pdf-ebookys #310 - Caves in Cave Forest
#310 - Caves in Cave Forest
"Are all the prisoners of war guarded?"
"They are all guarded."
"What about casualties?" Zhuerdan asked the company commanders in a deep voice as he hacked through bushes in the jungle.
"29 lightly wounded, 1 seriously wounded." The accompanying medical corps captain immediately reported, "All have been properly settled."
"Who is the one seriously injured? What happened?" Zhuerdan asked in a deep voice.
"It's the company commander of the Black Hat Third Corps, Third Lancer Division. He accidentally slipped from the side of the slope during a fight and hit his head on a rock."
"How many times have I said it? Wear a helmet, wear a helmet. Don't be too lazy to wear it because you think it's heavy and hot." Zhuerdan frowned, "Find a veteran brigade commander with the rank of general to take his place."
After finishing this topic, Zhuerdan asked the scouts again: "Why didn't the outer sentries report?"
"Corps Commander, we really didn't find them. They seemed to be able to become invisible and emerged directly from behind us..."
"Don't quibble. Were you being lazy? Were you dozing off? Otherwise, where did they come from?"
After arranging most of the matters, Zhuerdan began to pursue with two Lancer divisions and two Holy Rifle divisions.
However, even in the middle of the pursuit, it is still necessary to conduct a post-battle review.
This is a system established by Horn. After every battle, big or small, a post-battle review must be conducted immediately.
Horn sent military law officers to supervise this task, and after enough talents are trained in the future, war history will be written by the war corps scribes.
"Setis, was there a problem with your vigilance this time?"
"Yes, there was a problem with my vigilance." Setis, as the brigade commander of the scout brigade, had no choice but to stand aside with his head down, admitting his bad luck.
While Zhuerdan was still questioning the specific dereliction of duty of the outer sentries, a messenger cavalryman ran over panting.
"Your Excellency Corps Commander..."
"What's wrong?"
The messenger cavalryman leaned to Zhuerdan's ear and whispered a few words. Zhuerdan was stunned: "You guys go and pull that black box carriage over first, I'll go take a look ahead."
Standing in front of the clearing in the forest, the Norse knights in three-quarter armor were pacifying the braying donkeys.
Mula stood among the bushes, facing the Black Hat troops neatly emerging from the forest. He squeezed out a polite smile, hiding the apprehension in his heart.
He finally understood how these soldiers defeated the Edict Company.
Infantry that can do a neat spear phalanx running counter-charge, even if placed on the imperial mercenary market, is absolutely sought-after.
Previously, Mula heard those old Black Hat soldiers say that at the beginning, they had to tie ropes around their waists to charge neatly.
Seeing them in this posture, Mula really found it difficult to associate them with that kind of ridiculous appearance.
Probably just joking.
Returning his gaze, looking at the Black Hat troops close at hand, Mula sighed deeply.
He had to work harder, otherwise these civilian soldiers would surpass them.
But he heard that they all have holy orders, so they can barely be considered religious nobles?
With the soldiers marching in column behind him, Zhuerdan pushed up the brim of his helmet and gave a simple military salute to several Norse mountain knights.
"Mr. Mula, did you pursue them?" Zhuerdan asked Mula politely.
The term 'Mr.' is mostly used for knights, lower barons, and wealthy merchants. It would be unavoidable to be beaten if civilians used it randomly.
However, in Kush Territory, after Horn took power, he abolished all restrictions.
Everyone internally addresses each other as 'Brother/Sister in Faith', externally as 'Mr.', superiors are addressed as 'Your Excellency', and subordinates are addressed by their position.
Forcing a smile, Mula stepped aside, exposing the bare rock wall behind him to everyone's view.
On the moss-covered, gray-blue stone wall, there was a dark opening.
The original doorway was covered with many obscuring vines and cobwebs, which Mula had burned and cut off, and a strange stench was seeping out of it.
Zhuerdan suddenly understood. No wonder the outer sentries didn't find them. So they came through tunnels.
"We tried letting two hunting dogs in, but there seems to be a peculiar smell here, and the hunting dogs quickly lost their way." Mula walked to the entrance of the cave with Zhuerdan, pinching his nose.
"This smell doesn't seem to affect people, but this cave is more complex than a maze. We've already lost two men."
Poking his head into the cave, Zhuerdan took a breath, and a smell like onion made of feces rushed straight into his brain, sour, bitter, salty, almost making him pass out.
Covering his nose, Zhuerdan coughed and retched: "They can endure running out of the cave, they really are able to endure it."
"They're probably used to running." Mula frowned and looked at the sky. "Otherwise, let's wait until tomorrow to look for them. It's too dark at night."
"No need." Zhuerdan smiled, "His Eminence has considered everything."
Mula blinked, not understanding what Zhuerdan meant, but Zhuerdan ignored it and continued the post-battle review with his subordinates.
Before long, the "whinnying" of horses awakened Mula, who was about to fall asleep.
He saw Zhuerdan beckoning, and two heavy carriages were transported to the mountain wall amidst the painful groaning of the axles.
"What is this?"
Zhuerdan smiled, strode to the side of the carriage, and tore off the black cloth with force. The surrounding people immediately gasped.
The Norse knights were so shocked that they immediately gripped their weapons and jumped up, staring intently at the creatures in the cages.
"Don't worry, their venom sacs have been emptied and their legs have been restrained." Saying this, Zhuerdan himself didn't dare to get too close.
Three jumping spiders and one cow spider saw the light of day again and began to struggle violently in the cages. Hearing the tooth-aching sound of wood fibers breaking, Mula's expression changed.
Are you Salvation Army this brave?
"Cough, cough, cough." Zhuerdan coughed twice quickly, "Um, someone, quickly stuff these big guys into the cave."
"Will they help us track down those bandits?" Mula asked incredulously.
"They can't distinguish between humans. They've been abused by us here, so they will naturally seek revenge on 'humans'." The nature priest laughed while tapping the cage.
"What if they run away..."
"It doesn't matter. These giant spiders must eat a kind of mushroom that doesn't exist in the cave forest. If they run away, they will starve to death themselves."
The carriages were transported to the entrance of the cave, and several nature priests stood aside holding dragon bone flutes, ready to defend.
A nimble scout poked open the cages with a long stick and then immediately scurried behind the rocks.
"Zzzzzzz-"
Several giant spiders immediately jumped out of the cages, turned around, and hissed angrily and eerily at them.
Although Zhuerdan still looked confident, Mula and the other Norse knights were still terrified.
A melodious flute sound rang out, and the original hissing sound stopped abruptly.
Mula and the other Norse knights watched in surprise as the giant spiders seemed to be hit hard by something and ran quickly into the depths of the cave.
"Everyone, stuff your noses with cotton cloth and follow them."
In the sound of the flute, a nature priest snapped his fingers, and the places where the giant spiders passed by lit up in sequence.
Fluorescent stone powder sprinkled from the backs of the giant spiders hung on the cave walls and ground, emitting a faint light.
"Let's go." Zhuerdan took the lead, raised a torch, and walked into the cave along the fluorescent stone powder.
Following the others forward, Laurent's eyes froze when he looked down at the road.
A crystalline mineral, under the fluorescent stone powder, turned black as if dyed with ink.
"Holy Little General Laurent, what are you dawdling about?"
"Coming, coming." Ignoring this strange sight, Laurent quickly followed.
…………
In the dim cave forest, the night was almost like a thick fog, covering everything.
The bandits, each wrapped in their wounds, leaned against the walls, sitting blankly on the ground.
Sitting in his small house, Grush and Defort sat opposite each other, speechless.
They led nearly two hundred bandits in a night attack against the unsuspecting Black Hat Army.
The end result was that they lost hundreds of horses, and only sixty or so people returned safely.
Back at the mountain stronghold, after counting the numbers, the two of them had nothing but silence.
In the awkward silence, the door of the small house was opened again. The two men raised their heads hopefully, but saw Blackscar sitting down silently with his face covered in blood.
The silence of two people became the silence of three people.
"Brother Blackscar, how was your side?"
"They were too fast." Guzzling a large mouthful of potato root wine to numb his nerves, "I didn't even have time to loot. I was ambushed as soon as I left the forest... What about you guys?"
"We lost more than a hundred and ran back." Defort said dejectedly.
Unlike the atmosphere before the war, where they disliked each other and were at odds, the wooden house was now filled with a friendly atmosphere of failure.
The three thought it was a war, but it turned out to be a decisive battle. They forcibly pulled villagers and bandits, and fought with six hundred bandits, leaving only about a hundred people.
Given the current speed of the Black Hat Army's advance, even if they couldn't catch up from the cave, it would probably only take three to five days to advance to the vicinity.
They had been able to roam the mountains for so long thanks to three unique skills: intelligence, caves, and cavalry fighting serfs.
In the mountains, the knight lords couldn't perform, and the serfs and armed peasant infantry were too weak, which allowed this group of bandits to live freely until now.
But the Salvation Army first registered the population, digging up the roots of the bandits, and then had heavy infantry comparable to the land's servants.
Now the only thing they can rely on is the cave, but if they really have to live in the cave again... he had long lost the ability to endure it.
According to the current movements of the Salvation Army, they are preparing to reopen this Elgu Road.
In the future, the bandits of the cave forest will probably become a thing of the past.
The three people looked at each other, as if all the ferocity had been washed away, and their eyes became clear.
Finally honest, Grush sighed.
"I still have some savings as travel expenses, and I'm going to Norn to be a mercenary. I happen to have a few friends there. What do you say?"
"I'm going to Fran to be a manager in the black market." Blackscar said with emotion, "Being a bandit is not a long-term career."
Previously, when their careers were booming, they disliked each other, but now that they were scattered, he felt a bit of reluctance in his heart.
Defort's face turned red. He was the least able to accept it, but his red face didn't last long before it turned iron blue.
"I'm going to the Golden River Township." Defort said through gritted teeth, "These Salvation Army won't live for many days. I'll come back then."
Blackscar and Grush looked at each other: "Hopefully."
Defort was about to say something to persuade the two to stay, but was interrupted by a burst of noise outside the house.
Standing up and walking to the door, Defort shouted at the bandits outside: "What's all the noise about? Has the Salvation Army attacked?"
Before he could finish speaking, a piece of wood flew past Defort's eyes.
Defort's pupils dilated slowly.
He turned his head in horror, only to see the mountain stronghold's thick wooden door explode into pieces.
A group of heavily armored knights rushed in like the wind from behind the door, slashing left and right with their longswords.
The bright sword blades cut through clothes and soft flesh, and the gatekeeper bandits screamed and fell to the ground, clutching their blood-covered chests and abdomens.
"It's the Salvation Army, run!"
Lead bullets, villagers, and bandits swooshing past him, Defort stood at the door of the small house, as if falling into an ice cave.
How could they find them so quickly?
What about the outer sentries? Why wasn't there any sound?!