The eyes of the entire merchant alliance were drawn to the Southern Madur Kingdom in the northwest corner of the continent, but the senior officers of the merchant alliance and Manning did not dare to take their eyes off the Grand Canyon in the slightest, because everyone knew that no matter what kind of battle was going on in Southern Madol, the battle at this end of the canyon was the most important thing.

The Grand Canyon stretches for hundreds of miles, from the northernmost mountains to the Moro River, and is the scar left on this continent by the super forbidden spell magic launched by the magicians of the Magic Empire a thousand years ago. If you look at it from the sky, you will see that the entire Grand Canyon is thin at both ends and thick in the middle.

On the east side of the Grand Canyon is the mighty Desik Empire. On the west side, it is mainly the territory of the Manning Kingdom, and the northernmost part of the desert snow field uninhabited area belonging to Southern Madol.

Since Manning is the most core and developed country in the entire Shang Alliance, in previous peacetime, the Shang Alliance and the Desik Empire worked together to build dozens of bridges over the Grand Canyon. These bridges have stone bridges that allow passage for horse-drawn carriages, pedestrians, etc. There are also pedestrian only wooden bridges and chain bridges.

The construction of these bridges was first proposed by the Desik Empire, and later funded by the Desik Empire and the Shang Alliance. Until one day, the emperor of Desik suddenly said, "Obviously, the water transportation of the Moro River can solve most of the problems, and our Desik West is a desert with no people, why should we spend a lot of gold coins to repair these broken bridges." ”

As a result, the vigorous bridge-building movement was suspended, and the emperor's reputation in the future did not seem to be very good, and many people called him a fool.

The smart people of the Shang Alliance also quickly reacted, and it took several years to spend millions of gold coins, and more than a dozen majestic bridges were erected, not only did not bring the imaginary economic gains, but ushered in the arrival of tens of thousands of Desik border guards. As a result, the Shang Alliance also hurriedly recruited a group of mercenaries to defend these bridges. All of a sudden, the moat changed its path.

The head of the business alliance ~ Xi Hui stepped down gloomily.

More than 10 bridges are distributed from south to north, more in the north and south, less in the middle, in the place closest to the Morro River, there are five bridges densely distributed, which is the most important area on the border between Desik and Manning, these five bridges from north to south are: Dunkirk Bridge, West Bridge, Highland Bridge, Lowland Bridge and River Head Bridge.

This part of the Grand Canyon is relatively narrow, so it is particularly intensively repaired, and several bridges are only a few dozen miles apart at most, and it has always been a dense flow of people and caravans. Now, of course, there are only four bridges left, and not long ago the Westside Bridge was completely destroyed.

In addition to these five bridges, more than 40 miles away from the Hetou Bridge, decades ago, on the Morro River, the Manning Kingdom and the White Harbor Kingdom cooperated to build a permanent military fortification, called the "Golden Gate Sluice". Of course, it is not really a sluice, but a set of devastating offensive weapons on both sides of the river.

Once Desik's navy is up the river, the boulders, rolling logs, and machine-made weapons on both sides of the river will rush down the river in an instant, turning everything in the river into powder without mercy. Of course, after the completion of the Kinmen sluice, there has been no actual combat exercise, and no one knows whether it really has such great power.

The two countries have hoarded heavy troops in the vicinity of the five bridges in the gorge, which are about 250 miles long and 60 miles wide, especially in recent years. On the Desik side, the Western general Florian sat in Tarim and commanded sixteen border regiments with a total of 50,000 men. On the side of the Merchant Alliance, the mercenary corps and Manning's New First Army, New Second Army, and New Fifth Army in White Harbor were stationed near several bridges. Hundreds of thousands of troops have been hoarded in the Wulianqiao area, facing each other across the canyon, so much so that some people in the Shang Alliance have described this area as the mainland's ** barrel.

When the news of Southern Madur flew to the border, the atmosphere in the garrison of the merchant alliance army suddenly became tense, according to the order of the mercenary commander General Pierre, all the checkpoints of the bridge were instantly closed, the bridgehead was full of garrisons, and the soldiers were all on standby.

The new army, which had the strongest combat effectiveness, was immediately transferred from the defensive line and went to reinforce the battlefield of South Madur.

The western border guards of Desik on the other side of the bridge were much more relaxed, and they still went out and returned to the camp normally every day, and there seemed to be no special movements, which made the soldiers of the Shang Alliance hate itchy.

The senior officers all knew that the battlefield in South Madur was, after all, a flank battlefield, and when the Shang Alliance fully reacted, the area around the Grand Canyon was the real main battle site.

Pierre, the commander of the mercenary army, was the supreme commander of the entire merchant army, and he arranged for Manning's new Second Army to be stationed in the northernmost area of the Dunkirk Bridge. The mercenary corps were stationed in the Highland Bridge and Lowland Bridge area, while the New Fifth Army was responsible for the Hetou Bridge and the Golden Gate Sluice, which was closest to the Morro River.

In fact, the situation is not so troublesome for the Shang League, at least, as the defender, the natural fortress of the Grand Canyon, so that the Shang League's army is in an invincible position, as long as it is held firmly, the Shang Alliance itself will be safe and sound.

The officers of the Shang Alliance understood this truth, and the officers of Desik naturally understood it, and since the beginning of the war, the base camp has been studying this battle.

June 4 of the first five years, the eastern section of the Dunkirk Bridge.

Kane, this recruit of the Desik border guards, was appreciated by his regimental commander for his outstanding performance after the Manning incident, and was given the position of a battalion lieutenant. For a recruit like him who has just become a soldier, it is a small honor.

At the same time that Kane was promoted, news of White Rock City reached Tarim City, where the border guards were stationed. His Majesty the Emperor actually passed away at this juncture, and the main ~ seat of the Military Joint Council, the second prince became the new Emperor His Majesty. The first thing he did when he ascended the throne was to declare the Desik Empire in a state of war. It is said that the Wasteland Samurai Regiment has begun to attack the Shang Alliance, and now, it is the turn of the border guards to attack.

There were many junior officers who were promoted with Kane, and there were many in their regiment alone, and after the initial joy passed, Kane began to have some doubts in his heart. Because he found that many of the people who were promoted at the same time as him were recruits who had not been in the army for a long time and had no foundation in the army. When he threw the question in his heart to the commander, the commander actually said that he didn't know either, and told Kane not to inquire about things anymore.

Kane's doubts reached their peak a few days later. On this day, outside the city of Tarim, a large number of Steppenwolf riders accompanied by tens of thousands of unarmed and sturdy men, marched in a formation to the camp in the city, and soon, the regimental commander summoned Kane and other newly promoted officers to announce that their regiment would replenish and exchange personnel. The new soldiers were armed and incorporated into Kane's battalion, as well as the 11th Regiment of the Western Frontier Guards, where he was located.

According to the officer next door who knew him well, the entire six newly organized regiments of the border guard army had all changed a large number of soldiers, and except for the regimental commander and the newly promoted officers, the rest of the men were transferred to other places for reorganization.

Fortunately, the Desik soldiers still have a high quality, even if they are newly transferred, in Kane's eyes, they are all perfect Desik soldiers, with strong physique and abundant physical fitness. It's just that they are all a little reticent and barely say anything about their past experiences.

On this day, an officer, who was also newly promoted, mysteriously pulled Kane to a secluded place and whispered: "Do you know, Kane, these people are all Central Garrison!"

"Ahh Although he used to be a farmer, Kane still knew something about Desik's military system since joining the army. The Central Garrison, under the command of the Central General, is the elite army of Baiyan City, the imperial capital of Gongwei, has always received the most gold coins, wears the best armor, eats the best military rations, and uses the best weapons, how can it be...

The companion stopped Kane's question with a look, "Just know it in your heart, everyone guesses that it has something to do with what happened to the old emperor's death." The regiment commander said that the Central Garrison General had been replaced again, and this was already the third garrison general to be replaced in three years (Note 1). Who knows, the struggle of the big guys. ”

The companion ended the conversation with a sigh.

In the area on the west bank of the Wulian Bridge, General Pierre had a report from the scouts that the Desik Frontier Corps had recently carried out a large-scale movement, and as far as the scouts could see, they saw tens of thousands of troops entering and leaving Tarim City.

General Pierre was a little puzzled, and knocked the brass bell on the table, "Clerk, go and prepare an order, so that Commander Albert of the New Second Army, Commander Bryce of the New Fifth Army, and Etienne and Birent (Note 2) will all come as quickly as possible, and I will hold a military meeting." ”

The clerk said yes and left.

Pierre held his cheek raiser, and five fingers thumped on the table. The Adventurer's Guild sent the latest news to the Lord of the Merchant Alliance~Xihui, and the Lord~ Xihui sent this news to the top of the Merchant Alliance, and only he knew about it in the entire Wulianqiao area: there was a coup d'état in Desik's country, and the second prince, Duke Edward, murdered a number of nobles led by General Jin of Desik's conservative faction, subdued the Central Garrison, and announced the emperor's house arrest while Kaiser Wilhelm IV (Note 3) was seriously ill. A few days later, the Kaiser died of illness and Archduke Edward was enthroned as Kaiser Eduard VI.

The Shang Alliance did not understand the inexplicable move of the Desik, Duke Edward was obviously the best heir, but he was not made the crown prince for a long time, and he could maintain control of the army for a long time without being a crown prince. Kaiser Wilhelm was too confident in himself or too trusting General King and his Central Garrison, completely unaware that Duke Edward would carry out a coup d'état.

Another very unusual thing is the choice of the Wasteland Samurai. As the royal guards most loyal to Emperor Desik, what choice did they make on the day of the coup?

"Hey, it's a headache!" General Pierre felt extremely painful, rubbing his eyebrows.

Note 1: General Jin did not serve as the general of the Central Garrison for a long time, and after his death, with the addition of General Kim's predecessors and successors, the position of General of the Central Garrison as the garrison of Baiyan Castle was changed several times in a short period of time.

Note 2: Birant, the chief of staff of the mercenary legion, and Etienne, the deputy commander of the mercenary legion, are both high-ranking officers of the merchant alliance.

Note 3: William IV's suicide was quite a loss of face for the nobles, especially for the Desik royal family. Therefore, it was announced that William IV was seriously ill and Duke Edward ascended the throne as the second prince.