The battle raged in Verdun and lasted until the fifteenth day, when the merchants finally understood what the Desik wanted to do, and in this short fifteen days, the defense line of the main peak of Lens was broken through twice, leaving only the last but most dangerous line. The West Verdes region and the twin peaks of the Petit Lens were also repeatedly attacked by the Desiks.

General Florian chose a tactic called "whetstone", which was first invented by a coalition leader during the First Continental War, that is, when the attacker has an advantage in numbers, attack multiple defensive nodes of the defenders, with the main purpose of killing and injuring the defending soldiers, gradually breaking through and cleaning up at fixed points, and wearing down the will and personnel of the defenders to the greatest extent, without considering their own casualties.

This tactic, due to the strict requirements for the attacking side, rarely appears on the official battlefield. Many undisciplined attackers tend to collapse before the defenders lose enough casualties.

However, it was precisely because of the strict discipline of the Desik army, and their good organization ensured that their wounded were properly treated in a timely manner, and the ratio of casualties between the Desik and the Shang League remained at a level of 1 to 1 throughout the Second Campaign. You know, the Desik army has always been in a state of attack, which has won General Florian considerable fame in later generations.

Prior to this, Florian was only a general of the Western Desic, one of the five generals of the Military Joint Council, who had been in charge of the Western Frontier of the Desic. And in the early stages of the Second Continental War, his "whetstone" tactics shone as brightly as Jim Guderian's "blitzkrieg", laying a solid foundation for Desik's overwhelming offensive in the early days.

The entire battle of Verdun was actually divided into three areas, and Florian and his five regiments traveled between the main position of Lens and the west Verdon and the petit Lance. In this way, six attacks were launched on the main peak of Lens, the West Verde, the main peak of Lens, the twins of Lesser Lance, the West Verdeen, and the main peak of Lens, each lasting about one or two days.

During this period, the Desik army used a lot of wolf smoke to cover the attack, while the Shang Alliance used a large number of bows and arrows to saturate the attack. In the first phase of the fifteen-day Battle of Verdun, the Deciks left 30,000 corpses in three battlefields, and inflicted about 28,000 casualties on the side of the Shang Alliance. The casualty ratio was close to one to one, which made both Desik and the Shang Alliance a little unbearable. Finally, on July 31, the Desiks opted for a truce.

The climate came to the hottest summer of the Business Alliance, and under the high temperature, more than 60,000 corpses fell on the battlefield in the Verdun area, so that the leaders of the Business Alliance ~ representatives who came to inspect almost vomited on the spot. The count, who was appointed by King Manning, once boasted of being a "good soldier" representative of the Shang League, was deeply stimulated by the cruel scene in front of him.

General Etienne lost a lot of weight in just half a month, which shows the cruelty of the war. "Your Excellency Envoy (Note 1), we have basically stopped the Desiks out of the Verdun area, and although the casualties are somewhat heavy, they are also not comfortable with the Desiks. ”

"On this hot day, why don't you deal with these corpses? Aren't you afraid of epidemics?" This envoy seemed to understand some truths, and General Etienne was stunned for a moment, but he didn't expect it.

"Not long after it ended, when it gets dark today, someone will be sent to clean it up, and by today, more than 20,000 corpses have been pulled away from the back of the mountain, and there is no time to deal with it, envoy. However, this is not the most urgent thing, and I think the chairman of the business alliance will probably have to consider another thing. ”

"What's the matter?"

"Recruit troops, expand the army, replenish the troops!" said Etienne, who picked up the pen and paper on the table and showed it to the envoy, "We have lost more than six thousand men in the line of defense in the valley, and in the Verdun area we have lost twenty-eight thousand men so far, which is thirty-five thousand. In the entire Verdun defense line, there are still about 10,000 people left in the 12th and 13th armies, and 12,000 mercenary corps remaining. "

"In other words, your current strength is only about half of what it was before the war, and if I don't help you replenish your troops, you won't be able to hold on, right?" The envoy understood what General Etienne meant, and also understood why General Etienne had lost so much weight in just fifteen days, which was completely due to too much psychological pressure.

"How did the Desiks manage to do so much with such a loss?" the envoy still had a question that he did not understand.

"I doubt it," General Etienne hesitated, "Edward VI simply used these two battles to wipe out all the troops of his previous coup rivals on the front line here. According to my scouts, they have added a number of troops. At the same time, for this war, the Desik people have been preparing for a long time, and those lost military supplies are constantly being transported from White Rock City and Black Harbor. ”

"General Etienne, tell me, can you still hold this?" The envoy looked into General Etienne's eyes, and there was a hint of confusion in the eyes of the leader of the mercenary legion, "How many people are left, how long are they left, there are no people left, I can't stand it." This is not a battlefield, this is a meat grinder!"

This sentence of General Etienne was recorded by the clerk present, and when later generations analyzed this battlefield, most of them liked to use his sentence to describe it, "meat grinder", indeed, the Verdun area is a huge meat grinder, and it is so cruel to send the flesh and blood of both sides to such a meat grinder.

The Battle of Verdun entered its second phase in August. Perhaps the Desikhs were over-depleted by the soldiers, or perhaps General Florian had more ideas, and when there was still the last line of defense left on the main peak of Lens, the Desiks actually gave up directly attacking the main line of defense of Lens, and at the same time, the Desik people in the area of West Verdun and the Lesser Lens twin peaks also withdrew.

When the scout brought the news to General Etienne's headquarters, the generals present were a little incredulous. The commander of the New Tenth Army was shot in the arm by a bow and arrow while directing the battle, and he looked a little funny in the headquarters with a bandage, and he shouted eagerly, "Really withdraw?"

The scout nodded, "Yes, yes, we did see a large group of Desiks heading west. ”

The main peak of Lens has been billowing black smoke for dozens of days because of the large number of wolf smoke packets thrown by the Desiks, and it is difficult for the people on the mountain to see the situation under the mountain.

So much so that every day before the scouts attack, these scouts have to be decided by lottery, and the scouts who are selected will hug their comrades one by one, knowing that they may not be able to come back if they go out. Before going into battle, the mercenary legion will reward these warriors with a large amount of gold, which is the tradition of the mercenary legion, and those who are not afraid of death will get the most gold.

So, when the commander of the New Tenth Army asked that question, the scout looked a little angry, "Yes, Legion Commander, our brother, bring back this news with your life, Desik, really withdraw!"

The legion commander immediately threw himself in front of the military map on the table, studied it carefully for a while, and then raised his head, "General Etienne, the Duchy of Kosok to the west and the Duchy of Karin to the southwest, what do they want to do? ”

Etienne didn't say a word, and none of the officers present could figure it out.

"So, are we going to pursue, General Etienne?" asked the commander of the New Tenth Army.

This is a question that not only the commander of the New Tenth Army wants to ask, but also General Etienne himself, and every officer wants to ask this question, "The Deciks have lost so many soldiers in front of the mountain, have they mutinied or are they really unable to hold on, and they are ready to choose new targets, if they can pursue them at this time, they may be able to annihilate them in one fell swoop." ”

Therefore, General Etienne did not speak, but his adjutant helped him to say, "We have been tasked with holding the area of Verdun and organizing the Desik to enter the core area of the Manning Kingdom. ”

"Fart!" the commander of the New Tenth Army roared and overturned the table, not at all like a person who could only move with one hand, "Our mission is to kill the Desiks, and the Lord of the Merchant Alliance~ Xi Hui has transferred the most elite troops of the entire Merchant Alliance to the Verdun area, Carlin in the southwest, Kosok in the west, what else is there over there, the guard of the Grand Duke of Carlin?

"Why don't you send a letter to General Guo's army to the east and block the Desiks?" asked the adjutant tentatively.

General Etienne picked up the map on the ground and re-unfolded it, pointing with a pen, "General Guo's army alone is not enough, his army is now the only field army in the three northwestern countries, he must leave at least one legion to guard against the wolf cavalry flowing into the Sunset Mountains, relying only on the remaining two legions, they can't stop the Desik." I estimate that the Desikhs still have an army of about sixty thousand left, unless ......"

"Unless anything!" said the commander of the New Tenth Army, glaring at General Etienne.

"I know you're a Kallin!" General Pearson, looking at the military map lightly, "I know what you mean, if you drive the Desiks to the west, they will most likely enter the Duchy of Kosok and the Duchy of Karin." Our business alliance is one of the nine countries, and it is natural to defend Carlin to defend the business alliance. Unless, unless we abandon the Verdun position, follow from behind, and together with General Guo's men, flank the Desik people in front and back, and surround them here!"

General Etienne's finger focused on the military map, where a large area had just been enclosed by General Etienne, and General Pearson leaned in to look at it, where several large letters read "Sedan!"

Note 1: The Earl sent by the Lord of the Shang Alliance ~ Xihui came to inspect the situation of the war and was called a special envoy.