Chapter 1146: Chapter 1081: Smoke Screen
The news of Longbow Castle’s ceremonial farewell to the envoy from Wonyu City was quickly noticed by sharp-eyed merchants.
Carrier pigeons, riders, and carriages became particularly busy within a few days.
Outside the city, carriages and riders were often seen crowded together, and carrier pigeons could frequently be spotted flying overhead.
It was unknown which careless individual allowed the young eighteen-year-old Junior General, Jeanne, from the Longbow Castle barracks to intercept a carrier pigeon.
That night, people saw Tola, responsible for maintaining secrecy and counterespionage within the city, being dragged into the barracks and scolded.
This incident was no small matter; Tola, who initially only half-heartedly formed the Military Police, suddenly became proactive.
Although Tola was entrusted with the heavy responsibility of counterespionage, for several months, his primary focus had been on organizational development.
He gathered a large number of unemployed Demon Hunters to form five ten-man teams, who mostly trained and made arrests, rarely showing themselves.
But after this incident, seemingly afraid of losing his position as head of the Military Police, he immediately proposed a city-wide investigation campaign.
Even more intriguingly, the seven oligarchs seemed either stimulated or pressured by Jeanne and chose to follow suit.
When the news of Leia’s military mobilization spread, the sixteen-member council and the forty-five-member guild directly authorized the Dawn Island Defense Committee to place Longbow Castle in a wartime state.
Soon, citizens were organized into groups of ten households per guard unit, supervising each other.
Citizens were also required to swear an oath in front of the Holy Image in the church, ensuring everyone was devout and passed the test.
Additionally, foreign clergy were banned from entering or leaving (most considered spies), and nearby monasteries were enforced into seclusion, prohibiting accommodation for foreign monks.
Ironically, this method indeed allowed Tola to capture several spies, leaving the citizens with little reason to oppose.
The merchants who once frequently traveled the trade routes and played both sides by sending information to Leia suddenly became cautious, no longer daring to behave as they did before.
Dragging their mules through the city gates and gazing at the patrolling Demon Hunters with bestial eyes, spies finally chose to temporarily lay low.
Currently, Longbow Castle ceremoniously sent the envoy from Wonyu City out of the city; from the current situation, they were likely to provide support in all ways except military assistance.
In the short term, it was expected that no important information would be exchanged.
However, what they did not know was that, just a few days ago, while they were still accusing each other of incompetence, Jeanne met Drum again in a monastery outside the city.
Standing atop the monastery, seeing the familiar flag of Jeanne approaching, Drum let out a sigh of relief.
He quickly washed his face and changed clothes, putting on his most charming smile as he greeted Jeanne.
"I thought you were fooling me and wouldn’t come. It seems I was narrow-minded. So, let me punish myself with three cups later..."
Jeanne raised her hand: "Stop, stop, I’m not here to drink. Have you packed your luggage?"
Drum was a bit taken aback: "Not... not yet..."
"Code red, run!" Jeanne glared at him. "Ride your horse back to Wonyu City first. Try to organize a one-thousand-man army, they must be locals from Waterwheel County, and meet at the Deverlan County border."
"Oh, okay, I’ll leave right away."
Deverlan County is where Longbow Castle is located, but the wealthiest Longbow Castle is not the county seat; rather, it’s another small town.
It was the territory of a local Duke, who last week was embarrassingly forced to flee to his father-in-law’s house after Jeanne led cavalry in a raid.
For at least one or two months, the area would remain very stable.
This gave Jeanne the confidence to mobilize the entire army.
From atop a hill looking down, you could see a long dragon-like procession moving amid the green grass and yellow mud.
The cavalry rode their mounts on patrol, while the infantry of the Defensive Army followed their officers step by step.
The late autumn sun was glaring, itching the men to their very bones, yet they still had to march under their silver helmets.
During these few days of the grand investigation campaign, three infantry regiments, one cavalry regiment, and a total of two thousand two hundred service soldiers had already secretly slipped out of the city under the cover of darkness, in batches.
As for the barracks, they were merely setting up more food tents, continuing to recruit and train two new regiments to disguise Jeanne’s troop movements.
Either Leia’s informants had been exposed during the investigation or they were lying low, afraid to move.
This gave Jeanne the chance to secretly redeploy the troops.
Yet, after all, the movement of two thousand troops could not ultimately escape being seen.
The area around Longbow Castle could still control the dissemination of information, but once out of Deverlan County, things were uncertain.
Therefore, Jeanne tasked Drum with rallying troops back home. As for whether gathering an army in the short term would be too difficult for Wonyu City, she believed it wouldn’t be.
The mayor of Wonyu City had a military background, and with the support of the Alliance of the Five Cities and reinforcements from other free cities, gathering one or two thousand men in the short term would be difficult but not impossible.
If this life-and-death matter was still being procrastinated, then Piasu might as well be dead.
Once Drum’s path was arranged, Jeanne immediately headed to find Bradak.
When she saw Bradak, he was discussing logistical supply and garrison issues with the Quartermaster.
Upon seeing Jeanne in full armor approach, they paused their discussion: "Good morning, Lady Joan."
"Good morning." Jeanne waved in greeting, turning her attention to Bradak. "You’re a local with a great reputation. I rely on you for dealing with villages and towns along the way."
Bradak pounded his left chest: "I will certainly fulfill your mandate."
"Good." After confirming with Bradak, Jeanne set off once more.
Seeing Jeanne ready to leave after speaking, Bradak hesitated for a second but couldn’t help asking, "Ma’am, it’s not my place to interfere, but there must be some explanation for this march, otherwise, I can’t put my mind to rest."
Jeanne paused, turning to the other Quartermasters: "Do you all have this question?"
"Yes, but we are soldiers; obedience is our top duty, so I won’t ask," one of the Quartermasters shouted immediately.
This immediately drew Bradak’s angry glare.
Jeanne laughed, "You ask me, but I also don’t know. Plans never catch up with changes.
If you want to know the specific goal, I can tell you it’s to go to Waterwheel County, lure out Leia’s vanguard, and deliver a severe blow.
As for how to achieve this goal, the Secret Staff Monk would be happy to tell you, but I may not necessarily follow."
War is ever-changing.
If Leia’s vanguard were numerous, Jeanne certainly couldn’t engage them.
Because the disparity in troop strength was too great, and besides, she wasn’t leading the battle-hardened veterans of the Holy Alliance.
If Leia’s vanguard were few, they’d definitely hold fast to the city and avoid open battle; taking a city with two to three thousand men is nearly impossible.
Or perhaps, although their numbers weren’t perfect, if their leaders were resolute and refused to come out, Jeanne would be out of options too.
From this perspective, war is a massive game of waiting—
Avoiding mistakes as much as possible, waiting for the enemy to make one, then seizing upon it to amplify their error to the fullest.
Thus, you must act at the right time, adapting to changes and being flexible.
This is Horn’s weakness, yet it’s Jeanne’s strength.
This is also Jeanne’s command style; she lacks Horn’s cautious, step-by-step approach and instead is incredibly bold.
"So, you mean this march is a gamble, win some, lose some?"
Jeanne spread her hands: "If the enemy’s defenses are tight, returning with nothing is a possibility."
Bradak and the local Quartermasters were somewhat dumbfounded; the few sent by the Holy Alliance, however, appeared as if it was a matter of course.
"Action is necessary; without it, you’ll never know if it will succeed. We have ample supplies now; if the plan fails, it’s merely a waste of time."
"And the possibility of wasted effort?"
"Not wasted." Jeanne clasped her hands behind her back, tilting her chin slightly. "Look, isn’t this preparing for long-distance marching?"
