Barria is a small town 10 kilometers north of Suero. It is a gateway to the northeast of Suero and a resting place for some merchants from the north. The city used to be a defensive fortress with towering walls and complete city defense facilities, blocking a road and a waterway from the north. In the past history, when the southern country did not control the Black Wood Pass, it was one of the barriers to resist the invasion from the north.
However, the Iberian Kingdom had controlled Kuromu Pass for a long time, so the armaments of this fortress gradually relaxed, and the number of troops stationed here became fewer and fewer. It gradually became a small town where people from the surrounding areas gathered. The people in the town ran some hotels and trading companies to earn money from the merchants who came and went. Gradually, its commercial attributes overshadowed its military attributes, and it became a trading city.
This place originally belonged to the kingdom's direct territory and was ruled by a viscount. However, after Hei Mu Pass fell into the hands of the Chinese, the viscount and his subordinates fled back to their own territory.
The Chinese originally sent a platoon of troops to take over the city. But after the fall of Heimuguan, the guards here increased to five and a half battalions, including not only the second and third battalions under the first regiment, and half of the artillery battalion, but also three new regiments mainly reorganized by Suero and Heimuguan soldiers, namely the first, second and third battalions, with a total of more than 20 artillery pieces and more than 1,500 people.
The atmosphere in Baria has been very tense these days. The soldiers stationed here know that the Imperials may move south at any time, so they send out a large number of scouts to the surrounding areas every day. However, the Imperials did not launch a large-scale attack, but instead sent out small forces to harass and plunder everywhere.
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On the road to Baria, a fierce battle had just come to an end. Wang Jiyuan and Chang Yujie's team on their way to Baria ran into an imperial detachment consisting of five black guards and a large number of beast warriors. This team, led by a high-ranking knight, had more than a hundred people and was obviously here to gather intelligence near Suero.
When they found Wang Jiyuan's team of only 50 to 60 people, they took the initiative to attack. However, they did not expect that this team included Master Gabriel, many mid-level warriors and mages, and the others were also elite guards.
The high-ranking warrior who led the charge recognized Wang Jiyuan as their leader. He immediately led his four mid-ranking black guard warriors and other beast warriors to launch a charge, hoping to decapitate them. But he did not expect that behind Wang Jiyuan was a great magician and swordsman who practiced both magic and martial arts. The surprise attack launched by the five masters was strongly counterattacked by Master Gabriel and the guards. Under the magic attacks of several guards, their condition was greatly weakened. They were almost killed by Master Gabriel at the beginning of the battle. The beast warriors who followed were hit by a volley of lances.
Although the beast warriors were faster and stronger than ordinary humans, they were far from being able to resist bullets. The cavalry in Wang Jiyuan's team were equipped with two lances. When more than 50 cavalrymen had used up all their bullets, nearly half of the soldiers in the attacking troops had been knocked off their horses.
The remaining troops obviously did not expect that they would suffer such a severe blow in such a short period of time. With their leading general killed and their companions killed in battle, they were defeated.
Wang Jiyuan put his pistol into the holster, and the soldiers around him rushed forward past him. In front of them were dozens of imperial soldiers fleeing on horseback, and there were dozens of corpses on the ground. Master Gabriel beside Wang Jiyuan released a deceleration magic, and the imperial soldiers seemed to have suddenly entered slow motion, and the movements of both the people and the horses were slowed down by more than half.
The cavalrymen under Chang Yujie rushed up from behind and fired with their reloaded lances, and the imperialists fell down like wheat being cut.
Wang Jiyuan watched this scene and said to Gabriel and Chang Yujie, "The imperialists have actually extended their tentacles to the south of Baria. It seems that they are ready to make a move. We ran into such an elite force here when we came out. There must be other troops cruising nearby."
"Commander, although we don't have enough troops to take back Heimu Pass, we can't let them cause trouble in our territory. We can't just passively defend, we should take the initiative to go out and cut off their outstretched hands one by one." Chang Yujie said.
Master Gabriel said, "Normative cavalry can handle an army like this. If I were not here today, you would face a very difficult battle. If you disperse the guards and encounter the Black Guard masters, the losses will be great, right?"
Wang Jiyuan asked: "Even for the Imperials, it's not easy to put together a team like today, right?"
"That's true." Gabriel agreed. "According to the intelligence brought back by Kurokiguan, the enemy suffered particularly heavy losses in the last war among its mid- and high-level forces. Your Majesty must not be as extravagant as before."
Wang Jiyuan said: "If the team sent by the enemy is a finger, then the team we send should be a fist. He has ten fingers and we only have two fists, but every time we meet them, we can break their fingers."
"You mean to concentrate superior forces?" Chang Yujie said.
Wang Jiyuan pointed to the cavalry fighting in front. They worked in groups, chasing and interweaving behind the enemy. "We will prepare two or three teams, each with a cavalry company as the core. We will ensure that there are more than two high-level masters and more than ten mid-level masters in the team we send out, and we will also equip them with mages who are good at mental magic and can deal with beasts. Then, with Baria as the center, we will search and attack the imperial team within a radius of ten kilometers.
In this way, each of our teams can basically defeat the enemy today. In fact, according to our intelligence, most of the enemy's looting teams do not have such strength. Moreover, many of them are not pure cavalry. Our mobility is stronger than theirs.
We cannot attack the city yet, but we can advance steadily and wear down the enemy's manpower bit by bit.
After about a quarter of an hour, the cavalry of the guard had basically dealt with the remaining soldiers of the team.
The captain of the cavalry company came forward and reported: "Report to the regiment commander, at last twenty beast captives surrendered. What do you think is the most appropriate way to deal with them?"
Chang Yujie just made a gesture to wipe his neck, but was stopped by Wang Jiyuan, who ordered: "Leave those who surrendered, we will take them away." (To be continued)