Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 142: Cult Warriors
Garys looked at Victor. Because of the information Victor brought, Garys could roughly determine where the Bedouins were gathering.

Pierre found traces of the cavalry outside the manor and made his own judgment, telling Victor that the cavalry might be gathering by the lake.

When Garys heard the news from Victor, he agreed with it.

Because a lake means a large area of ​​water, which means the air humidity there will be relatively high and dew will condense easily.

During this dry season, places with more dew can easily nourish more grass.

Even in the Bible, dew is often mentioned and regarded as a symbol of blessing from Heavenly Father or a warning. This shows the special significance of dew in the land of Palestine.

If you just want to drink water, any bank of the river will do, but if you want more than a hundred horses to have a full meal near the manor, then the optional location is the one near the lake.

"Pierre is a good fellow."

After praising him for a while, Garys immediately gave the order.

"Russell."

"To!"

"Reorganize the troops, leave about 20 people to guard the manor, and the others will go with me."

"Yes!"

The benefit of Gellis dividing the army into three systems was reflected at this time.

Pierre, Victor and his men were indeed regular troops, but regular troops and standing troops were expensive and scarce in number. Although they could be assembled and mobilized quickly, it was impossible for them to be the first to appear in the attacked village.

These days, slave-catching squads are rampant, and bandits and robbers are endlessly killed and exterminated.

If rural people have no self-defense ability, they are just harmless little white rabbits.

In addition, in order to cope with the large-scale war that is about to break out, military training in the militia mode can be carried out in advance, and enough troops can be mobilized at the critical moment to deal with foreign enemies.

In this era, the training intensity of most peasant soldiers and conscripts is actually not as high as that of the militia on Garys' side.

After all, most of those farmers and conscripts cannot even get enough food, but the militia on Garys' side can have enough food and arm their spirits with faith.

If encountering small-scale deserters or roving bandits, the village’s own military force is actually enough to deal with them.

If they encounter larger-scale bandits, according to Gailis's idea, in addition to asking for help from the kingdom's regular army.

The constituency council, which is equivalent to the township level, should also be able to summon militia from nearby villages on its own to respond to the enemy in a timely manner.

While Gellis continued to study the terrain and think about how to fight.

Russell on the side also began to organize the people who had gathered together.

First, Russell organized the Knights of the Order, the Paladins, into a separate group.

The equipment of the Paladin servants is relatively better. Basically, everyone wears armor inside and chain mail outside, and can also add a robe to avoid direct sunlight.

In addition, as attendants, each of them actually has a horse, although their horsemanship is not superb, and it is impossible for them to be used as knights at present. But they can still chase and kill on horseback, or maneuver on horseback.

In terms of positioning, the Paladin is indeed not a traditional knight, or even a soldier in the traditional sense.

The Paladins, the warriors of the order, basically do not receive military training. They spend more time honing their personal martial arts and receiving various types of education than on coordinated combat training.

Their education includes but is not limited to: basic medical skills, simple militia training, basic legal provisions, pest control in agricultural production, and the basic principles of new millennium theology...

Depending on the oaths they have taken and the focus of their education, the warriors of the order will be assigned different missions.

For example, some assist the priests of the order in preaching, some patrol the local area to ensure judicial justice, some help local villages and communities train militias, and some run errands for Garys.

The reason why Paladin needs to train in martial arts is mainly because the times are too chaotic. A small team of several people may disappear inexplicably when they are out on the move.

To be more precise, the Paladins are not so much the warriors of the Order as they are the rural work team, an indispensable part of the Order's rural missionary work...

Nowadays, if you go out to preach, unless you ride a horse, wear armor, hold a sword in your hand, and have a nail-headed hammer on your waist, who will obey you!
When you really encounter a villain who has committed heinous crimes, it is useless to rely solely on your eloquence.

The weapon of criticism cannot replace the criticism of weapons.

Not everyone is like Garys, who can subdue criminals with his bare hands and kill his way through an army with a sword.

When Garys first arrived in Monterey Village, he exposed a fake herbalist who was using poison and was surrounded by a group of farmers.

At that time, if Simon had not drawn his sword in time to calm the farmers down, those farmers would have been beaten up by Garys on the spot.

So, Simon protected the villagers on the spot very well.

……

The so-called lake is actually just a section of a tributary of the Arnon River. It is the place where tributaries of the tributaries converge, and because it is relatively flat, it converges into a body of water.

Pierre arrived here a few minutes ago. When he saw the direction in which the horseshoe prints extended, he had expected this.

When he arrived here, he easily found the group of Bedouins.

According to the reconnaissance points that Gellis had mentioned, Pierre adjusted his position purposefully.

When choosing a reconnaissance position, you need to pay attention to the openness of the field of view, your own concealment, and the safety of the retreat route.

So he used the bushes to find a position slightly above the lake, where the terrain was flat and easy to evacuate, and then began to estimate the distance between them and the number of enemy troops.

In terms of distance, they were about 400 feet apart, and in terms of number, they were more than Pierre had estimated.

This number of Bedouins should be the action of a whole tribe, far exceeding the upper limit that Labret Manor can handle. However, there is also good news.

These Bedouins probably didn't know that the northern territory of Transjordan had become independent from Reynard, nor did they know that a standing army had been established in the territory.

Therefore, they did not rush to attack the manor, but set up camp first.

According to Pierre's own judgment, this was most likely a preparation for a night attack.

After all, in terms of scale, Labret Manor is a relatively large manor. If they confront it head-on, these Bedouins are confident of winning, but they may also suffer considerable losses.

Going out to forage is a no-cost business. If too many people die, the loss will outweigh the gain.

Therefore, these Bedouins need to conserve their strength now, and attack only when night falls and the people in the manor let down their guard and rest.

After making his judgment, Pierre left the place in a hurry.

He needed to bring clearer information to the manor so that the people in the manor could be prepared to respond.

However, when he turned around and had not walked far, he met an unexpected figure, someone he never thought would appear here.

"prophet?"

……

Unlike the farmers who survive on isolated island oases, they are not nomads on the grasslands, but nomads in the wastelands and deserts.

These people have their own desert and their lives are different.

Year after year, day after day, they chase water and grass without settling down, fighting against the drought and scorching heat in the desert.

They crossed one desert after another, and this harsh life developed their tough and cruel character and brought them unique values.

For them, plundering is no different from grazing.

There is only the question of whether it is possible and whether it is worth it, without considering whether it is right or not.

Even the Arab settlers who shared the same beliefs and blood were regarded as targets of plunder and slavery, let alone the pagans?
The full moon was high in the sky, its cool light reflected on the calm lake.

Several horses stood leisurely on the grass by the lake, nibbling on the grass with their heads down. Their hooves occasionally stepped lightly on the ground, making a slight rustling sound.

In this melodious and peaceful atmosphere, several Bedouins were discussing something intensively in a tent.

"Jasim, when the moon is at its zenith, you will set out with your men and prepare to launch a feint attack on the Franks from the east."

"Okay, but if it's a feint, I want a bigger share of the spoils."

"Yeah, okay"

"Mustafa, you should also lead a small team and patrol outside when Jasim and his men launch the attack. Don't miss those who escape. The Franks are all good slaves."

"Row."

"I will lead the others and attack from the west when the moon moves westward."

Hassan, the chief of this Bedouin tribe, was constantly arranging his subordinates.

To be precise, he could not be called a subordinate. As the chief of the tribe, he did not have the absolute power of a feudal lord. Most of the time, he was trying to reconcile the interests of various factions in the tribe and strive for more benefits for the faction he came from.

Therefore, in many cases, other people in the tribe would not be too obedient or fearful of him.

"By the way, Hassan, I heard from the Hilal tribe some time ago that something strange happened here."

"Huh? Let's talk about it?"

There was still a lot of time before the moon reached its zenith, and the people in the tent had almost rested during the day, so to kill the free time before the robbery, they began to chat.

"I heard that the people of the Hilal tribe had a bad time in this area last year. Even their former chief, you know, the particularly annoying guy, died, and many good guys in their tribe also died."

"Huh? Interesting."

"How did that guy die?" a bearded guy nearby asked curiously.

Their tribe was a sworn enemy of the Hilal tribe, so they had long avoided getting close to each other. However, hearing that the chief of the enemy tribe had died was good news, and it was truly the will of Allah that no one could stop.

At this time, the man sitting next to him continued, "I heard that there was a Frank here who was very good at fighting. He could throw a spear through a horse and chase the cavalry from dozens of steps away. Then Tamim was split in half, and even his intestines and internal organs were spilled out. It was very scary!"

"What a joke! How could anyone in this world do something like that?" Hassan interrupted this inexplicable and unreasonable story.

The war is about to begin, and it is unlucky to tell such legends at this time.

"Of course, it's just a joke. The Hilal tribe is really in trouble now. They lost and they still have to find excuses." The man who was telling the story also realized that it was indeed unlucky and hurriedly denied it.

However, just as they were about to chat about other news, a shrill whistle was heard outside the tent.

The leaders of their tribe, including Hassan, stood up hurriedly and rushed out of the tent.

When they came outside the tent, they saw an extremely bloody scene.

Under the silvery full moon, on the quiet and beautiful lakeside grass, there was a corpse lying on the ground. The corpse was split in half, and the intestines and internal organs were spilling out.

Standing next to the corpse was a Frank, and the blood-stained sword in his hand proved that it was this man who did it.

　Chapter 915, chapter 1015, chapter 1015, I owe 3 chapters. I should add one chapter before 12 o'clock.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)