When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 566 Two Meetings
After the failure of the first wave of command companies, the three subsequent attacking command companies were much more restrained.

Although they left behind a total of twenty-nine knights' bodies, it was still within an acceptable range.

Most of the knights were only slightly injured. After being saved by divine magic, they drank potions and used breathing techniques so that they could go into battle again the next day.

This is also one of the foundations of the Extraordinary Knights' strength.

As long as the injuries are not fatal, they can be rescued and even return to the battlefield after a few days.

Almost every half hour, Prince Condé would send out a company of imperial decrees to attack, while forbidding them to drink potions.

When the Death Corps arrived, the infantry also charged.

However, Horn saw that Prince Kongdai was using them to train his troops, so he resisted the urge to use the clock bullet and the last ten red dragon breaths.

Since they realized that neither side had any intention of a decisive battle, Horn and Prince Condé both hid some things.

Around the convoy, the two sides engaged in a low-intensity battle that lasted from noon to dusk.

It was not until the follow-up troops of the Salvation Army arrived that Prince Kongdai slowly retreated under the supervision of the Kush cavalry.

However, they did not go far, but set up camp on a farm about five or six miles away from the battle site.

Prince Kongdai put a piece of roasted monster meat into his mouth: "All the bridges and ferries are burned?"

"It's all burned. We can't even find the boat."

"Hmph, I knew it." The prince turned the grilled steak over and sprinkled some pepper on it. "Send this piece of meat to Lord Lacunio and tell him that it is extremely delicious... Have Alphos and the others arrived yet?"

"Here we are. We are already waiting outside the door."

"Let them all come in."

Sitting upright on a soft chair, Prince Kongdai glanced across the faces of the company commanders who were entering the room one after another.

After changing to a comfortable sitting position, the prince looked at Elad who came in last and asked, "Does the Savior Army know that Meliati is coming to rescue?"

"I have interrogated the two orderlies and the Saint Sun Volunteer Army. At least they didn't know about it before today."

Although Elad escaped twice, he was an old man around the prince after all, so he was not punished easily. He was just stripped of his position as captain of the imperial company.

The prince leaned his head back on the chair. "You mean, my knights are collaborating with the enemy?"

“It’s hard to say.” Elad scratched his head. “I believe in the credibility of the Knights of the Imperial Order, but they have captured a lot of hired knights. They are not small-mouthed.”

"As long as the Imperial Order Knights don't talk nonsense, the news to the people below will be blocked, Galian, am I right?"

"It's absolutely blocked." Galian was hit and quickly stood up to respond.

Although Prince Kongdai's face was still slightly red, his mental state was slightly better than the previous few days: "Let's see what their situation is tomorrow. If they are chasing us, it means we don't know. If they are following us and harassing us, then we know."

"Your Highness, that's a good idea." Several company captains immediately flattered.

Standing up from his chair, Prince Conde, who looked a little more majestic than before, walked up to several company captains:
"My main goal in today's battle is to let you know what kind of enemy you are facing. You have seen the Devil Wind, and you have suffered from the Lightning Witch. Although the sonic ball did not appear, you should be familiar with their methods, so you will not panic later."

With his hands behind his back, Prince Kongdai walked behind several company captains and shook his head with emotion: "Fei Liu Fort is a battleground for military strategists in the Thousand River Valley. It has been the site of more than fifty large-scale battles throughout the ages, and they often ended with the victory of the nobles and the church.

The biggest uprising was the one by the brothers Shude Shao and Afa, who were supported by the former Duke of Kush decades ago.

I was fortunate enough to lead dozens of Temple Knights to suppress the rebels and won a great victory. Wherever I went, the believers welcomed me wholeheartedly. I never thought that after just a few decades, it would have reached such a dangerous situation. "

"These short-haired farmers are nothing but clowns..." Sternberg, the leader of the Death Corps, immediately began to flatter them.

Prince Conde smiled disdainfully: "If you think so, you are a clown. The Savior Army is definitely an enemy worth fighting."

Seeing that Sternberg was afraid to speak, Prince Conte turned around and walked towards his seat: "I think if they didn't know that Meliati would come to support them, they would definitely remove the fort and confront us head-on tomorrow."

"What if they have been hiding behind the fort?" Alphos asked softly.

"Impossible! If we use a floating bridge to cross the river, their food will be lost." Prince Kongdai drew a red circle around an area with confidence. "If a war breaks out tomorrow, we must fight. We cannot let them join forces with Meliati! Do you understand?"

"Understood, Your Majesty."

Several company captains received the order and prepared to leave.

"I have one last word." Standing by the door, Prince Condé's voice was as tempting as a devil. "If I become the lord of the Thousand River Valley, would I be stingy with the positions of a duke or a few earls? Everyone, work harder!"

…………

About 2 miles from the battle site, on a flat ground, was Horn's camp.

After dinner, Horn gathered everyone together to prepare for the pre-war meeting.

Unlike most strategic military meetings which were small, Horn always held large tactical military meetings.

Surrounding the bonfire in the middle, Horn, Captain Das of the Guards, Captain Jeska of the Black Crowns, and Captain Jeanne of the Holy Grail Cavalry sat cross-legged on the animal skin carpet.

Sitting on a circle of benches outside were 12 legion commanders and captains of each cavalry unit.

In the circle outside were 12 child soldiers led by 24 legion clerks and Frick Middle School student scribes, but they had no seats and had to stand.

Outside there were also captains of each fifty-man team, but Horn did not force them to come.

The purpose of bringing such a large group of people here is to let the grassroots officers know what they should do and why they should do it when they go to the battlefield.

In this way, even if something unexpected happens, the grassroots officers will know whether to make adjustments and how to make up for it. This is very important.

"The most effective point of the car-fort tactics is that the enemy must attack mainly." Jieshka stroked the sword marks on a piece of car plate fragments. "If the enemy bypasses us, it will be difficult to be effective."

The biggest problem with the chariot-fort tactics, like the Queyue formation, is that both are defensive battle formations. If the enemy does not attack, bypassing or wasting time will be a big problem for the defenders.

Throughout history, Hussite Fort was victorious in every battle, not only because of the superb command of the one-eyed god of war and the benefits of the development of firearms.

The two most important advantages were that "the knights were unwilling to yield in front of lowly commoners" and "they had the support of the locals and no logistical problems."

Later, with the change of knights' concepts and the development of artillery, this tactic, like the Queyue Formation, slowly disappeared into history.

The problem Horn and his men encountered was that the proud Prince Conde and the Knights of the Imperial Order, after suffering a series of blows, lowered their proud heads to these civilians.

For the first time, the two sides became evenly matched opponents.

"After all, we still have to fight." Horn used a branch to stir up the campfire. "We can't hide behind the car fort forever. This car fort was originally set up to protect our people from getting ashore."

Hotam County is a good place. What makes it good is that it is full of plains and the land is fertile.

Hotham County is also a bad place, and its bad thing is that it is too suitable for cavalry to ride.

During the few days in Feiliu Castle, Horn took a map and traveled around the surrounding area with Andre and others.

The battlefield he finally chose was next to a tributary of the Nauan River called the Ham River.

There is a vast river beach area here, and there are undulating hills in the transition area between the plain and the river beach. Together with the river, they can effectively restrict the enemy's cavalry.

To this end, he moved all the ships and burned all the nearby ferries and bridges, leaving only the one that the two legions had crossed during the day.

After the two legions crossed the bridge, they also burned it completely.

These alone are not enough to completely block Prince Kongdai in this area, but if combined with Horn's Salvation Army, it is entirely possible.

Hakuto held up the map and said, "We have used the chariot fort to lure Prince Kongdai to the riverbank. If we take the initiative to attack, Prince Kongdai will definitely fight back."

"What if we don't fight?" A voice came from behind the outer circle, and a student from Frick Middle School raised his hand and asked, holding a feather pen between his fingers.

"Then let's follow them and attack their infantry." Horn used a branch to draw a river chart on the ground. "We can't afford to delay them for three to five days with their food and grass."

Horn had sent cavalry to harass Prince Condai's grain transport team in the early stage, destroying infrastructure and even condoning looting, all for this moment.

"He's really a scoundrel and such a shameless person..." Someone complained in a low voice.

Several legion commanders and captains immediately stood up and scanned the crowd with angry eyes. Those who were seen could not help but shrink their necks.

Horn laughed: "War is hooliganism. There is no such thing as mean or noble. It is itself the product of unresolved political contradictions."

Jieshka smiled and said, "We'll have the war lesson later. Let's first think about where we'll fight tomorrow, how we'll fight, and how we'll assign tasks."

Horn could not predict the future, so the specific battle plan had to be formulated before the war.

This is already a very advanced system. In this era, people generally decide how to fight only after they encounter an enemy.

Soon the legion commanders and chapter leaders all started talking at once, and according to the rules of procedure, they reached conclusions very efficiently.

After comprehensively considering and rejecting several routes, an operational plan was soon formed in the hands of the two staff officers.

"Okay, the plan is set. Let's eat and drink our fill and go to sleep. Get enough rest. Tomorrow will be our decisive battle."

Horn stood up, patted his butt and wanted to leave, but no one responded and everyone looked at him.

A child soldier said softly, "Don't you have anything to say?"

Horn was stunned at first, then he suddenly realized that according to convention, he should give a pre-war mobilization speech.

Although he did not have a script, Horn had given so many speeches this year that he had already absorbed the knowledge from the speech class at the Maternal and Child Activity Center.

With a light cough, he strode to the campfire and began to brew.

After finishing his mental speech, he raised his head and looked around at the crowd in front of him.

The pure white moonlight sprinkled on everyone's shoulders, reflecting the dancing flames, illuminating faces that were some young and some old.

Some were familiar to Horn, while others he saw for the first time, but their eyes were all so clear.

He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

For the first time in a long time, Horn was stuck, the flames burning his back, and he didn't know what to say.

After more than a minute of silence, Horn suddenly smiled bitterly:
"I know you all want me to give a stirring pre-war speech, but I can't, because this is going to be a pretty tough battle after all."

"I don't want to make any declaration of victory, because I am not sure of victory."

"War means death. Although I hope to see a few more familiar faces after the war, I know that is impossible."

"Someone is going to die tomorrow. Maybe it's you, maybe it's him, or even me."

"Should we retreat? No, we choose to move forward, because this is a war from which we cannot retreat. This is a war that determines our fate."

"This war not only determines the fate of countless people in the valley now, but also the fate of countless people in the valley in the past and in the future."

"So no matter whether we succeed or fail, our death is by no means meaningless. Maybe history won't remember us, but people will remember history."

"I am here only to hope that you, and all of us, can look back on our lives before we die and say—"

"I have done what I should do."

(End of this chapter)