When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 890: Battle of Dusk Bell Mountain (Prequel to the Sequel)
Corpses were lying everywhere, broken spears were stuck at an angle, and the yellow and white flowers on the roadside had been stained with scarlet blood at some point.

Black smoke billowed from the farmland; the fields that the border knights had burned before the battle were still on fire.

The wheat that was about to mature turned into ashes and rose into the sky.

Wars always seem to end at dusk, just as conspiracies always take place in the dark.

Besser wandered across the battlefield and could even see rangers chasing frightened war horses.

A calf was tied to the stirrup of the saddle.

The red light of the setting sun was swaying, and the single calf was jumping with the beating of the horse's hooves.

I don’t know whether the original owner sacrificed his leg to save his life or if it was simply broken in a fall.

The pursuit of the border knights had ended, and even the orderlies were pushing the armor on a cart and happily discussing a snack in the evening.

Several corps commanders gathered in front of the legion clerk, military judge and quartermaster, blushing and "negotiating" the distribution of the spoils.

In the village that had been burned to a black ground, under the white oilcloth shed, the aroma of herbs from the crucible rose.

It was a makeshift field hospital, with doctors and medics coming and going.

Bandages were rolling and bubbling in the boiling cauldron, and occasionally there were heart-wrenching screams.

This was an era without anesthetics, and the only thing that could be considered an anesthetic was the Black Snake Bay frog venom.

However, this venom is not easy to preserve, and poison frogs are not adapted to the northern climate, so they can only knock the wounded unconscious with a stick and then perform surgery.

In the Battle of Dusk Bell Mountain, the Thousand River Valley Holy Alliance suffered unexpectedly heavy casualties.

Including the guerrilla hunters from Muzhong Mountain and the defenders who fought outside the city, a total of about 5000 people participated in the battle.

Among them, 789 people were slightly injured, 110 people were seriously injured, and 108 people died, with a casualty rate of about 20%.

In the statistical caliber of the Holy League, a minor injury means that although injured, one can still go to the battlefield in the future, and a serious injury means that although alive, it will be difficult for one to go to the battlefield again in the future.

That is, if two little fingers are amputated, it is a minor injury, while if one thumb is amputated, it is a serious injury.

As for the Border Knights, the number of confirmed deaths and captures is currently around 520 knights and 1314 sergeants.

In addition, there were some miscellaneous prisoners of war who were mixed together and could not be counted.

The rest were either being pursued by the Rangers or had fled into the Gravel Plains, never to be heard from again.

Besser seemed to have suddenly come to his senses at this moment. Qianhe Valley won, not just won, but won big.

Although a large number of knights escaped, their organization and morale were completely shattered, not to mention the problem of logistics and supplies.

Including the border knights who had died in the previous siege, the core of the Border Knights suffered nearly one-third casualties.

With the cooperation of Andre who crossed the river, the casualties would only be great.

This is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that after this battle, the Border Knights will most likely not be able to fight again for a short period of time.

In this way, the Iron Fist Regiment in Upper River County, which has lost its defensive pressure, can be deployed.

As a result, Qianhe Valley had enough troops to deal with Leia's army in Hotam County.

Now that summer is approaching, the waters of the Nauan River and the Ibe River are abundant and turbulent, which is perfect for winding the mainspring.

Want to counterattack? Besser didn't dare to guess what Horn was thinking.

Sitting on a large rock that was cracked by a cannonball, he took out the notebook from his arms and wet the feather pen with his mouth.

"On June 1449, 6, the Battle of Dusk Bell Mountain ended. Perhaps it was just my wishful thinking and illusion, but I feel that this war against the entire Leia and the Church is about to end."

…………

When the last group of guards who had returned from the pursuit arrived at the stairs, the sky was already filled with stars.

The early summer wind blew the reeds along the river, and I could smell the tempting aroma of meat before I got close.

Next to the piles of bonfires, there were whole roasted lambs. The local herdsmen cut the lamb with knives, and the fat, tender and greasy gravy flowed out.

As for the military chefs, they would throw handfuls of black pepper on the mutton.

Meng Sai's face was full of fatigue and his stomach was rumbling, but he still arranged for the pursuing soldiers to rest first.

"Where is His Majesty?" Grabbing a staff monk, Meng Sai asked in a hoarse voice.

The staff monk pointed behind him and said, "That's the shirtless guy sprinkling salt on the mutton."

Monse rubbed his eyes before he confirmed that the person who was pinching salt in his right hand and letting the salt roll from his wrist to his elbow in an extremely strange posture was the Pope.

Seeing Monse coming, Horn put down the salt bowl in his hand, opened his arms and gave him a big hug without waiting for Monse to salute.

"You fought well in this battle, Monse Dekh." Horn returned to the table and cut a piece of lamb rib for him. "Try it. I roasted it myself and was waiting for you." Under the envious gazes of others, Monse took the lamb rib and took a bite. "It's delicious."

"Okay, stop talking nonsense. It's been roasting for so long, it must be too burnt. Stop drooling over it and come up and cut the meat yourself."

The corps commanders around cheered, picked up the tin box and knife, rushed to the lamb chops and started cutting the meat.

Holding the plate of lamb ribs, Munsey and Horn stood side by side.

"You gave a very good command of the alternating retreat. I'm surprised you actually used it."

"It's the hard work of the guards, not my personal credit."

Horn smiled and said, "I wish Coleman could be less flamboyant and you could be more arrogant."

In most wars, retreats are difficult to keep organized.

Because retreat means failure, which means the generals are not optimistic about the outcome of victory, and it is a huge blow to morale.

During the retreat, due to the dispersion and stretching of the troops, once the rear army was defeated, there was a high possibility of a chaotic attack, leading to a chain reaction.

Therefore, in the imperial war history, large military groups would collapse as soon as they retreated.

The empire's generals' first reaction when seeing the enemy retreat was to defeat them and turn the retreat into a rout.

So Cosme and Tadlash made the same judgment, to use the local retreat to expand it into a general retreat.

But this approach has a prerequisite, that is, the two people did not review the questions clearly.

That is, "when retreating, morale and organization will both decline, and the troops will be dispersed."

Needless to say, the morale and organization of the Guards were improved, and the problem of scattered forces was also solved by alternating retreats.

The principle is still the same: if your forces are dispersed in space, you can concentrate them in time.

By alternating between retreating and serving as the rear army, the order and integrity of the army's ranks could be ensured while maintaining morale and organization.

At this time, the enemy will involuntarily lose order and organization in pursuit.

Then, it's time to fight back.

The alternating retreat tactic is not a simple tactic. If the connection is not good, the whole game will be lost.

So far, only the Guards have been able to perform this difficult operation.

"It just destroyed the original plan, and there will be more variables in the next step?" Meng Sai raised a hint of worry at the corner of his eyebrow.

"There will always be a way out when you are in front of the mountain. Besides, don't we have the monks as our advisors?" Horn patted the dust off Monse's shoulders and said, "Let them lose their hair. Hahahaha."

This battle was not originally fought this way.

The original plan was just to lure the Border Knights to attack and then delay time.

Wait until the 16th or 17th, when Andre arrives, and then attack from both sides.

However, there are always more variables on the battlefield than planned. Cosme arrived too early and the Guards had not yet built fortifications.

Although the Guards have high morale and strict military discipline, they are not robots but flesh and blood with emotions.

If the casualties really reach 50% or 60%, they will also flee, the only difference will be the number.

In a rash field battle, although it seems that we have the upper hand in the early stage.

But once the fortifications such as the chevaux-de-frise and breastworks were dismantled and they had to fight in a vast space, the situation would definitely be unfavorable for the Guards.

That's why Monsai temporarily proposed to change the plan and let the border knights in before the fortification defense system was destroyed.

As long as the alternating retreat tactics commanded by Monse do not go wrong, the combat effectiveness of the border knights can be destroyed in large numbers at one time.

Originally, the monk staff advocated turning the fake withdrawal into a real withdrawal and withdrawing directly back to Ladenburg.

But in the end Horn agreed to Monsey's plan.

Fortunately, the result was good. The battle at Dusk Bell Mountain disrupted the organization of the Border Knights and also crushed the knights' morale, paving the way for the next step of the war.

"If Andre had provided timely support, the Border Knights would have been badly injured if not killed."

"I think it's better not to completely annihilate these border knights, and this is almost impossible." Seeing Monsey's surprise, Horn smiled and said, "These border knights are also responsible for defending the Church and resisting the Royal Court. They are not ordinary knights, but knights who have made contributions to mankind and have repelled vampires.

In a sense, this is a war between the people of Thousand Valley and the people of Leia, a war between the Holy Alliance and the Empire, but it is also a civil war among humans.

The history of Qianhe Valley is too shallow and too short, and the monks and the people of Qianhe Valley are too small. If we include the entire human race in the discourse system, maybe it is..."

Having said this, Horn suddenly stopped and just stared blankly at the night sky.

(End of this chapter)