When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#351 - Infrastructure construction of Jeanne d'Arc

Riding on Grape's back, Horn didn't head directly to Jeanne d'Arc Fortress along the main road from east to west. Instead, he detoured north, then south along the stream, finally reaching Jeanne d'Arc Fortress.

This wasn't because Horn wanted to relive the red maple forest he saw with Jeanne; he had no choice.

The dirt road from Mayor Town to Gray Furnace Town and then to Jeanne d'Arc Fortress was now being renovated into a mortar road under Horn's orders.

Reaching the edge of Jeanne d'Arc Fortress, Horn looked east and could still see laborers pushing wheelbarrows, jogging to transport building materials.

Most of them wore only vests to shield themselves from the sun, carrying baskets of dirt to pile on the roadside.

Former knight lords wore iron collars around their necks, wielding wooden hammers, and tirelessly compacted the foundation made of slag and ash, bit by bit.

Wooden templates, ankle-high, were erected on both sides of the road, and viscous mortar concrete flowed down from the edges onto the compacted roadbed.

This mortar road, after numerous wrestling matches in the Senate, was named Advance Avenue.

It transformed from a road with vague edges formed by fences and weeds into a mortar road with a roadbed width of 6.5 meters and a road surface width of 5 meters, wide enough for two carriages to travel side by side.

To get rich, build roads first.

Whether it was external trade with Nos for pork, timber, and stone, or internal rapid mobilization of troops and goods, a solid and convenient road was needed.

Moreover, after fighting with the Ibe Knights to the south, local carriages were largely used to transport supplies.

Now their trade with Kasha County had shrunk significantly, but the production capacity of Autumn Dusk Island's mortar workshop had been increasing.

To consume this production capacity, Horn had to engage in some large-scale construction projects, such as road and drainage system renovations, insula apartments for laborers, and the drainage and dam projects of South Ze Lake.

After the Holy Hoe Monastery, these projects were some of the few that could continue to absorb surplus labor.

However, Horn was also facing a significant problem: money was being spent too quickly.

With so many projects launched, the initial 100,000+ gold pounds had been spent down to just over 30,000 gold pounds by early June.

Later, some funds were raised through Holy War bonds and confiscation of property.

It would be best to defeat the Ibe Knights before August, otherwise, internal and external hidden dangers would emerge.

Rapid Stream City had been under siege for almost a month now, and Upper Riverford County in the north had initially fallen entirely into the hands of Moriarty.

But under the offensive of Prince Condé, they had now lost all but about half of it.

Time waits for no one; they had to quickly defeat the Ibe Knights, advance west to support Rapid Stream City, and then join forces to go north and support Moriarty.

However, that sand-sculpture knight was turtling and wouldn't come out. Apart from sending troops to harass, he hardly made any moves, which made Horn admire his strategic composure.

After watching for ten minutes under the scorching sun, Horn led the others, including a nearly heat-stroked Boussac, back to Holy Advent Hall.

After washing his face with cold water and sitting at his desk, he finally had time to pick up the report Boussac had brought and flip through it page by page.

The so-called Black Hat Army Recruitment Investigation Report mainly investigated the Black Hat Army's motives for joining, concerns, and understanding of the 'Holy Path Salvation Doctrine'.

As the saying goes, 'No investigation, no right to speak,' and Horn valued data and investigation reports highly.

As long as the charm of statistics didn't appear, data could very well reflect the objective state of things.

The survey results of the Black Hat Army's six legions, totaling over three thousand people, showed:

Over 1100 people, about 34%, enlisted for the Holy War of Exorcism, revenge, gratitude, and defending their homeland.

Over 1300 people, about 41%, enlisted for high wages, promotion, wealth, and the high status of war monks.

About 600 people, about 20%, enlisted because they had nowhere else to go, didn't want to work, wanted to reduce the burden on their families, or were angry with their families.

In addition, there were over 130 people, about 4%, who came to see the world, didn't know, were told to come by the church/knights/parents, or thought it would be fun.

An interesting point was that many of the new recruits in the Black Hat Army were former night guards who had served the knights.

They had basic military training and were more likely to pass the assessment than ordinary farmers, so the Salvation Army was actually a great mixture of new and old military forces.

According to the summary of the detailed investigation, it could be roughly summarized that most war monks did not actually understand what freedom, equality, and labor proposed by Horn meant.

To some extent, they were fighting for the Holy Grandson.

But from subsequent investigations, this did not prevent them from responding to simple and clear slogans and bursting out with great fighting enthusiasm.

Although this part of the fighting enthusiasm was basically from the former two groups of 2500+ people, using them as the backbone to drive the whole, the morale would not be low.

Harkuto had a note on the report, saying that he had never seen an army with such high morale, and as long as they could maintain the same morale, they would have a chance against transcendent knights.

I said before that the Black Hat Legion will continue to recruit two legions in Golden River Township after the war, and form the Black Hat Battle Group after completing eight legions.

Horn raised his head and said to Boussac in the room.

We are preparing to do so.

Boussac, who had changed his clothes, nodded in agreement.

You can assign a few more scribes to each battle group, and after the war, write the war history from the reports of the military law officers, the discussions of the quartermasters, and the results of the after-action reviews.

Horn picked up his pen and made two notes in his notebook.

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Let the new recruits entering the battle group know how many glorious achievements their battle group has achieved, and when they join, they can share this glory, but they must also jointly maintain this glory.

Yes, Your Majesty.

In addition, the Friars of the Holy Father Society can develop in the Black Hat Army. Don't be afraid. The Friars of the Holy Father Society and the Salvation Army are one.

Yes, Your Majesty.

After making four or five suggestions in a row, Horn instructed Boussac: You guys draft a specific plan for these matters and put it on the agenda for next week's meeting.

Yes, Your Majesty.

The administrative process of the Papal State's high-level officials has gradually become a routine. Whether things are feasible or not, the scarlet bishops who handle affairs on the front line can give opinions or suggestions.

After confirming with Boussac, Horn called René, who had been waiting.

What did those four wizards come for?

Horn walked around the table and leaned against the edge of the table, asking.

René didn't waste any words and directly took out two copies of transcribed letters and handed them to Horn.

Horn unfolded the first one suspiciously, and as soon as he read the beginning, he immediately knew that this was a private letter to Paslick.

After all, the letter began with To Paslick, an old friend I haven't seen in a long time: How have you been lately? My dearest Pani...

Realizing this, Horn closed the remaining copy and didn't read it again.

Since it's a private letter to Paslick, don't show it to me. Just give the original letter to him.

After saying that, Horn picked up the second letter and was about to unfold it, but stopped.

Wait...

René stopped and turned back, looking at Horn in confusion.

Horn leaned out and looked at the two sphinxes outside the door of Holy Advent Hall from the window, narrowing his eyes slightly.

I suddenly remembered that we don't seem to have anyone named Paslick here, do we? There's only someone named Chrispa.

Horn's tone was tinged with excitement.

How about this, you call Chrispa over. Maybe he will know who this is.