Marshal Lewis woke up leisurely.

In a trance, he heard the rumbling of cannons outside, and a figure swaying in front of him, as if covered with a light veil.

He tried to open his eyes but couldn't.

"Who...... Who...... At...... Conductor?" Lewis still tried to sober himself.

The figures in front of him fell silent, making the sound of gunfire outside the town even clearer.

"The marshal is awake, awake. Someone cheered in a low voice.

"Who's in command?" Lewis asked again.

However, the cerebral hemorrhage caused him to have a speech disorder, and he had to repeat it several times before someone could hear the problem clearly:

"It's Baron Simon Dalhou. ”

Baron Dalho is a major general, although he is a baron, but this person has a somewhat eccentric personality, is taciturn, is not sociable, and does not get along well with his colleagues, so after the previous counteroffensive was launched, Marshal Lewis let him stay in Tudela to protect the supply and transportation channels, in fact, he was left out in the cold.

However, when the baron learned of the collapse ahead, he quickly prepared for more of his own stragglers to pass through Tudra, and when Marshal Lewis arrived, it was because of his and his men's joint efforts that the Bilisian advance was stopped.

So, when Marshal Lewis fell into a coma, Baron Dalho took over the command, and there was not a single military commander in the entire Tudela who was more qualified than him. Many of the generals of the Western Front were either killed, missing, or fled back to Jobosa, and some did not even go to Jobosa, but became shameful deserters - these were the real deserters.

On the ridge directly south of Tudela, most of the green vegetation has been cut in half, and it has been repeatedly ravaged by artillery fire and soldiers.

In the smoke of gunfire, the soldiers in red uniforms were already in danger, and standing in the town, the figure of the Bilisians in light blue uniforms could be seen climbing the ridge, but the defenders drove the Bilisians down the hill again with a counter-charge.

Standing on a hill opposite, Simon Darho personally commanded the small artillery and shelled the enemy crowded into the valley.

Due to the terrain, the artillery of the Bilisi had no way to deal with him, he was far away, and he was too close to raise the firing range, so he could only rely on manpower to fill it.

The defenders' artillery didn't even need to be particularly aimed, and the solid shells bounced off the hard ground at the foot of the hill, causing more casualties among the Bilisian soldiers.

However, this lone army was already surrounded by the town and the surrounding mountains, and most of the Bilisian forces had bypassed it and reached the city of Jobosa.

If the city of Yobosa in the rear is unable to organize a decent counterattack, or even falls, sooner or later it will fall into the hands of the enemy. The ammunition and rations stored in the town were not enough to support the high-intensity fighting.

General Darhawe has lost count of how many enemy troops he has killed, and in a day and a night he was as exhausted and tormented as his soldiers.

"The enemy is coming up again!" someone shouted loudly.

Like buffaloes, the Bilisians attacked tirelessly, rifles in their hands and in loose formations toward the hills on either side.

The defenders' artillery became sparse, and they had to conserve as much ammunition as possible, so they took local materials and pushed the rocks down the hill.

With a rumbling sound, the Bilisian soldiers couldn't dodge, and the rocks rolled out a path of flesh and blood through the crowd, and the people turned on their backs.

This did not deter the Bilisians, who, at the command of their officers, let out a cry and charged towards the hill as if they were deadly.

Bang, bang, the rifles in the hands of the defenders opened fire, and in the smoke of gunfire, they couldn't see how much their opponents had fallen, not even their own people, and only relied on instinct to shoot down the hill.

When the mountain breeze blew away the smoke, the defenders were shocked to find that the light blue figures were already in front of them, and behind these figures was a blue sea that had fallen to the ground.

"Get on the bayonet!

General Dalhawe let out a roar, and then the first one jumped down the ridge and rushed towards the crowd of enemy troops.

"Rush!"

The soldiers, who were inspired, had long since been killed, and under the leadership of their commanders, they launched a counter-charge against the enemy troops on the mountainside.

This incomparably crucial charge was not only a manifestation of the courage of the defenders, but also a manifestation of the commander's decisiveness in commanding on the spot. Their only low battle is the advantage of the terrain, if the other side occupies the mountain, they will have no way to retreat.

The Bilisians left hundreds of corpses behind and retreated like a tidal wave.

It was already noon on August 23.

Meanwhile, Sean is nervously preparing for the game in the city of Jobosa.

The Bilisians, who had rushed to the city, began to assemble, and the Bilisians were in no hurry to attack, and although they had won a great victory, they were unable to continue the attack on a well-defended city, and their forces were scattered.

It seems that the Bilisians are licking their wounds and gathering strength.

In fact, Sean arrived in Jobosa City on the 19th. Once here, he began to fortify his defenses in the name of the commander of the city's defenses, gathering ammunition and food, so he also clashed with the senior officers Lewis had left here.

After the news of the rout came from the front on the 21st, there was a commotion in the city of Jobosa. Prepared, Sean ordered the Nationalists to disarm some of the disobedient troops and imprison some of the panicked senior officers.

That night, more of the rout army swarmed in, and Sean did not refuse to let them into the city, he disarmed and scattered them in the name of strict prevention of spies, and at the same time shot a group of officers and soldiers who disturbed the morale of the army with the most decisive means.

These things almost kept Sean busy, he not only had to deal with these retreating ones, but also dealt with some officers in the Western Front who still wanted to fight, but fortunately he had 3 divisions in his hands, which made him speak hard enough.

When the Biliss approached the city, Sean gathered the officers who had belonged to the Western Front, and these were all officers who either wanted to continue the fight or send troops to rescue Marshal Lewis, but more often than not.

They don't yet know what has changed in the Holy City, and if they do, God knows what will happen.

Sean kept news of the Holy City tightly sealed, and the Nationalist Army's patrols along the Yobosa-Longjiang River cut off their sources.

Anyone who comes from outside of Sinoe Province will be closely scrutinized, and this is one of the important things Sean has done in the past week. He must keep the morale of the army on the battlefield in front of him, at least temporarily, even if the army is permeated with a sense of defeat and pessimism.

These people still have no less than 30,000 troops in their hands, but the organization is somewhat disorganized, some officers are killed, some are missing, and some even become deserters. As for the scattered soldiers who could not be gathered, it was estimated that there were no less than 70,000 people, and Sean had no time to take care of them.

Sean is once again faced with a choice, and life is all about doing a lot of multiple-choice questions.

The available intelligence and the rout brought a lot of news.

Obviously, when Marshal Lewis was preparing for a major counteroffensive, the Bilisians were not idle, they looked as if they had received information in advance, and carefully planned a huge trap, which allowed the Bilisians to seize the initiative on the battlefield - the early retreat was only to lead the enemy deeper, and then launch a better counterattack.

In contrast, the Europa intelligence gathering for the Bilisi was limited to captives, while the latter knew everything about the former's every move.

Moreover, God seemed to be helping the Bilisians, if it weren't for the heavy rain, Marshal Lewis would not have been so ugly, and the gunpowder of many troops was affected by the rain, which greatly reduced the combat effectiveness of the Western Front, and many soldiers had to face the enemy's lead bullets with bayonets.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Genoese National Army is preparing to march north to Tudra, and we must rescue Marshal Lewis. ”

Sean made his choice.

If he doesn't move, it will be difficult for others to criticize him reasonably, 300,000 people have been defeated, what can 30,000 people do?

Moreover, the Genoese National Army is a new army, and combat experience is almost blank, and some of the officers' battlefield experience comes from the domestic counterinsurgency a few years ago.

Sean automatically ignored the skeptical look of these "regular" officers:

"As we all know, the National Army is a new army, many of us are miners, farmers and craftsmen, and our officers are young, but we are all Europa.

Responsibility makes it necessary for us to go north and deal a blow to the arrogant invaders. The hateful invaders poison our land and enslave our people every day, and they want to shackle us and keep us in slavery for generations. ”

"Although the empire is large, every penny of land is not superfluous. To fight for Europa is to fight for freedom. Maybe we will sacrifice, maybe we will gain nothing, but we will have nothing to fear.

Those who are cowardly leave here as soon as possible, and there may be some who feel that the battlefield is not for them and want to find another job, I even allow these people to leave with their personal property and weapons, and I will issue a document in the name of the headquarters to prove that they have quit the army due to wounds. But those who remain, whether they are generals or soldiers, whether they are nobles or commoners, will be regarded as obeying my commands. ”

"You will accept my command and resource allocation unconditionally, and it should be reminded that today you are a general, tomorrow you may be a groom, or maybe you are not even as good as a groom, at least the groom can help our cavalry take care of the horses. Don't talk to us about seniority, military traditions, or the long-established family from which your surname comes from, because if the empire no longer exists, our names can only be found in the history books. ”

"It is a soldier's duty to obey orders!"

"Now, it's time for you to make a choice. You only have two hours, and by the way, there is limited food in the city to feed so many people. ”

With that, Sean left the conference room, leaving behind a bunch of generals who looked at each other.

Tough and decisive, but not without compromise.