When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Above the small muddy ditch, red maple leaves fell from the trees, and scarlet blood flowed on the yellow mud.

Corpses, some barely alive, lay on the ground, while the battle cries from the central army continued.

The stench of blood had already spread to the other side, yet the five brigades of the Guards Regiment and the five direct-line archer companies were still locked in a stalemate with the Night Watch.

Commanding this operation were Das, the acting commander of the Guards Regiment, and the brigade commander of the First Brigade.

Das came from an armed farming background, a native of Red Mill Village. If you really counted, he was a distant relative of His Holiness the Pope.

Truly of impeccable background.

However, at this moment, he was in a state of confusion and bewilderment.

According to Jeschka's instructions, they were neither allowed to attack nor retreat before the central army was breached.

Jeschka arranged this for two reasons: first, the combat power of the Pontifical Guards was actually inferior to that of the Night Watch.

Although the Night Watch had less training and were more like a militia, they had at least received formal training and had combat experience.

If a Pontifical Guard and a Night Watchman were to fight one-on-one, the Night Watchman would likely win eight times out of ten.

Second, it was to confuse the enemy.

If the Pontifical Guards of the Guards Regiment did not attack them, they could not get injured, and they would certainly not attack with full force, only thinking about how to get injured.

This way, after wiping out all the peasant soldiers holding the line, they could encircle the enemy from three sides, and even armored soldiers would be powerless to turn the tide.

Adhering to this idea, Jeschka gave the Guards Regiment only one order: hold firm, and there will be a way.

In the Guards Regiment's 55-man square formation, the large shields in the front row firmly blocked the "attacks" of the Night Watch's hook spears.

But more than an attack, Das felt it was more like a farce.

The actions of those Night Watchmen were too strange; the hands holding their hook spears were as if coated in butter, dropping them at every turn.

The guards would even open themselves up, exposing their vitals from time to time, and deliberately stick their heads out, saying strange things like, "Brothers, make your move!" or "Help me out, give me a chop."

Could it be an attempt to lure them into attacking? Were there ambushes behind them?

But they were just these people; Das could see to the end, there were no ambushes at all.

What on earth were these people doing?

"What are these Secret Society people doing?" Piko complained helplessly.

According to the previous agreement, it was time for Quincy to step in and save the day.

Captain Quincy had already urged them, but these Secret Society rebels were like iron turtles.

Their courage was too small.

But thinking about their previous deeds, Piko even felt it made some sense.

He gritted his teeth, leaned to the front row, whispered a few words to a Night Watchman, and then retreated.

After a brief exchange, four or five Night Watchmen in the front row suddenly shouted loudly and charged forward together.

Were they going to leap and attack?

Das's spirit lifted, and he shouted, "Guards Regiment!"

Bending at the waist and knees, gripping the spear in his hand, Das stared intently at the actions of those men.

He saw them stride forward, then push their chests toward the spear tips, and when they were just a few centimeters away, they let out a scream… and suddenly fell backward to the ground?

Huh?

"No, the losses in the front row are too severe, retreat first and reorganize the formation."

Piko's voice reached his ears, and the other Night Watchmen, not understanding why, still obeyed the order and slowly retreated.

Das was completely bewildered.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would have thought he had really stabbed them to death.

"Brigade Commander Das, what's going on?"

"You ask me, who do I ask?"

Das rubbed his temples, looking at the groaning Night Watchmen on the ground, and fell into an indescribable state of self-doubt.

"What to do? Should we chase or not?"

"Chase, or they'll all run away."

"But after the battle, will Commander Jeschka blame us?"

"Such a weak tone, you wouldn't be from the Black Hat Military Academy, would you?"

"He's the commander of the Black Hat Army now, what does it have to do with us? We are soldiers of His Holiness the Pope."

"Brothers! We've rolled around in knives and guns, don't lose face."

After a brief exchange, the Pontifical Guards were still determined to chase!

They couldn't let those Black Hat Army lackeys, those stinky outsiders, sit on top of their Guards Regiment.

When His Holiness the Pope preached earlier, he said that generals outside could disobey the king's orders.

"Left foot! Right foot! Left foot! Right foot!"

In the neat rhythm of the slogan, the Pontifical Guards began to cautiously advance.

Just as Das was trying to step over the groaning Night Watchmen on the ground, a pair of strong arms grabbed Das's thigh.

Das immediately drew his short axe from his waist.

"What are you doing? Are you going to chop me?"

"You've already fallen to the ground, what's the point of chopping? Let go of me."

"We agreed that falling to the ground doesn't leave a wound; people will see through it right away. Give me a quick chop."

Das was stunned, and not just Das, but all the Pontifical Guards who stepped over those Night Watchmen were stunned.

They didn't know about the secret deal between the Papal State's higher-ups and Quincy.

Horn and the others couldn't possibly tell them about it, or the lie of the "Special Competitive Action" would be exposed.

After a little thought, Das understood what the other party meant.

According to His Holiness the Pope, this was a competitive activity equivalent to a small holy war. Judging from the words of this Night Watchman, he wanted to ascend to Elysium.

Thinking of this, Das felt a sense of awe for this unremarkable Night Watchman.

Although entering Elysium was the highest ideal of every believer, it didn't mean they weren't afraid of death.

There were still so many things in the human world worth cherishing. Compared to entering Elysium, Das preferred worldly possessions.

Such as the merits, titles, and land after the war.

These Night Watchmen were so devout, they actually wanted to enter Elysium in their prime, to go to the land of lush water and grass, to serve the supreme being!

Not only Das, but the Pontifical Guards also thought of this, and they all cast admiring glances at the Night Watchmen.

Just as the Night Watchmen were confused, Das and his guard partners took off their short axes and short swords and struck the Night Watchmen's necks.

The guards fell to the ground with wide eyes. This time, they truly fell to the ground, covering the wounds on their necks, constantly gasping for air.

Fresh blood flowed out between their fingers, their feet constantly kicked the ground, twitching repeatedly, unable to say a word.

"Oh, you, what are you doing?" Piko, who was watching this scene, couldn't believe his eyes. "I told you to give them a chop, who told you to chop their necks?"

But none of the Pontifical Guards listened to Piko. They neatly ended the lives of the seven or eight fallen guards and continued to move forward.

Looking at the blood-stained axes and short swords, Piko couldn't help but roar, "You, you, the local Secret Society people have no professionalism!"

But the response he received was not any explanation or communication, but a short axe flying towards his forehead.

"You've got the wrong person!" Ignoring the risk of exposure, Piko almost rushed to the front row. "We're just faking it, the peasant soldiers are the ones who are really fighting!"

Turning his head, barely dodging a shining long spear, a Night Watchman shouted at Piko, "That's not right, Piko, they seem to be serious."

Looking at the corpses on the ground, and then looking at the well-organized rebel army, Piko was speechless.

A terrible idea quickly occupied Piko's brain.

Hot blood rushed into his brain, and he felt a sweetness in his throat, "Not good, we've been tricked."

As soon as this sound came out, the rest of the Night Watchmen, including those who were not involved in this matter, also understood.

They all cursed Quincy and began to try to reorganize their formation. Several burly Night Watchmen with raven's beak warhammers began to move to the front line.

However, thanks to the morale boost from the training and the "Special Competitive Activity," these Pontifical Guards still maintained a balanced state even after the Night Watchmen launched a counterattack.

The battlefield was originally about one breath of energy. If the momentum was lost, it would be difficult to make up for it later.

It was already considered principled that these Night Watchmen did not completely collapse.

Piko, standing on the front line, changed his previous avoidance stance and shouted loudly for help.

You know, he was the one who contacted the whole thing. He would definitely be the first to be blamed afterward.

In order to avoid being blamed, Piko could only grit his teeth and hold on, hoping to make up for his mistakes.

"Keep it up, what are these Secret Society people!"

"Wait a little longer, Captain Quincy has already realized something is wrong and is coming to save us!"

"Kill! Messiah will surely protect us."

Just as Piko was loudly encouraging them, a warm light shone on him.

He looked up, his spirits lifted.

A ball of light was floating in mid-air, a blessing from the monks. Even if Piko was dissatisfied with Bonnerd, he couldn't wait to kneel down and call him father at this moment.

"Look, the monks' blessing."

Following the direction of Piko's finger, everyone saw the ball of light in mid-air, so warm, so gentle.

The ball of light swayed and wobbled forward in mid-air.

Then, this ball of light, carrying the hope of the Night Watchmen, finally slowly fell, landing in the midst of the opposing Guards Regiment.

ps:补先前少更的那一章 (ps: Supplementing the previously missing chapter)