Chapter 77 The journey starts!
Lying in the bedroom, Horn was somewhat absent-minded.

Horn slept in this room for almost a month.

To be honest, he was quite familiar with it, the cross-shaped windows, the vine-patterned carpet on the floor, the walnut chairs and desks.

It was here that he planned the famous coup d'etat, and it was also here that he was welcomed out to take office as Pope.

This small room has witnessed too many critical moments of the Papal States and is filled with the long and rich history of the Papal States.

"Papa, are we really leaving?" Carrie rubbed her head on Horn's arm.

Horn did not pull his arm away this time, but stroked Carrie's thin white hair: "Yes."

"I kind of miss this place. When can we come back?"

"I don't know. Maybe I won't come back again."

Yes, after completing this arduous 500-mile journey, we will reach the territory of Danai, Duke of Kush.

There, he might ask for a position under the Duke, or hide in Black Snake Bay for another two years, or go directly to Norn for refuge.

This small monastery will fall back into the hands of the church. The only difference is probably that...

No, it won't make any difference.

Before Horn could come out of his memories, the bedroom door slammed open.

"Jeanne, what are you doing here so late?"

Without thinking twice, Jeanne lay down next to Horn, covered herself with the quilt, and turned her back to him.

"I'll sleep at your place so we can go together tomorrow."

Isn't your bedroom just a few steps away from mine?

Horn turned his head and saw Jeanna's small ears sticking out from her black hair in the moonlight.

The earlobe with fine hairs is now stained with a clear red blush.

Horn reached out and stroked the shell of her ear.

The pale pink capillaries burned directly, like bright red.

Horn laughed.

However, after seeing that Jeanne's hair was turning slightly golden, Horn was no longer happy.

He quickly withdrew his hand.

With a fake cough, Horn asked seriously, "How is my bronze bow going?"

"The bow arm has been made. If Sister Sissi hadn't brought a full twenty pounds of mountain copper to sell, you might not have been able to make this long bow."

Mountain copper is called mountain copper only because it looks like red copper. Its essence is still steel, also known as Orichalcum steel.

Due to its special properties, mountain copper can only be cast and cannot be forged.

Is this the right major?

"Jeanne, we're leaving tomorrow. Are you afraid?"

"Don't be afraid. As long as you stay with me, I won't be afraid."

But after this journey, I will leave you, Jeanne. What will you do then?
"Do you want to follow me all the time?"

"It's my duty to follow you, because you are my brother..." Jeanne half-turned her body, raised her head, and suddenly said loudly, "...and my fiancé!"

"Hmph." Carrie snorted, "Yours?"

"Okay, I'm sleepy. Stop talking and disturbing my sleep." Horn quickly stretched his legs and closed his eyes.

The next day, October 1444, 10 of the Imperial Calendar, was the slope where Horn and Durdafer had fought a thrilling battle.

Among the distant mountains, the corners of the red sun are faintly visible.

The black hooded cloak formed a mass of black mist, and all kinds of miscellaneous items were tied to the tattered thin straps.

Patchwork bags danced in the wind. Many villagers carried large and small bags and held a broken pottery bowl for eating in their hands.

Since this section of the road is uphill, in order to save energy, each of them took a stick for support.

When he stood in front of this group of people, holding the Pope's scepter, Horn touched the four cloth bags around his waist, and his heroic spirit and momentum instantly plummeted.

"Djeshka, Busak, is everything arranged?"

"It's all arranged, Your Majesty."

Following Jeshka's suggestion, Horn divided the country's army into two teams, front and back.

After all, the road was so narrow that 1200 of them certainly couldn't march across in a large formation.

At the head of each team was a division of the Guards. The three brigades formed three straight lines and walked in the front, following behind Jeanne who was holding the Holy Grail flag.

On both sides and at the end, there were two brigades of Black Caps, responsible for providing cover and guarding the rear.

In addition, there were the Children's Army, the Cheka, some villagers and the Guards responsible for reconnaissance and collecting along the way. The rest of the people followed the chariots.

The chariots were loaded with all the supplies for the long journey, including nearly 2000 gallons of grain and dried fish and meat, 800 yards of coarse tweed cloth, 400 yards of fine tweed cloth, 500 pounds of salt, 600 pounds of iron ingots, 150 pounds of refined iron, and 150 pounds of various dyes and medicinal materials.

There were also many livestock such as chickens, pigs and sheep, which were also driven along the sides of the carriage.

These ten tanks have been converted into armored fighting vehicles at the suggestion of Jeshka.

The main modification is the addition of removable high-fiber composite armor made of leather and oak boards on one side of the truck bed.

You know, whether it is the first 150 miles of mountain roads or the last 300 miles of forest and swamp roads, there are a lot of dangers.

When walking on the forest road, you will be attacked by giant spiders in the forest, and when walking through the swamp, you will be attacked by local savages and beastmen.

Whether it is the forest path or the swamp path, you will be attacked by monsters.

During this trip, Horn decided to use the car-barrier tactic.

When in danger, the carts can be placed in a circle to form a small fortress.

In addition, allowing family members to mix with soldiers when the army is marching is an initiative that has a great impact on combat effectiveness.

Therefore, Horn specially implemented a system of separating soldiers and civilians into separate camps.

He divided the entire Papal States into male camps and female camps. Of course, this does not mean that the female camp was entirely composed of women.

The women's camp is a family camp, mostly composed of the elderly, women, children and men who are unable to fight.

During the march, unless there is a major incident, no contact is allowed, and they can only meet during dinner.

If you have family matters to deal with, you can apply to the brigade commander, but you cannot apply twice in five days.

When the entire Papal States, with 1182 people, stood in a long queue that stretched for centimeters,

Only by standing in front of them can you experience that sense of shock.

When the first rays of morning sun fell on Horn's face, he could not think of anything else that could inspire these high-spirited citizens.

"Gentlemen, set off!"

At Horn's command, a crowd of nearly 1,200 villagers, leaning on crutches and driving carriages, marched forward in a disorderly manner under the guidance of scouts.

After these days of exposure to the sun, although there are still some muddy sections on the dirt road, it is no longer as difficult to walk on as before.

Some small roads and bridges were gradually repaired by the surrounding villagers or small landlords and nobles.

Looking around, the bald yellow mountains have recovered from the flood, and the green hills are sucking the fertilizer brought by the flood, becoming even greener.

White irises sway along the banks of the Honey River, and the circling thrushes are reflected in the river, as if swimming in the sky.

"Eighty acres of good farmland, and a gentle and kind in-law..."

The villagers walked with unsteady steps, supported by crutches and dragging their feet.

Sometimes they sang dreams of heaven, and sometimes they sang songs of thanksgiving.

The singing voices echoed in the air, occasionally stirring up a few figures from the rolling hills on both sides.

But most of them retreated after seeing Horn's strict formation and the terrifying number of people and weapons.

Even the bandit knights who made a living by robbing would avoid Horn when they saw the banner of Barniforth.

Even some vagrants and refugees from the countryside tried to join them, but Horn did not take them in.

On the contrary, monks from the Ministry of Truth such as Armand would give them some potato roots and teach them how to wash them.

The army of the Papal States left, but they left behind the way of eating potato roots, jokes about the Holy See and the beautiful dream of heaven.

Going up along the Honey River, further ahead is the Holy Grail Mountain, Horn’s hometown.

Instead of continuing forward, they turned a corner, went around the Holy Grail Mountain, and headed further east.

As we went further east, there were fewer fields on both sides of the road, and fewer knights and peasants looking out.

Correspondingly, the mountains are getting higher and higher, and the slopes underfoot are getting steeper and steeper.

By the evening, Horn was surprised to find that, as expected, the citizens had unexpected surprises - they had no surprises at all.

Although the journey was chaotic and they looked like a group of migrating beggars, they actually arrived at the campsite.

Only ten men fell behind, two broke their legs, and one was missing.

Even arriving early.

As the sun sets, villagers gradually walk into the campsite and begin to build tents and huts with canvas, grass leaves and branches.

"This really surprises me." Sissi looked at the villagers walking around and couldn't help sighing, "I was ready to set up camp on the road."

To Sissi's exclamation, Horn could only reply, "Step and pray, boy."

(End of this chapter)