When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#544 - Spring counterattack?

February 18th, which according to the 1446 agricultural calendar, marks the beginning of spring, the first day of the season.

On this day, with the unanimous agreement of 55 high-ranking Huanuo sect monks, Martin Garvin became the new Abbot of the Blago Monastery.

After all, most of the influential figures of the Huanuo sect were in the dungeons of Shelley City. According to succession and seniority, it was Martin's turn to take the position.

But everyone knew in their hearts that the decisive factor was not the people on the voting seats, but the people in the audience.

As the high-ranking Huanuo sect monks wrote down their names, waiting for the votes to be counted, someone would always look up, stealing glances at the absent-minded Holy Grandson Horn in the audience.

He crossed his legs, zoning out with a blank expression, making it impossible for anyone to tell that this was the renowned War God Pope.

With the brewing and publicity over this period, the saying of the Twin Jewels of Thousand River Valley has been faintly circulating in Kasha County, including Lower Reifer County.

As for which twin jewels, it is naturally Moriarty and Horn.

The people of Kasha County have extremely complex feelings about these twin jewels.

On the one hand, the people of Kasha County realize that currently, only these two can guide victory and independence in Thousand River Valley, and both are from the Huanuo sect branch, who should have been their saviors.

But on the other hand, both of them are similarly radical.

Whether it is Moriarty's advocacy of monarchical dictatorship and military officer rule, or Horn's advocacy of theocracy and equal land distribution, both will harm the interests of their "orthodox Huanuo sect".

Many mischievous citizens find it ridiculous. Doesn't the Huanuo sect's proposal of public ownership of religious property harm the interests of the orthodox faction?

The orthodox faction feels that the Huanuo sect is too radical, while the Huanuo sect feels that the Holy Path sect and Moriarty are too radical.

It's just that the situation is stronger than people. No matter how dissatisfied the Huanuo sect is, they can't have opinions.

Given the current situation of Shelley City and most of Kasha County falling, they feel a lack of confidence no matter what they say.

Moreover, the Holy Grandson also has that terrifying Cheka and military police in his hands. For their own safety, they still have to put on a cautious quail appearance in front of the always smiling Horn.

When the high-ranking monks left the city hall of Little Pond City, as they turned their heads, they could still see the solitary figure of the young Pope.

In the moment before the door closed, many high-ranking monks vowed that they saw the new abbot kneeling to pledge allegiance to the Holy Grandson.

This is actually nonsense. The Salvation Army stopped doing the kneeling allegiance thing long ago.

"You tell me, how did a thirty-year-old monk like me become the Abbot of the Blago Monastery?" Martin asked Horn helplessly and troubledly, "I don't know how to govern a county."

"Don't worry, I'll help you."

This is the Salvation Army's internal allegiance ceremony.

Martin, relieved, sat opposite Horn: "You were absent-minded during the voting just now. What happened?"

"This morning, both the Hotam County insurgents and the Gray Horse Knights sent me an urgent letter." Horn rubbed his temples. "Three days ago, Prince Condé led nearly ten thousand troops and set off. Today, they should have besieged the Outpost Fortress."

"What?" Martin stared wide-eyed, took the letter from Horn's hand, and began to read it quickly.

After learning of this news, Horn had to admit that Rakunio was a tricky opponent.

The timing was too precise.

The Salvation Army has always only considered the Edict Legion as its opponent, and not Prince Condé as a major enemy.

As the war progressed and internal discussions took place, the Papal Cardinals had discovered that Prince Condé rarely had any plans or strategic thinking.

He always took things one step at a time, knowing how to fight to win, but not knowing what to fight for and why to fight.

So he always won, won, won, until he lost everything in the end.

When the old Pope Johnny VIII was still alive, he could still hide his nature and complete some well-known battles.

After the old Pope and Mizam both died, this imperial famous general, who had lost his advisors and shackles, began to make frequent blunders.

Perhaps the ancestors of the Goldenfinch family did not want to see their descendants sink into depravity, so they sent him this old commander Rakunio.

Although he was unknown, Horn thought he was much stronger than Prince Condé, or rather, he made up for Prince Condé's biggest shortcoming.

Martin quickly finished reading all the letters and asked worriedly: "Now that you've received the news, why not run away?"

Horn shook his head: "It's said to be a surprise attack, where can they run? Just because of our words, will they give up their offensive?

To be honest, after being raided by the Edict Legion, they can still escape into the castle to hide. This is probably Rakunio's intention, with the intention of besieging the city to strike at reinforcements.

As for these reinforcements, it is likely to be Moriarty, who is closer, rather than us.

Prince Condé is quite confident. He hopes to solve Moriarty first, and then turn around to annihilate the isolated and helpless us."

Horn understood Rakunio's plan, which was very simple.

The essence is to find a detachment to attack Kasha County to contain the Salvation Army, and then free up a hand to deal with Moriarty.

High-end wars often only require simple strategies, because the more complex the links, the greater the probability of errors.

Rakunio first requested reinforcements from the Thorns Garden, and then sent someone to assassinate Ludwig.

Taking advantage of the civil strife in Kasha County after Ludwig's death, he led the Thorns Garden army to kill in, forcing the Salvation Army's surplus forces to enter Kasha County for defense.

Although Horn was now certain of Prince Condé's whereabouts and could safely capture Kasha County, he could not participate in this decisive battle for the fate of Thousand River Valley.

It would take the Salvation Army more than half a month just to walk to Shelley City while capturing cities and fortresses, and it would probably take more than half a month or even longer to capture Shelley City.

This total time would be approaching a month and a half or even two months.

Finding the Black Snake Bay people and the Fran people to help is even more unreliable, and the time spent going back and forth is even longer.

By that time, it would be too late.

"Didn't the insurgents in Hotam County say that the Hotam County nobles had fallen out with Prince Condé? Can we make a fuss about this?" Martin asked, pointing to the content of the letter.

"It's difficult." Horn shook his head, his voice echoing in the empty council hall. "If the fence-sitters were willing to break with either side, would they still be called fence-sitters?

If Prince Condé had directly killed Count Galenon when he captured him, they would have been driven to desperation.

Although Galenon entering the army was a way to seek death, being openly hanged and dying accidentally on the battlefield are two different concepts.

They would at most dare to do some small, borderline actions. A real uprising? Unless hope is completely extinguished, they don't have the courage."

Horn couldn't cross the Stillwater Dock to the west, and was separated by the Deer Horn Township to the north.

Without the return of the Kasha County forces, they could not join forces to deal with Prince Condé.

If the Kasha County forces returned, then the South Naoan River defense line would be lost, and there would be a possibility of instability in the rear.

This was probably Rakunio's prediction of Horn's next actions.

Horn almost wanted to applaud him, but the only thing he missed was the Salvation Army's ability to recruit and dispatch troops.

The Protectorate Army might not be able to stop the knights led by Putzelio, but hindering their attack was more than enough.

Although this still failed to jump out of the shackles that Rakunio had designed for them, it added more room for maneuver.

"Martin, you have lived in Kasha County for many years. If we withdraw our troops, can the local Huanuo sect army in Kasha County alone deal with those homeland serfs?"

Martin showed an awkward smile. He coughed and wanted to say something, but held it back.

"Okay, I will order the recruitment of 2,000 Protectorate troops to fill the South Naoan defense line, and then leave two Black Crown Battalions to cooperate with the local army, which should be enough to resist Putzelio's offensive."

After such deployment, the remaining Guard Battalions could march north to attack Deer Horn Township.

Resolutely use up the remaining Red Dragon Breath, forcibly attack the castle regardless of manpower, and counting the marching time, it is expected to support the Outpost Fortress in three weeks.

Although the state must be very bad at that time, there is still Moriarty as an ally anyway.

Then the next questions are only two:

The first is whether the Salvation Army's progress in attacking Deer Horn Township can be faster than Putzelio's speed in attacking the South Naoan River.

The second is whether Moriarty can contain Prince Condé long enough until the Salvation Army arrives.

Horn couldn't help but sigh.

Plans can't keep up with changes, the good summer counter-offensive is now going to be brought forward to become a spring counter-offensive!