When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#535 - Can the Salvation Army fly?

On January 7th, 1446 of the Imperial Calendar, the Thousand River Valley was finally blanketed in heavy snow amidst the chilling winds.

In the swirling snowflakes, one could see a dozen or so sailing ships and barges transporting troops, supplies, and people along the South Nao'an River and the Yibei River at regular intervals.

Some of the busier river sections were even crammed with vessels.

People stood on the gunwales, holding onto the ropes, hurling insults at each other from a few meters away, the hulls of the ships colliding with dull thuds.

These narrow waterways bustling with traffic were essentially the three ferry sections that hadn't been burned down.

Shipowners shouted orders, sailors scurried back and forth on the decks, following behind the captains of the Protectorate Army, who disembarked with shivers.

Stepping onto the icy ground, the Protectorate soldiers in their wooden-soled shoes involuntarily shuddered.

Starting from January 2nd, after five days of transportation and preparation, the first batch of Protectorate Army engineers tasked with building camps finally arrived at the South Nao'an River front with their tools.

Unfortunately, before they could even have a bite to eat or a sip of hot soup, they were hurriedly loaded into carriages by the local Huannuo Order monks.

The covered carriages couldn't keep out the swirling snowflakes, and thousands of Protectorate Army engineers, like a spider web, moved from various ferry crossings along the tributaries and roads toward their predetermined targets.

Clearly, several thousand engineers couldn't build dozens of supply points and fortifications in half a month; the Huannuo Order monks would also enlist the help of local wealthy farmers and small landowners.

The main purpose of arranging these engineers was to increase efficiency and assist in guarding the supply points, while all expenses for purchasing supplies at the supply points were paid by the wealthy merchants of Rapid Stream City and the Kasha County Monastery.

The benefit of doing this was simple: they no longer needed to carry military rations or set up camp during the march; they could eat, drink, and sleep wherever they went, and then get up and march.

This freed up at least two or three hours each day for marching, and without baggage, they could travel faster, covering an extra 6-9 kilometers.

This was even more true for the messenger cavalry, who could even switch horses without changing riders, relaying messages all the way from the front to the rear.

These supply points didn't need to be too sturdy; truly solid temporary fortresses would be built at the three ferry crossings and strategic river locations using mortar and concrete.

Just like the three-story corner fort at the Moncrus Manor back then.

These supply points and camps were surrounded by wooden fences, with drainage ditches, stables, wooden barracks, and, most importantly, warehouses inside.

A supply point was guarded by anywhere from 10 to 40 guards, not against enemy cavalry, but against rural bandits.

If the enemy did attack these supply points, they would simply set the warehouse on fire and run to hide in the forest or villages.

Whether they requisitioned food locally or brought their own supply trains, it would slow down their marching speed.

A regular legion could build such a simple camp in about one or two hours.

For the local farmers and Protectorate Army, it was a bit short on manpower, but it was enough to build it in two days and sign grain purchase agreements with nearby villages in three days.

From January 7th to January 17th, within these 10 days, twenty supply camps and strongholds had been established along the predetermined marching routes and defense lines, with twenty more camps under construction.

As for the Church army besieging the Blago Monastery in Kasha County, they showed almost no reaction.

The leader of the Church army knights patrolling the periphery of the basin sent a dozen light cavalrymen to take a look and then went back to drinking.

It wasn't until the third day after the fall of Shelley City on the 18th that Lacunio received the news.

"Damn you, you dung-shoveling bastard!" The moment he saw the words on the battle report, Lacunio couldn't help but curse in the Noen dialect from the border region.

"What's wrong?" Putzrio, riding on horseback and wearing openwork-decorated iron armor, was startled by Lacunio's sudden outburst.

Lacunio didn't say a word, handing the battle report to Putzrio beside him.

Because he was on horseback and it had just snowed, Putzrio could only sway his body as he struggled to read by the light reflected off the accumulated snow.

In the cold streets of Shelley City, the air still reeked of blood and burnt smells.

The shops and residences on both sides of the street were tightly closed, and the once-bustling market was silent, like a ghost town.

Only when the Homeland Mercenaries violently slammed on the doors, causing the snow accumulated on the eaves to fall, could one see pairs of frightened eyes in the dark houses.

The siege plan on the 18th went quite smoothly: dozens of Witchers, acting as lightly armed suicide squads, scaled the city walls, followed by double-pay greatsword warriors who climbed up and unleashed their fury.

Because the weather was too cold and Lacunio and his men had arrived too suddenly, they were busy arguing and hadn't prepared enough winter clothing.

After the snowfall, even with the monks using divine magic to maintain morale, many still died from colds.

Last night, the temperature plummeted, and goose feather-like snow fell overwhelmingly, with most soldiers hiding indoors in the gate towers and arrow towers to keep warm; only a few persisted in patrolling the city walls.

Lacunio even personally took to the field, wielding a two-handed greatsword and single-handedly clearing out twenty guards in the winch room, successfully opening the city gate.

The armed monks of Blago Monastery attempted to wage street battles centered around the Blago Monastery on the mountain, but they were defeated by the wolf-like Homeland Mercenaries in just one day.

Lacunio even captured Jean Bulot and a group of high-ranking Huannuo Order monks alive because they were still voting for a new abbot in the city when Lacunio attacked.

After two days of clearing operations, the remaining forces in the city had either fled or been eliminated, allowing Putzrio and Lacunio to enter the city and see the magnificent Blago Monastery.

"This is truly unexpected," Putzrio said, equally unable to believe it after reading the letter. "It took me two months to mobilize the troops and supplies."

If the timeline in the letter was to be believed, the Salvation Army only learned about their victory at Klais Fort around December 22nd and then decided to send troops to rescue them.

By the 25th, three squadrons (an Imperial Army squadron consists of 500 men), nearly two thousand men, had run to the South Nao'an River to burn down the ferry crossings.

Five days later, on New Year's Day, cavalry reinforcements arrived.

On January 5th, two more squadrons ran to Little Pool City, and on January 7th, three squadrons and a thousand laborers arrived.

By January 17th, in just 10 days, they had built a large number of fortresses, and Kushite rangers and Beastman Hussars had arrived to support them.

The Salvation Army had even advanced to within sight of the rangers patrolling the periphery of the basin.

It took Putzrio more than two months to mobilize his own troops to support Hotham County, only bringing grain from the Thorns Garden to the Thousand River Valley.

Just waiting for the knights to arrive at the assembly point from various locations took more than a month.

He had just arrived in Hotham County in late November and went straight to Kasha County without much rest, all for the sake of surprise, to catch the Salvation Army off guard.

But the Salvation Army, from the decision to send troops on December 22nd to the completion of troop mobilization on January 7th, took only 15 days, crossing over 200 kilometers.

As a result, at least 5,000 Salvation Army soldiers were now gathered in the South Nao'an River plain area of eastern Kasha County, and they even had the leisure to build camps and fortresses.

What kind of surprise attack was this? Did these farmers have wings?

He had originally wanted to take advantage of the momentum to reach Langsand County proper; he shouldn't have stopped to rest during the New Year's holiday.

Just as Putzrio was regretting it, the two finally arrived at Blago Monastery.

"Then, Lord Lacunio, shall we continue the attack?" Putzrio asked as he dismounted.

"We can try, but don't have too much hope," Lacunio said, patting his warhorse's neck and brushing off the floating snow from its mane.

Since the plan to advance into Langsand County by attacking Kasha County had failed, they had to change their tactical objective to the northern Moliaty.

Anyway, as long as they defeated one of them, the other wouldn't last long.

As for the main attack mission in Kasha County, it would be changed to contain the Salvation Army.

Lacunio had carefully investigated, and these farmers didn't have much ability to besiege cities; they had always won by fighting in the field.

Even if they couldn't win in the field, as long as they were willing to be shameless and engage these farmers in a siege, dragging it out for a month or two wouldn't be a problem.

By then, it would be too late for them to rescue Moliaty.

The two stood side by side in front of Blago Monastery, while several high-ranking Huannuo Order monks were tied up with ropes, their mouths stuffed, glaring at these invaders who leisurely stepped into the most sacred altar of Blago Monastery.

"This place is not bad; it will be used as a dining hall for the knights from now on."