From Witcher to Lord of the Empire

Chapter 303 Combat Conference·Comparison of the Strength of the Enemy and Ourselves

The appearance of Ciri made Duke Darcy's eyes light up suddenly. He was about to say something, but then froze his expression again.

Rao, who has rich experience in court struggles, is almost offline for expression management at this moment.

First, he saw the Skellige, and the iron crown on Easter's head.

Secondly, he saw the heavily armed dwarves, and Barclay, the military leader of Mahakam.

When did Cintra gain the power of these people? What a mistake it must have been to assess Sintra's power before!

He heard the lion of Sintra say: "This is the commander-in-chief of the Nilfgaard Eastern Army Group - Duke Adar Aip Daxi. He is the veteran of the three dynasties of the Nilfgaard Empire, a veteran nobleman. The current With the help of a group of old nobles including him, Emperor Emhyr va Enrith overthrew the usurper and regained the throne."

Damn it! How did the lion know this news? Are there spies from the north within the empire?

"Although the Eastern Group Army has been defeated by me now, the information in his mind is definitely of great benefit to us. I hope you can analyze it with me."

Wait, wait, the Eastern Army has collapsed?

impossible! Even if he is captured, there are a lot of senior officers in the barracks who can replace him!

Even if the generals of each regiment fight on their own, at least they can turn the whole Livia upside down if they can't go deep into Aden!

"Even though I've heard you say this, I still want to marvel again... But your move is too risky, Lane. You are the Duke now..."

Following Lane's narration, everyone's eyes focused on Duke Darcy as if they were playing with a monkey.

What made Duke Darcy uneasy was that, except for the disbelief in the eyes of those dwarves, when the other people heard the lion's story about the process of capturing him, there was only a kind of surprise and... for granted?

What does this represent? What does this represent?

"Then, next..."

Lan strode forward towards Duke Darcy, and the steel greaves stepped on the floor, making a "kick, kick" sound.

Every kick can make Duke Darcy's heart contract suddenly. He can't think anymore, and even his body is trembling uncontrollably.

In the messy thinking, Duke Darcy saw a hand exuding a familiar light in front of his eyes.

"Tell me all you know, Duke Darcy."

——

Strictly speaking, Nilfgaard's first war of aggression in the north was not a failure.

In the past, the imperial soldiers sent Sintra, hoping to open the door to the northern border by conquering Sintra, so as to create a wide troop route to allow Nilfgaard's hundreds of thousands of troops to be sent to the north At the same time, it also planted a solid nail for the empire in the north, set up an advance fort, turned the "Kingdom of Sintra" into the "Province of Sintra", and gave the empire the initiative in the future war.

In addition to the strategy in this general direction, Emperor Emhyr of the Empire also has a small thought that he has not told others - to take back his daughter, Princess Cirila, and completely destroy the ancient blood that "has the power to conquer the world". Incorporated into the Nilfgaardian royal house.

Today, although the tenacious resistance of the remnant army and the people has saved Sintra from the fall of the whole territory, the actual land in the hands of the Sintra people is less than one-third or even one-fourth of the original.

The land occupied by the Nilfgaardians is also enough for Nilfgaard to transport troops.

The whole of Sintra can provide Nilfgaard with a broad road; although the incomplete Sintra can only be regarded as a narrow bridge for Nilfgaard, it is far better than the previous situation where there was no way to go. I don’t know How much, also gave Nilfgaard more tactical choices.

Only then did the "Battle of Sodden Mountain" follow. It is also because of this that the empire has the confidence to order the Eastern Group Army with tens of thousands of infantry to cross the Yaruga River with light equipment, because the troops stationed in Upper Soden can give them support.

Today, the Nilfgaardians call the land they occupy "Southern Sintra", while the land they hold with the town of Brokiron as the center is "Northern Sintra".

This kind of address made the people of Sintra in the meeting room frown.

"Sintra is Sintra, and there can only be one Sintra in the world." Mossak said in a cold voice.

The others were communicating with each other in low voices, trying to analyze the strength of Nilfgaard revealed in Duke Darcy's words.

"What is Nilfgaard's battle plan for the next stage? How many troops and horses are there, their respective numbers and composition, and the information of the leader and commander? How much do you know?"

Lan continued to increase the output of magic power, hoping to know more about the enemy.

Duke Darcy continued to reveal confidential military information in a daze.

"The army of the empire is now divided into three groups, namely the Western Group Army, the Central Group Army, and the Eastern Group Army."

The Eastern Group Army led by Duke Darcy is mainly composed of [Black Infantry Regiment], with a total of 60,000 people. Troops equipped with warlocks used magic to briefly freeze the Yaruga River, abandoning the necessary supplies and rushing to Livia. The original plan was to temporarily repair the battle in Livia, and then go north to annex Leiria and Aden, and advance towards the Pontar Valley to provide right-wing cover for the main Central Army.

Army Group West, also known as Army Group Sintra, was led by Duke Joachim de Witte of the Empire. The total number is 30,000, mainly light cavalry and infantry. The task is to maintain the results of the war in Sintra and ensure the logistical channels of the empire; after the war breaks out, they will march northward to lay down the remaining Sintra, Verdon, and Burundi. Small countries such as Gru also provide left-wing cover for the Central Army.

The main force of the Third Route Army is the Central Army, and the commander is Field Marshal Menno Kuhorn of Nilfgaard. The main force is the [Fourth Cavalry Army] composed entirely of cavalry and the [Third Army] composed of infantry and heavy cavalry. , the number of legions stationed in Obersoden is now close to 50,000. The total number of the fully formed corps is actually more than 100,000, but because it is via "South Sintra", Marshal Menno left most of the infantry in order to save time. Today's logistics are all changed from the original [Battle of Sodden Mountain] The troops stationed in Obersoden as well as Army Group Western provided.

The goal of the Central Army Group is to blitz Soden and completely open the door to the north. After that, they stormed Temeria, planning to capture all the major port cities in the north, including Vizima and Marple, within half a month, and at the same time harass Novigrad, cutting off the main trade and transportation routes in the north.

After completing these plans, advance to the Pontar Valley at the junction of the four major powers, occupy the shallowest middle section of the Yaruga Canal, and join the Eastern Army.

...

Duke Darcy was talking endlessly, and a black-haired officer among the generals brought by Marshal Vesekid immediately walked to the edge of the sand table on the stone table, and stacked the chess pieces carved with black suns according to the number that Duke Darcy said. In Sintra, Upper Soden, Livia.

Another brown-haired officer picked up dye-soaked sand and traced the Nilfgaardian march. Everyone's eyes moved along the route and focused on the target of the Nilfgaardians.

The Pontar Valley was the place where the Northern Conference was held, known as the "heart of the North". If it falls into the hands of the empire, then the four major countries in the north will basically open their arms to Nilfgaard, and there will be no strategic geographical advantage.

It's a pity that the plan is full and the reality is very skinny. Today's Eastern Group Army has been destroyed by Lane in cooperation with Leiria, the United Kingdom of Livia, and the Kingdom of Aedirn.

Although the Eastern Group Army can still play a containment role against these two kingdoms in a short period of time, it is impossible to continue to advance northward. If you want to ask for help, you may be disgusted by Marshal Menno.

"In other words, the main force we are facing now is the 30,000-strong Western Group Army in Sintra; and if we attack these 30,000 people, we can't turn a blind eye to the nearly 50,000 cavalry in Upper Soden. The power of ten thousand people..."

Everyone's expressions were stern.

"Lan, when you came back, how was the situation in the east?"

Lane thought for a while: "The Eastern Group Army was defeated by the First World War. There may be 20,000 people left with 60,000 people. But Mi Wei's troops were devastated at the beginning, and the 15,000 troops of the United Kingdom There may be only half of the people left."

"But the good news is that Aiden chose to participate in the war in an all-round way. They didn't contribute much before, but they only lost about 4,000 soldiers in the first wave of offensive. If you calculate according to the number of 40,000 troops in their heyday... wait for a thorough After solving the Eastern Group Army and removing the army guarding the mainland, there should be about 20,000 people who can participate in the subsequent war and provide us with support."

"That's about 25,000 to 28,000 people, who can attack Soden with us later."

The black-haired officer swept down one-third of Livia's black sun chess on the sand table in one breath, and then piled up a small amount of eagle square edge chess and a large number of Aden three-color rose chess on Livia.

Looking at it this way, the Eastern Front finally has the upper hand in terms of military strength, and because they are chasing the defeated army, the losses will be very small, and they can retain a large number of viable forces after the war.

"Then it's our side, the Western Front." Marshal Vesekid stroked his beard.

"We now have 5,000 Sintra soldiers. Three thousand of them are cavalry. They are all the elites I gathered from various vassals when I went north. I have been training them when Brugge is dormant."

"The other 2,000 people are infantry. The training time is not long, but it is far more than the general conscript army. It is enough to be a guard in an ordinary small country."

"The average small country can't gather two thousand levies." Lan made a joke, and signaled the black-haired officer to pick up a few lion head chess pieces and place them in the north of Sintra.

Letho and Vesemir looked at each other, and finally the old witcher let out a chuckle, motioning for Letho to step forward.

"We led a thousand of those recruits to form a guerrilla team, which is interfering with the logistics of the Nilfgaardians." The leader of the Snake faction pointed to several places on the map, "here, here, and here."

Those are complex terrains like hills and forests. Every time Lei Suo pointed to a place, the black-haired officer would drop a lion head chess in those places.

This was followed by Skellig represented by East. He looked at the black-haired officer. As an old man in the Calanthe period, the officer immediately bowed his head to Easter and held a dragon boat-shaped military chess in his hand.

"The Skellige has seven thousand men."

This number is not a lot, and Skellige is sparsely populated as a mountainous archipelago. But the ones they can fight are all elite fighters who have traveled across the sea for many years. In history, there were even records of two hundred islanders defeating two thousand black-clothed troops—of course, at sea.

"Now we are divided into two groups. One is to harass the imperial army along the western coast of Sintra, and the other is to follow the Yaruga River and prepare to enter the mainland battlefield."

The black-haired officer immediately put the Dragon Boat Army Chess where East said.

"We still have 3,000 Kevier [Freedom Legion] coming from the north to the south, and they will arrive in two days." Mossak added.

The black-clothed officer took out a few more military chess pieces that symbolized the royal family of Kevier, shaped like an iron arm with metal edges, and placed them in the sea north of Sintra.

"Finally, there are us. Counting the young people, we can make up 5,000 Mahakam heavy infantry." Barclay stepped forward and pointed in the direction of Mahakam, "It will take a long time for us to come over—have you What kind of warlock group can open the portal, or can we just wait for the decisive battle in Soden?"

"After the fight, the troops will be divided into two groups. The wave of people I brought back will go back the same way. Like Ziglin, they will follow you back to Sintra to settle down?"

Lane was thinking, but did not answer Colonel Barclay's words. The black-haired officer placed several hammer-shaped military chess pieces at the foot of Mahakam Mountain. The past few days have not allowed the dwarves who are weaker than mobility to walk much.

"Then the total number of people we counted now is 20,000." Marshal Vesekid frowned, "compared with the 30,000 troops of Nilfgaard in Sintra. But the good news is that we all counted The army is more elite, the arms are more abundant, and the tactics are more flexible. Moreover, the morale is strong when fighting in the local area.”

In the end, the black-clothed officers placed a large number of black-clothed military chess pieces in the south outside of Sintra. It was the army of Nilfgaard's Chen Bing who had not yet had time to go north.

"The current Nilfgaardians probably think that we only have 5,000 troops, or even less. I suggest launching a blitzkrieg raid while they are unprepared."

The marshal took the lead in proposing his own battle plan, and signaled his brown-haired officers to draw a military route.

"After the southerners are driven out of Sintra, the cavalry unit stationed in Lower Soden will be isolated and helpless. Soden is a mountainous area. We can use Brugge to go to Upper Soden. They are condescending, and their cavalry will not have much advantage. , Heavy armor will become a burden instead."

"Or we don't need to send someone ourselves at all, but write directly to King Fultestai of Temeria. On the premise that he has a detailed strategy of the Nilfgaardians and knows that he has become the next target of the Imperial Army, he will definitely The army will also be sent to support us."

"When the time comes, we, together with the Adenites, Livians, and Leirians, will flank these black-clothed bastards and drive them all into the Yaruga River."

Marshal Vesekid gritted his teeth and said: "After this battle and suffering such a big loss, the Nilfgaardians will never have the courage to go north again!"

As for how to use 20,000 people to defeat the Western Group Army with 30,000 people in Sintra, no one doubts this at all.

Only Barclay, who had just arrived from Mahakam, looked around and showed doubts at first, but then he found that he seemed to be particularly out of the group with an incredulous expression on his face.

"Cintra people... are all so confident?" He whispered.

This plan is the one that suits the people of Sintra the most. Recover Sintra first, then flank Nilfgaard, turn the enemy into a trapped beast, and finally wipe out the enemy as much as possible.

Just thinking about it makes the Sintra people feel refreshed physically and mentally.

But East drew everyone's attention back. He raised objections and pointed out a fatal flaw in the plan.

"It's too risky."