Regardless of the horrific casualty figures, the battle of Somnas has always gone in the direction it has set out. From a strategic point of view, this is a war of attrition that is conducive to the depletion of the Union Army and the disintegration of the Norman army, but as Ze said in the war games, if this battle is not commanded by Field Marshal Sedlintz, then the Union Army has a great chance of victory, but conversely, since Sedlinz is in command on the Western Front, he can mobilize resources from all sides to support the battle - he can completely jump out of the battle itself and mobilize other troops on the Western Front to carry out tough military operations in other areas, Thus changing the situation of the battle in Somsonas.

On the 17th day of the battle, the Normans assaulted Mason, the capital of Lorraine, from the northern front, which was another strategic stronghold heavily garrisoned by the Union army, a traditional industrial and densely populated area of Lorraine, and an important hub for Lorraine to connect with the rear. If something goes wrong with Mason, the Norman army can easily reach the edge of the Ice Sea, cutting off Lorraine from the rear by land.

Although this was the case in the last war, when the Union military and civilians used air and sea to maintain the rear and Lorraine, the overall situation of the war will make the Union army more and more passive, and for the Lorrainians, they will enter the era of bloody and brutal guerrilla warfare.

Mason has no room for error, this is the unanimous judgment of the generals of the Union Army. However, in order to prepare for and implement the Somsonas war epidemic, they mobilized the combat forces in Lorraine as much as possible. Although Mason still nominally has nearly ten divisions of federal troops and dozens of battalions of reserve troops, you must know that these regular troops have been withdrawn from the front line to rest and replenish, and many of the troops have only two or three percent of their combat effectiveness, and those reserve battalions are mainly newly recruited recruits. The only good news was that General Arteus himself was in the presence of Mason, who was experienced and steady, and could mobilize all the combat forces in Lorraine within his authority.

Under the command of the Federation veteran, Confederate forces engaged in a fierce exchange of fire with the incoming Norman army north of Mason. Due to the stubborn resistance of the Union Army, the Normans were unable to break through the defenses along the way, but this was clearly not the only trick of the Normans. On the 22nd day of the Battle of Somsonas, the Normans attacked the most important military stronghold south of Lorraine, Slane. Even more worrying was the fact that it took only a day and a half for the Normans to break through the three lines of defense on Slane's periphery. Although they were temporarily blocked by the core line of defense of the Union army, the ensuing gunboats launched a heavy artillery bombardment on Slane.

The Norman ground forces put together excellent firing positions for the rapidly maneuvering aerial artillery ships, and in just over two hours of artillery fire, a large number of air installations built by the Union army in Slane were blown to pieces. By the time the Federal Air Force had launched a counterattack with determination at all costs, the Norman flying gunboats had begun to withdraw. A fierce air battle broke out between the pursuing Union fighters and the Norman fighters covering their flying gunboats west of Slane, and the Federal Air Force failed to take advantage.

After nightfall, the Norman ground forces launched a ferocious offensive against Slane, who had lost heavy equipment support, and broke through to the heart of the Union Army that night. Had it not been for the timely arrival of Union reinforcements to repel the Norman army, Slane would have fallen before Somsonas.

The tense situation in Slane forced the Federation to shift its attention from Somsonas to southern Lorraine. In comparison, Slane's strategic significance is clearly superior. In order to hold Slyon, General Arteus had to move from a limited number of troops. As a result, the Union forces that had been deployed on the battlefield of Somsonas not only did not continue to receive additional troops, but instead had some heavy equipment redeployed.

The Normans seemed to be well aware of the movements of the Union troops. Over the next few days, Norman combat aircraft and light ships frequently broke into the heart of Lorraine to raid Union forces and their baggage as they maneuvered along the railroads and roads. This kind of aerial safari warfare is more sharp than the ground guerrilla warfare they are good at. The Federation troops, who had been unable to hold their strongholds, were not only exhausted by the enemy's mobilization, but also lost valuable strength after leaving their positions.

From the battle of Somsonas to the thirty-second day, the original momentum of the Union army had weakened a lot, and the Normans launched a new offensive after resting and replenishing. The battlefield of Somnas saw the heaviest artillery storm since the campaign began, with Norman ground forces attacking the Union forces on their heels, while Norman ships carrying elite Marines parachuted in various positions behind the Union lines. This compact three-dimensional attack has tested the battle line of the Union Army many times, although the Union Army has prepared a variety of rear hands, but under this tsunami-like attack, in the face of this situation, it finally failed to support this wave of enemy heavy blows, and the industrial area of Somsonas and the Liberty Canal of Lorraine fell into the hands of the Normans one after another. Soon, many important strongholds in the depths were also occupied by the Normans.

In this case, the three-member committee had to face the reality that the battle of Somsonas had already failed, sending an urgent telegram to General Artus. Although the Federation had a clear advantage over the Norman army in Lorraine at this time, and had strong popular support, General Arteus was left without troops. He had to order the Union forces on the battlefield of Somsonas to retreat in an orderly manner and retreat from the battle and assemble in the Mason area.

In Slane, in the south, with the end of the Battle of Somsonas, the Norman army also seemed to be infused with great spiritual strength, and penetrated the core defense area of the Union army with overwhelming courage. Within two days, General Arteus reluctantly gave the order to retreat to two important battle headquarters. Tens of thousands of federal troops and huge reserves and baggage troops retreated to Mason, the capital of Lorraine.

Offensive operations, the Union army is sometimes lackluster, retreat operations, and they are exceptionally experienced. There were many ways to defeat the Normans, but they wanted to inflict heavy damage or even annihilate the Union forces as they retreated. The Normans were not necessarily handy. With the joint efforts of the generals and their respective units, the hundreds of thousands of Union soldiers and civilians who participated in the Battle of Somsonas retreated to the Mason area relatively smoothly.

Located in the plains southeast of Lorraine, Mason is the ultimate railway junction in the southwestern part of the Federation, making it suitable for economic development. After rapid expansion in the post-war years, its urban area had increased by more than half, but even so, Mason was not a militarily suitable stronghold.

A city, if it is only not ideally located, can still be turned into a strong fortress if the defenders are determined to die. In fact, today's Mason is not much different from the last war in Austria. The rivers and hills, as well as the ravines to the south, added more tactical space for the defenders.

As a veteran with deep experience, General Arteus did not choose between the conventional options, but ostensibly consolidated the defense in Mason, posing as if he was going to fight the enemy to the death, but in fact used the repair period of just a few days to put all the men and horses in order, and then launched a thunderous counterattack in the direction of Slane with the elite assault division as the main combat force.

This counterattack was of a tactical nature and was intended to hold back the Norman forces advancing towards Mason in the direction of Slien at a greater distance, creating the most favorable battlefield situation possible for the upcoming Battle of Mason. After the counterattack began, it was a surprise to the Normans. In the Harg Forest, between Slane and Mason, the Union forces won a rainy night victory, annihilating thousands of Norman troops with minimal casualties.

The Federation forces took advantage of the rapid momentum of the counterattack to re-approach the Slane area, and both sides were well aware that Slien's military value was not high when the original military installations were destroyed and the new fortifications were not erected and consolidated. As a result, the Norman army surrendered Slane without resistance. Considering the elongation of the battle line and the danger of being cut off by the Normans, the Union forces that fought back only symbolically regained Slane, and the elite combat forces quietly retreated to the periphery of Mason.

Two days later, the Normans realized that their opponents had not taken the bait and recaptured Slane with a regiment of troops.

In the direction of Somsonas, the Union army sent a small reconnaissance unit to conduct combat reconnaissance and found that the Norman army was massing forces here in preparation for an attack along the canal in the direction of Mason. As a result, the Union Army chose a strong man to break his wrist, blew up a series of transportation facilities along the route, and blocked the canal.

Listening to the rumbling thunder coming from ahead, Weiss's mood was extremely heavy. Each roar was like a drumstick hitting his heart, and there was an indescribable pain. Lorraine ushered in its golden period of development after the war, and new industries represented by the Somsonas and Lorraine Free Canal Industrial Zone sprung up, bringing a new dawn to this ancient and backward land. If it weren't for this abominable war, Lorraine would have become the most dynamic region in the western part of the Confederation and even the entire Confederation in the foreseeable years, and the people's living standards would continue to improve, which could have become the starting point for him to move towards a larger political arena. It's a pity that all these beautiful dreams were shattered in the rumbling cannons.

The most painful thing was not only there, hundreds of thousands of Lorraine residents were stationed around Mason under the command of General Arteus, and they still had the strength to launch a new counterattack, but the Normans now had the initiative in the entire battlefield. As they moved more and more troops to the Western Front, under the command of their genius commander, Field Marshal Sedlinz, they were bound to carry on the unfinished business of the previous war if the rear stabilized.

In Mason's face against a strong opponent, Weiss didn't have much confidence in winning. In his conversation with General Arteus, it was already evident that the veteran was pragmatically prepared to lead the Lorraine army to the rear, which is what a commander should be prepared for. Up to now, the General Staff of the Federal Army has never issued an order to defend to the death, and in fact, it is unlikely that they will be asked to give up an inch of land and fight to the death against the enemy.

During the war with the Normans, the Confederates had long understood that preserving their strength was the first priority, and that the gains and losses of each city and place did not matter, and for Weiss, he was faced with an extremely difficult choice: whether to withdraw with the army or stay in Lorraine with the people.

The Clumber-Haythen family had been moved to the rear as a special group, and Ze could also arrange to evacuate with them, so he had no worries. However, his status is no longer the same as in the past, as the administrator of the southwestern border provinces of the Union, and an important person responsible for the mobilization and deployment of Lorraine reserves during the war, if he falls into the hands of the enemy, his influence will inevitably be different from that of the previous war.

Weiss thought about this for a long time. In times of peace, the people of Lorraine trusted him and supported him, but in times of war and crisis, how could he abandon the people and retreat to the rear only for his own safety? If he stays, it means that the people of Lorraine can still find their backbone and straighten their backs under the iron hooves of the enemy and in the face of the enemy's coercion, even if guerrilla warfare will make them pay a lot of sacrifices.

Indomitable, this is the indomitable spirit of the people of Lorraine since ancient times.

So, when General Arteus consulted him again, he replied with his head held high: "Retreat is sometimes a strategic and rational move, and I will not despair because the General Staff or the Lorraine Command have made a decision to retreat, I will stay and do what I am good at, and do what I should do." ”