Chapter 310: Caves in the Cave Forest

"Have all the prisoners been taken care of?"

"They are all under guard."

"What are the casualties?" Jourdan asked the division captains in a deep voice as he chopped through the bushes in the jungle.

"29 people were slightly injured, and 1 was seriously injured." The captain of the medical corps immediately reported, "They have all been properly accommodated."

"Who is that seriously injured person? What happened?" Jourdan asked in a deep voice.

"It was the captain of the 3rd Lance Division of the 3rd Black Caps. He accidentally slipped down the slope during the fight and hit his head on the rocks."

"I've told you so many times, wear a helmet, wear a helmet. Don't be too lazy to wear it just because it's too heavy or too hot." Jourdan frowned, "Find an old brigade commander with the rank of general to take your place."

After finishing this topic, Jourdan asked the scout again: "Why didn't the outer sentries report it?"

"Captain, we really didn't notice them. They seemed to be able to become invisible and appeared directly from behind us..."

"Don't make excuses. Were they lazy? Were they taking a nap? Otherwise, where did they come from?"

After arranging most matters, Jourdan started the pursuit with two spear divisions and two holy gun divisions.

However, even in the middle of the pursuit, a review is still required.

This is the system established by Horn. After every battle, big or small, a review must be conducted immediately.

This is one of the supervisory tasks that Horn sent out as military judges. After enough talents have been trained, they will also be sent to the regiment clerks to write the war history.

"Cethis, is there something wrong with your vigilance this time?"

"Yes, there was something wrong with my vigilance." As the captain of the scout brigade, Setis could only stand aside with his head down, blaming his bad luck.

While Jourdan was still questioning the outer scouts about their specific negligence, a cavalry messenger came running over breathlessly.

"Your Excellency, the Legion Commander..."

"what happened?"

The messenger cavalryman leaned close to Jourdan's ear and whispered something. Jourdan was stunned: "Go and pull the black box carriage over first. I'll go to the front to take a look."

Standing in front of a clearing in the woods, the Norse knights in three-quarter armor soothed the braying donkey.

Murat stood among the bushes. Facing the black-hatted soldiers who emerged from the woods in an orderly manner, he forced a polite smile and hid the fear in his heart.

He finally understood how these soldiers had defeated the Imperial Order Company.

Infantrymen who can run and counter-charge in neat spear formations are definitely hot commodities even in the imperial mercenary market.

Murat had previously heard from the old blackhat soldiers that at the beginning they had to tie ropes around their waists so that they could charge in unison.

Seeing their posture, Murat really found it hard to associate them with such a funny look.

Probably just a joke.

Turning his attention back to the Black Hat Army that was so close, Murat let out a long sigh.

They have to work harder, otherwise they will be outshined by these civilian soldiers.

But I heard that they all hold clergy positions, so they can barely be considered religious aristocrats, right?

With the soldiers marching in column behind him, Jourdan pushed up the brim of his helmet and gave a simple military salute to several Norse mountain knights.

"Did Mr. Murat catch up with them?" Jourdan asked Murat politely.

The word "sir" was mostly used for knights, lower barons and wealthy merchants. If common people were heard using it indiscriminately, they would be severely beaten.

However, in Kush Territory, all restrictions were lifted after Horn came to power.

Everyone is called "fellow church member" internally and "sir" externally. The superior is called "Your Excellency" and the subordinates are called "Job".

With a wry smile, Murat moved aside, exposing the exposed rock wall behind him to everyone's sight.

There was a dark hole in the moss-covered gray stone wall.

There were a lot of vines and spider webs hanging down from the original doorway, but they were burned and cut off by Murat, and a strange stench was oozing out of them.

Jourdan suddenly realized that it was no wonder that the outer sentries did not notice them. It turned out that they had come in through a tunnel.

"We tried to release two hunting dogs in, but there seemed to be a strange smell here, and the dogs quickly lost their way." Murat took Jourdan to the entrance of the cave, pinching his nose.

"This smell doesn't have much effect on people, but this cave is more complicated than a maze. We have lost two people."

He stuck his head into the hole and took a breath. A smell like onions from a defense rushed into his head, sour, bitter and salty, and almost suffocated him.

Covering his nose, Jourdan coughed and retched: "They were really patient enough to run out of the cave."

"Maybe he's used to running." Murat frowned and looked at the sky. "Otherwise, let's wait until tomorrow to look for it. It's too dark at night."

"No need." Zhu Erdan laughed, "Your Majesty has considered everything."

Murat blinked, not understanding what Jourdain meant, but Jourdain ignored him and continued to review the situation with his subordinates.

Not long after, the neighing of horses woke Murat, who was about to fall asleep.

Jourdan just waved his hand, and two heavy carriages were transported to the front of the mountain wall amid the painful groans of the axles.

"what is this?"

Jourdain smiled, walked to the side of the carriage, and pulled off the black cloth with force. The people around him immediately gasped.

The Norse knights were so shocked that they immediately jumped up, clenching their weapons, their eyes fixed on the creature in the cage.

"Don't worry, their poison sacs have been emptied, and their legs are bound." Jourdan said this without daring to get too close.

Three jumping spiders and one bull spider saw the light of day again and began to struggle violently in the cage. Listening to the teeth-grinding sound of wood fibers breaking, Murat's expression changed.

Are you Salvation Army members so brave?

"Cough, cough, cough." Zhu Erdan coughed twice. "Hey, you, quickly stuff these big guys into the cave."

"Will they help us track down those bandits?" Murat asked in disbelief.

"They can't tell the difference between humans. They've been abused by us, so they naturally want to seek revenge on 'humans'." The natural priest who was knocking on the cage laughed. "What if we let them run away..."

"It's okay. These giant spiders must eat a kind of mushroom. There is no mushroom in the cave forest. If you let them run away, they will starve to death."

The carriage was transported to the cave entrance, and several natural priests stood by holding dragon bone flutes, ready for battle.

A nimble scout poked the cage open with a long stick and immediately ran behind the rock.

"Zizzi-"

Several giant spiders immediately jumped out of the cage, turned around, and hissed at them angrily and creepy.

Although Jourdan still looked confident, Murat and other North Knights were still terrified.

A melodious flute sound was heard, and the hissing sound stopped immediately.

Murat and other North Knights looked at the giant spiders in surprise as if they were hit hard by something and ran quickly towards the depths of the cave.

"Everyone, plug your noses with cotton cloth and follow."

Amid the sound of the flute, a natural priest snapped his fingers, and the places where the giant spider passed by immediately lit up one by one.

Fluorite powder sprinkled from the giant spider's back hung on the cave walls and the ground, emitting a faint glow.

"Let's go." Jourdan took the lead, holding up a torch and walked into the cave along the fluorescent stone powder.

Following the others forward, Laurent was stunned when he looked down at the road.

A crystalline ore actually turned black under the fluorite powder, as if it was stained by ink.

"Saint young general Laurent, what are you dawdling about?"

"Here it comes." Ignoring the strange sight, Laurent quickly followed.

…………

In the gray cave forest, the night was almost like a thick fog, covering everything.

The bandits, each with their wounds wrapped around them, leaned against the wall and sat on the ground in a daze.

Sitting in their own small house, Grush and Deford sat opposite each other, looking at each other in silence.

They led nearly 200 horse bandits and launched a night attack on the unsuspecting Black Hat Army.

The end result was that hundreds of horses were lost and only about sixty people returned safely.

After returning to the village and counting the number of people, the two of them remained silent.

In the awkward silence, the door of the cabin was opened again. The two looked up hopefully, only to see Blackska sitting silently with blood on his face.

The silence of two people turned into the silence of three people.

"Brother Blackska, how are you doing?"

"They were too fast." He took a big gulp of potato root wine to numb his nerves. "I didn't have time to plunder. I was ambushed as soon as I got out of the forest... What about you?"

"I gave away more than a hundred of them, but they ran back." DeFord said dejectedly.

Unlike the atmosphere of mutual contempt and tension before the war, the wooden house was now filled with an atmosphere of defeat but friendship.

The three men thought it was the beginning of a war, but it turned out to be a decisive battle. They forcibly pulled out the villagers and beat more than 600 bandits until only about 100 were left.

With the current speed at which the Black Hats are advancing, even if they have difficulty catching up from the cave, it will probably only take three to five days for them to advance to the vicinity.

The reason they were able to roam the mountains for such a long time was because of three unique skills: intelligence, caves, and cavalry fighting serfs.

In the mountains and forests, the knights were unable to exert their influence, and the serfs and armed peasant infantry were too weak, which is why these bandits have been able to get away with it until now.

But the Savior Army first registered the people and eradicated the bandits, and then they had heavy infantry that were comparable to the land servants.

Now the only place they can rely on is the cave, but if they really have to live in the cave again... he would have lost his endurance.

According to the current movement of the Salvation Army, they are preparing to reopen the ancient El Road.

In the future, bandits in caves and forests will probably become a thing of the past.

The three of them looked at each other, as if all the hostility had been washed away and their eyes became clear.

Finally he calmed down, Grush sighed.

"I still have some savings for travel expenses, and I'm going to Norn to be a mercenary. I happen to have a few friends there. What do you think?"

"I'm going to France to be a manager in the black market." Blackska said with emotion, "The bandit business won't last long."

Previously, they hated each other because their career was booming, but now that they were scattered, he felt a little reluctant.

DeFort's face turned red. He was the one who could not accept it the most, but his red face did not last long and turned blue again.

"I'm going to Jinhe Township." DeFord said through gritted teeth, "These Salvation Army soldiers won't survive for a few days. I'll come back then."

Blackska and Grush looked at each other and said, "I hope so."

Deford was about to speak to persuade the two to stay, but his thoughts were interrupted by a loud noise outside the house.

Standing up and walking to the door, DeFord yelled at the bandits outside, "What are you arguing about? Are the Saviors coming?"

Before he could finish his words, a piece of wood flew past DeFord's eyes.

DeFord's pupils slowly dilated.

He turned his head in horror, only to see the thick wooden door of the village explode into pieces.

A group of knights in heavy armor rushed in from behind the door like the wind, slashing left and right with their swords.

The sharp sword blade cut through clothes and soft flesh, and the bandit guarding the gate fell to the ground screaming, covering his bloody chest and abdomen.

"It's the Savior Army, run!"

Lead, villagers and bandits whizzed past him, and Deford stood at the door of the cabin, feeling as if he had fallen into an icy cave.

How could they come to me so quickly?
Where are the sentries outside? Why is there no sound at all?!
(End of this chapter)