Chapter Thirteen The Year of the Bloody Edge

The year 1699 of the Third Age, the year of the bloody front

The war on the Western Continent has entered a new stage, and it is also a stage more cruel than before.

The Battle of Green Hill, the Tisilan Ambush, the Battle of the Thirteenth Falcon County, and the Battle of Nebel Mountain, the fierce battlefields were like meat grinders, ruthlessly devouring lives.

Countless soldiers were blown away by artillery fire on the battlefield, pierced by spears, and had their throats slit by swords. Every day, thousands of soldiers received news of their death in battle. Countless names were crossed out with red pens on the page, and then passed to those who were there. Distant hometown.

The messengers dressed in black and carrying sturdy military satchels delivered the unknown white envelope to the dazed parents, who were greeted with tears of sadness rolling down their faces.

Tears fell drop by drop on the unfolded letter paper, moistening the formula text printed with ink. Only the name column was written hastily with a hand pen, carelessly, and maybe not used for a second, but this represents a young man. life passed away.

Perhaps not long ago, this young man smiled at the people around him before leaving, saying that he was waiting for news of his victory and return. But what came in the end was just a letter and the medal of sacrifice that could never be retrieved.

"I know you are sad, but please allow me to offer your child the highest respect." The messenger in black took off his hat and held it to his chest.

"He died for this country and fought for the future of all of us. The country and the people will not forget this."

"The revenge of cruelty must be paid with blood."

————

Seabuckthorn City, formerly a border city on the west wind, is now occupied by the imperial army.

In the barracks in the city, thousands of soldiers were repairing here, many of them were wounded. The sounds of pain and wailing can often be heard in the camp.

The large tent housing the wounded was opened, and an imperial soldier walked out. Judging from his face, he was probably in his early twenties.

Compared with the complacency, enthusiasm and excitement in his face at the beginning of the war, at this moment, his face only had a numb and dim expression.

When he came to a corner of the camp, he was about to wash his stained hands under the water. This was caused by cleaning the patient's body just now. The smell was mixed with blood and stink, which was unbearable.

But when he walked to the well, a wooden sign with the word "Next" on it stood beside it.

'The well has been poisoned! ’

The bright red writing on the white wooden board is shocking.

"Damn it!" he spat, and then thought about the past few days.

This is not the first wellhead to be poisoned. The local residents always try their best to find opportunities to cause trouble for them.

Poisoning, arson, attacks, all kinds of things happened.

The noble officers in the camp were very angry and massacred many suspected local residents. Thousands of corpses were even piled up outside the city.

"If they dare to rebel again, then keep killing until the other party is afraid."

"To deal with such die-hards, we should kill more people and scare the other party. In this way, even if a few of them want to cause trouble, they will be exposed immediately by the people around them." The officer recounted the experience left by his ancestors. .

It has never been easy to conquer a country or nation, but killing is indeed the simplest and most brutal method.

There will always be people who are afraid of death, right?

After the invasion of Crancia, many noble officers adopted such methods. In their minds, there was not much difference between the civilians and livestock of these enemy countries.

"Stupid, stupid, and unwilling to surrender properly!"

It is difficult for the people above to understand such a situation, because such a situation has never occurred in past conquests. As long as the opponent's large forces are defeated, many small towns and villages will surrender and just send some people to receive them.

But now the expedition seems to have entered a quagmire. No matter what you do, you will feel a kind of resistance, and this resistance comes from the people on this land.

He once saw a local peasant woman during a field march. This tanned woman was wearing coarse linen clothes and holding a child in her arms.

The woman would whisper in the child's ear as Imperial soldiers passed by.

‘This is our enemy, the person we must kill in the future. ’

Unlike other soldiers, he was exceptionally talented in hearing, and it was also because of this that he knew what the woman was talking about.

But he did not report the matter to his superiors that day, nor did he pick up a spear and pierce the ungrateful peasant woman like other colleagues.

'I understand that this is wrong. War only brings out the worst in our humanity. ’

He said this to himself in his heart, but he also knew that such words were useless.

Now that the war has reached this point, both sides have accumulated numerous blood feuds and can no longer stop.

Sometimes he would even dream that the slain Clansians came to his bedside and demanded their lives, just like the Mercury Dynasty recorded in history.

What a disgusting feeling.

Sitting on the edge of the open space in the camp, the imperial soldier looked at the gray sky, and then stood up.

"What's wrong, Li Ge, are you looking for the water? Come here."

A slightly taller and stronger soldier came over. He was wearing scale armor covering his chest and back, with a gray and black broken cloak behind him, and he was holding a steel halberd in his hand.

"Well, it's Tulong." The soldier named Lige raised his head and looked at Tulong, his acquaintance and comrade from fellow Jiang.

Following Tulon's tall body, Lige came to another part of the camp

, here is the only safe wellhead, and many people are queuing up to fetch water, some for drinking and some for washing things.

Seeing that there were quite a few people in front of them, the two of them waited aside for a while and started chatting.

"There seems to be bad news coming from the front. The entire legion led by a certain viscount was wiped out on the battlefield."

"Oh, it seems that some of the wounded will be sent back, and then many of us will have to go to the front line."

"Maybe you won't see me next time." Lige lowered his head and knocked the dust on his feet, mocking the increasingly uncomfortable situation.

"What, you want to escape?"

Turon joked that in the Canghong Empire, being a deserter on the battlefield was the most shameful reputation. Such people could even laugh at and insult beggars on the street. If the other party still wanted to resist, they would be attacked in various ways.

The empire was founded on military merit, and its cultural tradition also particularly despised deserters and cowards. In various dramas, these deserters often play buffoons, or are the last footnotes of the villains.

Praising bravery, glory, and justice is an enduring part of the empire. Boys yearn for the heroic knight in the story, and girls also dream of the dashing knight riding a white horse and saying hello to her.

This is why, even now, many people still insist on reluctantly. If you say you are afraid of war, you will be laughed at and bullied.

This is especially true for nobles who pay attention to reputation and glory. After years of propaganda and generations of narrations and teachings, many nobles naturally believe that the battlefield is glorious. Even if they fail to win, they cannot be a deserted deserter.

Relying on this firm tradition, the empire's army has been moving westward, constantly investing in cruel battlefields.

If, if there was no Crancia, it would still be the Seven Snow Kingdoms of the past, and this expedition would probably be a success. And they will be praised by future generations as heroic and glorious existences.

Unfortunately, the current Starlight Alliance, dominated by Clancia, is not the Snow Flower Seven Kingdoms of the past.

If they cannot defeat it, they will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history and ridiculed mercilessly.

At this point, although more and more people are aware of the difficulty and elusiveness of victory, the empire still reluctantly maintains the idea of ​​​​maintaining a main war.

Even if you can't win, you still have to cripple the opponent.

With this idea in mind, the emperor started a new round of conscription after discussing with many nobles.

Perhaps they themselves did not realize it, but they were already panicking about defeat.

Experiencing the blood-stained process of the blade made many nobles and imperial soldiers on the front line gradually realize what kind of terrifying opponents they were.

They seem to have almost fanatical beliefs. They are not afraid of death, have strict discipline, and fight to the death. They stand on the ground like steel pillars. Every time they take a step forward, they will encounter obstacles at all levels.

Looking back at the countless bodies that fell in this war, if they failed here, the outcome might not just be as simple as returning to the borderline between the two sides in the past.

The more fear there is, the more unified the empire becomes. More and more conscription teams are patrolling the provinces. Some conservative nobles and wealthy families have to use their best efforts to think about how to survive this protracted war. .

With the organizational ability and fighting will that Crancia has shown in the past two years, it does not seem to be difficult for him to lead the army into the internal battle of the empire. If such a thing happens, the land, wealth, resources, etc. of many nobles will disappear.

Some people with far-sightedness began to appeal, suggesting that they should ease the offensive, stop when it was good, and make peace with Crancia. But such voices were quickly drowned out.

Although many people died in the war, it was impossible for these nobles to give up the interests and land they had obtained. Then wouldn't they have done it in vain and become a joke?

So in the end, both sides had no room for concession.

"When will it end? I kind of want to go back to my hometown. It's probably the season when dandelions are in full bloom. Yuna from the neighboring village often comes to our village with her mother to pick wild vegetables at this time." Lige slightly blocked the sky with his arm. sun.

"Keep your voice down. People around you will report you if you say this." Turon put a hand on Li Ge's shoulder to tell him not to show his intention to become a deserter.

"Oh, what's there to be afraid of? I guess everyone thinks so."

"Relax, man, maybe the future won't be so bad. Maybe one day we will win." Turon said comfortingly.

"Have you heard that the pure iron warrior has now led the army to victory on the flanks? The emperor even sent an envoy to commend him."

"Are you talking about Darcy? This is indeed the idol of many people, but such a genius is too far away from a little person like me, and it cannot inspire me at all."

Under the dark sky, the two chatted casually until they got water and took care of things, then slowly returned to the tent.

After the imperial army fought successively in Crancia, many people, like this soldier, gradually lost their initial enthusiasm and became silent. The blood they saw every day, the fallen companions one after another , all irritating the anxious nerves.

It is wonderful to obtain wealth and land after victory, but the cruelty of life and death on the battlefield is also terrifying. They are only here for profit, and naturally they do not have the firm will to fight like the Crancia soldiers.

After suffering successive major blows and torture, the empire's offensive has become slower and slower. More and more frontline nobles have begun to protect themselves wisely and fight passively. They are more inclined to occupy territory and defend rather than attack quickly.

During this year, the situation on the battlefield began to change

, the empire also gradually turned from offensive to defensive.

The capital of the Canghong Empire, Titania.

Another grand wedding is being held in the bustling city, but this time the protagonists are not just one pair, but nearly a hundred newlyweds.

After being promoted to the upper echelons of the empire through military merit, many new nobles began to marry into established nobles. The new generation of nobles had real power and newly acquired fiefdoms, but lacked wealth and the personnel to manage the fiefdoms. Although the old nobles have wealth accumulated over generations, they lack power and need new resources to develop family industries.

So exchanges and alliances emerged.

After realizing that such a combination of power was inevitable, the emperor did not forcefully stop it. Instead, he joined it, selected nobles who were inclined to him, and combined them with the officers he promoted. This will make its power more stable.

Although he now clearly controls the entire empire, the other nobles in the fiefdoms of the four great dukes still retain considerable strength and are not completely under his control.

"Congratulations, Darcy."

During the wedding celebration, the emperor summoned his most capable general and patted him on the shoulder as a sign of commendation. On the other side, Red Queen Lily, dressed in a luxurious rose dress, also received Darcy's wife, Wei Lin.

This former genius of Emenas was a noble girl who repeatedly won second place in the Winter Festival Gala.

Compared with the slightly flamboyant appearance in the school in the past, Weilin seems to be much more dignified and virtuous now. She was wearing a black and red aristocratic dress, and her black lace-covered fingers gently took the back of Lily's hand, kissing her briefly and saluting.

"I have met Her Majesty the Queen." Wei Lin raised her head, her black hair formed a small curve on her cheek, and paired with the red rose on her ear, she had a mature temperament.

"You don't have to be so polite, Senior Sister Weilin." Lily looked at the woman who bowed in front of her and saluted, and her heart was filled with emotion.

"Perhaps you don't know me. I entered Chengzhai Academy after Senior Sister Wei Lin graduated. However, my grades are average, so not many people in school know me."

"Everyone's eyes are always on those geniuses."

"Your Majesty is serious." Weilin stood up again and answered carefully.

When big figures occasionally laugh at themselves, be sure not to agree casually. If you think you are agreeing, you may actually be mistaken for being offensive, so it is generally best not to comment.

In the years after graduation, Weilin has experienced a lot. Although she is the legitimate daughter of a large noble family, she is alone with no brothers or sisters. Relatives from far away want to come over to compete for the family property. The intrigues consume a lot of her energy. So much so that her development was not smooth.

When she looked back, the boy who defeated her in school and left her with hatred had grown into a famous legion commander in the empire and was in a higher position than her.

After learning about the situation, a complex emotion arose in her heart, and the disputes within the family troubled her again and again.

At this time, the emperor's messenger arrived.

The emperor deliberately arranged for her to marry that Darcy, because she was the only daughter of this generation of Viscount Yan Falcon. After marrying Darcy, Darcy would immediately obtain the title of Viscount Yan Falcon. And Wei Lin can also keep everything she owns, no longer be affected by those annoying relatives, and continue to pass on the title to her children.

After a period of difficult thinking and decision-making, Weilin agreed to the proposal and met Darcy again after many years.

"This is a trustworthy man."

Perhaps the opponent's tenacity in that competition made her feel unwilling and resentful, but if this man became her husband, such qualities would make people feel at ease.

After feeling relieved, the only grudge in Weilin's heart disappeared, and she began to seriously think about the feasibility of this marriage and the future scenarios.

She is no longer young. Although extraordinary people age slower than ordinary people, among nobles, it is already very late to get married. If it is later, they may only be looking for divorced partners.

Under the influence of various factors, the two finally came together, and today's situation may be something neither of them could have imagined back then.

At that time, they were like birds in the sky and fish in the water, nobles and commoners, living in two completely unrelated worlds.

Unexpectedly, the reality was so bizarre and unexpected that the pair finally came together.

"Then, the wedding celebration officially begins~"

There were flowers and music in Titania. In the middle of the stagnation of the war, the emperor recalled a group of officers with outstanding military achievements and arranged marriages for them, once again strengthening the emperor's ability to control the frontline troops.

Such weddings also greatly stimulated the young people in the country who had not yet joined the army, and in the new round of conscription, more young people were encouraged to join this glorious expedition, adding chips to the balance again.

The stagnation, pessimism, and numbness on the front lines, and the cheers, envy, and optimism on the rear lines create two completely different landscapes in one country at the same time. And where will this country, which uses roses as a metaphor, go in the future?

Did he finally see the dawn of victory through increasing the chips again and again, or did he finally collapse and fall apart because he could not bear the excessive weight of chips.