Warlords of the witcher world

Chapter 116
For the Nilfgaardians, Brenner's defeat had a terrifying ripple effect.

The [-] army was wiped out and completely disintegrated.

All over the mountains and plains are Nilfgaardians who collapsed and fled, and the northern army caught pigs very happily.

The German soldiers in the north felt extremely refreshed. In the past, it was the Nilfgaardians who wanted to catch slaves recklessly, but now they are the ones who capture the Nilfgaardians.

The Nilfgaardians suffered heavy losses, with more than 6 casualties and captured soldiers. These are the most elite forces in the empire, and they are all powerful troops that have been fought in the past ten years of war.

Almost all the high-ranking military officers of the empire withered. These are all the strengths and strengths that have been tempered in the Southern Empire for more than ten years:
Menno Kouhorn, Brabant, de Meris-Stokes, Van Lo, Teconnell, Eggbrager...

(Menno Cuhorn escaped with makeup, but was blocked by the dwarves, and because of his soldier armor, the dwarves didn't recognize his identity, and shot him directly. The fate of the marshal has been completely unknown since then C’mon, there’s a bunch of historical myths left about where he went.)
And John Natalis did not hesitate, did not indulge in victory, he assembled the cavalry in the army, continued to attack the Nilfgaardian occupied area, and defeated several Nilfgaardian divisions that had not yet reacted to the failure of the marshal .

Maribor was also liberated by the Temerian army. The local Nilfgaardian garrison gave up the city without much resistance, and this important fortress returned to the north.

Now that the main offensive power has completely fallen into the hands of the northerners, the situation of the war has completely changed.

What was once crushed by the Nilfgaardians is now pursuing the Nilfgaardians.

And now, the results of the Battle of Brenner have basically spread out, and the impact has also been reflected.

So on the wide western front, all Nilfgaardians, organized or unorganized, are trying to escape to the south.

If you don't run away, you will have to fall into the hands of the northern barbarians.

About more than 13 Nilfgaardian troops are fleeing south, which is the total number of Nilfgaardian troops that still exist north of the Yaruga River.

If Menno Cuhorn was still there, even after Brenner's fiasco, the situation would not have become what it is now.

But the marshal has disappeared since Brenner, and the various ministries of Nilfgaard can only retreat to the south according to their own abilities.

For Heme, who is defending the Yaruga River, the pressure is growing wildly.

He doesn't need to worry about the collapse of the Central Army. Those people mainly fled to Soden. Now that the situation of the battle is clear, I believe that the local forces and the garrison he left behind will cause trouble for Nilfgaard as much as possible.

As for how much they can stop these people, Herme doesn't expect and doesn't plan to extend his hand that far. He just wants to block the [-] Weeden Army in the north of Sintra.

But the [-] Weeden Army on the opposite side of him is about to die.

"In other words, in just three days, I lost two thousand men? And that's without adding those Sintra militiamen?"

In the command post on the bank of the Yaruga River, Heme found it difficult to accept the new battle report from the front line.

The Nilfgaardians in front of him seemed to be possessed by evil gods, and wave after wave rushed towards their battle lines.

According to the battle report, the Nilfgaardians paid more casualties than them, but the Nilfgaardians continued to attack.

"The wild wolf that is surrounded is like this. In order to survive, it will crash into the only exit at all costs, even if it will cause a bloody head."

King Bran opposite Herme pointed out the essence of the matter, and King Skellige did not show any surprises.

As he said, the only way out for the Weiden Army is to go south.

Then even if going south will be bloody, they will go south until they are completely killed, or they finally break through their way of life.

"Lord Herme, I think we should change our strategy."

Before Herme could speak, a messenger hurried in and brought even more exciting news.

"My lords, the Nilfgaardian army in Yazhuo is heading north. They have wiped out all the resistance forces encountered along the way. According to the reports of the guerrillas, the enemy's troops are between [-] and [-]."

This is simply a stone that stirred up a thousand waves. Hearing this news, everyone present discussed it.

Immediately, the entire venue was buzzing with discussions, almost like a market.

"It seems that we must back down and retreat to Sintra."

Herme said these words bitterly, and everyone present was silent because of this, and they all looked at Herme.

The invisible pressure also followed, making Herme feel uncomfortable immediately, but he still repeated the previous sentence,

"We must retreat and retreat to Sintra. There are so many Nilfgaardians, we cannot stop them now."

No one spoke, and everyone understood what the situation was like. Those Skelliges wanted to say a few words, but they were silent under King Bran's sharp eyes.

"But, Lord Herme, we can't just watch the Nilfgaardians flee like this."

Such a question came from the crowd, and the tone was full of unwillingness. This expressed the aspirations of many people present. They were really unwilling to retreat like this and let the Nilfgaardians go like this.

"Of course I won't just watch the Nilfgaardian retreat like this."

Herme replied solemnly, her eyes became firmer,
"Compared to head-on confrontation with the men in black who are eager to flee to the south, and are likely to be flanked by Nilfgaard who is heading north, I would rather attack the men in black when they are fleeing, and hunt down the unlucky ones who are left behind , Everyone, don’t you like it? It’s not necessary to fight to the death with the man in black, and now it’s the final stage of the war, no one wants to die at this stage, right?”

Hemei had just figured out the joints here. Since it was impossible to stop the black-clothed army from fleeing south, the next best thing was to chase after them.

Don't underestimate the pursuit of the tail, which can also cause a lot of casualties.

After Hemei said this, the unwillingness in the eyes of many people immediately became much less, and the Lord Protector's words made them accept it even more.

The rhetoric about the final phase of the war is even more on their hearts, and no one wants to go down on the eve of the dawn of victory.

They were all pockets full of loot now, and it would be a pity if they didn't come home alive to enjoy it.

"Skelliger supports Lord Protector."

King Bran spoke, and he gave Hermi a gentle look, and Hermi nodded.

Following Bran's statement, all the people present also began to express their opinions one after another. They were still scrambling to be the first, for fear of being left behind.

Herme breathed a sigh of relief, it was good to have successfully persuaded these people.

However, the work has not been completed yet, and it will take time for the distribution of the raiding team and the formulation of new tactics. Naturally, he, the Lord Protector, can only do it himself.

.

South of Sintra, on the way of the Nilfgaardian army.

Recently, Makosh's new army received a new designation, the Sintra Army.

Makosh has soared into the sky, from a division officer of a defeated general to the leader of a group army, his rank has also been promoted, and he is now a general.

More importantly, he is still the highest Nilfgaardian officer north of the Manada Mountain Step. In the event that the commanders of the three armies are killed in battle or missing, he can command all the Nilfgaardians in the north. army.

These troops add up to 20 people.

But Makosh is not happy at all, because the pressure he faces is still so great.

Now, Marcos is sitting by a river in Sintra, and in front of him is the imperial army crossing the river.

Unlike the professional and experienced imperial army in Makosh's impression, the new army he led-oh, it should be called the Sintra Army now-has performed poorly in all aspects.

Whether it is the veterans who have been drafted again, or the newcomers caught from the street, they are completely unfamiliar with battles, marches and fortifications.

Just now, just now, when this group of people crossed the river on the pontoon bridge, hundreds of people fell directly into the river because of the crowded queue.

Although the Imperial Army's small boats were on standby on the river, and they went to rescue people immediately, dozens of unlucky ones were dragged into the river by their armor.

It's horrible, when did I lead such a bad army.

Seeing that wet soldier walk down from the boat in embarrassment, and then his armor was stripped and boarded by the disciplined troops, Makosh felt too horrible to look at.

He subconsciously put his hands on his face, indicating that he didn't notice at all, and his adjutant also handed over the kettle with great insight, which contained wine.

After taking a sip of wine, Marcos felt his mood eased a lot.

Fortunately, the number of new troops is large enough, and they still have basic qualities. Wearing armor is enough to bluff people, and after going through a few more battles, they will become veterans.

But it takes the right time and environment for recruits to become veterans. Therefore, it is very necessary to save those veterans in the north.

Therefore, after figuring out what was going on in the north, Marcos led the Sintra Army to go north, and he wanted to open up a corridor to save the imperial army as much as possible.

"Lord Marcosh, I have completed the task."

When Makosh was thinking about what to do next, a familiar voice sounded.

I saw Gwama, the brigade commander of the Wind Tower Brigade, coming on horseback. He was still surrounded by a group of guards, but he was not as flamboyantly dressed as when he saw this young man last time.

"According to your order, I have burned Tig and captured all the townspeople as slaves."

Gwama's posture is much more humble than before, his eyes are less rebellious and more obedient and disciplined.

The empire's series of difficult battles in the north finally wore away the arrogance of this ancient family child, and now he is more like a real imperial soldier.

Since the destruction of the Eastern Army, the Wind Tower Brigade has been incorporated into the Central Army to fight on the Western Front.

In the February battle, the brigade unfortunately fell into an ambush by the Temerian army, so it suffered heavy losses, with more than half of the casualties.

Therefore, the unit was ordered by the Marshal to rest and reorganize south of Sintra, waiting for the arrival of domestic reinforcements.

And this also made the unit a blessing in disguise, and did not participate in the fierce battle of Brenner, otherwise it would have to participate in the Yaruga River Race now.

Then came Marcosh's troops, and the Wind Tower Brigade was under the command of the Sintra Army.

Makosh looked behind him and saw a piece of black smoke in the sky above his body, and he could vaguely see the burning flames.

The cavalry of the Wind Tower Brigade was escorting a large number of slaves to keep up with the team, and some cavalry were covered with packages of various sizes, which were obviously robbed property.

This made him nod in satisfaction.

"However, I don't understand why the villages and towns along the way are burned."

After finishing the report, Gwama asked him his question, and he really didn't understand why he did this.

Along the way, Makosh captured the Sintra people as slaves and burned their homes, and the Nilfgaardian immigrants moved to resettle near Yazhuo, and their villages had to be burned.

The Sintra Army can be said to have advanced and burned all the way, leaving countless smoking ruins on the road.

"Why...Because we are the ones to defend next. I have to squeeze out the value of these lands that are bound to become no-man's land as soon as possible, more or less compensate for some losses, and cause some troubles for the northerners in the future."

Makosh's return was very straightforward, and he directly stated his plan.

The war has reached this point, and the situation cannot be more obvious. The North and the South will inevitably start a confrontation in Sintra. It is better to think about the post-war as soon as possible.

"Yes, I understand."

Gwama put his legs together, gave a military salute to Makosh, and returned to his unit.

Marcos continued to look at the water, watching the Nilfgaardian army advance. He looked calm on the surface, but he was still full of thoughts in his heart.

He now only hopes that this operation can proceed smoothly.

What Makosh didn't expect was that the next action was indeed smooth.

On the way to the Yaruga River, they didn't encounter any enemies. At most, they were harassed by some stragglers who didn't know how to live or die. These guys were easily defeated, so it wasn't a problem at all.

Then, even more beyond Makosh's expectation, he actually encountered the Wedden Army retreating southward on the road.

"Great Sun, it's really great to see allies."

Now the interim commander of the Weeden Army, Kasimir V. Olite held the outstretched hand of Markos with both hands, his face full of gratitude.

Casimir is a general in his 40s, born in a province. Although he does not belong to the older generation, his qualifications in the Imperial Army are also extremely high, but because he is inclined to the Mist faction, he has never been Get reused.

This person is also a typical imperial military officer. He is always dressed meticulously, the medals and emblems on his body are always shining, and he always maintains a military stance.

"Casimir... I didn't expect you to be the commander of the army group."

Makosh naturally knew him, he was regarded as the same generation as this person, and the relationship between the two parties was not bad.

"It's all too early. Who told Joachim to die like that, and I can only clean up his mess."

Casimir did not intend to evade what had happened to the Weeden Army. He mentioned it very simply, which made Markos not even know how to respond.

"That's fine too."

After hesitating for a while, Makosh said,

"Speaking of which, what is the current situation of your troops, and what about the Lord Protector of Aedian? Why did he gather all the troops?"

"Tsk, what else could be the reason."

Casimir said with disdain,
"It's not just to drive our ducks away. A few days ago we desperately launched an offensive to cross the Yaruga River. Although the casualties were heavy, it also caused a lot of casualties to the northerners. So we transferred all the people away, let We cross the river, but the next thing is probably going to keep attacking us, alas, there's nothing I can do about it."

There was still helplessness in Casimir's tone, knowing what the other party was going to do, so what, they had no countermeasures now, and they could only bear it.

Hearing this, Marcos was also silent.

He knew that if the Lord Protector of Aden made his troops defend the Yaruga River, the casualties they would pay would definitely not be small, and they might even be wiped out if they didn't make it right.

But if the road is opened and the Nilfgaardians run away, and then they continue to attack and attack the stragglers, the achievements that can be made are not small, and even big fish may be caught.

This tactic can only exert such an effect in the current situation. Now all the Nilfgaardians are thinking about how to escape from this place. The morale of the army has completely fallen to the bottom. No one wants to fight. Everyone just wants to reach safe place.

As for the new army brought by Makosh...he didn't count on these people at all, and this group of people could at most act as a human sandbag.

While the two were silently facing each other, suddenly, a horn sounded not far away. It was the horn sound of the northern army.

Then they heard the sound of musketry, and the gallop of cavalry, and the attack of the northerners came.

.

On the south bank of the Yaruga River.

After several days of fleeing regardless of day and night, the three thousand Nilfgaardian soldiers who crossed the Yaruga River finally began to rest after advancing for a while.

They were lucky. When they reached the river bank, they found an unattended Nilfgaardian warship. With this ship, they could quickly transport everyone there.

Afterwards, they threw the boat on the bank of the river. Originally, Mindaugas planned to burn it, but considering that there are still so many deserters behind, it is better to leave a way for others.

After crossing the Yaruga River, everyone felt a lot more at ease, and the northerners did not follow them, so they finally ushered in the only serious rest in the past few days.

When they were on the north side of the Yaruga River before, they were either attacked by the northerners during their rest, or they were frightened by the panic and the whole army fled.

The division originally had 6000 people, but now there are only 3000 people left.

These 3000 people were the product of merging with several waves of broken soldiers on the road, otherwise there might not be that many people.

Many people were directly paralyzed on the ground, and the soreness in their limbs reminded them how hard and hard they had been in the past few days.

Some people endured hard work, went to the forest to pick up some firewood and lit a bonfire to provide themselves with some warmth, and even dug out dry food from their pockets to eat.

It is also thanks to them looting a military station on the road and getting a lot of food from it, otherwise these people here would have starved to death.

Only a small number of people still maintain the posture of soldiers. They stand guard for the troops at high places and detect whether there are any enemy troops nearby.

The leader of this force, who once belonged to the Eastern Army, and Tejano Division Commander Mindaugas Dawa Lunga is studying the map and planning the next escape route.

He was surrounded by his cronies, the brown-skinned (tanned) soldiers he'd brought from the Koraz Desert.

The mental state and equipment of these soldiers are obviously better, and most of them are the ones who take the initiative to stand guard.

But even though he said he was planning an escape route, in fact the route was almost memorized in his mind.

It's just that Mindaugas is using this method to divert his attention, so that the pressure in his heart will not be so great.

But even though he wanted to divert his attention in this way, he still subconsciously remembered the tragic experiences of these days.

Mindaugas' Tejano Division had been part of Army Group Center since the fall of Army Group East.

Perhaps because of his experience with the Eastern Group Army, his troops are always sent to cruel battlefields.

The old border brothers under Mindaugas' command suffered heavy losses in the process, and the entire division continued to be reduced.

And the filling soldiers couldn't see their old family members, only recruits from all over the empire, which made Mindaugas feel more and more that his troops had changed.

When the Union Army of the North entered Brenna, Mindaugas was very eager to fight, to go to the battlefield and win glory.

But the Central Army, which used him as cannon fodder, directly rejected his request and asked him to go to the rear to defend.

He had no choice but to guard, but it was a blessing in disguise. If he was in Brenner, it would be better if he was only spared now, instead of bringing out 3000 people anyway.

After learning of Brenner's fiasco, he immediately led the troops to run away, but was caught up by John Natalis' cavalry on the road.

In a hasty battle, he lost half his army at once.

But he didn't feel distressed, Mindaugas only cared about those frontier soldiers who were as tanned as him, and wanted to take them away from this killing field.

As for those recruits, who cares if they die.

And the next road is not easy, he has been encountering various attacks.

Northern cavalry ran everywhere, attacking the scattered Nilfgaardian army everywhere.

What's even more outrageous is that in the no-man's land that was thought to have been slaughtered and caught, there are farmers in the north who beat the dogs in the water.

However, after going through this series of tortures, Mindaugas managed to lead people out and became No.1 in the Yaruga River Long-distance Race.

Mindaugas also felt this. After all, his troops surpassed several troops in a row along the way, which caused many soldiers to fall behind.

But he wasn't happy about it.

He knew that the Soden area he entered was mixed with good and bad people, and there were all kinds of local powerful people here, and these people stood in both the north and the south.

There is also the Northern Garrison, as well as the Nilfgaardian Garrison and the Rout.

And it's also close to the Sintra area. The northerners over there may come here. If they encounter the cavalry under the Lord Protector's command, he might just die.

Mindaugas really felt a little hopeless. Now Soden is like an information black hole. He can say that he doesn't know anything about the south, let alone how to go next.

For bringing the three thousand soldiers under his command out of here, Mindaugas still feels vague in his heart.

After thinking fruitlessly for a while, the commander of the Tejano Division simply walked around the army to see the situation of the soldiers.

Mindaugas was very lucky to walk beside the soldiers who were either lying or sitting on the ground.

At least it hasn't rained yet, and it would be bad if it rained.

"Hey, can we really go home?"

"Keep your voice down, don't let the higher-ups hear it, no matter what, we still have to go on."

"I hope so. Alas, why did I encounter such a thing when I joined the war for the first time? First, the Eastern Army Group failed, and then the Central Army Group failed. Now I can only shrink in the woods, and I don't know the future. where."

"Don't be too pessimistic, Dylan, isn't it just a defeat? I have experienced a lot. I think it is easy for us to escape. Last year, the northerners raided Commander Adal, and the two of us were on their way. It's all right, so don't give up hope, kid."

Mindaugas overheard the conversation of two soldiers who used to belong to the Eastern Group Army, and listening to their conversation, Mindaugas' confidence also surged a little.

Yes, the two ordinary soldiers still have confidence, and they haven't given up hope, so why should they give up hope?
However, just when hope was rekindled in his heart, he heard such a voice.

"Enemy attack! The northerners are coming! They came from the night!"

At this time, the sky was already dark, and many people fell asleep on the spot, and after hearing these words, they all jumped up immediately.

It's just that some people hurried to the place where the sound of the enemy's attack was heard, some people ran away directly, and some people kept shouting and shouting, and the situation was quite chaotic for a while.

Mindaugas, as the commander in chief, had no choice but to follow them indiscriminately. While yelling to silence his subordinates, he walked towards the place where the sound of enemy attacks was heard.

As he got closer to that side, he heard more shouts of killing, which made him more and more nervous. He subconsciously drew out his long sword and rushed over.

Since it was dark and there were not many torches, Mindaugas could only see a figure fighting inside the black clothes, and it was impossible to tell who was who.

This made him stunned, so he could only stop and observe for a while.

And the more I observed this, the more I felt something was wrong. Why did everyone here look like Nilfgaardians? Under the light of the few torches on the battlefield, all they saw were Nilfgaardian armor styles.

And that battle cry, he didn't hear any northern language in it.

Many of his supplementary soldiers are from the province, so they naturally speak the language of the province.
He was wondering if someone had taken the provincial language as the common language of the north.

Mindaugas felt that there might be a misunderstanding in front of him, which made him nervous immediately, ah, the Great Sun, what kind of thing is this.

And just when he was about to shout to make everyone stop, a person killed him.

That person kept slashing at Mindaugas at an extremely fast speed, and the commander of Tegano's division was not weak, he also kept resisting, the sword clanging.

In the constant battle, Mindaugas seized the opportunity, knocked over the sword in the man's hand, pushed him to the ground, and just as he jumped on him, he drew his dagger and planned to hit the man's face several times When he was there, he saw the man's face clearly.

"Hawat? What are you?"

"Yankee, I won't... Mindaugas?"

The two people who were still fighting for life and death just now were peeking at each other, and the atmosphere became very awkward for a while.

Then they yelled at the same time, telling their subordinates to stop.

Under the shouts of the two leaders, the two waves of people finally stopped, and then they did not talk immediately, but counted the losses.

"There are more than 30 people who fell on the ground this time, and about the same number of people were injured. I still have a lot of people who ran away. I don't think they will be found. We have won this battle..."

Mindaugas' tone was full of sadness, but he also wanted to laugh, because this matter was so messed up.

On the opposite side, Hawat, Marshal Menno's deputy also had a similar reaction, but he was a little more apologetic, because it was him who launched the attack that led to such a farce.

"I thought it was a northerner, and I asked the people below to extinguish all the torches... Well, without further ado, let me tell you about your experiences."

Next, the two shared their experiences with each other.

Hawat was much worse than Mindaugas, he was in Brunner, and when the battle collapsed, he was sent to organize the rout, so he escaped death.

His running speed made Mindaugas feel quite scary, this guy ran faster than him, this parachutist.

But when the two were talking, what they didn't know was that a northern cavalry came near them.

These cavalry were Soden's local town militia, and they were attracted by the sound of the battle just now.

After confirming that it was the Nilfgaardians below, these cavalry launched an attack decisively, so the Nilfgaardians jumped up again.

And such a scene is happening in the vast land from Soden to Sintra.

(End of this chapter)