When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 532: Can the Salvation Army fly?
On January 1446, 1 of the Imperial Calendar, heavy snow finally fell in the cold Thousand River Valley.

Amid the drifting snow, more than a dozen sailboats and barges carrying troops, food and people could be seen at intervals on the Nanauan River and the Ibe River.

Some sections of the river with busy traffic are even crowded with boats.

Everyone stood on the side of the ship, pulling the ropes, and insulting each other from a few meters away. The hulls collided with each other, making dull bangs.

These narrow waterways with busy shipping traffic are basically the three ferry crossings that were not burned.

The shipowners shouted slogans, and the sailors ran up and down the deck, following the captains of the Skitarii, who walked off the ship trembling.

As they stepped on the icy ground, the crusaders in their wooden-soled shoes shuddered at the same time.

Starting from January 1, after five days of transportation and preparation, the first batch of engineers from the Crusaders' Army to build the camp finally arrived at the front line of the Nanuan River with their tools.

Unfortunately, before they had time to eat or drink hot soup, they were hastily loaded into a carriage by the local Juano monks.

The covered carriages could not stop the flying snowflakes. Thousands of engineers from the Crusader Army moved towards their predetermined targets from various ferry crossings, like a spider web, along the tributaries and roads.

It is obvious that thousands of engineers cannot build dozens of supply points and camps within half a month, and those Juano monks will also call on local rich peasants and small landowners.

The main purpose of arranging these engineers is to improve efficiency and assist in guarding the supply points. As for the purchase of supplies for the supply points, all expenses are paid by the wealthy businessmen in Rapids City and the monastery in Kasha County.

The advantage of doing this is very simple. There is no need to carry rations or set up camp during the march. You can eat, drink and sleep when you arrive at the place, and get up and march again after you finish sleeping.

At least two to three hours can be squeezed out every day for marching, and without baggage, the speed will be faster and they can cover an additional 6-9 kilometers.

This is even more true for cavalrymen who deliver messages. They can even change horses without changing people and deliver the message all the way from the front to the back.

These supply points do not need to be too strong. The truly solid temporary fortresses will be built with mortar concrete at three ferry crossings and dangerous places on the river.

Just like the three-story corner fort at the Moncruz estate back then.

These supply points and camps were surrounded by wooden walls, with drainage ditches, stables, wooden barracks, and most importantly, warehouses inside.

A supply point was guarded by as few as 10 and as many as 40 guards, not to guard against enemy cavalry but against rural bandits.

As for if the enemy attacks these supply points, they will directly set fire to the warehouse and then hide in the forest or village.

By then, whether they collected food locally or brought their own baggage train, it would slow down their marching speed.

A regular army would only need one or two hours to build such a simple camp.

The number of people was a little small for the local farmers and the Crusaders, but it would be enough to spend two days on construction and three days on signing a food purchase agreement with the nearby villages.

从1月7日到1月17日这10天里，沿着预定好的行军路线和防线已有二十个补给营地和据点建立，还有二十几个营地在建。

As for the church army besieging the Blago Monastery in Cassia County, there was almost no response.

The leader of the church knights who were patrolling the periphery of the basin sent a dozen light cavalry to take a look and then went back to drink.

It was not until the third day after the fall of Shelley City on the 18th that Lacunio received the news.

"Fuck you, you dung collector!" The moment he saw the words on the battle report, Lacunio couldn't help but curse in the Norn dialect across the border.

"What's wrong?" Putsilio, who was riding on a horse in hollow floral iron armor, was startled by Lacunio's loud shout.

Lacunio said nothing and handed the battle report to Putsilio beside him.

Because he was riding on a horse and it had just snowed, Putsilio could only read with difficulty while swaying his body and following the light reflected by the snow.

On the cold streets of Shelley City, the air was still filled with the smell of blood and burning.

The shops and houses on both sides of the street were all closed, and the once bustling streets were silent and silent, like a deserted city.

Only when the land servants banged on the door so hard that the snow on the eaves fell off, could you see the pairs of frightened eyes in the dark house.

The siege plan on the 18th went quite smoothly. Dozens of demon hunters attacked the top of the city as a lightly armed death squad, and then the double-paid great swordsmen climbed up the city to start fighting. Because the weather was too cold and Lacunio and others came too suddenly, they were busy arguing and did not prepare enough winter clothes.

After the snow fell, even though the monks used magic to maintain morale, many people still caught cold and died.

The temperature dropped sharply last night, and heavy snow fell all over the place. Most of the soldiers hid in the gate tower and arrow tower to keep warm, and only a few could continue patrolling on the city wall.

Lacunio even went into battle personally, holding a two-handed heavy sword and killing his way into the capstan room. He single-handedly cleared out more than 20 guards and successfully opened the city gate.

The armed monks of the Blago Monastery tried to fight street battles with the Blago Monastery on the mountain as the core, but unfortunately they only lasted for one day before they were defeated by the ferocious land servants.

Lacunio even captured alive Jean Blo and other high-ranking Juano monks, because when Lacunio came, they were still voting in the city to elect a new abbot.

After two days of purge, the remaining forces in the city either fled or were eliminated. Only then were Putsilio and Lacunio able to enter the city to see the majestic Blago Monastery.

"This is really unexpected." After reading the letter, Putsilio also found it hard to believe, "It took me more than two months to mobilize the army and food."

If we go by the timeline in the letter, the Savior Army only learned that they had breached Chrysler Castle around December 12, and only then did they decide to send troops to rescue.

By the 25th, three squadrons (500 people in the Imperial Army system) with nearly people ran to the Nannaoan River to burn the ferry.

Five days later, on New Year's Day, more cavalry came to support.

On January 1, two more squadrons arrived at Xiaochi City, and on January 5, three squadrons and thousands of civilian laborers arrived.

By January 1, they had built a large number of forts in just 17 days, and Kush Rangers and Beast Hussars arrived to provide support.

The Savior Army even advanced to the point where the Rangers on the outskirts of the basin were within their sight.

Putsilio mobilized his own army to support Hotam County, bringing only food from the Garden of Thorns to the Thousand River Valley, and it took more than two months.

It took more than a month just to wait for the knights to arrive at the assembly point from all over the place.

He had just arrived in Hotam County in late November, and without much rest he headed straight for Kasha County, in order to surprise the Savior Army and catch them off guard.

而救世军从12月22日决定出兵到1月7日总共15天时间，跨越200多公里，就把军队调集完毕了。

As a result, at least 5000 Salvation Army soldiers have gathered in the Nanauan River Plain in the eastern part of Kasha County, and they even have the time to build camps and fortresses.

What kind of surprise attack is this? Can these farmers fly?

We originally wanted to attack the mainland of Langsander County in one fell swoop, but we should not have stopped fighting and rested during the New Year's Day.

Just as Putsilio was feeling frustrated, the two finally arrived at the Blago Monastery.

"Sir Lacunio, should we continue the attack?" Seeing that the plan had failed, Putsilio asked as he dismounted.

"You can try, but don't hold your hopes too high." Lacunio patted the warhorse's neck and brushed away the floating snow on its mane.

Since the plan to advance to Langsander County by attacking Kasha County has failed, the tactical target must be changed to Meliati in the north.

Anyway, as long as one of them is defeated, the other one won't be able to hold on for long.

As for the main attack mission in Kasha County, it would be better to change it to contain the Savior Army.

Lacunio investigated carefully and found that these farmers did not have much ability to attack the city and had always won by field battles.

Even if we cannot win the field battle, as long as we are willing to lose face and fight a siege war with these farmers, it won't be a problem to delay the battle for another month or two.

By then, it would be too late for them to rescue Meliati.

The two men stood side by side in front of the gate of the Blago Monastery, while several high-ranking Juano monks were tied with ropes and gagged, glaring at the two intruders who had strolled into the most sacred altar of the Blago Monastery.

"This place is not bad. Let's use it as a restaurant for the knights from now on."

(End of this chapter)