Descending On France 1780
Chapter 98 - 092 Sets Out

Chapter 98: 092 Sets Out

After several days of preparation, Anning finally set out with his small troop.

Leading the way at the front of the procession was the Cavalry under Christina’s command, followed by a battalion of over a thousand infantry, and the Artillery and baggage train at the rear.

Anning rode a tall brown horse and stood on a mound beside the road, watching his troops march past in an impressive display.

— Indeed, judging by the military appearance alone, it did look rather formidable.

Anning thought to himself.

Seven days since departing from Paris, Anning’s troop approached the area of rebellion.

That morning, Christina came riding hastily to see Anning: "Andy! Hurry over, our reconnaissance Cavalry discovered something."

Anning: "Don’t call me Andy in the troops, call me Captain."

"Alright, Captain, come quickly with me, we found something bad ahead."

Anning nodded: "Lead the way."

Christina turned her horse around and kicked its belly to send it galloping off.

Anning also kicked his horse’s belly and followed Christina’s pace.

Someone in the marching infantry whistled: "Captain sir, off to a date?"

An officer walking alongside the column snapped: "Shut your mouths! With all this dust on the road, don’t you fear swallowing it?"

Anning himself wasn’t one for formalities, and having mixed with the soldiers over the past few days since leaving Paris, he had become good brothers with them. If before the soldiers had called him "Captain sir" with respect and dread, now it was more in jest.

After overtaking the front of the infantry column, Anning caught up with Christina, rode side by side with her, and then asked: "What exactly did we discover? The infantry can’t hear us now, you can tell me."

Christina’s face was stern: "Some bad things, you’ll see it for yourself once we get there. I don’t really want to talk about it, because thinking about that scene makes me want to vomit."

Anning: "How could you not want to talk? Your Cavalry are my eyes, meant to scout ahead for me. Tell me, what did you see?"

Christina was silent for a few seconds before reluctantly beginning: "I saw... the Rebel Army had hung Patriots from the trees by the roadside, males had their genitalia cut off, females had their breasts cut off, all were stripped naked..."

As she spoke, Christina started to cry, tears rolling down her cheeks: "It’s so tragic! Too horrible..."

Anning’s expression was stern: "Okay, I understand, you don’t need to say anymore."

Soon, he saw ahead the cluster of Cavalry women gathered together.

They were huddled under an old banyan tree, from which hung the bodies of more than a dozen Patriots like fruit.

Just as Christina had described, these bodies had been brutally mutilated. A sign hung on the tree trunk, written in blood: "Every Revolutionary scum deserves this fate."

Anning came under the tree, raised his head to look at these bodies.

The stench was so bad, he had to cover his nose.

Christina: "We should take them down and bury them..."

But Anning shook his head: "No, let them hang there."

Christina: "Andy!"

Anning resolutely: "I don’t only want them to remain hanging there, I also want each platoon to stop under this tree, and then someone will read aloud the blood-written words on the tree trunk."

Christina stared at Anning: "What are you saying? You actually want the disgraced forms of these poor women to be seen by so many?"

"I want my soldiers to know the kind of enemy they are about to face!" Anning said with finality.

Christina: "Just for that..."

"Carry out the order," Anning directed, "Take your troop and continue to scout ahead, I need to know where the Rebel Army is. That is the most important thing, find them!"

Christina pursed her lips, wiped the tears from her cheeks with her hand, and replied: "I understand. Sisters, follow me!"

"She kicked the horse’s belly and galloped away, as if eager to leave this dreadful place as quickly as possible.

One by one, the other female Knights sped past Anning, casting at her looks of strangeness as if they were looking at a ruthless monster.

Anning, beneath a tree, endured the stench, waiting for her troops to come.

Soon, her troops appeared on the horizon and were approaching.

As the first row arrived under the banyan tree, a look of terror was visible on every face.

Some murmured lowly, "My God, this is too cruel!"

Anning shouted, "All forces, halt!"

The troops stopped, and all eyes turned uniformly to Anning, uncertain why she had ordered them to stop at this place.

Anning pointed to the blood writing on the trunk and said, "These blood letters were written by the Rebel Army for us! It reads: ’Every revolutionary scumbag deserves this fate!’"

The soldiers immediately became agitated.

Anning said, "Remember these words! Now, forward march!"

The troops began to move again.

Anning could feel that as the troops marched, there was an added anger in their step, and the forest of bayonets seemed to shake more uniformly than before.

In this way, as each row reached the tree, Anning loudly read the blood writing, and as each row moved forward again, they each carried more anger.

This furious force was destined to give the Rebel Army a taste of their own medicine.

**

That night, Anning’s forces camped at a place called Kepeni.

Scouts Christina and Clarice had all returned, compiling the scouted intelligence to Anning.

Conte’s Rebel Army was not as large as rumored; according to scouts, their total force was about three thousand, with no Cannons or Cavalry.

The Rebel Army was stationed about ten miles away from Kepeni.

They had just robbed the local Patriots and slaughtered the nearby villages’ cattle and sheep, throwing a big party at their encampment.

After gathering the intelligence, Anning pointed at the field between Kepeni and the Rebel Army’s position on the map.

"Is this all open farmland?"

Christina replied, "Yes, it’s all open farmland. There’s a barn here and a few homesteads."

Saying this, Christina picked up bread from the table, broke off a piece, and placed it on the map where the barn was located.

"Next to it is a large apple orchard."

Anning nodded, "I understand. Let’s confront the Rebel Army at this place tomorrow."

Clarice exclaimed in shock, "Confront the Rebel Army? Aren’t we just the vanguard for the main force? I thought you would keep your distance from the enemy until Lafayette’s main force arrived!"

Anning shrugged, "That was indeed my initial thought. But the situation has changed. The enemy only has three thousand men, without Cannons or Cavalry. Most importantly, from what you’ve said, the enemy’s discipline is disintegrated, they’re robbing and slaughtering everywhere, an army like that is concerning in combat strength.

"We are different; after today’s event, our soldiers are all simmering with rage. I think we can give it a try."

Anning paused, then added, "If your reconnaissance is accurate, then either the Rebel Army has divided their forces, or the National Guard of Liberville has been defeated and massacred by these three thousand enemies."

Christina protested, "But you only have just over a thousand men!"

"One thousand five hundred," Anning corrected, "But I have Artillery and Cavalry, and our morale is high. Anyway, I think we can give it a shot. If we defeat them, the enemy doesn’t have Cavalry anyway..."

Anning didn’t continue.

What he didn’t say was: If defeated, they would still be able to escape on horseback.

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