Chapter 323: The Great Trial of the Heretic Demons of the Jinhe Township Nobles
After a handless orderly appeared among the beastmen of the Hussars, Jeanna's team set out again.

Seeing the small prisoners of war being thrown into the dungeon of Sour Melon Town in a dejected manner, Jeanne ordered Collebo to temporarily take over the Holy Musketeer Cavalry, and then she clamped her legs under the horse's belly and headed towards the direction of Fort Joan of Arc.

After passing the stream and the forest, several newly built sentry towers outside Jeanne d'Arc came into view.

The war monks at the checkpoints and in the watchtowers naturally knew the Saint Lady, and they left the gates open to allow Her Highness to fly through.

Riding a horse into the main street of Jeanne d'Arc, Jeanne looked around and saw only a few people walking on the Rue des Citizens and the Rue des Artisans.

Some poor vendors and small shop owners still kept their doors open, and gendarmes wearing pointed hats and holding clockwork rifles and T-shaped crutches stood on the roadside at every street intersection.

Citizens and artisans hid in their homes and looked out of their windows.

The monks in charge of temporary emergency purchases kept knocking on the doors of shops, and the covered carriages that traveled between Kasha County and Langsander County in the morning and evening were parked on the roadside.

Although the war has not yet begun, the residents of the city can still smell the scent of war.

After dismounting in front of the town hall, a guard came forward and took away the squeaking carrot.

"The Holy Father blesses you, Your Highness Jeanne." The guard monk on duty raised three fingers to his chest in salute, "Your Majesty has been waiting for you for a long time, please follow me."

Pushing open the door of the City Hall meeting room, ten legion commanders, four cardinals of Jeanne d'Arc, several senators from the Senate and high-ranking monks of the Order of the Holy Fathers were all present.

Standing in front of the ten-year-old oak table in the town hall, Boussac was reporting the damage to everyone present:

“……从5月20日起到今日5月21日，金河乡伊贝骑士一方出动近200名超凡骑士300名扈从骑士，对圣战特区发动袭击，目前皆已被击退。

The Ibe Knights did not raise any flags, and even looted only a small amount of spoils, but there were large numbers of cases of burning wheat fields and houses.

Currently, six hundred-household districts have been attacked, 15 villages have been looted, more than 1200 people have been killed, and the loss of supplies and food is incalculable..."

Sitting on Horn's left side at Armand's arrangement, Jeanne opened the documents on the table and read them carefully.

In the conference room, the top leaders of the Papal States sat in a circle.

The cardinals frowned, the representatives of the Senate looked worried, and the high-ranking monks of the Congregation of the Holy Fathers stared expressionlessly at the Pope sitting at the top.

"These damned devils, instead of staying here to die, they came to our territory to cause trouble!" The commander of the Black Hat Army, Rudilo, slammed the table, "Look, I'm sending the Holy Gunners to send them all to hell!"

"Don't worry, our war plan has just entered the publicity stage." Thomas was startled by Rudy Lo's slamming of the table, "We have to wait for the specific logistics and mobilization."

"The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly. We can't wait." Jeshka interrupted him directly.

"We must wait," said Madeleine, with a bitter face, "for provisions and carriages cannot be produced out of thin air."

Coleman, the commander of the Second Black Hat Army, was even more direct: "Your Majesty, give the order."

At this highest military meeting, new legion commanders like Jourdan and Momri were so nervous that they dared not say a word.

On the contrary, veteran generals such as Victor and Das dared to make suggestions.

Horn did not respond, but turned to Jeanna and asked, "Jeanne, tell me about your situation."

"Yes." Jeanne stood up after a few glances. "On the morning of May 5, the sentry reported that there was a cavalry attack. I led my troops to repel them, but they counter-encircled the hussars.

I arrived at around 14 p.m. and fought them off again.

But what was strange was that, although they were clearly ambushed and surrounded, they still had some strength left, their resistance was not fierce, and their willingness to fight was very low.

We have captured some prisoners of war and have handed them over to the Cheka for memory recovery. The initial recovery results show that they seem to want to lure us deeper..."

"We were defeated by looting to lure the enemy deeper, and then we were defeated by ambush to lure the enemy deeper again?" Das scratched his head. "So many people died. Isn't the price too high?"

"Is there a possibility..." Meng Sai smiled mischievously, "Every time the knights lose a battle, they say that they lured the enemy into deep."

The old bishops and elders who had followed from the Gulag all smiled and nodded.

"Brother Coleman, why are you laughing?" Jourdan asked Coleman quietly.

Coleman grinned and described his past experiences vividly.

The other elders added to the discussion while telling the latest jokes about the Holy See.

Seeing that the topic of discussion was gradually going off track, Armand quickly stepped forward to maintain order: "Don't discuss irrelevant topics. Let's talk about these after the meeting."

Bringing the topic back to the topic, Horn coughed, and the entire meeting room immediately fell silent. "We have to move our front line forward," Horn said bluntly, "If we passively take a beating, we will lose the strategic initiative. Our new regime is not stable yet, and we can't afford to waste time with them."

"We have to fight anyway." Hakuto agreed, "Even if we lure the enemy deep into our territory, we can still set up strongholds and fight a static battle, advancing step by step.

Jinhe Township is surrounded by Kasha County to the west, North County to the east, and Black Snake Bay to the south. They are all our people, so they are the ones who should be anxious. "

Despite being surrounded on all sides, Horn could foresee that they would not be able to spare the time to cooperate with his offense.

Black Snake Bay was blocked by the Red Copper Fortress. The Knights of North County focused their main energy on attacking Mound County. The Knights of Kasha County were reluctant to take any risks, so Horn had to do it alone in the end.

He even had to pay attention to the church knights who came to attack from River County.

Every time he thought about the situation, Horn felt inexplicably tired.

Why is it that one of the subordinates and allies is always a bug?

"My suggestion is to advance twenty miles." Horn stretched out his hand and tapped heavily on the map, "Push the front line to Heitao Town. The distance to transport grain is not far."

"And what about the transportation of provisions?" asked Madeleine, raising her hand. "We are short of money, and must use it sparingly."

"First, issue war bonds, raise funds from citizens, and use the money to hire civilians." Horn drew circles on several monasteries on the map with a charcoal pencil, and "seize several monasteries and castles near Heitao Town, auction off their real estate and franchises, and only allow them to be purchased with bonds.

Sissi, you have to work harder and stay up late with Saint-Cutting to do actuarial calculations and cost accounting for specific jihad bonds.

You can invite some friendly wealthy businessmen, such as the widow and Witt's grandfather, to serve as consultants and have them discuss the matter together."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Sissi immediately stood up and saluted.

"Okay, what are your opinions? If you disagree, you can speak up now." Unlike during the Gulag, Horn now asked this question sincerely.

"Agree!"

"I agree."

"Great, let's do it!"

After a concise and efficient meeting, the legion commander, bishop and other senior officials quickly returned to their posts and began preparing for war.

By the next morning, the notices that had been printed by the Ministry of Truth were carried in the arms of patrolling monks and gendarmerie cavalry and headed towards the villages in all directions.

As the morning dew dripped, the farmers who had just gone out saw the gendarmes rushing over.

While carrying small buckets and brushing the notice board, the gendarmes loudly read the notice of "The Great Trial of the Heretic Devils and Nobles of Jinhe Township".

"Dear fellow believers, countrymen, citizens, and all followers of justice,
Today, we stand at the crossroads of history, facing a grim reality - the nobles of Jinhe Township, those who claim to be the guardians of noble blood, are actually heretical devils who have betrayed their faith and their believers.

Their actions are intended to make us return to the precarious lives of the past and put us back in the shackles of being citizens!"

The townspeople of Grayfurnace looked up, looking at the passionate wandering monk with worry and fear.

"...In the past few days, these so-called nobles, using their extraordinary knights and squire knights, have mercilessly attacked our homeland.

They burned our wheat fields, destroyed our homes, and took the lives of our loved ones. Their actions were so cruel that they were outrageous.

However, they were not satisfied with this. Their ambition and greed were like an abyss, bottomless.

We can no longer sit idly by and allow these heretical demons to continue to wreak havoc on our land.

Now is the time for us to unite and in the name of the Holy Trinity, I will judge them for the last time!"

After reading this, Grosien, the centurion of the Laso Hundred Household District, was so excited that his voice was distorted.

“…Here, in the name of the Papal State, the sinner Horn calls upon all devout believers:

Gather your strength, whether it is sword and shield, or faith and courage, they will be the sharp blades for us to judge heretics.

We will organize a righteous army and launch a great trial against the heretical demons in Jinhe Township in the name of holy war.

This is not only a jihad to defend our beliefs and values, but also a jihad to avenge our former relatives and friends, and even more a jihad to protect our homeland!

May the light of the Holy Father illuminate your path, my dearest believers!"

(End of this chapter)