Casfann led the army to Mount Doom. This mountain is called "Mountain of Doom" on the Brittanian side, and the Imperial people on the other side of the mountain prefer to call it "Heart of Ice and Snow".
Duke Palavon did not stay too long when passing by Uberserik. He did not try to attack the town, but took the opportunity to extort a sum of military rations and military pay from Count Graf in exchange for a promise not to attack the city.
Count Graf obeyed obediently. Uberserik had three hundred standing troops, and Count Graf also had his own personal guard. These troops naturally did not dare to resist in the face of Casfan's army of more than fifteen thousand people.
And Kasfann had no intention of stopping here. After getting enough rations and gold coins, the army passed by Uberserik and headed straight for Helmgart.
Even though war has been declared, each other still abide by the bottom line in human civil wars and do not kill prisoners or civilians. Nobles will be put under house arrest and await ransom.
An army of more than 15,000 people was stationed on the mountainside of Mount Doom. Casfan asked the knights and soldiers to take time to rest and prepare for the next war.
Emperor Karl-Franz was stationed behind the ford in front of Helmgart with an army of about 20,000 people. The 8,000 Avi army led by Elector Umberto was located on the flank of the emperor's own army, forming a
The power of horns.
There are still about 4,000 imperial troops remaining in Helmgart. The emperor does not intend to defend the city because this is a human civil war.
The two armies began to confront each other, while looking for fighter opportunities.
In the early morning of February, Ryan and Francois stood on the wall of Helmgart, looking at the opposing armies. The God-chosen champion of the Fairy of the Lake whispered: "The imperial army is well-trained and consists of a variety of armies.
The morale is high, but the number of knights is small. Even including the Rick Guards and the personal guards of Elector Umberto, the total number of knights is only about 1,200."
"The size of Casfan's army is much smaller than that of the Empire's army, but there are more than 2,200 knights. It's hard to say whether this war will be won or lost. The Empire has a certain strength advantage, and Casfan has knights.
There is an advantage in numbers, but sometimes victory or defeat can be decided in a split second.”
Francois nodded, and Duke Winford thought for a while and said: "Casfann has been in battle for a long time. He knows that if he rushes into the imperial army, it is impossible for the knights to win. He needs to wait for the opportunity and wait for an empire.
An opportunity for the military to expose its weaknesses."
"Exposing weaknesses..." Jerrod looked at the opposing armies and frowned: "Casfann's army is fighting in the empire, and it is an expedition. He has no capital to drag Emperor Franz down. Emperor Franz only needs to
Hold the camp tight and Kasfann will have no chance of victory."
"No, you are wrong, Jerod." Ryan shook his head: "His Majesty Carl Franz understands that this war is not as simple as it seems. Jerod, you are only thinking about the military aspect, but Carl
He knows better, he is not only an excellent general, he is also an excellent politician."
"Yes, the emperor may be able to win by relying on defense, but this is not what he wants." Francois nodded and smiled. He was satisfied with Ryan's political wisdom: "So many of us are here to watch."
Some realization flashed across Jerod's stern face: "That's it."
War is never simple.
…………
In the imperial army camp before Helmgart, the emperor, his general Kurt Heilberg, flag officer Ludwig Schwarzhammer, Elector of Tuscany Umberto and others were
Looking at the battlefield sand table.
The great alchemist Belshazer-Gelt was also present, but the great alchemist who had many ideas in the past showed little interest in this human civil war and stood aside without saying a word.
The front of the city of Helmgart is filled with red flags symbolizing the army led by Rick and the yellow flag led by Ivy. Across the ford and a small plain, a blue flag is planted on the mountainside of Mount Doom.
"Kasfan stationed his army on the mountainside, where there is sufficient water and steep enough terrain." Heilberg pointed his finger at the blue flag: "If we attack his camp directly,
Then a large group of knights will directly charge our military formation from the hillside, and it will be difficult for us to resist such a level of charge."
Several generals nodded. How powerful the charge of Britannia's knight group was. The imperial people knew very well that when these knights shouted the name of the goddess and charged, any enemy standing in front of them would be crushed.
fragments.
"We don't have as many knights as Kasfan, and our active attack will definitely fail." Karl Franz, dressed in military uniform, shook his head: "Our artillery can cover our charge, but Kasfan's
There are about fifty Pegasus knights in the army, and they will definitely look for opportunities to attack our artillery positions."
"If we attack us head-on, the casualties will be very high. This is a civil war between human beings. We cannot fight like this. The bloody lessons of the Three Emperors era are right in front of us, but we cannot stand still. As Lord Vicmar said, provocation
The enemies of the imperial authority must be defeated, and defeated completely." Karl-Franz said calmly. The young emperor understood very clearly that he and his army could not hold on, and he had to fight in full view of the public.
A beautiful victory.
"Actually, there is the easiest way to win, Karl Franz, and that is a championship showdown. If you come to the military formation and invite Casfan to a championship showdown, it is impossible for him to refuse." Weng
Elector Beto said suddenly. He looked at the Rune Fang on the emperor's waist and the war hammer Gal-Maraz in his hand.
"No, Casfan has every reason not to agree." Karl-Franz shook his head, and the emperor smiled bitterly: "The knights on the other side of the mountain will no longer believe in us."
What he was talking about was an incident that happened not long ago on the "Road to Curona", from the border friction between the Empire and Britannia, the confrontation between the Imperial General Heilberg and the Britannian general in the swamp.
Marshal Roland was distressed by the repeated back-and-forth and small-scale conflicts, so Brittania proposed a championship showdown to determine the winner.
Heilberg agreed.
Helberg is the strongest swordsman among Rick's guards. There is no doubt that he has amazing strength and superb swordsmanship, but Britannia has sent a Holy Grail Knight, Baron de Albekin.
.
Needless to say, the power of the Holy Grail Knight is natural. Heilberg found that he could not defeat the powerful Holy Grail Knight after exhausting his lifelong learning. He readily admitted defeat. Seeing him admit defeat, Baron de Albekin also said that Helberg was a
A warrior, he would not duel with Count Hale unless he had no choice.
Heilberg agreed with the Baron's point of view, and he retreated a distance under the doubtful gaze of the Holy Grail Knight.
Then he ordered the cannon to fire.
In the imperial army formation, more than a dozen cannons that had been arranged long ago fired at Baron de Elbekan at the same time. The Holy Grail Knight was hit by the cannons continuously. While de Elbeken was injured, Helberg took the opportunity.
Behead the Holy Grail Knight and declare yourself the winner.
Before his death, Baron d'Elberkin was still cursing Heilberg for his despicability and dishonesty, but Helberg turned a deaf ear. The imperial general only cared about victory and duty, and glory had nothing to do with him.
This incident triggered a very fierce diplomatic conflict. After learning about the outcome of the incident, Karl Franz quickly sent people to make peace with Richard, redraw the boundary line, and immediately transferred Heilberg back to Buenos Aires.
Renswick, gave a severe reprimand.
What the emperor means is that it is okay to use such dirty tricks when dealing with creatures such as chaos, northern barbarians, vampires, and green skins, but it is too much to use such dirty tricks against fellow human beings.
Heilberg didn't care, he just wanted to win.
There are different opinions on whether the imperial general was right to do this, but what is certain is that the Brittanians will never easily accept an invitation to a duel between champions again.
Furthermore, even if the Brittanians accepted the invitation to a duel between champions, the emperor was not sure of victory.
Karl Franz is about thirty-four years old this year, and his strength is at the middle level of the legend. The emperor himself knows very well that his strength is very strong, mainly because of his good equipment, whether it is "Silver Seal" or "Rune Teeth" or
It's "Gael Maraz". These are artifacts, one of the most powerful enchanted artifacts in the old world.
Even so, facing the Holy Grail Knights, the Emperor could hardly be sure of victory. The Holy Grail Knights were much stronger than normal people at the same level.
"So, our plan is for me to lead about a thousand knights to attack Casfan's flank in a roundabout way from the side through the mountain road behind Helmgart." The emperor's fingers moved on the war sand table,
Bypassing a nearby hill, he then pointed directly at Casfan's flank: "We will spend about two hours on a forced march to complete the detour."
"At the same time, His Excellency Elector Umberto led all the infantry and a small number of knights across the ford, waiting for the fighter plane. After I led the knights to complete the detour, our two armies launched an attack together. No army can support two sides for a long time.
If you plan the battle properly, Casfan and his army will be defeated!"
"Get ready for action. Tomorrow morning, I will lead the knights to set off. I will also ask Your Excellency Umberto to lead the army to cross the ford at the same time. Wait for news of my attack, and then immediately attack Casfan's army!"
"yes!"
At the same time, halfway up Mount Doom.
The army of the Principality of Palavon is resting. After a day of rest, Casfan's army is gradually recovering from the fatigue of crossing the mountains, and its morale has improved. A large group of knights errant are gearing up, waiting to compete with the imperial knights.
.
The kingdom's knights are different. Most of the main knights in these armies are silent. They know how powerful the empire is and what kind of hard battle they will face.
Casfan was also discussing the military situation with his lieutenant, Earl Canel.
"The empire's army is far superior to ours in terms of quantity and quality of infantry. If we launch an attack rashly, the empire's artillery and elite phalanx will cause heavy losses to the knights." Casfan looked at the map and stood up.
The Duke, who has experienced hundreds of battles, is also troubled by the situation: "We have more knights than the imperial army, and we need to find fighter planes."
"The question now is, will Emperor Karl-Franz stick to Helmgart?" Count Canel raised his concerns.
"No." Casfan frowned, but he came to the same point, that is, the imperial army will definitely take the initiative to attack.
So...how will Karl-Franz take the initiative?
Kasfann looked at the map. His army was stationed on the mountainside. The imperial army was stationed in the open space in front of the city of Helmgart. At the front of the open space was a shoal, then a small plain, and then close to Kas.
Where Vann's camp is located.
The Duke knew that he had to take advantage of the number of knights and his powerful impact to have a chance to completely defeat the imperial army.
"Send out more scouts!"
"yes!"
…………
In the early morning of February 2nd, the sky was pitch black.
The emperor led the Reik Guards and several knights of the Imperial Knights to set off. They would bypass a hill and attack his camp unexpectedly from the side and rear of Casfan.
Elector Umberto led all the imperial infantry, imperial artillery and a small number of imperial knights to begin crossing the ford.
In the darkness, lighting relied entirely on moonlight, and the imperial troops did not dare to light torches. More than 20,000 troops crossed the shoal from the front. Because the weather was cold and it was the dry season, the imperial army's process of crossing the shoal was relatively smooth.
"Hope everything goes well." Elector Umberto was wearing exquisite mithril plate armor made by dwarves. He was riding on a half-blood elf war horse. The horse was wearing gorgeous armor, and the elector's robe was even more beautiful.
With flowers in bloom and colorful helmets and feathers, he crossed the shoal under the protection of the Chosen Guards, and the water in the shoal could only cover the horses' hooves.
"My Lord Elector, why does Your Majesty let you control the army? I think it would be better for you to lead the knights in a roundabout way?" The personal guard of the Elector of Tuscany is also the Golden Fleece of Iveyland.
So said the knights of the Order.
The Knights of the Golden Fleece are the most elite troops in the Iverland. Most of them are personally selected by the Elector himself. They have fought against the greenskins in the Blackfire Pass all year round and have very rich combat experience.
"Because Karl Franz needs it, he needs enough prestige." Elector Umberto said with a smile: "The new emperor is a talented person, but his current prestige is not enough to support his ambitions and
Faith, so he must continue to personally lead the army to win, so as to ensure that his policies can continue to be implemented. Compared with those nobles, he is more willing to trust his own army, and there are many nobles who hate him."
In the early hours of the morning, the moon was dim and the area from the Gray Mountains and Mount Doom to Helmgart was covered in thick fog, making it almost impossible to see where one could see. Most of the empire's troops had already crossed the ford.
Elector Umberto felt something was wrong.
It's too quiet.
"My advisor, where is Odo?" the Elector shouted behind him.
"I'm here!" A legendary wizard of light wearing a white robe and holding a staff came up from behind.
"Dispel this thick fog! Immediately!"
"yes!"
As the mantra was chanted, the thick fog that filled the valley and plains was dispersed.
The powerful light of exile is shining on the plains. It not only disperses the dense fog, but also illuminates the hidden army hidden in the dense fog.
Flags are like a forest, spear formations are like rain, more than two thousand Breton knights are fully armed, tens of thousands of Breton infantry regiments have all stood in array, and their ranks stretch from halfway up the mountain.
Not far from the Imperial Army.
"Okay, that's it." The fully-armed Casfan was riding a pure-blood elf Pegasus. He said to a Lake God prophet next to him. The beautiful Lake God prophet nodded and stopped casting his spell.
.
Then the thick fog completely dissipated on the plain.
Kasfann has led all his main forces down the mountain.
"Oh no!" Elector Umberto knew that the plan had failed, and Casfan took the initiative to attack them.
He immediately signaled the Knights of the Golden Fleece to blow their horns, and the Elector drew the Elector's Holy Sword "Mother of Destruction": "Imperial Army! Concentrate on me!"
The imperial troops formed a hasty formation, and then quickly concentrated towards the Elector himself.
"Forward! Knights of Britannia!" Casfan raised his lance high, and more than two thousand knights raised their lances in response: "Charge! For the lady!!!"
“For the ladies!!!”
Thousands of horses galloped, mud flew, and the furious waves of the Breton knights swept across the field.