CHAPTER 447: CHAPTER 426: FRUITFUL BATTLE RESULTS

"So you really arrived on July 22nd?" Catherine asked incredulously, "You were supposed to just reach Xiaochi City and drive off the besieging army there."

"It turns out those Noble Alliance Army weren’t that terrifying," Horn patted Catherine’s soft waist, "Aunt Catherine, let go now, you can’t keep taking advantage of me."

"Who cares." Catherine, who had been attacked by Horn about her age and weight earlier, finally lost her temper.

She jumped off Horn’s lap but didn’t land steadily and almost fell, glaring at Horn: "How old are you? You’re calling me Aunt?"

"I’m nineteen, how about you?"

It seemed like Catherine choked on her food for a moment, then bit her teeth and said, "Twenty-one."

"Impossible, Martin said you are even older than him."

"So what?" Catherine puffed out her ample chest, "I have a lifespan of one hundred and fifty years, being thirty is like just turning twenty for mere mortals."

"I’m a male witch, so at nineteen, I’m like nine. What’s wrong with calling you Auntie?" Horn’s stubbornness was ignited by Catherine, "You’re old enough to stop pretending to be a little girl."

A rush of heat went straight to Catherine’s head, her heartbeat was pounding so loudly, it was audible.

Blood pressure, rising.

Catherine couldn’t help but suddenly feel that recognizing Horn as Juanuo made quite a bit of sense, just that foul mouth seemed to be cast from the same mold.

Only Horn was more sarcastic, while Juanuo was more straightforward, referring to her as an old woman relentlessly.

"Get out, get out!"

"Why should I?"

"I’m going to change clothes now, get out!" Pushing Horn on his back, Catherine ushered him out of the bedroom and slammed the door shut behind him.

After brushing off the dust on his shoulder, Horn didn’t leave immediately; he placed his head against the door for a good seven or eight seconds, listening to the sounds of washing inside, and then slowly exhaled.

This whole banter seemingly showed that this witch had little will to die.

Earlier, when Horn first met her, he could clearly sense her death wish, with even her desire to live being quite faint.

Such a witch who could spur the growth of plants was exactly what Horn needed at the moment.

She couldn’t die, she was still useful.

To timely feed her blood and prevent her from giving up on the treatment, Horn stayed by her side for three days without leaving.

Otherwise, with Horn’s busy schedule, how could he find the time to sit by the bedside reading?

The fact that his blood could soothe rampaging mana was indeed an unexpected delight. However...

Horn touched his neck, not knowing why, but when he came into contact with the still rampant Catherine, he once again felt a tugging sensation on his neck, and blood started flowing.

That sensation lasted only a moment, and he wondered if it was his illusion.

Walking out from the inner bedroom, Horn plopped down in the main seat of the conference room, watching the busy folks in there.

The battle for Rapids City had ended three days ago, but the post-battle statistics and review meetings were still ongoing.

This operation, involving tens of thousands of people and spanning hundreds of kilometers, required a tremendous amount of statistical and review work.

Fortunately, Horn had set a hard deadline for them, forcing them to come up with an abridged report within the stipulated time.

Seeing Horn sit down, Armand, who had been writing on paper, picked up the report and quickly walked over to Horn.

"How many of those Imperial Knights escaped?" Horn asked Armand as he accepted the report without even flipping through it.

"Arman’s unit had an Imperial company of 300, out of which 18 Imperial Knights escaped, 25 Square Banner Knights escaped, and 52 Squire Knights escaped."

"The Squire Knights ran away so many of them?" Horn scratched his head, opened the report, and only realized after a while.

The Squire Knights were light-armored units, released early onto the battlefield to conduct guerrilla warfare.

When the situation turned unfavorable, they fled swiftly, and the Salvation Army had mainly targeted the Imperial Knights, having no time to deal with them.

"What about the Imperial company within the city?"

"We attacked from the South City Gate, and the Imperial company escaped through the West City Gate. The exact number of Imperial Knights is unknown, but we managed to hold over thirty of them."

After having practiced and honed his skills in Kasha County for a while, Armand had become more capable and summarized: "Overall, we’ve either annihilated or captured more than one hundred Imperial Knights in total. The opposing side probably only managed to escape with one incomplete Imperial company."

Horn counted on his fingers. Prince Kongdai had a total of nine Imperial companies, one was destroyed in the Battle of Pavia, one and a half in the Battle of Rapids City, and one in the battle of Moliat.

This meant Prince Kongdai now only had five complete Imperial companies and one incomplete Imperial company.

Among them, there were four on the Shangruifo County battlefield, another led by Banifus at Feiliu Castle, and half a company led by Ailard.

If it weren’t for the heavy fortress Damp Dock blocking the waterway downstream, Horn would’ve thought of seizing the opportunity to sail downstream and push forward at Feiliu Castle.

With the empty forces in Hotam County, who could stop him?

"What is the overall situation of the Salvation Army in this battle?"

"Ten veteran corps lost 127 men, had 388 severely wounded, and 1253 lightly wounded;

Two Black Hat Army new recruit corps lost 115 men, had 110 severely wounded, and 222 lightly wounded;

As for the Xiaochi City militia, only about 500 have reached the campsite outside the city, the rest seems to have fled."

Compared to the Battle of Pavia, where we also annihilated one Imperial company, the Salvation Army lost over a quarter of its soldiers at that time (not counting the lightly wounded).

Today, if only considering the proportion of the regular corps, we only lost about one-tenth.

Of course, in terms of numbers, it’s similar to the previous Battle of Pavia, but the biggest difference is:

During the Battle of Pavia, the Salvation Army only had to deal with 500 Extraordinaries, while in Rapids City, they faced over 1200 Extraordinaries.

"What about the Church Army?"

"Excluding the Squire Knights, they have 1200 genuine Extraordinary Knights." Armand scratched his head, "When only considering the Extraordinary Knights, we annihilated and captured nearly half of them."

Following Armand’s explanation, Horn flipped through the report.

Three days ago, due to the battle taking place on a plain and the enemy’s significant manpower,

even though the Salvation Army defeated them, the actual number captured or killed was not as high as in the Battle of Pavia proportion-wise.

But compared to other uprising rabble, this rate of annihilation was frighteningly high.

Out of the 1200 Extraordinary Knights deployed, only around 700 managed to escape the surroundings of Rapids City, and the Salvation Army captured nearly ten thousand Guards and Squire Knights in total.

While nearby armies quickly retreated upon receiving news of the royal army’s defeat, even the City Guard of the major stronghold Ansen Castle fled.

After the Battle of Rapids City, the Imperial company was battered, and the remaining Noble Knights dared not act rashly, likely opting to hold on tightly to Deer Horn Town in the northern part of Lower Reif County.

For now, Horn did not continue the offensive against this sector of the army, partly because of the numerous castles blocking their path, which wasn’t worth the effort of taking bit by bit, and partly because it wasn’t necessary yet.

He selected Dog Fox Village as the main target for his offense, where Jeanne is currently leading the troops to attack.

Once Dog Fox Village falls to the Salvation Army, then the southern Lower Reif County, eastern Kasha County, and the entire Langsande County could become one unified area.

The political talents from Kasha County and the economic talents from Lower Reif County could all contribute to the Salvation Army Government in Langsande County.

As Horn was still thinking about the mutual complementation of the three counties alliance, the sound of a door opening came from behind him.

Catherine, now dressed in fitted casual wear, appeared before Horn.