diymy #303 - Bandits must be eliminated at all times.
#303 - Bandits must be eliminated at all times.
The meaning of 'bearing it myself' meant Horn would deliver the goods to the door.
Martin had mentioned before that the Kush Territory and Kashia County were actually adjacent.
However, the two main roads leading to Kashia County were blocked: the land route by the Ibe Knights of Golden River Township, and the waterway by the Lower瑞佛County Church.
Among the several available transport routes, Horn proposed three conditions:
First, it had to be capable of large-scale transportation.
Second, it had to be difficult for the Temple Knights of Lower瑞佛 and the Ibe Knights in the south to harass.
Third, it had to be close enough, avoiding detours as much as possible, to facilitate fast transportation and passage.
The Holy Musket Cavalry scouted everywhere and finally found the only route that met Horn's requirements: the El Ancient Road in the Cave Forest southwest of the Kush Territory.
If this ancient road was used, the total distance from Jeanne d'Arc Fortress to Small Pond City would be 250 kilometers.
Calculated at the speed of a fully loaded carriage, it would take four to five days to arrive, and a round trip would not exceed ten days.
The reason it was abandoned was mainly because after the canal was built, the safety and carrying capacity of the waterway were much stronger than this ancient road, which led to its abandonment.
After decades of neglect, it had become a base for vagrants, bandits, and robbers.
Every year, they used it as a base to attack and plunder the manors and villages in the nearby three counties, and incidentally rob passing merchants.
The nearby lords had launched several campaigns to wipe them out, but they always managed to escape and make a comeback in a few days.
Later, these bandits learned to be smarter, found the market pain points, laid out new tracks, and replaced robbery with collecting protection fees.
Over the years, by sustainably draining the resources of nearby manors and passing merchants, they had been living a comfortable life for more than a decade.
But such a comfortable life will soon cease to exist.
Because Horn would not allow such awesome people to exist in the Kush Territory!
"Has the Black Hat Army completed its replenishment?" Although Horn's voice was still as lazy as ever, Busak clearly heard a lot of sonority in it.
"It's all done. All eight legions have been fully replenished, and the new batch of two legions is currently in training," Busak replied without delay after a moment's thought.
Horn nodded: "Were they all recruited according to my requirements?"
"Yes," Busak nodded. "They are all Guardian Army soldiers with clean backgrounds, outstanding physical qualities, and very close to the Holy Father Society.
Mixing these recruits with the two old guard legions can probably make up four guard legions, but it will take some time to integrate them."
Horn currently had 200,000 people under his command. Having the qualification to be picky, he would naturally not accept everything as he used to.
Therefore, the recruits recruited near Jeanne d'Arc Fortress were all required to meet the standards of the Guard Legion.
According to Horn's idea, the Salvation Army brand might have to be split into two battle groups: the Black Hat Battle Group and the Guard Battle Group.
Currently, the Black Hat Battle Group already had six legions, and it would meet the requirements with two more.
As for the Guard Battle Group, there were only two legions, which was too far behind, so Horn decided to carry out a wave of reinforcement first.
"Then the Black Hat Army and the Holy Musket Cavalry are still free, right?"
"The Black Hat Army is free, but the Ibe Knights in the south have been acting a bit strangely recently, so the Holy Musket Cavalry has to monitor them."
"Then why don't we let the Norse Mountain Knights monitor them in place of the Holy Musket Cavalry?" Horn casually arranged.
Rene, who was on the side, suddenly walked to Horn's ear and whispered: "Your Excellency, the Cave Forest is a valley forest terrain, and the Holy Musket Cavalry cannot deploy effectively. On the contrary, it is suitable for the Norse Mountain Knights.
Moreover, these bandits are at most a thousand people, so there is no need to mobilize such a large force..."
Horn was slightly stunned, and then he suddenly realized that he had risen too quickly and was still stuck in the mindset of going all-in every day in the past.
Clearly, they were a relatively weak enemy, but Horn was still thinking of mobilizing all available strongest forces, instead of rationally deploying troops.
He was focusing on the front and neglecting the rear.
"Then the Holy Musket Cavalry will not move, and let those Norse Knights attack the bandits."
Norse Knights, so easy to use.
The thought could not help but flash through Horn's mind.
According to Horn's idea, to implement this plan, he must first requisition 400 donkey carts and carriages from the cart and horse shops and civilians throughout the Kush Territory.
The Kush Territory was not large, but there were still 400 carriages.
The Ibe Knights and the Ordinance Company had sent Horn a lot of draft horses and riding horses during the Battle of Pavia, so the number of horses was definitely enough.
Now that the church was using an economic blockade strategy against Horn, trade routes were cut off.
For local citizens and farmers, maintaining these carriages was a considerable expense.
Therefore, the Papal Palace's decision to centrally lease carriages was actually good news for them.
Since he was going to transport grain, Horn also hired people to transport it, which absorbed a batch of unemployed people and guaranteed the livelihoods of some people.
Let these carriages form a fleet of twenty vehicles each, departing in batches every morning and noon, each freight carriage capable of carrying 2,000-3,000 pounds of goods.
Then, ten days later, when the first batch of freight carriages returned, Horn would be able to harvest more than 10,000 gallons of grain every day.
This would not only meet the food shortage in the Kush Territory, but also accumulate military rations for the southward operation at the end of May.
1 million gallons, at the current rate, would take about three months.
Three months later, it would be the July harvest season, which would be perfectly connected.
However, during the period of carriage mobilization, that is, before May, Horn must defeat these agile bandits in the mountains.
Fortunately, he had a premonition of this and sent the Cheka ahead of time to scout out the news and terrain, and even prepared the money and food for the expedition.
Horn turned to look at Rene, who was leading the horse over: "Have these bandits noticed our actions?"
The Cheka director, who was personally leading the horse, said in a deep voice: "They are already somewhat alert. These bandits are unusually well-informed.
Our investigation revealed that every time they were besieged by the lords, they were able to react and escape in advance.
The Cheka has not yet discovered the source of the news. I suspect that citizens and merchants in the town are colluding with them. Can I be authorized to launch an investigation?"
"Don't rush," Horn shook his right palm at Rene, his fingers together, "Go check the villages near Cave Forest, maybe there will be a surprise."
"You mean, those villagers are colluding with the bandits?" A hint of doubt flashed in Rene's always calm eyes. "But aren't they forced to pay tribute to the bandits every day?"
"There is a rule for suppressing bandits: the people and the bandits are one. If the bandits in the mountains are killed, there are still bandits in the villages who have not been killed.
What do you think the mountains are a good place? They always have to live. Who will help them sell their stolen goods?
The necessities and daily necessities of life cannot fall from the sky."
Lazily wanting to press his elbow on Rene's shoulder, Horn failed.
Turning his head and looking at Rene's missing ear, he realized that this kid was almost as tall as himself.
Withdrawing his hand awkwardly, Horn said in a deep voice: "Previously, two monks from the Holy Father Society died near there. You can start from this aspect."
Rene bowed slightly: "Yes, Your Excellency."