Later historians, when studying this battle, will consider whether the choice made by Commander Etienne would have been different if the general of the New Tenth Army had not been General Pearson from the Duchy of Carlin. After all, no matter how much the army represented the Merchant Alliance, General Pearson was still a Kalin.

When the Desik army left the West Verdun region and began to maneuver to the west and southwest of the Manning Kingdom, General Pearson naturally feared that Carlin, who had already sent all his troops to the Manning Kingdom, would not be able to resist the invasion of the Desiks.

The choice that General Etienne later made is quite puzzling, but some historians believe that General Etienne, as the commander of the mercenary legion representing the Lord of the Merchant Alliance~, naturally made it his duty to protect the entire territory of the Merchant Alliance. Similarly, blindly defending is not very conducive to a way of fighting the Shang Alliance, and if there is a chance to choose to defeat the De Scik army in the field, then it is also a possible option.

It's just that they, like General Etienne at the time, overestimated the combat capabilities of the Shang Alliance's army, and at the same time underestimated or didn't realize at all that these seemingly possible options were planned by the Desiks. What is even more exaggerated is that, from the perspective of later generations, the entire battle of Verdun was fought rather strangely, and the Desiks never showed their clear objectives, including the strange sentence of losing 30,000 soldiers in the Verdun area and suddenly withdrawing in front of the last line of defense.

Later generations know that the battle that took place in the territory of the Shang League from July to August in the first five years around the Verdun area was called the "Battle of Verdun", but in fact, few people know that in the battle plan originally formulated by the De Sik base camp, the name of this battle plan is called "Dusk", and his meaning is very simple, dusk, naturally it is "the end of the Shang League".

What is even more puzzling to future generations is that the leader of the Business Alliance~ Xihui, an organization known as the highest organization of the Business Alliance, played a role in the war. It is said that he should have strong constraints on the generals who are fighting abroad, and at least the major battle plan needs to be approved by the chairman~meeting. However, the fact is that General Etienne and the commanders of the front line, after a brief discussion, sent a letter to the Lord~ Xihui and General Guo at the same time. When there was no reply from the closer Manning City, General Guo, who was far away in South Madur, had already taken his two legions, Manning's New First Army and the New Seventh Army of the Three Northwest, to the southeast Manning Kingdom.

In the entire Three Northwestern Kingdoms, only the New Third Army was left as the main defender, supplemented by some local garrisons, to guard against some of the Steppenwolf riders who fled into the Sunset Mountains.

When Flamingo traveled back and forth with letters to and from the countries and armies of the Shang Alliance, General Guo had already set off with more than 20,000 infantry. Passing through the largest grove of Southern Madur, none of the scouts noticed that in the depths of the woods there was a small group of Desik soldiers, who were gathered.

"How's it going, is the Ranger Captain back?" Jim Guderian, the commander of the Steppenwolf Rider of Desik, had not taken his Steppenwolf Rider into the Sunset Mountains, as the Merchant Alliance thought. Instead, he didn't know how to use it, and took some of the most elite wolf riders to hide in the "Whispering Forest" (Note 1) on the border with Kosok south of Southern Madur.

This forest sits on the border of Kosok and Southern Madur and has always been the border between the two countries. General Guo Lao once passed through this forest when he came to fight in Southern Madur with his army. It seems that Jim and his small army have deceived everyone.

The captain of the rangers had indeed just returned, and the strong De Syk soldier who had dismounted from the wolf ride came to Jim panting, and walked forward with a De Sik military salute with his right chest: "Part of the main force of the Shang Alliance will stay under the city of South Madur, and the other part will go to the direction of the Manning Kingdom." I saw the banner of the Shang Alliance in the departing ranks. ”

Jim grinned, "Operation Twilight seems to be going quite well, this time, the merchants should be crying bitterly." ”

The Verdun area was eventually left by Captain Etienne to defend part of the army of the Little Lance Twins, while he himself took the mercenary corps, the New 10th Army, the 12th Army, the The Thirteenth Army pursued in the direction the Desik had left, despite the fact that the entire army had suffered heavy losses during this period, including the mercenaries, and the soldiers were badly wounded and the new recruits were not sufficient, although the Merchant Alliance had recruited as many new soldiers as possible, and they had to join General Edion halfway without being fully armed. Aside from the fact that the stockpiles of supplies are quite sufficient, this army is not completely prepared by any means.

But war, who can say for sure?

General Florian took with about 50,000 Desik soldiers, mainly Desik Frontier Infantry Regiment and a small number of Rangers, to withdraw from the West Verde and all the way to the southwest. He now had two options, three hundred miles to the west was the border of the Duchy of Kosok, and three hundred and fifty miles to the southwest was the richer Duchy of Carlin.

The geographical location of the Duchy of Carlin may have been an aspect that prompted General Etienne to make his choice. Once the Desik had breached the borders of the Duchy of Carlin, they could cross the eastern part of the Duchy of Carlin from north to south, and then attack the Merchant Alliance headquarters directly from the western part of Manning, thus achieving the goal of bypassing the Verdun Line.

Upon receiving Etienne's letter, General Guo immediately understood Etienne's concerns, and from their point of view, it seemed that Florian really thought that Florian could not bear the losses suffered by the Desiks in the Battle of Verdun, and chose to detour from the direction of Carlin. So, before the Lord of the Business Alliance~ Xi Hui replied to him, General Guo Lao rushed over with people in the direction of the junction of Carlin and Manning. At this time, Flamingo was flying to South Madur City with the order that General Guo Lao judged the situation on his own but suggested that the troops should not move. At this moment, fate played a big joke on the Shang Alliance.

Shang Meng chose the too experienced General Guo, who chose to trust his instincts. In other words, if King Lucius had not returned from his mission to San Jose, he would have chosen to let General Guo stay put, and call the two reserve armies in the south of Manning City to the west of Manning City to defend.

It took less than five days for General Guo and his people to rush to the first place called "Sedang" on the border of Carlin and Manning. It was the westernmost and smallest province of the Manning Kingdom. It is said to be a province, but it is actually quite small in size, but it is a rare place where the plains and hills of Manning meet. This small plain is home to the capital of the province, Sedan City, which was once a military stronghold of the Magic Empire during the First Continental War, and after the war, it was designated as the capital of the province by the Manning Kingdom.

Around the castle is a large area of orchards, and in the summer it is the time when the fruits bear fruit, when a large number of apples and pears are ripe and hang on the branches, and the thick fruity fragrance wafts near the castle. As a result of the war, most of the city's inhabitants had been evacuated, and only about 500 local garrisons were left in the city, all of whom had returned to the city from the villages near Sedan.

This stone fortress in the city of Sedan, called "Castle of Carcassonne", has a history of 1,000 years, but time does not seem to have left much of its mark on the city. The stone castle is adorned with Manning's golden three-axe heraldic flag, and the castle walls are marked with strange purple, black, and blue sigils. If there are still the old people of Sedang City, of course, they have all taken refuge in the south now, and they will tell you that these colored imprints were left behind by a large number of magical bombardments on the castle walls during the First Continental War.

General Florian and Captain Etienne made the same choice, and while General Etienne took a fancy to the city of Sedan to intercept it, Desik's Western General also came to Sedan with his army, and the defenders of the city were almost completely unaware. The entire local army of the Manning Kingdom took it for granted that the Desiks would not choose other targets until they captured the Verdun region. Therefore, when the defenders of the city saw the crowd coming to the city from the east, the defending officers chose to jump from the city and end their lives.

The commander of the defenders of Sedan City knew that even if this was once a fortress, it was impossible for the defenders of 500 people to hold the city, and the number of black and oppressive people below would definitely not be less than 50,000, and there were a small number of wolves roaming around. Even many pessimistic soldiers believe that the Verdun line has been breached. When the commander of the defenders jumped from under the tower, the remaining soldiers naturally chose to surrender. So without much effort, Florian led the Desik army to take the fortress of Sedan City.

And whether it was General Guo Lao who came from the northwest, or General Etienne, who followed all the way from the Verdun area, they were all one step late, and could only watch the enemy's army enter the fortress of Sedang

However, since the Desik people chose to enter the city of Sedang, the two generals naturally chose to surround the city of Sedang. There was an exchange of attack and defense for a while, and the besieged who had been in the Verdun area a few days ago became the besiegers outside the city of Sedan.

In General Etienne's headquarters, a cheerful atmosphere began to permeate. The Desik army that entered the Shang Alliance did not exceed 100,000, except for those who died at Verdun, most of the rest are here. As long as they can take Sedang City and destroy these tens of thousands of people, the hard-hit Desik Empire will not be able to continue this war at all, which means that the Shang Alliance will win.

Of course, as the Supreme Commander, General Etienne felt a little uneasy in his heart, although he couldn't say why, after all, the army of Desik had completely chosen to enter the fortress in the city of Sedan, which made no sense at all. However, the tens of thousands of Desiks who were surrounded in the city of Sedan were real. Whatever their plot is, it must be considered after they have been eliminated. So, the captain of the Etienne army went to the lord of the Shang Alliance~ Xihui to send a letter, stating that he would annihilate all the Desik troops with General Guo in Sedang,

The Battle of Sedan began on the morning of the third day when the Desik army entered the city of Sedan and chose to be besieged.