Bodies lie scattered, broken spears thrust askew, and the roadside yellow-white flowers had long been stained crimson with blood.

Black smoke billows from the farmland, fields set ablaze by Border Knights before the battle, still burning now.

The wheat, almost ripe, has now turned to ashes rising into the sky.

War always seems to end at dusk, just as conspiracies always seem to occur at night.

Bether wanders the battlefield, can still see Rangers chasing after startled warhorses.

A small leg is still entangled in the stirrup of the saddle.

The red light of the sunset scatters erratically, and that lone calf bounces with the horse's hooves.

No telling whether the owner abandoned the leg to save his life, or if it was simply broken off in a fall.

The pursuit of the Border Knights has ended, even Service Soldiers pushing carts of armor are laughingly discussing the extra meal tonight.

Several Corps Commanders gathered around the Legion Secretary, Military Judge, and Quartermaster, faces red and necks swelling as they "discuss" the distribution of loot.

In the charred-black villages, under the white tarp tents, the smell of herbs rises from crucibles.

A makeshift battlefield hospital, doctors and medics come and go.

In the boiling pots, bandages tumble, bubbling with occasional gut-wrenching screams.

This is an era without anesthesia, the closest thing to it being Black Snake Bay frog venom.

But this venom is difficult to preserve, and the venomous frogs do not adapt to northern climates, so soldiers are knocked unconscious with sticks before surgery.

In the Dusk Bell Mountain battle, the Thousand River Valley Holy Alliance suffered unexpectedly high losses.

Including the Guerrilla Hunters from Dusk Bell Mountain and the defenders fighting outside the city, about 5,000 participated in battle.

Among them, 789 were lightly wounded, 110 heavily wounded, 108 died, with a casualty rate of about 20%.

In the Holy Alliance's statistics, light injury means wounded but can return to the battlefield later, heavy injury means alive but unlikely to return to the battlefield.

If you lose two of your pinkies, that's light injury, whereas losing one thumb counts as heavy injury.

As for the Border Knight Order, about 520 knights and 1,314 soldiers are confirmed dead or captured.

Besides that, there are captive soldiers, knights, and farm soldiers, mixed together, unable to be

Others are either chased away by Rangers or have fled into Shattered Stone Plain, lost without a trace.

Bether seems only now to suddenly realize, the Thousand River Valley has won, not just won, but won big.

Though many knights escaped, their organization and morale have been completely shattered, not to mention logistical issues.

Including knights who died in the previous siege, the core of the Border Knight Order suffered nearly a third of its losses.

Paired with André crossing the river, the casualties only escalated.

But that isn't the most important thing, the crucial point is, after this battle, the Border Knight Order is highly unlikely to engage again anytime soon.

As a result, the Iron Fist Battle Group relieved of defensive pressure from Shangruifo County can be deployed.

In this situation, the Thousand River Valley now has enough forces to confront the Leia army of Hotam County.

Summer approaches, the waters of the Nao'an River and Ibe River are abundant and rapid, perfect for winding up the clockwork warehouse.

Should there be a counterattack? Bether dare not casually speculate Horn's thoughts.

Sitting on a large rock fractured by an artillery shell, he takes out his notebook and wets his quill with his mouth.

"June 15, 1449, the Battle of Dusk Bell Mountain has ended, perhaps it's my wishful thinking and illusions, but I feel this war against the entire Leia and the Pope is nearing its end."

......

As the last group of returning Close Guard Cultivators arrives at the stairway, stars already fill the sky.

Early summer winds blow across the riverbank reeds, and before approaching, the enticing scent of meat wafts forth.

Beside heaps of bonfires, whole lambs are roasting, local herders use knives to carve open the meat, releasing rich, greasy juices.

As for the camp cooks, they're tossing handfuls of black pepper onto the lamb.

Mengse, full of fatigue, stomach growling, first arranges for the pursuing soldiers to rest.

"Where's His Eminence?" Mengse hoarsely asks a Staff Monk, grabbing him.

The Staff Monk points behind him: "The one shirtless, sprinkling salt on the lamb is him."

Mengse rubs his eyes, then realizes the person with right hand grasping salt, in an extremely peculiar posture, letting salt roll from wrist to elbow and then falling, is the Pope.

Seeing Horn approaching, Horn put down the salt bowl in his hand, and before Mengse could perform a salute, he opened his arms and gave him a big hug.

"That was a good fight, Mengse Dekher." Horn returned to the table and cut him a piece of lamb rib, "Try it, I roasted it myself, just waiting for you."

Under the envious eyes of others, Mengse accepted the lamb rib and took a gentle bite: "It's delicious."

"Alright, enough nonsense, it's been roasting for so long, it must be dry. Stop staring and drooling, help yourselves and cut the meat."

Only then did the surrounding Corps Commanders cheer, picked up the tin boxes and knives, and rushed to the lamb rib to cut the meat.

With the plate of lamb ribs in hand, Mengse stood side by side with Horn.

"You commanded the alternating retreat very well, you actually managed to pull it off."

"It was the effort of the Close Guard Cultivators, not my personal credit."

Horn smiled with his eyes: "I wish Kolman could be a little less ostentatious and you could be a little more proud."

In most wars, retreating is difficult to maintain organization.

Because retreat means failure, it means the commanders are pessimistic about the outcome of victory, and it's a huge blow to morale.

During a retreat, due to the dispersal and elongation of forces, if the rear troops are overwhelmed, it is very likely to cause a chaotic soldier impact, leading to a chain reaction.

Thus, in imperial war history, once a large corps retreats, it collapses.

The empire's generals, upon seeing the enemy retreat, the first reaction is to strike them down, turning the retreat into a rout.

Thus, Cosme and Tadrashe made the same judgment to use local retreat and expand it into overall retreat.

But this approach has a precondition that both did not fully assess.

That is, "during retreat, it will lead to dual declines in morale and organization while dispersing forces."

The morale and organization of the Imperial Guard need not be said, and the dispersion of forces was also addressed by alternating retreats.

The principle remains the same, dispersing forces spatially and concentrating forces temporally.

Through alternating retreats, alternating the rear troops, one can maintain morale and organization while ensuring the order and integrity of the army formation.

At this moment, the enemy army, in pursuit, would involuntarily lose order and organization.

It's at this point that it's time to counterattack.

Alternating retreat tactics are not simple, one misstep in integration can lead to total defeat.

To date, only the Imperial Guard can perform such high-difficulty maneuvers.

""

This battle wasn't supposed to be fought like this.

The original plan was merely to lure the Border Knight Order into attacking and then delay time.

Wait until the sixteenth or seventeenth, when André arrives, then launch a two-sided attack.

However, there are always more variables on the battlefield than in the plan; Cosme came too early, and the Imperial Guard had not been able to construct fortifications.

Though the Imperial Guard had high morale and strict discipline, they were not robots. They were also flesh and blood, with emotions.

Faced with 50% to 60% casualties, they would still flee; only the number would differ.

In a rash field battle, although initially seeming advantageous.

But once chevaux-de-frise or breastworks are dismantled and enter a vast open battle, the situation would inevitably be disadvantageous for the Imperial Guard.

That's why Mengse temporarily proposed changing the plan, letting the Border Knights in before the defensive fortification system was destroyed.

As long as Mengse's command of the alternating retreat tactic doesn't go wrong, a significant amount of the viable combat force of the Border Knights can be destroyed in one go.

Originally, the Staff Monks advocated a false retreat turned real, directly retreating to Ladan Castle.

But ultimately Horn agreed with Mengse's plan.

Fortunately, the outcome was good; the battle at Dusk Bell Mountain disrupted the organization of the Border Knight Order and demolished the knights' morale, paving a smooth path for the next step of the war.

"If André's support is timely, the Border Knight Order will either be destroyed or severely wounded."

"I think it's best not to completely annihilate these Border Knights, and it's almost impossible either." Seeing Mengse's surprise, Horn smiled, "These Border Knights also bear the task of protecting the Papacy and resisting the Royal Court's encroachments; they're not ordinary knights, they're knights who have contributed to humanity, knights who've repelled vampires.

In a certain sense, this is a war between the Thousand River Valley People and the Leia people, between the Holy Alliance and the Empire, but it's also a civil war among humans."

"The history of the Thousand River Valley is too shallow, too short; the cultists or the Thousand River Valley people are too small. Incorporating all humanity into the discourse may be..."

At this, Horn suddenly fell silent, just staring dazedly at the night sky.