MTLNOVEL Chapter 167: That Place, Called Black Bone Swamp
Blackbone Marsh is located northeast of Joan of Arc Castle, at the junction between Mountain County and Pingyuan County.
As a mountain marsh, it is surrounded on three sides by mountains, with the only exit covered by Wild Spider Forest, two-thirds of it being marshland.
The marsh is littered with various lakes, dark rivers, puddles, and muddy grounds of all sizes.
But it has to be said, such a small area incorporates the three terrains cavalry hates the most - mountains, marsh, and forest.
After the Hundred Years' War, when the Empire's military power was at its peak, it couldn't conquer this small Blackbone Marsh, let alone now with the giant spiders of Wild Spider Forest guarding the access.
According to Horn's rough calculations, if the measurements of this world aren't mistaken, the entire Blackbone Marsh is about 7,000 square kilometers, roughly equivalent to a city like Yangcheng.
This area is equivalent to 1.5 Tree Hedge Villages, but its population is only 0.3 Tree Hedge Villages - around 20,000 people.
Geographically, it is indeed within the Duchy of Kush, although it has never been under the Duke's actual control.
The streams and canals near Joan of Arc Castle derive most of their water from the Dragon Sleep Mountain Range flowing through Blackbone Marsh into the castle.
"I actually forgot about this place." Jeska smacked his forehead.
"The terrain of Blackbone Marsh is indeed suitable for defending against cavalry warfare. To enter, one must either climb over mountains or break through Wild Spider Forest."
Taking a map from a nearby cabinet, Jeanne blew the dust off and spread it on the table.
"Even if they could enter Blackbone Marsh, they would still face a dilemma: the dark rivers, puddles, and lakes within the marsh.
Even if the knights are blessed with 'Lifting Light as Heavy' and 'Galloping Hooves,' they still cannot run on water."
The Church's response was that walking on water is Miseria's power, which does not allow mortal overreach.
But the knights all knew that was merely an excuse; ultimately, it is because the Church clings to tradition, unwilling to further research blessing systems, even refusing monks from developing new blessings.
"During this period, if we lack supplies, we can even use some smuggling waterways or sneak through Wild Spider Forest to trade with nearby Joan of Arc Castle."
"The local beastmen in Blackbone Marsh happen to be in good relations with us, and the Beastman Kings even revere our Saint Sun Pope as the Emperor of the Third El Empire, right?"
Those veteran elders who had traversed Blackbone Marsh and were very familiar with it immediately started discussing; the more they discussed, the more feasible it seemed.
The new Salvation Army members, who initially sat with a grim look, began to see their eyes brighten as they listened to these veterans, who talked about elders, emperors, and kings as if it were nothing.
It must be known, although unspoken, it was only after Horn actually chopped off the Duke's head that they realized there was no way back.
In fact, some members of the Salvation Army, in a moment of passion, believed they had been deceived onto a pirate ship by Horn.
It wasn't that they didn't want to follow Horn, but rather that this group was composed of migrant farmers, finding it hard to see a future.
But listening now, wow, the Pope Country's rewards were so generous; where else could you casually be conferred titles, Grand General or Junior General?
Listening carefully, Horn in Blackbone Marsh actually had hundreds of powerful Beastman Kingdoms as subordinates.
Even if one kingdom had a reduced population, it still might have thousands. Otherwise, how could it be called a kingdom?
By then, say no more, giving them a dukedom wouldn't be excessive, would it?
Our Salvation Army is truly formidable!
"Actually, while Blackbone Marsh has its merits, it has one major drawback." Horn, who had remained silent, slowly spoke, "You all know that according to the agreement, we still have to come out in three months.
Just now, under the alias Chrispa, Patrick has already said that in three months, the Duchess's letter will be invalid; chances are Duchess Hemashi is preparing for an uprising.
By then, the Imperial orders will inevitably focus on advancing north to attack the Duchess's North Mande County, and we can seize the opportunity to strike.
This means we must form a new army within Blackbone Marsh, aiming to defeat at least three Imperial orders."
"Yes, is there a problem with that?" Thomas curiously asked.
"That's a big problem." Jeska replied for Horn, evidently having thought of this issue too, "According to His Majesty Saint Sun's plan, the new army being formed should number between 4,000 and 6,000.
Only with such numbers can they barely combat enemy infantry while withstanding the charge of Extraordinary Knights."
In the Battle of Windmill Land of yesteryears, Falan's renowned Wheelchair Marshal Otto Deng Jia'er, during intensive training of mercenaries, formed an elite infantry phalanx, structuring it as a 4,000-strong unit.
At that time, Falan Kingdom was undergoing the growing pains of centralized reform, fraught with internal strife, and many Falan Knights sought refuge in Leia Kingdom.
Yet Marshal Deng Jia'er, stubbornly with long spear phalanxes of mercenaries and a few Extraordinary Knights, held the Leia Kingdom's Knights tenaciously.
Since the infantry lacked offensive means, the knights didn't lose, but neither could they win, being wholly drained by Falan Kingdom's vast monetary resources.
The Deng Jia'er Array thus became the Empire's recognized remedy against cavalry.
"Do you know what this means? With 4,000 to 6,000 people, including their families, the total number of people may reach 20,000 to 30,000." Jeska spread his hands, with an expression implying, "what else can I say."
"With so many people, where can we find a place for us to station and train new troops?"
A considerable part of Horn and their oversight is due to this.
As long as they could bring some of their own food, accommodating 30,000 in Blackbone Marsh is barely doable.
But the problem is, Blackbone Marsh's terrain consists of real land on patches of puddles and dark rivers; there simply isn't that much space for Horn to station and train his troops.
The council chamber fell silent once more until a coarse, hoarse female voice with a thick accent said:
"Your Majesty, may I say something?"
It was Horn's Vargi Guard Captain, Gergo, the daughter of the Queen of Xidian.
"Speak." Horn beckoned to her, "Come to the front, don't be afraid."
"Actually, there is a place for garrison and training in Blackbone Marsh." Gergo's pure nasal voice made quite a few people furrow their brows, as most of the migrant representatives, except those familiar with Gergo's accent, didn't understand.
"Where?" Horn was somewhat stunned.
"It's our Beastman's ancestral land, once the Imperial Capital of the Beastman Empire, Autumn Dusk Island, which is an island in the lake flowing with milk and honey, full of lush grasses."
"There's such a place? We almost crossed Blackbone Marsh, how come we didn't..." At this point, Horn suddenly stopped.
He suddenly realized they hadn't walked the entire Path of Blood and Sweat but had taken the Blue Blood Orphanage's bypass to detour around the swamp lowlands.
In other words, the swamp lowlands and long-haired monsters recorded in the Homer Mercenary group's notes were all bypassed by them.
"The Autumn Dusk Island you mentioned—is it in the lowlands south of the marsh?"
"Yes." Gergo nodded with a serious face, "Initially, our Great Beastman Empire didn't reside in the north of the marsh but lived on Autumn Dusk Island.
Autumn Dusk Island was a gift from the Aier Empire to our Beastmen. At its peak, the population on the island was over 100,000, so it can definitely accommodate you."
"Then why did you relocate to the north?" Qianqian seemed to think of something, "Was it because of those long-haired monsters?"
"No." Gergo shook her head, "Those long-haired monsters appeared later. We moved because the population was too large, which led to an epidemic outbreak.
After the apocalyptic plague, the Beastman Empire completely fragmented into two, the Eastern Empire and Western Empire.
The Western Empire was later carved up by barbarian warlords, and the Eastern Empire was forced to relocate to the northern islands.
Due to the scattered territories and the royal lineage extinction, it gradually split into over a hundred kingdoms.
After the plague ended, we originally planned to return to our homeland, but the dikes near Autumn Dusk Island fell into disrepair, submerging the roads with lake water.
The island was then occupied by long-haired demons and barbarians. We launched four Chao Character Army southern campaigns, achieving great victories.
But as we were a peace-loving civilized kingdom, not bothering those barbarian monsters, we haven't moved back."
Slightly twitching his mouth, Horn did not expose Gergo's story, merely coughing slightly: "Ah, I see."
"Then in this case, as long as we can wipe out those barbarians and long-haired demons, we'll have a place to be stationed?" Jeanne asked eagerly towards Gergo.
"We've stopped treating it as our homeland." Gergo looked at Horn, "If Your Majesty can seize it, as long as you don't mind us trading on the island and recognize our Beastman Kingdom, we are willing to donate the land to you, similar to how Barbarian King Gobo donated land as a new Holy Seat City!"