When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#215 - The concept of spring-gun cavalry

Learning cavalry tactics was Jeanne's own idea, though Pope Honorius's opinion was also important.

Honorius figured that Jeanne would likely command the three cavalry divisions, roughly 150 riders, in the Salvation Army.

Jeanne already possessed a considerable understanding of cavalry warfare and had systematically studied individual cavalry combat techniques under Danji.

In terms of understanding cavalry, probably no one in Honorius's Salvation Army leadership could surpass Jeanne.

Confronting knights, especially heavily armored shock cavalry, couldn't be solved simply by Honorius opening and closing his mouth and using Holy Riflemen infantry.

Before the invention of the Maxim gun, warhorses were definitely important tools of war, and even after Honorius advanced to the technology of repeating rifles, their tactical importance didn't diminish much.

The knights are the enemy, but that doesn't mean all knights are enemies, nor does it mean that cavalry or warhorses are the enemy.

Ultimately, objective facts must be respected.

Honorius insisted on clearing out the horse farms of Joan's Fort, bringing back nearly two hundred warhorses of various sizes, hoping that Jeanne could form a Holy Rifle Cavalry Corps.

In Honorius's homeland, after the invention of firearms, new cavalry types like pistol cavalry or firearm cavalry quickly emerged.

In the East, there were the Guan Ning Iron Cavalry using the three-eyed gun, and in the West, there were the German mercenary Black Riders using wheellock pistols.

However, the pistol cavalry's half-wheel maneuver was heavily criticized because, during the maneuver, cavalrymen often turned the return movement into a retreat, and the gaps in the rotation easily exposed vulnerabilities to infantry counterattacks.

So later on, those cuirassiers using pistols mostly employed tactics where they fired two shots before the enemy lines and then charged into the enemy ranks wielding cavalry sabers.

Combining the combat examples seen in this world, in Honorius's personal view, the failure of the half-wheel maneuver was essentially a misunderstanding of the role of firearms tactics, treating firearm cavalry as projectile cavalry.

If cavalry and infantry were divided according to tactical function, they could be classified into two types: shock and projectile.

Simply put, shock involves charging into enemy ranks for close combat, serving as assault and breakthrough, while projectile involves shooting arrows or javelins for ranged attacks, serving as harassment and luring.

For example, the Mongol's Mangudai tactic involved projectile cavalry luring the enemy, shock cavalry breaking through the lines, projectile cavalry pursuing and luring again, shock cavalry breaking through again, and so on, with auxiliary infantry cleaning up the battlefield.

Although firearms or repeating rifles appear to be projectile weapons, they are essentially shock weapons.

In Honorius's eyes, a repeating rifle is not like a bow and arrow, but rather a fifty-meter or even nearly a hundred-meter extendable spear.

For cavalry, due to the bumps of fighting on horseback, it might be a twenty-meter lance.

Whether infantry or cavalry wielding repeating rifles, they all serve a shock function, because the main purpose of repeating rifles is still to break through enemy lines.

So, for the horse grooms led by Jeanne, they were familiar with riding horses but not with cavalry techniques.

But that's okay, if skills aren't enough, length can compensate. If they can't charge infantry, can't they charge cavalry?

Two short rifles per person are equivalent to two twenty-meter disposable lances.

Among the Empire Knights with supernatural powers, even the longest Empire hollow lance is only nine and a half meters.

Friends who often duel know how enjoyable it is for long-range fighters to attack short-range fighters.

"Compile all this information and write a cavalry manual. Can you do it?" Honorius asked, meeting with Jeanne in his spare time, looking at the rough notes in his hand.

"I can, but I need to learn more characters first."

"Alright, then don't doze off in literacy class next time."

Jeanne's face flushed slightly, and she snatched back the notebook: "I don't need you to tell me. I just chatted with Sylviane a little longer that day and went to bed a little late, that's why I was tired."

In just a few days, Jeanne and Sylviane were already sleeping in the same bed. How did a bookworm and an athlete get together, and so harmoniously?

After arranging things with Jeanne, Honorius took a nap and, according to the prior agreement, headed towards the Sacred Father Society's stronghold.

The so-called stronghold was actually just a domus courtyard, a residence specifically allocated to the Sacred Father Society by Honorius.

Turning a corner in front of the semicircular theater, after these days of repairs, although the roads were still bumpy, the garbage, large stones, and weeds were gone.

This ruin, which had been silent for hundreds of years, once again welcomed the breath of humanity. Looking ahead along the avenue, everywhere were people building houses and cleaning up garbage.

Young children were either helping their parents carry building materials and stones, or running wildly through the streets and alleys, occasionally picking up some ancient El Empire utensils.

Honorius issued a decree that people should build their own houses, so the eighteen districts currently designated were basically built by the eighteen centurions themselves.

However, after the first three districts were barely repaired, Honorius wouldn't let the idle young men of the Papal States remain idle. Instead, he had them continue to help those who came later build houses.

In this way, the construction speed of Autumn Dusk Island Town would become faster and faster. There were still more than two weeks before it snowed, which should be enough time.

But looking at these noisy children running all over the streets, Honorius stroked his chin.

Should he gather them together and set up a preschool class first? Anyway, those registrars have nothing to do after registering the population. He couldn't let them waste their salaries.

With thoughts of preschool in mind, Honorius stepped into the small courtyard serving as the Sacred Father Society's residence.

The small courtyard was not large, and there were traces of cleaning on the walls and ground. About thirty people were sitting in the middle of the courtyard. Seeing Honorius arrive, they stood up anxiously to greet him.

"Sit down, sit down, all sit down." Honorius smiled and gestured for them to sit down, and then came to a prepared velvet-cushioned chair.

But Honorius did not sit on the velvet-cushioned chair. Instead, he pulled over a hard bench from the other side and sat down.

The members of the Sacred Father Society present were both excited and respectful. After the collapse of their faith, the savior who filled their spiritual world with hope was none other than this hero from Thousand River Valley.

They had personally witnessed His Holiness the Pope taking the lead, carrying a Holy Rifle, and striking the knights.

Honorius looked around at these Sacred Father Society monks. Surprisingly, many of them were low-level wandering priests or monastery monks from the church.

They were also from Thousand River Valley, but as lower-level intellectuals, they also suffered oppression from the upper-class nobles.

"Has Papa come to accept our allegiance?" Thomas, who was thirty years old, asked eighteen-year-old Honorius impatiently.

The Sacred Father Society has been working to develop members and maintain order among them, uniting the citizens of the Papal States from a moral standpoint to resist foreign enemies.

However, these activities were, to some extent, a secret society, and since ancient times, secret societies have been targets of official suppression.

They believed that they were clearly doing good deeds, but they had to do it secretly, which was really unpleasant.

It would be great if the Sacred Father Society became an official organization.

"No." Honorius glanced at the people in the room and, meeting their blank and surprised expressions, he said loudly, "You should be loyal to the truth, like me, not loyal to me.

If you represent the truth, I will naturally join you. If you do not represent the truth, then I will abolish you!"