Blood tax

Chapter 315 The Eagle of Bellimion Part [-]
After camping in Bearstone, Griffith took Sonia, who had injured her arm, and a group of light cavalry to the prince's headquarters to report on the recent battle situation and receive new combat deployments.

A part of Byerland's army was trapped in Teutoburg, the rest were either destroyed or in retreat.They lost almost all their baggage, trebuchets, and cannons, and continued to retreat southward along the road.

When Griffith arrived at the base camp, he thought he had come to the wrong place.Thousands of troops and countless ordinary people crowded around a town, tents filled the roads and fields, and there were abandoned carriages and equipment everywhere, like a refugee camp.

The exhausted army and residents gathered in piles and prayed under the leadership of the priests of the Church of the Gods.Pious calls and prayers are like waves.

Griffith couldn't help but be thankful he had held Krista back instead of letting her come here.At such a critical moment, those who did not believe in God also want to grasp the last straw and pray desperately for protection.

They walked through the crowded barracks to the headquarters.The prince was there looking at the map, watching the staff move the cards, and listening to their reports of casualties and supplies.Sonia greeted him.The prince's first sentence was: "The battle situation is too unfavorable for our soldiers, and the soldiers can't hold on anymore."

His second sentence was: "My brothers in Bayeram have suffered great losses, and I must regroup my troops."

In the last sentence, he turned around and said to the officers, big and small, "If you can't launch a counterattack to buy time, I'll go find the Anjou girl and her hundreds of thousands of brothers and sisters."

The expression on the prince's face was very serious when he said this, Griffith's heart tightened, and he subconsciously clenched Hanguang.

Could this be a conspiracy by the Outer Gods?
Griffith glanced across the headquarters.Among these people, most of Bayeran's generals would not support the merger of royal power and religious power. If Prince Commodus really wanted to leave, he could only take away a few of his most trusted subordinates.Sequence 5 God's Punishment Knight General Maximus is his teacher, but first of all he is the commander-in-chief, and he cannot leave the army with the prince.

If the prince leaves the barracks and takes Krista away, then things will be irreversible, and the girl's fate will inevitably slide towards tragedy.

Don't even think about it...Griffith rubbed the bone ring, his teeth chattering.

This road is full of rivers, forests, and chaos. The prince has only a few extraordinary people and some guards around him.There are my acquaintances Medemeier and Ophelia in the Imperial Guard, and I can get the travel plan and route...

There are plenty of dead bodies around here, and I can still turn to Mr. Hermit for help.

Griffith thought of something he had never thought of before.At this time, Ophelia came over with her good friend.Miss Assault Scout with different pupils has a pencil in her ear and a thick stack of reports and documents in her hand.The same is true for Midianmeier beside him.

"Hey, Griffith, why are you here? There is an orc wolf cavalry troop detoured to your position, trying to cross the forest and river from the west to outflank the rear of the army. Warlord Mangulus personally led An army follows, and has reached the ford below Berrimion."

"Hiss—!" Hearing this name, everyone in the headquarters gasped.

Sonia became nervous when she heard it, and subconsciously grabbed Griffith's hand.

Griffith asked, "So, what's General Maximus's plan?"

Maximus is a steady veteran. Griffith was under his command in the Eastern War. He is very strong and experienced. He has perfect grasp and use of the battle situation and terrain.He attaches great importance to protecting the supply line, and there must be a wide avenue or convenient waterway support behind the legion.Whether attacking or camping, he could keep the flanks of his troops under the cover of rivers, castles, or forest heights.

Generals are especially good at commanding cavalry.Not only is it used to isolate the enemy's reconnaissance, but it can also become the core of the army to make a final decision at a critical moment.

However, the Mangulus Warlord on the opposite side kept moving his left wing to become the new right wing during the attack, like two big snakes entangled with each other, forcibly cutting into the gap between the Bayeran troops, attacking weak edges and supply lines .

After several days of mobile warfare and pursuit, the orc warlords advanced all the way to the south, constantly threatening the retreating main force of Bayeran, without giving them any time to establish a solid line of defense or to breathe.

The remnants of the three defeated legions tried many times to establish a defense line relying on the towns and rivers along the way, but every time they gained a foothold, Mangurus' Tierne Front Army would immediately appear on their left.Lines, mountains, and rapids could not prevent him from outflanking.

After entering densely populated areas, a large number of refugees joined the ranks of scrambling for roads.No one expected that failure would come so quickly.On the broad avenue, the refugee convoys were so long that they couldn't see the end, which further hindered the speed of the army's establishment of the defense line.

"Maximus is already in a state of desperation. He originally wanted to rely on the Loire River to the west to stabilize his line of defense, but the enemy can come around us from the ferry under Berrimion Mountain," Ophelia whispered to him: "Thanks You routed an enemy force and slowed their outflank, or we would have fled by now."

Midian Maier also felt the same way: "This high-intensity mobile battle has dragged down the headquarters. When we were in the East, just over a year ago, it was unimaginable for the two armies to fight in the field for more than three days in a row. But now, tactical maneuvers, blocking and counter-assaults have been carried out for a whole week. During the period, there were heavy rains, and the battle line has not shown signs of stopping. This kind of fighting intensity has never been seen before in a tactical mode. Clan The organization and spirit of the Union Army exceeded our expectations."

Griffith looked at them, then at the rickety headquarters, convinced that he had no hope of getting reinforcements and supplies.Midianmeier and Ophelia are the only staff members who are still very energetic.The other staff officers were either wounded, feverish, or exhausted from the continuous transfers and battles.Although the three main armies still had some strength, the collapse of the command system and the defense line made the counterattack come to naught.

Prince Commodus returned to the table with a gloomy face, without saying a word.After a while, he suddenly said in a loud voice:

"Tomorrow, the mobility of the Clan Alliance will reach its limit tomorrow!"

"He said the same thing yesterday!" Ophelia whispered, "but my scouts think that the orcs still have more strength. Their supply lines and the vicinity of the barracks are not crowded with refugees and sundries, and the burden is lighter than ours. As long as you keep Detours and outflanking, our army will definitely be dragged down.

"Once we lose our mobility, the town stronghold will become a battlefield for siege warfare. Tens of thousands of people will be crowded inside, with no supplies and no retreat. We will be finished!"

indeed so.Griffith thought about it carefully, and found that Mangurus was implementing a strategy that had never been seen on the human side.

The Bayeram Army was tenacious and had high morale. After several days of hard and non-stop marching and fighting, the troops still did not completely disintegrate.However, the disadvantages are also obvious.The Bayeran Legion is good at positional warfare and engineering operations.If there are enemies on the two wings, the army will immediately think of retreating from top to bottom to protect its own supply lines.

The enemies we faced this time were very different.Mangulus did not give the Byelan Legion a chance to deploy its entire army.Every time the princes and generals wanted to rely on rivers and mountains to stabilize the front line, he would immediately send out elite troops to make a detour, and after breaking through the support points, he would lead the army to perform a rolling maneuver from left to right, threatening the left rear of Byeram's army.He doesn't care about his rear, uses mobile warfare to attack, and uses mobile warfare to choose his own battlefield.

From the perspective of Bayeran, who is accustomed to positional warfare, there is quite a shamelessness in launching an attack without waiting for our army to launch.

"Griffith, commander of the third-rank assault squadron, come here."

While talking, several officers suddenly greeted Griffith.They wore medals and ribbons, held velvet red wooden boxes in their hands, and led several gendarmes to form a guard of honor.

"Captain of the third-level assault squadron of Griffith, in recognition of your extraordinary bravery in the battles of Pierfonne, Teutonic-Rum and Ferry, you will be promoted to the second-level assault squadron leader, and you will be awarded the double sword silver medal." Order of the Eagle with Oak Leaves."

Sonia applauded together with the nobles present.

Griffith knew that he would be promoted because of his military exploits, but he didn't expect to be promoted to the first rank and awarded a higher medal at this time.

The army headquarters was in a mess, and the senior officers hurriedly issued promotion orders and commendation orders to Griffith, asking him to take Sonia back to stabilize the left wing.Bonuses, awards, meritorious service points, and even medals have to wait for the back to be issued.

Sonia was also promoted to major.As one of the commanders of the great nobles and auxiliary officers, Griffith's merits are hers.The Countess expressed her thanks, and then asked:
"Are there any reinforcements? Or are there any higher-ranking officers to lead us?"

As an agent of the High Lord, she has the rank of major and command of the battlefield.After this promotion, she is the highest ranking nobleman in the army around Bearstone.But after all, she is only a school officer, and like other nobles, she can't command thousands of troops. Usually, there will be special senior officers in charge of command and overall planning on the battlefield.

"The headquarters has decided, Miss Countess, you will be in command, as long as you build a line of defense to hold back the enemy, and don't let them continue to penetrate deeply." General Moderes of the Ninth Army came over and pointed out the map for them. "Berthier has returned from Pierrefond with his squadron, and he will join you today. You will hold back the enemy in the hills and river areas from Bellstone to Kazika Village and Berrimion Mountain."

Sonia was very embarrassed, she was not sure at all, she looked at the quasi-knight beside her for help.

Earl Chalon's ally, Baierlan's veteran and veteran General Mordres looked at the countess, then at the newly promoted second-level assault squadron leader, a faint smile crossed his firm and serious face.

He looked at Griffith and said:

"Our situation is very bad. The retreat has been going on for several days. If we continue to retreat, the remaining regular army will also collapse. Do you know what will happen at that time?

"Our dying legion will collapse before reinforcements arrive, and the prince will leave here to find the maiden of Anjou, and together with her, he will assemble a huge church armed with tens of thousands of Odessa.

"With this strength, most of us can still defeat the orc army, which is at the end of its strength. Then, well, His Highness may ask—Senate, how many legions are there?"

……

The troops gathered near Bearstone and the reinforcements arriving one after another were organized into a unified combat unit, called Berrimion Battle Group, with a number of nearly 5000 people. Lord, face the coming attack of the Orc Warlords.Senior officers concentrated on the central front or rear to reorganize the army. Many nobles in the auxiliary legion also claimed to be injured or sick, leaving some vassals and knights as agents and hid in the rear.

On the way back from the command post, Griffith had already prepared a general plan for the battle and informed the troops to move in the direction of Kazika Village, east of Bearstone.When they were assembled, he summoned all the officers and nobles in Sonya's name.

"First of all, we need to defeat the enemy approaching the village of Kazika. According to reconnaissance, they have about two squadrons of enemy wolf cavalry and an unknown number of light infantry. They have just carried out a long-distance raid and are in poor condition. I will lead this task All cavalry units and ranger squadrons completed;

"After severely injuring or destroying this group of enemies, together with the army that we wiped out at the riverside ferry, the interspersed operations of the Mangulus Warlords will be blocked. Their strength is insufficient, so they have to gather at Berrimy The area of ​​the Loire River Ferry below the Wengshan is waiting for reinforcements. After that, they have two options, first, immediately launch a new attack on us, outflank us westward, and cut off the road to the northwest and southwest of Odessa, Block the reinforcements while outflanking the Teutonic cluster's flanks. The Clan Alliance's strength is insufficient, and it is difficult to implement this plan. It would be best if they came to attack us by force;

"The second plan is to hold the ferry at the foot of Berrimion Mountain, wait for the main force of infantry to arrive later, and then launch an attack to capture Kazika Village. Repeat the actions he has done many times before, attacking the place where the prince is from west to east. The center. The chaos there has reached the extreme. If the flanks are attacked, there will be a more serious collapse than the Teutonic-Rum battle. After the center is defeated, the enemy's Rum and Tirne fronts can continue to move south , a threat to Odessa.

"Therefore, after we defeat the Wolf Cavalry, the Mangulus Warlord will definitely stick to the very important Berrimion Mountain Ferry, where there are good roads and stone bridges, no matter which plan he adopts, the ferry will be offensive The starting point. That's where we beat him."

Having said that, Griffith paused.He deliberately kept some information to see everyone's reaction.

There was no response at all...

Galadia looked at him with bright eyes.Krista thought for a while, and immediately understood what was going on. She hesitated, but bowed her head in silence.With a dazed expression on her face, Sonia looked at the map in her hand upside down.

Nona poked Berthier with her elbow to make him say something, but Berthier didn't speak;Seeing this scene, the other nobles and officers, big and small, thought that they were not the main force in the battle, so they stopped talking.

Since everyone has no opinion, the battle plan is decided like this.Everyone left one after another to prepare separately.

After a while, Griffith, who was writing and drawing on the order, looked up and found that Lieutenant Lean was still standing in the room.The lieutenant took out a small iron pot from his pocket, smelled it, and drank a couple of sips.

Finding that the girls were not left behind, Griffith couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief: "Lieutenant, where did you get the wine?"

"I bought it from the town before departure, and the brothers will share some." Lien raised the small iron pot and took another sip. "The girls in Bearstone are good, as the brothers said."

"Don't you have a family?" The quasi-knight looked at him and tried to recall the personnel file but couldn't remember anything.

"Wife and two kids, older son died on the Eastern Front," Leann said. "I mean guys think the girls are nice, and I, that's all I need."

"I'm sorry," Griffith said.

"Well, during the initial phase of the pincer offensive in the Battle of Atana, I was in the same unit as him, and it happened very suddenly," said Lean, "Your Excellency, Captain of the Second Assault Squadron, is it really necessary for us to launch this campaign?" ?
"What I mean is that the army of the Clan Alliance is also exhausted, and its strength has been used to the limit. Even the Overseer has to go to the front line to maintain the offensive. We just need to stick to our position and let them turn around and attack the middle."

　See the comment section for the campaign map (sketch).

　　
　
(End of this chapter)