The pale sunlight pierced through the dark mountain, drawing out steam from the earth.

Thick, sticky black smoke intertwined with sunlight, rising beside the half-buried wagon wheel frame, exuding a scent of rust and charcoal.

The corpse collector drove the carriage, throwing heavy corpses into the cart bed.

The creaking sounds of the spinning wheel spokes complemented the cawing of crows feasting on decaying flesh atop the corpses.

Occasionally jolted by a rock, a corpse would suddenly tremble and even roll off the carriage.

In front of the castle nestled within these mountains, the ground was littered with shattered arrows and iron debris.

Standing on the hillside, Bether hung his arm and chewed on foxtail grass, staring blankly at the war-torn landscape.

"What are you looking at?" asked Lannes, his forehead wrapped in bandages, as he led a horse over.

"I still can't believe it... we actually defeated the Imperial Knights."

Lannes punched Bether's chest: "Regretful sighs of the seasons, are you trying to be a poet?"

"Didn't you see I'm injured? Don't hit me."

Lannes and Bether were both rare non-mountain knight officers in the Cold Spring Castle army.

Lannes came from a coachman family, and before joining the army, he was an apprentice to a dye merchant.

After being driven out by the merchant following a great flood, he first served as a chariot soldier, then as a sword and shield soldier. Due to his bravery in combat, he rose to the rank of sergeant among the Mountain Knights.

Bether fared slightly better; he was born into a barber family and was somewhat affluent, later becoming a follower infantry to a Mountain Knight.

However, that Mountain Knight died in combat, and unexpectedly, Bether took his position and bravely fought his way to the role of Cavalry Captain.

With similar backgrounds and both being Shangruifo People, they naturally became friends over time.

"Yesterday's battle was too dangerous," Bether said, sitting under a lime tree, caressing the moist grass as he watched Lannes tie the horse to a post.

Bether plopped down beside Lannes, took a sip of potato wine: "If it weren't for Her Highness leading the Grey Knights and breaking through the enemy lines to capture that wretched Lingya Knight, we would likely still be on the run."

Recalling yesterday's scene, the two couldn't help but sigh deeply.

It was around the end of February when Lingya Knight Arman led two Imperial regiments to Changfeng Castle.

After a ten-day standoff, the Lingya Knight, having lost patience worn out by the car fortresses and Longbowmen, finally couldn't take it anymore and charged with two Imperial regiments.

The iron-wall-like car forts were knocked over by several charging Imperial Knights on the spot.

Despite Moliat's improved Deng Jia'er Array being made up of Extraordinary full-armored infantry with an over 80% success rate, they still couldn't withstand the relentless charging and stamina of the Imperial Knights.

They continuously exchanged horses, charging back and forth nearly twenty times from morning till afternoon, ultimately breaking the willpower of the Mountain Knights.

On the verge of killing nearly 6000 Mountain Knights with 20 of their own troops dead and nearly 30 wounded, the two Imperial regiments almost smashed through the entire Deng Jia'er Array.

It was then that Her Highness Moliat personally led the guard cavalry, crushing the forces led by Lingya Knight and began pursuing Lingya Knight himself.

This action forced the otherwise escaping second Imperial regiment to come back for rescue.

Seizing this opportunity, Cold Spring Castle's officers, including Lannes, re-stabilized the array formation and even started a counter-charge.

Under the leadership of three Titled Knights, the Mountain Knights counterattacked, successfully defeating and crippling the two Imperial regiments.

Unfortunately, Lingya Knight Arman managed to escape with the remnants of the two Imperial regiments.

"I heard we counted 92 Imperial Knight corpses?"

"About that, 92 Imperial Knights... thinking of Leia Kingdom having 4200 Imperial Knights makes my head spin."

"The mountain paths here are so narrow; 4200 Imperial Knights wouldn't be able to spread out," Lannes gulped a mouthful of wine to comfort him.

Bether spat out the foxtail grass: "What should we do next? Advance or hold ground?"

"Next step?" Lannes looked towards the tower of Changfeng Castle, "That's for Her Highness Moliat to decide; we just follow orders."

Inside the tower of Changfeng Castle, through a narrow window, a tall silhouette sat reading a briefing beside a brazier emitting a dark red glow.

Leaning against the soft wolfskin throne, the delicate face behind the iron mask sometimes frowned, sometimes smiled.

It's a pity that no one could see this stunning face.

"An entire Imperial regiment, completely annihilated."

Black Horse Knight Herman shook the briefing in his hand: "100 Imperial Knights didn't escape, only 10 Square Banner Knights escaped, and only about 20 Squire Knights.

350 Royal Constitution Knights were scared away directly; from February 20th to today, March 10th, taking Joan of Arc Castle in 20 days...

Honestly, I thought I was reading a joke book, just that magical crossbow, we've used it before, how could it have such power?"

Intelligence director Phil shook his head: "The accuracy of the intel can't be verified, but at least the evidence sent from Rapids City is very clear, both witness and material evidence."

"Unbelievable, a bunch of farmers..." Herman shook his head and placed the briefing on the table.

He still couldn't believe how much effort and years of preparation it took for them to barely defeat two Imperial Regiments, not even completely destroy them.

Those farmers started rebelling last September, and by today, they've taken half of the prosperous Langsande County, merely half a year.

In the blink of an eye, those makeshift farmers who danced like gods now have completely destroyed an Imperial regiment.

Even doing it seven days earlier than Moliat, achieving greater results, spreading wider; when people mention defeating an Imperial regiment, the first thought instead turns to the Salvation Army.

Herman couldn't accept it.

Grey Horse Knight Veen watched Moliat's iron face closely, he felt something was off about Moliat today.

"No matter what, he is on our side." Sitting up straight, Moliat set down the briefing, her red eyes shimmering with the brazier's flame, "Causing trouble for the Church is indeed a good thing, rather than worry about others' affairs, let's focus on our own."

Upon hearing Moliat's statement, the Cold Spring Castle military and political higher-ups present stood upright, awaiting Moliat's speech.

"Now our army has a minor victory, with over 300 dead, nearly a thousand seriously and lightly wounded, the situation isn't too bad.

The opposition lost half of their formation; although unable to fight in the field, they can still firmly hold High Castle City."

Moliat gently stroked the golden skull scepter in her hand, her voice cold and indifferent.

"Now if we wish to reignite the entire Thousand River Valley battle situation, we either break through Shangruifo to rendezvous with Catherine in Rapids City or break through Mande County to join forces with the two Mountain Counties in the south.

Otherwise, we'll be trapped between the Church's Shangruifo County and Mande County, unable to muster all our forces and instead having to fight on two fronts.

Keep pushing west, pursue the Imperial regiment, or push south into Mande County, let's hear everyone's thoughts."

"If you ask me..."

"Nonsense!"

"I haven't said anything yet, and you call it nonsense? You're the one who took 500,000 Dinar from the Church and came here to cause trouble!"

With his elbow on the armrest, Moliat turned his head, resting his cheek on his hand, watching and listening coldly.

As evening approached, the stone room grew increasingly cold, and Moliat listened as her thoughts drifted elsewhere.

This battle has made the Salvation Army's name, earning them a spot on the Church's list.

If it weren't for Rapids City holding the front line, the Church's army would likely have already swept out in fury, right?

Judging by the timeline, the North Knights dispatched by her should have arrived; originally planned to provide Horn some assistance, but now it seems unnecessary.

Looking at the few middle-aged men who were almost throwing their tongues at each other's faces, inexplicably, Moliat suddenly missed the spring-powered little frog.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.