Verse 353 is true or false

Essien was on his horse, his map in his hand.

Based on the estimates on the map and in his own mind, he believed that the city of Neustria, was not far away. But what puzzled him was that until now, he had not encountered a patrol sent out of the city.

You must know that a military fortress like Neustria will definitely send enough scouts to detect nearby movements and control the area around the city. Of course, it is another matter how much this patrol can control (because one of the most important jobs of scouts is to hide from the sky and sail and operate under the noses of the patrol), but it is absolutely existent.

Of course, there are some careless generals who do not take such necessary precautions, but this is another story. At least, according to the last information Essien received, the entire coalition of Gruni and Tiberius had converged on the city of Neustria, and Ashrufat should not hesitate to send such peripheral forces.

But...... Something is not quite right.

As he meticulously proofread the map, Clio came from behind.

"Essien, you said yesterday that you should be able to reach Neustria today. Clio said. Due to his aristocratic background, Clio was also educated by the nobility, so his riding skills were more or less improvised. But on the other hand, he is far worse than Essien. After so many days of hard marching, Cleo was already tired and hoping to find a place to rest and recuperate, but Essien was still in good spirits, and it looked like he would have no problem marching like this for as long as he could.

"It should be...... But the situation ...... It's a bit of a bad thing. Essien groaned. In front of Clio, he didn't have to worry too much. "I didn't feel right. ”

"What's wrong?"

"It was so quiet. Essien said. "I thought it would be ...... Today, no matter what, we're going to run into patrols or caravans or something. ”

"It must have been an accident...... As long as the distance is correct, we can definitely get to Newstria City. After all, cities don't run. ”

"No......" Essien thought for a moment, "we'd better just in case." ”

"What's in case?" Cleo was a little upset at Essien's excessive caution. He had known for a long time that the strategic concept of this battle against chaos was a war of attrition against each other. There are even rumors in Eagle Falcon City that it can use Gaohua City as a cost to exhaust the combat power of the Chaos Legion. As long as Neustria City holds on, this wave of chaotic invasion is doomed to be untenable and will eventually have to retreat.

"How many days have we been insulated?" Essien asked.

"It's been a lot of days. Clio replied. "But the last news I got was that the Chaos Legion had hit a wall under Gaohua City, suffered heavy losses and gained nothing...... The Chaos Legion paused its offensive. They can't even take Neustria so quickly, right?"

"On the battlefield, anything can happen. Essien shook his head. Although Clio is a good friend of his, he is unable to communicate with him in this regard. In fact, Clio knows no more about military affairs than the civilians on the streets of Eagle City. Of course, he has a very good ability in negotiations and in the outside world.

"Prepare the soldiers for battle. Essien ordered one of the heralds beside him. No sooner had he finished speaking, and the herald had not even had time to turn his horse's head and leave, when a cavalryman appeared in front of him. Through the armor of the other party, Esin recognized that it was the cavalry in charge of the vanguard. Moreover, from the other party's body language, the posture of beating horses and galloping, and the desperate gesture of waving his hand, it can be seen that this person has an urgent military situation to report.

Although mentally prepared, Essien was still taken aback by the news brought by the other party.

"What...... The city of Neustria has been captured by the Chaos Legion...... The vanguard of our army met the queen who had fled from the city...... Or a woman who calls herself queen?"

"Let's go, let's go see the queen right away!" Essien was Essien after all, and his shock was only for the first few seconds, and he immediately realized the opportunity in it.

"Wait a minute, Essien, that could be a trap for the Chaos Legion......" Cleo stopped in time. Shouldn't the queen be in Eagle Falcon City?Also, how could a city like Neustria, where a hundred thousand troops were stationed, be captured by the Chaos Legion in such a short period of time?

"No, Cleo," Essien urged his horse forward, not stopping at all. "I understand what's going on. ”

"What is going on? Essin, you see, there are 100,000 troops in the city of Neustria, and the city itself has a complete fortification, and there are abundant supplies, so that the city is fortified...... The Chaos Legion is impossible to defeat in a few days......"

"But there is also a possibility, and that is that there are no more 100,000 troops in the city. Essien replied immediately. "Ashrufat has spotted the plane, so the whole army has gone to attack. At this time, Ashrufat and the Chaos Legion should be facing off on the front line...... Maybe the winner has already been decided. ”

"Ah...... What do you mean...... The Chaos Legion has copied Aerufat's back path?"

"Maybe yes. Essien smiled. He already realized how wise and correct his decision was. That's a lot of work.

"But...... Beller is there, too, and someone like him would make such a mistake?"

"It's not necessarily a mistake. Essien replied. "Sending troops behind enemy lines is equivalent to weakening the strength of troops on the frontal battlefield...... Reduced odds of winning. It's a gamble, not right or wrong. This is just a practice of inflicting heavy losses on the enemy after defeat...... However, as the saying goes, one bird in hand is better than a hundred birds in the forest. ”

"Well, you mean it's the frontal battlefield that's all about it. Although sending troops behind enemy lines is a clever way to block the enemy's retreat, the price is to reduce the number of troops on the frontal battlefield and reduce the odds of victory......"

That's what it means. Cleo, you see, we were in the right place at the right time. ”

"And the Queen...... What's the matter with the Queen? She's supposed to be in Falcon City!"

"It's hard to say, but ...... If it's a scam, then the scammer will soon regret it. Because he didn't know that both of us were court officials, and I even served as the queen's personal bodyguard for a long time. Essien replied. "I'm sure no scams can fool my eyes. It can't be fake, it can't be fake. ”

......

“...... They're 100,000 strong!" Robin stressed again.

Now, he kind of trusted the general's judgment. Although Robin had always felt that Ashrufat was completely incomparable to his general, at this moment, he found that Ashrufat's reaction when he heard the news was really similar to Bayor. His first reaction was not to question the correctness of the news like others, but immediately showed a thoughtful look.

"How's General Beller doing?" asked Ashrufat a few seconds later.

"The Shogun is ...... Retreat at full speed. At the same time, he repeatedly sent multiple scouts...... This Chaos Legion doesn't act the same way. They didn't send scouts, as if they didn't care what we knew. The Chaos Legion is now coming straight at us, and it's fast. ”

"It's kind of incredible. It was Barranca on the side who spoke. Just before Robin came in to deliver the news, victory seemed to be at hand and within reach. But now, victory has become an unattainable horizon. "Where did they get so many troops?"

"It was definitely prepared in advance. Ashrufat's face was not shocked, which made Barranca a little admired. However, after a few seconds, he realized that Ashrufat really didn't need to be nervous, because he could retreat to Gohua, or Newstria. If there is a strong city to rely on, then the 100,000 Chaos Legion is not so terrifying.

"The Chaos Legion is coming straight at you...... Is there any favorable terrain nearby that can withstand them?" asked Ashrufat. But on the surface he was asking someone, but in fact he had opened the military map.

He was already so familiar with the map that when he opened it, it didn't take much effort to find it, and his eyes fell on a certain location on the map.

"The river can be exploited. Barranca walked over, and so did Parry. "Destroy the bridge over the river...... No matter how strong the Chaos Legion is, it won't be able to survive for a while. We have plenty of time to put the rear in order, and we can even fight a few small battles to dampen their prestige. ”

Well...... It is indeed a favorable terrain.

"This season, the river flows...... Relatively gentle. Parry spoke. "It was possible to swim across the river. ”

Barranca squinted at Parry. After such a long period of contact, several senior generals have actually taken a clear position among themselves. Barranca stood firmly with Eshurufat, Parry was marginalized, and Baylor maintained a detached neutral position. In particular, this does not actually mean that the four of them adopted any strategy of open and covert fighting, or that there was a verbal and physical conflict, but a spontaneous, tacit attitude. Everyone could feel that Parry's voice was getting lower and lower, while Ashrufat's voice was getting higher and higher. Especially after the previous campaign to annihilate the Chaos Legions, Parry had lost the ability to resist the authority of General Ashrufat in any place or in any way - and even if he did, his old subordinates would not approve of it.

"People can swim, but what about equipment? Especially hoplites...... They can't swim in Chaos armor. That's right, we can't stop a small force, but don't think about crossing the river with a large force. Barranca replied confidently. "It's not a problem to delay here for a few days anyway. This time can help the rear to strengthen the defense of the city and prepare for future sieges. ”

The explanation was so powerful that even Parry didn't say anything more.