RPAGF #262 - What? It is!
#262 - What? It is!
Jeanne d'Arc Castle is located in the northeast of Langsand County, surrounded by a crescent-shaped mountain range, bordering Mander County to the east and Norse County to the southeast.
With the existence of the canal, Jeanne d'Arc Castle can be connected to the Ibe River and the Nauan River tributary.
Logs and minerals from Mander and Norse Counties in the east can reach Jeanne d'Arc Castle by land, while daily necessities and grains from the west can be transported to Jeanne d'Arc Castle by water.
The Ibe River flows south, passing through the 400,000-hectare Ibe Plain in Langsand County, providing valuable water resources for local farmers.
On the 400,000-hectare Ibe Plain, more than 60% of the knights are Leia and Fran people.
Although they were born in the Thousand River Valley, they rarely intermarry with local nobles, often only Fran people with Fran people, Leia people with Leia people, and Kush people with Kush people.
Only second sons, wandering knights, and the youngest sons of small nobles will marry locals.
On the Ibe Plain, in the wheat fields like waves, are 1,300 knight manors and 200 large and small churches.
After the appearance of the Knights of the Fran Royal Charter, the church urgently mobilized 200 extraordinary knights of Leia descent.
Half of them entered Jeanne d'Arc Castle to help the church suppress the Knights of the Fran Royal Charter, and the other half stayed in Grayforge Town to supervise local craftsmen in making weapons for mercenaries and repairing the knights' armor free of charge.
However, at noon on February 22nd, the 100 knights of Grayforge Town came out in full force and marched quickly towards Mayor Town for some unknown reason.
On the road leading to Mayor Town, an army of thousands of people moved slowly forward.
The squire knights walked in the front to scout and lead the armed peasant infantry in the middle, while the extraordinary knights were at the rear, responsible for supervising the battle and killing deserters.
The warhorses of the 100 extraordinary knights struck the hard ground, stirring up circles of dust.
They wore red feathers on their heads, matte silver armor, and silk capes tied with ribbons, flying back and forth in the warming spring breeze.
These knights' warhorses were all local Ibe Plain rough-hoofed horses, brought from their homeland, the Kush River prairie, by the Kush people of that year.
It's just that the backs of these Kush rough-hoofed horses are no longer ridden by Kush people, but by Fran people fluttering with iris flowers and Leia people fluttering with thorn flowers.
Don't look at them as only having 100 knights, but as knights close to Copper Eagle Fortress, they have to deal with the secret societies, monsters, and barbarians on the border every year, and their combat experience is very rich.
"Lord Earl, we are still 5 miles away from the planned battle location."
"Understood." A middle-aged man in beautiful openwork silver armor stroked his beard and smiled.
"Hurry up, don't dawdle." The adjutant beside him immediately roared at the armed peasant infantry in front.
The church said it mobilized 100 extraordinary knights to guard Grayforge Town, but 100 knights are not just themselves.
Each knight generally has one or two squire knights, who are usually armed peasants with no breathing technique or low-level breathing technique.
However, the squire knight's breathing technique is not allowed to exceed that of the knight himself, otherwise it will be regarded as disrespect to the lord.
In addition to the cavalry, there are infantry squads composed of armed peasants. A knight generally brings 4-5 people, holding wooden shields and short axes or inferior iron swords.
So when these 100 extraordinary knights go to battle, they are followed by nearly 200 light cavalry and more than 450 armed infantry, as well as more than 300 public farmers carrying weapons and supplies.
So their army actually has a scale of nearly a thousand people.
The commander of this small army is Earl Enrico de Arco, and most of the knights in this small army are his vassals.
Riding his horse at the forefront, Enrico, who was flamboyantly wearing a purple gold-edged silk cloak, looked around at the army in front of him with satisfaction.
He felt that he had reached the peak of his life.
After learning that the short-haired rats had slipped out of Black Bone Swamp, Enrico immediately pulled out all the troops in Grayforge Town and attacked in the direction of Mayor Town.
For these rats, the knights of Jeanne d'Arc Castle have always felt:
They are not afraid of you pulling them out to fight, but they are afraid of you coming out to sneak attack from time to time.
Sneak attacks will attract a large number of their troops and prevent them from leaving.
Rapid Falls City was seized by rioting citizens, and the surrounding countryside was occupied by cavalry organized by the citizens. Enrico thought he was going to be sent to gnaw on hard bones.
Unexpectedly, thank God the Father, for sending him a great gift.
It's just that this feeling of joy was quickly poured with a small basin of cold water.
"Lord, my lord." The curly-haired young man behind Enrico said in a low voice, "The enemy may not be as weak as imagined. Perhaps we should first form a formation and then continue to advance. We can't continue to move forward in such a mess."
Earl Enrico glanced at the curly-haired young man. His name was Bernardo, and he was the family's accountant and lawyer.
In this army, he mainly helps the Earl manage logistics and march.
"That witch is only one person, and we have so many." Earl Enrico said hesitantly, "And lightning can't break armor, right? Before, Nickle and the others just suffered from the horses not wearing armor, right?"
"Lord, my lord, but their casualty ratio and the situation at the scene are abnormal. Nickle and the others may have missed something..."
"What? Are you questioning the noble and honest qualities of the two knights?"
"Earl, I know you are friendly and kind and treat all servants very well, but he is just an accountant and a lawyer, right?"
"Yes, he is not a knight. When is it his turn to judge the authenticity of the information."
Before Bernardo could finish speaking, the other knights couldn't wait to interrupt, as if Bernardo had committed some great mistake.
After all, Bernardo is just from the citizen class, and should be a servant. Even if Nickle and the others really didn't tell the truth for the sake of face, then he is one of their own.
If he doesn't help him today, who will help him if he makes a mistake tomorrow?
Moreover, servants must always pay attention to their identity, otherwise they will be above their masters.
This is the ultimate truth inherited by the knights' families.
Earl Enrico's face inevitably became ugly in the noise. Obviously, Bernardo's behavior made him feel ashamed and rude.
If he cannot show the majesty of the lord in front of the servants, then he will no longer have prestige in front of the vassals.
It's just that Bernardo was sent by the old grandmother to supervise and help him, and to a certain extent represents the will of the old grandmother and even the entire Arco family.
Bernardo's suggestion is reasonable, and Enrico doesn't want to offend the old grandmother.
The atmosphere was somewhat frozen for a while, and finally Bernardo slowly said:
"I have overstepped, I apologize to Mr. Nickle."
"Hmph, pay attention to your words and deeds, Bernardo." Enrico patted Bernardo's arm with a hint of gratitude.
"Sorry, Lord." Bowing, Bernardo loosened the reins and fell behind Earl Enrico and the other knights.
And the entire army was still slowly moving forward in its original scattered marching formation.
Forget it, Bernardo shook his head, turned and left. Before turning around, another scout squire cavalry arrived.
Bernardo vaguely heard him seem to say: "There is an encounter with the enemy in half a mile."
In a quarter of an hour, the enemy marched two and a half miles, and the enemy, with thousands of infantry, only advanced a little more than a mile in a quarter of an hour.
The enemy was lightly armed and had almost no logistical supplies, all left in Grayforge Town, and there was also cavalry.
The other side is pure infantry, but their marching speed is twice as fast, even though this is on the road, but this is still too abnormal.
Perhaps this battle is not as easy as Enrico imagined.
Sure enough, before even five minutes had passed, Bernardo saw enemy rangers appearing on the hillside and in the woods.
At the end of the road, a row of vague figures appeared.
"Prepare to form a formation!"