"Sir, the Waste Stone City now has only one legion of strength, and they don't have the support of magicians and powerful troops. We can easily defeat them, right? Why do we need to discuss it?" I was very puzzled after hearing what Thacker said. Since the problem I was worried about had been solved for the time being, I boldly raised my own questions. There were only less than 4 divisions of regular defenders in the city, plus one and a half divisions of Black Wolf Cavalry, and the rest were either killed or had already fled. And now the defenders in the city are probably scared out of their wits after today's battle. Maybe as long as they are threatened a few times, they will open the city and surrender.
"Hanlong, since I consider you one of my own, I will tell you the truth. His Majesty agreed to let the magician troops come this time, but also asked me to lead the army. There are reasons for this.
Although our Kasdek Empire is known as the strongest country on the continent, it is now in a critical situation. Due to the monopoly of the major families over the years, it has now become a situation where the tail is too big to be removed. Now the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Military Affairs are cultivating their own factions and developing their own teams in their respective systems. Their family members have also joined in, resulting in the two systems becoming almost their private property.
My uncle, the Marquis Wilbur, is now in charge of the empire's affairs for Your Majesty. Although he is determined to weaken the power of both parties, he is currently in a situation where he has the will but not the strength.
In recent years, your majesty and my uncle have found that these two factions are no longer satisfied with their current status and have shown signs of change. At this time, something unexpected happened to the Senke Federation. They strengthened the height of the border walls and increased taxes, a series of problems that the Empire could not ignore.
The original plan to dispatch main corps from various places to fight was rejected because the Minister of War and the Minister of Finance used the excuses of other local armaments needs or local financial constraints to refuse to mobilize a large number of troops and property and materials. They demanded that Your Majesty send the imperial corps directly under Your Majesty who were loyal to Your Majesty, and even the materials and military expenses had to be directly allocated by Your Majesty.
In order to protect the safety of the imperial capital and prevent the two traitors from taking the opportunity to rebel, His Majesty directly ordered Lord Baroque of the Eastern Territory to lead his army to the battle. In addition to not wanting to widen the rift with the Senke Federation, he also wanted to take the opportunity to weaken the power of local forces that might become powerful or support the rebels. Because according to intelligence, although Lord Baroque appeared to be neutral, he was quite close to the Minister of Finance and Military Affairs.
In order to prevent the empire from supporting the rebels in the future, His Majesty and my uncle requested that in order to defeat the Senke Federation, at least the barbarians should be beaten to the point where they could not come out, but they should not be offended too much or cause them to have excessive hatred.
Now, our goal has been achieved, and the enemy has been severely injured by your horrible things. But now I feel more embarrassed because the defenders are too weak. We can easily capture the city, and even persuade them to surrender.
But you also saw how the barbarians treated our wounded soldiers. Under such circumstances, if we let the soldiers enter the city, I think even if I can control my subordinates, the soldiers of the 223rd and 224th Legions will inevitably set off a bloody storm. In this case, my mission will be a complete failure. "At the end, Thacker and Pavel almost smiled bitterly.
"In other words, no matter how weak the enemy is, we cannot attack the city, let alone let the enemy surrender?" After listening to Sack's explanation, I felt it was extremely absurd. What was this
"Yes, that's basically it. But they are so weak now, and the army of the Eastern Lord is eager to fight. I'm afraid we can't hold them back for a few days. Otherwise, even if we don't give orders, they will probably go out to fight on their own. With the support of the magician troops, I think they can easily capture this demoralized city." Pavel threw something like a cane back into the pile of treasures used to seek peace, and smiled bitterly at me again.
"I have a way to boost the morale of all parties." I said with a smile to the two frowning legion commanders. No matter it is morale or death, as long as they can make up their minds to resist the siege troops, it will be enough.
"Do you have an idea? Tell me about it." Almost at the same time, the two legion commanders turned their eyes to me.
"It's very simple. Aren't there still tens of thousands of defenders and hundreds of thousands of civilians in the city? We just need to let them know clearly that we will massacre them as soon as we enter the city. What do you think their reactions will be? There are only two options. One is that they flee in all directions, and the other is that they fight to the death. So if we send cavalry troops to drag crossbows to guard the other three city gates, what do you think they should do?"
"Good idea, good idea! I will send the soldiers to the foot of Huangshi City to chop all the prisoners, and at the same time let the soldiers shout a few words, which will definitely scare those idiots. In addition, I will immediately send two heavy cavalry divisions and two light cavalry divisions to blockade the city..." Pavel jumped up and prepared to run outside.
"Slow down, Pavel, there are still problems. Let's discuss and decide together." Pulling Pavel, Sack said, "Hegmar has already sent people back to their capital, but I think it will take at least half a month for the peace message to arrive. During this time, I think the food in Desolate Stone City will not be able to sustain."
"Food? We've only besieged them for a few days, and they're running out of food? How is that possible?" I was surprised. I hated the fat pig lord of Custer City, but his warehouses were full of military rations and supplies, even though they were all stolen from him. . . . . .
"It's all thanks to you! You launched two fire bomb attacks, burning down nearly half of the residential buildings, and even the opponent's military supply warehouses and several large granaries. After I received the news from the magicians last night, I have been worrying about the opponent's food problem." Sack looked at me in disbelief and said unhappily.
"Sir, can the Flame Legion be absolutely reliable? What I mean is, is it possible that some of them could be bribed by the two forces in the imperial capital? Or have they passed on information?" In a blink of an eye, I came up with a bad idea.
"I can guarantee that the two heavy cavalry divisions will not do that. Because once they join, they will continue to serve in the army until they are discharged, and they cannot leave the barracks and act on their own at any time."
"Then, we will set up a large camp in the north of the city and transfer two heavy cavalry divisions there to defend the north city and the northeast and northwest corners. We will also transfer all military supplies to the north camp and then move them to the south of the city..."
"Great! This will at least allow Huangshi City to hold out for a little longer. The process in between will be presided over by you and Pavel. Leave the establishment of military camps and other related issues to me." Before I could finish, Sack interrupted me and immediately stood up and walked out.