War will always be cruel and have outstanding destructive characteristics - anyone walking on the streets of the capital of Lisang Province, even if he is a retarded person, can understand this.
The smoke from the raging magic is still dancing in the sky, the broken bricks and tiles on the streets, the broken weapons scattered everywhere, the blood spattered on the walls... Lisang City is in a mess.
"Boss, that guy named Amaterasu is not bad. When we arrived, Lisang City's defenses were severely damaged by him." Haiert, who was beaming with joy, told the story of the destruction of the city: "In addition, the defense of Lisang City was severely damaged by him.
The defeated army we were chasing was entering the city, so our troops in disguise occupied a city gate, and the attack went smoothly with few casualties."
"The enemy's defenders have not been completely wiped out, right?" I asked, "I have taken care of you."
"Of course I remember what you said, boss." Haiert patted his chest and said, "Our army only attacked from three sides and deliberately left one direction for them to escape."
"Approximately how many ran away?"
"The enemy force we drove away still has about 30,000 people here. Including those in the city, there are about 40,000 people who have fled."
"If there are more than 40,000 people, the people on the other side will soon be panicked, so I feel relieved." I told Helter: "You have to do two things now. The first is to send a cavalry to continue to drive them away. If you can drive them away,
Drive them as far as you can, and drive them separately to all the provinces bordering Lisang Province."
"What about number two?"
"Repair the city wall that you damaged." I said, "Bring your senior officers over for a meeting this afternoon."
After saying that, Carlos and I walked into the relatively complete Governor's Palace.
Throughout the morning, I was with Carlos. He was sitting at the desk of the Governor of Lissan Province checking the seized supplies, while I was lying on the recliner on the side thinking about the next plan.
One plan after another was formed in my mind, and one after another was overturned by myself - in general, these combat plans are very feasible, but our existing logistics cannot guarantee the smooth implementation of these plans.
At noon, we finally had our first hot meal since the war started.
After Fichet's daily letter arrived, a meeting of senior military officers was held in the garden of the Governor's Palace. In addition to Carlos and Helter, there were also five wing-level commanders and logistics officers.
Because the battle was going relatively smoothly, everyone looked relaxed and sat around talking and laughing.
"Sir, everyone is here."
"Okay, let me summarize the battles in the past few days." I stood up and looked around: "Since the beginning of the war with the enemy, our progress has been quite fast. Because of the help of hidden forces, we have made little progress with
At a cost, we almost captured the entire Du Feng Province and Lisang Province at the same time, creating conditions for the next strategic arrangement."
"Although there are still some minor problems with the coordination of the various regiments and battalions, this is not the main issue." Carlos took over the words: "Our battle report has been sent to the Dark City."
"I called you here today to discuss the arrangements for the next war. Only when the commander's combat thinking is unified first, will the purpose of the actions of the following troops be clearer." I motioned for everyone to speak: "What do you think of the next war situation?
?”
"Sir, before everyone speaks, I would like to talk about the military deployment first." After obtaining my consent, Carlos said: "In the two provinces we just captured, our army currently ranks first.
The second and second legions have a total of 70,000 people. The troops of the General Staff are on their way, and the third legion will only take ten days to arrive. However, the third legion is mainly responsible for guarding these two provinces, and also assists in the defense of the dark forces.
Province, so it cannot be considered an offensive force. The only ones that can be flexibly mobilized are the First and Second Army Corps and the troops under the General Staff Headquarters, a total of 90,000 people."
"Why do we use this place as a base?" said a regiment commander: "Our army is so powerful that we should conquer a few more provinces at one go."
"Yes!" Another captain continued: "Ruman has been defeated, and other provinces cannot get his reinforcements. This is a good opportunity for us to launch a large-scale attack."
Carlos and I looked at each other and smiled.
"Yes, our army's combat effectiveness and morale are very good, and the rebels have just been defeated by us. It is a good opportunity to take advantage of the victory..." I nodded and said, "But this happens to be Lu Man, this bastard."
Hope we do."
"Why?" Haiert asked suspiciously.
"If we only had the Dark Province and the Dark Moon Province, we could attack with all 120,000 troops; but now that we have four provinces, we can only attack with 90,000 troops; if we capture more
Several provinces... How can we have troops to attack? Just the problem of defense is enough to trouble us." I counted on my fingers and told them: "The more places we capture, the more troops will be dragged to defend.
Even if the defense line is wide, it is impossible to defend perfectly. As for Luhmann? He is gathering elite forces now, waiting for us to disperse our forces little by little, and then find the loopholes in our defense and drive straight in."
"But we can deploy less troops for defense and concentrate our superior forces to attack the enemy in one area." An officer said: "With the combat effectiveness of our army, it is not a problem to fight all the way to the Holy Capital."
This is an obvious thought of underestimating the enemy.
"Judging from the enemy forces we have encountered so far, your inference makes sense." Carlos said, "But you didn't notice one thing: all we attacked were the outer perimeters of the rebels, which means we didn't
There has been no contact with the elite troops of the rebels. Although these two provinces are controlled by Luman's cronies, Luman has not paid attention to them at all."
"How could it be?" the captain asked in confusion: "Military terms may not focus on the gains and losses of one city and one land, but Lumann is a politician, and he must face up to the negative impact of losing two provinces."
"If it is a war between two countries, or between two alliances, for political reasons, we must pay attention to the gains and losses of the two provinces to stabilize the people." I touched my chin and patiently explained to them:
"But the relationship between us and the rebels is not like this. The rebels are far stronger than us. For them, the loss of a city or a place has nothing to do with the overall situation. As long as we can spread our strength and expose our flaws, Luman can still
They will happily make more space for us."
"Then what should we do? Are we saying we won't attack? Even if we continue to wait here, the number of troops we have will not increase!"
"Who said we won't attack?" I chuckled: "The waiting now is not in vain. We will seize this time to take the initiative in another aspect."
"Attack when you're ready?"
"Of course, but we have to pay attention to two things before attacking."
"First, we have to disintegrate the rebel alliance as much as possible." I took the map aside: "Look, we have captured two provinces, which will definitely make the governors and nobles of the following provinces
We are in constant panic. If the next diplomatic plan succeeds, we can win them over."
Haiert frowned and asked: "What about the second one?"
"There is a lack of war supplies." I said, "With the current capabilities of our army, it is not impossible to attack the Holy Capital, but when we see the walls of the Holy Capital, everyone will starve to death."
"No way?" The only one who dared to ask such a bold question was Geert.
"This threat exists. I have thoroughly liquidated our supplies, including those seized in this battle - the situation is really not optimistic. Not to mention that this transportation line spans several provinces. Remember we were in the War between Gods and Demons
Are we attacking the enemy's transportation lines? How we attacked the enemy's logistics in the past, the enemy will attack our logistics in the future..."
Carlos confirmed what I said: "Without external material support, we would never have been able to survive the day we conquered the Holy Capital."
"In this case, what should we do?"
"The only way is to win the support of these provincial governors. They have a large amount of reserves. Only in this way can the supply of materials be guaranteed."
"Isn't His Majesty doing it?" A captain said with worry: "If we intervene rashly, will it bring trouble to His Majesty's plan? Besides, dealing with nobles is too... I'm sorry, boss.
The noble I am talking about does not refer to you."
"His Majesty's diplomatic plan is of a strategic nature, involving the entire empire and the temple." I then retracted my gaze from staring at him: "But our plan is different. Our tactical diplomacy only needs to solve the problems along the attack route.
A few provinces are enough. Because our attack is directed at them, they will be under a lot of pressure. As long as our conditions are better, there shouldn't be much of a problem in winning over them."
"Is it enough to just attack a few provinces on the line?"
"That's enough. We are not politicians. We can only allow the battle to proceed unhindered." I explained: "As I said, the seemingly strong alliance of the rebels is actually not stable. No matter who is here
With their support behind them, it is impossible for them to solve the current crisis now. Except for a few staunch supporters of Luman among the rebels, the other governors are waiting and watching, and our recent battles have made them understand that they are going against us.
With only a dead end, what choice will they make? Our hard combat methods have been shown to them, and now we have to show them soft political methods in order to win more support."
"Then what do we need to do?" The officers looked at each other: "Can we help with diplomacy?"
"Of course, I will come forward and invite them to come here to negotiate, and you have to let them feel the tremendous pressure - even the pressure of death!" He slapped his hand hard on the table in front of him, a reminder of huge pain.
My table is made of stone: "The governor who provides me with supplies and soldiers can continue to secure his position. If he fails to understand through negotiations, you can pretend to destroy him for real!"
"yes!"
"If you want to harass them continuously, think of it as military training." I turned to Carlos and said, "My staff officer, you have to come up with the specific implementation steps today, and you have to strike while the iron is hot."
"I understand." Carlos nodded: "I suggest that the harassing troops set off tonight."
"Okay, but you have to be careful. Don't turn your fake enemies into real enemies before we start talking. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Then that's it! It's gone!"
I walked into the room and Carlos came in behind me.
"For my plan." I poured myself a glass of water first, and then asked in a low voice: "As a staff officer, do you have any good suggestions?"
"Sir, it's good that you can restrain your eagerness and stop after conquering two provinces." Carlos answered me also softly: "The rebels would never think of this."
"However, the intelligence says that the rebels are continuing to gather strength. Can we do all this before they come?" I took off the knife and threw it aside, and sat on the recliner: "There is not much time, I feel in my heart
But there’s no bottom.”
Carlos sat on the other side, silent.
"Frankly speaking, no one has any confidence in this war." After a while, he spoke: "We are like this, and Luman is not like this - don't forget, all he has received these days is bad things.
information."
"In terms of military combat effectiveness, we have the advantage; in terms of numbers, we have wiped out more than 100,000 enemy troops, but Luman still has a lot of men." I said with concern: "I have seen the contact.
Have you received any information from us? A large amount of supplies and troops are pouring into the Holy City across the border."
"Haha, sir, you won't admit that you are timid, will you?"
"Cowardice? What is that? I've never been afraid of anything. I can take on any kind of danger. I've seen too much blood." I said nonchalantly, "But what about my soldiers? One of my decisions is enough."
It will result in a large number of them being injured, disabled, and dead... Mr. Staff Officer, do you think the soldiers will accept all this willingly?"
Carlos stared at me seriously.
"I don't know about others, so I'll just talk about myself!" Carlos took an official document and covered his face: "Boss, do you want to know what I have always thought about you?"
"Well, if it's a bad review, don't say it."
"Before our historic first meeting, I thought I was following His Highness, thinking that the years of anticipation were finally over, and my blood began to boil." Carlos ignored me and was minding his own business.
He continued: "But when we met, it turned out that I was asked to follow the legendary 'rogue governor'. I felt so sad! If I could cry at that time, my tears would have been 'bursting'..."
"Pfft..." The water I just drank into my mouth was sprayed out.
"Then, boss, you killed people in front of me, and dozens of heads fell to the ground in an instant." Carlos's tone lost the joking: "It casts a shadow of the officer's murderousness in my heart.
"
"At that time, your face was a little pale and your expression was flustered. Are you pretending?" I said back to him: "You must be calling me a bastard in your heart..."
"I didn't say that." Carlos said very slyly, "But I can't stop you from thinking this way."
"The next step is to show you how powerful you are, sir... Okay! You even dare to rob the general munitions warehouse of the coalition forces. What else do you dare not do, boss?" Carlos put down the document in his hand: "But
Boss, do you know that soldiers like officers like you? In their hearts, you are the best officer on the entire continent."
"What's the use?" I said calmly: "The best officer also makes mistakes sometimes."
"The Battle of Tucheng... It was after this battle that the soldiers' admiration for you, sir, truly reached its peak."
"Yeah?"
"Of course, what does Luman mean in front of me? Yes, he now has a large army and a large amount of supplies." Carlos looked at me and said, "But he doesn't have your prestige, sir, nor does he have such an army.
An army that is willing to serve the commander. Our previous victory has shocked the rebel alliance and can also affect Ruman's judgment of the entire situation."
"So..." I chuckled: "Are you very optimistic about this period of wartime diplomacy?"
"Of course, I'm just worried that His Majesty's concubine selection ball will be held too early. I heard that many beautiful ladies will participate." Carlos said with a yearning look: "Actually, my slow dance is very good."
"Hey, Carlos is still a troubled bachelor." I lay down with my legs crossed and stared at the exquisite relief patterns on the ceiling: "Luman... you must not die before I attack the Holy City.
"
In the next few days, cavalry units divided into small groups rushed into other hostile provinces bordering Du Feng and Lisang provinces.
Wherever the troops went, the enemy was in a state of chaos. One day they harassed the town, and the next they rushed to the provincial capital not far away... The garrison strength in these places was ineffective to begin with, and I had no cavalry at all.
block.
Because it is to demonstrate the strength of our army to the governors of these places, I order these troops not to kill anyone and not to set fire unless they encounter resistance.
I wrote to the governors of every neighboring province. To show my sincerity, these letters were all written in my own handwriting... This was a very difficult task for me. Such sincerity was enough to impress their greedy minds.
Are you heartbroken?
"It's not enough, sir, you should add this sentence." While I was writing the draft, Carlos, who was always hanging around next to me, leaned over and said: "In addition to the reward from His Majesty, the traitor Ruman will also give you the reward."
The property given to you is your personal property and does not need to be handed over."
"Do you really need to write like this?" I said distressedly: "That's a lot of money!"
"With the wisdom of the commander, everything will be returned after winning this battle. Now the money is just deposited with them."
"Hey, how can you describe your commander like this? This young master is very pure!"
"What's the connection between purity and sir? Oh - sir, look outside, the weather is nice today!"
A few days later, Moya arrived with his Third Army and immediately took over the defense of the two provinces. The defensive capabilities of the Third Army were second to none among all my troops. By now, the defense of the four provinces had been jointly organized.
As one, I don't need to worry about it at all.
The total number of 90,000 offensive troops are all stationed outside the city and can be deployed at any time. As for where they can be deployed and how long they can be deployed, it depends on how much combat materials I have on hand.
"Materials, materials, materials..." Listening to Shi Yan's words, I muttered like this to myself in my dreams. (To be continued)