Manning's military meeting was still held in the end, and at this time, the time had come to the beginning of July. Kester thought to himself that too much had happened in the past since he left Manning City last time, and the future was full of uncertainty, and he didn't know if this time in Manning would be the last time. This great city, which sits on the banks of the Morro River and has such a majestic structure as the "Tower of Babel", will not be destroyed in the war.

In addition to Xiao Mu, the feudal lords of various countries still came to Manning City one after another, of course, a large number of escort troops are indispensable. The Manning Kingdom, which was attacking the front line of the Desiks, had to agree to the request of the armies of various countries to enter the Manning Kingdom, and now the originally rich Manning Kingdom is almost a large military camp. On the streets of Manning City, you can see soldiers from various countries walking around with weapons at any time.

The Desiks were building their forward base, and the Verdun front was calm for the time being, and after handing over military affairs to the deputy commander Etienne, Captain Pierre rushed back to Manning with the commanders of the New Second and New Fifth Armies. In the presence of the Eight Monarchs and the Ambassador of Southern Madol (Note 1), General Pierre recounted in detail the events of the first battle, including the battle of the Canyon Line, the actions of the Dark Mage, and the final breach of the Dunkirk Line.

In the entire Dunkirk defense line, the Desik lost about 20,000 soldiers, while the Shang Alliance, the loss of the new army plus the number of mercenaries, was much less, only the new second army, the loss was relatively heavy. Although we lost our defensive line, we retreated to the Verdun area in time, at least, to keep our main army.

"But, General Pierre," said King Manning, "I wonder why the Desiks have suffered so great losses. In my understanding, when an army loses so many men, it should be on the verge of collapse, how can it become more and more courageous, even with the help of dark magic, it is an inexplicable thing. ”

General Pierre flipped through a document in his hand, "This information was only sent to my desk after the war, and it was personally delivered by the chief elder of the White Rock City Branch of the Adventurer's Guild", as he spoke, General Pierre nodded to the members of the Adventurer's Guild who were present, "We all know that there was a military coup in White Rock City more than forty days ago, and the process of Edward VI's ascension to the throne is not obvious, but at that time, the Wasteland Samurai who partially resisted and the Central Garrison under General Jin finally surrendered. ”

There was an uproar at the venue, of course everyone understood what General Pierre meant, or King Manning, "What does the general mean, these surrendered soldiers are the cannon fodder that the Desik people choose to sacrifice?"

General Pierre acquiesced, the choice of the Desiks was really vicious, and I don't know what conditions were used to exchange these surrendered soldiers. The monarchs of the countries present naturally did not know, but General Pierre, who had been on the front line, saw with his own eyes that those Desiks were charging as if they were not dying, what kind of quid pro quo could make them choose not to take their lives seriously.

It was their actions that made the generals on the front line make wrong judgments, and indirectly led to the loss of the entire canyon defense line.

"20,000 troops were exhausted in one day. You must know that the Central Garrison Army, one of the five major armies of Desik, is only a little over 20,000 people. Xiao Mu and Koster were also at the venue, and Koster explained to Xiao Mu in his ear.

"Yes, it's really a Dunkirk meat grinder, 20,000 people, 3 days. Xiao Mu didn't continue.

The course of the battle was clearly explained, General Pierre did not make any obvious mistakes, however, the responsibility for the defeat still needs to be borne, and after the deliberation of the monarchs of various countries, General Pierre was relieved of his position as the commander of the mercenary corps, retaining his status as the general of the merchant alliance, and temporarily leaving the staff and military staff of Manning City. And General Albert, who caused the loss of the Dunkirk defense line by mobilizing the main forces of the New Second Army, was able to prove that he had received orders from General Pierre at that time, and the monarchs of various countries believed that he was only performing his essential duties, after all, General Pierre was the commander of the front at that time.

General Albert will continue to serve as the commander of the New Second Army, and the wealthy Manning Kingdom will replenish the lost manpower of the New Second Army in the shortest possible time. The commander of the Verdun front will be replaced by the deputy commander of the mercenary corps.

"It seems that General Pierre had anticipated the follow-up results, and you see, before he came, he handed over command to Deputy Commander Etienne. Xiao Mu whispered, and Kerst focused on another thing, "This Etienne, what's the matter?"

Xiao Mu looked at the document in his hand, "I heard that he is from Baigang and has been working in the mercenary army for many years. You see, Pierre is from Manning, Etienne is from White Port, and I see that there are some inexplicable ways to do so. ”

Koster shook his head, "The more the business alliance is like this, the more time it gets, the more countries plan for themselves. What about South Madur, who is planning for them now? Carthage or Kosok?"

The discussion on the transfer of military personnel was over, and the monarchs of the countries did not have time to rest and began to discuss the next course of action. Strategically, the Desiks currently have two attack clusters in the Verdun area of the Manning Kingdom and on the Sunset Hill in the northwest of Southern Madur. In response, the Merchant Alliance left three new legions in Southern Madur, and in the Verdun area, mercenary legions, and two new second and fifth legions.

But judging from the situation of the first battle, not to mention South Madur, the Verdun line was still too weak, and at present, the news reported by the scouts indicates that Desik had gathered about 70,000 troops at the forward base, and that many troops were constantly entering Manning territory through the Dunkirk Bridge and the High and Low Land Bridge. It is expected that the final size will reach 100,000 men, and this is only a regular force, and everyone has not forgotten the terrifying dark mage described by General Pierre.

The young King of White Harbor, Lucius James (Note 2), proposed that at this stage from the beginning of the war to the present, the Shang League's army must be reorganized, and that the current situation of the Eastern and Western Clusters fighting separately must not continue. As everyone wanted to know more, the King of White Harbor brought out a huge military map, which was very different from the map prepared by the Manning Kingdom at the meeting.

King Lucius continued, "The armies in the territory of the Shang League: the Mercenaries, the New Second Army, and the New Fifth Army are in the Verdun area, the New First, New Third, and New Seventh Armies are in South Madur, and the New Ninth Army has been destroyed and is still being rebuilt. Finally, there are the 12th and 13th new armies from Manning on the northern border, and of course, after destroying the canyon bridge and keeping a small number of guards, they will come to the Verdun area as quickly as possible. ”

King Lucius said as he pointed on the map, and the nobles of the Shang Alliance around him nodded one after another, so that the current situation of the Shang Alliance was indeed not very good. "After the twelve and thirteenth new armies are in place, not counting the new Fifth Army at the Golden Gate Gate of the Morro River, then in the Verdun area, there are only mercenary regiments that are not satisfied with the formation, the new second army that is half ruined, and the twelve and thirteen or four army corps that have arrived in a hurry, a total of less than 50,000 people. You are looking at General Pierre's report, and the enemy they are facing is 70,000 men, and it may increase to 100,000 in a month. 50,000 remnants of the army and the new army, against 100,000 wolf-like Desiks, even if the back is against Lens Mountain, I think the end, I don't need to say anything. ”

The venue was in an uproar again, many big nobles don't know much about military operations, but they can still understand the basic number comparison, so it seems that the situation is really a bit grim.

"So, King Lucius, what do you propose?" Xiao Mu couldn't help but stand up and asked.

King Lucius looked at Xiao Mu, who was also young, "Venerable Duke Carman, here is my proposal. ”

King Lucius's proposal was quite clear: first, to ask General Guo Lao on the Southern Madol front to quickly solve the Steppenwolf cavalry that had broken through into Southern Madol, and his 30,000 men were pinned down by thousands of wolf cavalry, which was too wasteful; second, the New Eighth and New Tenth Armies, which were closest to the New Eighth Army, should quickly reinforce the Verdun area, at least not to be inferior in terms of the comparison of forces; third, Tra's New Army, and the New Eleventh Army of White Harbor, respectively, were in the southwest of Manning City. Garrisoned to the southeast, they would be able to open an evacuation route to cover the withdrawal of the nobles if the war was unfavorable, and fourth, they could quickly send diplomats to San Jose to negotiate an alliance, and if they could win the San Josens to send troops from the south of Desic, then the outcome of the war would not be bad or good.

After listening to King Lucius's suggestion, the venue was noisy, and it seemed that all the nobles were discussing with their staff, Xiao Mu was a little strange, and secretly asked Kister, "What about our Kaman New Sixth Army?" Kster shook his head, indicating that he didn't understand.

"King Lucius?" shouted Xiao Mu. King Lucius smiled, "Duke Mu doesn't need to worry, your Kaman's new Sixth Army is my last plan." ”

"What do you say?" everyone present had questions.

King Lucius continued to explain unhurriedly, "The above strategies are all responses to the current war, but the other side now has dark magicians, if the war is really unfavorable, for example, the Verdun area is not able to withstand the enemy, then, we must prepare a way back for everyone present." This back road must be fertile enough, remote enough for the Desiks to reach for a while, dangerous to defend but convenient for counterattacks, and ore to produce. ”

The nobles present all understood what Lucius meant, and if the war was unfavorable and the Merchant League needed a dormant base to make a comeback, then the best choice would be the Carman-Mossat line at the southwest corner of the main road.

Note 1: Ambassador Nanmadur has been in Manning City, so he escaped the destruction of the country, and he is the remaining representative of Nanmadur until the heir of Nanmadol is found.

Note 2: Lucius James, the King of White Harbor, is very young, about the same age as Little Mu. The Kingdom of White Harbor is the second largest country in the merchant alliance after Manning.