Chapter 260: Advance while lost, get lost while advancing, and defeat the enemy while lost

It was almost noon when all eight legions of the Salvation Army arrived in Mayo Town.

Eight legions with logistics and cavalry, nearly 5000 people, naturally could not be stationed in the town of Mayo.

So the legion simply robbed the three knight manors around it, collecting supplies while also freeing up a lot of space for garrisoning.

The armed peasants in the knight's manor had no desire to fight, and some even tied up the knights and sent them over.

Horn naturally generously implemented the policy of "land to the tiller" again and distributed large amounts of land to public farmers.

After setting up garrisons for eight legions, Horn did not forget to block the roads and messages.

He asked Jeanne to guard the road with the cavalry and the Third Army of the Black Caps, and not to let any news leak out until they had rested.

When they passed through the wild spider forest, they were afraid that something might happen to the giant spider, so they marched at full speed at night. The men and horses were exhausted, and they needed at least a day of rest before they could go into battle again.

If we encounter the enemy now, it's not that we can't fight, but there will be higher-than-expected casualties, which is not cost-effective.

The hunting lodge where Cleonte played dice last night was cleaned and furnished with neat furniture.

After arranging all the matters, Horn yawned, walked into the hut, and threw his cloak aside: "How is it? What is the damage?"

Armand pulled out a yellowed hemp paper from the table, looked at the Arabic numerals on it, and reported skillfully: "The commander of the Second Black Hat Legion, Rudilo, got lost and advanced deep into the forest. After he found his way out of the spider forest, he attacked the enemy sentry post at night to collect intelligence. It took about two hours.

Only three beastmen were injured here, one seriously and two slightly.

After obtaining the intelligence, the Second Legion rushed to the battlefield at full speed.

But because it was too dark, they got lost for a while, and because of the sentries and arrow towers that blocked their way, they wasted too much time.

It took nearly an hour to reach the designated position, at which time the enemy had basically formed up their troops.

Hearing this, Horn couldn't help but chuckle. He thought the Savior Army would not make such a mistake again.

The result was that Rudilo lost his way and then advanced recklessly, then lost his way again, then advanced recklessly again, and in a daze he led only 300 men from half a legion and defeated 800 mountain people of Cléante.

The whole process is based on strategic thinking: enemy, fight.

Horn had a hunch that he would see a lot of this kind of thing on the battlefield in the future.

“It took the Second Legion a quarter of an hour from the time they saw the enemy to the time they engaged in battle and defeated the enemy, and the pursuit took about an hour and a half.

The Black Hat Second Legion attacked the enemy's 300 people with 800 people. Our army suffered 4 deaths, 22 minor injuries and 3 serious injuries.

The seriously injured will need amputation and may not be able to continue fighting, while the lightly injured will mostly be able to return to the battlefield within three to five days.

In this battle, the enemy suffered 51 deaths, more than 200 minor injuries, more than 40 serious injuries, more than 100 escaped, and more than 300 surrendered prisoners of war.

"What happened to the four who died in the battle?"

"Among the four killed in the battle, two were shot in the head by enemy archers, one was ambushed by a small group of enemy troops during pursuit, and one was beheaded in hand-to-hand combat."

Horn took the list from Armand and glanced at the names on it. "List them on the list of heroes. After the war, hold a collective memorial service for them. Also, have the chaplains go and suppress the atmosphere. Don't let the war monks think that all enemy soldiers are like this."

Armand pulled out a small notebook, scribbled a few quick notes on it, and handed Horn a list of items according to the agenda.

"What is this?" Horn asked Armand, looking down at the form.

"This is a list of weapons seized on the battlefield..." Hearing Armand's words, Horn's eyes lit up and he read the form carefully.

You don’t know until you see it. Once you see it, you will find that this old guy Cléante has hidden a lot of good things.

There are 423 armed swords, which can be used as secondary weapons for the holy musketeers so that the enemy will not be completely helpless in close combat.

There are 10 war horses, which are just right for the cavalry division to use as reserve horses, or to be distributed to junior officers.

220 sets of lath armor and 131 sets of chain mail. Isn't this a coincidence?

Now Horn's entire army has only 1180 sets of old breastplates, of which 150 sets are given to the cuirassiers, and the remaining 1030 sets can only be equipped for one-third of the pikemen.

These 351 sets of rotten armor are better than nothing. At least they can provide some protection against arrows and hand-to-hand combat.

Then the armor rate of Horn's melee spearmen reached an astonishing 46%. As for the Holy Gunners, they are not armored yet.

After all, they don't have much breathing skills and can't wear heavy armor. In front of the charging extraordinary knights, there is not much difference between having armor or not.

However, considering that the Holy Gunner might be hit by stray arrows, Horn collected more than 700 brimmed helmets and distributed them to the Holy Gunner.

But this is not enough. According to Horn's idea, a standard Salvation Army war monk should have a woolen coat, a half-breastplate, a spear or a clockwork gun, and an armed sword.

With the current armor rate, the probability of winning when facing the Extraordinary Knight directly is very high, but for the Imperial Order Knight, it is not enough.

"Armand, pass on my order. Have Jeanne lead the cuirassiers and the beastmen to scout the direction of Grayforge Town, find out the road and draw a detailed map."

Horn gently rubbed the Grayfurnace Town on the map with his fingers. Mayo Town was a small smelting center in Jeanne d'Arc, so Grayfurnace Town was a small forging center.

The warehouses in Mayo Town are full of ores, but the warehouses in Huilu Town may be filled with various weapons and armors.

Given the current situation, Horn is not in a hurry to fight a decisive battle immediately, but decides to fight slowly and quickly, first attacking the wild and contacting local citizens and farmers.

Once the contact is completed, the information provided to them by the woodcutters, hunters, shepherds and farmers will allow Horn to directly dispel the fog of war in the entire map.

After the preparations are completed and the enemy's movements are confirmed, you must march quickly at lightning speed and start the battle before the enemy is ready.

"There is one more thing." Armand quickly wrote the warrant and handed it to Horn for signature. He continued, "Many locals in Mayo and nearby farmers have come to petition to join the Salvation Army."

Although the Salvation Army suffered injuries and deaths, it does not need to absorb new forces for the time being, nor is it able to absorb new forces.

But seeing how enthusiastic they were, it would be bad for Horn to say nothing.

He tapped his head, thought for a moment and came up with a solution: “Well, didn’t we seize a lot of extra spears and strange weapons?

What do you think of forming a religious army with these believers who are eager to join the army, distributing the surplus weapons to them, and letting them serve as local garrisons and scouts?"

"I think it's feasible." Armand nodded and quickly wrote out another warrant.

Horn took out a new copper seal from his pocket. After all, radishes could not be preserved for too long, and it was annoying to keep re-carving them.

However, his carrot seal was so deeply rooted in people's minds that the craftsmen cast the new bronze seal in the shape of half a carrot.

"Let Hakuto write a charter for the establishment of the Skitarii. Don't make it too detailed, just make sure it can function normally."

After signing and stamping the warrant, Horn handed the order to Armand, who called the child soldiers outside to pass on the order.

(End of this chapter)