Chapter 390: Chapter 372 Black Mountain Battle (End-Part 2)
Under the setting sun, the broken armor pieces and sword blades shimmered with a golden-red light. Pillars of smoke reached the sky, while the sounds of chickens, ducks, cows, and sheep echoed in the fields.
If not for the strong scent of blood in the air, such a scene would truly be filled with idyllic beauty.
On the battlefield, War Monks wandered around, picking up and sorting through usable weapon fragments.
Sometimes they looked around, still feeling a sense of unreality.
Did they really win just like that? They thought they would have to pay a price similar to earlier battles with the Decree Army, but ultimately their casualties were far below expectations.
Total casualties were about 400, with the majority being lightly wounded, while the dead and severely injured mostly came from the two legions on the right flank.
Besides Barnaby, only one officer at the brigade commander level was killed.
Given that at the Battle of Pavia alone there were over 800 dead, with three out of eight legion commanders killed and four severely injured, and Horn entered Joan of Arc Castle in a wheelchair.
After this battle, apart from being a bit pale, Horn had no visible injuries.
"Have all the main leaders been found?" Seeing Jeska arrive, Horn was the first to ask.
"Count Zelaken of Gale Castle tried to escape in disguise, but was recognized for being too pale. Archbishop Polikri of Jinhe Town hid in a cesspit but was reported by the villagers and also captured by us." Jeska said, holding a small notebook, "The rest are either dead or have surrendered, nothing more to say."
"What about Nidesar?"
"Dead. We attempted to save him to get information from him, but the poison was too potent, and it was too late."
Horn thought of countless ways Nidesar could die, but never imagined that as a Miseria believer, he would commit suicide.
When he saw Nidesar solemnly drinking the potion, Horn was ready to start phase two.
But then he turned his head and died, so he found out he couldn’t win and gave up?
What on earth, just drinking a suicide poison and getting Horn all fired up.
With Nidesar’s death, the Guard regiment’s phalanx was repeatedly crushed, and alongside the Kush Knights leading the retreat, the Noble Alliance Army of Jinhe Town completely collapsed.
In this battle, Horn captured 4000 peasant soldiers, 2000 infantry including Armored Soldiers and Guards, and the Ibe Knights suffered over two hundred deaths and a hundred captives.
Nikosak was completely annihilated, with half of their forces dead and the other half surrendering.
"It truly was a great victory." After hearing Jeska report the casualties and enemy losses, Horn couldn’t help but sigh.
"Yes, you can start thinking about how to govern the whole of Langsande County in the future." Jeska smiled, sitting beside Horn.
"By the way, that Hand Cannon Brigade Commander, his name is Lefi, right?" Horn remembered the recent volley from the Hand Cannon brigade, "How’s he doing? Did he die in battle?"
"No, just overworked and mentally exhausted, he forced himself to finish the battle and then passed out." Jeska replied, "Do you need me to wake them?"
"No need." Horn waved his hand, "Just have them come see me when they wake up."
"After this battle, the whole of Jinhe Town has basically lost its ability to resist." Jeska said, pulling out a bottle of farm fruit wine from nowhere and taking a swig, "Taking the whole of Langsande County is just a matter of time."
Jinhe Town has about 1300 Knight Manors and 900 noble families.
On average, almost every noble family has one or two knights, but the total number doesn’t exceed 1500.
Previously, Horn took out over a hundred in Kush Territory, another hundred in Monkulus, more than a hundred in previous skirmishes, and in this battle, over two hundred were killed or captured.
Before and after, Horn had roughly killed and captured over 800 knights.
Not to mention those Extraordinary Infantry controlled by the church, just looking at the over 2000 Guard captives in Horn’s camp shows the situation.
The Extraordinary armed forces especially the high-end ones in Jinhe Town have been swept away by Horn by more than half.
As the greatest trump card, the Titled Knight Nidesar and the Nikosak Knight were completely taken down by Horn.
"Time is indeed an issue." Picking up Jeska’s fruit wine, Horn tilted his head and drank.
The cool evening breeze blew on Horn’s neck, revealing dark red Holy Marks.
The farmhouse brewed fruit wine was filled with a special aroma but not very strong.
The evening breeze, carrying smells of cooking and coolness, drifted in from nearby villages and rivers, making Horn close his eyes comfortably.
But his mind was not as calm as his appearance.
Beyond the rivers, forests, and mountains, Rapids City was under siege by the Decree Army’s large forces, and further north, the Mountain Knights of Mande still engaged in a see-saw battle with Prince Kongdai.
If they continue advancing head-on, it would take at least another month.
Predictably, Jinhe Town will remain in the initial period when the Kush Territory was just "devout" for two to three months.
This means everywhere is full of bandits and raiding armies formed by knights and hardliners, using the Red Copper Fortress as a base to slowly wear down with Horn.
For the expedition’s military supplies, he still needs to slowly draw out the monasteries and the castles of the knights; does he really have the time?
The most troublesome thing is that while Rapids City requires support, Horn must also leave troops to manage Jinhe Town’s public security and suppress riots.
Horn felt a headache coming on again.
This inevitably brings up the differences between Jinhe Town and the Kush Territory.
Jinhe Town covers an area of about 9000 square kilometers, at the foothills bordering North County’s Dragon Breath Village, it’s basically a forest region.
The 400,000 hectares of Ibe Plain, which flows south along the Ibe River, is the essence of the entire Jinhe Town.
Unlike the scattered fields of the Kush Territory, this is a whole 400,000 hectares of continuous flat farmland.
According to the church’s tax records, the Ibe Plain can produce 200,000 to 250,000 tons of grain annually, 50,000 tons of soybeans, 30,000 tons of various vegetables, and various other agricultural products.
Qianqian estimated that the entire Jinhe Town can produce nearly 450,000 tons of agricultural products.
These knights export nearly 180,000 tons of various agricultural products annually, with the grain smuggling trade with Black Snake Bay making the high nobility profit abundantly.
In other words, Jinhe Town is a purely agricultural town.
This is vastly different from Kush Territory, just from the names of the settlements you can tell.
Kush Territory is filled with small towns called such-and-such town, whereas Jinhe Town is either some kind of fortress or some kind of manor.
Don’t even mention towns, there’s not even a big marketplace or trading port.
Such a large Jinhe Town, while providing a large amount of agricultural products, also supports a large population.
According to the calculations of Qianqian and others, the entire Jinhe Town is estimated to have 360,000 to 400,000 people, nearly double the population of the Kush Territory.
Even managing the over 200,000 people of Kush Territory, Horn finds it difficult, let alone double that population.
The most troublesome part is not even this, but that due to its relative isolation, Jinhe Town does not have many literate talents.
When Horn was managing the Kush Territory, he recruited a large number of lower-level monks and grassroots citizens and artisans.
Kush Territory is dense with monasteries, so it has a large number of low-level monks, and commercial Joan of Arc Castle is developed, so there are enough numerate people.
Without this group of people, the Salvation Army would probably still be unable to complete the integration of the Kush Territory.
Even if literacy classes were launched, it would take six months to reach even a pass mark, and that is under the premise of them working while attending night classes.
Even internally, Horn found himself somewhat lacking, let alone managing Jinhe Town?
Perhaps he could attract low-level monks from Kasha County to help? Or invite wizards from Black Snake Bay to assist in management? Or use both methods?
Horn suddenly remembered the wizard slaves, and he asked Jeska: "How are those wizard slaves?"
"Currently, Master Patrick is handling this matter. Do you want to go and have a look?"
"Let’s go and see, just happened to have some free time." Jumping down from the boulder, Horn patted the dust off his butt and thighs.
Seeing Jeska preparing to lead the horse, Horn suddenly grabbed Jeska’s arm: "We’ve known each other for almost a year now."
"Exactly a year, I just came to Red Mill Village for a short-term job on July 7th last year."
"That fast?" Horn was a bit dazed, but quickly pulled away from his reminiscence, "After this battle, I plan to select a thousand upright prisoners and recruit them to form 8 complete Black Hat Legions."
Jeska, untying the reins from the hitching post, breathed a little heavier, even lightened his movements somewhat.
"These 8 legions will be split off to form a new Black Hat Battle Group, the Imperial Guard will likewise expand with new recruits to form a Guard Battle Group." Speaking slowly, Horn looked into Jeska’s eyes.
"You’ve done quite well in strategizing and overall command for this battle... Are you willing to take on the important role of Battle Commander?"
Even though Jeska was excited, he still maintained basic etiquette: "If it weren’t for your majesty, I would probably have died in the flood long ago. I support any decision you make."
"Actually, being the logistics manager is not bad either..."
Stretching out his last sentence, Horn saw Jeska’s face twitch a bit, then suppressed a laugh as he continued, "But being the Battle Commander offers more infinite possibilities for you, for the entire Black Hat Legion."
"Yes, yes, yes." Jeska breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing Jeska sweat on his forehead, Horn punched him in the chest: "Alright, it’s settled, let’s go, take me to see those wizard slaves."