Chapter 471 Situation Changes

Among the dozen kingdoms in the eastern part of the Central Continent, the East Coast United Kingdom is considered a powerful country with an army of 600,000.

This country has a special national condition. There is no royal family, and the highest power is determined by the Council of Nobles. The head of state of the East Coast United Kingdom is called the Archon. This country does not have a crown issued by the Holy Glorious Empire. It is actually a local noble alliance.

This special national condition has led to a relatively loose rule in the East Coast United Kingdom.

This country attaches great importance to magic and is willing to spread extraordinary knowledge to the middle and lower classes. A magic academy was established in the capital Kanas Castle. Although the selection of materials in Kanas Magic Academy is not as extensive as that of Harland Territory, after hundreds of years of accumulation, its scale is a few points larger than that of the current Harland Mage Association.

Even because of years of war, the number of magicians in the East Coast United Kingdom is close to 2,000, and the number of magic apprentices is more than 10,000. In terms of magic power, the East Coast United Kingdom ranks first among the eastern countries.

Because there are enough magicians, a legion on the East Coast will be equipped with a magic team, with varying numbers of people, ranging from as few as 30 to as many as 50.

After the outbreak of the war, the total number of magicians captured by Harland's army exceeded 200.

Because of its strong national strength, the East Coast United Kingdom has been unable to swallow this breath after its defeat, and has repeatedly acted as the vanguard of the Three Kingdoms Alliance.

Counting the initial dispute, this country has been at war with the Grant Kingdom for twelve years.

In the past twelve years, the two sides have fought five large-scale battles.

Every three or two years, the East Coast will take the initiative to attack, trying to regain lost territory and unite with Ryan and Delong to divide the Grant Kingdom.

In twelve years, the Harland family has grown from an ordinary border duke to a behemoth, and the national strength of the Grant Kingdom has also increased dramatically.

This time the situation between the two sides has changed fundamentally. Relying on a brilliant victory, the Grant Kingdom finally broke the balance.

Half a month ago, Harland took the enemy by surprise and used a powerful naval fleet to capture Silver Moon Island, cutting off the enemy's food supply, and annihilated the two fronts of the East Coast together with the Grant Kingdom nobles coalition.

In just half a month, 300,000 soldiers were lost. Without 300,000 troops, the defense line of the East Coast could not be supported at all.

At this moment, Harland led his army across the Mara River to attack westward, and the ten corps of the Western Front were also in a dilemma of being attacked from both sides.

Once the Western Front was completely lost, the East Coast United Kingdom would completely lose its bargaining power, and it would be difficult for the great nobles to survive.

In fact, after years of war, the seven dukes of the East Coast United Kingdom also suffered heavy losses.

First, the main force of the Yunis family was annihilated, and the territory was occupied by the Grant Kingdom, and they lost their status as great nobles. This time, the Gerold family followed the footsteps of the Yunis family, and more than 100,000 square kilometers of land north of the Mara River fell. The three main corps of the family were lost. Even if the East Coast saved the country, the Gerold family did not have the strength to re-enter the ruling class.

The situation has developed to the present, and five of the seven duke families still have strong strength, but facing the invasion of the 200,000 noble coalition forces of the Grant Kingdom, the situation of the East Coast United Kingdom is almost unsustainable.

Richard was the commander-in-chief of the noble coalition forces, and Harland led 38,000 troops and was also the vanguard of the coalition forces. After the vanguard crossed the Mara River, it seemed to enter an uninhabited area. In just three or four days, more than 30 cities were captured.

Harland's troops pointed directly to the rear of the Western Front Army, trying to cut off the enemy's retreat and cooperate with his father William's army to annihilate the Western Front Army of the East Coast United Kingdom.

The East Coast Western Front Army has a total of ten corps with a total strength of about 200,000. The enemy in front of them is also a coalition army, including the four earl corps of William, Zachley, Steven, and Wimble, plus the two elite border troops of Grizzly and Northland, with a total strength of about 120,000. Although the total strength is only 60% of that of the East Coast, relying on the two elite corps of Grizzly and Northland, this front can also maintain balance.

Generally speaking, the Grant Kingdom is mainly defensive on this front. Relying on the border castle and the natural barrier of the Mara River, it will not easily go out of the city for a wave of battle.

William is the commander of this coalition. Although his qualifications are not as good as Zachli's, nor can he match Zachli's command ability to seize opportunities, but because he was promoted to the legendary, he has been on the front line many times, commanding small-scale harassment operations, and the East Coast Army was embarrassed. He has more prestige than Zachli.

In recent years, William often organized elite troops to cross the river and attack the enemy's supply lines. Although he was ambushed by the East Coast Army many times, relying on William's ability to transform into a giant bear, he was always able to break through the siege and cause serious casualties to the enemy. Just like Mark Dean many years ago, relying on his legendary power to stir up the wind and rain and change the situation.

William has taken the legendary ability fruit and has the magical ability to transform into a giant bear. Although it is not as comprehensive as the legendary knight, when he transforms into a giant bear, his explosive power is much stronger than that of the legendary knight, which is very suitable for frontal attack.

After Mark Dean died in battle, the East Coast United Kingdom no longer had a powerful professional who could match William, and it seemed to be struggling and embarrassed on the battlefield.

As time went by, the situation became worse and worse for the East Coast United Kingdom.

The armies of the four eastern marquises, Paulus, Charlotte, and Marcel, crossed the Mara River one after another.

The 160,000-strong army poured into the East Coast land, burning, killing, and looting along the way, and headed straight for the capital, Kanas Castle.

The last five corps left on the East Coast were all newly formed corps that had not been trained for a long time. Not only were they weak in combat effectiveness, but they also needed to guard the Kanas Castle. At this time, they dared not act rashly and could only watch a large amount of territory fall.

Although the combined number of Richard and William's armies was less than 160,000, which was less than that of the Western Front Army on the East Coast, they occupied a favorable position. In addition, they had a large number of elite troops in their hands, and they actually encircled the 200,000 troops of the Western Front Army.

Seeing that the retreat was about to be cut off, Augustine, the commander of the Western Front Army on the East Coast, frowned and was in a dilemma.

Hundreds of thousands of troops were strangled together, and the battle lines were intertwined, making it impossible to retreat easily.

In this situation, if the troops were to withdraw, the retreat would turn into a rout if they were not careful. Moreover, William's 120,000 troops were on the front line, and the battle lines of both sides were intertwined. Even if the East Coast Army wanted to retreat, William would not let them do so.

However, the supply line in the rear was about to be cut off by Richard's troops, and continuing to hold on would only delay the time of the annihilation of the entire army. Moreover, at this moment, more than 100,000 Harland led troops to attack the hinterland of the east coast. At this time, the rear could no longer maintain the supply line.

The situation has developed to this point, and the only way to survive is to enter the Kingdom of Delong for refuge.

If the army enters the Kingdom of Delong with the army, without the support of the territory, the army will also become a rootless tree, and can only obey the dispatch of the Kingdom of Delong at that time.

Once it becomes a guest army, it will also be a situation of cannon fodder.

After weighing the pros and cons for most of the day, Augustine finally decided to enter the Kingdom of Delong for refuge, and it is better to be cannon fodder than to be wiped out. But if you want to withdraw smoothly from the front line, you also need a fierce battle.

Augustine drew four elite legions to cover the rear, and the remaining six legions immediately abandoned the front line and decisively moved to the west.

The front-line troops had just been reduced, and they were soon discovered by the veteran Zakley.

Zakley is a real old-fashioned man with more than 60 years of battlefield experience, and his command ability is better than William. Zakli discovered the retreat of the East Coast Army at the first time, and while notifying William, he decisively launched a counterattack.

Discovering the fierce shouts and killings on the battlefield, William quickly figured out the enemy's combat intentions. Of course, it was impossible for Augustine to get his wish at this time. William decisively put his troops into the counterattack and passed the order to the major legions below.

William's order was transmitted very quickly, mainly relying on the lion. After the order was passed, the army of the Grant Kingdom launched a full-line counterattack.

Zakli's counterattack was like a signal gun, entangled the four legions that were cut off on the East Coast.

At this moment, Richard's unit was not far from the front line. His army had cut off the supply line of the West Front Army on the East Coast, and the vanguard was less than 20 kilometers away from the battlefield.

If you look down from the sky, Harland's legion is like a giant dragon, piercing the enemy's soft belly. If it delays for another day or two, Richard's unit will be able to join William and completely surround and annihilate the enemy.

In this dangerous situation, Augustine did not dare to rescue the rear troops. He hurriedly gathered six legions and retreated westward, hoping to rely on the border castle of the Kingdom of Delong to stabilize the front line.

Augustine gave up the rear troops, and the four rear legions of the Western Front of the East Coast were soon caught up and annihilated by William and Richard. Although the rear troops on the East Coast resisted fiercely, they soon collapsed when they encountered the bombardment of the magic crystal cannon of Harland. Without the protection of the military formation, even the most elite soldiers would be like lambs when encountering an organized army.

The battle lasted until the evening, and the resistance was gradually over.

In this battle, William's troops suffered 7,000 casualties, and Harland suffered 1,300 casualties, but they successfully annihilated the 80,000 troops and four legions on the East Coast, and captured more than 50,000 prisoners alone.

When the situation is over, it is easier to catch people than pigs. Because people will surrender voluntarily, pigs will run around everywhere and cause some trouble.

After the war, Richard selected 20,000 young and strong men from 50,000 captives and added them to each legion. After winning the battle, Richard and William joined forces and marched westward into the territory of the Kingdom of Delong.

Harland's army once again took the lead and attacked the stronghold held by Augustine.

Although Augustine occupied the castle, he could not hold the defense line at all in the face of Harland's magic crystal cannon. A large number of alchemical bombs exploded in the castle, killing and injuring a large number of soldiers every day.

In order to avoid the killing of magic crystal cannons, Augustine had no choice but to build anti-cannon trenches in the castle, and his life was extremely miserable.

After years of development, Harland's artillery has made great progress. It not only has fragmentation shells, but also heavy grenades of siege type.

Richard led Harland's army to attack such a strong castle. Usually, they would bombard for seven or eight days, killing a large number of defenders, and only after the city wall was blown down would they send infantry to attack the city.

A strong castle can only hold out for seven or eight days at most.

In just one month, Richard and William joined forces to conquer eleven strong castles and break through the defense line set up by Augustine.

During this process, Harland's army attacked at a leisurely pace, causing almost no casualties, and annihilated Augustine's scattered troops one by one.

Before the legendary wizard Richard made a move, Harland's army had already broken through the enemy's defense line.

Within this month, Augustine lost another 50,000 soldiers. His Western Front Army has less than 50,000 troops left, and more than 20,000 soldiers have fled during this period, which is on the verge of collapse.

The war has continued to this day, and the surrounding situation has changed again.

First, in the battlefield of Selldorf Province, King Roger relied on the Royal Guards to defeat the combination of Elena and Charlemagne and put down the rebellion. Now he has freed up his hands, and the ninth-level knight Finney led a legion to stay in Nolan, and Roger personally led three Royal Guards to reinforce the south.

The noble coalition of the Grant Kingdom also fought under the command of Marquis Allen to the Kanas Castle, and the East Coast United Kingdom was on the verge of extinction.

Richard joined with William's troops and successfully broke through the defense line arranged by Augustine. Augustine's logistics line was cut off, and now he is just a trapped beast fighting, and is also in a situation of annihilation.

The situation in the Kingdom of Delong has become extremely bad during this period.

The Bloody Horn Marlo still organized the cultists to revolt, which tied up part of the energy of the Kingdom of Delong. The three Dukes of Fox, Edward and Guise on the western front mobilized nearly 160,000 troops and crossed the Mara River to fight King Anton.

In the central territory directly under the Grant Kingdom, the two legions of the Mad Lion and the Iron Lion led a coalition of 40,000 nobles and 80,000 troops to fight against the Kingdom of Delong. The 70,000 troops commanded by the Roger Kingdom also reinforced in this direction.

The eastern defense line, commanded by Augustine, has been shattered. Augustine's troops may be surrounded and annihilated by Richard and William at any time.

The situation on the battlefield is a matter of life and death. When Richard led the navy to conquer Silver Moon Island and cut off the retreat of the East Coast Marine Front, the situation of this war was doomed.

In less than two months, the East Coast United Kingdom lost more than 450,000 troops. After losing these 450,000 troops, more than 300,000 troops of the Grant Kingdom were freed up, and the defeat of the Tripartite Alliance was inevitable.

Seeing that the situation of the Kingdom of Delong was critical, the Kingdom of Ryan gave up the strategy of full-scale attack and made a full mobilization. It recruited 100,000 troops from the nobles, plus 100,000 troops from the front line, a total of 200,000 troops entered the Kingdom of Delong for support.

The 200,000 fresh troops entered the battlefield, not only stabilizing the situation of the Kingdom of Delong, but also building a new line of defense in the east, helping the remnants of Augustus to stabilize the front line. A large number of troops poured in, and by the way helped the Kingdom of Delong to quell the rebellion.