Chapter 681, Winter War
Entering the conference hall, a sand table has been set up on the conference table at this time.
Regents of the Kingdom and Lawn, Duke of Connet, Berhemond, Duke of Bastogne, Boderick, Duke of Boldroux, Adehard, Duke of Lyonnaise, plus Lane, Duke of Mousillon, and Duke of Winford Francois, the six dukes stood together in the meeting room, saw Ryan coming in, and Duke Boderick, who had the best relationship with him, greeted Ryan: "Is the problem solved?"
"That's right, this is it?" Ryan looked at the sand table on the table: "Don't introduce it? You are playing this in my conference room without my consent?"
"Hehehe, someone has already agreed, and we all know whose words are more effective in this duke's castle." At this time, Duke Lawn had shaken off the gloom brought about by the Matthew Bard Rebellion, and became humorous and friendly again. Cheerful, he patted Ryan on the shoulder: "It's your Surya, she agreed."
"Well, if she agrees, then I have nothing to say." After hearing this, Ryan immediately shrugged his shoulders and said that his wife was the biggest. There was a burst of laughter in the conference hall. Obviously, Ryan's intentional setting of strict wife management has gradually spread. : "Okay, who will introduce to me, what is this war going on, and why are you all paying attention to this?"
"Let me tell." Duke Bohemond began to tell about the Winter War: "The cause of everything starts from the death of the last Tsar Boris Bokaha when he was about to win the Great Purge, and You killed Egil-Red Eye."
"Hmm." The six dukes gathered around the sand table. The sand table is the northern topographic map of Kislev. Among them, the northernmost city in Kislev is also one of the only three cities in Kislev. Lager is located in the southernmost part of the topographic map. Prager continues to the north, which is the kingdom of trolls, and then north is the Mourning Mountains. After the Mourning Mountains, you will find Norsca and Chaos Wasteland in the north.
Kislev's armies are marked with red flags and lines, and the Norse tribes of Belpine are marked with black flags and lines.
"Boris Bokaha died in the troll kingdom north of the Linsk River at the end of the Great Cleansing Campaign. This had a serious impact on Kislev's entire strategic layout and future national policy. At that time, Kislev Mrs. Sile had already established several fortresses and castles in the northern part of the troll kingdom, near the Mourning Mountains. The death of the Tsar forced these important strongholds to be abandoned, and Kislev’s national border shrank again to Linsk South of the river." Bohemond said: "This is a serious threat to Kislev's line of defense."
"Ryan, look, there are only a few strongholds guarded by the Boyer nobles between the Belpine Forest tribe and the Aislin tribe in the north from Prager. If the barbarian army suddenly goes south, they can reach the city of Prager almost instantly. Yahweh and his army of hundreds of guards could not stop the barbarians."
"Well, indeed, there is no strategic depth at all." Ryan nodded in agreement.
"Therefore, Queen Kislev has been thinking about taking back two important strongholds in the troll kingdom since she came to the throne. , close to the Slughof Fortress in the mountain pass." Bohemond pointed to the north of the troll kingdom.
"If these two fortresses can be regained and reused, the barbarian army will not be so easy to directly attack the city of Prag, and the strategic depth of Kislev will be greatly expanded, and the northern part of the Linsk River can also be changed. Keep everything safe." Duke Boderick said: "More importantly, if these two fortresses can be recovered, Kislev will be able to open a channel with the Norsca dwarves.
Jewelry, weapons, and various ores from the dwarves of Dulong City will continue to enter Kislev, and then be sold to the empire, the knight kingdom, and other places. "
"I understand. Kislev failed to send troops before because he was restrained by the Scalins in the west?" Ryan also lay down in front of the sand table.
"That's right, so it took five years for the Scalins to recover after the death of Egil-Redeye, which gave Mrs. Kisler time to accumulate strength. Under Lin's order, Kislev Ursavalry Marshal Voroshilov led an army of more than 20,000 equipped with a lot of firearms and artillery, planning to take back the Fortress of Ostrok and the Fortress of Slughov " Bohemond went on to introduce: "Marshal Voroshilov sent troops from Praga in October, and pointed directly at the Belpine forest tribe entrenched in the north of the troll kingdom."
"Wait... Kislev's army numbered more than 20,000, with more than 20,000 casualties?" Ryan suddenly noticed something was wrong.
"Don't worry, let us introduce the history of this war first." Bohemond coughed a few times, signaling Ryan to listen first.
Marshal Voroshilov only started to gather a huge army in Prag immediately after receiving the order from Empress Katalin, and dispatched troops immediately in October, which can be said to be quite in a hurry. According to Lawn and Francois speculates that, on the one hand, the reason is that Marshal Voroshilov was eager to make meritorious service. After all, after the Great Cleansing Campaign, he no longer had any meritorious service, and he did not serve the empire like the hussars. On the other hand, Kislev's shortage of supplies was also one of the reasons for the rush to dispatch troops.
The war is divided into a first phase and a second phase.
The first stage was from the beginning of October to mid-November. Marshal Voroshilov took the initiative to attack with his superior force after learning that there were only more than 5,000 people in the Belson Forest tribe. He used the Ugor horse archers as scouts. As the main offensive force, the bear cavalry stormed the fortress of Ostrosk located in the middle of the troll kingdom. The war started relatively smoothly, and the forward formed by the bear cavalry quickly broke into the deep place of the troll kingdom.
The Great Chief of Belpine Forest Tribe, Champion of Chaos Olaf Simmason knew that Madam Kisler was coming, so he did not choose to fight head-on with the powerful bear cavalry. It was difficult for the Kislev army to advance, and they used cover forces to defend the narrow mountain passes, hills, and cedar forests in the troll kingdom. The fight was exhausting, and the logistics were intermittent.
When Kislev's army approached the fortress of Ostrosk, the Belson Forest tribe gathered more than a dozen barbarian warbands to form three barbarian wargroups, with a total of more than 3,000 people defending the fortress. Voroshilov still firmly believed in the bear cavalry He sent people to cut off the back route of the Belson Forest Tribe, surrounded the fortress by relying on the strength of his troops, and attacked with mortars and cannons imported from the empire. Siege fire did not achieve much effect. .
In the season of October in the troll kingdom, the daily daytime does not exceed five hours. Under the night, the fierce and violent barbarians immediately launched a counterattack with the blessing of the evil god and the sinister natural environment. The ultra-low temperature, The strong wind and snow brought severe tests. No matter how tenacious Mrs. Kisler was, she could not compare with the barbarians who had lived in the extremely cold land all their lives. The barbarians could even be led by some chaotic champions and chaotic warriors. Crossing the icy lake and crossing the cliffs on foot, the Kislev army, which was constantly attacked by the supply line, was constantly resisted and harassed. Several Kislev legions were divided, surrounded, and their supplies were interrupted. They lacked food and clothing, and froze to death. Countless people starved to death, and nearly 10,000 people were lost in just one month. After paying huge casualties, only the Ostrosk Fortress was recovered. Marshal Voroshilov was forced to turn to the local defense and asked for support.
The war began to enter the second phase.
His request for help was quickly responded by Prag. Kislev sent 10,000 additional troops from the city of Prag to support him, carrying a large number of firearms and siege equipment.
Marshal Voroshilov, who received 10,000 reinforcements, once again assembled his troops to force the Slughov Fortress northward. Abandoning the Slughof fortress and gradually retreating towards the mountain pass, Kislev's army was exhausted, exhausted and exhausted.
But Marshal Voroshilov was unwilling to give up. He once again sent a request for help to the female czar Katarin, so the Kislev court sent another 10,000 troops from the capital Kislev to support it. The Ice Witch and the Tsar's personal guard Kerim Guard join the battle.
Having received enough reinforcements, Voroshilov led the Bear Cavalry and Ugor Cavalry Archers as the vanguard, and the infantry followed behind, relying on a forced march to catch up on the Korwoze Ice Lake in the mountain pass of the Mourning Mountains. Bell Pine Tribe.
The two sides launched a fierce battle on the icy lake. The tenacious Mrs. Kisler relied on the elite infantry regiment sent by the empress Katarin and the guards of the Tsar's personal guard Kerim, as well as a large number of artillery and muskets, and paid more than 10,000 yuan. After the casualties, Kislev fought bloody battles on the frozen lake for a whole day, and finally completely defeated the remaining 3,000 Belpine Foresters. Except for one or two hundred barbarians who escaped, the remaining Belpine Foresters were all killed. Annihilated, Warchief Olaf Simmason was killed by a musket volley.
For this victory, Mrs. Kisler paid a very heavy loss. The more than 40,000 troops who participated in the entire war successively had less than 20,000 troops left after the battle. Marshal Voroshilov was surrendered by the angry female czar. He was appointed major general, and his position as Marshal of the Ursa was taken over by General Konstantin Rokossovsky.
"There are more than 20,000 people. I remember how Kislev's army was less than 80,000. He just drove the barbarians back to the other side of the mountain. It's really a loss." After listening to the replay of the entire battle, Ryan , he can imagine the tragic extent of this war: "The elite left behind by the former Tsar Boris Bokaha almost lost everything in this battle."
"After this fiasco, the Kingdom of Kislev sent us and the empire a detailed account of the war, and admitted the huge loss." Lawn looked at the war sand table: "Obviously, this female tsarina is here Showing weakness, she means..."
"She is seeking our support." Francois also frowned: "I really don't know how Kislev will hold the two new fortresses under such heavy losses, and how will the Queen Will this kind of military action be allowed? And in the case of unfavorable battles, we will increase our troops again and again to support us, and finally achieve this kind of tragic victory?"
"We lost more than 20,000 people and wiped out 5,000 barbarians. This battle was really stupid!" Bohemond also said: "It's a hard fight, a hard fight!"
"The reason is very simple." Ryan waved his hand: "Everyone, have you all forgotten that Katarin is a witch, not a general, and war is not what she is good at. You can't expect an ice witch to be like the military exploits of the empire." Nobles are just as good at commanding battles as knight nobles like us, and there will be some wizards who are good at fighting, but that's an exception, most wizards are not good at war."
As soon as this remark came out, everyone nodded in agreement.
"Katarin doesn't like to command battles on the front line like her father Boris Borkha, and she rarely even leaves the palace, preferring to do research behind closed doors. This war shows that Kislev's army The combat effectiveness is declining year by year, and there is also a lack of excellent command." Ryan frowned: "Kislev has suffered such a huge loss, this is bad news, as the northernmost country of order in the old world, if Kislev Fall, and we and the Empire face the threat of Chaos."
"So we want to form a chivalry army?" Hearing this, Lawn was a little eager to try.
"No, there is an empire before us, Karl Franz will be more anxious than us, and we are too far away from Kislev, at least it will not be our turn until Kislev is beaten to the capital Dispatch, don’t forget, this is at least a victory, what kind of reinforcements will be sent if you win?” Ryan signaled that it is not necessary, he is still paying close attention to the sand table: “Everyone, have you noticed that during this time, the activities of the northern barbarians It's getting more and more frequent."
"That's right." Adehad, the Duke of Lioness, finally found his chance: "Now, the Chaos Sea and the Claw Sea are full of Norsca's long ships."
"There's something wrong with the situation."