Rhodes stood on an abrupt hill, looking at the city of Errengrad under the gray canopy, and his heart was heavy.

Years ago, as a very small unit of the Northern Alliance, he participated in the campaign to destroy the rebels in Erengrad. At that time, Erengrad was a thriving port city, arguably the largest port city in the North of the Old World. Today, after two wars, the city is in a dilapidated state, with most of its 100,000 inhabitants sent to the frontier and reduced to slavery, with the rest being new immigrants. Old families are shattered, and new families are in the crossfire.

Rhodes really didn't know how to attack the city, and the information from the spies showed that the defenders of the city still had at least 2,000 people. Although the Northern Alliance has 20,000 troops, it still has to pay a huge price to capture a well-defended city of Erengrad, and there is no guarantee that when this battle is over, the Ice Queen will not take the opportunity to go north again and attack the hinterland of the north. Moreover, the siege of the city, how to siege the city is also a difficult problem. We can't hurt civilians, we can't kill as bloody as Katerina did, otherwise, the mass base on which I relied will be gone.

In addition, on another level, I don't want to see civilians shed blood in war. Although this is inevitable, it must be avoided if it can be avoided. The life of the people at the bottom is already hard enough, and many people are worse off than dead, and if they are devastated by the war, it will be even more miserable. Of course, it is not excluded that people who are so poor that they have nothing are counting on the war to turn them around...... After all, the death squads in each unit were mostly made up of poor ghosts, beggars, prisoners, and fugitives who owed usury......

Of course, there is another way to take the city, and that is to use money...... Buying the officials in the city, buying the defenders, as long as the price is high enough, there will be people willing to betray, after all, it is better to take the money to the empire next door for half a lifetime than to die in the barren land of Kislev. Similarly, as long as you have enough money, you can also hire foreign troops, that is, ask mercenaries to fight, so that you can also take the city without spending a single soldier. As long as money can solve it, it doesn't matter...... Unfortunately, the northern frontier is not wealthy, and supporting this huge coalition army would have required huge military expenditures, not to mention additional funds.

Looking at Erengrad under the clouds, I don't know why, but Dennis's face suddenly appeared in front of me. She is still seven or eight years old, innocent. Open your arms to hug ...... But when he woke up, Dennis was fourteen years old, and he hadn't seen her for many years, and the last time he saw her was after the end of the Erengrad rebellion, and it had been four years since then, and even Dennis's appearance had been somewhat forgotten.

Just as he was thinking, the latest information came from the rangers, and Rod opened the sealed letter under the gaze of everyone. A small line of clear words came into view - [We are victorious, the Imperial Black Rose Knights rushed to support at the critical moment, and the Erengrad navy was completely defeated, sinking eight gunboats, capturing four gunboats, and two more gunboats broke through. Admiral Disma of Erengrad was captured. Alves' name is written on the pen. Rod knew that it was Alves' handwritten letter.

"What's on it?"

The soldiers anxiously asked, at this sensitive and special time node, any information is important information.

"The Erengrad Navy was defeated. ”

Rhodes replied briefly. As soon as the words fell, the cheers of many northern officers sounded in front of him. The victory in the naval battle was undoubtedly a game-breaking battle for the current predicament, and even the mighty Erengrad navy was defeated, and there was nothing to stop the siege of the coalition forces in the north. It greatly boosted the morale of the regiment. What's more, tactics will be adjusted, storming will no longer be necessary, and it will be possible to besiege the city and exchange the least casualties for the greatest victory.

Rhodes thought the same way. One of the peculiarities of the city of Errengrad is that its harbor is a deep-water port, and it can be fully supplied by this port. It was with this problem in mind that Kislev's regular army did not want to besiege the city of Erlengrad in the first place. Therefore, without the fleet, the port could not be protected, and once it was blocked, the city could not be resupplied, and the Erengrad, rebuilt on the ruins, could not compare with the Erengrad at its peak, and its supplies and food stocks would last only a few weeks at most. With winter still a while to come, Rhodes knew he could afford to wait.

"Fortify the fortifications and make sure not a single wagon enters the city!" 520

Standing in place, Rhodes issued an order on the spot. Siege warfare turned into siege warfare. He was going to besiege Erengrad like Caterina had done with traitors. The difference is that the bloody female tsar was ready to slaughter the city, while Rhodes was not ready to do so. The current Erengrad is not the huge city of Erengrad that it used to be, and there are not so many civilians in the city, and it doesn't need much food to feed them. Earning the title of liberator is more important than anything else.

Fortunately, the invasion of the greenskins did not lead to the collapse of agriculture in the north, except for the fall of the Overwatch Fortress, the influence of various industries in the territory of other lords was not great, so it was not difficult to organize strategic materials.

"Raise more food, and once the gates open, we have to deal with tens of thousands of hungry civilians. ”

"Rod, you're going to save those civilians?"

Giger asked, frowning. The same puzzled look appeared on everyone's face.

"Yes, we have to keep the city food supplied for a short time, and wait until the city's production and trade are back on track, and then we will leave. The surplus population can be transferred to various castles for resettlement. ”

Rod replied with unwavering tone.

"I'm afraid it's another big investment. ”

"Procurement costs, transportation costs...... I'm afraid this winter will be an ordeal. ”

Deguel answered.

"Take a long-term view, brothers, war costs money, it's an ordeal for us, and it's an ordeal for Katarina. Moreover, the vampire queen will not have a better life than ours, and the snow has destroyed a large area of farmland outside Kislev, and we have an even greater advantage than her in terms of food reserves. Bear with me, get through this time, and once we have achieved the final victory, then you will look back and feel that the pain you have suffered now is nothing. ”

Rhodes clenched his fists and cheered everyone on. Although, the war funds also made Rhodes feel distressed, in six years, the Black Hammer Fort, which had been developed with great efforts, would be consumed a lot in this war, and as long as the battle dragged on for two years, with the economic strength of the northern border, it would feel a lot of pressure. However, when the dice have been rolled, there is no room for recuperation, and everyone is gambling.