When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 528: Marching towards the dawn in the new year
Although the end of the year is approaching, a shadow of war is looming over the land of Langsand County.

Starting from mid-December, more and more messenger cavalry began to appear on the originally peaceful streets.

The gendarmes even announced that there would be a two-month curfew in Joan of Arc starting from the 27th.

Every day when the residents of Joan of Arc woke up and opened the stained glass windows or oilcloth windows, they could see black-clad soldiers marching in neat rows.

These soldiers wear identical black jackets, short capes that only reach the elbows, and leather short boots.

Sometimes, they could also see Kush knights coming from the south, groups of Holy Gun Cavalry, and even some students from Frick Middle School coming from the Holy See.

The original Salvation Army legions were mostly made up of child soldiers serving as service soldiers. They would grow up on the battlefield, learning while fighting, and in the future they would become an independent force outside the Horn government.

However, the Salvation Army currently has 16 legions, and the child army is a bit insufficient, so Horn thought of the students of Frick Middle School.

So the social practice activity at the end of the semester at Frick Middle School became fighting on the battlefield.

Of course Horn would not let them really go to the front line. They were only responsible for cleaning the battlefield after the war, transporting the wounded, counting the damage and spoils, and other miscellaneous tasks.

Since the 25th, every morning at the dock, one could see black-clad war monks lining up to climb onto the troop transport ship. Some were crying, while others looked indifferent.

Amid the sound of horns awakening the city, the troop barges loaded with black-robed monks slowly moved forward, and on both sides of the river there were either cries or cheers.

The cries came from the families of the soldiers, while the cheers came from the citizens who bought jihad bonds.

They wore black, blue and brown knee-length coarse cloth tights and stood on the stone road beside the river, waving jihad bonds at passing soldiers.

With the mobilization of troops, the first batch of troops had been fully mobilized on December 12.

The 1125 soldiers from the two legions led by Jeanne and cavalrymen have all arrived in Rapid City on time.

The three Black Hat Legions from Lower River County were successfully transferred to Xiaochi City on the same day.

It has to be said that having a river is convenient. An army of nearly 2,000 people can be transported from Jeanne d'Arc to Grand Rapids and back in five days.

By the time the barges carrying the Black Caps to the South Nauan River return, the remaining four regiments will have less time to reach Rapid City and the South Nauan River defense line.

On the day of the New Year's Day, the second batch of Salvation Army reinforcements, consisting of two vanguard corps of 1200 people, were about to set off.

Since the night before was the New Year's Eve, the number of the war monks' families who came to see them off the next day was several times more than usual.

Unlike the Black Hat Corps, who were all refugees, few people from their families came to see them off, and many of them only had one page of household registration.

Most of the war monks in these guards are locals, and they need tall and strong young men with clean backgrounds.

Even without parents, they would still be popular and naturally more people would come to see them off.

Steam was rising above the dock, and colorful triangular flags were hung on the eaves and trees.

People selling bread and hot soup, coming to see people off, watching the fun, and running hurriedly to return to their teams turned the entire dock into a dark mess.

Everywhere there were shouts of "You stepped on my foot" and "You pressed my hair", mixed with the distant whistles and trumpets, which were piercing to the ears.

Under the suppression of the gendarmes and the night watchmen, they finally made way for the war monks, who were lined up in neat rows, to board the ship.

Standing in the crowded crowd, Sechinger looked with emotion at the young people in front of him who were crying but still marching in orderly steps to get on the boat.

Even though he had seen this scene several times, he still felt a little shocked.

Exactly the same clothes, exactly the same movements, even the stride is almost the same.

Although they had tears in their eyes, they still tried their best to straighten their chests and hold up their Salvation Army uniforms.

When the soldiers stood in a neat row on the deck, the crowds of black shadows gave off an inexplicable majesty.

"Mr. Sechinger, when will you board the ship?" Legion commander Laurent came over and saluted Sechinger.

Sechinger looked at the legion commander who was younger than his daughter with complicated eyes: "I feel a little seasick. Please let me know when the ship is about to leave." "Okay." Laurent nodded in a businesslike manner, turned around and began to count the black-clad soldiers present.

Taking a wine bag from his pocket, Sechinger poured a mouthful of acorn wine into his mouth.

This is a liquor unique to Northshire, but it is almost inedible without being distilled.

The alcohol content is definitely on the high side in the Empire, and it is a strong liquor that only dwarves living in high and cold areas would like.

As the nutty wine went down his throat, Sechinger's body gradually warmed up.

According to the original plan, he should have set off for Lujiao Township to meet up with the Gray Horse Knight Wayne.

Unfortunately, the church army in Mound County showed signs of mobilization, so the Salvation Army blocked the passage to Daze Township.

So Sechinger had no choice but to go to Rapid City first, and then find a way to connect if Wayne's offensive went well.

Sechinger had no choice but to follow Horn. He couldn't help much if he went back to North County anyway, so he might as well go to the battlefield and see what these so-called Saviors were like.

After the horn sounded three times, Sechinger put the cork in the wineskin and stepped onto the barge on the wooden plank without waiting for Laurent to ask.

With flags waving and heavy trumpet sounds, twenty-eight barges untied their anchors and ropes one by one and moved slowly forward along the current.

The war monks standing on both sides of the ship finally saw the familiar scenes moving on both sides, and low sobs could be heard from time to time.

But there is no way around it, as these monks in the Royal Guards are mostly new recruits.

It was their first time on the battlefield, so fear was inevitable, but there had to be a first time.

"Eighty acres of good farmland, and a gentle and kind in-law..."

Sechinger looked up blankly. On the boat in front, someone suddenly started singing the Salvation Army's most familiar song.

"Dream of Heaven".

At this moment, Horn, who was standing at the bow of the first ship, raised his head with a look of nostalgia in his eyes. He hadn't sung this little song for a long time.

Without accompaniment or harmony, the hoarse and young voice sang the first paragraph alone.

When he was singing the second verse, people began to join in. At first it was just one or two people, but later all the war monks on the ship joined in singing.

"Grow your own food. The more you work, the more you will gain..."

When they sang it for the third time, not only the war monks, but also the civilians on the shore joined in singing.

The original hawking sounds and noisy crying and shouting have all disappeared, and amid the repeated sound of trumpets, only this song remains.

Between the river and the houses, the whole city is singing this little song that means a lot to the Salvation Army.

People stood in a row along the river, and even on the roofs. They stood quietly and sang this simple and cheerful song over and over again.

They gradually stopped singing until the soldiers could no longer see the flag of Joan of Arc Castle.

The winter morning light floats on the river. At first glance, it looks like tens of thousands of golden threads floating on the water.

However, the golden thread was instantly cut by the black hull and scattered into clusters of cold and scattered water splashes.

Nearly thirty troop barges were lined up in a straight line, and the soldiers on the ships were also lined up in a straight line along the side of the ships.

The cold wind blew the black and red sword and gun crossed flags. The hull floated in the icy water, silently moving towards the direction where the sun was setting.

Singing "Dream of Heaven", Horn and the Guards Regiment sailed towards Rapid City on January 1446, 1.

(End of this chapter)