Chapter 1005, The Northern Expedition Begins!

Chapter 1004 , The Northern Expedition Begins!

"So, I predict that Katarin will make a northern expedition. In addition to her own wishes, the current situation is also extremely favorable."

Talleyrand and Ryan continued to discuss everything. Before they knew it, they had come to a camp full of people. Among them, the ruins of a three-story apartment had been used by soldiers in a short period of time. The wood and bricks were temporarily piled up to ensure shelter from the wind and rain, and a big sign was erected at the gate of the apartment.

"Wute's Miracle Food Group! The price is fair, the ingredients are fresh and delicious, and everyone is welcome to come and taste it!"

This is a temporary army restaurant opened by a group of halflings. It is also called "cooking group" by the soldiers. It has always been the favorite place for officers and knights to stay when there is no war. As we all know, halflings are particularly good at cooking. As long as there are reasonable ingredients, halflings can always cook excellent and delicious meals.

Francois agreed with this group of halflings to join the army in the barracks, and they were quickly welcomed by almost all the officers and knights. As a result, food groups, which can also be called combat clubs, began to appear. Small kitchen or social.

As soon as the door was opened and entered, there were about 30 old guards and more than 40 master knights in the room. When everyone saw Ryan's appearance, almost all stood up, and Ryan stretched out his hand and smiled: "Like you, come to eat, Sit down and eat your own food."

"Hahahaha~" Everyone laughed and sat down, but everyone's eyes were still on Ryan, and someone even shouted: "Your Majesty, I recommend the spring vegetable stew here, it is very delicious!"

"Then have one, oh no, two." Ryan and Talleyrand sat down in a quiet corner, and the halfling waiter running around barefoot excitedly said: "One more The staple food and your special liqueur, you can figure it out."

Then, the two continued to chat about the situation.

It was rare for Ryan to personally explain to Talleyrand the advantages and disadvantages of Katarin's Northern Expedition. The high elves really didn't know much about war, but he had already concluded that Katarin would definitely choose the Northern Expedition.

"Katarin's Northern Expedition has two advantages. First, whether it is for the royal family, the Duma, or the refugees in Kislev, it is very urgent to recover their homeland, so most people think that the Northern Expedition is necessary. , and the second is the comparison of troops. Katarin has 50,000 white guards under his command, but now, after we defeated Hal-Eye of Eternity, the Chaos army entrenched near the city of Kislev is only 10,000 to 20,000 , and all of them are stragglers, this is an excellent opportunity, if it were me, I would definitely seize the opportunity."

"But Katarin also has obvious disadvantages,

First, as we all know, the lower limit of the army depends on training and discipline, and the upper limit is equipment and veterans, while the White Guards... are horrible. Second, her own command ability is also very low. After the battle of Zedevka, Kislev's excellent generals and marshals were all lost, and his tactical planning and commanding abilities were bound to continue to decline. "

Talleyrand nodded after listening to Ryan's analysis: "Very well, Your Majesty, you can almost rest assured that the final battle will be fought. Katharine will lose this battle, but she will not lose too badly, because the opponent who has already run away For those who were once, there is no pressure to escape again, the only variable lies in the old guard, uh, I mean, how much combat power Katarin and her old guard have."

"Are you so sure?" Ryan smiled.

"I don't understand military affairs, Your Majesty, but I understand politics and people's hearts." Talleyrand shook his head: "Look, remember, don't go to the rescue, no one will accept your favor, and the responsibility for defeat will be attributed to On you, we have already caught enough on Erlengrad, it is time to stop, and, if we are not mistaken, the messenger of Emperor Karl Franz will arrive in a few days, he is nominally They came to congratulate and labor, but in fact they came to spy on our army, and to test whether we intend to annex Erengrad."

"Can you predict the future?" Ryan's eyes moved. He had already received a secret report from MI7 that Emperor Karl Franz's special envoy Metternich had arrived in Talabheim! But Talleyrand had no idea!

"It's limited to confining the object between His Majesty and the leader of the other party. I can guess something." Talleyrand shook his head: "I also guessed that the day the empress would come to beg you. At that time, I have a Thoughts to tell you."

"Not now?" Ryan blinked.

"Before the time, and once it is said, the solution will be ineffective, and it will be very troublesome." Talleyrand said with a wry smile: "I hope you can understand that some things are time-sensitive and confidential."

"Your Majesty, the Northern Expedition is not allowed!" In Katarin's private residence, the Minister of Logistics Baghramyan knelt in front of the female czar, almost crying, and sincerely said to the female czar: "The timing is not right. "

"What's the wrong timing?" Katharin just announced at the Duma meeting that the decision to pass the Northern Expedition has been supported by the vast majority of the Duma. Three days later, the White Guards will march north to retake Kislev. Hearing Baghramyan's plea, the female tsarina was very impatient. She thought for a while and said in a considerate tone: "I understand what you mean, Hof, the White Guards are indeed insufficiently trained. , and they are basically recruits, but the opportunity is rare. According to the report from the scouts, the enemy is only more than 10,000 people. Five of us fight one. It is impossible to beat one, right? Training while fighting, the battlefield is the best classroom. . "

"Moreover, the empire's supply to us is about to be cut off! If we wait any longer, the White Guards will have to disband! This is impossible. I have made up my mind. Three days later, the army will move out immediately!"

Baghramyan's request was rejected. This was not because Katarin insisted on going her own way, but because almost all the Dumas hoped for a quick northern expedition.

Three days later, the Kislev White Guards began to concentrate their troops northward.

Katarin and the Dumas were not sure whether Knight King Ryan would continue to "recover" the city of Kislev and Erengrad in the north. Coupled with the gradual decrease in the logistics supply of the empire, they were determined to hurry and grab the victory. fruit.

After discussing the marching route, everyone chose the fastest route, starting from Bekafen and going east along the river to the important town of Fortanhav in the east, and then directly going north from Fortanhav to Kislev city.

The military operation went very smoothly at the beginning. As Ryan analyzed, Chaos now has only a group of stragglers left. When the White Guards appeared on the battlefield, the scattered Chaos army of dozens or hundreds of people was quickly expelled and defeated. , Katarin can receive twelve good news in one day.

This made the female czar full of confidence in the next battle. She learned the lesson of the last Zedevka defeat. Katarin was careful not to forcibly encircle and pursue him when he and his Raven Guard Legion.

This allowed Zanek to seize the opportunity to escape from the dead.

The White Guards wanted to continue the pursuit, but at this time the climate changed suddenly. In April, Ostermark had entered spring, and the Upper Talabek River began to thaw. The climate suddenly warmed up, the ice and snow thawed and melted, and the river surface became a torrent with a large number of floating ice floes.

The White Guards were unable to force their way across the swift and wide Upper Talabek River, and the confrontation began along the river.

The 50,000 White Guards built a large number of rafts and boats under the order of Generalissimo Denikin Kislev to prepare for the pontoon bridge.

And across the river, Tzeentch's Chosen Champion Cha-Zan'ak managed to muster what he could muster a Chaos army of perhaps less than ten thousand men, and Tzeentch's Chosen Champion knew he was outnumbered, and since In the failure of the Battle of Bekafin, the number of elites was seriously insufficient. Most of them were stragglers, with low combat effectiveness and low morale.

Nothing, however, excites Zayk more than this.

Because he will prove through an epic victory that he praises Aike, who is still the master of the battlefield and the trusted champion of the Demon Bird God!

But at this moment, the joining of an army changed the situation.

A medium cavalry force of less than 2,000 men, led by a Kurgan Khan, was chasing the Wolf Lord Leman Russ from the Far East. The two sides were in the shadow of the upper Talabek River. Encountered near the forest, after negotiations, Kurgan Khan joined the army of Zanek, and the two sides announced an alliance.

His name is powerful throughout the Far East. He has entered the hinterland of the Cathay Empire several times, and has received the attention and love of the four gods of chaos. Daying and the twenty-six guards fought and finally drove them back to the north of the Great Wall.

His name is Subotai-Canglang!

In the old world, in mid-to-late April, the border between Kislev and the Empire, Shadow Forest.

Tzeentch's God's Chosen champion Cha-Zan'ek recalled what had happened before, and his heart was filled with lingering fear.

Two days ago, when he and his army were surrounded by the White Guards, there were only more than a hundred Tzeentch God-Chosen warriors of the Raven Guard Legion left beside Zanek, and he was almost surrounded by 50,000 people! If he is not careful, he will really confess that he is in the empire!

This made Zan Aike break out in a cold sweat, and he was more than afraid.

Since Beccafin's failure, the number of troops around Zanek has been greatly reduced. The Tzeentch Legion he led had already lost troops and its strength was greatly reduced. The Qi Legion is also facing a serious problem of desertion and attrition. The chiefs and champions have serious disagreements. Continue south.

Zanek has spent a lot of energy in gathering this group of defeated soldiers, but what is very troublesome is that the Nurgle Legion led by Nurgle's God-Chosen Champion Epidemic Physician Festus has received Nurgle's clear request from the oracle They retreated, and the two sides continued to fight among themselves during the retreat. They fought two battles one after another. In the end, there were only more than a hundred people left around Zan Aike, who were almost besieged and killed by the White Guards.

If it hadn't been for the addition of Kurgan Khan Subotai-Canglang, Zanyak would definitely have escaped, but even with the addition of Subotai Khan now, Zanyak is still not optimistic about the current battle situation. After managing to integrate all the remnants and defeated generals, he only had 9,000 men under his command, and the cavalry with Su Butai was only in the early 10,000s.

Absolutely inferior in strength, low in morale and under intense pressure, Tzeentch's The Chosen Champion knew he had to have a bold plan, or he would not be able to withstand the attack of the White Guards.

Now, on the north bank of the Upper Talabek River, in the middle of the woodland on the right side of the Shadow Forest, Tzeentch's Chosen Champion Cha-Zan'ek and Kurgan Khan Subotai-Wolf are discussing how to conduct this war, They had to fight a very good retreat, and quickly defeated the White Guards and retreated before the Lane army to the west could react and surround them.

"The enemy may break through the line of defense, and the cowardly Nankes rely on numbers to suppress us." A Chaos Warlock stood in front of the map, explaining the situation to Zayek and Subotai: "In the south, they are on Talabek Several camps and logistics supply stations have been established on the south bank of the river, and pontoon bridges and rafts are being built to prepare for crossing the river."

"The stronghold of Lachhof on the north bank is still in our hands, but it is already in ruins. To the west of Lachhof is the Shadow Forest, and to the east is the Witwer Mountains. We have no danger to defend. We There are only 500 people in Rakhov, and the morale is low. It is impossible for the defenders to hold there. It is very difficult to win." Zayek said to Subotai Khan: "The question now is how to ensure that we can concentrate our forces and quickly defeat the opponent's vanguard."

"You have too few people, Zaneike." Subodai Khan has a slender black beard, he wears a felt hat and a white wolf fur cloak, inside is a black chaotic armor: "Are there any reinforcements? Elsewhere?"

"There is another army that may be able to help us." Zayk pointed his hand to the north: "If Sigwald can support us from the rear, everything will be fine."

As soon as this remark came out, the chaotic champions and warlocks under Za-Zan'ek's command looked at each other, and they opened their mouths.

"Honorable Lord Chosen."

"Prince Sigwald, he..."

"Prince Sigvald, whose army of Slaanesh was routed west of Groward Forest by the knights and hussars of Brittany, fled with his army to the mountain pass, and another Slaanesh champion Stica together."

"What?" Zayk roared angrily: "He actually ignored the agreement between us! I told him to stop. This is an order! This is an order!"

"It's not much use to talk about it now." Subotai Khan remained calm all the time, he continued to observe the map, and after thinking for a while, Subotai said seriously: "Then, if we want to win, we must You have to take a little risk.”

"You mean?" Zayk also looked at the map: "Halfway?"

"Half-strike is not enough." Subotai pointed his finger at it: "Rachhoff, we must experience a defeat here, and seek victory in defeat."

"Seeking victory in defeat? You mean, to attract the main force of the White Guard?"

"Honorable Eagle God God Chosen Champion, have you ever heard of a famous lure tactic in the Far East? We have to lose first, and only after we lose, will Ross be lured over."

"Wait...you mean?"

"Fishing wild volts!"

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