April 1st came as scheduled, today was Field's birthday, and after today, he began to take the first step towards the age of thirty. None of the people in the Potato Mercenary Group knew about today's special, and Fidel didn't tell anyone else. However, Fei De himself deliberately added a little wine to his dinner. This subtle gesture was noticed by Ayana, "Aren't you not a drinker?"

"I drink occasionally at banquets. ”

"But today is no different from a normal day, and there is no banquet. "Ayana only cares about Fidel's affairs, and basically doesn't talk more than three sentences to the others.

"Well, I just want to drink it all of a sudden. ”

Ayana didn't ask much, she took small sips of apples and watched as Fidel poured the wine into her stomach.

It's been almost a month since I came to this barracks, but the battle on the defense line of Yiwang City is extremely anxious. The various strongholds on the defensive line often changed hands several times in a day, and the invading army of the East Oguna Empire, which had been fiercely attacking, slowed down for some reason, and even chose to besiege the important city of Yiwang Castle in the south instead of storming. Seeing that the momentum was favorable to his side, the regent Xiu Mo immediately mobilized 20,000 troops to the city and began to deploy in the distance between the city and the city of Doret. There was a fortress between the two cities, which had been intended to be abandoned after the fall of the Righteous King, but now became a hub connecting the two lines of defense.

Although the fighting on the front line was eased, Stanley, Ludwig and others were still discussing the defense line of the capital day and night. Ludwig kept reminding Stanley to be wary that the invasion of the East Oguna Empire would bypass the city of Yiwang and attack directly at the weakly defended fortress, and not to put too much military supplies there.

Unexpectedly, just when Stanley accepted Ludwig's suggestion to withdraw a lot of military supplies, bad news came from the hub fortress - the wasteland python Saresa led a thousand light cavalry to successfully raid and take the fortress, and because there were spies who had already infiltrated the fortress, Saresa rushed through the fortress gate without much effort and killed the commander in charge of guarding there.

This news came the day after Field's birthday, and it instantly shocked the government and opposition of the Western Guna Empire, and even Fielder was woken up by Stanley before dawn and immediately went to the main camp to discuss the military situation.

When Phaedra opened the tent, he found that several generals were already sitting inside, and Ludwig was also sitting beside him, but the two generals, Derek and Glenn, had not arrived.

"The defensive line between Righteous King City and Doret City has been taken, and now Righteous King City is isolated, it is better to let Bonzina retreat!" One of the generals ignored Field, who walked in from outside, and proposed to Stanley, the chief of the General Staff, alone.

"Then it's better to send troops to recover the fortress immediately, there are only Saresa and her lean horse troops now," this general seems to look down on the light cavalry of the East Oguna Empire, after all, the light cavalry is a unique strategic class in the west, and most of the nobles in the east like heavy cavalry, "This time Saresa threw herself into the net, and she will definitely not let her run away again!" The general said this, his eyes glanced in the direction of Fidel, as if to imply that Feld had been able to catch Saresa but let the other party escape.

Just when Stanley hesitated, Glenn and Derek also came one after another, and before Dereek, who was in charge of military supplies, sat down, he said: "Chief of General Staff, I have received accurate information, the grain and grass that were originally going to be delivered to Yiwang City and the military supplies that were going to be sent back to Doret City have been intercepted!"

As soon as his words fell, everyone showed shocked expressions, you must know that when Ludwig proposed to withdraw those military supplies yesterday, Stanley also deliberately let those military supplies go around, just because he was worried that the reconnaissance troops who crossed the defense line of Yiwang City would intercept these materials, but he didn't expect such a secret route to be intercepted

"There must be spies among us!" said one of the generals who stood up, his sword halfway drawn from his waist, and looked at the others warily.

"Hmph, that's what I thought," said one of the generals, after taking a sip of his drink, "some people are estimated to have already colluded with the rulers of the Eastern Oguna Empire, and this time the information was betrayed to the enemy by those people. ”

Seeing that several people present were suspicious of each other, Fidel couldn't help but look at Ludwig, who was relatively out of the way. I saw that the envoy of the Kosai Kingdom was dozing off, and the other party closed his eyes and shook his head as if he was about to lose support and was about to fall on the table.

General Glenn, who sat down, said, "If there is a spy among us, I will naturally find out and put him to death, but judging from the current situation, I think we should discuss how to rescue the isolated Righteous King City." ”

Fylde looked at Glenn, his eyes were as small as beans, but his nose was like an eagle's hooked beak, and from his face, he was the kind of person who was ruthless, cruel and bloody.

"Alas, if the supplies are gone, they will be gone, General Glenn is right, let's think about how to rescue General Bonzina first. Derek also said.

Stanley glanced at the military and political chief beside him, "How are the Church Knights?"

"Reporting to the Chief of the General Staff, Commander Satnam, having lost a lot of troops in the previous defensive battle, has withdrawn to a town somewhere northwest of the Hub Fortress, where it is estimated that it is still safe. ”

Stanley nodded, looking at the map hanging in the tent, the markings on it showed that there were still about 50,000 soldiers in the Righteous King City. There were also about 20,000 soldiers guarding the other strongholds of the defense line of Yiwang City, and although the 20,000 men were rapidly decreasing, they played a very important role - until today, all the conscripted troops of the seven nobles have reached the capital city of Dorette. Although a large amount of food consumption increased all of a sudden, the 200,000-strong army at the peak of the army immediately gave the Western Guna Empire the courage and strength to fight to the death.

Now that Yiwang City has fallen into a dead place, the reason why the hub fortress has been captured is that the defense line of Yiwang City has collapsed, so even if you send troops to recapture the fortress now, it is estimated that you will encounter reinforcements from the invading army. According to the current situation, there are only two ways to save Yiwang City - either the 200,000 troops will march together and take the initiative to advance to the south, looking for an opportunity to fight to the death with the main force of the East Oguna Empire near Yiwang City, or send troops to meet the soldiers of Yiwang City and rescue them back to the capital defense line.

Either way, Stanley wanted to preserve that part of the Righteous King's forces. But the biggest problem in front of us is that, according to the distribution of troops in the previous secret scroll, the invading army of the East Oguna Empire should have arrived at Yiwang City a long time ago, and even crossed this defense line, but the spies on the front line did not get any of the movement of the enemy's main army.

This is also the crux of this battle.

As the commander-in-chief of the invading forces of the East Oguna Empire, Saresa must have guessed that the new power in the West would crush all its forces on the capital, and she used her best light guerrilla tactics to break through every stronghold on the front line. However, the main forces transporting the giant siege weapons have been nowhere to be seen, and even the information from Yiwang City has said that they have not encountered any giant engineering weapons, and the enemy army is just besieging but not attacking, and they do not know what medicine is sold in the gourd.

"In my opinion, we should take the initiative!" one of the generals saw that Stanley was silent, and the others were all drowsy because they had not slept for long.

"Take the initiative, we are weaker than our opponents in terms of strength," one of the generals shook his head with his eyes closed, "and if you want to attack, where are you going to attack?" Do you take our main force to the city of Yiwang, where food and grass are scarce, and squat in the city with them, or continue southward and point at the city of Golden Hooves?"

The general's rhetorical question hit the nail on the head of the General Staff's point of concern -- after a month's delay, the originally scheduled forces were finally assembled and the food was enough to last for a while. But the current Theoguna Empire is like a boxer with brute strength, but he doesn't know where to swing his fist.

"Just attack the fortress that was taken, isn't Saresa there anyway?" General Derek suggested.

Stanley nodded, then thought for a moment and shook his head, "I've been to that fortress before, it's an easy place to defend and difficult to attack, and most importantly, most of the siege weapons we have have been fixed in the main city and three sub-cities of Doret City, and converted into defensive weapons. "Fide knew that it would be difficult to take modern fortresses and fortresses without heavy siege weapons. The reason why he was able to take Disha Castle without much effort was also because he found the only gap in that castle, a secret sewer. With the addition of Greif, who was superior to brute force, he was able to enter the castle without any problems.

Three hundred years ago, the defenses weren't as powerful as they are now. However, in the past three hundred years, more and more nobles and lords have appeared who are good at defending their territory, and some of them have very deep insights into architecture, which has also led to the emergence of more and more impregnable castles and fortresses. Long supply lines and lack of food are always a problem for the besieging side, and the defenders who sit in the city and wait for their work will always win a big victory.

Even the giant weapons that were originally used for siege have been converted into fortifications, such as Disha Castle and Riverland Castle.

Faced with such a situation, Fei De did not advocate attacking the fortress, that would contain his main force, "Why don't I lead the mercenary army and go to the outside of the Righteous King City to meet General Bonzina?" Fei De proposed.

Just as the other generals were thinking about this proposal, Ludwig said loudly, "Absolutely not!" The others were instantly attracted by his opposition, "The 50,000 soldiers of the Righteous King City will either stay there and stand still, or they will have to come out on their own, if our side sends an army to meet it, I am afraid that there will be a complete collapse." Ludwig spoke resolutely, as if he were a soothsayer who had foreseen the future, and was telling everyone about the most fearful outcome that might come in the future.

Fidel and Stanley had never seen Ludwig so resolute, "I don't know why Lord Ludwig said that." ”

"I can't explain why, but as soon as the troops on our side leave the defensive positions, it's all over. ”

"I just proposed to give me those 30,000 mercenaries"

"You and your mercenary group can't leave, not 10,000!" Ludwig refused, but all this still had to wait for the Chief of the General Staff Stanley to decide. Stanley didn't understand why the other party was so resolute, but the other party refused to give a reason, so he had to tell Fidel that he would consider other ways first.

Feder recalled the way Ludwig looked at his moon shield before, could it be that the other party was worried that the life weapon would disappear from his field of vision?

Just when everyone was at a loss, a lightning bolt appeared in the sky outside, which instantly illuminated the originally dim camp tent, but this light, which only lasted for less than a second, made the person on Stanley's left find that there was actually a man wearing a black hooded robe standing in the corner of the camp! After the light of the lightning disappeared, the corner also returned to darkness, and a roar followed, which startled several generals.

Fidel saw the figure too, and he stood up and walked to the corner with a candle, while the other generals behind him realized that they weren't dazzled. Stanley, Ludwig and the others didn't know why, "Captain Fed, what are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, I was just going out for a walk, and I didn't intend to disturb the generals. Before Fidel had reached that corner, a man stepped out of the shadows of the corner, and she lowered her hood, revealing the face of Saint Golia!

Feder looked at each other, his voice and face exactly the same as he had met in that garden palace, even the same feeling.

The others stood up in astonishment, and several of the generals immediately knelt down on one knee, bowing their heads and not daring to look at the Virgen Goliath. Stanley, the chief of the General Staff, did not question why the other party was hiding in a corner and eavesdropping on their military meetings. Derek's eyes were on Stanley, he must have thought that the other party had asked Virgin Golia to hide in the corner and listen quietly, otherwise how could a woman stand there without being noticed, unless she was really a magician?

General Glenn walked over first, and he slowly walked in front of everyone with the help of the Virgin Golia. Goliath was dressed in a black robe, and if it weren't for the lightning, no one would have noticed that she was standing there, motionless. Everyone was still in amazement, except for Ludwig, who looked at the Virgen Golia, smiled slightly, and neither said anything nor continued to look at her.

"I originally wanted to see how the soldiers were doing in the barracks, but I didn't expect that the generals would start the military affairs meeting before dawn, they are really the pillars of the country!" Goliath avoided the point, "Then I still won't bother you, I wish you all the generals to make unremitting efforts to contribute to the victory of the Holy Oguna Empire." With that, he turned and left, and walked out of the tent under the escort of General Glenn. Most of the generals left the act, knelt down on one knee, and watched the saint leave.

Fidel still stood still, wondering why Virgen Golia's behavior was so perverse, but no one in the meeting stood up and asked. The Chief of the General Staff, Stanley, did not say anything, but buried all his expressions in his heart, and even Ludwig, who had always had a unique opinion, just glanced at it and pretended to continue to doze off, which was really strange.

"The Holy Maiden is visiting late at night," said one of the generals, but Stanley interrupted him.

"The Holy Maiden has already explained, she just wants to see the soldiers in the barracks," Stanley told everyone to return to their positions, "You don't have to guess, we just need to trust the Holy Maiden." ”

It was only after General Glenn returned that the meeting resumed. But everyone at this time was already absent-minded, although they knew that the Holy Maiden Golia was elusive, and said that she would lead troops to support the city of the Righteous King, but did not appear, and said that she would use the power of magic to save the suffering civilians of this land, but so far, they have not shown any power - except that she was captured, beheaded and executed in Glynko, and appeared in Doret City the next day, there is no other deed that can be called the title of saint and heir to magic.

It's just that the chief of the general staff, who has the highest status, will not pursue it, and no one else will dare to ask questions.

"If you want to get outside, you must first settle inside, and I think we should first find out what is inside us," Ludwig said, having opened his eyes and supporting his face with two fingers, "otherwise, the shadow hiding in the corner will waste all our efforts." Didn't the shadow in the corner imply that Goria, who had just appeared in the tent for some reason?

"Your Excellency, here are the most trusted generals of Lord Regent Shumo," General Glenn said, looking at Ludwig, "there will be no traitors here, but it is possible that some people who are not loyal to His Majesty Manfret in the first place will betray our information to others." ”

Ludwig smiled and said, "I don't even have a pigeon, not a single crow, and the four guards are always by my side, so the person you are talking about is definitely not me." ”

"Who it is, who should know it. Glenn said sarcastically.

Stanley frowned, "Don't get away from the topic, we should still think about how to unravel the besieged Righteous King City." ”

Ludwig immediately said: "There is no solution. ”

There were several generals who had already shown dissatisfied, this Winter Country not only dozed off in the meeting, but also repeatedly obstructed the plan to rescue the defenders of Yiwang City, I really don't know what his heart is.

Fei De thought repeatedly, if it was really unreasonable to give up the Righteous King City like this, no matter which angle he considered, he should first take back the Hub Fortress that had just been taken away. Otherwise, the invading army of the East Oguna Empire could use it as a stronghold, besieging the city on all sides and keeping out the reinforcements sent by the capital.

But just then, a soldier ran in in a panic and shouted, "It's a big deal!

"Speak slowly and don't panic. ”

"General Bonzina, General Bonzina, dedicated the city of the righteous king to Saresa and has already surrendered!"