Chapter 267: Cleanup Campaign

The morning mist covered the earth like a veil. Horn stood on a tall tower, his eyes penetrating through the layers of mist, gazing at Chateau Joan of Arc in the distance.

The sun shines through the gaps in the clouds, onto this vibrant green land, and the streams emit sparkling light.

From leaving the mountain on the 20th to the battle on the 22nd, Horn captured two important towns of Joan of Arc in two consecutive days.

But from the 23rd to the 26th, for three days, the Salvation Army stayed in Huilu Town and made almost no moves.

Obviously, Fort Jeanne d'Arc was not far away. According to the ideas of Rudilo, Victor and others, they should take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness and launch an attack quickly.

Horne thought otherwise.

It was not that Horn did not want to attack, but when they defeated Enrico for the first time, some knights had already returned to Jeanne d'Arc and brought the news of the defeat.

Now that Jeanne d'Arc is well-defended, the advantage of taking advantage of the enemy by surprise no longer exists.

On the contrary, their chariot division was exhausted, and if they rushed to attack in a hurry, they would easily be defeated by the imperial edict which had waited for the enemy to tire themselves out.

Horn's inference about this battle is to fight slowly and fight quickly, with slow strategy, slow preparation, fast marching and fast attack.

However, precisely because they marched too fast, they needed to wait for some important logistical supplies and weapons to arrive in Huilu Town.

This is also a good opportunity for the war monks to take a break.

Two days of continuous fighting were too tiring even for the Saviors, and they needed time to bandage their wounds and repair their weapons.

Especially for the Holy Gunners, the high-intensity firing of Holy Wind took a great impact on their spirits, and they needed to sleep for most of the day before they could go into battle again.

The only ones in relatively good condition are probably the Rudilo Black Cap Fourth Army and the Monse Guards Second Army, which have hardly played since their reckless advance.

So Horn did not let them idle during these three days, but asked them to take turns to go out and clear out the surrounding knight manors and monasteries.

The two legions that received the order, under the guidance of local villagers and cuirassiers, began to clear out the knights' manors and monasteries.

"What are they doing?"

Standing on the grass with beautiful little flowers, Monse stood blankly on a big rock, looking towards the monastery in the distance.

The gates of the monastery were thrown wide open, and the priests, wielding whips, directed the villagers to turn over the fields and drain the sticky soil to release the "rotten stench from the fire of hell."

It was normal for such a peaceful scene to appear around Fort Joan of Arc, but this monastery was in enemy-occupied territory.

It is located between Mayo Town and Huilu Town!
The Savior Army's attack and advancement were too fast. For the Imperials, who were always slow, this efficiency was really unusual.

The news of the Savior Army's attack had already been announced in Huilu Town, but they still thought that the Savior Army was still in Mayo Town.

It would take at least six or seven days to get here from Mayo, so it’s still too early.

March is almost here, which is the farming season. We have to prepare seeds, oxen, recruit migrant workers, turn the soil, and so on.

They don't want to delay the important spring plowing time because of such a small matter.

"Forget it." Meng Sai roughly guessed the situation in the monastery, "Don't think too much, let's just rush over!"

The sound of orderly footsteps and the clinking of breastplates rang out, and the war monks, holding spears and holy guns, marched towards the monastery at a rapid pace of 50 meters per minute.

When the Salvation Army arrived, the priests still did not react much.

Looking at their uniform clothing, their uniform breastplates, helmets and spears, the priests thought they were mercenaries hired by Joan of Arc.

It was not until the dense spears were lowered and the shining spear tips were pointed at them that these lazy soldiers and monks belatedly shouted the name of the Holy Father. Even when Monse had cleared the entire monastery, he had not expected it to be so easy.

Perhaps because the security in Joan of Arc was too good before, these manors and monasteries were hardly guarded by anyone.

Every time we attacked a manor or monastery, the scene was almost the same.

The nearby woodcutters came to report and lead the way, and the cavalry scouted the terrain, and after arriving, they formed a formation and marched quickly.

The other party stood there motionless, until the war monk raised his spear and stabbed at them, then they realized something was wrong.

The war monks holding spears quickly rushed into the manor and monastery, piercing the bodies of the screaming night guards with their spears, and the armored soldiers fell down with the sound of uniform gunshots.

On the outskirts of the monastery, cuirassiers patrolled and stood guard to prevent the extraordinary knights from turning back and shooting.

After the battle, the debts owed by the farmers to the lords were burned down, and then the military chaplains of the Holy Fathers began to form a crusading army among the peasants.

The Crusaders would appoint active farmers as captains of the guards, and recommend respected and calm people from the original villages and manors to serve as clerks.

They don't need to provide Horn with any food or pay taxes, they just need to provide intelligence.

As for the reform of the hundred-household system, we are now in a wartime state and do not have the time and energy for it yet.

In line with the idea of ​​punishing past mistakes, preventing future ones and curing illnesses to save people, the captured nobles and priests were only killed if they were the most treacherous and evildoers, while those who were less treacherous and evil were sent to the Trinity Education Team for reform.

This large-scale cleanup operation provided Horn with sufficient military rations and detailed topographic maps near Fort Joan of Arc.

On the 23rd, the Black Hat Fourth Army captured two manors in the morning, and the Guards Second Army captured two monasteries in the afternoon.

On the 24th, the Black Caps captured two manors in the morning, and the Guards captured a monastery and three manors in the afternoon.

On the 25th, the Black Hat Army captured two manors in the morning, and the Guards captured two manors in the afternoon.

Following the predetermined route, the two legions of the Salvation Army killed their way forward.

The Guards Corps was better. They did not take too many destructive actions, let alone burn down a monastery.

The Black Hat Army just let themselves go.

Abbeys and country houses, burn them! Priests, kill them! Knights and their families, all of them.

In the area between Mayo Town and Huilu Town, eleven manors and three monasteries were submerged in blood and smoke one by one.

On the lands of manors and monasteries, the Crusaders gradually stood up and began to speak up for their own rights.

Especially after the knights' heads and armor were spread everywhere, the educational effect was better than ten thousand leaflets.

In the end, wherever the Salvation Army went, the people welcomed them wholeheartedly, and even in the areas controlled by Jeanne d'Arc, crusaders began to appear.

This situation naturally aroused the vigilance of Joan of Arc. Every day, various carrier pigeons could be seen flying around in the sky above Joan of Arc, giving the Duke of Darnay's goshawk a great treat.

What is frustrating is that three days ago, after learning the news of the fall of Mayo Town and the defeat of Gray Furnace Town, the Français Knights and the Imperial Order Company did not gather together to discuss countermeasures.

Instead, they each occupied half of the city as if they were angry with each other.

It was not until the new bishop of the local church, Argon, an old acquaintance of Horn, stepped in that a meeting was managed and both parties were invited to sit down and have a chat.

(End of this chapter)