Descending On France 1780
Chapter 99 - 093 Apple Orchard Encounter

Chapter 99: 093 Apple Orchard Encounter

This morning, Conte, the leader of the "Black Army" division rebelling, got up early and kicked the woman who spent the night with him out of bed.

The woman screamed.

Henry angrily said, "Keep quiet! I drank too much last night and my head hurts terribly! Get out!"

The woman asked in confusion, "What?"

"I told you to get out!"

The woman immediately ran to the door in a panic, and after several attempts, she managed to open it and then fled, rolling and crawling.

Then Henry’s deputy entered through the door, "Boss, what’s the plan today?"

"Do you even have to ask, continue plundering the Patriots," Henry said, smiling, showing his uneven teeth, "These Patriots dare to target God’s servants, they must be followers of Satan, we must rob all their money to redeem their souls!"

The deputy laughed as well: "Haha, well said! Take all the men’s money, and let the women serve God’s servants!"

The Rebel Army, under the name of the Church Court, naturally serves God.

Henry sat up, getting dressed, "Get the brothers up! Bring things that can scrape, let’s head to the next town, are there any nearby towns we haven’t visited yet?"

"We haven’t been to Kepeni yet, and it’s not far from here."

Henry frowned and thought for a while: "Kepeni, I remember now, the place has a mill owner, and his wife is very beautiful! Let’s go take a look, if he is a Patriot, we’ll rob them and sleep with his wife. If he isn’t a Patriot... we’ll slap a tricolor emblem on his forehead!"

Speaking of which Henry got dressed abruptly, and the deputy along with a few Black Army soldiers outside the door laughed loudly.

Henry stood up and waved his hand: "Alright, stop laughing, gather the troops, let’s set off!"

The deputy immediately saluted sloppily and ran out the door.

Moments later, more than three thousand Black Army soldiers gathered.

These people originally didn’t have proper uniforms, only managing to put on some black clothes. Now, having plundered a lot of clothes and jewelry from the Patriots, they dressed themselves up in these, making their overall appearance even more disorderly.

They didn’t look like an army at all, but rather a band of robbers.

Henry boarded a horse-drawn carriage that had been stolen, and ordered loudly: "Everyone, follow me, let’s go to the next town to make a fortune!"

With that, he swung his whip, and the old horse pulling the carriage started moving slowly.

The Black Army soldiers followed behind the carriage, singing a tuneless song loudly.

The town residents hid in the shadows of buildings, watching as the swaggering Black Army left their town. Though their eyes were filled with fury, they dared not show it.

After all, the people who dared express their discontent yesterday had tricolor emblems stuck to their bodies, and were hanged from the old tree at the village entrance.

Henry, sitting in the carriage, started to feel sleepy as it swayed gently, so he handed the reins to his deputy and settled into a comfortable position to nap.

Suddenly, the deputy cried out, "Look! What is that?"

Henry slightly opened his eyes: "What are you shouting for? See how scared you are!"

The deputy pointed ahead, "No, boss, look quickly! It seems to be the National Guard!"

Henry turned his head towards the direction his deputy was pointing and saw a barn in the distance next to a patch of bushes, unsure whether they were apple trees or something else.

Ahead of the bushes, the blue ranks of the Self-Defense Army unfolded, with the tricolor flag fluttering in the wind.

Henry raised his eyebrows, slapped his face hard to shake himself awake quickly, and then burst into laughter: "Hahaha, it’s just a little Self-Defense Army, we can scatter them with a single charge! Come on, form up! Move quickly, form into lines!"

As soon as he spoke, a flash of light shone from the Self-Defense Army’s blue lines.

The sound of cannons came along with the noise of shells tearing through the air, several of them landing around the main road.

The projectiles bounced upon landing, skipping several times on the muddy ground like stones skimming water.

One of them happened to pass through the Black Army lined up in columns on the road, toppling a large number like bowling pins.

Suddenly, the Rebel Army plunged into chaos, and someone shouted loudly: "The Self-Defense Army has cannons!"

"I know the Self-Defense Army has cannons!" Henry roared furiously, "Get off the main road! Form into lines! Lines will reduce casualties caused by shells! Lining up in columns is asking for death—it will skewer you like skewers!"

As he spoke, the second round of artillery fire arrived. This time, all the shells flew off target, missing the Rebel Army, but the sharp whistles from the shells tearing the air still had a huge impact on the rebels.

Many people directly lay on the ground, covering their ears and screaming.

Furious, Henry drew his long sword and killed a rebel who was shouting in disorder, yelling: "Calm down! Form lines! Damn it, form lines! Captains, be useful!"

The captains of the Rebel Army (equivalent to non-commissioned officers) began urging everyone to stand up from the ground and line up on the road.

Henry continued giving orders: "Musicians! Where’s the music? Play the drums! Calm them down!"

Saying so, he rushed over to a musician, pulled him up from the ground, and tapped on his drum: "Play the drum, do you hear me!"

The musician nodded and began to play the drum, trembling.

Just then, the third round of artillery came, and this time luck had a shell pass through the Rebel Army’s ranks.

Because they had formed lines, this cannon only broke the legs of four men.

But the screams of those four men drowned out the voices of the captains trying to organize the lines.

The Black Army soldiers nearby, having seen the ghastly scenes of mangled legs, paled and seemed almost unable to stand steady.

Just then, someone shouted: "They have cannons, we can’t win!"

Henry: "Damn it, who said that! Execute him! It’s just cannons, I’ve seen plenty in the Seven Years’ War! Form lines! Even if shells hit, they can only kill a few people!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a cannonball hit the cobblestone surface of the country road, splitting into two halves, then ripping through the still-aligned Black Army on the road.

Screams overwhelmed Henry’s cursing.

This round killed more people than the total of the first three rounds of artillery!

But because the cannonball fragmented into smaller pieces, not many were actually killed, instead, those screaming were noticeably increased.

Henry raged: "I told you to come off the road and spread out in lines! You didn’t listen! Now see what happens! Captains, execute those who are screaming! Execute those who run! Form lines!"

As soon as he finished, the adjutant shouted: "Boss! Quick, look! The Self-Defense Army is advancing!"