Mage? Spell Engineer!

The moon and stars are sparse, and these days are good weather for shooting.

The "Ninja Xia" people rushed outside Andorila without stopping, which was within the territory of the Holy Kingdom. During this period, since he did not need to eat normal food on the road, he could go all the way through no man's land, adhering to the principle of "the shortest straight line between two points".

Rorschach didn't know the specific battlefield. He had no professional military knowledge to judge, and his clone didn't have the Pearl of Balaam that could be used for simple divination, so he thought of the simplest way:

"I'm here to fight the Empire. Do you know where the Holy Army is stationed?"

Asking this question in nearby villages and towns, you can always find the answer. When he imitated the accent learned in Valouana, knowledgeable gentry would stand in awe, and some even gave him a dagger and an old flintlock that occasionally fired.

This "young hero who dedicated his life to the kingdom" was successfully directed to the camp of the Holy Knights by the enthusiastic crowd. In fact, it was easy to find, because when Rorschach arrived, an impromptu mass was even being held in the open space. The holy knights received the holy oil, and then the servants and the crowd who came from nearby were in tears.

Due to the complex composition of this team, the Paladins camped alone and only had contact with priests and inspected military servants. In the servant army, participants with clean backgrounds all held identification certificates issued by their churches and monasteries, and were organized by region. Form a small team and set up camp.

Criminals, robbers, and others who join the team with the mentality of making a fortune are called the "Atonement Army" by the church. They are specially isolated from other camps and are the most chaotic. But joining the "Atonement Army" does not require any identification, you only need to bring your own weapons, you will receive almost no supplies, and there will be rotating paladins guarding the outside of the camp.

After hearing about this situation, Rorschach had an idea - instead of just watching, it would be better to go directly to the battlefield to experience it firsthand. So he blended into the noisy "Atonement Army" military camp, found a tent with space, and lay down in it.

The next day, the men in the tent discovered that there was an extra boy. The most vicious one was probably the boss. He immediately asked Luo Xia: "Hey! Where did your boy come from?"

"Coming from Valuana, the village on the edge." Rorschach raised his antique gun and asked the bald man who asked him to take a step back. He continued to explain: "I heard that the church wanted to save the kingdom. I braved the moon and cold. The wind came all the way."

"Stop talking nonsense, who here believes it?" Everyone else laughed out loud: "Tell me, what did he do?" They guessed that this kid's matter must be related to women, such as becoming the lover of a noble lady, and then being raped by someone. Powerful lady's husband finds out.

Rorschach began to sharpen the edge of the dagger with a hard stone and lowered his voice: "Everyone in my family deserves to die, so I killed them with my own hands. Except for my young and stupid brother, no one else in the village understood me at all. Obviously It’s all for their own good”

The tent suddenly became quiet except for the sound of sharpening knives. The strong man touched his bald head and took a few steps away from the young man. Regardless of whether what he said was true or not, this young man definitely had a brain problem!

Rorschach found peace until the army departed.

The hymns were not interrupted during the move. There were actually bands and choirs traveling in open carriages before and after the procession, and a mobile bell tower that resembled a siege machine insisted on ringing on the hour.

This exaggerated configuration should normally slow down the team's progress, but Rorschach noticed that both the horses and people's footsteps kept pace, as if they would not tire.

In [Arcane Vision], although the endogenous magic power of most individuals is very thin, at this time each of them is in an active state, stimulating their muscles. Rorschach remembered that he had seen a magic version with similar principles in the secondary plane - [Rapid Retreat].

At the same time, he also kept observing the composition of this team. The Paladins are naturally tall and tall. All the horses are covered with thin armor and holy white cloth. The Paladins do not wear full armor, but shiny breastplates, the most common main weapon. It was a hollow lance, with a saber on its waist.

In addition to civil servants, those responsible for speaking, learning and singing also included knights' personal servants and skitarii. They were strictly disciplined and guarded important luggage. Among them, the skitarii should be the main force of the infantry, each carrying a long pole with a bayonet. Fire the gun.

The believers voluntarily joined the army, and there were actually some cavalry. They seemed to be noble knights, surrounded by a large number of people, while the others were a mob, and some even came on stage with pitchforks and sickles.

Although the team I am in are all rogues and bandits, the average level of equipment is better than that of the believers, and so is the combat experience - everyone usually relies on guys to make a living, and now it is no longer ambiguous. Some carry guns, and some carry knives and axes. , pushing and shoving is common, and the guardian paladin needs to scold and maintain order.

Can this "Atonement Army" be used?

Rorschach's question soon came to an answer.

The scouts from the front came to report that the imperial army took the initiative to cross the border and set up a formation on the plain in front of Andorilla. It stands to reason that the empire should rely on fortress cities to wait for work. Such a confident and proactive attack made the commander of the Church Army suspicious.

But no matter what, everything must go on. All the brothers of the Holy Knights who are familiar with history and church war history believe that based on the experience of the "Holy Crusade", the "Holy Army" can only advance but not retreat.

The plain outside Andorilla is a plain, so the empire needs to build an artificial natural barrier, which is also a logistics supply center for future wars. At this time, the army leaves the city from the gate of the fortress and spreads out.

Although both sides invested tens of thousands of people, the battlefield was quiet and solemn at this time, until the songs blessing the soldiers and praying for victory broke the silence. Different from the usual, hymns with drumbeats and trumpets alternated, urging the columns to spread out horizontally.

The knight didn't have a good look on the criminals and bandits. He waved his whip at them and commanded them to form a formation reluctantly.

"Hurry up!" Luo Xia suddenly felt that his lower back was stabbed. This body did not feel pain, but he could still feel it. He looked back and saw that it was the members of the Atonement Army with bayonets urging the members of the Atonement Army to push forward.

There is only a battlefield left in front of Rorschach and his companions, so there is only one answer - they are cannon fodder at the front of the infantry array.

The servant army received the holy water - everyone passed around a large golden cup and took a sip of the sweet wine inside. The Atonement Army did not receive such good treatment. All they got was a piece of paper:

The priest held a large basket of parchment and distributed it to everyone in the Atonement Army, explaining: "Take it, lost sinner! If you survive, you are a soldier of the Lord and will receive forgiveness once and for all!"

Rorschach pulled at the crudely made film. The shape of what everyone got was different. It was obviously made of scrap materials. The words on it were not handwritten by monks, but vague handwriting and church symbols stamped on it. The content of the text is similar to what the priest said, but there is a line of small words: This coupon needs to be signed by the priest at the end of the battle to take effect. It cannot be exempted from the punishment of blasphemy and other sins.

Indulgence coupons were issued before the war and had to be verified after the war to take effect. Is this to prevent someone from taking the coupons and escaping? Rorschach feels that the church is quite creative, and it actually has a scope of application. This is very orderly!

The sinners who were inspired by pre-war sermons and indulgences did not care that they were cannon fodder. They held their weapons high and were excited. This is very spiritual!