"... I think we should abandon the Royal City of Polyvisia and retreat immediately. This time our autonomous military region dispatched two legions, not to help the kingdom conquer the entire eastern region, but to reinforce the kingdom itself and liberate the eastern region. The invasion of the Kingdom by the National Alliance. So far in the war, we have done our best, destroyed two principalities, recovered newly occupied territories, and forced all Alliance troops to withdraw from the Kingdom.
From the perspective of the purpose of sending troops from our autonomous region military region, we have overfulfilled the task. We have made the Hicks Kingdom no longer have a foothold in the eastern region, destroyed the Sea King fleet, and made the Hicks Kingdom no longer able to intervene in the affairs of the eastern region. Moreover, we also captured the Royal City of Polyvisia in a surprise attack. We believe that the blow to the Kingdom of Nasseri will prevent it from recovering for decades to come. So I think we have taken enough advantage and we should stop when it is time to do so. "
This was General Belklin's speech at the Thunder Legion's decision-making meeting. His views represented the opinions of many soldiers. Now that the Thunder Legion occupies the Royal City of Polyvisia, it is facing the crisis of the alliance army in the five northeastern counties and seven southwest counties of the Kingdom of Nasseri, with a total of more than 700,000 troops. The quick-legged Belklin's first thought was to run quickly, at least to bring back all the captured trophies. That was an astronomical amount of wealth. He couldn't stay here to give the enemy an advantage... ..
But General Diavid firmly opposed this behavior of running away before fighting. He represented another part of the Thunder Legion's officers and soldiers who were extremely superstitious about their combat power. So what if the enemy is outnumbered? Their strength exceeds that of the Thunder Legion by ten times. So what? Isn't this a problem that can be solved by firing ten more shots per person? There is no need to run away. It feels embarrassing to say it...
Claude didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The quarrel between his two younger brothers gave him a headache. Belklin was not a coward, otherwise he would not have made a surprise attack alone to capture the royal city of Polyvisia. He just always likes to fight a sure battle and win the greatest victory at the smallest cost. Therefore, in his opinion, the Nasseri Kingdom has been unable to turn over after being tortured by the Thunder Legion. The Thunder Legion should retire and return to its new occupied territory with rich captures.
Diavid, on the other hand, is on the other extreme. He is too superstitious about the combat power of the Thunder Legion and thinks he is invincible. This can be seen from the fact that he led two main field regiments of light cavalry with more than 10,000 people and dared to attack the enemy's army of 100,000 people, no matter what, he made a bold move first. In the end, they won a complete victory, and their own casualties were extremely light. Who can explain this? So when they heard that the enemy's army was approaching, the officers headed by him thought that this was a sign of military success. There was no reason to run away before fighting.
With one against ten, if this battle is won, it will definitely go down in history and glorify future generations. The main fighting faction headed by General Diavid is gearing up, fearing that the enemy will not come forward. They believe that there is no enemy that cannot be eliminated in front of the Thunder Legion. This can be concluded from their famous saying that each person can solve all problems by firing ten more shots. They did not take this enemy army of more than 700,000 people seriously...
Claude was actually very conflicted himself. The two thoughts of fighting or leaving were constantly swirling and deliberation in his mind. Compared with Diaverde, who is mainly engaged in the battle, and Belklin, who wants to leave, he stands in a higher position, sees further, and thinks more carefully.
If, as Belklin advocated, we should stop as soon as possible and move first, it would mean that the Thunder Legion would give up the Polyvisia Royal City and surrounding areas that it has initially controlled, and all their previous efforts would be wasted. At the same time, the best opportunity to destroy the Nasseri Kingdom, the sworn enemy of the Overas Kingdom, was almost given up. This was something Claude did not want to see.
The real root cause of the turmoil and wars in the eastern region of Falea lies in the struggle between the Kingdom of Ovilas and the Kingdom of Nasseri for dominance in the eastern region. Only the fall of one can bring long-term peace and stability to the eastern region. Otherwise, war will inevitably break out between the two countries every twenty or thirty years. The two countries have fought five wars in the past century. The last two wars involved all the countries in the eastern region, and the two countries became mortal enemies.
Claude is unwilling to give up this opportunity. This is his selfish reason, because he knows very well that as long as the Kingdom of Nasseri is destroyed, he will gain supreme prestige in the Kingdom of Ovilas. Not to mention whether the old aristocratic families were qualified to point fingers at him, even Frederick I had to look at his face. The benefits he could gain from this were self-evident.
In addition, it is not a simple matter to just leave as Belklin advocated. It is not possible to take away all the property worth more than 50 million gold crowns. Unless all the soldiers of the Thunder Legion dismounted and became infantry, freeing up their mounts to pull carts and transport the loot, they would not be able to take away all the captures.
Of course, you can also distribute the spoils as rewards first, but this goes against the military regulations of the Dominion Military Region. The biggest question is how much combat effectiveness each soldier can maintain if they carry pots and pans of trophies with them. Claude will not make such a stupid decision to abandon his martial arts, and once such a precedent is set, will It has a very bad impact on legionnaires maintaining strict discipline and good style...
In addition, the prisoner camps with more than 100,000 people and the families of more than 200,000 prisoners who were isolated and guarded in the royal city were also unsolvable problems. These are the human resources that Claude is preparing to use to enrich the overseas autonomous territory of Rocky Mountain State, because the Provisional Royal Court and Frederick I rejected the overseas autonomous territory's request to continue to recruit immigrants from the kingdom. And they are strictly guarded against death, and no one who has any relatives with the overseas autonomous territories is allowed to become an immigrant. As a result, until now when the Rock Army landed in Bailu City, there have been less than a thousand immigrants going to the overseas autonomous territories.
If the Thunder Legion were to abandon the Royal City of Polyvisia and move in, they would not be able to take away all the prisoners and their families. At most, they could only take away a small number of relatively high-status prisoners, such as some members of the Nasseri royal family and the nobles of the kingdom. . If we want to take away all the prisoners, how much combat power can an army that escorts more than 300,000 prisoners and their families, and also escorts huge amounts of property, maintain, not to mention being blocked by the enemy, or an internal chaos and roadblocks will occur? Encountering a battle on the way will bring great losses to the Thunder Legion...
Therefore, it was impossible to take away all the prisoners and their families, but Claude would not be willing to release them. These prisoners and their families are die-hard loyalists to the Kingdom of Nasseri. Don't expect them to be grateful to the Thunder Legion if they are given freedom by the Thunder Legion. You must know that their family properties have been confiscated by the Thunder Legion. Their freedom is tantamount to funding the enemy with more troops and grassroots officers with battlefield and military experience, which means that the Thunder Legion will once again be in the predicament of being surrounded by enemies on all sides, and the royal city and surrounding towns and areas will once again lose control.
Claude believed that if he asked the senior officers of the legion how to deal with these prisoners and their families, the answer he would get would be the word "kill". Since it can't be released, then kill them all to make it clean. The Thunder Legion can also enter the battle lightly or easily transfer in. But Claude didn't want to take such a scapegoat, because if he did, he would also be recorded in history and become a veritable bloody butcher.
In the two raids on the Royal City of Polyvisia and surrounding towns, although all resistance fighters armed with weapons were eliminated, the casualties of more than 100,000 people and resisters had turned Claude into the Butcher of Polyvisia. Although Claude did not kill any town residents with his own hands, because he gave the order, the title of "butcher" was placed on his head.
But this is understandable, Claude doesn't care about this title. The officers and soldiers of the Thunder Legion eliminated all the resistance militants. They couldn't just stand and let them chop them down just because they were old people, children, or women. As long as they are enemies, no matter whether they are old, weak, women or children, they are all on the line of elimination. As for the urban residents who did not resist, the soldiers of the Thunder Legion did not invade them, plunder their property, or molest their wives and daughters. This kind of military discipline was unique and very strict in this era.
Killing the enemy on the battlefield can be justified, but if he attacks unarmed prisoners, Claude will immediately become famous throughout the continent, or become infamous, and bring disaster to the family's descendants. During the war between various countries in the Farea continent, there were unspoken rules regarding captives. The good thing was that after the war, they would be exchanged or redeemed. The bad thing is that some countries trade captives as slaves or sentence them to hard labor, but no country openly slaughters captives.
Claude is planning to transport these captives and their families to the Rocky Mountain State in the Overseas Dominion to allow them to mine for a living. This is a normal operation and no one can make irresponsible remarks. But if the more than 300,000 prisoners and their families were slaughtered because of the transfer, and everything was done, then they would be condemned by all the countries in Farea and reviled by righteous people. Even in the overseas autonomous territories, Claude's reputation will plummet. No one will like a bloody butcher who ordered the killing of prisoners and innocent family members...
Claude didn't want to be on the cusp of such a storm. His senior officers said they were going to kill him because they were in different positions. They only need to consider the current situation of the Thunder Legion and what is best for the Thunder Legion. They do not need to consider other people's opinions or the consequences of massacring prisoners and their families. As for Claude who made the decision and gave the order, Claude will naturally bear the blame.
You can't kill, you can't let go. The best solution is for the Thunder Legion to defeat the more than 700,000 enemy troops approaching the Royal City of Polivisia and completely destroy the Kingdom of Nasseri. In this way, everyone is happy, and the Thunder Legion has enough time to transport the huge amount of property and prisoners to the overseas autonomous territories, and they are safe. It's just a beautiful idea, but Claude has no idea whether it can be realized...
Diaverde's strategy is to act recklessly first, no matter how many enemies there are. Claude can't be as reckless as him. You must know that the enemy's army of more than 700,000 is not all as useless as the 18th Standing Army of the Kingdom of Nasseri that collapsed in a rush. At least the more than 400,000 troops in the seven southwest counties have all retreated from the Kingdom of Overas and have rich combat experience. In Claude's view, these more than 400,000 enemy troops are the real enemy troops. Powerful enemies, their combat power is similar to that of the Royal Guards of the Kingdom of Orvilas.
Although the more than 400,000 enemy troops were severely defeated by the Rock Legion in Ambriz County, they were in the Kingdom itself, and they were exhausted from the expedition and their fighting spirit was not strong. In addition, the rabble of the two principalities held them back, and the Rock Legion used new artillery and long-barreled rockets to catch them off guard, which caused them to suffer a major defeat. But then they performed very steadily in the process of evacuating the kingdom's mainland, and even caused the Red Dragon Army to suffer a small loss in the battle of Ibiniste Plains, forcing the three major armies of the kingdom that were chasing behind them to maintain a tacit understanding with them. , gifts are sent out of the country.
Although the Rock Legion won a great victory in Ambriz County, they also consumed half of their ammunition reserves. If the alliance army can discover this, they only need to launch attacks continuously, entangle the Rock Legion, take advantage of the strength of the army, and only need to pay the price of more than 200,000 casualties, and the Rock Legion will fall into ammunition. The exhausted predicament could not even hold Ambrose County.
Fortunately, the Alliance army did not understand this. They were frightened by the powerful combat power of the Rock Legion and the power of the new weapons. Coupled with the news that the two principalities were destroyed, the enclave of the Kingdom of Hicks was recovered, and the Royal City of Polyvisia in the Kingdom of Nasseri was also captured by the Thunder Legion in a surprise attack, the alliance army had to withdraw its troops and return to the Kingdom of Nasseri. In order to prevent their retreat from being cut off, their army of more than 400,000 troops was finally besieged in the Kingdom of Ovilas.
If the kingdom's Royal Guards, Red Dragon Legion and Griffin Legion could keep chasing behind the more than 400,000 alliance troops and give these more than 400,000 troops some distraction, then Claude would not yell at the temporary The old aristocratic families in the royal court and the senior officers in the Kingdom's Army Department are so shameless.
Who would have thought that after the three major legions of the kingdom sent the Alliance troops out of the country, the Guards Corps returned to the capital, leaving the Red Dragon Legion and the Griffin Legion to build defensive fronts in the border counties, said to be to prevent the Alliance troops from coming back... ..
What does this mean that we can't pursue the enemy across the border? The enemy has trampled on most of the territory of the Kingdom of Ovilas. Now that the three legions of the kingdom have withdrawn, they don't even dare to pursue them across the border. This clearly shows that they are sitting back and watching the Thunder Legion besieged by the enemy's army.
Claude knew very well in his heart that fighting would be like the wish of those bastards in the royal court. They wished that the Thunder Legion would fight alone. No matter they won or lost, they would suffer heavy casualties. Not only did it reduce a powerful combat force of the overseas autonomous regions, it also reduced the overseas autonomous regions' voice in the royal court.
But if we move in without a fight, Claude believes that after the Thunder Legion evacuates, those bastards in the royal court will throw a large basin of sewage at them, and the charges of being timid and timid and running away from the enemy will fall on him and the Thunder Legion. On the heads of officers and soldiers. It is even possible to fabricate the lie that if the Thunder Legion can hold on and wait for reinforcements, the three major legions of the Kingdom will follow up and cooperate internally and externally, blooming in all directions, counter-encircling the enemy and annihilating all the alliance troops, destroying the Kingdom of Nasseri and achieving final victory. ... ...
Without the enemy chasing behind them, the alliance army of more than 400,000 men was marching towards the Royal City of Polyvisia. According to their itinerary, it would only take more than half a month to reach the area under the jurisdiction of the royal city. It can be said that there is not much time left for Claude to consider. Whether to fight or leave must be decided within these few days.
But what makes Claude curious is that the more than 400,000 alliance troops from the seven southwest counties are approaching the royal capital, while the more than 300,000 troops from the five northeastern counties have made no move. They stayed at the station, neither continuing to build defensive facilities and positions, nor having any intention of joining the Alliance troops coming from the southwest. Claude had to order a capture operation to try to find out what was going on with the enemy.
There is also good news. The ocean-going cruise fleet once again escorted a large number of transport ships to the port of Florik. Six local garrison regiments from overseas autonomous territories came ashore. They will be stationed in major strategic towns in the two perished principalities. Maintain local order and security.
At the same time, transport ships have also delivered a large amount of ammunition. General Albert is gathering troops directly under the Thunder Legion headquarters to escort these ammunition to the Royal City of Polyvisia. It will only take more than twenty days to arrive.
The number of troops directly under the headquarters of the Thunder Legion is only one reinforced independent field regiment and four logistics guard battalions. Together with the logistics civilian administrative officers, medical department and other auxiliary personnel, there are only more than 15,000 people. However, the large amount of ammunition they transported gave Claude a little confidence in holding on to the royal city. However, before waiting for the arrival of General Albert and the others, what Claude needs to consider is whether to take the initiative to delay the journey of the more than 400,000 alliance troops...
Another good news is that the entire Rock Legion has left the royal capital and is preparing to cross the Odin Mountains for reinforcements. But they are infantry, not light cavalry regiments like the Thunder Legion. It is expected that it will take a month and a half to reach the Royal City of Polyvisia. General Bolognik and General Buechlin sent a hawk message, hoping that Claude could hold on until they arrived...
Needless to say, this time he couldn't leave even if he wanted to. Claude decided to let Belklin's 1st Division take the initiative to delay the Alliance army's journey, at least until General Albert's men could transport the ammunition. To the royal city. However, before the First Division launched an attack, Claude received unexpected news.
"What alliance army, the three legions of the Kingdom of Nasseri raised the flag of Prince Vedario. The enemy army did not march towards the Royal City of Polyvisia, but stayed in Gioviervo County, camped on the spot and started Build defense facilities"
Claude, Belklin, and Diavid looked at each other in confusion. No one could figure out why these more than 400,000 Alliance troops had gone crazy and suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. However, it is not surprising that Prince Vedario, who escaped last time, appeared in the alliance army. What is surprising is that he would gain the support of the three standing legions of the Nasseri Kingdom so quickly...