chsdbacks #284 - Received 500,000 dinars from the church
#284 - Received 500,000 dinars from the church
Pale sunlight pierced through the black mountain, drawing out steaming moisture from the soil.
Dense, viscous black smoke mingled with the sunlight, rising from the remains of a half-destroyed cartwheel, carrying the scent of rust and charred coal.
The corpse collector urged his horse-drawn cart forward, tossing heavy bodies into the wagon bed.
The creaking of the turning wheel spokes harmonized with the cawing of crows perched on the corpses, pecking at decaying flesh.
Occasionally, a bump from a rock would cause a body to jolt violently, sometimes even tumbling off the cart.
Before the castle nestled within the mountains, the ground was littered with shattered arrows and iron shards.
Standing on the hillside, Besser, his arm in a sling, chewed on a blade of grass, staring blankly at the ravaged aftermath of the battle.
"What are you looking at?" Lannes asked, approaching with his forehead bandaged, leading his horse.
"I still can't believe it… we actually defeated the Edict Knights."
Lannes punched Besser in the chest: "Stop being so sentimental, are you trying to be a poet?"
"Can't you see I'm injured? Stop hitting me."
Lannes and Besser were rare non-Mountain Knight officers in the Coldspring Fortress army.
Lannes came from a family of horse grooms; before joining the army, he was an apprentice to a cloth dyer.
After the Great Flood, the merchant threw him out. He first became a chariot soldier, then a swordsman, and was promoted to Mountain Knight sergeant for his bravery in battle.
Besser was slightly better off, born into a relatively wealthy barber's family. He became a foot soldier attendant to a Mountain Knight.
However, this Mountain Knight died in battle, and by a twist of fate, Besser took his place, fighting his way to the position of cavalry captain.
With similar backgrounds and both being Upper Riverlanders, they naturally became friends.
"Yesterday's battle was too dangerous," Besser said, sitting under a linden tree, stroking the damp grass, watching Lannes tie his horse to a post.
Besser plopped down next to Lannes, picked up a potato root wine, and took a sip: "If it weren't for Your Highness leading the Gray Knights to break through the enemy lines and capture that so-called Silver Tongue Knight, we'd probably still be on the run."
Recalling yesterday's scene, both of them sighed deeply.
Around the end of February, the Silver Tongue Knight, Alman, arrived at Longspike Fortress with two Edict Knight companies.
After a stalemate of more than ten days, the Silver Tongue Knight, whose patience had been exhausted by the wagon forts and longbowmen, finally couldn't bear it any longer and launched an assault with his two Edict Knight companies.
The iron-walled wagon forts were immediately overturned by the charging Edict Knights.
Although Melia Tee's improved Dunghill phalanx was an all-armor infantry unit with an over 80% transcendent rate, they still couldn't withstand the Edict Knights' powerful charge and stamina.
They continuously changed horses, charging back and forth nearly twenty times, from morning to afternoon, forcefully breaking down the Mountain Knights' willpower.
With 20 of their own killed and nearly 30 wounded, the two Edict Knight companies nearly collapsed the 6,000-strong Mountain Knight phalanx.
It was at this moment that Grand Duke Melia Tee personally led his guard cavalry to defeat the Silver Tongue Knight's troops and began pursuing the Silver Tongue Knight himself.
This action directly forced the other Edict Knight company, which had already run out of the phalanx range, to turn back and save him.
Taking this opportunity, the Coldspring Fortress officers, including Lannes, restabilized the phalanx formation and even began a counter-charge.
Led by three titled knights, the Mountain Knights began to counterattack, successfully defeating and crippling the two Edict Knight companies.
Unfortunately, the Silver Tongue Knight, Alman, managed to escape with two battered Edict Knight companies in the end.
"I heard we counted 92 Edict Knight corpses?"
"About that, 92 Edict Knights. Thinking that the Laya Kingdom has 4,200 Edict Knights makes my head spin."
"Our mountain roads are so narrow; 4,200 Edict Knights can't spread out," Lannes said, taking a swig of wine, trying to reassure him.
Besser spat out the blade of grass: "What should we do next? Advance or defend?"
"Next step?" Lannes looked up at the Longspike Fortress tower not far away, "That's for Your Highness Melia Tee to think about. We just follow orders."
Inside the Longspike Fortress tower, peering through the narrow window, a tall figure sat before a brazier emitting a dim red glow, reading a report.
Leaning back on a soft wolf-skin throne, the delicate, youthful face beneath the iron mask alternated between frowning and smiling.
It was a pity that no one could see this exquisite face.
"An entire Edict Knight company, wiped out."
Black Horse Knight Herman shook the report in his hand: "100 Edict Knights didn't escape. Only 10 banner knights escaped, and only 20-odd squire knights.
350 Royal Charter Knights were directly scared away. From February 20th to today, March 10th, Chastity Hold was captured in 20 days…
Honestly, I thought I was reading a joke book. That magic crossbow, we've used it before. How can it be so powerful?"
Intelligence Chief Philly shook his head: "The accuracy of the information cannot be verified in time, but at least the evidence sent from Rapid Current City is very clear. There are witnesses and physical evidence."
"It's unbelievable. A bunch of farmers…" Herman shook his head and placed the report on the table.
He still couldn't believe how much effort they had put in, how many years they had prepared, just to barely defeat two Edict Knight companies, and not even completely wipe them out, just defeat them.
Those farmers, from the uprising in September of last year to capturing half of the wealthy Langsand County today, it's only been half a year.
In the blink of an eye, those shamanistic, ragtag farmers had wiped out an Edict Knight company.
Even seven days earlier than Melia Tee, with greater results and wider spread, when people mention defeating the Edict Knights, the first impression is the Salvation Army instead.
Herman couldn't accept it.
Gray Horse Knight Wayne stared intently at Melia Tee's iron mask. He felt that Melia Tee was acting strangely today.
"In any case, he's on our side," Melia Tee sat up straight, put down the report, and the red pupils flashed with the flames of the brazier, "It's not a bad thing to cause some trouble for the church. Instead of thinking about other people's affairs, we should think about our own."
Hearing Melia Tee's statement, the Coldspring Fortress military and political leaders present stood up straight, waiting for Melia Tee to speak.
"Now our army has won a small victory, with over 300 killed and nearly a thousand seriously and lightly wounded. The situation is not too bad.
The enemy has lost half of its organization. Although they are unable to fight in the field, holding the High Fort City is not a problem."
Melia Tee stroked the golden skull scepter in her hand, her voice cold and indifferent.
"Now, if we want to revitalize the entire Thousand River Valley battle situation, we either break through Upper Riverland and join forces with Catherine of Rapid Current City, or break through Mound County and join forces with the two mountain counties to the south.
Otherwise, we will be isolated between the church's Upper Riverland County and Mound County, unable to draw all our strength, and will be exhausted by fighting on two fronts.
Continue to attack west, chasing the Edict Knights, or attack south to attack Mound County, let's all express our opinions."
"In my opinion…"
"Bullshit!"
"I haven't even said what it is yet? You're already talking nonsense? I think you took 500,000 Dinars from the church to find fault with everything!"
With her elbow propped on the armrest, Melia Tee turned her head and supported her cheek with her palm, watching and listening indifferently.
As evening approached, the stone room became increasingly cold. As Melia Tee listened, her mind wandered.
After this battle, the Salvation Army had completely made a name for itself and was completely on the church's list.
If it weren't for Rapid Current City standing in the front, I'm afraid the church's army would have been exasperated and dispatched, right?
Calculating the time, the Norse Knight I sent should have arrived. I originally thought of providing some help to Horn, but now it seems that it is not necessary.
Looking at the middle-aged and elderly men in front of her who were about to flick their tongues onto each other's faces, Melia Tee suddenly missed the clockwork little frog.
Completion Check: The entire Chinese text has been translated into English.
Length Comparison: The translated English text is of comparable length to the original Chinese text, ensuring no significant omissions.
Confirmation Statement: The translation is complete, accurate, and natural-sounding, with consistent character names throughout.