sir, I am but a commoner.

What kind of feelings and will did these Holy Alliance soldiers have to step onto such a cruel battlefield?

In any case, Hanske didn't have the mood or the courage to do so.

"I'd better just go find my sister myself." Hansk remained silent for a long time before finally speaking sullenly, "The battlefield is not for me."

“That was your own choice,” Pierre shrugged. “Besides, you’re only 14, you have plenty of time.”

"..." Hanske seemed to be in a bad mood, and just gave a low "hmm".

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit dull, Pierre started the conversation again: "Isn't it strange that I know so much?"

"……fine."

"Firstly, I've seen a lot in my own life, and secondly, my son graduated from a military academy, and I occasionally read his books."

I should actually be retired by now, but I can't stand being idle at home. My second son suggested transferring me to manage logistics.

But I still prefer following the army and doing small tasks; I don't like sitting in an office.

Besides, what kind of thing is it for a father to get promoted because of his son?

My second son, well, he's probably the most... well, never mind. Just know that he's the commander of a certain battle group.

“They’re from our battle group,” Hansk replied sullenly.

Pierre Neueux's steps suddenly halted, his eyes widening slowly. After a long pause, he finally said, "You, how did you know?"

“Daxson said so.”

“Daxon…how did he know?!”

"He said the whole chapter knows, except you." After a pause, Hansk continued, "Someone told me the very first day I met you."

"..."

Another person has become sullen.

(End of this chapter)