The New Sixth Army of Kaman, where Kist was located, marched slowly along the Moro River in Kaman. Among the orders given to them by the Merchant Alliance, they were required to rush to the outside of Manning by July 25 to set up defenses.

The order was given on July 17, the day after the Battle of Verdun. At that time, more than 40,000 merchant army troops were stationed in the hilly fortresses of the Verdun region, full of will to keep the Desik in the north of the Manning Kingdom.

On the day the New Sixth Army received the order, Koster had just returned to his 13th Regiment, and was only talking and joking with a few battalion commanders, Feida and Rika, when he heard a terrible alarm in the distance.

After three days of intense preparations, the New Sixth Army set out on 20 July. However, even ordinary soldiers found this time to be extremely strange.

First of all, Corps Calvin asked to bring all the heavy equipment, including a large number of equipment to defend the city. Secondly, he didn't bring too much food, according to Captain Calvin, these would be provided by the Business Alliance, and there was not much surplus food in the Principality of Kaman. Thirdly, although the New Sixth Army was equipped with a lot of carriages and horses, Duke Carman even asked if he wanted to requisition civilian ships on the Morro River, but Duke Calvin refused and strictly controlled the speed of the march.

It was not until around July 25 that the New Sixth Army had just reached the border of the Duchy of Carlin, and it was still more than eight days away from Manning City. General Calvin unexpectedly asked the armies to set up camp, saying that there was not enough food to bring and that they needed to wait here for food from Kaman and the Shang Alliance.

And so another three days passed. At this time, the Battle of Verdun was raging, and the Desik army was storming the defensive line of the main peak of Lens, and the merchant alliance issued urging orders one after another. After receiving a bag full of orders, General Calvin finally asked his army to embark on a journey along the Kalin border and head north.

And this journey is destined to not go under Manning City.

Shortly after the restart, General Calvin received his first order for reinforcements that were not urgent, and in this rather strangely worded order, General Calvin learned that for unknown reasons, the Desik army had withdrawn, as if to make a detour to the western part of the Shangmeng, invade the Duchy of Carlin, and avoid the temporarily impregnable Verdun Line. The Shang League has urgently dispatched General Guo's Western Front Corps to intercept the defenders in the Verdun area.

In this way, it seems that it is not very important whether General Calvin needs reinforcements of Manning City, and the order is quite vague, indicating that the Lord of the Shang Alliance~ Xihui is not thinking too much about it now, so the New Sixth Army, which has no direction, has to stop advancing again.

The officers of the Thirteenth Regiment did not think too much about it, and for junior officers like them, it was not an order to do what they said. The special national structure of the Shang Alliance makes these soldiers really a little confused. After all, the war is still taking place in the Manning Kingdom, and the officers of the New Sixth Army are almost all Kamans.

Instead, General Calvin summoned several regimental commanders, including Clark, Duncan, and Koster, as well as several of his lieutenants, to discuss the next steps. If, as the order describes, Commander Etienne and General Guo would join forces to wipe out the invading Desik army, then it would be a decisive victory.

However, Kist was a little uneasy, "General Calvin, why would the Desiks give up the attack so easily and take a detour to the west. You know, Carlin is not as easy to attack and difficult to defend as the Manning Kingdom. The swamps and wetlands of Carlin were not easy for the Desiks to march. Even if it was to bypass the Verdun line. I always felt that things were not that simple. ”

"Captain Koester, you're thinking too much. Clark comforted, "You know, Desik, they don't have that much brains. Even if they have any conspiracy, we have a total of more than 50,000 horses with General Guo and Captain Etienne. Besides, those two generals are both experienced commanders of the Shang Alliance. ”

Kostro nodded, "That's what you said!" and turned to General Calvin, "General, so shall we temporarily garrison at the Kalin border?"

General Calvin smiled, "Then what else can we do, at this time, can we still go to Manning City to pick up the bargain?" But your suspicions are actually not too much, I think, should you send a team of scouts to Manning to find out the specific battle situation." ”

Koster stood up suddenly, "Let my Robertson go, he used to be a Manning, and he is familiar with the situation over there, so it's just right for him to go and find out." ”

The military discussion was quickly over, and with the exception of a small number of scouts who were sent to the Manning Kingdom to inquire about the details, the rest returned to the camp on the Karlin border, waiting for further arrangements for the time being. The soldiers in the army, especially those noble officers, could not help but complain. After tossing and turning for so long, it still didn't move at all.

However, their grievances turned to shock after a few days, and the scouts brought news of the disastrous defeat of the Shang Allies instead of good news. The news was so shocking that even General Calvin, who had always been moody, was so shocked that he dropped the kettle in his hand.

"What do you say? Say it again?" General Calvin, his eyes wide with anger, stared at Robertson in front of him, the stakes were high, and the scout wing captain came to report in person

"The latest news from Manning City, the Desik army has been supported by the Steppenwolf Cavalry in Sedan City, and under the front and back attacks, it broke through the camp of the Western Front Corps, and cut off the Etienne Department that went to reinforcements, more than 40,000 soldiers of the Merchant League, and it is currently known that no more than 3,000 people have fled, and the Desik army has completely bypassed the Verdun defense line and attacked Manning City, the capital of the Merchant League, this news is absolutely accurate, I have seen the rout of the Merchant Alliance who fled back with my own eyes. ”

"Say it again!" General Calvin, roaring angrily, the adjutant next to him hurriedly stopped, and then motioned for Robertson to leave with his eyes, "Don't be angry with him, Captain Koster's soldiers, he won't be mistaken, General." ”

A few days ago, there were all the officers who were talking and laughing, and they all sat dead in the headquarters, General Calvin's face was pale, and he didn't say a word, and the officers discussed anxiously and in a low voice. According to Robertson, the large number of fleeing nobles in the Manning Kingdom confirmed the reliability of this information.

General Calvin did not speak, none of the officers under his command dared to speak, and everyone was silent.

"Koster, I ask you, in this case, are we going to Paulmanning, or Paulcarman. Suddenly, General Calvin looked up and asked Koster this question.

"This ......" is not easy to answer, it stands to reason that the nine countries of the Shang Alliance are in unison, and De Sick's invasion of Manning and Southern Madur is a declaration of war on all the nine countries of the Shang Alliance. However, each country has its own small abacus, and judging from the war on the front line, the situation in Manning has been eroded beyond control, and at this time, not to mention the New Sixth Army, even the ten New Sixth Army may not be able to save the situation.

The officers present were not stupid, they all understood this truth, and Kerst naturally understood it too. The reason why General Calvin chose to consult Koster instead of others may have something to do with the relationship between Koster and the Duke's family, and there are some things that Koster says and others say, and the weight is different.

But that's not something that Kerst can say for sure.

"Hey!" Chief Koster let out a long sigh, "This ......" Koster didn't speak, but stared at General Calvin on the stage, and his meaning was also very clear, "You are the commander of the New Sixth Army, this decision should not be made by me, but by you." ”

Although Koster didn't speak, General Calvin understood what he meant, "Koster, I'm not asking you to make this decision, I just want to know if you think the same way as me." It seems that it's not just you, everyone thinks the same thing. I can help you make this decision. But don't worry, I will take this responsibility. ”

Seeing General Calvin's expression, Koster continued, "General, the current situation, King Lucius of White Harbor had foreseen it, and he had a plan. ”

"Oh, what's the plan?" the crowd was interested.

"If the war is unfavorable, an army is needed to protect the nobles of various countries, retreat to Kaman and Mossat, and rely on the environment there, especially the terrain of Mosat, to establish a final base. This base will give us the last hope. ”

"If there is such a plan, they need the army to guard this little base. The Desik people need time to annex and digest the three eastern kingdoms led by Manning, which gives us enough time. I think the core of King Lucius's plan is here. Duke Calvin listened to Koster's words and quickly figured it out.

"The general is right, the three southwestern countries, there is grain, population, ore from the Tara Basin, and more importantly, not far east from the Duchy of Tra, is San Jose. In the interests of the Empire, San Jose would not sit idly by and watch the Merchant's alliance be completely annexed by Desik. ”

While everyone was discussing, a letter from Grand Duke Carman was also sent to the army. In the letter, Duke Carman also expressed his concern about the war, but out of respect for the noble officers of the New Sixth Army, Duke Carman did not give specific opinions, but explicitly stated that he would respect General Calvin's choice.

In this way, what did everyone not understand, the duke's meaning was so obvious. General Calvin immediately sent the officers back to their respective armies to prepare for the retreat.

And in Manning City, King Lucius of White Harbor is bidding farewell to King Manning, according to the requirements of the Lord of the Shang Alliance~Xi Hui, Lucius will retreat to the rear on behalf of the Lord ~ Xi Hui to seek another battle, King Manning, who is responsible for defending the territory, will insist on fighting in Manning City, here, there are thousands of his Manning guards, in the north, in the Verdun area, there are still many remaining troops of the Shang Alliance. He could not, and was not willing to abandon these armies.

The war developed exactly as King Lucius had predicted. Before leaving, he solemnly assured King Manning that he would "definitely enlist the support of San Jose, and he will keep the hope of the revival of the merchant alliance." ”

At the same time, the headquarters of the Adventurer's Guild is also in the process of being evacuated. For so many years, there have been too many secrets about the countries of the merchant alliance in the Tower of Babel, and this kind of thing still cannot fall into the hands of the Desiks.

Although, the battle of Manning will definitely be fought, but everyone is preparing for the worst.