When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#159 - Raid the Armory

In the horse farm not far from the city, more than two hundred warhorses pawed the ground restlessly, startled by the intense flashes of light that had lit up the night sky just moments ago.

The fences of the horse farm were stained with blood, and the ground and walls of the buildings bore scorched marks from electric shocks.

Standing on the scorched ground, Jeanne leaned on her battle flag, gazing into the distance.

There, in the direction of the refugee camp, she could vaguely see the flickering flames leaping, and it seemed as if people were chanting in unison.

Jeanne narrowed her eyes with concern, wondering how things were going on Horn's side.

After bringing the refugees here, Horn had given her a mission: to raid the armory and horse farm left behind by Duke Kush's grandfather.

Although they numbered in the thousands, without sufficient arms and weapons, they would be no match for the city's nearly two thousand soldiers.

Therefore, they had to arm themselves first. Seizing the two hundred warhorses at the horse farm was only the first step. Their second step was to take the armory.

The weapons and armor there could equip at least half of the refugee army.

Slitting the throat of a guard soldier with a single stroke, Rudylow trotted to Jeanne's side. "Saintess, I've interrogated them and got the information."

Jeanne pulled herself out of her worries and asked in a deep voice, "What's the situation?"

According to what Rudylow had extracted from the soldiers, after years of tireless restoration by Danne, the filial grandson, the armory had lost not only weapons but also its formidable defenses.

But this didn't mean it was easy to attack. It was situated on a highland by the river beach, backed by the river and facing the plain.

The whole structure resembled a small sentry fortress, with square stone houses and rammed-earth walls that were said to have collapsed. Usually, cats, dogs, and even the Duke could wander in and out.

However, Danne could move other things, but he couldn't move the river and the moats.

If they raised the drawbridge of the armory, it would still be difficult to take it down in a short time.

"How many soldiers are there?"

"They said that the six knights from the armory came here earlier to take six warhorses for their squires to ride. Considering that the armory has thirty infantrymen and twelve knights, they currently have six knights and twenty-four infantrymen."

As Jeanne had expected, Duke Danne of Jeanneburg had been alarmed by the large-scale gathering of peasants outside the city.

Considering the previous peasant riots, they were likely to draw soldiers from the surrounding areas to protect the core of the Duchy of Kush—Jeanneburg.

Given Danne's cowardice, he would most likely be afraid of being ambushed and would only dare to suppress them after dawn.

This made the defenses around the facilities lax. Originally, there should have been at least twenty soldiers guarding this horse farm, but two-thirds of them had been transferred to Jeanneburg, which allowed Jeanne to pick up the slack with her child soldiers and Holy Gunners.

The situation at the armory should be similar.

Jeanne looked behind her. There were a total of 30 Holy Gunners and 40 refugee soldiers who could ride horses.

Due to the terrain, the Thousand River Valley area had always had the habit of plowing with horses, and there were quite a few people who could ride horses.

But as for the technical level of riding combat, it was quite questionable.

This didn't matter, because no matter what their technical level was, they wouldn't be better than the six extraordinary knights guarding the armory.

"All of you, get on your horses. We're going to the armory. Stay close."

Under the moonlight, the cloaks of seventy black-clad soldiers rippled with the horses' hooves. The Holy Gunners who could ride rode their own horses, and those who couldn't ride shared a ride with the refugee riders.

Jeanne took the lead, rushing to the front. She lowered her body and passed through the fields and streams.

It had to be said that today was a good day for night riding. The moonlight could illuminate all the roads ahead, and almost no soldiers fell behind or fell off their horses.

When they could vaguely see the armory from the gaps in the trees and bushes, Jeanne ordered the entire cavalry to stop.

Everyone dismounted and tied the horses' mouths with ropes to prevent them from neighing.

Leading the horses into the forest, after walking for a while, the armory in the moonlight was close at hand.

Interestingly, the Jeanneburg armory was not located near the noble castle or church as it normally would be, but outside the city.

This was because at the beginning of the establishment of Jeanneburg, the manor here was the Duke's residence.

In the pale moonlight, the square armory squatted in the delta formed by the moats and rivers.

It consisted of an outer rammed-earth wall and an inner square stone house. One corner of the rammed-earth wall, about three fa xun (6 meters) high, had already collapsed.

Along the drawbridge, beside the armory, there were also stables, houses, and vegetable fields, which should be where the guarding soldiers usually lived.

Even the unusual gathering of farmers hadn't alerted these soldiers. They were armed farmers who usually lived in the small village outside the armory.

Although they had entered the armory to guard it according to the contract, the drawbridge was still lying flat in front of the moat.

It wasn't that they were lazy, but the drawbridge's cables were already in a precarious state. If they broke it every day, they would have to pool money to pay for it.

If they rushed directly now, the six knights would most likely rush out to stop them, during which the soldiers inside would have enough time to raise the drawbridge.

With the drawbridge raised, the knights could easily ride away.

This situation was written in "Knight Siffral", but it was Siffral himself who decided to counterattack from inside the fortress.

Since "Knight Siffral" was adapted from the accounts of many real knights, in the same situation, the knights of the fortress would most likely take the same action.

After Jeanne's analysis, she found that a frontal assault was probably not going to work.

She could only take a gamble and try.

She turned her gaze to the Holy Gunners behind her: "I'll say it again, you only have one chance. No one is allowed to move until Das gives the order!"

"Understood."

"Das, remember, only when you can clearly see the enemy's nose are you allowed to shoot."

"Understood, Saintess," Das, the leader, nodded heavily.

"May Messilah bless you."

The soldier on the city wall who was yawning while standing night watch suddenly straightened up. He actually saw a group of refugees coming outside the armory.

"What's going on?"

The extraordinary knight Hollins, who was left behind, put the dice back in the dice cup and poked his head out of the doorway, only to see a strange scene.

A group of refugees, who came from nowhere, were walking hazily towards the armory. They were wearing black cloaks, which were classic short-haired thief attire.

Most importantly, they were actually holding the classic flag of the short-haired—the black and red flag.

The Thousand River Valley relied on catching short-hairs to extort civilians. The most common way was to catch those wearing black cloaks or black and red clothes.

Hollins immediately became excited. Were the locals here to deliver heads?

Prince Condé's edict would arrive in two or three days. He was left here and couldn't get the military merits of attacking the short-hairs and suppressing the peasants, but he never expected that the refugees would deliver the goods to his door.

"Lord Hollins, let's go drive them away." A knight looked at the outside of the armory and saw that the refugees were actually approaching his villa. He couldn't hold back anymore.

His three fiancées were there!

Seeing that the refugees walked forward for a while and then stopped, seeming to have the intention of leaving, Hollins turned around to lead his horse.

"Let's go!"