Chapter 517: A Merchant's Perspective

When Lorist racked his brains to fight hard for the firewood, rice, oil and salt of the millions of residents of the city of Moldente, on June 33, the seventh day of the landing of the Norton family forces in the city of Moronte, the more than 400,000 commercial alliance forces on the front line of the Falcan Hill finally received the news that the city of Morent had fallen to the Norton family forces, and then the news that Thomas City and Gypsys City had fallen into the hands of the enemy came one after another. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

The commanding leaders of the entire commercial alliance armed forces suddenly gathered in the big tent of the Chinese army as if they had been stabbed with chrysanthemums, making noise like a vegetable market, and at the same time understood why several cavalry units of the Antinac Kingdom would be like red-eyed mad dogs in the past few days, launching a furious attack on some small defensive fortresses set up by the merchant alliance forces on the Falcan Hill Plain, so that the commercial alliance forces could not figure out their intentions for a while, but were exhausted for these defensive facilities that were not critical locations.

In particular, the two famous cavalry legions that reappeared on the battlefield, the Flying Tiger Legion and the Cavalry Legion of the Norton family in the Northland, these two cavalry legions have always won more than defeated in the confrontation with the commercial alliance forces, invaded like fire, and were invincible, and a rock legion, the defense was as strong as a mountain. If it weren't for the fact that the three legions had to return to the army because of the rebellion in the family territory two years ago, the merchant alliance forces would not have gained the upper hand in the confrontation with the noble alliance of the Andinac kingdom and recovered the two fortress cities from the hands of the second highness.

Whether it is the quality of the soldiers or the weapons and equipment, the commanding leaders of the commercial alliance have to admit that the Norton family forces are much more effective than the army under their command. However, the merchant alliance forces, which have also experienced melee in the central and southern parts of the continent for several years, are much stronger than the alliance of the nobles of the Andinac Kingdom led by His Second Highness.

Without the participation of the Norton family's armed forces, the commercial alliance armed forces could beat the Second Highness like a turtle with a shrunken head, even if the casualties and losses were more, but the victory was worth it. But now the Flying Tiger Legion and the Chaser Legion armed by the Norton family have appeared on the battlefield of the Falcan Hill Plain again, not only turning defense into offense, but most importantly, they have also led several armies with strong combat effectiveness among the noble coalition of the Andinac Kingdom to be active on the battlefield again, such as the Pegasus Legion of the Philim family, the frontier ranger regiment of the Grand Duke of Fisabrun, the reserve legion and so on.

The Flying Tiger Legion and the Chasseur Legion, which had returned to the front line, did not go head-to-head with the heavily defended positions of the Commercial Alliance's armed forces, but instead took a different approach and specifically attacked those remote corners that were not vital locations. Although this was a big turn in terms of the efficiency of the attack, it could not stop the speed of the two cavalry legions, and the merchant alliance forces found that the right rib of the defensive position had been torn open a big hole without paying attention, and the hunting cavalry army rushed forward wildly, and it only took three days to go around to the rear of the army, forcing the merchant alliance forces to mobilize 100,000 horses to plug the gap.

The movement of the commercial alliance forces did not cause any confusion to the Flying Tiger Legion and the Cavalry Hunting Legion, they did not prepare to fight with the commercial alliance forces in the field, but only used the mobility of the cavalry to turn from north to south, and tore a big hole in the left rib of the commercial alliance's defensive position. It only took four days for the business alliance to run around, complaining, and busy plugging leaks. Unconsciously, the initiative on the battlefield shifted to the side of the coalition of nobles of the Kingdom of Andinak, and the commercial alliance forces appeared to be very passive.

The commanding leaders of the business alliance armed forces led by the president of the Two-Headed Dragon Chamber of Commerce, Archduke Comberlet, were naturally well aware of the changes in the battlefield situation, but they were helpless. In terms of mobility, the majority of the commercial alliance forces are infantry, and only a few elite private guards are equipped with war horses. It's not that the commercial alliance forces don't have the money to build large-scale cavalry units, or that the commanding leaders don't realize the importance of cavalry, the key is that they can't buy a large number of war horses to form cavalry.

The region of the Gelintya continent where war horses are produced is also two places, the north and the south. The north was formerly the Krisson Empire, and both the Northland and the Northeast steppes were rich in war horses. The Empire of Romon and the Khanate of Havestan in the south were also the producers of war horses. In fact, the three major powers of the continent all dominate the continent with elite cavalry.

When the Glass War broke out, the merchant alliance also formed a cavalry force of 20,000 or 30,000 people, but after the merchant alliance adopted a policy of expansion, the two major powers in the south coincidentally closed the door to the merchant alliance to purchase war horses. Not to mention the Kingdom of Antinac in the north and the Norton family in the Northland. It's not that Lorist hasn't thought about doing war horse business with the business alliance, but the cost of sea transportation is too high, and the quality of the Northland horse as a war horse is slightly low, and the business alliance is not eye-catching.

At that time, the Business Alliance and the Fisabrun Bus wanted to purchase a large number of war horses from the Northeast Prairie through the Central Four Duchyes, but unfortunately they were later ruined by Lorliste's sideways. After several years of fighting between the commercial alliance and those countries in the central and southern regions, the cavalry troops gradually depleted their horses, and now they could not be replenished.

Now the Norton family forces are using the mobility of cavalry to bully the reinforcement speed of the infantry of the Commercial Alliance, anyway, there is no need to stare at one place, as long as they find a gap, they will go over and storm it. Reinforcements from the Business Alliance's armed forces often arrive only to find that the small defensive fortresses that need reinforcements have been smashed into ruins or flattened.

In the previous two years, the cavalry legions of the Grand Duke of Fisabrun and the Philim family suffered heavy casualties because they could not do anything with these small defensive fortresses on the plains of Mana Mound, and a forced attack would inevitably cost heavy casualties. However, the Thunderbolt Catapult Battalion equipped by the Flying Tiger Legion is the nemesis of these small defensive fortresses, and they don't need to get close at all, but they can smash these defenses and small fortresses to pieces without getting close to the distance of three or four hundred meters, and then follow these openings to advance deep into the interior of the Mana Hill Plain.

Although the Commercial Alliance Armed Forces have obtained a lot of blueprints of weapons and armaments from the Northland, and have also modeled some long-range attack weapons such as catapults and large crossbows, there is still a big gap between them and the weapons equipped by the Norton family in terms of distance, power, and accuracy. The soldiers defending these small forts and defenses basically had only two choices, either to watch themselves being smashed into meatloaf or minced meat, or to raise the white flag and surrender to survive.

The commander of the commercial alliance's armed forces, Grand Duke Comberlet, has been worried about how to deal with the Flying Tiger Legion and the Huntsman Legion armed by the Norton family in the past two days, and he has a few bubbles on his lips. When he was gathering people to discuss how to lay a trap to lure the two legions in so that they could be wiped out, who knew that he got the news of the fall of the city of Morient and the armament of the Norton family, and the Grand Duke of Cumberlet vomited blood on the spot and fell unconscious.

The people in the big tent finally woke up the Archduke of Cumberlet, and then received the news that the cities of Thomas and Gypsys had fallen, but by this time the Archduke Cumberlet had calmed down, waved his hand to indicate that he was fine, and asked everyone to discuss how to deal with the current unfavorable situation.

Some of the more anxious chamber of commerce executives shouted on the spot to immediately go back and recapture the city of Moriente, and some of the old and serious people thought that it was impossible to return to the army immediately, the two cavalry corps armed by the Norton family and several cavalry units of the noble alliance of the Andinac Kingdom in the past few days were clearly involved in the front-line army, if the army returned to recapture the city of Morent, it is likely that these cavalry of the enemy would carry out a large-scale surprise attack on the march of the merchant alliance forces, and once they succeeded, the merchant alliance forces would suffer a major defeat......

The two sides quarreled in the big tent, and the Grand Duke of Comberlet, under the pretext of waiting for everyone to discuss before making a decision, secretly invited the presidents of several other chambers of commerce to leave the big tent and enter his own sleeping tent next to it, and ordered the guards to be on strict guard and discuss countermeasures in private.

The former President Peterson, now the Archduke Peterson, asked strangely why the Archduke Cumberlet didn't counsel with the people in the Great Tent.

Archduke Cumberlet shook his head and said, "There are many people, and it is easy to leak rumors. We have lost this war, and I am not talking about the city of Moriente falling into the hands of the Norton family, but the Armada and the convoy are gone......"

Grand Duke Chikde's face changed: "This is impossible!"

"Nothing is impossible...... "Archduke Cumberlet's face was heavy: "The Norton family forces have landed from the Hidden Golden Bay, which shows that the Invincible Armada can no longer stop their attack. Everyone has seen the report of the battle between the Fourth Fleet and the Norton Family's North Sea Fleet, saying that it was a victory was actually a fiasco, and the remaining warships did not dare to go to sea and could only retreat in the Zangjin Bay.

And the first and second fleets have been more than twenty days late to escort the transport fleet, and there is no news until now, plus the Norton family forces landed and occupied the city of Morent from the Hidden Golden Bay, so the result is still to be thought, the transport fleet is gone. There is no sea or land, and the transmission of news is slow, and in a few days we will definitely get detailed battle reports from the Armada and the convoy, and we must prepare for the worst......"

"Then should we divide our forces now to retake the city of Moriente?" asked Archduke Peterson, no matter how to say that Moriente City is also the capital of the commercial alliance, the central city, falling into the hands of the enemy is simply a slap in the face of the business alliance, this face is really not a loss.

"No, we can't go back to the army. Archduke Cumberlet shook his head.

"What, aren't we going to take back the city of Moldon?" exclaimed not only Archduke Peterson, but the other chamber presidents in surprise.

"Of course, you think about it, what good will it do us to retake the city of Moriente now?" said the old god of the Grand Duke of Comlet, "Don't forget, there are still more than a million inhabitants and hundreds of thousands of poor people in the city of Moriente, and the recapture of the city of Moriente will make these more than a million people a burden to us." The plains of Mana Mound are in ruins, and the fleet of ships transporting food and supplies is gone, now we go to retake the city of Morente to feed this million people? besides, we are still fighting against the coalition of the nobles of the Kingdom of Andinac, and the supply of armaments and materials is already very tight......

Let's not forget that after the introduction of the lord system, the roots of our Chambers of Commerce, who hold the power of the business alliance, are no longer in the city of Moriente, but in our own chamber of commerce. The city of Moriente is more equivalent to the office of our chambers of commerce, you think about it, the Norton family armed the capture of the city of Moriente, although our chambers of commerce have lost, but we have lost these benefits, especially since we have also put aside the burden of feeding more than a million people. Seriously, in fact, we should be considered profitable.

The city of Morente is occupied by the enemy, which is more beneficial to us. First, as I just said, the burden of feeding more than one million people has been relieved. The second is that it is not so easy for the Norton family to occupy Moriente City for a long time, let's not forget why our business alliance wants to dismantle the Plains of Falis and Moriente City from the fiefdom and become an independent special district after the implementation of the lord system. Quite simply, for the sake of a slogan of freedom and equality, we have been fighting the former Krissian Empire for more than a hundred years. If the plain of Falis is a fief, it will definitely be self-inflicted, just as the inhabitants of the city of Moriente are the most unsuitable to become our subjects.

Whether it is the Norton family or the Kingdom of Antinac, it is easy to capture the city of Moldonte, but it is difficult to get out. We let the city of Moriente be occupied by them, and then sent men to infiltrate the city, stirring up conflicts between the inhabitants and the occupying forces, and setting off riots from time to time. Then even if we lose this war, the Norton family forces and the alliance of the nobles of the Andinac Kingdom will not have a good time.

By the time the flames of rebellion against them were burning everywhere in the city of Moriente and the plains of Falka, it would only take a few years for them to be drowned in the wrath of those who fought for freedom and equality. At that point, we will be able to easily counterattack, not only recovering all the lost territory, but even going all the way to the Northland, and encompassing the northern lands in the territory of the Commercial Alliance. ”

Archduke Comberlet's words did not lift the spirits of the several presidents present, but the Grand Duke of the Fude Chamber of Commerce sighed: "Your Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Comberlet, have we really lost this war? There is no room for recovery?"

"Well, I don't want to do that either, and although we are not defeated, we can no longer hold on to the fight. Archduke Cumberlet smiled wryly and said, "The Norton family forces have dealt us a fatal blow, and it is clear that they have set a trap for us. If we turn around and head to the city of Moriente to retake the city, it means that these more than 400,000 merchant alliance forces will no longer exist, and we will never be able to recover. ”

"It's not that serious, at least we still have more than 400,000 troops, and the enemy can't swallow us in one bite......" Lyward of the Liberde Chamber of Commerce said openly.

"Brother, you don't know anything about military affairs, so you think so. War does not depend on the strength of the outnumbered. We now have more than 400,000 troops, but in half a month, these 400,000 troops will be gone without the enemy fighting us. Because our food baggage and the supply of logistical materials are about to be cut off, the war is all about logistics, and the army without food will collapse immediately, and there will be no need for the enemy to fight at all. If we return to attack the city of Morente, and the enemy rolls up all the supplies and grass and flees, then even if we recover the city of Morente and do not eat, the result will still be the same, and the army will collapse and the order will be messed up, and we will be finished......"

"So what are we going to do now?" asked Archduke Peterson.

Archduke Comberlet replied in contemplation: "The backbone of the 400,000 commercial alliance forces is the armed regiments and corps of our various chambers of commerce, nearly 200,000 horses, this is the armed force of the chamber of commerce that we must keep. Then there are the 100,000 men and horses conscripted in the city of Moldente, these fools who talk about freedom and equality, we can let them go back to attack the city of Moldente, attract the attention of the enemy and help us get out of trouble. The last hundred thousand troops are all recruits from the southern provinces, and we can use them to ensure our escape from the Plains of Falis Hill......"

Pulling over a map, Archduke Cumberlet pointed and said, "If we want to get rid of the pursuit of several cavalry legions of the enemy, we will make a big noise, let the 100,000 horses that have gone to the city of Morente be fanfare, so that the enemy's cavalry will focus their attention on them." The recruits recruited from the south are left behind, and we don't care whether they are dead or alive. We, the armed forces of the Chamber of Commerce, set out as the second group of men and horses, and here we turned a corner and headed to the province of Maweiforin, where there was a defensive front set up by our family, and when we got there, we could get sufficient logistical supplies. ”

......