When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

The scorching sun of late autumn was still dazzling, seemingly trying to make up for its absence during the previous rainstorms.

Moist water vapor rose from the ground, distorted by the sunlight in the air.

Even the oldest elders of Qianhe Valley had never seen such unusual weather.

Standing in a tree on the hillside of Little Mud Ditch, Yeshka focused his one eye intently on the Church's army appearing among the groves and bushes, breathing a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the Church's army hadn't crossed the fence yet; they were late by the time it took to burn two candles, which wasn't too bad.

Although he didn't know why they hadn't crossed Little Mud Ditch yet, at least for now, he wouldn't have to change his surname to Snot.

"Your Excellency," Yeshka jumped down from the tree, "the enemy has already passed the planned ambush position, so our original plan might not work."

The ambush position was at the narrowest part of the road; the current battlefield was relatively wide, and the Black Hats might not be able to block it.

Moreover, they were late and ran head-on into the enemy. What kind of ambush was this?

Horn gripped the Horn's Head-Taking Sword at his waist, a desperate calm appearing on his face.

Why did none of his plans ever succeed?

It was always 'too late,' always 'cleaning up messes,' always 'thinking about minimizing losses' instead of regretting.

Could it be that he had sworn an oath that his layouts and plans would always fail?

"Yeshka, you've seen big battles. Tell me how we should fight."

"I think we should have the Black Hats and the 175th Edict Company of the Guards form three large battle formations on the front line, blocking the gap at Little Mud Ditch and engaging in a large-scale battle.

The Black Hats should launch a strong attack on the left flank, feign an attack in the center, and the Guards should defend and counterattack on the right flank. After breaking through the peasant soldiers, the Black Hats' left flank should strike from the side, and after defeating the enemy's center, the Black Hats' left flank and center should jointly attack the Night Watch soldiers.

The 35 Edict Companies of the Children's Army should act as leaping soldiers, and together with the Holy Grail Knights, ambush in the bushes on both sides, waiting for an opportunity to attack the enemy's armored soldiers.

This is our usual old tactic. In Norn, it's called the Fenris Maneuver, and in Frankish, it's called the Revolving Door Warfare."

"Just do it that way," Horn said, sounding somewhat like he was throwing caution to the wind.

While Horn was deploying his troops, Quincy's side was also in chaos.

Quincy rode back and forth on his horse, looking very busy, while his confidants and Night Watch soldiers were also running around.

"Ambush!" Quincy shouted loudly, riding on a nag, "Quickly form a line!".

"What kind of ambush is this?" Bonde asked, also riding a nag, puzzled, "Didn't we run into those rebels head-on?"

"Appearing suddenly, isn't that an ambush?" Quincy said, looking like he didn't have time to explain, "You two should hide well, don't get hurt."

But everyone had appeared suddenly, running into each other on the march. What kind of ambush was this?

A mutual ambush?

Besides, even if it was an ambush, they hadn't come to attack. From what Bonde saw, the rebels over there were even more flustered than they were.

However, Bonde didn't voice his question, because Sissy patted the back of his hand, signaling him not to say any more.

The battlefield was, after all, not like other places. For Miss Sissy's safety, Bonde didn't continue to nitpick.

On the narrow, muddy slope, the peasant soldiers and Night Watch soldiers jostled each other, the Black Hats and Guards hurled insults at each other, and the crisscrossing straw sandals trampled the originally muddy ground into a quagmire.

In the nearby woods, blue-crowned crows made pleasant calls, providing accompaniment for them.

The warm wind, carrying the stench and moisture, blew on the back of the Church's army and brushed against the faces of the Glagolitic Papal State's army.

With only half a minute between them, the two sides finally formed their respective formations.

Occupying the high ground on the north side of the Little Mud Ditch battlefield, arrayed in front of the fence, was the Glagolitic Papal State's army of 175 men from two major legions.

The Black Hats were divided into the left flank and the center, with the two battle formations deploying in a formation of 60 Edict Companies arranged in 6 rows of 10 columns.

Although the Edict Companies wore short robes made of linen, none of them were ragged; all were patched.

The clothes might be varied, but the dense black hoods were almost completely integrated, and the spears held by every two Edict Companies revealed a dense, cold light under the sunlight.

As for the 55 Edict Companies of the Guards on the right flank, they formed a battle formation of 5 rows of 10 columns.

Unlike before, when they went into battle with wooden doors and pot lids, thanks to Lana's electric arc iron furnace, they were basically equipped with new weapons.

The first row was still composed of strong men with powerful arms, holding half-man-high wooden shields and short swords in their hands.

The four rows behind them were seasoned pontifical spear guards holding four-meter-long forged spears and short axes at their waists.

Unlike the relatively mediocre Black Hats, the pontifical guards had longer training times and better food, so they were able to wield four-meter-long spears individually.

Since the two flanks were friendly forces and bushes, and friendly forces were hidden in the bushes, the Guards did not place knife-shield soldiers and leaping soldiers on the two flanks.

Instead, they arranged five archers at the end of the formation, all of whom had been hunters.

The original 40-plus Edict Companies of the Guards were expanded to 55, in addition to promoting from Red Mill Village, many armed farmers were also selected from the Hundredth Household.

These archers and the shield soldiers in the first row were mostly from armed farmers.

As for the Church's army not far away, the number of people was also quite large, with a total of 204 people.

They were divided into two groups: the Night Watch soldiers on the left, barely arranged in five rows of ten columns, and the peasant soldiers on the right, arranged in a chaotic circular formation.

The eighteen armored soldiers did not directly participate in the battle, but served as the general reserve, surrounding the militia captain Quincy.

"This is quite impressive," Quincy said, riding on his horse, looking at the rebel array in the distance.

Pico smiled bitterly: "At least it looks like it. This group of Secret Society members are all novices and rookies, with no experience or professionalism. The only thing worth praising is their serious attitude."

"It's good to be serious, it makes the performance more realistic," Quincy asked in a low voice, "Has everything been arranged?"

Pico nodded: "It's all arranged, they all have tight lips. Hearing that there's money to be made, some of them even asked if they could get paid according to the size of the wound."

"Get out, there are plenty of people who will do it if they don't, I'm buying them out," Quincy said unhappily, "At most I'll pay their medical expenses, it's money for nothing, and there's no danger."

After discussing with the acting brothers, Quincy had people monitor Bonde and Sissy, and then he felt relieved.

Although the process was tortuous, at least the result was similar, with only some small blemishes left.

Riding his horse to the front, Quincy pointed his riding whip forward with high spirits, and shouted: "Enemy attack! Form a defensive line!"

Horn, holding the Horn's Head-Taking Sword, felt his palms slightly sweaty. Seeing Yeshka nod, he drew the hand-and-a-half sword:

"Advance!"

Amid the splashing of mud and the chaotic footsteps, the Little Mud Ditch Great Battle, the largest in the history of the Glagolitic Papal State, finally began.

ps There will be one or two more chapters later.