When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 805: Stopping the Plague

December 1449, 1 in the Imperial calendar.

Lower River County, Rapid City.

The heavy snow that had been falling intermittently for a week finally stopped, and the warm sun appeared again in the cold sky.

Residents dug out their moldy quilts and hung them out to dry in the courtyards or on rooftops.

The remodeled briquettes in Rapid City sent plumes of gray smoke into the sky.

In the bungalow area outside the city, there are concentric circles the size of washbasins on the snow, which are the traces of burning honeycomb coal stoves.

After three years of promotion, honeycomb briquettes made from peat have gradually replaced firewood and started to enter thousands of households.

Especially in urban areas, where firewood is not easily accessible, people have no choice but to buy peat, which is relatively durable and cheap.

For the Uffizi Palace, where the rulers of Lower Rivoli lived, fireplaces were still in use.

First, the building is old and the renovation cost is very expensive.

The second is the high price of firewood, which is nothing to Catherine, the Sheriff of Lower River, the Governor of Rapid City and the Speaker of the Council of State, who can stack gold coins into a bed.

The firewood in the fireplace was burning, and the people in the house were wearing short shirts and listening attentively to the report from the front line sent by Jeshka.

"On January 1, 17 of our troops escorted the last batch of supplies and personnel to evacuate Xialu City... According to current statistics, there are only about 5000 soldiers and knights who can still wield weapons."

"At noon the next day, the Leia army outside the city launched another attack. The militia outside the city wall scattered. After controlling the city gate, the army outside the city has not yet moved in."

"At about 1:19 on January 2, the enemy had about 2000 knights chasing us in Arrowhead Bay, including two command companies. Our unit was responsible for covering their retreat...

After the fleet and the main force left, I ordered the use of clockwork cannons to cover the retreat, but the Leia army also used clockwork cannons to fire back...

Fortunately, there was a heavy snowfall, which blocked the advance of Leia’s army and allowed us to enter the area controlled by our fortress.

After the war, the casualties were counted and about 200 to 300 of our troops were seriously injured, and 95 people died so far.

Combined with the casualties from the previous battles, the total casualties of our Norn New Army has reached over 800 people, and they are overworked and may not be able to fight again in the short term..."

Several senior partners and senior monks present frowned.

In Horn's casualty statistics system, injury means serious injury and death means death. Either means being unable to go to the battlefield for a short period of time, which means reduction in personnel.

The Norn new army led by Jeshka has 5000 people. Excluding the lightly wounded and service soldiers, the estimated loss rate is close to %.

The only thing that has sustained them until now is their determination to protect their spoils and their endless desire for money.

If it was Andre who said these words, Horn would still be a little suspicious. If Jeska said that he could not fight again in a short time, then it means that he really could not fight again.

I'm afraid that the last blocking battle was more dangerous and bloody than what was reported.

"Tsk." Horn made a sound subconsciously.

He had originally wanted to send Jeshka to support Adamburg, but this plan probably failed.

But if this happens, the crumbling Adam Castle may have to be abandoned.

Now the defenders of Black Champion and Adam Castle have to withdraw their troops back to Haji Castle.

There is no way around it, the dry season in winter means that it is difficult for the winding machine to operate normally.

The water flow in Adan Fort, located upstream, is far less abundant and rapid than that in Haji Fort, so we can only temporarily retreat to Haji Fort.

It had snowed heavily earlier. Based on Horn's understanding of the Leia people and the existing intelligence,

Their next attack on Haji Fort would be at least a week or even two later.

As if sensing that Sheng Sun was in a bad mood, the reporting officer said cautiously: "If you need it, the new army can..."

"No need." Horn interrupted him directly, "Don't just overturn the conclusions drawn by the frontline commanders... Where did the defenders retreat to?"

The officer in charge of reporting flipped through the intelligence booklet in his hand quickly: "Currently, there are about 1300 infected soldiers placed on Theodore Island, and tens of thousands of soldiers are placed in Kenk Town and its surrounding areas."

"What about the civilians?"

"It's hard to count, probably around 10,000 or 20,000, all craftsmen and businessmen."

"Don't let these defenders return to Rapid City yet." Horn's words made the room several decibels quieter than before. "Set up a baptism camp around Kenk Town, and ask the monks from Kasha County to go north to gradually clean up the plague and prevent its spread."

It must be said that the church's magic is quite effective in expelling the plague, and the holy light has a good sterilization effect.

Horn thought about it and it made sense. According to many Messianic scriptures, the divine arts were originally created to fight against the great plague at the end of the empire.

According to Shilov's research, the suppression of spells by chanting magic is mainly to suppress the magic fungus.

“These baptism camps are still the same old routine, shaving heads, removing insects, changing clothes, and observing for seven days before passing through the detention dock.

Soldiers and residents alike, go through the baptism camp first, don't bring the latent disease back to the hinterland." Horn said this, and the people around him took up their little notebooks and began to record.

If any deviations occur in the future, these work notes will also be important evidence in addition to the records of the privy monks.

It is equivalent to a distributed recording system.

A senior monk from the Brago Monastery raised his hand and said, "Your Majesty, are we being too nervous about dealing with these diseases?"

"When facing the plague, it's never too nervous." This was Horn's true thought. He said to the people present in a serious tone, "Don't be defeated by the plague instead of the Knight Leia."

…………

After the meeting, the senior monks and partners picked up their papers and pens and left with the clerk.

The meeting room, which was originally quite lively, was now filled with only Catherine and Horn.

After packing up the papers and documents, Catherine deliberately slowed down her pace as she passed Horn's seat: "Have all the representatives arrived?"

"It will be here in three to five days at the latest."

"Are you sure everyone will agree?"

"As long as the majority of people agree, that's enough. Do you think I have spent all my time in the past three years focusing on economic development?"

With a chuckle, Horn also vividly imitated the action of reaching forward with both hands to grab: "I grab with both hands and both hands are hard."

Catherine spat, called him shameless, then turned and walked out of the meeting room.

Horn was the last one to stand up. He looked at the thick battle report on the table and fell into deep thought.

This brief battle, which lasted only a month, defeated more than 12,000 enemy troops.

They withdrew from the city of Xialu, retaining enough manpower to replenish the fortresses along the way.

Although the capital and most of the cities in Hotam County were lost, the area was a plain and almost undefended area.

Basically, it can be said that the people survived but the land was lost, but both the people and the land were saved.

The battle in Xia Lucheng lasted for more than a hundred days. Although it seemed long, it was just a preliminary battle.

Judging from the result, this battle can only be considered a draw.

This is the result of the hard work of Horn and others.

If they continued to defend, or if Jeanne did not send troops to support Adam Castle, or if the battle of Jeshka failed, there would probably not even be a draw in the end.

Next, they will engage in a bloody war of attrition around the twelve large fortresses and countless small outposts on the Nauan River.

A bastion combined with the surrounding outposts only requires one-tenth of the besieging army's strength to hold back their entire army.

The garrison troops withdrawn from Xialu City were distributed among these fortresses. On average, almost each fortress could accommodate nearly a thousand people.

Theoretically, it can tie down an army of 10 people.

Quick-drying mortar and new construction methods have quietly changed the form of warfare.

As the balance of power between the enemy and us continues to narrow, when we get close, it is time to counterattack.

Looking out the window at the sand-red tiles covered with snow, the mist exhaled by Horn condensed into fine droplets on the glass:

"When will spring arrive?"

(End of this chapter)