We know alot about the church and its ideas so why not use some of it. Lost of their weapon ideas could be useful here and there, even if they are not practical any more, the knowledge of them will keep people aware.
I am betting that say the army of god is pushed out of the republic, that the fighting might stall, as the army of god is sure to rig the canals, so that they will be destroy to stop the enemy advancing.
To help repair the canals after the great raid, duchairn had replicas of all the lock be made in wooden form and supplied to the army, so they could alleast temporarily repair them.
They could copy that, built a supply of temporay locks, so they can keep their forces advancing. If they want to exstend their campaign into the border states they need that canal for logistics.
