"The Sage and the Maiden ()"!
Most decent warriors know how to predict the opponent's performance, because nothing is more important than intelligence information.
If you rely solely on your physical ability and equipment advantages for suppression, you will always encounter someone who is stronger than you in both. But no matter how strong the opponent is, there will be times when he lets down his guard, even if it extends to the size of the army: if the enemy troops are concentrated in one place, there will be undefended places that can be used as options for attack; and if the enemy troops are scattered To defend, you can pick weaker opponents and defeat them one by one. Even if the opponent has an overall advantage, as long as we use intelligence information and tactical planning to give our side a local advantage, victory is not completely hopeless.
But in the land of Crescent Continent, which has been at peace for a long time, there are really very few people who can actually carry out these things instead of just talking about it.
The troops directly under Xinjing, a mixture of shrine maidens and ghosts, are one of such a minority.
As the old saying goes, "Heroes think alike." The judgments and decisions made by experienced people with the same mindset in the same situation are often not very different. For this reason, when Henry and his party met the witch in this border village, although they were surprised at first, they immediately figured out the reason.
A quiet village hidden away from the public eye, unimportant and not easy to attract attention. This kind of place is an excellent place to rest when you lack trust in everyone around you.
They may also have had contact with the local nobles, but considering that the priesthood restrictions of the witch maidens prevent them from interfering too much with the local mortal government, it should be the arbitrary decision of the local nobles to block the news and even kill the people.
In a sense, the status of shrine maidens is very similar to that of scholars such as doctor ladies.
High-status shrine maidens, regardless of civilians, ashigaru, nobles or even Chinese, must show respect because they are the servants of the gods and the spokespersons of the supreme gods and their descendants, that is, the Xinjing royal family, so they are treated accordingly. The nobles of New Moon Continent who are much higher than the so-called sons of lesser gods - but they do not have real power.
Xinjing is extremely cautious and strict in granting power. This approach is the reason why this country has not experienced any large-scale turmoil for thousands of years. Just like Ph.D. scholars who only have the 'right to speak out', not only are the size of the witch and ghost clan troops strictly controlled, but their whereabouts must be known to the new capital at all times, and they have no power to interfere with the local military and politics.
All they can use is the power in their own hands.
With the witch's use of divine thunder and the ghosts' bodies being far stronger than mortals, this army is like the sharpest knife.
But this knife is strictly restricted and surrounded.
And overused.
Too many rules and restrictions, and a lack of fresh troops, have allowed these women, who were supposed to have no connection with people's ladies, sports, and war, to have the ability to move, decisive combat intuition, and rich experience comparable to the hunters of the Yi Di.
They are even better in actual combat experience than the male warriors from the noble families they originally belonged to.
This is the second way out besides being a scholar for Kazuto aristocratic women who do not want to become victims of political marriages, but it is obviously far from a good one.
The group of people who followed the encounter of the great witch to the ruined temple where they were resting could smell the strong smell of ointment and requiem before they entered.
The interior was cleaned and beds were made. The floor was littered with bandages and pots of ointment, and basins for cleaning wounds were placed one after another.
The lightly wounded and uninjured witches took care of the seriously injured. Almost all those who fell to the ground were ghosts, but there were still a small number of witches. Anyone who knows something about military affairs can easily see that the front line has obviously been penetrated.
Many people have heavy dark circles under their eyes.
They are already scarred.
The exquisite forged folding steel naginata produced by Fuso was full of chips, and the hardwood pole used by the Oni clan, which was much thicker than normal, was full of hacking marks.
The armor that had been peeled off while leaning against the wall was full of scars and peeling paint. The weak parts, such as the armor on the limbs, and arrows had been removed, but the real fatal thing was the battered breastplate and helmet - Kazuto's regular arrows should not have been used. Can penetrate the armor of ghosts.
"It's lead." The sage's sharp vision accurately detected the darker substance remaining on the metal break from a distance of several meters.
Coupled with the huge round shape of the breach.
"It's a musket." The Luoan girl who had seen this kind of weapon also reacted.
Even though they were prepared for the new weapons they had encountered in the past battles at Parnilla, the stainless steel plate armor of the Imperial Knights was still dented.
Kazuto's armor skills are overall weaker than Rigar's. The knights of Rigar almost all use quenched steel, which is harder and more capable of withstanding deformation, and the thickness is not bad either.
Although the ghosts have stronger physical abilities and the thickness of the armor they use is comparable to the double-layer reinforced horse riding plate armor of Rigar's heavy knights, it is just ordinary wrought iron.
Weaker armor serves as the base. If the firearm is strengthened in a targeted manner, the caliber will be increased.
Then cooperate with sudden attacks and interference.
Despite this, judging from the wear and tear of their equipment and the gaps in their weapons, these ghost warriors still killed far more enemy troops than their own before the defense line was breached.
Their strong vitality even allowed them to support the retreat of the escorting witches, and then survived until such a safe zone.
But this is also the end of ammunition and food.
Thanks to the abundant salt content in this small village, the river here can obtain sufficient alkali. The wisdom of the people cannot be completely banned. Even if it is illegal to directly produce and sell salt, they will still find ways to use the natural resources here.
The Lamanites eventually brought more than just war and turmoil.
The soap-making technology and olive cultivation passed down by the merchants of the Southern City-State Alliance took root in this remote village, and both the olive oil itself and the soap made from it played a vital role in treating the wounded.
In this way, the ghost warriors stabilized the situation with careful care and sufficient local health care supplies. However, the situation of several human witches with more fragile vitality was not optimistic.
The witches without melee guards are vulnerable. If the situation gets worse, then they have to take into account that they have also exhausted the spells used by the divine thunder.
A miko who has lost her divine power is just a relatively strong human woman.
They are unable to protect themselves and are almost trapped here. And seeing that the army from the vassal territory has entered Jeju, it is obvious that there is not enough time to recuperate.
So why not ask for help from the local people or the nobles in the surrounding territories?
There are three reasons:
First of all, the tragic situation of Xinjing Blade must be prevented from being made public, otherwise it will severely damage morale;
Secondly, the surrounding territories are now on guard against the vassal army, and there is probably no manpower available to assist them.
And the last one.
"We went together with some troops from Jeju to investigate the situation in Taiju."
"They." The great witch sighed: "Betrayed."
Narumi looked at Henry. They did not tell the Grand Miko and his party about the traitor's surrender at first, because the other party also had their own missions and they did not have time to deliver the message to the group.
Even if news can be passed through intelligence networks such as teahouses taken over from the ninjas, the reliability of these underlying structures cannot be completely optimistic.
The Grand Miko and her party did not go to those teahouses but ran to such a small and deserted village. They must have realized that there was a leak of information.
Xinjing requires them to report their whereabouts at all times. The royal family hopes that this sharpest sword will always be in their hands. They are worried that witches and ghosts and gods will attack them in turn.
The fatal thing about transmitting whereabouts information through a series of intelligence networks is that once one of the links is leaked or intercepted.
Their whereabouts are as clear as a mirror in the eyes of the enemy.
The elite troops sent to investigate the missing Taizhou. What they walked into was a trap that had been prepared for a long time, and this force was so powerful that even if the opponent took the initiative, they still successfully retreated after paying heavy casualties.
But this is the only thing that can be done.
Narumi hesitated to speak. He obviously regretted not mentioning the potential traitor, because it might have alerted the great miko and her party before encountering them.
But there is indeed no Jeju Chinese name on the certificate of nomination.
Apparently it was the feudal king and his entourage who secretly contacted and tried to corrupt them before planning to attack Jeju, and then successfully instigated some people to rebel.
The opponent will not remain still forever, and even considering the strength gap between the two sides, they can move much faster than the group.
By the time this information reaches Xinjing, it may already be too late.
But they have no other choice.
Let's get back to the original point - when the great witch saw Henry and his entourage appearing in this small village, she almost immediately figured out what she should do.
This group of people had been in contact before, and due to the composition of the team, she clearly knew that these people did not belong to any force at this stage.
The sage and the Qingtian family are an isolated island.
And she needs exactly this kind of ally, an ally who will not be ordered by the local nobles and therefore be burdened with many responsibilities, because Henry's own characteristics are probably not in line with the position of the feudal rebels who have used evil things.
For Henry and his party and the Qingtian family, the contact and alliance with the witches, and the subsequent return of the escorts they prayed for to Xinjing, will definitely not be a wrong choice.
The identity and status of these servants of the gods can ensure that they, as vassal nobles, will not be hostile in the directly-governed states, and when they later pass the information to Xinjing, their weight together with the doctor's lady is enough to make Xinjing Jinglai attaches great importance to this information and will not let it be filtered out.
Loyalty and morale have improved somewhat, but the sergeant thought about it worriedly.
Maybe everything will be too late in the end.
Regardless, after a brief briefing on each other's situation, they decided to form an alliance with each other.
