Chapter 303: Combat Meeting: The Strength of the Enemy and Ourselves
The appearance of Bishiri made Duke Darcy's eyes suddenly light up. He was about to say something, but then his expression froze.
Rao has rich experience in palace struggles, and his mood management is almost offline at this moment.
First, he saw the Skelligs and the iron crown on Easter's head.
Secondly, he saw the heavily armed dwarves and Barclay, who could be called the military leader of Mahakam.
When did Cintra gain these people's powers? How wrong must have been the previous assessment of Cintra's power!
He heard the Lion of Cintra say: "This is the commander-in-chief of Nilfgaard's Eastern Army—Duke Adar Aip Darcy. He is a veteran of three dynasties in the Nilfgaard Empire and a veteran noble. The current Emperor Emhyr var Emreth overthrew the usurper and regained the throne with the help of a group of old nobles, including him. "Damn it
! How did the Lions know this kind of news? Are there spies from the north within the empire?
"Although the Eastern Group Army has been defeated by me now, the intelligence in his head will definitely be of great benefit to us. I hope you can analyze it with me." Wait, wait, the
Eastern Group Army was defeated?
impossible! Even if he is captured, there are still a lot of senior officers in the military camp who can replace him!
Even if the generals of each corps fight on their own, they can at least turn the whole of Livia upside down without being able to go deeper into Aedirn!
"Even if I have heard you say this, I still want to marvel again... But your move is too risky, Lan. You are now the Duke..." As
Lan spoke, everyone's eyes seemed to be The trick was focused on Duke Darcy like a monkey.
What makes Duke Darcy uneasy is that, except for the disbelief in the eyes of the dwarves, when the others heard the lion's story about the process of capturing him, there was only a kind of wonder and... naturalness in their eyes?
What does this mean? What does this mean?
"Then, next..."
Lann strode forward towards Duke Darcy, the steel shin guards stepping on the floor, making a "kick", "kick" sound.
Every kick made Duke Darcy's heart contract suddenly. He could no longer think, and his body was shaking uncontrollably.
In his messy thoughts, Duke Darcy saw a hand emitting a familiar light in front of his eyes.
"Tell me everything you know, Duke Darcy."
——Strictly
speaking, Nilfgaard's first northern invasion war was not considered a failure.
Previously, the imperial troops sent troops to Cintra in the hope of opening the gateway to the north by conquering Cintra, thereby creating a wide troop transport route for Nilfgaard's hundreds of thousands of troops to be delivered to the north. ; At the same time, it also laid a solid nail for the empire in the north, set up an advance fort, and turned the "Kingdom of Sintra" into the "Province of Sintra", allowing the empire to take the initiative in future wars.
In addition to this general strategy, Emperor Emhyr also has a small idea that he has not told others - to take back his daughter, Princess Cirilla, and completely destroy the ancient blood that "has the power to conquer the world" Incorporated into the Nilfgaardian royal family.
Today, although the stubborn resistance of the remnants of the army and the people has saved Cintra from falling, the actual land in the hands of the Cintra people is less than one-third or even one-quarter of the original.
The territories occupied by the Nilfgaardians are also sufficient for Nilfgaard to transport troops.
The entire Cintra can provide Nilfgaard with a broad road; although the incomplete Cintra can only be regarded as a narrow bridge for Nilfgaard, it is far better than the previous situation where there was no way to go. I don’t know. To some extent, it also gave Nilfgaard more tactical options.
This led to the subsequent "Battle of Soden Mountain". It was also because of this that the Empire had the confidence to order the Eastern Group Army, which contained tens of thousands of infantrymen, to forcefully cross the Yaruga River with light equipment, because the troops stationed in Obersoden could provide them with support.
Today, the Nilfgaardians call the land they occupy "Southern Cintra", while the land they hold centered on the town of Brochlon is called "Northern Cintra".
This call made the people in Sintra in the conference room frown.
"Cintra is Sintra, and there can only be one Sintra in the world." Mossack said in a cold voice.
Others were communicating in low voices with each other, trying to analyze the strength of Nilfgaard revealed in Duke Darcy's words.
"What is Nilfgaard's battle plan for the next stage? How many troops are there, their respective numbers and composition, and the information about their leaders and commanders? How much do you know?" Lan continued to
increase his magic output, hoping to know more. More information about the enemy.
Duke Darcy continued to reveal confidential military information.
"Now the empire's army is divided into three groups, namely the Western Group Army, the Central Group Army, and the Eastern Group Army." The
Eastern Group Army led by Duke Darcy has the [Black Infantry Regiment] as the main force, with a total of 60,000 people. Troops equipped with warlocks used magic to briefly freeze the Yaruga River, abandoning the necessary baggage to quickly attack Livia. The original plan was to temporarily renovate in Livia during the war, then move north to annex Leiria and Aedirn, and advance towards the Pontar Valley to provide right-wing cover for the main Army Group Center.
Army Group West, also known as the Army Group of Sintra, was led by the Imperial Duke Joachim de Wit. The total number is 30,000, mainly light cavalry and infantry. Their mission is to maintain the results of the battle in Cintra and ensure the empire's logistics channels; when the war breaks out in full, they will march north to capture the remaining Cintra, Verden, and Bu Gru and other small countries also provided left-wing cover for Army Group Center.
The main force of the Third Route Army is Army Group Center, commanded by Nilfgaardian Field Marshal Menno Kuhorn. The main force is the [Fourth Cavalry Corps], which is composed entirely of cavalry, and the [Third Corps], which is a mixture of infantry and heavy cavalry. , the number of regiments stationed in Obersoden is now close to 50,000. The total number of fully-equipped regiments is actually more than 100,000, but because they are passing through "South Sintra", Marshal Mennonite abandoned most of the infantry to save time. Today's logistics are all completed by the original [Battle of Sodenmont]. Supplied by troops stationed at Obersowden and Army Group West.
The goal of Army Group Center was to blitz Soden and completely open the door to the north. Then they stormed Temeria, planning to capture all major northern port cities including Vizima and Marbor within half a month, while harassing Novigrad and cutting off the main trade and transportation routes in the north.
After completing these plans, advance to the Pontal Valley at the junction of the four major countries, occupy the shallowest middle section of the Yaruga Canal, and join the Eastern Group Army.
...
Duke Darcy was talking eloquently. Among the generals brought by Marshal Vissekid, a black-haired officer immediately walked to the edge of the sand table on the stone table and placed the chess pieces with the black sun carved on them according to the number stated by Duke Darcy. They were piled in Sintra, Alto Soden, and Rivia.
Another brown-haired officer grabbed some sand soaked in dye and traced the Nilfgaardian marching route. Everyone's eyes moved along the route and focused on the Nilfgaardian's target.
The Pontar Valley is where the Northern Conference was held and is known as the "Heart of the North." If it falls into the hands of the empire, then the four major kingdoms in the north will basically open their arms to Nilfgaard, and there will no longer be any strategic terrain advantage.
It's a pity that the plan is very rich and the reality is very skinny. Today's Eastern Group Army has been defeated by Lan, in cooperation with Lyria, the United Kingdom of Livia and the Kingdom of Aden.
Although the Eastern Army Group can still play a role in containing the two kingdoms in a short period of time, it is impossible to continue to advance north, and if you want to ask for reinforcements, you may be rejected by Marshal Mennonite.
"In other words, the main force we face now is the 30,000-strong Western Army Group in Sintra; and if we attack these 30,000 people, we cannot turn a blind eye to the nearly 50,000 cavalry in Haut-Soden. These are the eight The power of ten thousand people..."
Everyone's expressions were grim.
"Lan, when you came back, how was the situation in the east?"
Lann thought for a moment: "The Eastern Group Army was defeated in World War I. There may be 20,000 people left of the 60,000 people. But Miwei's troops Having suffered a devastating blow at the beginning, the United Kingdom may only have half of its 15,000 people left." "
But the good news is that Aedirn chose to fully participate in the war. They did not contribute much before, but in the first wave of offensive Only about 4,000 soldiers were lost. If calculated according to the number of 40,000 troops in their heyday... After the Eastern Group Army is completely eliminated and the troops protecting the homeland are removed, there should be about 20,000 people who can participate in the future. War, provide us with support."
"That's about 25,000 to 28,000 people, who can flank Soden with us later."
The black-haired officer placed Livia's Black Sun chess piece on the sand table in one breath. Sweep down a third, and then pile up a small amount of Eagle Cubs and a large amount of Aedirn Roses in Livia.
Looking at it this way, the Eastern Front finally has the upper hand in terms of strength, and because it is chasing the defeated army, the losses will be very small. After the war, they can retain a large amount of effective strength.
"Then there's our side, the Western Front." Marshal Visekid stroked his beard.
"We now have five thousand Cintra soldiers. Three thousand of them are cavalry. They are the elites I gathered from various vassals when I went north. I have been training them when Brugg was dormant." "The other two thousand
are They are infantry, and the training time is not long, but they are far more than ordinary levied troops, and they are enough to serve as guards for ordinary small countries." "Ordinary small countries cannot raise
two thousand levied troops." Lan En opened. As a joke, he motioned to the black-haired officer to pick up a few lion head chess pieces and place them in the north of Sintra.
Leitho and Vesemir looked at each other, and finally the old demon hunter laughed and motioned for Leitho to step forward.
"We led a thousand of those new soldiers to form a guerrilla force, interfering with the Nilfgaardians' logistics." The leader of the Snake Faction pointed to several places on the map, "Here, here, and Here."
Those are complex terrains such as hills and forests. Every time Lei Suo pointed to a place, the black-haired officer would place a lion's head chess piece in those places.
This was followed by Skellig represented by East. He looked at the black-haired officer. As an old man from the Calanthe period, the officer immediately bowed his head to East and saluted. He had already held a dragon boat-shaped military chess in his hand.
"Seven thousand people came from Skellig."
This number is not large. Skellig, as a mountainous archipelago, is already sparsely populated. But the ones they can fight are all elite warriors who have been traversing the sea for many years. In history, there was even a record of two hundred islanders defeating two thousand black-clad troops - of course, at sea.
"Now we are divided into two groups. One group is harassing the imperial army along the western coast of Sintra, and the other group is along the Yaruga River and preparing to enter the battlefield on the mainland." The black-haired officer immediately placed the
Dragon Boat War Chess in East Said place.
"We still have three thousand Kevir [Free Corps] coming from the north and they will arrive in two days." Mossak added.
The officer in black took out a few more military chess pieces that symbolized the Kovir royal family. They were shaped like an iron arm with metal edges and placed them in the sea north of Sintra.
"Finally, there are us. Counting the young people, we can gather five thousand Mahakam heavy infantry." Barclay stepped forward and pointed in the direction of Mahakam. "It will take us a long time to get here - do you have any What kind of warlock group can open the portal, or should we just wait for the decisive battle in Soden?" "
After the battle, we will split into two groups. The wave of people I brought here will return the same way. Qigrin and the others will follow you back to Xin. Settle in Terra?"
Lann was thinking and did not answer Colonel Barclay's words. The black-haired officer placed several hammer-shaped military chess pieces at the foot of Mahakam Mountain. In the past few days, the dwarves, who were weak in mobility, were not able to walk very far.
"Then the total number of people we count now is 20,000." Marshal Visekid frowned, "It's much less than the 30,000 Nilfgaard army in Cintra. But the good news is that we all count. With more elite troops, the tactics are more flexible. And when fighting on the mainland, the morale is strong."
Finally, the black-clad officers placed a large number of black-clad military chess pieces in the south outside of Cintra, where Nilfgaard's troops were outside. The army has not yet had time to move north.
"The current Nilfgaardians probably think that we only have five thousand troops, or even less. I suggest taking advantage of their unpreparedness to launch a blitzkrieg raid." The marshal took the lead in proposing his own battle plan and
signaled to his brown-haired officers. Draw out military routes.
"After driving the southerners out of Sintra, the cavalry troops stationed in Lower Soden will be isolated and helpless. Soden is a mountainous area. We can use Daobrugg to reach Upper Soden. From a high position, their cavalry will not have much advantage. , heavy armor will become a burden."
"Or we don't need to send people at all and write directly to King Foltest of Temeria. After the Nilfgaardians have a detailed strategy and know that they have become an imperial army Under the premise of the next goal, he will definitely send troops to support us." "
At that time, we, together with the Aedirians, Livians, and Lyrians, will attack these bastards in black clothes and drive them all away. Enter the Yaruga River."
Marshal Visekid gritted his teeth and said: "After this battle and suffering such heavy losses, the Nilfgaardians will never have the courage to go north again!"
As for how to fight with 20,000 people ? No one doubts that they can win the Western Army Group, which has 30,000 people in Sintra.
Only Barclay, who had just arrived from Mahakam, looked around and showed doubts at first, but then he realized that he had an incredible expression on his face that seemed particularly out of place.
"Are the people of Sintra...all so confident?" he whispered.
This plan is most in line with the people of Cintra. First, retake Cintra, then flank Nilfgaard, turn the enemy into trapped beasts, and finally wipe out as many enemies as possible.
Just thinking about it makes people in Sintra feel good physically and mentally.
But East drew everyone's attention back, raising objections and pointing out a fatal flaw in the plan.
"It's too risky."
(End of chapter)