The warm sea breeze from the Mediterranean Sea has blown to the Apennine Peninsula.
The total distance from Verona to Bologna is 128 kilometers. The Emperor's coalition forces could only advance a short distance almost every day, and often had to pay a very heavy price.
Imperial soldiers continued to be killed in frequent attacks by synthetic troops, so that the morale of the army almost fell to the bottom.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Holy See is fighting a technologically asymmetric war with the Empire. The latter is losing real lives, while the former is just spending money.
If it weren't for the fact that after killing the synthetics, their remains could be sold for a very high price in the army market, I'm afraid soldiers from various principalities would have rioted long ago.
The emperor and the dukes held high-level meetings one after another to discuss the next battle plan. The dukes said that the chance of winning was now very low, so it was better to take advantage of the Holy See before they cut off the retreat and complete the siege of the emperor's coalition forces.
We quickly retreated to the foothills of the Alps.
However, the emperor refused.
Because the result of this is obvious: once they retreat (whether it is a strategic shift or a rout), the soldiers will inevitably lose all confidence in advancing, and it will be extremely difficult to drive them south to attack the Holy See.
Not to mention that the launch of this battle itself has overdrawn too much of the political prestige of the royal Saxon family. If we retreat and regain strength at this time, all the early efforts will be in vain.
As long as they enter the foothills of the Alps, which are easy to defend and difficult to attack, then "leading the troops back home" will become another optional plan, placed in front of the dukes together with "continuing the attack".
The emperor didn't even have to think about it, he knew which dukes would stall for time, and which dukes would immediately propose returning home... or even instigate the knights to launch a riot, forcing the emperor to submit.
Therefore, it is impossible to retreat. At most, it is like being nailed here. If anyone dares to cause civil strife to rebel against me, the Holy See army will attack the camp and everyone will die together!
Faced with the stubbornness of the old emperor, the Dukes were helpless.
Everyone knows what is the only belief that supports the emperor to persist:
The 3rd Demonic Tide.
The first demon tide was in July last year, and the second demon tide was in January this year. The interval is about half a year. But this thing is just like my aunt, it may be earlier or later. Even the Holy See cannot advance how far in advance.
Monthly forecast.
Maybe it will last until June and the evil wave will come? Maybe it will come next week? After all, it is already May.
As soon as the demonic tide comes, not only the synthetics and drones, but also the Templar Knights equipped with prosthetics will lose their combat effectiveness. At that time, the Emperor's coalition forces can move south like a ragtag force, and win the victory in one fell swoop before the Holy See can react.
The emperor was gambling heavily, using the reputation of the Saxon family and the lives of everyone in the coalition, betting that the evil tide would suddenly come early.
Just when the situation was at a stalemate, some news from the Blade Warrior spy reached the ears of the emperor who was presiding over the meeting, which immediately made the old Frank man furious.
"Bring me that damn market!" Emperor Otto overturned the entire desk.
The emperor followed the sword warrior and left in a hurry. The dukes looked at each other and quickly called their attendants to inquire.
Soon everyone learned the whole story:
It turns out that the Milanese traders in the military market bought the remains of synths/drones captured on the battlefield from soldiers at high prices, and then sold them back to the Holy See at higher prices to use them as raw materials for processing.
Recycle it and put it back into the production line.
This back and forth is equivalent to saying that the Holy See saved raw materials by spending money, and the Milan merchants made the middle price difference. Only the Emperor's Allied Forces exchanged the lives of their men for money, and the money was still in the hands of the soldiers, who continued to enjoy pleasure with drinks/women, etc.
channel and flow back to the vendors.
It's no wonder that His Majesty the Emperor couldn't bear it and planned to mobilize troops to destroy the cancer of the army market.
The blade warriors quickly finished dressing up and rushed toward the market with the emperor surrounded by them. The dukes quickly informed their subordinates that if any knights were wandering around in the market, they hurried to the other direction.
Sneak out.
Otherwise, he would be caught and killed by the angry emperor, and there would be no place to redress his grievances.
At this time, Ask was walking around the market with Mia and Mi'er. The two little girls were running around with roasted chicken legs in one hand and ice cream cones in the other.
Children are still easy to coax, Asik sighed. They are much easier to deal with than some mind-reading sisters.
Suddenly there was a noise in front of them. The three of them looked in the direction of the crowd and saw that the heavily armed Blade Warriors had blocked the entrance to the market. Many soldiers who came out of the tents tried to leave and started fighting with the blocking Blade Warriors.
Pushing and fighting,
"Wow, captain, let's run away quickly!" Mia subconsciously wanted to take the two of them away from the shadow world, but she heard Asik say:
"Don't worry yet, let me see what happened."
Soon, a sword warrior stood up and read the emperor's edict to the uninformed soldiers and traders;
From now on, the military market will be permanently closed and will not be reopened. Any vendors who attempt to station near the military camp will be regarded as agents sent by the Holy See; any soldiers who trade privately with vendors will be regarded as treason and will be arrested.
This order quickly aroused the anger of the people. After all, everyone's daily battles are already very difficult, and there is always the danger of losing their lives. Now, the only chance of exchanging loot for money has to be ruthlessly deprived by His Majesty the Emperor...
I don’t know who screamed unbearably, and then blood actually appeared!
The people present didn't even realize whether it was the blade samurai or the soldier who made the first move. In short, the conflict suddenly escalated in a lightning-like and unprepared manner. By the time the remaining people came to their senses, they were already involuntarily being coerced into joining.
In turmoil!
Mia and Mi'er were shocked and tried to pull Asike back, but in vain.
I don't know when Ask disappeared! Did he go back to Hearthfire Island, or did he leave suddenly?
The two little girls looked at each other. Mia immediately pulled out the short knife tied to her forearm, while Mi'er reached for the pistol on her thigh (her sniper rifle was too conspicuous and she didn't bring it with her). The two of them cautiously retreated to the nearest place.
Next to the tent, people stood back to back and scanned the surroundings, watching coldly as the rebels drew their swords or firearms and launched frantic attacks on the blade warriors who had blocked the entrance to the camp.
The remaining limbs were flailing wildly, flesh and blood were flying everywhere, and the sound of gunshots and roars shook the sky.
Suddenly, Asker teleported out of Hearth Island with Nora, Medea and Paige.
"Quickly search the nearby subconscious ocean to see who is instigating this incident!"
Nora and Medea immediately nodded and quickly opened their spiritual vision. Peggy also activated the law of death salvage skill. Countless concrete death tadpoles emerged from the void and then concealed themselves into the subconscious ocean, and began to search for nearby living people.