"Report, the two captains Roger and Letoz, who were ordered to pursue Chief Abdul, returned with their troops." The voice of the soldiers came from outside the tent.
Orlando immediately replied: "Invite them to come in, and at the same time, immediately summon all the commanders and above, and please also ask Ryan to come over."
Soon, everyone got the order from Orlando to gather, and quickly dropped what they were doing and gathered at Orlando's military tent. When Ryan arrived last, everyone was already sitting around in front of the military map with Orlando. It's not that Ryan is late, but that he has a special status and has gained some new understanding of magic in the past few days, so he deliberately chose a relatively secluded place to rest. Naturally, he came later than other officers who were near Orlando. ,
Orlando smiled and nodded at Ryan, and said, "Okay, everyone is here. You two will tell us about the pursuit."
Roger and Letoz looked at each other with shameful expressions, not knowing where to start. Roger thought for a moment, then opened his mouth and said: "This time our pursuit was a failure. Although we followed Ab The White Frost Army and a small group of other Clay cavalrymen who escaped behind Chief Dule numbered less than 500, but their whereabouts were extremely strange."
"We pursued all the way north, and at first we were able to find the traces left by the other party, but the next day when we entered the dense mountain forest, the traces became much more hidden. Fortunately, Letoz and the others were good at hunting. Then he hung firmly on the opponent's back."
"Damn it." When Roger said this, he cursed bitterly, as if he wanted to vent his depression, while Letoz continued: "I was too careless. I didn't expect that they actually laid a trap and took us. I was led to a very dangerous place, but fortunately a grizzly bear suddenly rushed out, and I discovered the enemy's arrangement."
"Later, Abdul and the others ran out of the forest again. When we chased them, we encountered a large group of wolves. Fortunately, we were riding one person and two people and had plenty of horsepower. We then relied on mounted shooting to slowly escape from the battle. , but the traces of Chief Abdul and his companions can no longer be followed.”
Although this ending is not perfect, it is already very good for Orlando, so Orlando did not say anything more, but was first concerned about the losses of the popular shooters. After learning that there were only a dozen casualties, Orlando slowly He nodded, and then continued: "Our expedition is almost over, and the results are very satisfactory. It can be said that it has exceeded previous estimates."
"In about ten days, a new legion will come from the Imperial City. At that time, our expedition force will be able to rotate back gradually. It's just the order of the rotation..." Orlando hesitated when he said this, because currently The easiest way to display combat effectiveness on the prairie is Cassano's popular shooter army. However, they are guest troops after all, making it difficult for Orlando to speak.
Ryan naturally guessed what Orlando meant, and he said directly: "It's very simple. The Windwalking Archer Corps is staying. After all, their mobility is relatively strong. They have some advantages in fighting on the grassland. There shouldn't be any big Clays around here." The clan camp is here, but we can’t relax. I suggest that the Windwalking Archers attack in groups of 500 people in turns to disperse all the Clay clansmen within a few hundred miles."
When Ryan said this, he pointed to the military map and said: "The largest water source nearby is Mirror Lake, and further to the west, not only is there no big water source, but even the quality of the pasture is much worse. Since those Clay people are not If they are willing to stay, it means that they agree with the rule of Chief Abdul in their hearts, so they should simply be expelled further west to prevent them from staying here and gathering together to pose a threat again."
When Orlando heard this, his heart trembled slightly. He knew what Ryan's understatement meant, but when he refused, Orlando couldn't speak. From the day this huge imperial capital was established 200 years ago, in fact, the entire empire There is no real unification at all. The reason is that we are too tolerant of those who have different intentions.
If Fernando I completely abandoned the honor of the Holy Knights, forcibly drove away the Clay tribe, and forcibly attacked the southern lords, I am afraid that no one would be able to resist the battle spears of the Royal Knights and the magic of the Imperial Capital Magic Guild, especially with the Archmage Meren. This was especially true after surpassing the balanced allies. However, Fernando chose to appease. He thought he could slowly solve this problem. Unexpectedly, after his child succeeded to the throne, the entire empire's policy deviated from the planned trajectory.
"Let me issue this order, General Orlando." Ryan said calmly: "Since we are here, we must think about future generations. Maybe this is cruel, but it is the best way to deal with our enemies. As for Those so-called infamy, anyway, I already have hundreds of thousands of blood on my hands, haha."
Orlando sighed. As a believer in the God of War, he could fight to protect his people, but he could not issue such a cruel order after the war. This was not because he was shirking his responsibility, but as a holy knight, he ordered it like this. The consequence is basically equivalent to being abandoned by the God of War, because it goes against his beliefs.
Orlando slowly left the military tent with his hands behind his back, but he intentionally or unintentionally left the military seal of the expedition leader on the table. Ryan smiled slightly, stepped forward and grabbed the military seal that symbolized power. Then he faced Jonas and others present and said firmly: "I, Ryan, as an ally of the Imperial City, Lord Cassano, and the temporary commander of this expeditionary force, issue the following military order... "
In this Battle of Mirror Lake, tens of thousands of people died directly at the hands of Ryan, and the number of Clay people who died because of the killing order issued by Ryan and the subsequent exile order was even more incalculable. In Lane's banishment order that made countless Clay tribesmen cry, Lane ordered the Jonas Legion to cooperate with the Fengxing Archers to start sweeping the Clay tribe's gathering places within hundreds of miles, kill all their cattle and sheep, and burn them all. supplies, driving them to the more desolate and barren west,
During the westward migration of the Clay people, which lasted for more than a year, many weak Clay people died on the way westward due to lack of food and clothing. According to the statistics of some later scholars, the entire Clay people At least 300,000 people died during the westward migration, while less than 100,000 people died at the hands of the expeditionary army during the entire imperial capital expedition.
The entire Clay tribe was seriously injured after this battle, and it took more than a hundred years for them to barely recover. Before that, they could only appear on the mainland as a small-scale mercenary group. It was full of fallen corpses, and later generations of the Clay people called this westward migration the "Blood Road."