Chapter 2 The Walls Are Clear
After being deprived of supplies and most of their mages, the Imperial Coalition is truly a lone army in the desert. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info
Endless marches, endless deserts...... Surrounded by fear, hunger, and exhaustion, the force traversed the sandy sea, unable to figure out where it was going or why it had come here in search of death.
On the one hand, he constantly inspected the troops, did meticulous pacifying work, and tried to motivate everyone with the sense of honor and responsibility of the imperial soldiers, and on the other hand, he limited the ration of limited supplies in an effort to maintain the vitality of the army to the greatest extent.
As the commander of the coalition forces, although James also appeared in front of the soldiers several times, he only said some illusory and unrealistic scenes such as "the glory of the empire", "the empire is undefeated", "God is with us", and even he did not believe it, and then anesthetized himself with alcohol, and fabricated the glory of victory in his dreams, and tenaciously supported him to keep his spirit from breaking down, probably because of his bitter hatred for Alex.
There was also a small episode in this, but it made the soldiers of the Imperial Army feel cold, and General Tsykov was completely disappointed in his commander.
That evening, the drunken Sixth Prince James finally poured out his pent-up anger and roared at Tsykov: "Tsykov, you son of a bitch! Why is there so little food for me? And it's all things that are only rationed to untouchables! The sound was audible even to the soldiers in the surrounding tents.
"Your Highness is angry," replied the insulted General Tsykov, suppressing the anger in his heart, calmly, "and now our army is in a difficult situation, the supplies are quite limited, and the food is in a limited ration, and the portion that can be provided to the prince is already twice as large as that of the other soldiers. ”
"You're getting fucking older and more confused! Compare this seat to this untouchable! This is nothing short of a blatant slander against the supreme imperial royal family! If it weren't for the use of people, this seat would have cured you of the capital crime of disrespect! The predicament of our army is caused by your improper command! Let a small Mainster force the invincible Imperial army into such a desperate situation, you can't escape the blame! James threw his glass to the ground and said scoldingly.
"To damage the prestige of His Majesty and disgrace the glory of the Imperial Army, this is of course the fault of his subordinates, and he should be punished for his misconduct. However, it was a strategic mistake for His Highness to rashly lead an army to invade the desert without knowing the reality of the enemy army for the sake of merit! The veteran who was blamed in vain finally vented the resentment in his heart.
"You...... Daring! It's the other way around! Come! Take down this thief of Tsykov for me! Annoyed, James shouted outside the tent.
But the first to enter was not James's personal guards, but Tsykov's adjutant Azelio, who saw Azelio draw his sword and rush to James, and said coldly: "What does Your Highness command?" ”
Seeing the cold light in Azelio's eyes, James couldn't help but shudder, and said in a weak tone: "No...... It's okay, Tsikov, this incident is an unintentional mistake on your part, and I hope you don't do it again. You guys...... Stand down......"
"Thank Your Highness for your magnanimity, Your Majesty will reflect on it if you know that you are arrogant...... Don't disturb His Highness's meal. Tsykov gave Azelio a look, told him to put away his weapon, and then withdrew with the lieutenant.
Out of the tent, Azeglio ordered the soldiers who were in front of the royal guards to retreat, and the guards rushed into the tent.
"Your Highness!"
"Is Your Highness injured?"
"What are you for? It's only coming now! It's all a bunch of rubbish! James' angry shouts came from inside the tent.
Only then did Tsykov say to his adjutant, "Azelio, I've caused you trouble and implicated you...... After this war is over, I am afraid that you and I will not have a good life......"
Azerio shook his head and said, "Don't say that, my lord, if we don't save my life, we really have no hope of living...... And the future cannot be considered so long-term, the enemy's cavalry is too terrible...... Even if we are condemned in the future, we will have to live out of the desert......"
"Yes...... However, this should not be the enemy's regular troops, if the enemy really had this kind of troops, it would have been used to attack our heavy cavalry a long time ago, and there was no need to go to such great lengths...... This is supposed to be the result of a magical blessing, and it can't last too long, so the enemy will be able to retreat with a single blow...... If the enemy really had such an invincible cavalry, Meinster would have dominated the world long ago...... However, it was completely unexpected for me to be able to gather so many powerful magicians...... But why don't the enemy throw the mage directly into battle...... If I survive to the end of this war, I wonder if these mysteries will be solved......"
Tsykov was bathed in the red glow of the sunset, and the setting sun cast a long, lonely shadow behind him, as if he had become preoccupied with thinking about something......
Despite his tireless efforts to calm the emotions of the Coalition soldiers, and explained that there were not many invulnerable cavalry troops like Meinster, which required a lot of magic power from a large number of magicians to complete, and that it was unlikely to be supported for long, so it was unlikely that such troops would be encountered again in the future, but it still did not dispel the fear of the Imperial Coalition for the Mayinster cavalry, and that the terrible red slaughter would wake even the Coalition soldiers from their sleep.
Of course, Tsykov's efforts have paid off, and the Eastern Frontier Guards, who have followed him for many years, have been able to maintain the cohesion of the troops based on their trust in Tsykov, an old commander who cares for his corporal and sleeps with everyone, and their morale has not been completely crushed. On the other hand, this kind of dilemma that once they retreat, they will encounter sniping and have no way to retreat, which also arouses their fighting spirit to fight against the water.
However, the soldiers of the allied armies of other countries lacked this consciousness and loyalty, they had no reason to work for the empire, and they lacked the fighting spirit to fight to the death, for them, how to survive was their ardent concern.
The Imperial Coalition Army, which had been harassed by the Meinster Light Cavalry for several days, was extremely nervous and tired, and began to set foot in the Oasis of Myers, east of the city of Meinster, where General Tsykov hoped that the Allied army would be able to recuperate, and that food and water had run out of food—although it was sometimes replenished by rain, it was only a drop in the bucket compared to the water consumed by the soldiers on the desert march several times as much, and the soldiers' thirst was heavier than hunger. Therefore, the need for local food and water supplies on the oases can only be alleviated.
Although the oasis had been desolate due to the evacuation of all the people of Meinster, the Imperial forces had found some food left behind by the desert dwellers, as well as nearly a hundred wells.
When hope lit up in the eyes of the allied soldiers, they immediately fell into the abyss of despair - the soldiers who could not wait to get water to drink and eat food were all white-eyed, foaming at the mouth, and their bodies were dying with a slight convulsion. According to military doctors, the food and nearly 100 wells that seemed to be left behind by the residents during their panic were all poisoned.
"It's so ruthless! Solid walls and clear fields, scorched earth policy! It is even more cruel to let us see food and water and not use it than to destroy all food and water! But there's no denying that it's the right strategy and taking it to the extreme! ”
Tsikov then ordered all the food he received to be burned, and forbade all soldiers not to approach the wells, otherwise they would be dealt with by military law. But at night, there were still many soldiers who could not bear the pain of hunger and thirst and secretly went to the well to get water, and for them they would rather die of swelling than thirst. In the end, Tsykov had to order nearly 100 wells to be sealed with stones, and ordered the guards to keep watch around the wells day and night to prevent any soldiers from digging the wells in defiance of the ban.
Death and resurrection! Now there is only one way left in front of Tsikov: unless he attacks the enemy's base and forces the enemy's main forces out for a decisive battle, then there may be a glimmer of life.
"Soldiers! Now we have no way back! Retreat means only death! Only by attacking the enemy's city of Mayinster and winning the decisive battle can we have any hope of survival! We are not fighting for the glory of the empire, no longer for vain goals, but for our own survival! ”
After a brief respite at the Oasis of Myers, Tsikov gathered his entire army and made a brief exchange of heart, and then set out for the city of Meinster.
However, Tsikov's plan to speed up the march and enter the city of Meinster as soon as possible could not be realized, because the enemy did not give them the opportunity to march calmly, and as soon as they left the Oasis of Meiers, the Meinster army continued to make a nuisance, and used the floating sand trap to cause the Imperial Coalition to lose its troops, and at night sent a strong attack group to attack the tent camp of the Imperial Coalition with fire arrows, so that they could not sleep peacefully.
What is especially odious is that in broad daylight, Meinster's light cavalry poured buckets of water on the sand, which was more precious than gold to the Imperial coalition army, and watched the clear drinking water reflect the crystal white light trickling into the sand layer under the scorching sun, and the Imperial soldiers kept licking their chapped lips, tormenting their bodies and minds with longing and pain, and when they frantically grabbed it, they had to look at the ground that had been drained by the dry sand layer, and sighed. After several times like this, it was difficult for the Imperial Coalition to maintain a tight formation and regain the sloppy military spirit.
And the road they passed was littered with Meinster's surrender leaflets, which read: "Want water and food? Surrender! Mainster has prepared a great dinner and wine for you! ”
Tsykov ordered the leaflets to be burned, but quite a few soldiers secretly put them away. By nightfall, a large number of soldiers had fled, and although James had shouted in a hoarse voice to capture the fleeing soldiers and be executed, deserters continued to appear in the Imperial camp for the next few days.
By mid-September 1893, Meinster had reversed his previous tactics of rioting and launched a small but unusually fierce assault on the Imperial coalition forces, with a large number of Allied soldiers buried in the desert sand.
On September 16, 1893, the total strength of the Imperial Coalition had been sharply reduced from 70,000 to less than 20,000, of which less than 20,000 died directly in battle, and most of them died of disease, starvation, suicide, and escape.
The last 20,000 soldiers were mainly soldiers of the Eastern Frontier Army of the Reich directly under Tsykov, and in such a difficult situation, there were still no large number of deserters from the border guards, on the one hand, because of Tsykov's spiritual charisma, and on the other hand, because of an order issued by Tsykov as a last resort - if there is a deserter, his family members in the empire will be punished by the clan!
But it was impossible to keep such a unit high in morale and fighting spirit, and in order to keep the Imperial soldiers alive, Tsikov did everything he could, including making the soldiers eat and drink their excrement like livestock, and the situation was unbearable to see. It can be said that Tsikov has already created a miracle in the history of marching, but this miracle does not win him any glory.
Looking at the soldiers of the Falatiss Empire who had fought with him for many years, and now looked haggard, had bloodless faces, and ragged clothes, and were as strong as Tsykov, he couldn't help but have a faint face, and secretly lamented: Once upon a time, the imperial army, which carried all the glory and pride in the world and was called the invincible hero of the world, has now become a beggar in the desert......
At noon that day, on the sand close to the city of Meinster, the main force of the Meinster army finally appeared! This force was far smaller than Tsykov had expected, with only 10,000 men lined up in a prismatic formation in front of the Imperial Army.
At the tip of the prismatic phalanx, Alexander the King of Meinster, armed with a blood-colored sword and wearing gold armor, rode on a white horse without a trace of variegation. St. Karen. Dominis. Meinster stood out alone in front of the formation, becoming the most eye-catching target in Mainster's army. His golden armor was shining brightly in the midday sun.
No one doubts that the most important battle is already on the verge of breaking out!
"Use my last military career in Chikov to witness the birth of an immortal general and a peerless powerhouse!" General Tsykov sighed in his heart, and without hesitation, he quickly ordered: "Soldiers! This is our final battleground! As long as we destroy the enemies in front of us, we can go home! ”
After saying that, Tsikov took the lead and rushed to the enemy formation, and the 20,000 imperial soldiers did not know whether they were infected by the spirit of the commander, or whether they aroused their fighting spirit at the moment of life and death, and closely followed their commander to raise the blade in his hand and drown towards Meinster like a tide!
(Records of Imperial Heroes. Biography of General Tsikov)
;