The second to be attacked was the Togo stronghold. It is close to the main traffic arteries, and there were many horse bandits, road bandits, and bandit gangs in the past. After the arrival of the rebels, they cracked down on the evil bandits who stubbornly violated the people, and reformed and incorporated the people in the green forest who were forced to fall into the grass.

However, the two groups of people are actually not easy to distinguish. Hindered by the great strength of the people, many bandits obeyed on the surface, but in fact they hated the policy of the rebels in the unified management of assets and weapons and the prohibition of disturbing the people and plundering.

In the current situation where the reactionary forces are counterattacking and the rebel army is gradually losing ground, these wall grasses have left the ranks one after another and once again bared their fangs to the army and the people. The bandits, in conjunction with the local guards, continued to harass the rebel area, and these people had a good understanding of the rebels' defense and personnel, and they had the upper hand from the beginning.

The traitors especially hated the former bandits who followed the rebels loyally, such as the Montenegrin Five Demons, who had been reformed by Oster and continued to fight for the people without hesitation, led by a companion who had "lost his sight" and regained his sight. In the course of the resistance, they have already lost three of them.

Due to the lack of troops, Captain Eric finally had to abandon most of the area of activity and rely on the camp to shrink the defense. But if it continues to be isolated, it is only a matter of time before the camp falls.

The next thing that happened was Nishiyama, and the situation was even more complicated.

It is close to the Black Mountain Range, with a large area, a large population, and a fierce people. After the disease spread in the northwestern part of the wilderness, it was the place where a large number of refugees from afar set up camp. Not only are the reactionary forces strong, but they also involve an important issue: the contradiction between the refugees and the local population.

Where there are people, there is conflict. The arrival of large numbers of refugees has effectively taken up the indigenous population's access to arable land, drinking water and resources. In terms of customs, beliefs, habits, etc., the two groups of people have always been at odds.

Within the Xishan Rebel Army, which was mainly composed of militias, the contradictions between the Hakka faction and the indigenous faction had penetrated into all aspects, even to the point of irreconcilability. When dealing with some contradictions, the cadres of the rebel army also did not fully take into account the feelings of the residents of the two factions, resulting in a series of misunderstandings. The indigenous faction believes that the rebels are biased in favor of the refugees and are responsible for the forcible occupation of their homeland land. The Hakka faction believed that they had contributed more in the war, and that the natives had taken advantage of their sacrifices and did not appreciate it.

In addition, when the rebels were active in Xishan, they carried out two major measures. First, it launched land reform, hanged a number of landlords who had occupied barren fields and mountains and committed heinous crimes, and distributed the land equally among the refugees. Second, in view of the collusion of officials and businessmen to take advantage of the disaster to lend usury to exploit the military and civilians, they launched a campaign to burn land deed debts and execute a number of foreign capitalists.

At first, both of them received enthusiastic support from the public, but later, both of these measures began to be blindly expanded, and even became a tool for the Turks and the Turks to weaken each other. As long as the local farmer owns the land, he is regarded as a landlord, and as long as he travels to and from various places to run a business, hire others to help the foreign businessman, he is regarded as a bourgeoisie, and he is deprived of his property or even executed. As a result, many unjust cases and wrongful killings were caused, many of which involved the relatives of the officers and men of the rebels, and the contradictions were further intensified.

In the midst of the chaos, many ordinary farmers and wealthy merchants were forced to flee, and most of these people who lost their property and left their homes remained in government-controlled areas, and were extremely hostile to the rebels. Under the fanning of the government and the flames, it is easy to assemble and carry out sabotage actions against the base areas.

Not long ago, in a brawl between two groups of soldiers, an indigenous soldier was killed by a refugee soldier. At the instigation of the official spies, a large number of indigenous soldiers surrounded the battalion headquarters and demanded an explanation from Lieutenant Price.

Price did not correctly assess the situation, and while trying to negotiate persuasion, he was shot and killed by a spy hiding in the crowd. After the demonstrations turned into a rebellion and the rebels were suppressed, the battalion headquarters began to arrest and execute a large number of indigenous officers and soldiers, forcing many soldiers to leave the ranks or defect to the official army.

Taking advantage of the internal chaos of the rebel army, the expelled landlords and merchants took the opportunity to form a return regiment to their hometowns, joined forces with the official army, and fought back. The paralyzed leadership of the rebels was unable to organize effective resistance and retreated, leaving only the camp and the surrounding area under control. After a large number of villages and market towns fell into the hands of the enemy, they were brutally carried out by the three lights; For a time, the blood flowed like a river, and the sorrow was everywhere.

This is the case for the remaining two large bases. In addition to the external areas of activity such as Dongxiang and Nishisan, the power of the county government in the towns in the central area has also begun to run rampant again.

In Montenegro, with the rise of riots and rebellions in various places, especially a month ago, the rebels organized a beautiful ambush battle in the headquarters camp thirty miles outside the town, and almost wiped out the guards who came to clear it (but in the eyes of most people, the reason for the victory was counted on the head of Oster, who single-handedly defeated the enemy); The forces of the county government suffered a fatal blow, and they cowered in the town hall and the fortified fortress, completely losing the ability to fight back.

Because the rebels lacked offensive weapons, and Skar didn't want to tear up with the kingdom for the time being, they didn't completely clean them up. The remnants of the officers and soldiers did not dare to step out of the barracks again, and after the town of Montenegro was no longer harassed by harsh taxes and taxes, the production and life and commerce of the townspeople gradually recovered, the streets became prosperous again, and a large number of refugees were also resettled.

However, now, as the situation has receded, the four strongholds have been in an emergency, and the main force of the rebels has left the headquarters on the outskirts. The western state of Sentinel Ridge took the opportunity to send a large number of troops and weapons to support the Montenegrin county government, and the well-armed guards began to return to the streets, restore the guards and tax offices, and hunt down the progressives and rebels.

After a large number of people and progressive gentry were arrested, they were publicly hanged without trial. Because the rebels often disguised themselves as beggars to operate in the towns, the government also arrested many innocent homeless people and imprisoned them, and sentenced them to punishment, forced labor, and even murder indiscriminately. The guards in the town went around arresting people suspected of having an affair with the rebels, and for a time the White Terror was rampant, and everyone was in danger.

So far, in just half a month, the base area of the rebel army has shrunk by more than half.

Two of the four strongholds in the southeast, northwest, and northwest were destroyed, two were in an emergency, two captains were killed, and there were countless casualties among the soldiers and civilians. The central towns fell back into the hands of the county government, and the area of activity except for the headquarters and strongholds was basically lost.

In the face of the attack of the elite enemy army in all directions, the disadvantage of the actual combat strength of the rebel army was also exposed. The Kingdom garrison continued to send reinforcements from Sentinel Ridge, and two more corps marched in and stationed at the Crossroads Fortress. The Holy Knights of the Knights were also ready to move, not satisfied with recovering the territory of the church, and occupied several towns and villages belonging to the county government across the border in the name of assisting in defense.

Skal was stretched thin and overwhelmed. The only rebel units that can fight against the enemy forces above the middle level are the beggar musketeers, who are very few in number, running around for their lives, and cannot be repaired, and the continuous battle damage cannot be replenished.

Since the banner was raised, the rebel army has never faced such a grim situation. It is precisely in response to that sentence that the darkest is before dawn, and the more it reaches the last moment, the reactionary forces will unite, and the counterattack will become more crazy and cruel. But if you can't get through it, the night will last forever, and the light will never come.