NOVEL NEXT Chapter 265: Has Count Enrico Been Retrieved?
The group led by Count Enrico, who had been ensnared by the devil's influence, was relentlessly pursued from the evening of the 22nd to the midday of the 23rd before barely reaching the outskirts of Gray Furnace Town.
Perhaps it was proximity to Gray Furnace Town that finally made those despicable cavalrymen, blowing the devil's wind, cease their pursuit.
After confirming this, Count Enrico immediately announced, "Push on, let's hold on a little longer, and we'll reach Gray Furnace Town."
"Yes."
"Oh."
What responded to him were weak and scattered replies, whereas in the past, Enrico would have flown into a rage, accusing the knights of rudeness.
But now he was too exhausted to even muster the thought of anger.
They had been harried by those despicable cavalrymen all night long; these peasant-formed cavalry never engaged directly, always appearing from unexpected places.
In the dead of night, they would beat drums and even launch night assaults, forcing the knights to remain sleepless throughout the night.
Count Enrico, with dark circles under his eyes, swayed on horseback as if his bones had come apart, his throat so parched it was ready to smoke.
Initially, they had set out with a hundred Extraordinary Knights leading an army of over a thousand; now, on their return, less than thirty Extraordinary Knights remained, most of the Public Register Farmers who had accompanied them were gone, and only half of the Armed Farmers were still following them.
Most importantly, in a prior attack, Bernardo had disappeared, causing unease in Enrico's heart.
Had he truly been too disappointed and left early? Should he report the true situation to those at Joan of Arc Castle?
Heavens, he hadn't figured out how to explain to Lord Bo Ao Lie, and now he had to think of excuses for the old grandmother?
The early spring sunlight carried a hint of chill, and despite being fully dressed, Count Enrico couldn't shake the cold that seeped from his spine into his brain.
Around two in the afternoon, the church tower of Gray Furnace Town finally appeared in the fleeing knights' line of sight.
Count Enrico ordered a halt, resting for fifteen minutes to tidy up their attire and perform simple cleaning.
"Send a few attendants to inform the Town Mayor and bring some clean clothes."
He couldn't walk back in such a dejected state.
Kneeling by the river, as Count Enrico splashed water on his face, he almost plunged into the water from exhaustion.
Looking down at his own disheveled reflection in the water, Enrico chuckled self-mockingly.
He couldn't undo past failures, but at the very least, he had to ensure they did not escalate into even greater failures.
Anyway, he was a Count, with the protection of the old grandmother, which meant the Alco Clan would protect him too, albeit the Church's prospects and opportunities had diminished somewhat.
Having made his final decision, Enrico couldn't help but miss Bernardo.
"If only Bernardo were still here, at least I'd know how to write an appropriate report." Shaking the water from his hands, Enrico mumbled with his head down.
"Lord Enrico!"
A loud shout, coming closer from afar, startled Enrico out of his thoughts. He lifted his head blankly, seeing it was the messenger he had sent to inform the Town Mayor of Gray Furnace Town earlier.
"Lord Enrico, I, I saw, I saw..."
"What did you see? Speak." An ominous feeling rose in his heart, and Enrico snapped sharply.
The messenger swallowed hard, "I saw a black and red flag flying atop the church tower of Gray Furnace Town."
The orderly marching steps echoed again, along with the creaky sound of gears turning.
The soldiers sat on the ground, unable to stand, having been herded like sheep by the Cuirassier Cavalry throughout the night, collapsing and unable to further stand on their legs.
Once again, those black-clad devils appeared from the hillside and horizon, aiming their dark gun barrels at them.
To the left, to the right, and ahead, were all black-clad soldiers and dense long spears, while the rear was a river.
They were surrounded here.
Only then did Enrico realize that while Jeanne had been leading them in circles, the Salvation Army had marched swiftly and launched a night assault, capturing Gray Furnace Town before he could return.
Enrico's face instantly turned ashen.
Gray Furnace Town had fallen, and his minor defeat had turned into a major one, and now surrounded here, the major defeat was a disastrous one.
"Lord Count, let us surrender." Ariankco leaned over and whispered in Enrico's ear.
"Surrender?"
Enrico instinctively echoed.
"Yes." Ariankco pointed ahead, "They're shouting 'Lay down your arms and we'll spare you.'
"We are knights, should we surrender to peasants and commoners?" Enrico pointed at those black-clad soldiers, "Will they really keep their word?"
"No, my lord, listen carefully, isn't that Nikol shouting? He's been captured."
"But we are aristocracy."
"We are aristocracy, but we were under the devil's control, there's no choice."
As if meeting Ariankco for the first time, Enrico stared at his face, which responded with a sheepish smile to Enrico's gaze.
"No, no..."
"Are you saying no?"
"No!" Realizing he had reached a dead end, Count Enrico shouted loudly.
Though he was a noble, he had pride, and he would never surrender or become a slave to commoners; that was his final line.
"My lord?"
In despair, Count Enrico threw off his cloak, turned around, and to everyone's shock, leapt towards the river behind him!
Water splashed as the icy water covered his ankles, shins, and knees, the cold seeping into his skin.
Finally, looking at the dark crowd on the other side, Enrico closed his eyes.
The honor of a knight cannot be trampled upon!
Farewell, world!
......
"Has Count Enrico been fished out?"
"He climbed out himself, saying the water was too cold." Handing a report to Horn, Armand couldn't help but laugh, "The stream only reached his thighs; it couldn't drown him no matter what."
Horn couldn't help but laugh too as he looked down at the list in his hands, a list of spoils and acquisitions.
As the local villagers' reports had suggested, Gray Furnace Town indeed stored a large amount of armor and weapons.
First were 523 armed swords, which, after filling the gap for the Holy Gunmen's armed swords, could still equip the Long Spearmen with a portion.
Next were 1200 brim hats, an order under the Mercenary Corps' Death Squad, now completely in Horn's hands.
In the previous battle, those arrows caused significant damage to the Salvation Army, with about twenty people getting shot in the forehead and killed.
However, compared to the armed farmers' militia, the falling and casualties of comrades wouldn't stop the War Monks.
With these brim hats, at least over half of the Salvation Army had helmets to protect against arrows.
What delighted Horn the most was that the Church had purchased 1000 infantry-specific cuirasses from Norn, which were also stockpiled in Gray Furnace Town.
Adding to the weapons and equipment stripped from armed farmer infantry and knights, Horn now had nearly 1800 high-quality cuirasses and 500 sets of various leather armors.
With such re-equipment, the armor rate of the Salvation Army was as high as 52%, with nearly every Long Spearman having a set of armor.
The rest of the spoils were countless, filling the carts to the brim.
Sitting in the second-floor study of the lord's hall in Gray Furnace Town, he looked out the window.
After a day and night of marching and fighting, the War Monks were so exhausted that they lay directly on the ground to sleep.
In such exhaustion, they didn't forcibly break into civilian homes but instead extorted some hay and bedding to sleep under the eaves.
Yet even now, Horn saw some War Monks, with money bags in hand, heading towards the tavern and the alleys frequented by Liu Ying.
Horn knew that these Salvation Army soldiers didn't have such strong beliefs.
But at least they didn't rob or insult women, and whether for food or other activities, they didn't do it for free.
The Saint Father's Association had labored through the winter to achieve this level, but Horn knew they had tried their best.
They still lacked talent too much.
"Have all the spoils been handed over?"
"They've all been handed over proportionally, the service soldiers and accountants have completed the inventory."
Although it was said that the acquisitions were to be handed to the public, the War Monks didn't have such moral quality and education.
Such matters were better eased than blocked, so Horn simply opened up about it.
For private property left by knights and knight families on the battlefield, Horn adopted a strategy of dividing it three ways.
Even though they had to hand over acquisitions to the public, 30% of the spoils were kept by the War Monks themselves, 20% stayed with the corps as corps funds, and 50% were handed over to the Holy Treasury.
It had to be said, after two days of raiding and battles, the Salvation Army had gained plentifully.
Horn calculated the spoils obtained, excluding bonds and land deeds, amounting to about 3000 gold pounds.
With just a few monasteries and manors, these entrenched nobles and priests were really wealthy.
But why should they take these funds from the Holy Father?
Only when held by Horn, the rightful heir of the Holy Father, could they be considered returned to their rightful owner!
"After the Black Hat Army's Third Corps and Imperial Guard's Second Corps complete their rest, each shall lead their troops to eradicate monasteries and manors.
Have the War Monks from Joan of Arc Castle go out and show people in each village the knight helmets we acquired.
Tell them not to worry, tell them we have come as promised."