For Muxi Town, this was destined to be an unusual morning.
An army without any flags was stationed outside the town.
Fine warhorses, exquisite armor, and sharp weapons were placed in the square.
In the church chapel, the old knight Cumberland held a list compiled by his subordinates and read aloud: "Fifty-nine warhorses captured, eighty-seven sets of various heavy and light armor, seventeen prisoners captured, and some supplies."
Todd sighed from the bottom of his heart. There was a saying in his previous life, "When the cannons roar, gold flows like water." Making a fortune from war is indeed something that makes people envious. The things he plundered in one night were far more than the income of Muxi Town for more than half a year.
What about casualties?
Cumberland closed the list and said, "We have five seriously wounded and twenty-two lightly wounded."
Todd, who had never been on the battlefield, still understood war from games and movies. In his view, defeating a company of elite cavalry with just over two hundred infantrymen and suffering zero casualties was a complete victory.
The old knight looked at the priest on the pulpit and slowly said, "Sir, does this mean we've passed the test? Are my men and I allowed to join Twilight Town?"
Todd was about to speak.
However, someone in the church spoke up first: "Lord Todd, I think you should be more cautious about whether to agree to let these people join Twilight Town."
Everyone turned to look at the source of the voice. Monk Joe frowned, pondering as he spoke, "Once we formally accept this army, it means that Twilight Town and the Silver Ring Kingdom will be completely opposed. Lord Todd, I have two questions: First, will the Church approve of this unilateral action? Second, will the Kingdom send more troops? If so, how should we deal with it?"
To everyone's surprise, the first to step forward and answer the question was Rachel: "In my opinion, the Papal States will not only not be opposed to our actions, but will actually support them. The Church has always maintained a divisive and suppressive attitude towards these barbarian kingdoms that converted to the Church of God hundreds of years ago. Isn't stirring up this water even more exactly what those people want to see?"
"As for the second question, let me answer it," Cumberland stroked his beard and said, "The news of the annihilation of the cavalry company will probably take three days to reach the council chamber. The king will organize his ministers to discuss the matter based on the battle report. Since this escape involves the royal family, public resentment, and Muxi Town, the decision to send troops again is almost certain to pass. First, I need to explain a few things..."
The old knight unsheathed his longsword and handed it to his attendant, saying, “The first question is, the Silver Ring Kingdom has three major legions: the Northern Legion, the Eastern Legion, and the Southern Legion. This time, in the secret arrest of the Queen, neither the Royal Guard nor the Northern or Southern Legions were used, but only the Eastern Legion. Why? The Royal Guard are the royal family's personal guards; they would certainly object to the Queen's arrest. The Northern Legion is responsible for guarding the borders and resisting the barbarians. The two commanders of the Southern Legion are myself and Earl Emerson; given our personalities, we certainly wouldn't support a secret arrest. After all, the only option is to draw troops from the Eastern Legion, which is close to the nobility…”
Upon hearing this, Todd suddenly remembered a question: "So, if the Silver Ring Kingdom were to attack Twilight Town again, which troops would they deploy?"
Cumberland nodded and said, “Lord Todd, this is the second question I need to explain… If we attack Muxi Town again, the kingdom doesn’t have many options in terms of troop strength. The Royal Guard will likely undergo a major purge due to the rebellion and won’t be deployed to the battlefield anytime soon; the Northern Legion is responsible for defending against the barbarians, and if the northern defense line falls, the Silver Ring Kingdom will become the enemy condemned by all kingdoms in the Father’s Diocese, so I don’t think the Northern Legion’s troops will be conscripted; then there’s the Eastern Legion, but the Holy Guard City’s army is close to the border, and drawing a cavalry company and a hundred infantrymen is already the limit of what the Eastern Legion can tolerate. So it seems that there are only two options for attacking Muxi Town. One is the nobles’ private armies, and the other is the Southern Legion.”
Todd said with some surprise, "You defected from the kingdom with two hundred soldiers of the Southern Legion. Will the king and nobles still trust this legion?"
Cumberland shook his head and said, "Earl Emerson was the late king's tactical instructor and is absolutely loyal to the royal family. My defection may make some people in the kingdom doubt the Southern Legion, but they will never question Emerson's loyalty. As for the Earl himself, he may criticize the arrest of the Queen, but if Guy VI asks him to go to war, he may still agree."
The old knight looked up at the Holy Cross above the church and sighed, "To be honest, I really don't want to go to war with that 'old tortoise.' He's one of the few people in the entire kingdom that I can stand. Besides, in the legion, I'm good at offense, and he's good at defense. If we fight, it's really hard to predict the outcome."
Seeing the others fall silent, Rachel, adept at filling in the gaps, asked a crucial question: "Mr. Cumberland, if the Kingdom were to attack Muxi Town again, when would the attack be?"
Cumberland pondered for a moment, then said with certainty, "Next spring."
The woman was somewhat surprised: "Next spring?"
The old knight explained, “The king doesn’t have much military power. The troop movements require numerous meetings and discussions with the nobles, involving many conflicting interests and political maneuvering. Once the war decision is officially issued, mobilization orders and emergency conscription orders will follow, along with the collection of military provisions, the formulation of tactics, the appointment of commanders, and so on. By the time all of this is finished, it will be at least two months later. That will be late November or early December, when the dead of winter is approaching, which is not conducive to marching. That’s why I said the next attack will probably be in the spring of next year.”
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