When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

The iron-cast clockwork cannon muzzle gleamed coldly in the morning light, the whirring of gears piercing the thin river mist.

Kaler wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his left hand, his right hand, stained with oil, not daring to release the lever of the clockwork cannon.

His pupils reflected the iron armor jostling on the trestle bridge, the reflections on the armor surface dancing on the ship's hull.

The whooshing sound of flames stirring the air, the crisp clanging of weapons colliding, the hoarse cries of battle…

On this autumn morning, these sounds seemed so abrupt in the tranquil fishing port.

Among them, the hurried thudding of footsteps on the trestle bridge grew closer and closer.

Arrows flew back and forth in the air, as seven or eight mountain knights carrying the wounded rushed along the trestle bridge.

Three blue-feathered arrows struck his shoulder blades and thighs respectively.

But old Laver endured the pain, grabbed the axe from his waist, and chopped the mooring rope on the stone pier with one blow.

Black smoke billowed from the pier, and four soldiers in full iron armor appeared at the end of the trestle bridge.

"Saint Ray, Saint Ray!" Old Laver, who had flipped onto the boat and was lying on the deck, roared.

"Pull the lever, praise the holy spirit within the cannon." Kaler lowered his head, murmured to the holy spirit within the cannon, and pressed down heavily with his right hand.

"Boom—"

Lead bullets and iron shrapnel, wrapped in white smoke, drew an arc, and instantly wood chips and iron fragments flew, catching up with the four Leia soldiers on the trestle bridge who were overturned as if by an invisible giant hand.

The outermost person even spun and plunged into the river, and in a moment, the river water surged with blood.

"Beautiful!" Old Laver's roar made the ship's side tremble, "Black Serpent Bay people, Fireball Technique!"

Five scorching fireballs flew out of the ten longboats, and the Leia warships tied to the pier's stone piers instantly burst into cyan-purple flames.

Before leaving, they had already doused the Leia warships with alchemical fire oil.

Not only the warships, but also a raging fire broke out in this fishing port, which had stockpiled countless supplies.

Thick smoke rolled and climbed up the spire of the bell tower, devouring the Leia coat of arms flag.

The river wind suddenly shifted to the southeast, and ash with sparks fell like raindrops on the iron helmets of the garrison soldiers, scalding them so much that they flailed their hands to beat it away.

It was this momentary chaos that allowed the ten keelboats to break through the smoke like arrows released from a bow.

"Shoot arrows! Shoot arrows! Cough cough cough—"

Sir Renaldo, the garrison officer who chased to the pier, split the thick smoke with his sword, and angrily cursed at the fleeing hill people.

Where the sword pointed, thirty birch bows behind him twanged in unison.

The rain of arrows fell into the waves stirred up by the stern of the boat, like a salute to the fugitives.

The hill people had long covered the sides of the boat with soaked cowhide, and the arrows clanged as they pierced the waterlogged leather, failing to harm them in the slightest.

Watching the hill people leave quickly, Sir Renaldo's trembling fingers unfastened the leather buckle on his chin.

The next second, the exquisitely decorated lion helmet slammed heavily on the bluestone of the pier, with half a piece of charred holy emblem still stuck in the dent.

"Chase them! Chase them! Even to the end of the River Styx…"

The angry roar stopped abruptly.

Sir Renaldo turned his head and looked at the burning warships and the soldiers who were busy fighting the fire, and despondently picked up his helmet: "Put out the fire first, save as much food as possible in the granary…"

When Raoul arrived at the scene, his gloomy face made Renaldo secretly draw a cross on his forehead.

Walking quickly to the river, one could see alchemical fire oil floating on the surface of the water, basking in the sunlight with a strange, mottled color.

Half a charred mast protruded from the water, and fragments of canvas fluttered with the waves.

Broken wooden barrels and upturned fish floated on the river, and several two-person wooden boats were holding nets, salvaging corpses and remaining supplies.

"What are the losses?" Raoul's eyes twitched.

Sir Renaldo honestly said: "Two months' worth of food for one company was burned, and they also stole a batch of weapons and equipment.

In addition, the three newly transported warships suffered serious damage.

One ship was damaged beyond repair, and the other two are expected to take three or four months to be able to set sail again.

In addition, several of our cargo ships were also affected, and it is estimated that they will not be able to transport supplies for three weeks."

"Thousand River Valley rats!" The great knight snorted coldly and walked towards the town.

His leather boots stepped on the stone pier full of honeycomb-shaped molten pits, and the great knight crushed the carbonized arrowheads.

Charred walls retained humanoid outlines, and the accompanying monks were purifying the battlefield with holy water, and the water vapor made a hissing sound when it came into contact with the embers.

Raoul squatted down and pried a piece of iron sand from the wall.

The rough texture was very familiar to him. In the past two weeks, such incidents had occurred frequently.

Moriah did hold on to Summergreen City and did not rashly go to war, but she sent out a large number of mountain knights.

The mountain knights rode the dragon-headed warships commonly used by the old Norse pirates, and adopted the classic riding/sailing raiding tactics.

That is, cooperating with mages transferred from Black Serpent Bay, they frantically launched surprise attacks on the ports and supply camps occupied by the Leia people.

Raoul had to admit that the Leia people were indeed not very good at naval warfare, especially in the Thousand River Valley.

No matter how powerful Bartis and the others were, they couldn't have figured out the river channels in a few months.

The early preparations of Bartis and others, the accumulated advantages, being able to take down a few outer fortresses, would be of great use.

Moreover, the damned Franks also provided a large number of experienced Frankish sailors to Thousand River Valley.

Adding several factors together, these hill people actually escaped repeatedly.

Raoul looked at the gentle flow of water and turned to ask the adjutant beside him: "When did Duke Winghive say the flood would break out at the latest?"

"The end of last month."

With a sigh, Raoul knew that this battle would not be so smooth.

In one month, they had swallowed three-quarters of Hothom County, leaving only the isolated city of Summergreen and most of Green Hollow Township.

After stabilizing the country, His Highness Ginigis is expected to arrive in Thousand River Valley in November.

But these hill people, after the initial confusion, actually stabilized their defenses in Green Hollow Township.

As for Summergreen City, it quickly restored order.

The city walls here were already unusually strong, and the Leia people's several attacks were all defended against.

That tyrannical duke even personally took to the field and raided the Leia people's supply camp at night, causing the siege to stagnate.

Now they have come up with this tactic targeting logistics.

Even Raoul had to admire the resilience of these hill people at this moment.

The borders of Thistle Garden, Gravel Plains, and other places were fine, but if they were placed in inland areas such as Windmill Land and River Isle, it would probably be like a civil war, with a complete rout.

With the arrival of His Highness Ginigis, a large number of alchemically created Longsword Knights are expected to arrive.

Their number is close to a thousand, enough to make up ten Edict Companies.

Raoul thought he was doing well, but if the Thousand River Valley people faced opponents like the Longsword Army, it would be tragic.

"These damned Thousand River Valley rats." After cursing again, Raoul ordered, "In the future, try to transport supplies by land as much as possible."