The army led by Pope Theold was dominated by the Knights of the Temple, and the follow-up reserves were dominated by fanatics. The army set out from the Maison family's domain, bypassed the Plow Hills on the left side of Maison's domain, crossed the Donard Plain, and headed all the way to Newt City.
The marching route of this Holy Army of the Holy Land was much longer than the route taken by the old noble army of Blacy, led by Duke West, to attack the city of Douro. However, the Knights Templar led by Pope Theold was well-ordered, lightly dressed, and moved much faster than the northern army composed of the old nobles of Blaisey.
A few days later, the Knights Templar arrived south of the West Dort River not far from Newt City.
"The wind is against us, Your Majesty."
Sisien accompanies Siold from the bank to watch.
The wind was blowing from the northwest, and the fleet of small boats that had come up here on the lower reaches of the West Dort by the order of the Pope gathered on the river, but the wind was so strong that the fleet on the south side of the river could not set sail. The West Dot River was turbulent and wide, and the army who first arrived at the river bank watched anxiously.
Originally, on the West Dort River, there was a bridge with two banks. But at this time, the Legrand defenders on the other side of the West Dort River blew up the bridge early. Within sight, at the head of the Broken Bridge on the other side, stands a Legrand Bunker as an outpost of Newt City.
The sky gradually darkened, but the wind direction never changed, and the wind did not necessarily decrease.
"The soldiers are already a little anxious."
Syssian whispered to Siold.
Their army is moving so fast at the cost of giving up carrying a lot of supplies. Before the march, the time required has been calculated, and everyone only carried the necessary dry food according to the time. If they were caught by the wind and stayed here for one more day, the soldiers would lose one more day of food. This is a terrible thing for a main force of nearly 20,000 people.
It was Pope Theodore's assurance before departure that such a huge army would make such a marching plan that could not fail or be delayed.
A guarantee made in the name of faith and gods is no less than a double-edged sword. It can certainly drive believers, but once it encounters resistance, it will also turn its head and stab itself.
Sisien knew this well, and had to feel extremely anxious about it.
Pope Siold glanced at him: "Our war is for the Lord's blessing."
But the Lord may not be able to…
Sisien was about to say something, but saw Siold walking forward.
Siold, who was wearing a white robe, stepped on the wet riverbank mud and walked forward. His actions caught everyone's attention. As night drew near, the sun hung obliquely on the top of the mountain in the west, and the blood-colored rays of light spread along the rushing river, sparkling.
"His Majesty!"
Seeing that The Olde was about to walk into the river, Sisien was startled, and immediately rushed forward.
Siold took a step forward, and the river near the bank ran under his robes.
He turned as if at Mass, as the Father stretches his arms toward his people. Xi Sai'an stepped forward suddenly, his old friend was carrying a majestic majesty like a majestic mountain at this moment, the river water surging past him, the setting sun of the sky shrouded him, this scene Overlapped with the portraits on the title pages of all holy books.
At that moment, everyone thought they saw—
Holy Father!
"The Lord has called us to give you the sword, and he wants you to walk on the earth and build up his kingdom for him. In the old days you were always fighting unjust wars; you were always fighting because of greed and Arrogant and weapon-wielding cannibalism, for which you will suffer eternal death and damnation.[1]"
"And I will now lead you to the war that will bring the glory of immortality.[2]"
"This battle is a holy battle! This battle is a battle of God's blessing!"
"All those who hinder me will be turned into those who protect me!"
Siold's voice was carried far in the wind, clear and powerful, with an inviolable majesty. The crowd exclaimed, not only for this moment, the mighty majesty that Pope Siold showed in front of them, but also because a miracle happened in front of them—
Following Siold's resolute words, the wind from the northwest gradually changed direction.
The last sentence was like an order, and the wind rolled wildly between heaven and earth, and it blew mightily across the river—the wind direction changed completely!
The fleet's sails, which were stuck on the river and had difficulty moving forward, agitated instantly, hunting and flaunting.
Siold's words are reflected in the sky!
"Fight for the Holy Empire! Fight for glory!"
Theodore exclaimed.
"Fight for the Holy Empire! Fight for glory! God bless me!" Scythean shouted, drawing his sword and holding it high. Behind him, all the silver armored warriors drew their swords at the same time, the last ray of light from the sky swept across the earth, and the sword pointed at the sky as awe-inspiring as a forest.
The sails were agitated, and the army began to quickly board the ship. With unprecedented high morale, the army crossed the river.
On the other side of the river, Legrand's soldiers, who were keeping an eye on the enemy, did not hesitate to shoot arrows from the guard bunkers at the army crossing the river. On the top floor, someone blew the ancient bronze horn vigorously.
The desolate horn echoed in the sky and the earth, and the war began again.
…
The earth was submerged by the flames of war, and the army and soldiers seemed to be rushing to the battlefield all the time.
The scarlet rose king flag was blown up by the wind. The king led an army of more than 10,000 people across the Kawa Mountains to the west of the city of Yolin County, and arrived early in the northeast of Yorin County. At the foot of the Kawa Mountains, there are many nearby. Douro city on the Mar river.
They are about to face an army of about 30,000 people. As the armies of both sides continued to approach, the scouts were finally able to re-monitor the enemy's army. Their opponents were not temple knights, but a huge army of cavalry mainly composed of the old nobles of Blaisey.
After the enemy's military situation was determined, the officers had to be completely convinced by the king's decision.
—The Knights Templar did not protect Pope Siold in a safe territory, but went out with the Pope on the expedition.
Pope Theold's military plan was far more daring than the officers imagined, with both Douro and Newt being his targets - he split his forces. If they really acted according to the battle plan drawn up by the officers, then when they concentrated on defending either Douro and Newt, the other one would be breached.
Now, when the king led his troops to Douro City ahead of schedule, General John was also leading another army to launch an operation against the Temple Knights.
Today's Legrand battlefield - or the world's battlefield - is like a game of chess, the pope and the king each hold their pieces on the chessboard and quickly confront each other. Only the two of them are evenly matched opponents. The army, the people, the country, the faith... are all pawns driven by them.
They pushed the entire war situation into an unpredictable frenzy, and even pushed themselves into this frenzy.
This is a battle of two kings.
Outside the city of Douro, where Legrand's army is stationed.
The king walked slowly on his horse, inspecting his troops, and the soldiers who were stationed everywhere raised their swords and saluted the king.
The king greeted them with knighthood—whether they were infantry, archers, or reservists.
The devil accompanied the king, and he cheerfully disguised himself as a human knight—aside from his excessive paleness, he did look like a human. In the eyes of the devil, human soldiers are just some ants, and they don't need the king's attention at all.
However, he still well concealed his disdain for these ants - after all, they are His Majesty's army.
In fact, there was a completely strange knight beside the king, which still attracted the attention of many people, and this strange knight was about to replace the position of the chief of the house, always accompanying the king. However, the king seemed to acquiesce to this, and although the officers were quite critical, they were helpless.
"How did you guess that the attack on the city of Douro would be the main force of the old nobles of Blacy, and not the annoying knights of the Holy Court?"
When the devil wants to, he will never let the atmosphere fall into silence, and obviously, at this time, the king is more concerned about the current battle situation than other things.
"Because the title of Holy Emperor is more suitable for Siold than the title of Pope." The king passed in front of the longbowmen troops stationed there, and while checking whether the trenches protecting the longbowmen had been dug, replied, "He He will not allow his army to disobey his command. Rather than waiting for the old nobles of Blaise to interrupt his plan in the middle of the war, it is better for them to bite a hard bone and learn a lesson. Reed City is relatively close, and if the war situation really has too much influence, the Holy Blesser of Herid City will intervene in the war situation.”
While speaking, the king left this battle line and rushed to the next battle line in the salute of the longbowmen.
The king chose a gentle elevation in front of the city of Douro as a place to deploy his tactics and troops. It is wedged between the Kava Forest and the plains of northern Donard, bordering the forest on one side of the highlands, a creek flowing slowly on the other, and a low, flat depression in front of the field. The king's army was deployed here relying on forests, towns and villages, and a net was drawn to intercept the army of Blaise's old nobles. [3]
"and… "
The king gave a cold smile.
"He knew that we would definitely intercept the old nobles of Blasey."
Douro City is so close to the Doma River that it poses a greater threat to Yolin County than Newt City in the long run. Because once the city of Douro is under control, it is very likely that the fleet of the Holy Army will pass through the Doma River and attack Jolin County together with the army on the land from the waterway.
During the conversation, a scout hurried over.
The king reined in the reins.
The author has something to say: [1][2] Quoted from a speech by Pope Urban II
[3] The campaign layout of this article refers to "Military History of the Western World" and "History of Medieval War Art"