plumnovel #558 - Arrive at Suimi Town
#558 - Arrive at Suimi Town
The morning star of dawn dotted the dark blue sky, and behind the mountains and forests, a streak of orange-red light pierced the spring night, ushering in the dawn.
The golden-red sunlight fell on the Nauan River, illuminating a cloud of burning gold-like river mist.
"Splash—"
The sturdy barge cut through the rolling mist on the river.
Dense black and red flags, resembling a moving forest on the river, dragged dozens of barges in a long line, sailing on the wide waterway.
On the fishing boats along the riverbank, sparse fishermen shivered, mouths agape, watching the groups of soldiers standing like obsidian sculptures behind the ship's rails.
"Short, short-hairs?"
The young fisherman had barely spoken when his grandfather slapped him on the back of the head.
"These are the gentlemen of the Salvation Army. They'll be landing in town later, so watch your mouth."
Rubbing the back of his head, the young fisherman couldn't help but ask curiously, "These short, ahem, Salvation Army gentlemen, I heard from the priests that they are humanoid demons created by devils, capable of shooting lightning?"
"Raise your voice any louder, and you want the whole family hanged?" the white-bearded fisherman cursed through gritted teeth.
He had heard that these Salvation Army soldiers loved hanging and beheading people, even carrying gallows with them when they went on expeditions.
If they shouted here and were caught on the ship and hanged, it would be a great loss.
However, the Nauan River was more than two hundred meters wide, so the Salvation Army soldiers on the ship naturally couldn't hear what the two were saying.
Laurent stood at the bow, using the daylight to look at the map in his hand: "Can we reach Shattered Rice Town before noon?"
"Yes," the guide from Hotam County said with a smile, "Not just noon, we can reach Shattered Rice Town before the sun fully rises. We'll notify them in advance, so that when the Salvation Army gentlemen come ashore, they can have breakfast."
"Don't call them Salvation Army gentlemen, just call them fellow believers," Laurent felt extremely nauseous hearing the term 'gentlemen,' feeling uncomfortable all over.
The guide naturally followed his lead: "Yes, sir, fellow believer gentlemen."
Laurent was momentarily speechless, then waved his hand, telling the guide to go wherever was cool and stay there.
Looking at the spring reflections on the river, Laurent leaned on the ship's rail, the slightly chilly spring breeze blowing on his face, dispelling a lot of his anxiety.
At this moment, Laurent felt both joy and trepidation.
He had departed from Stillwater Dock three days ago, only going ashore once along the way to replenish supplies, otherwise either sitting on a boat or transferring.
Now that the destination, Shattered Rice Town, was close at hand, it would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous.
Behind him were fifty-two barges, carrying over 2,300 members of the 4th Black Crown Battle Group, including a hundred-man mage corps, more than a dozen fireball crossbows, and fifty time-bomb shells.
It should be known that time-bomb shells are difficult to manufacture and have extremely low production. Even if the alchemical workshops of the Holy See are running at full capacity, the current inventory is only about 170.
Laurent took away nearly a third of them in one go, which shows the importance of his mission.
He will act as the vanguard, landing in Shattered Rice Town ahead of everyone else to join forces with the local Holy Son Volunteers.
This matter seems simple, but the risk is actually not low.
Shattered Rice Town is on the periphery of Swiftwind Fortress, at the junction of the rebel forces of the nobility and the areas controlled by the Church.
Less than fifty miles away is Prince Condé's Edict Company camp outside Swiftwind Fortress.
From the Edict Company camp, it is another twenty miles to Swiftwind Fortress.
The distance from Shattered Rice Town to the Edict Company camp is a day's journey for the Salvation Army, but for the knights, it is half a day or even an hour.
The camp not only has thousands of servants and craftsmen, but also 1 Edict Company of 300 knights, more than 200 Temple Knights, and more than two thousand old friends—mercenaries, guards, and armored soldiers.
On March 1st, the Seventh and Eighth Armies of the Black Crown, which he led, captured Stillwater Dock and repelled two waves of counterattacks by the Deputy Fortress Knights.
On March 2nd, 4 Black Crown Legions came to support and completely defeated the main force of the Deputy Fortress Knights.
At noon on March 3rd, the first batch of barges and Miracle Priests arrived to provide support. They didn't even have time to rest before boarding the barges and going downstream.
Today is March 6th, and the second batch of 4 legions and cavalry will not arrive until the afternoon of March 8th, while the third batch of 4 legions and Guardian Corps will not arrive until March 9th.
This means that Laurent and the other three legion commanders must hold out in Shattered Rice Town for two days, and not let the Edict Company attack before they have a firm foothold.
The more than two thousand infantry are naturally not a concern. With the time-bomb shell, a magical artifact for clearing miscellaneous soldiers, they are destined to sleep peacefully during the charge.
The real difficulty lies in the more than 500 knights of the Edict Company and the Temple Knights.
Hotam County, Langsand County, or even Kaxia County are different. This is a flat plain with developed agriculture.
This means that there are no suitable forests or hills nearby, and Shattered Rice Town does not yet have city walls. They estimate they will have to fight the Edict Company on the vast plains.
They can't even build fortifications in the field, because they didn't bring much mortar.
Barge space is limited and needs to be used primarily to transport people and supplies, so there isn't much space to load mortar.
In order to buy time and prevent the Edict Company from reacting and occupying Shattered Rice Town as an excellent landing point, they must arrive in advance.
Once the news of their arrival today spreads, even if they react slowly, they will probably see traces of the Edict Company tomorrow morning or even this evening.
The most ⊥ new ⊥ small ⊥ say ⊥ is ⊥ in ⊥ six ⊥ 9 ⊥⊥ book ⊥⊥ bar ⊥⊥ first ⊥ hair!
To this end, the four legion commanders and four legion scribes held a meeting, and the final result was—
If there are no other accidents, then they will disperse all the residents of Shattered Rice Town and use Shattered Rice Town itself as favorable terrain.
"Legion Commander, Shattered Rice Town has arrived."
Laurent subconsciously raised his head, and then was stung by the nascent dawn, closing his eyes.
But after adapting, he saw rows of earth and wood structured houses, smoke rising into the sky along the towering chimneys.
The residents here like to decorate the walls with a kind of quartz sand. At first glance, the walls are actually shimmering like water.
It's a beautiful town.
The barge slowly sailed into the port in the light reflected from the walls.
Next to the port, enthusiastic townspeople lined up dozens of large pots, the fragrant aroma of freshly baked bread lingering in the soldiers' noses.
When Laurent disembarked, the other legion commanders of the Black Crown Corps were already standing on the dock, talking and laughing with Andrei, the leader of the local Holy Son Volunteers.
"Oh, is this Legion Commander Laurent? Indeed, he is a talented young commander!"
Seeing Laurent coming, Andrei naturally welcomed him with a hearty laugh.
But Laurent did not respond too enthusiastically. It was the first time they met, so how did he know he was "talented"?
After chatting casually for a few words, seeing that the other legion commanders had not mentioned using Shattered Rice Town as a battlefield.
Laurent could only sigh inwardly, it seemed he still had to play the bad guy.
Putting on a stern face, Laurent coughed to clear his throat, and the other 3 legion commanders tacitly stopped talking.
"Mr. Andrei, I have a word I must say, although it is embarrassing, but out of consideration for the war..."
"You want to use Shattered Rice Town as a battlefield?"
Laurent's words were stuck in his throat, but he still calmed down: "Yes, this is the result of our discussions. I'm afraid we have to do this."
The legion commanders, although helpless, could only echo in agreement.
"Actually, there's no need," Andrei interrupted Laurent's next words, "We made arrangements to meet you in Shattered Rice Town in advance, how could we not think about how to help you fight?"
"Do you have another way?" Laurent raised his chin slightly, looking at Andrei with some displeasure.
There was an undisguised mysterious smile on the corner of Andrei's mouth: "There are two leaders of the Holy Son Volunteers, why don't you ask where Valentine Tyler went?"