When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 868 - 819: I Say, Repent!

After three days of regrouping, on the morning of the fourth day, the twenty thousand strong Leia Army finally assembled around Adan Castle and set off in three routes towards Marlborough, located between the two forts.

That was the position where the Thousand River Valley Army stationed their troops.

However, not long after they started moving, Dretta received a surprising piece of news from the scouts.

Staring at the map brought by the scouts, Count Dretta laughed in anger: "Well, well, they have five or six thousand people in total, stationed in five camps, right?"

The surrounding nobles couldn't help but show their barely concealed anger in their eyes.

They had been repeatedly ordered that if the infantry did not have more than a fifty percent advantage in numbers, they should not engage.

The camps of the Thousand River Valley Army, even though fortified, were only temporary constructions and couldn't be compared to solid fortresses like Haji Castle.

So at best, this was considered a positional warfare in the field, and they had more than twice the number of troops.

The best approach, naturally, was to establish defenses at the Knight's Mansion in Marlborough Manor, blocking key routes.

But the approach taken by the Thousand River Valley people was to set up four camps around Marlborough, interspersed with Marlborough Manor itself.

The advantage of this was that the Leia Army could not break off part of their troops to bypass them and attack the rear at Haji Castle.

The disadvantage was that the troops, which were originally concentrated, were scattered into camps two to three kilometers apart.

At this point, they still wanted to rely on a small number of troops to completely suppress.

"Too arrogant!" A knight cursed angrily, "This is clearly looking down on us, daring to split their forces despite being at a disadvantage?"

With this knight taking the lead, the other knights around began to clamor, with some even volunteering to be the vanguard.

They declared that they wanted to imitate the famous battle of the witch Jeanne, breaking five camps in one night.

Baron Marchelov's face also showed a flash of shame and anger, but unlike the others, he quickly calmed down.

Riding up to the stern-looking count, Marchelov said, "Lord Dretta, could it be the kind of encirclement tactic that Heinzman reported?"

Count Dretta's eyelids twitched: "Can six thousand people encircle more than twenty thousand?"

"They have devilish cannons and move at a speed uncommon for typical armies," Marchelov said worriedly, "If we concentrate our forces and launch a fierce attack at one point, what if the remaining soldiers bypass to attack Adan Castle at the rear?"

"Isn't Adan Castle defended by the Duke of Wing Nest's troops?"

"They are not on good terms with us to begin with; what if they deliberately let the city fall?"

"Do they have the guts?"

"The problem is that even if they do, we have no evidence," Marchelov said, rubbing his brow, "Then we'd be trapped between two fortresses, wouldn't we?"

Sweat beaded on his forehead, and the previously rage-driven Dretta suddenly calmed down.

Upon careful consideration, the officers of the Thousand River Valley Army were quite competent.

Would they actually deploy their forces in such an unconventional manner?

For the first time, Count Dretta felt how precarious war could be, having to consider every step carefully.

It all came down to sheer strength, after all.

The count couldn't help but sigh inwardly; if he were leading the royal Kingdom Army, there would be no such issues at all.

But for a capable military commander, even with lousy soldiers, a good battle could still be fought, depending on the tactics.

"So, what do we do?" a knight beside him asked tentatively.

Dretta thought for a moment and quickly issued the command: "First, send cavalry to scout the size and troop distribution of each camp, then we'll split our forces as well."

"We'll split our forces too?" Marchelov repeated.

"Yes," Dretta said, looking towards Marlborough, "We have twenty thousand; three thousand to suppress each of the four camps, and the remaining eight thousand will follow me to attack Marlborough Manor."

......

Since discovering the Leia Army's movements, Victor and Dass had halted the transportation of supplies from the rear. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

After all, it had been almost five days since they began constructing the camps based on their plans.

In five days, the five camps along the line were basically completed.

These camps were built strictly according to the military engineers' manuals.

They were surrounded by wooden palisade walls, with perimeters ranging from 500 to 600 meters, and trenches 1.8 meters deep arranged alternately outside the walls.

Beyond the trenches, there were also 1.2-meter sloped earthworks, topped with parapets made of mortar and cedar.

You should know that to build these military works, Dass applied for a large amount of pickaxes, axes, and shovels from the rear.

Each camp recruited 300 to 500 members of the Defensive Army to assist in the construction.

Thanks to the high-quality shovels from the Mountain County and the moderately soft local soil, the camps could be constructed so quickly and tightly.

The entire camp area was equivalent to two or three football fields in size.

Upon receiving the news that Leia troops had set out, Dass took McGowan out of the camp to prepare at Haji Castle.

The Battle Commander of the Black Champion Army, Victor, and Deputy Warlord Kolman patrolled together on the walls.

They wore thick woolen military uniforms, with soft woolen undergarments underneath.

It had to be said that one of the main reasons Adan Castle remained unconquered for so long was the difference in warmth between the straw-filled garments worn by the army outside the city and the wool-filled garments worn by the defenders.

With the temperature difference, the defenders were far more resilient to the cold than the besieging troops.

As the war moved into winter, coupled with large-scale conscription from the rear, the textile industry chain in ry Court Barracks and South Mangde County received large orders.

In rural areas of South Mangde County, large and small spinning wheels sprang up everywhere.

Even the shipyards in Kasha County and Red Leaf Hill received a lot of orders for transport ships.

Not to mention the garment factories in the expanding Joan of Arc Castle industrial area, constantly recruiting more workers.

Now the soldiers of the founding two armies of the Salvation Army, the Imperial Guard and the Black Champion, surprisingly had eight sets of seasonal uniforms:

Two winter outfits for changing, two autumn outfits for changing, two summer outfits for changing, one formal outfit, and one home wear.

Additionally, the Black Champion, with its high level of mule and horse transportation, would carry a lot of spices, herbs, and meat.

Even the clothes and bacon hurriedly left behind at Adan Castle made the Leia infantry, enviously burning, call them "young master soldiers."

But to the veteran soldiers of the Black Champion, these were just commonplace.

"It's really quiet," Kolman said, standing next to Victor, gazing at the snowy, frosted stream meadow in front of them, "No sign of the Leia people either."

Holding his telescope, Victor chuckled: "Don't jinx it with your crow's mouth; look, right after you said it, the Leia people have arrived."

A luxurious black carriage galloped up the slope covered with lingering snow and frost.

Then, a baron in thin underwear raised his top hat high and approached the gates of the camp.

Victor stopped the guards who were about to shoot: "Let him in, I want to see what he has to say."

Soon, the baron riding a mule entered the camp, arrogantly gazing up at the sky.

It wasn't until someone draped a woolen blanket over him and led him off the mule that he saw Victor and Kolman watching him with a faintly amused expression.

"Good afternoon, sir wearing pajamas," Kolman first spoke, tightening his winter coat.

The messenger, despite his scant clothing and shivering greatly, still held his chin high: "Dear citizens, Lord Dretta the Fifteenth of the De Delli Clan from Dawn Island brings you peace.

If you open the gates and welcome the arrival of Count Dretta tomorrow, we can spare your lives and even allow you to join the King's Army.

You must know, you have less than six thousand people, and yet you must face the assault of twenty thousand mighty soldiers from Dawn Island Army.

I say, repent!"