What it means to take responsibility yourself is that Horn has to deliver the goods to the doorstep.

Martin previously mentioned that Kush Territory and Kasha County actually border each other.

However, the two main roads leading to Kasha County are blocked, one on land by the Ibe Knights of Jinhe Town and the other by the Church of Lower Reif County on the water.

Among several possible transportation routes, Horn proposed three conditions:

First, it must be capable of large-scale transportation.

Second, it must not be easily harassed by the Temple Knights of Lower Reif and the Ibe Knights from the south.

Third, it must be close enough to reduce detours and facilitate quick transport and passage.

The Holy Gun Cavalry scouted around and finally found the only route that met Horn's requirements—the El Ancient Path in the cave forest to the southwest of Kush Territory.

If you travel this ancient path, from Joan of Arc Castle to Xiaochi City, the total distance is just 250 kilometers.

At the speed of a fully loaded carriage, it would take four to five days to reach the destination, with a round trip taking no more than ten days.

The reason it became abandoned is mainly that after the canal was built, the safety and capacity of water transport were much stronger than this ancient path, leading to its neglect.

After decades of being abandoned, it has become a base for refugees, horse thieves, and bandits.

Every year, they set out from this base to pillage manors and villages in the surrounding three counties and also rob passing merchants.

Several purges by nearby lords have failed to eliminate them completely, as they manage to escape each time and quickly regroup.

Later, these bandits became cunning, identifying market niches and transitioning from robbery to collecting protection fees.

Over the years, they have lived quite comfortably by unsustainably exploiting nearby manors and passing merchants for over a decade.

But this comfortable life is about to come to an end.

Because Horn does not allow such bold people to exist in Kush Territory!

"Have the recruitments for the Black Hat Army been completed?" Despite Horn's usual lazy tone, Busak could clearly hear a certain firm resolve in it.

"It's all finished, all eight army corps are fully recruited, and two new corps are currently in training." Busak replied without delay after a brief consideration.

Horn nodded: "Were they all recruited according to my requirements?"

"Yes." Busak nodded, "They are all with a clean background from the Defensive Army, physically exceptional and very close to the Saint Father's Association.

Mixing these new recruits with the two Old Guard corps should form about four Imperial Guard corps, though some time will be needed for integration."

Currently, Horn has 200,000 men at his disposal, giving him the luxury to select carefully, unlike in the past when he accepted anyone available.

Therefore, all new recruits near Joan of Arc Castle were recruited following the standards of the Imperial Guard corps.

According to Horn's plan, under the banner of the Salvation Army, it might be necessary to split into two battle groups, namely the Black Hat Battle Group and the Guard Battle Group.

Currently, the Black Hat Battle Group already has six corps; adding two more will fulfill the quota.

As for the Guard Battle Group, it only has two corps and is far behind, so Horn decided to reinforce it first.

"So the Black Hat Army and Holy Gun Cavalry are still available, right?"

"The Black Hat Army is available, but the Ibe Knights to the south have shown some activity recently, so the Holy Gun Cavalry needs to monitor them."

"Then let's have the North Mountain Knights replace the Holy Gun Cavalry in monitoring them." Horn casually assigned.

René, who was nearby, suddenly approached Horn's ear and whispered, "Your Excellency, the cave forest is a valley and forest terrain, unsuitable for the deployment of Holy Gun Cavalry, and is instead suitable for the North Mountain Knights.

Moreover, these bandits number at most a thousand, making it unnecessary to mount such a large-scale campaign..."

Horn was slightly stunned before he realized his fast rise had left him stuck in the mindset of using overwhelming force in every situation.

Clearly, against a relatively weak enemy, Horn still thought of deploying all available strongest forces instead of rationally allocating troops.

This was a case of ignoring what lies ahead.

"Then let's leave the Holy Gun Cavalry as they are and send those North Knights to fight the bandits."

The North Knights, truly useful.

This thought flashed through Horn's mind.

As per Horn's plan, to execute it, he first needs to gather 400 mule and horse carts from Kush Territory's carriage services and the general public.

Kush Territory isn't big, so having 400 carts is feasible.

With the Ibe Knights and decrees during the Battle of Pavia, plenty of draft and riding horses were given to Horn, so the number of horses is definitely sufficient.

Currently, the Church is employing economic blockade strategies on Horn, and the trade routes are cut off.

For local citizens and farmers, maintaining these carts is quite the expense.

Thus, the Pope's Palace deciding to centrally lease these carts is good news for them.

Since food transportation is needed, Horn will also hire transport personnel, absorbing a batch of unemployed people and ensuring the livelihood of some individuals.

These carts will be organized into convoys of twenty, with one batch departing every morning and another at noon, with each freight cart able to carry 2000-3000 pounds of goods.

In ten days, when the first batch of freight carts returns, Horn will be able to collect over ten thousand gallons of food daily.

This not only fills the food shortage in Kush Territory but also stores military provisions for the southward campaign at the end of May.

One million gallons, at the current speed, will take roughly three months.

Three months later, it will be the July harvest season, perfectly coinciding.

However, during the time of gathering carts, before May, Horn needs to defeat these agile mountain bandits.

Fortunately, he had foresight about this matter and sent out Cheka in advance to investigate the information and terrain, even preparing the military funds in advance.

Horn turned and looked at René, who was leading the horse. "Have the bandits detected our actions?"

The Cheka chief, personally leading the horse, replied in a deep voice: "They've become somewhat alert; these bandits are unusually well-informed.

We've discovered that every time they're besieged by lords, they're able to react and flee in advance.

The Cheka has yet to discover the source of the information. I suspect that townspeople and merchants might be colluding with them. May I have permission to investigate?"

"Don't rush." With fingers closed, Horn shook his right hand towards René, "Go check the villages near the cave forest, there might be surprises."

"Are you suggesting that the villagers are colluding with the bandits?" René's usually calm eyes showed a hint of confusion, "But aren't they being forced to pay tribute by the bandits every day?"

"There's a pattern in exterminating bandits — the civilians and the bandits are one. The bandits in the mountains are eliminated, but those in the villages remain.

You think the mountains are a good place? They need to live somehow; who handles their stolen goods?

The necessities and daily items in life aren't going to fall from the sky."

Lazily wanting to rest his elbow on René's shoulder, Horn couldn't succeed.

Turning his head, looking at the remnant of René's ear, he realized the young man was almost as tall as himself now.

Reluctantly pulling back his hand, Horn said in a deep voice, "Two monks from the Saint Father's Association died near there; perhaps you can start from this point."

René gave a slight bow: "Yes, Your Excellency."

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