When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 868: The Grand Leader's Decision
Hundreds of kilometers away in Xionggnaw Castle, contrary to Besser's expectations, the border knights who captured the castle did not smile much.

In a camp on the plain outside Xiongkenbao, lamb was still roasting on the bonfire in front of the main tent.

Mars drifted like retrograde meteors, licking the chef's greasy hands and the fat of the roasted lamb dripping with oil.

The grease dripped onto the charcoal, making tiny popping sounds.

However, the many high-ranking members of the Border Knights in the main account did not have the slightest sense of victory.

Sitting on the main seat was the new Grand Master of the Border Knights, Emeric Fosset-Lumière.

On both sides are Archpriest Wenceslas and Knight Archbishop Cosme.

These three are basically the top three people in the Border Knights.

Grand Master Emeric is the soul of the Knights Templar. All border knights must swear allegiance to him, and the Grand Master himself must swear allegiance to the Pope.

Archpriest Wenceslas was the second-in-command of the army and the head of religion, and could even act in the absence of the Grand Master.

Knight Commander Cosme is responsible for all military decisions during wartime, and is also in charge of weapons and horses.

Even though they had captured Xiongken Fort, none of the three men spoke a word.

The entire tent was silent; even the servants who came to deliver wine and meat tiptoed subconsciously.

"How long will it take to repair it?" Finally, it was Grand Commander Emeric who spoke first.

Cosme, the knight commander in charge of the frontline operations, took a sip from his wine glass and said, "At least a month."

"One month?!" Archpriest Wenceslas was angry. "Lord, please forgive me for saying such vulgar words... Is there urine in your brain? Do you know that I have issued a military order in front of the Pope?"

"Hey!" The Grand Commander stopped him, "We made the decision together."

The Knight Commander had the lowest status, so he could only swallow his anger. “These damned vampire pagan vassals, they must have predicted our arrival through divination, and that’s why they dug up the mountain path in advance.”

Having used the vampire as an excuse, Wenceslas had no idea what to say. He could only roll up his sleeves and start eating mutton.

"How many soldiers were killed and wounded? Have you figured it out?"

"About two thousand. The thousand-plus infantry are fine, but it's a pity for the nearly eight hundred brave knights."

"So many?" Emeric was a little restless. He only had 20,000 troops in total.

It took nearly a thousand men to attack Xiongken Fort, and another two thousand were consumed here. In an instant, one tenth of the capital was gone.

Upon hearing about the casualties, the commander was really heartbroken.

Cosme used a knife to chop the mutton in front of him into pieces, but he couldn't eat it. "Not many people died, less than a hundred. Unfortunately, the knights who chased after them were either dead or captured."

After saying this, the other knights in the tent all sighed and lamented.

It is easy to imagine what kind of treatment these noble and dignified knights would suffer if they fell into the hands of those brutal and cruel rebels.

"Commander Knight, you are the one who commanded this battle. Don't you have anything to say?" The knight, who smelled of herbs and had splints and bandages on his arms, head and calves, stood up and asked loudly.

"Isn't that just a normal pursuit? Everyone agreed. Who could have thought that the mountain road would collapse?"

"It takes at least six weeks to dig out a mountain road like this." Speaking of his expertise, Wenceslas raised his head and said, "We have only been here for two weeks!"

"But it just collapsed. Maybe some evil magic was used, like turning fossils into mud or something like that."

"Such a long mountain path would take three or four weeks even if the fossils turned into mud."

"The only possibility is that they knew about it long ago and dug it out in advance based on divination."

"We are protected by the holy emblem of the saint, and accompanied by the ordained priest. It must be the devil's presence if he can predict us!"

"Watch your words, Wenceslas!" the Grand Master shouted at the head priest again.

Cosme grabbed his hair in pain and said, "...All those people from the Thousand Valleys passed through, so I thought I could pass through too.

Unexpectedly, these damn Qianhe Valley people designed a small mechanism. The plank road was made of wooden boards covered with loose soil.

When they went there, only a very small number of people went there at a time. When we passed by, they were on the opposite mountain and blew down the wooden plank road with a cannon..."

Bai Tiancai had personally experienced that scene, and the knights all quieted down. They had to admit that these vampire heretics with their tricks were actually more difficult to deal with than the Flesh and Blood Court.

They are all the best at one-on-one main battles on the vast grasslands.

Arriving at the inland of the empire with its complex terrain, the border knights' tactics were not adapted to the local conditions to varying degrees.

After suffering this loss, they really had no other choice.

"We can't continue the attack within a month, right?" The Grand Commander confirmed with Knight Commander Cosme again.

Cosme pursed his lips tightly, and after a long while he spoke with difficulty: "Unless we go north to attack Laden Castle, anyway, the road between Xionggnaw Castle and Wolf Pit Castle is inaccessible to us, and neither can they."

The Grand Commander looked around and coughed, "Or else, withdraw your troops."

The Knights Templar is called an order of knights, but in reality it is already a country.

He had his own system of electing nobles, his own fixed territories and appointed bureaucrats.

In addition to recruiting the second sons of nobles from outside, the sect will also produce a large number of its own knights.

For the Grand Commander, these troops are his capital to stand on the border.

Infantry is easy to deal with. If not, we can go to the royal court or the centaurs to buy some slaves.

But the knights are getting less as each one dies. If too many die, who will replenish them?
Can Pope Pugliano of the Holy See City be patched up? Emeric saw it clearly long ago, he can patch up an egg!

Pope Pugliano has spent all the jihad treasury, how can he replenish it?
Therefore, it is better to conserve his strength, so that the Centaurs will not rush to the Holy See City to plunder, and he will be the one to suffer the consequences.

"That won't do." Wenceslas was the first to object. "If we withdraw like this, where will the honor of the Knights be?"

"The Pope was cheating in this battle..."

"Nonsense." This time it was the Grand Commander who stopped Cosme. "Waclav, what do you say we should do?"

Wenceslas looked at Cosme and said, "Captain Cosme, tell me the truth, how is the attack on Ladenburg going?
Don't worry, to be honest, if you say no, we will just go back under pressure and not mess with these corrupt bishops."

The Grand Master and the Head Priest both looked at Knight Commander Cosme at the same time. Cosme thought for a long time and said, "I think it's feasible."

Nodding, the Grand Commander asked his attendants to call in many knight commanders.

One by one, knights dressed in coarse cloth but with fine armor walked in - the Border Knights liked to wear armor as clothes.

After presenting the opinions of the three senior leaders, the Grand Commander looked around at the captains of the various levels present and said, "Now that things have come to this, what do you think?"

The Knights Templar, a product of the Middle Ages, has developed to this day and still retains a fairly primitive military democracy system.

For example, the Grand Master now hopes that the backbone members of these knightly orders will express their stances one by one.

Led by the oldest knight, many knight commanders came forward to express their opinions and explain the reasons.

"I am in favor of attacking Ladenburg!"

"Withdrawing is a good idea, but I would like to modify it a little. Why not attack Fort Laden?"

"It's better to stay put..."

In the vote, most of the knight commanders chose to continue attacking Ladenburg.

For others, the distance from Xiongken Fort to Laden Fort is not close.

But for the Border Knights, a military order that marches with tens of thousands of mules, horses and warhorses, this distance is not far.

The Border Knights have not achieved anything since coming here. They must at least have a good record before they have a reason to go back.

Besides, they were feeling angry. It was okay to lose a battle, as it was not like they had never lost before.

It would be a shame to be defeated by such despicable means.

Seeing this, the Grand Commander had no choice but to express his opinion: "In that case, let's attack Laden Castle. It is located on the gravel plain and is a suitable place for our knights to gallop."

(End of this chapter)