This young master truly has the ambition of a hero.

What truly shocked Reinhard was that the two Saint-level experts accompanying the First Eastern Army Corps were the first to run into trouble. The two inexplicably started fighting amongst themselves, resulting in one death and the other injury.

Subsequent investigation revealed that the cause was poisoning; an insider had put a rare, poisonous mushroom, said to cause hallucinations even among Saint-level experts, into the food of these two masters.

It is precisely because of this incident that the First Army Corps of the East is now in a state of panic, and its advance is extremely slow.

The Third Prince's own unit, West One, finally moved after staying in place for a day. However, Bailey's actions were particularly puzzling. He actually split his army into two groups: one to retreat and recapture the fallen city of Charles, and the other to the west to rescue the West Two army, which was trapped in enemy territory.

This bizarre move completely stunned Reinhardt!

No, pigeons!

If it were just about returning to Charlestown, Reinhard could understand it, since reopening the supply lines would be crucial for everyone in the four armies. But there was really no need to rescue the Western Second Corps, much less to split up troops to do so.

That's a full 100,000 people. Even if it were 100,000 pigs, the Kingdom's army wouldn't be able to catch them all in three days. Moreover, although they are besieged, they are essentially holding back the Kingdom's main force. Wouldn't it be better if we took this opportunity to accomplish our more important strategic objectives first?

However, after a moment's thought, Reinhardt realized where the problem lay.

Duke Maruk, commander of the Western Second Army, is the father-in-law of Prince Bailey.

Reinhardt: Okay.

At this point in the war, there's really not much to say. Having a large number of people has its downsides; the entire Linzhao Basin is in complete chaos. Compared to the chaos at the command level, the fact that some minor nobles are leading their private armies to desert from the main force and go off to loot is simply insignificant.

Compared to Reinhardt, who was caught in the chaos, Dick, far to the north, was able to have a comprehensive overview of the war situation, thanks to the efforts of the intelligence system.

After years of development, Forget-Me-Not has successfully extended its reach, especially through its cooperation with the Emerald Crown Duchy. Several of the first batch of elven spies trained by them have successfully infiltrated the Deadwood Party to act as inside agents and pass on intelligence to the outside world.

Over the past few years, Dick's struggle with these elven restorationists has been relatively passive, mainly because they are very well hidden. The information obtained from interrogating a few prisoners is simply not enough for Dick to predict their next move, so he can only defend passively.

There were four spies in this first batch. Three of them were in the northern wasteland, while the other went to the south and is now active within the Maple Dew Kingdom.

Without a doubt, the Dead Tree Party has also joined the fight on the southern front. It seems that the incident of using poisonous mushrooms to take down two Saint-level experts from the Second Eastern Army Corps was their doing.

In addition, the inside agent also sent back an important message: the Kingdom had achieved significant success in intelligence fraud. Through years of planning, they had infiltrated the Empire's intelligence agencies and intentionally transmitted various false intelligence, causing the Empire to seriously underestimate the total number of Kingdom troops in the Linzhao region.

The Linzao Basin was once the secondary capital of the now-extinct Fifth Republic of the Dwarves. It was originally a large plain, but was transformed into the basin it is today by a "divine curse" cast by the elves. However, because the dwarves dug deep enough, their underground cities were not completely destroyed, and some areas still remain to this day.

With the intelligence provided by the Dead Tree Party, the Kingdom's army discovered the ruins of the underground city through archaeological excavation. They then reused the ruins as a troop transport route and hiding place, which allowed them to outflank the Imperial army and launch a surprise attack on the unsuspecting Charles City.

Another piece of information that greatly concerned Dick was that all indications suggested that the current commander of the Kingdom's army was a woman, and not a native of Maple Dew. She was suspected to be an Earthling who had been summoned, but she was able to cultivate the martial arts of this world. It was said that she had reached the Saint-level and had been crowned by the Archbishop of the Maple Dew Kingdom's state religion, receiving the title of "Guardian Saintess".

This made Dick curious, but also led him to some strange associations.

Chapter 243: Could she be the saintess I thought she was?

Because the "elements" were so complete, Dick couldn't help but think of a well-known historical figure from Earth—Joan of Arc—when he learned about this Maple Dew Saintess. This led to a new question: if the Maple Dew Saintess really was Joan of Arc, then which Joan of Arc was it?

It's not that Dick was just imagining things; the main reason is that this Holy Maiden who protects the nation is truly amazing! Intelligence from Charles City clearly indicates that the opponent is a Saint-level martial artist who killed the Imperial Saint-level expert who was stationed in Charles City one-on-one. It's hard to imagine that the opponent is from Earth.

After all, Dick has summoned so many anime girls; what if this ability isn't unique to him? The Maple Dew Kingdom also has a "Chosen One," and when Dick and the other side meet in the future, it might just turn into a "Super Holy Grail War"!

Therefore, Dick demanded that Forget-Me-Not immediately send more people to investigate this "Guardian Saintess," not only to gather information about her personally, but also to investigate her summoner.

Even after the order was given, Dick still felt uneasy.

It must be said that Fenglu did a good job of keeping secrets. The other party was obviously intentionally hiding the true identity of this saintess. She had never appeared in public before, and the outside world did not know her name or appearance. However, the entire kingdom's high-ranking officials trusted this "visitor from another world" and entrusted the entire country's army to her with confidence. Even those originally arrogant noble generals bowed down to her.

The other party's "command power" is truly extraordinary.

At this moment, Lucoa flew back from outside the window, landed inside, and pulled a stack of letters from her cleavage, handing them to Dick. Seeing that he was frowning slightly, she couldn't help but ask with concern.

Is something bothering you?

Dick nodded and told the other party about the information he currently had.

After listening, Lucoa clapped his hands and said with a smile.

"That's easy! Just summon Joan of Arc and that'll solve the problem."

"???"

Lucoa's words startled Dick, who wondered if it was possible. The key issue was that Dick's summoning could only be limited to a general range. Even if he limited the entry to "Jeanne d'Arc," there were countless versions of Jeanne d'Arc in the anime world—big ones, small ones, men, all kinds!

But Lucoa confidently patted her chest and said that she had a way to make Dick "orbit" summoned, but she needed the help of Black and White Gunners from the same world, so that the two of them could act as "dimensional beacons".

Lucoa had previously told Dick that these summoned beings were essentially beacons anchoring their original worlds. Therefore, the more people from a particular world Dick had under his command, the easier it would be to summon transmigrators from that world in the future. This also explains why there were more and more ship girls from the Azur Lane world, allowing Dick to summon ship girls even when he wasn't actively seeking them out.

Furthermore, it is impossible to accommodate two completely identical individuals within the same dimension. Even if they come from different timelines, they will strongly repel each other.

Based on this principle, Dick only needs to summon Joan of Arc again to replace the opponent's Joan of Arc, unless the opponent's Joan of Arc and the Joan of Arc he summons are not the same Joan of Arc.

To put it bluntly, Dick's biggest worry right now is that someone on Maple Dew's side has the same cheat ability as him, and can also summon anime characters. If that's the case, then an "arms race" will be inevitable.

Of course! It's also possible that Dick is overthinking it. The saintess from the kingdom is indeed from Earth, but the Maple Dew people have a way to grant her extraordinary powers.

With the financial and material resources that Dick currently possesses, the cost of one or two summons is just a drop in the ocean. So he quickly prepared the summoning circle and, as Lucoa had instructed, summoned both Black and White Gunners who happened to be on rest today.

Dick was initially a little worried, since Black and White Gunners were British, and asking them to help summon the French anti-British saint might upset them.

However, the two Kings Arthurs said that Dick was overthinking it. They were spirits born from Celtic mythology, fighting against the Saxon barbarians who crossed the sea from Europe in the myth. By the later stages of the Hundred Years' War in which Joan of Arc participated, the English dynasty had changed hands several times. At that time, King Henry VI of the House of Lancaster had no blood relation to the Celts, so the two of them didn't care!

"I even wanted to give her a thumbs up," Black Gunner said.

Since things have come to this point, Dick has nothing to worry about anymore and can get right to it!

After the summoning circle was activated, with the help of Lucoa's enhanced anchoring effect, two familiar figures, one black and one white, quickly appeared in the circle. They were Jeanne d'Arc from the FGO world that Dick wanted, and they were also "given a bonus" a Jeanne d'Arc with a cool expression.

Jeanne d'Arc (White) glanced around, her gaze quickly settling on Dick. Just like Artoria Pendragon (White) before, she knelt on one knee in a knightly salute of allegiance. Jeanne d'Arc (Alter), on the other hand, looked Dick up and down, then reluctantly pouted before offering him a parchment scroll.

"Here, take this. It's the contract."

"Never be disrespectful to Master!" x2

White Gundam and White Jeanne simultaneously reprimanded Black Jeanne for her inappropriate attitude. Black Gundam, on the other hand, clenched her fists with a cold smile, determined to have a good talk with this new little sister later.

Don't let Black Gunner's usual roguish demeanor fool you. After getting to know Dick, she doesn't even bother with honorifics anymore, calling him "little bro" or, more bluntly, "little pervert." But her affection and respect for Dick are in no way inferior to White Gunner's. Why would the proud King of Knights offer himself up unless they were truly attracted to each other?

Fortunately, Dick stepped in to smooth things over. He wasn't too bothered by Jeanne Alter's rude remarks, after all, she was known as "the woman Chaldea could handle the best".

The heroic spirits are quite powerful, but without exception, they are all major consumers of magic power. Fortunately, Dick is now a Saint-level mage, otherwise he really wouldn't be able to support so many heroic spirits.

As is customary, Dick first explained his situation to the two newcomers. They learned that they had not been summoned to participate in the Holy Grail War, but to assist Dick in the struggle for supremacy in another world. Black Jeanne was indifferent, as her attribute was "Chaos Evil," so she naturally did not reject war. White Jeanne, whose attribute was completely opposite, was more concerned about Dick's nature and made it clear that she would not participate in unjust wars.

Dick was very magnanimous in this regard, allowing Bai Zhen to act as an observer first, freely exploring her territory before deciding whether to join the team.

Thus, Dick gained two more powerful generals under his command. He was quite confident in his own virtue; even if he didn't reach the level of a saint, he was still a true model of a benevolent ruler.

A gentleman judges by actions, not intentions; Dick's kindness to his people is beyond question.

Meanwhile, on the southern front, the Imperial Army's situation began to deteriorate rapidly.

First, a portion of the army led by the Third Prince Bailey rushed back to the rear and "recaptured" the now-empty Charles Fortress without bloodshed.

After the Kingdom's army launched a surprise attack, instead of defending the city or continuing its northward advance, it burned all the military supplies stored in the city, then changed its attack direction, bypassed Bailey's main army through underground tunnels, and then stormed into the trench of the Western First Army's rescue force!

Approximately 80,000 elite troops intercepted and killed less than 40,000 rescue troops. The battle began at night and ended at dawn. The Imperial Army suffered a crushing defeat and fled in disarray, with only a few thousand managing to escape the encirclement and deliver the bad news to the Third Prince, Bailey, like stray dogs.

With the battle having progressed this far, Pelé completely abandoned his initial contempt and regretted his previous series of maneuvers. His intention was to make a name for himself, but now he'd only exposed his own shortcomings!

Even so, Bailey still felt that "the advantage was in my hands." After all, the empire had a strong foundation, and he still had nearly 400,000 troops at his disposal. The most urgent task now was to get the southern lords to send food and more reserve soldiers to the front line immediately.

Bailey naturally assumed that given the wealth of the southern region of the empire, these supplies should be readily available.

Chapter 244: Expansion and Defeated Army

In early June, the permanent population of Lagog officially exceeded 500,000. While launching the railway project, Dick also announced a high-profile expansion of his army, increasing the paper strength of his private army from 5,000 to 8,000. And these were only the regular troops on standby.

If the militia and reserves are included, the army can be expanded to 20,000 men within 48 hours. Dick was unaware that he was currently the most powerful lord in the North, without exception.

The process of expanding the territory's army went exceptionally smoothly. Unlike other places, there was no need for forced conscription. After the lord's announcement was issued, the conscription office was almost overwhelmed by ambitious young people who came to see the army the next morning.

Of the 3,000 new positions, 1,000 were directly allocated to the militia self-defense force, while the remaining 2,000 were recruited directly from the community. The requirements were that applicants be able-bodied young adults aged 16-26, have local residency in Laguge, and be from respectable families with no criminal record; martial arts skills were secondary.

This made many out-of-town mercenaries who came because of its reputation feel that it was very unfair.

These mercenaries believed they possessed martial arts skills, had seen blood and fought, and their combat experience and ferocity far surpassed those of the farmers. They thought that on the battlefield, one of these seasoned veterans could take on ten of them. So, they flocked to the castle gates to plead with their lord, begging him to spare no effort for the renowned "Wolves of the North."

"The Wolf of the North" is a nickname given to Dick by some busybodies, mainly because he organized two major counter-offensives by the Northern Alliance, chasing and beating up the orcs in the wasteland, hence the nickname. Moreover, as rumors spread, they always become more and more outrageous, with exaggerations or misattributions occurring frequently.

As a result, even Dick's image became increasingly abstract amidst the rumors. Some said he was a burly man standing three meters tall, while others said he was actually a great beauty with a slim waist, long legs, and big breasts.

Since he was already famous, he would naturally attract mercenaries who were after fame and fortune, but Dick was not very fond of these desperate men who risked their lives for money, and even felt a bit disgusted by them.

That's right! These mercenaries who live on the edge are indeed very capable fighters. Some small lords who can't afford to maintain a standing army often hire some mercenaries temporarily to save face when there is a need for combat. However, these mercenaries are lawless and extremely difficult to control. Moreover, the whole group is a mixed bag, with many scum who only care about money and not people. It's not just that they don't put in any effort, but some even turn against their employers in the face of battle.

Therefore, Dick prefers to recruit truly good people and train them from scratch.

Over the years, Lagug's army has been committed to a professional and standardized approach, with new recruits undergoing a three-month training period. This is an incomprehensible luxury and hassle for other old lords who only temporarily conscript soldiers during wartime.

To improve the physical fitness and combat effectiveness of the soldiers, Dick also gathered some veterans and knights skilled in martial arts and had them develop a set of basic martial arts techniques specifically for rank-and-file soldiers. These techniques were characterized by their low barrier to entry and ease of learning; while their skill ceiling was low—it was uncertain whether they could even reach the intermediate level—they were perfectly suited for teaching to rank-and-file soldiers.

It is worth mentioning that this basic martial arts technique, derived through subtraction, was named "Military Boxing".

These mercenaries had been gathered at the castle gate for several days, but Dick didn't even bother to look at them properly. Some of them left in anger, intending to join the lords who were not on good terms with Lagug. Many of them were taken under the command of Marquis Richard.

After three days of careful selection, two thousand new recruits were finally admitted to the camp. What awaited them was rigorous training, numerous military regulations, and irritable instructors who were very good at making up ridiculous songs with profanity.

The 1,000 former militiamen who were directly transferred from the self-defense force to become regular soldiers will be directly incorporated into the local garrison to reinforce the last two fjord fortresses that were recently completed.

With this, the entire fjord defense line north of Lagug was completed. The entire defense line consisted of six large fortresses and twenty-eight bunkers, with a total of 2,500 light cavalry from several lords of the Northern Alliance responsible for daily patrols along the line to guard against and intercept small-scale infiltrations by orcs.

Three large-scale clearing operations were carried out in the northern forest in the first half of the year, and more than 500 orcs were captured from the forest. The number of infiltrators has far exceeded the estimate, which really gave Dick a little shock!

The war in the south of the empire will not affect Dick in the short term, but the orcs in the wasteland are a real and imminent threat!

Dick then convened a military conference with his generals, planning to conduct "preventive encirclement and suppression" operations on the wasteland every autumn, striving to normalize such military operations and ensure that the fighting only took place on enemy territory.

The newly arrived Jeanne d'Arc (Black and White) also attended the meeting. The other generals were already used to the frequent appearances of new beauties around their lord, and they tacitly refrained from asking questions. After all, these women were not only beautiful, but each one was also a force to be reckoned with.

Often, when subordinates perceive nepotism in their superiors, their resentment isn't solely due to connections, but rather to the incompetent individuals who have risen to power through nepotism. However, if the leader's relatives are truly capable and talented, they will be the first to step up in crucial moments, and the subordinates will have fewer complaints.

Therefore, the old subordinates were generally quite friendly towards the arrival of Jeanne d'Arc in black and white. Those who sat close by even took the initiative to serve tea to their boss, thinking that they would still need her to lead them on the battlefield in the future.

However, halfway through the meeting, an intelligence officer suddenly approached Dick and whispered a few words in his ear, causing Dick to show a surprised expression.

"It crashed? So fast!"

The report from the subordinate was the latest battle report from the south of the empire, which had just been sent via magical communication. It contained only a few words, but it was incredibly explosive.

"The south suffered a major defeat, and the Third Prince has disappeared without a trace."

The message was sent the night before last, and it was sent directly in plain text via magical communication. This means that the news has already been made public in the south and even the capital. It is unclear whether the imperial authorities failed to suppress public opinion or whether someone was interfering and had no intention of suppressing it at all.

But one thing is certain: Prince Pele has lost face big time in this incident!

Even Dick was quite surprised. Although the Kingdom's army was very well prepared and had carried out a very successful intelligence deception based on the information he had previously gathered, he did not expect the Third Prince to suffer such a defeat so suddenly and so quickly.

You should have at least lasted a few more rounds! How could you have been instantly killed?

With things unfolding this way, even Dick, who had a premonition, couldn't help but wonder what had happened on the southern front. And who exactly was this Maple Dew's guardian saintess?

Chapter 245: Making a fortune from the war

Without Dick's agents deliberately gathering intelligence, the Maple Dew Kingdom began to celebrate its victory in a grand manner the day after the main force of the Imperial Army suffered a major defeat. It took the initiative to make public various inside information about the battle in order to boost the morale of the country's military and civilians.

After all, this battle was indeed fought beautifully. It could not be considered a victory of the weak over the strong, but it was definitely a victory of the few over the many!

The defeated Third Prince, on the other hand, made a series of mistakes, demonstrating every possible low-level error he could make.

First, there was a major problem with intelligence. The Kingdom's forces in the Linzao Basin were not 100,000, but more than 250,000. A large number of troops and supplies secretly entered the basin area through underground tunnels. The Empire's intelligence personnel were most likely bribed by the other side long ago, and the intelligence they transmitted back was false information that the Kingdom intended for the Empire to know, leading to a serious miscalculation in military matters.

Secondly, the army's secrecy was inadequate. Every move the Third Prince made was known to his opponents, making the battlefield seem like a one-way transparent battlefield. The royal army was always able to counter his moves and make the most perfect responses until Bailey revealed a fatal flaw, at which point they concentrated all their strength to deliver a fatal blow.

Thus, on their way to reinforce the Second Western Army Corps, the 80,000 men led by Bailey were ambushed by an army of 160,000 that did not exist in their intelligence. The general commanding the battle was none other than the little-known "Guardian Saintess." She not only personally commanded the front line but also led her heavy cavalry in a frontal assault on the Imperial Army, charging into the enemy ranks at the forefront.

In the kingdom's propaganda, this saintess was practically a war goddess reborn, a supremely powerful warrior at the peak of the Saint rank, and an unparalleled commander of both wisdom and courage. Because of her leading from the front, the morale of the kingdom's army soared, and the entire army displayed unimaginable courage and fighting spirit, routing the imperial barbarians and causing the cowardly and timid third prince to flee in terror, lacking even the courage to draw his sword.

The kingdom's newspapers devoted considerable space in this section to describing the Third Prince Bailey's disgraceful behavior, which seemed somewhat malicious. However, considering that his 80,000 elite troops were routed in one battle, he must have seriously neglected his duties as commander, so it's no wonder that people were so harsh on him.

The saint's name was finally revealed at the end of the report, along with a half-length portrait.

“Joan of Arc…it seems she really is that Saint of Orleans.”

Looking at the portrait his subordinates had painstakingly brought back, Dick could roughly confirm that the Joan of Arc from Maple Dew was likely the one from 15th-century Earth. Such summonings of ancient Earth figures were extremely rare in summoning, but not without precedent.

As for Fenglu, she also gave this "historical version of Joan of Arc" far more treatment than other Earthlings.

As for how she was able to cultivate the martial arts of this world and even reach the Saint-level, Dick currently has no idea. But at least it's certain that it's not the same path as his, because a succubus's half-demonization can only grant enchanting talent, not the ability to cultivate martial arts.

Judging from the half-body portrait alone, the historical Joan of Arc has a rather androgynous appearance, with short hair ranging from dark brown to almost black. The upper body of the portrait is dressed in magnificent heavy plate armor, so the specific curves of her figure can be seen. However, according to the descriptions in the history on Earth, she should have been a very voluptuous type, with beautiful breasts personally certified by a certain duke.

After Dick finished looking at the portrait, it began to circulate. The two anime fans wondered who this was. Xiao Ai, who had already risen to the intermediate level of magic, said that looking at it reminded her of her best friend who was a key player on the volleyball team back in her hometown, but this one looked much more serious.