While the ruins of Broken Mountain are still struggling at the end of the bitter cold, the Crucible Town, which is closer to the south, has ushered in the first green shoots of the new year, and the Sifang Avenue, which was once covered in ice and snow, has finally revealed its original appearance.

This is the first stop on Loren's army south, leaving the Crucible and continuing south to find the crossing of the Gem River, bypassing the mountains of Elems and the West Sacland, and heading directly to the imperial capital of Golovin.

He was accompanied by the 1,500-strong Byrne Knights, who had been withdrawn from the Battle of the Valley of the Blood, and the 1,500 men were the last remaining elite troops that could continue to fight.

The rest of the remnants of the army all followed Charlotte and Isaac on their way back to Byrne - of course, mixed with the reluctance of a certain megalomaniac and the reluctance of a small wizard, but they were brought back to the Red Blood Castle by Charlotte.

Although there were only 1,500 men left, it was almost impossible to encounter any enemies during the trip, and it was much more comfortable to have villages, castles, and towns scattered along the way, and not to worry about supplies and rest.

It didn't matter if they encountered the enemy - the whole army was cavalry, Loren could withdraw from the battlefield at any time, and at the same time call for help from Brandon, who was reorganizing his army south, and 30,000 Imperial legionnaires could rush to the battlefield at any time.

In the open area of the plains, the Azorean elves went head-to-head, and in addition to the fact that it was still a local battle, the "hillbillies" of East Sacland were not at all intimidated.

Moreover, Loren's mission was to reach the imperial capital as soon as possible and join up with the 80,000 Byrne Legions who were already stationed there - even if he encountered the enemy, it was his duty to evacuate as soon as possible.

Fifteen hundred Byrne Knights are enough to handle most encounters.

As for why he chose Crucible as his last stop, Loren was hungry.

As the largest supply of ordnance logistics in East Sackland, Loren was impressed by the hundreds of workshops, the Empire's premier alchemist academy, the most advanced equipment, and the mountains of weapons and equipment.

Although he could guess that most of the supplies must have been swept away by Brandon, otherwise he would not have been able to arm his army of 30,000 men anyway, but the purpose of Loren's trip was not the supplies, but the artisans and wizards of Crucible.

After the fall of Ebolden, Byrne has obtained a very complete wizarding theory system from the nine-pointed star wizard tower that retreated to the Red Blood Castle with Loren himself, and with a group of qualified craftsmen, he can truly exert the power of this system and become an important help for Byrne.

These people are all the most skilled weaponsmiths and wizards, and their level is at the top of the Empire, even compared to the dwarves - if it were in peacetime, Loren would certainly not hit their attention, but now that the situation is special, there is a chance to dig into the corners of the Empire.

It doesn't matter if Brandon asks for these people afterwards - the advantage of the system and organization is that as long as it is well built, even if there is a loss of personnel, there is no need to worry, and Byrne can completely rebuild his own team in the vacant positions.

The idea was beautiful, and Loren knew it wouldn't be that simple, but what he didn't expect was that the problem would be more troublesome than he thought.

"Occupied?"

Looking at the demon hunter who was out of breath and rushed back to deliver information, the black-haired wizard's expression was slightly surprised: "This is the hinterland of the Prince of East Sackland, how can it be occupied by the enemy?"

"Not the long ears of the Azores, Lord Duke. The witcher's face was equally ugly, with minor injuries to his shoulder and chest:

"It's the rebels. ”

"Rebels?"

"That's right, the hillbillies of East Sackland. The witcher gritted his teeth and said, "These scum who escaped from the Ebolden battlefield and retreated from the battlefield of Ebolden joined forces with the East Sacland landlords who rebelled against the imperial capital's orders, and occupied the Crucible Town while the legion was heading north to rescue the fortress of Broken Boundary Mountain!"

"It's not just them - as we retreated, we found several corpses of Azorean elves outside the Crucible. Lusen, who was on the side, glanced at the witcher and added:

"At least a small number of Azorean elves have passed through the Ebolden Line and into the heart of East Sackland—an unknown number, as there is no sign of a large-scale legionary movement. ”

"But there must have been no less, the few villages around the Crucible had been almost completely destroyed, some had been looted by the rebels, some were not—the property had not been touched at all, but the entire village had been wiped out, and there was almost no obvious sign of resistance, presumably by a small group of Azorean elves. ”

"Deserters, rebels, and the Azorean elves who followed the pursuit and stormed the heart of East Sackland... Now the banks of the Jewel River are full of warbands, large and small, flowing warbands, and there are battles everywhere!"

After a pause, the gray-eyed boy continued: "The rebel army that occupies Crucible Town right now should be the largest 'force' around, relying on the walls and supplies of Crucible Town, it can even resist the attack of the Azorean elves. ”

"Taking the Crucible now will almost certainly provoke a reaction around us - not only will we have to wipe out the rebels in the Crucible, but we may even have the deserters and elves fighting, there are not many of them, but there should be thousands of them combined. ”

"If that happens, we may have to prepare to hold on to the Crucible and wait for rescue, Brandon. ”

The black-haired wizard frowned.

Originally, it was thought that the only way to break through the Ebolden defense line was the 30,000 elven warrior army besieging the imperial capital along the Baohe River, at least the vast majority of the legion structure should be relatively complete.

As for the rebels in East Sacraland... In two or three months, even if Brandon has not been able to put down the rebellion completely, at least the vast majority of the area, especially the hinterland near the Gem River, should have stabilized.

Now it seems that the situation is far more complicated than he initially expected.

As Lusen continued to add, a series of images flooded into the black-haired wizard's mind.

The Azorean elves assembled in Ebolden, or the "little elven prince", gradually found the gaps and weak points in the Ebolden defense line after many attempted raids, and immediately launched a fierce attack;

The unusually fierce offensive greatly exceeded the imagination of the empire, and the originally tight defense line gradually collapsed, and the elven prince, who seized the opportunity, immediately organized an army of about 30,000 as the vanguard, and marched along the Baobao River by land and water, completely breaking through the defense line and marching to the imperial capital Golovin.

At this time, the commanders of the two corps of the Eberden line, the Minister of War Sevelin and the Grand Duke of Ellemont, Ully Wirtz, were divided.

The Minister of War insisted on continuing to hold the Ebolden Line, but Archduke Yuli Wirtz decided that he should abandon the line and pursue the 30,000 vanguard of the Azorean elves to defend the imperial capital.

As a result of the contradictions between the two sides, the Ebolden defense line was severely understaffed and finally completely collapsed under the tide of the Azorean elves.

So, a "coincidence" that no one expected began.

The heavy legions of the empire did not expect the attack of the elves to be so ferocious, and the formation was scattered under the rout along the way, and the deserters mixed with the rebels withdrew into the hinterland of the empire;

The elves, who originally only planned to feint, did not expect the empire to collapse so quickly, so they could only pursue all the way, and as a result, they also rushed into the territory of the Prince of East Sacland with the deserters;

The elven prince who attacked the imperial capital all the way south probably didn't have time to gather the scattered army, and as the vanguard broke through the empire's defenses, it couldn't keep up with the large army, and more and more troops were scattered.

The two sides just fought and ran like this, and in the end, the establishments of both sides completely collapsed, sprinkled everywhere like beans, and no one could contact anyone, and finally became one hundred-man war group after another, falling into a situation of fighting on their own.

Those who flee can't be defeated, and those who chase can't be defeated... It's pretty much the real scene of the battlefield in East Sackland right now.

After a minute of silence, Loren finally couldn't help but sigh.

"Can you find a way to get around?"

Now that the situation is completely out of control, Loren doesn't plan to stay here too long, he has to go to the imperial capital to join the Byrne army as soon as possible, and he can't waste more time here.

As for the mess in front of him, leave it to Brandon.

"Duke, I'm afraid it can't. ”

Regrel, the Earl of White Horse Peak, said in a deep voice, his expression a little embarrassed: "The location of the Crucible Town is very critical - although the terrain around here is relatively flat, it also means that our whereabouts are exposed in front of them. ”

"If we can't ensure the safety behind us, it means that when we board the ship in the port, we are very likely to be attacked from behind. ”

"Unless there is a detour from the east into the mountains of Ellemont and then north to the imperial capital of Golovin, it is necessary to ensure that the Forge is at least under the control of the Empire - but in that case ......"

Rigrel stopped talking, but Loren knew what he was trying to say.

Once you choose to take a detour, you may not be able to join up with the 80,000 Byrne troops who have already entered the city before the imperial capital of Golovin is completely surrounded by the Azorean army.

If you're unlucky, you might have to fight the enemy under the city.

"I said Rigrel, are you exaggerating?" Ranmaros, the Earl of Lake City, was a little unimpressed: "This town is only so big, we have a full 1,500 cavalry, and as long as those hillbillies in East Sackland dare to go out of the city, they will come to die on their own initiative." ”

"What's the point, even if it's the same as you say—we only have fifteen hundred men and can't hold this town, and if we do fight them, we will surely alarm the warbands around us, large and small. ”

The Earl of White Horse Peak was a little angry and said, "Our current task is to get out of this big quagmire, and unnecessary battles must be avoided!"

"I know what you mean, but there's no need to make such a fuss - even if they see it, would they dare to attack a group of heavily armed knights?"

"Who knows, what if they are really so afraid of death, what if they have projectile weapons in their hands - have you ever wondered what it would be like to wait for us to board the ship, dozens or hundreds of stone cannons and alchemy bombs will fall from the sky?!"

"How is that possible?!"

"Is it impossible?!"

The two of them and the black-haired wizard turned their heads in a "tacit understanding" and looked at the witcher who had just come back from reconnaissance.

"Duke, and... The two Counts ...... "The witcher twitched his throat, as if he didn't know how to explain:

"In fact, before we came, we had already received information that His Highness Brandon de Salion had ordered a batch of heavy trebuchets and ballistas in Forgetown to bombard the castles of the East Sacland Lords in order to quell the rebellion as soon as possible, but when he arrived at Broken Mountains, his legion did not have these equipment. ”

"Now it looks like I'm afraid all of these siege weapons have left in the Crucible and fallen into the hands of the rebels. ”

"......" Loren Turin.

"......" Lanmaros.

"......" Rigrel.

"......" Lusen.

The atmosphere lasted for a minute.

Well, it's not the first time I've encountered such a bad thing, and it's not the first time I've been pitted by Brandon, so it's not a big deal...... Loren "comforted" himself so much.

Although if Brandon was here now, he might not be able to resist blowing this guy's head out.

"Organize a surprise feint to see if you can attract the attention of the rebels and make them hide in the town and not dare to come out. ”

After a moment of silence, Loren made a decision: "Rigrel is right, we are delaying time in this kind of place, but we can't be afraid of these guys when they retreat - Lusen!"

"In!"

The leader of the Firmament Wings was shocked, and his expression was resolute and a little excited.

"Lead three hundred witchers and wait until the evening to launch a simultaneous assault from the gates north and south of Crucible—no siege, let alone siege, but as loud as possible so that they feel safe in the city. ”

"Yes!"

"The rest of the Byrne knights are ready to cover the witcher's feint - in the evening, in small groups, retreat in the direction of the harbor ......"

Before the black-haired wizard could finish speaking, the somewhat frustrated Lanmaros' expression suddenly changed, as if he subconsciously raised his right hand and pointed behind the black-haired wizard.

"Forgive me, Duke... But I don't think you need to organize any feints. "The cavalry commander who has always been very aggressive, his expression is very interesting.

In the direction he was pointing, large clouds of smoke were swirling in their direction—the skilled Lanmaros could judge the enemy's approximate strength at a glance from the smoke.

It was dominated by light and heavy infantry, probably without cavalry, and was about twice as numerous as the Byrne knights, and was in a fast-advancing forced marching formation.

And at the moment, there is only one enemy who can organize such forces and attack them......

"The rebels in Crucible, they themselves came up and died. ”

。 m.