Chapter 254: The Blessing of Advent

Battlefield of the North.

The falling snow was covered with generals and armor, and the continuous army formation was also decorated with snow-white and metal colors, silent and depressing.

Under the gray raven flag, soldiers exhaled in white air, looking at the red-clothed army that lined up with themselves, quietly waiting for the general's order.

Although many northern lords did not understand why Duke Raven responded to the call of the Griffin family, they still set foot on the battlefield in accordance with their past oaths and promises.

Loyalty does not require doubt, if doubt, it must not be loyal enough.

These iron-grey armies are composed and determined, with the tenacity and discipline of the people of the North.

The attack was launched under the blowing of the horn. These iron-grey troops were the attacking party, because they could not spend time with the army in the middle. In the case of lack of clothing and food in the north, they needed to take the important places in the south as soon as possible. That's enough supplies. In fact, this is also a huge risk, so many people do not understand the idea of ​​Raven Duke.

Fighting in the snow-covered fields is just a common thing for people in the north, but it is very serious for the soldiers in the middle who are not adapted to the cold weather. Most of them are frozen and have a lot of physical strength. , consciousness is also a little slow.

However, as the commander, Darcy had long anticipated this. The experience of chasing Lily in the north a few years ago gave him a full understanding of the local environment and some coping methods.

The army of the empire also became active. The soldiers in front advanced a short distance, and then stopped to garrison and set up muskets and long shields. The cavalry on the side did not directly meet the enemy, but waited for the enemy in front to reach their position. , before starting, bypassing a small distance, and impacting the battlefield from the side.

A handful of cannons roared from the rear of the position, and after a difficult transport to the front, they served their purpose.

The frigid wind, mixed with broken ice blades, swept across the snowy field, rushing towards the army formation in the middle of the empire, and was then resisted by the resonating army formation.

The piercing ice spear suddenly burst out from the ground, setting off a mass of soldiers, and then the front line was destroyed. The knights in the north rushed in on horses. After the spear accelerated, it easily pierced through a soldier with a musket. , constantly spreading in the red front.

However, the fronts on the empire's side also changed rapidly under the command. They began to divide into independent hollow squares, with shield walls and long guns on the outside, and rows of soldiers with muskets on the inside, and some with a small amount of artillery. and court wizard support.

In this way, even if one army formation is defeated, it will not affect other formations. At the same time, the army formations are intertwined with each other to support each other, so that the cavalry who rushed in did not know what to do for a while, and fell into a brief daze.

Although the army in the north was supported by many witches, under the blessing of their spells, these warriors were not afraid of the cold and attacked violently, but after the initial difficulties, the equipment advantages of the army in the middle of the empire began to be highlighted. Muskets, ammunition, and armor formed a huge advantage for the northern coalition army, which was still dominated by cold weapons.

Reloading, aiming, shooting, consumes much less stamina than slashing and charging with a hand-held weapon, and it is easier to train.

After the initial turmoil, the Imperial army began to stabilize and gradually began to counterattack and regain the upper hand.

For this reason, the coalition forces in the north had to retreat first and resume the stalemate again.

When many provinces in the middle of the empire were gradually falling, the coalition forces in the north were temporarily suppressed and it was difficult to advance, but in the face of such a situation, the army led by Darcy could not achieve a decisive victory.

If you want to go deep into the north to fight, the cold environment, the long supply line, the resistance of the local residents, and the difficult roads will all become things that torment the soldiers. This requires a strong and stable rear to allow the army to advance step by step, but unfortunately the current empire does not have such conditions.

The central provinces finally encountered strong resistance as the Griffin coalition attacked the city step by step and gradually approached Titania.

Led by the thirteen blood-sworn nobles surrounding Titania, the coalition they formed and the new army in reserve of the empire finally blocked the army in the west at the complex terrain of the sacrificial tower.

This area is the origin of the Green Moon Empire, which is also the area of ​​the former Cang Yue Kingdom. Most of the great nobles in the fief have a long history. These people are regarded by the imperial family as their true confidants.

In the place of the sacrificial tower, forests, plains, valleys, shoals, various landforms are intertwined, complex and changeable. Most of the nobles here are also rich, and many castles have been built on various hills, key roads, and forests.

This is a custom and tradition left over from the early days of the empire. At that time, the Cang Yue Kingdom was not absolutely powerful. It was located in the center and was often attacked by surrounding countries. Therefore, there was an inexplicable pursuit and obsession with the sense of security brought by the castle. read.

Basically, a nobleman spends his life building his own castle or fortress, and the common argument for evaluating his life's achievements is whether the castle he built is strong or not, and whether it is applicable.

After the empire gradually became stronger, these castles lost their original functions, but they were not abandoned. They were often used as a resting place for nobles to take vacations, or to train their private troops to station them.

But now, after the army of the Western Territory entered here, it was as if it had hit countless firm nails in the sand, and it slowed down for a while.

At the same time, these thirteen blood-sworn nobles who were loyal to and safeguarded the empire also began to block and disturb the army in the west. They often have a large number of ultra-high-level mortals, and they move quickly and quickly. Coupled with the support of the Empire's Dark Moon intelligence, many lords of the Western Region were beheaded and assassinated during their march.

, for a while, the coalition forces in the western border were shaky.

This involves the current composition and leadership of the Western Army.

Its main force is undoubtedly the direct line of the Salius family. There are about 400,000 soldiers under its command. Most of them are the original private army.

The other about 800,000 soldiers were from various lords, large and small. The earl probably had tens of thousands of people, the viscount was several thousand, and the smaller baron might have only a few hundred people.

In addition to the fact that the main force is controlled by the Griffin family, the other branch armies are often controlled by a certain earl with a group of minor nobles, which makes the command more flexible. They will attack the castle of the original central lord and occupy the Its land and looting of its wealth are unbearable for the former nobles in the central region.

This also led to the fact that the battle was no longer limited to the small-scale battles within the upper class of the royal family as it was in the past.

In the past, although changing the emperor, it had little effect on the real power nobles in various places, but this time it was completely different.

In the past, the nobles who were most loyal to the royal family were the nobles around the central provinces of the imperial capital. They often had the same roots as the royal family.

As for the other minor nobles, although they admired the big nobles and the royal family, but because of the huge gap in status, in fact, they did not pay much attention to the change of the throne in the center of the empire.

But now, the invasion of the Western Allied Forces is not only about overthrowing the emperor's rule, it's as simple as changing the emperor. The current posture even has the tendency to allow the lords of the Western Region to occupy the central part, and to change the blood of the top of the empire as a whole.

This made it unbearable for many nobles who originally wanted to remain neutral. One by one, they began to resist desperately. Many families' means of pressing the bottom of the box were taken out and used desperately. As a result, the intensity of the war also increased directly.

The slaughter is no longer limited to the battlefield, but occurs in various places, when the army is advancing, when the camp is stationed, and when it is resting at night.

Compared with the commoners, the nobles have a thicker past accumulation, so there are often many extraordinary people. Under the command of their respective lords, they fight flexibly and seem to be chaotic, but it is also difficult to catch the trail, which makes the coalition forces in the Western Territory begin to run for their lives.

If the army is abandoned, who will take over the city, sweep the area, maintain the rule, and extract benefits? If the army is not abandoned, the private armies of these harassing aristocrats in the central region will be particularly troublesome. The suspicion of dragging down the speed and making it difficult to catch up.

Another night.

An army of the Salius family was stationed in the castle that had just been captured. The castle had an excellent location and could overlook a large plain below. Other places passing through this place could not escape the observation of the watchtower on the castle. .

The bonfire was burning quietly, and the soldiers of the Griffin family sat on the fire to rest. They started to cook the fire, and the griffins were also eating the prepared fine grains in the trough.

Although griffins do not need to be specially prepared for cooked food, their appetite is often comparable to that of three strong extraordinary knights, and it costs a lot, which is also the price of training air combat cavalry.

In the empire, the powerful air power, except for the Griffin Knights of the Salius family and the blood-winged Red Dragon Legion of the former Baska family, was famous. Although other nobles also cultivated flying beasts, they are still very few in number. There are no more than a few dozen at most, far from being comparable to those of the two great dukes.

The pine wood in the bonfire made a slight cracking sound from time to time, and the small sparks drifted in the night wind, gradually heating the fire on the iron pot, and the food inside slowly emitted white gas and gave off a fragrance.

In foreign battles, it is a blessing not to be hungry, and most soldiers will not complain about problems such as single rations.

Soldiers drank hot soup, griffins ate beans and minced meat ground in the trough, and their slightly hard feathered wings flapped from time to time, creating bursts of air that made the campfire sway.

Just as everyone was enjoying the rare silence of the night, a sharp whistle pierced the sky, which was the scream of a signal arrow.

A group of soldiers grabbed their weapons and armor, and quickly became alert, and there was a faint sound from the horizon, and the flying figures rushed down quickly.

Dressed in a black coat and cloak, the inside is light and protective armor, these people in black and red are the swordsmen of the aristocratic families in the middle.

Most of them practice the Demon Sequence, and they have the ability to glide briefly in Sequence 4, and after Sequence 5, they can fly directly, just like the blood race in the era of the True Red Empire on the ancient murals.

The white scarf was so conspicuous in the black and red uniform, and the pair of eyes glowed with a faint red brilliance in the dark night, and then they moved quickly and rushed towards the resting Griffin Knight, several griffins and knights. He was directly pierced by the dark red stabbing sword and fell down trembling.

The blood that remained on the blade was dark red, and it also carried poison.

The fighting method of the Demon Sequence has always been extreme and cruel, whether it is against the enemy or against himself, but in the dark night, the enemy is probably difficult to catch the weakness of these swordsmen, but instead is tired of rushing to fight.

Under the night, it is difficult for the griffins to hunt down the enemy's figure, but these noble swordsmen of the demon sequence are different. They are naturally good at night combat, whether it is speed, concealment, assassination, night vision, etc., they are all good.

After a chaotic slaughter, the ten or so griffin knights in the camp were wiped out one by one, and the remaining ordinary soldiers were unable to return to the sky, and could only watch the fire ignite, and the food in the camp was swept away. , All the materials were burned to the ground, and those noble swordsmen in red easily broke away.

Everything seems to have returned to a thousand years ago, when the Griffin Kingdom and the Green Kingdom fought.

The knights of the Griffin family galloped in the wilderness under the scorching sun, but in the dark night they were ambushed and assassinated by the green kingdom. In the end, their food, grass and logistics were cut off and collapsed in various hidden corners.

The unfavorable news from various branches came into the hands of Duke Griffin, and it was time for the Western Army to change its marching policy.

Originally dispersed, the rapidly occupying and attacking armies gradually gathered and gathered in several major cities, and this behavior also led to the gradual passiveness of the Western Allied Forces, which were blocked and surrounded by the reunited imperial army.

The situation began to reverse again. Seeing that the Empire State Building, which was about to collapse, miraculously stood firm at a critical moment, many aristocrats and representatives of the new generation of chambers of commerce also put aside their conflicts, unified the outside world, and began to get acquainted and run-in with each other.

The chambers of commerce organized workers to quickly produce weapons that were in short supply on the front line, such as muskets, shells, armor, as well as medical drugs, iron wires, tents, oil, and a series of armaments. Efficiency is simply low.

The nobles are also gradually accustomed to handing over complicated and troublesome logistics to those chambers of commerce, and they concentrate on fighting, just like their ancestors were awarded titles through martial arts.

If the original empire was a wooden box with loose nails and about to disintegrate, but under the invasion of the current army, the wooden box that was on the verge of falling apart was firmly nailed.

Some of the powers that people were unwilling to give up in the past and were not allowed to be meddled in, began to be surrendered to war, the need for life and death.

If such a situation can be maintained, perhaps the empire can also create miracles. In the hands of the new emperor Elio, it will gradually usher in a new prosperous age and continue to live for hundreds of years until the next accumulation of contradictions erupts.

It is a pity that the war in the Ivar world is not only a battle in the mortal world, but also a game of the witches or sages behind the scenes.

God-given blessings began to fall on the army in the west. The girl with white wings on her back, white hair and white dress, holding a marble-carved eagle-headed staff, imposed that indestructible blessing on countless soldiers, making them fearless. Swords and bullets fired, like the walls of a white city, gradually advancing toward the center of the empire.

Since you were able to drop starlight to change the direction of everything in the past, why can't I bestow the invincible pure white blessing.

Who said that there is only one path to choose from in the future, and the system with a clear hierarchy may not be all flaws. The human heart is always like this, constantly comparing, eager to surpass others and obtain more things.

This is the ugliness of human nature, and it is also the most primitive desire of life. It is so savage, but also so powerful, that it makes people happy and reluctant to chase.

So ah, Roland Hill, everything you have created is nothing but a flawless dream constructed by you with starlight.