After the bloody Battle of Pella, it was soon the height of summer. The entire Balkan continent in the subtropics is shrouded in a sultry and huge depression, with torrential rains all day long.

Since the last war, the remnants of Pera's 100,000-strong army, under the command of Princess Celestia Cleo and the Janissary Commander Eumenes, have managed to break through and join forces of more than 100,000 reinforcements from the southern states to retreat to the fortress of Thermopagus, which is the choke point of communication between the north and south of the Balkan continent. During their retreat, they were repeatedly pursued by the forces of the Holy Romans and Nicaea, but thanks to their familiarity with the terrain and their early preparation, Pera's army succeeded in repelling the enemy each time.

A month has passed since the successful entry into the hot spring pass fortress, and both sides are intensively stepping up preparations for the next big battle.

In the last war, Pera's army lost more than 400,000 troops, which can be described as a great loss of vitality, but fortunately, most of the remaining 100,000 troops are elite main forces with rich combat experience, plus elite troops sent by southern countries, a total of about 300,000. Although there were not enough people to launch an immediate counterattack, it was not difficult to hold on to the steep and fortified fortress of Hot Spring Pass.

Since the fall of Pera, the southern states have been shocked, and in order to prevent their own countries from repeating the mistakes of Pera, they have urgently mobilized, not only sending the most elite troops in the country to help defend the hot springs, but also transporting a large number of war materials.

The fortress, which was already very steep, was further strengthened, and rose like a sharp blade in the middle of the towering mountains. On either side are the cliffs of the Mori Forest, with only a rugged path in the middle leading to the Adamantite Gate, the first heavy fortress of the Hot Springs Pass Fortress Group.

The hot spring pass is mainly composed of three huge heavy fortresses, which are scattered high and low to cover each other. There is not a single shooting blind spot. The fortresses are connected by tunnels and trenches, and a large number of guard towers, arrow towers, pillboxes, batteries and other fortifications are built at key points according to the topography of the mountain. The outer walls of the fortress were originally made of boulders, but now they are also heavily armored and cannot be shattered even when the enemy blasts them at close range with heavy magic cannons. Hundreds of large weapons such as magic cannons, trebuchets, and heavy crossbows are installed in the cannon holes on the top and in the outer walls. The entire fortress complex appears to be strong and impregnable.

At the same time, an endless camp has been set up in the lofty mountains behind the Hot Spring Pass, countless grains, grasses and weapons have been piled up, and the army of 300,000 has been reorganized. From the chaotic state of being divided into many countries, it was changed to a unit with a unified command, and the soldiers stepped up their training day and night, and the morale of the soldiers, which had been low due to the fall of the capital, slowly rose again.

They all have a breath of air in their hearts. After exhausting the enemy's army under the impregnable fortress, launch a counterattack to defeat it once and for all and recapture Pera!

On the other hand, Holy Rome and Nicaea lost more than six hundred thousand men in the Battle of Pella. Among them, the combined floating fleet suffered heavy casualties. The ability to attack again was basically lost for a short period of time.

After the battle, Holy Rome and Nicaea, having suffered heavy losses, could not immediately move south to annihilate the fleeing enemy, so they could only send part of their troops in pursuit, but they were all repulsed one by one. The last had to watch the enemy retreat to the extremely steep Hot Spring Pass.

At this time, although the Holy Romans and Nicaea occupied the vast territory of Pera and the northern part of the Balkan continent, after more than two years of war, the soldiers were exhausted, most of the troops were less than half of the full number, and some of the thousand-man troops who had participated in the hard battle were even only a few people left. The establishment was completely lost, and the command was extremely chaotic. Even if the situation is slightly better, the troops of Lang. It was also all wounded, and the armor and weapons were broken. A large number of mages in the army are close to overdraft their magic power in high-intensity and continuous battles, the magic stones that can quickly replenish their magic power have been exhausted, and all kinds of scrolls and magic items are in short supply, and an average of ten people can only get a bottle of recovery potion. As for large combat equipment such as magic puppets, magic cannons, and trebuchets, most of them have various faults that need to be repaired urgently.

In the countryside, fields, and forests of Pera and other parts of the north, there are still a large number of remnants of Pera's strength, who rely on their familiarity with the terrain to fight guerrilla warfare, and their elusive whereabouts are a great headache for the rear troops of Holy Rome and Nicaea, the supply and transportation are greatly affected, and even the movement of some small troops will be attacked, and it is urgent to transfer troops from the front to suppress it.

In general, the armies of the two countries were no longer able to launch another large-scale offensive in the short term, and could only hold on to the area around Pera for the time being, pending the regrouping of the armies and the arrival of domestic reinforcements.

One evening, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I held his first post-war celebration banquet after he recovered from his injuries. The banquet was held in the occupied Grand Palace of Perra, and was attended by his allies, nobles and celebrities, the most distinguished of whom was Emperor Frederick I himself, and then the new Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian.

Justinian was originally the king of the Kingdom of Nicaea, and since the recovery of Byzantium, he thought that he had done a great job in rebuilding the former glory of the Eastern Roman Empire, and even the enthronement ceremony was ready. It was only because of the urgency of the battle in Pera that he had to hastily lead his troops out of Byzantium to attack again. Soon after, he joined forces with Frederick to capture Pera, the capital of the Olympian League.

Accomplishing such great feats one after another, Justinian naturally began to proclaim himself Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire with the support of his important ministers. However, in the Battle of Pera, the Eastern Roman army, which was dominated by new soldiers, was ineffective and could not match the results of the Holy Rome, which cast a shadow on the new emperor's head. Frederick, who considered himself to be from an orthodox background, despised Justinian as an upstart, but he still sent congratulations in a false way for the sake of the alliance

Although the Grand Palace of Pera was mostly destroyed in the war, it has been restored to its former grandeur after emergency restoration. The banquet hall is brightly lit, surrounded by colorful flowers and gold decorations, bright red precious carpets, colorful glazed tile candlesticks reflect the blurred colors, all kinds of fine wine and delicacies are dazzling, and countless nobles and celebrities wear fashionable clothes and shuttle among them with laughter and laughter.

Frederick, the host of the banquet, was sitting with Justinian on a set of ornate sofas in the center of the hall, sipping wine and discussing the current situation.

Although Pera had been captured, the situation was not optimistic, and the main enemy forces had retreated safely to the impregnable fortress of Hot Springs, while the two armies were unable to continue the pursuit due to the heavy losses they had suffered in the previous battle. In fact, there was nothing to celebrate at this celebration banquet, which was only held to boost morale, but the generals who knew the current situation were in a rather heavy mood and the atmosphere seemed quite depressing.

Frederick smiled and toasted a glass of wine to the so-called 'new emperor of Eastern Rome' in front of him: "Your Majesty Justinian, congratulations on the rebuilding of the great Eastern Rome, and may your empire be as strong and glorious as it was in the past!"

Justinian also smiled and raised his glass in response: "His Royal Highness Frederick and Holy Rome are the most noble allies of our country, and we in Eastern Rome will unswervingly abide by this covenant, and will fully support all the interests of your country at all times, may our friendship last forever!"

Everyone around him hurriedly echoed in unison, and after the two of them exchanged polite words for a while, Justinian finally officially asked: "Your Majesty, now that Pera and the allied forces of the southern countries have established a foothold in Hot Springs, it is said that it is an extremely steep and strong fortress, if we do not act quickly, I am afraid that it will be more and more unfavorable to us if we continue to drag on." ”

Frederick was dissatisfied, the Holy Rome had suffered heavy casualties and achieved many victories in the previous battles, while the so-called Eastern Roman Empire was very disappointing in its combat effectiveness, and its role in the whole war was not mentioned. The reason why Pera's main force was able to break through smoothly was largely due to the lack of strength of the Eastern Roman army, but I didn't expect the new emperor to say such a thing now, it's really shameless!

Of course, this kind of thing cannot be said, and Frederick can only sigh: "What you said is indeed reasonable, and it will be more and more unfavorable to us if time drags on." But to be honest, our country has gone through many hard battles in previous battles, and has lost more than 450,000 troops. Not only that, but the seven electors of the country's major princes were either killed or wounded, and they had to wait for these princely states to elect new chiefs before they could recruit troops and levy grain and grass on a large scale again, which would certainly take some time to complete. I wonder if your country can take on greater responsibility this time, so that you can quickly send troops to the Hot Spring Pass before the other party is fully prepared?"

Justinian couldn't help but be a little embarrassed when he heard this, Frederick's words were implicitly sarcastic, although he could not refute it, after all, he was of course clear about the incompetence of his army in the last war.

Field Marshal Belisarius beside him was not convinced, and couldn't help but explain: "Your Majesty, I admit that our army did not perform well in the last war, but there is a reason for that. ”

"Oh?" said Frederick, glancing at Belisarius, not satisfied with the marshal's interjection. If this person was just an ordinary general, the HRE Emperor would not have paid attention to it at all, but this field marshal was a high-powered de facto commander of the Eastern Roman Army, so he had to give some face

(To be continued......)