"Wait, I am the chief Knight of Countess Marika! You cannot..."

Before the Knight in the white embroidered robe could finish, a bolt of lightning struck him squarely on the forehead.

The electricity roasted his brain along the forehead and entered the ground through his spine, making the hairs of a few passing soldiers suddenly stand on end.

Walking past the upright, chief Knight, Jeanne's iron boots stepped onto the large stone steps, making a crisp sound.

This Tisen Town is the only way to Rapids City, with few residents, about six to seven hundred people, mainly living by hosting passing cargo ships.

Jeanne now stood on the stone platform at the Tisen Town dock, with a cool breeze from the Nao'an River lifting her black hair with a tinge of gold.

Amid the howling wind, she heard a peculiar chant.

From the homes lining the dock, the townspeople held their breath, observing the river through narrow window openings.

The setting sun dyed half of the Nao'an River water into glowing red silk, with the cedar-wood ship prow slicing through the white waves like a long blade in the red silk, raising splashing foam.

The cool water mist followed the foam up into the sky as the prow bobbed up and down, slowly approaching from the distance.

Cargo ship... cargo ship... still more cargo ships!

Oars rotated like centipede legs, with nearly a hundred ships crawling like a giant beast through the river channel.

The white sails pressed together, buoyed by the southern monsoon winds, pushed by an invisible hand toward the Tisen Town dock.

"Hey hey hey!"

With shouts, seven or eight iron anchors were pulled into the water by the sailors from Xiaochi City, swimming them forward.

Until they clambered onto the dock to wedge the person-sized anchors into the racks, wrapping the chains around them.

The chains made a clattering sound and then an ear-piercing creak.

The sails were drawn in, and the long ships gradually aligned with the dock, gently bumping against the underwater piles becoming stable.

A long plank extended from the ship's prow, bridging onto the dock.

In simple black half-cloak attire, Horn strolled out leisurely, looking no different from an ordinary young Priest.

If it weren't for the Long Spearman and Holy Gunman accompanying him.

"How's it looking?" Horn asked, looking around the sparsely populated town, "Any issues?"

"None, they did not foresee our coming," Jeanne said casually with her hands behind her back to Horn, "All twelve Knights slain, all thirty Guards captured."

"Are there any lookouts nearby?"

"The main roads have been blocked by the Cuirassiers and North Knights. Even if they escape through trails, the news won't spread faster than we do."

Jeanne did everything by the book, after Horn carefully inquired about a few more issues.

Horn couldn't help but marvel; when Jeanne was tasked with a math problem, she'd miss a number or a condition here and there, but in warfare, she naturally excelled, leaving nothing to chance.

Who could have imagined a Militia Captain's daughter could possess such military talent, seemingly born for war?

After arranging for accommodations, Horn stood on the dock, watching waves of War Monks disembark from the ships after a day's journey.

In batch after batch, as if endless.

Yet, this was only a little over six thousand men; another fleet was stationed downstream.

Tisen Town simply couldn't handle over ten thousand people; even six thousand was pushing it, so the fleet advanced in two groups.

This expedition was probably Pope Country's largest military force in years.

In infantry, there were eight Black Hat Legions of 4,250 men, four Imperial Guard Legions of 2,100 men, 2,000 Defensive Army, and 1,200 Xiaochi City troops, totaling 9,550 men.

In cavalry, there were 240 Holy Gun Cavalry, 350 Cuirassiers, 180 North Knights, 206 Kush Knights, and 120 Xiaochi City recruited cavalry, totaling 1,096 men.

Horn's entire army, including sailors, totaled over 11,000, essentially a full-scale mobilization of the Salvation Army from Langsande County and the Juanist Faction from Kasha County.

Once, in the Little Mud Pit battle, it was merely a few hundred men clashing, but now it's tenfold, if not a hundredfold greater.

This vast army, if traveling entirely by water, would need a full 180 small cargo ships or 65 large cargo ships.

Thanks to Jeanne's early defeat of the Noble Alliance Army, Xiaochi City gained a precious four days to gather ships and resources.

The river journey from Xiaochi City to Rapids City was roughly 230 kilometers.

Since it was an inland river trip, the ship's speed was about 5 knots, which equated to 9 kilometers per hour, allowing for 10 to 12 hours of travel a day.

If all went smoothly, the Salvation Army would arrive at Biqi Castle on the 8th day of departure from Langsande County, two days earlier than planned.

But unforeseen circumstances were inevitable; previously, Xiaochi City, during the first cellar incident, burned or sunk many ships to prevent edict advances.

Upon receiving Jeanne's order, the citizens of Xiaochi City scrambled to muster ships.

But due to the tight schedule, they managed to gather just enough—36 large cargo ships and 70 small ones, with 3 large and 10 small ships even needing to catch up after departure.

Horn calculated that, under optimal conditions barring sailors, oarsmen, and logistics, the fleet could carry a maximum of roughly 8,000 people.

Subtracting 1,000 cavalrymen, the remaining 3,000 had to escort the fleet with mules in rotation.

This drastically slowed Horn's pace, making a journey previously taking two and a half days stretch to four, even four and a half days.

Although this was much faster than walking, it only offset the time advantage gained by Jeanne's surprise attack.

If it weren't for Jeanne's unexpected strategic surprise, Horn's plan might have fallen apart.

"Has the armor allocation been sorted?" Horn turned to the seasick Jeska, asking.

As a Northern Norn, Jeska was not accustomed to water, almost getting seasick on an inland boat.

Struggling to prop herself on the railing, Jeska raised a pale face: "All sorted, Armor Master allocated four hundred suits satisfactorily."

Before Horn's departure, Xiaochi City not only gathered ships and manpower but also amassed a large consignment of armor.

A full four hundred Milan-style half-armors!

Designed by Armor Master Milan, this half-armor became an empire-wide craze within fifty years due to its durability and lightness upon release.

Xiaochi City's armor support raised the Salvation Army's infantry armor rate to a staggering 55%.

In other words, of the twelve Salvation Army legions' 6,000 main forces, 3,300 soldiers at least had a breastplate, chainmail, or half-armor.

The Salvation Army alone acquired over 1,000 armors via church, monastery, and noble clearances.

Battles and operations against edicts captured large amounts of armor, significantly transporting Horn nearly 1,200 more sets at great sacrifice.

After Gray Furnace Town's Armory Workshop went into operation, they produced three batches totaling 500 armors in six months.

Grandmas in Jinhe Town provided 350 armors, lastly supplemented by 400 armors from Xiaochi City, amounting to 3,580 armors.

3,300 of these were allocated to infantry, 240 to Holy Gun Cavalry, ensuring their full armor, and the remaining 40 to Cuirassiers.

This 55% armor rate stood firm despite new recruit expansions, considering the newly established two Black Hat Legions of 1,000 as pure Long Spearmen, with only a hundred eighty likely having armor.

Horn only paid these 1,000 recruits, providing a week of discipline training and five days of marching, then swapped out the original officers.

Should they face real battle, these 1,000 would probably stay at the periphery, tapping rhythmically—a filler role.

The true backbone remained with the Old Black Hat Army and Old Guard.

But even with their expanded strength, the enemy's strength grew as well.

They faced a full two edict legions.

In their earlier triumph, multiple strategies and weather assistance led to defeating one edict legion by chance.

Now they had more than double their initial numbers to face two edict legions. Could they conquer them?

Standing on the dock for a long time, until lights gradually rose, Horn spoke once more.

"How long until we reach Biqi Castle?"

"Tomorrow," Jeanne stated confidently, "by tomorrow evening at the latest, we'll definitely arrive!"

"Reaching Biqi Castle tomorrow means arriving in Rapids City by July 22," Horn murmured, "July 22... July 22... July 22!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.