In the Grand Duke's Palace in Dean City, in a hall that had been finally cleaned up, the walls hung maps of the ever-changing fronts of the entire Stacy and Falkenridge armies. Grand Justice Jon was standing in front of the map with an officer from the aid of the Holy See of Dawn, as well as several other generals, analyzing and summarizing the entire battle situation.

As for Bishop Monroe?

How could a noble cardinal stay in a city that might have been breached!

In short, this analysis is carried out every day today, because they are only a short fifteen kilometers away from this line.

The vanguard soldiers of Falkenridge's army are approaching the outskirts of Dean City little by little, and some magic cannons with good range are reminding everyone in Dean City every day that Falkenridge's army is already not far ahead of them.

A huge conference table was in the center of the hall, strewn with documents from a few days ago and unimportant and outdated telegrams. During the last bombardment, some of the shells fired by Falkenridge's army actually hit the Grand Duke's palace, destroying half of the building that had been built since the time of the great grandfather of Jon.

Although Grand Duke Jon immediately had the caster force protect the entire palace, the destroyed buildings could not be repaired immediately.

The broken glass windows had just been repaired, and there were still a few leaky windows here yesterday. Of course, this is a room used by a group of men, so after only a day, it is already a mess with users.

"Grand Duke Jon. General Karl pointed to the undulating hundreds of kilometers of defensive lines in the southern line and said to Grand Duke Jon, "I have to remind you once again that even if we stabilize the situation in the Dean City war zone, Falkenridge's army can make an immediate breakthrough here. ”

"Yes, my esteemed Grand Duke Jon. ”

The other general also nodded in agreement, and then gestured twice with his hand on the other line of defense and said: "From this line of defense all the way to the newly occupied city of Dohan, in fact, our defense force is very weak, if the Falkenridge army solves the city of Dean and shortens its defense area, it will definitely draw up its forces and threaten the ...... of our industrial area town - Syrobart."

"So we are not giving an inch here, we are contributing to the war in the whole country!"

Before Jon could speak publicly, a general who was anxious to express his loyalty jumped out, slapped the table and said to Carl and the other generals, "Every day we hold out here is to buy more time for the nationwide war against Falkenridge!"

Glancing at the subordinate in front of him who dared to stand up and build momentum for himself at such a time, Grand Duke Jon was obviously very satisfied with this feeling of being sought after and obeyed, and he motioned to the general to take the lead and not speak, as if from this action he had recovered the time when he dared not obey every call: "Let's not mention this, Mr. Carr, I heard a few days ago that General McCarthy's troops are heading north, where are they now?"

"Dear Grand Duke Jon, the rearguard of the McCarthy cluster has crossed the Stasy River and reached its intended objective. They were ordered to set up a defensive line along the river in this area to prevent the forward troops of Falkenridge's army from biting into their rear from continuing the pursuit. ”

Continuing to point on the map, Karl knew better than Grand Duke Jon what kind of impact this McCarthy force would have on the defense of the entire City of Dean, so he poured all his energy into the northward movement of McCarthy's cluster except for the defense.

"The Falkenridge army has completely encircled Arkett, and this time the Battle of Arkengt looks like a victory for the Falkenridge people. Another Stasi general was somewhat reluctant to explain the situation in Argot: "Yesterday Falkenridge's army broke through our last line of defense and captured the city. ”

He did not dare to give a detailed account of the entire battle of Argot, let alone Archduke Jon, that a few hours earlier, Falkenrich's army had occupied all of Argott's territory except for the troops of the besieging Stasi army.

In addition, part of Falkenridge's army has moved into the southern part of the central area of Stasi, capturing many towns and continuing to advance northward. They were only a few days away from besieging Dean, a conservative estimate given the resistance of Stasi's army.

While the Falkenridge army was increasing the length of its own front, Stacy was also being forced to increase the length of its own defensive line, and the Falkenridge army now had extra troops to fill this long defensive line, and the Falkenridge army was almost exhausted, and there was really no capital to resist the encirclement of the Falkenridge army

"If Igor's forces continue north, then we will be forced to add another defensive area south of Dean. ”

One of Karl's generals pointed to the large blank area under the map of Dean City and said to Archduke Jon: "Great Duke Jon, in this way, it is difficult to conclude how many of the troops brought back by General McCarthy can be used for the defense of Dean City." ”

"But there is no doubt that the soldiers that General McCarthy brought back were elite soldiers who had been tested in battle. ”

Carl had to step up and say a few nice things about McCarthy.

If it had been a year ago, if he had the opportunity to pit an opponent in front of Grand Duke Jon, and then gain the trust of Grand Duke Jon himself, as a rookie of Stacy, Carl would have been more than happy to do so. But now, at a time like this, those positions that used to seem to be high and powerful are no different from the guillotine.

At this time, it would be a complete fool to frame each other and then fight for those illusory powers.

So when his subordinates slandered McCarthy, he hurriedly stood up and explained to his nominal superior: "Grand Duke Jon, you must know that the troops in our hands lack combat experience, and the troops brought back by the old general McCarthy can effectively make up for the shortcomings of the defenders of Dean City in this regard...... This will definitely double our combat effectiveness. ”

Grand Duke Jon nodded after hearing this, and then motioned for the others to leave the room, so all the generals were relieved, and everyone picked up some of the materials and documents they had brought, and walked quickly out of the huge conference room. Outside the window, a corner of the Grand Duke's palace could be seen collapsing, and soldiers and civilians were slowly clearing the rubble left behind by the collapsed building

"Boom!"

In the distance, there was a very indistinct sound of artillery, which was the sound of Falkenridge's army bombarding the defensive positions arranged on the outskirts of Dean City with artillery, and often shells entered the city of Dean City, exploding on the streets or buildings, causing panic among the citizens and causing many casualties.

It's become a fortified city on the front lines, and everything is no longer safe.

Looking out the window, at the smoke rising from the far distance behind the building, Archduke Jon held his hands behind his back and said nothing, and behind him Karl could only stand there, following the silence. The corners of the first floor of the nearby buildings were already piled with defensive sand and stones, and the soldiers in the barricades were all armed, and the atmosphere looked so serious.

"These days, the Falkenridge army has not carried out large-scale raids...... "Grand Duke Jon suddenly spoke, and said to Karl behind him, "We don't have the energy to repair our city anymore, but you have to watch out for the reaction of the civilians." All important urban settings should also be protected. ”

"Rest assured, Dear Grand Duke Jon!" replied Karl, "I have transferred the most reliable troops in the Dean City Defense Zone, and they are the most loyal. I am not so worried about these places, but about the frontal entry of Falkenridge's army into the city. ”

Grand Duke Jon nodded, he hadn't really thought about asking these questions before, but the news of McCarthy's return had kindled a glimmer of hope in his heart, and the total annihilation of the Stacy Killer Force had forced him to throw his energy back again.

That's why he left Karl alone today and asked about the front-line arrangement.

The defensive line on the front of Stasi's army was quite well arranged, and because of this, it was able to block the onslaught of several army groups of infantry in turn. The Stasi army mobilized a large number of civilians to build their defensive lines, allowing them to dig countless defensive fronts in a short period of time, turning the plains in front of Dean City into a rugged obstacle strip.

Moreover, Stasi began to equip himself with "new weapons" on a large scale, including armor-piercing guns and armor-piercing heavy artillery. These weapons helped the Stasi army in the direction of Dean City to temporarily stabilize their own defenses and stop the frantic attack of Falkenridge's army.

Of course, the Falkenridge Army was not waiting for the Stasi Army to strengthen itself. General Igor advanced nearly ten kilometers southwest of the city of Dean, advancing the front to a point where the city of Dean could be seen almost directly. And Ninell Abel, who was newly promoted to general, made steady progress and advanced his forward troops to a distance of only fifteen kilometers from Dean City.

The western part of the city of Dean City has been bombarded by the heavy artillery of Falkenridge's army, many buildings have collapsed, and the streets have been buried in rubble and rubble, becoming a natural defense line for the soldiers.

Of course, Grand Duke Jon hadn't been to the western end of the city, so as the supreme leader of Stasi, he didn't know that nearly a fifth of his capital had become unrecognizable.

"When McCarthy comes back to Dean City, make arrangements for me, and I'm going to meet him personally. ”

Grand Duke Jon turned his head and looked at Karl: "As a general, he has lived up to my trust in him, so I must also repay his loyalty to me with the highest treatment!

"I see! Grand Duke Jon! I'm going to prepare! On the outskirts of the southern part of the city, I'll prepare a guard of honor of a thousand men, and I'll ask you to review it when the time comes. Karl heard the sound and quickly proposed a good-looking ritual process for Archduke Jon.

"Go get ready. Grand Duke Jon nodded and agreed to Karl's arrangement: "If every Stacy general had been as loyal and capable as you and General McCarthy, maybe we wouldn't be in the situation we are in today." ”