Warlords of the witcher world

Chapter 168 Occupying Eldran
Errand was once a duchy east of Vizima.

It later became a vassal state of Temeria and the center of the northeastern region of Temeria.

However, the city is best known for the local shrine of Melitelli.

Many people only know about the Temple of Melitelli, but not the Duke of Elland.

But the dukes were never annoyed by this, on the contrary their relationship with the temple was very good.

The temple attracted a large number of pilgrims, and the pilgrims drove the economy and taxation of the duchy.

So for the temple, the dukes of all dynasties have regarded it as a cash cow. How could anyone go against their own cash cow?
But now, the situation has changed, and the Nilfgaardians have come.

Nilfgaard, who bears the banner of the Great Sun, regards all the gods of the north as superstitions, rubbish to be dispelled by the imperial armies bearing the torches of civilization.

So their attitude towards the temple is self-evident. The soldiers in black smashed the sacred statue of Meritelli to the ground and smashed it, and then ransacked all the gold, silver and jewelry that could be found from the temple.

The local commander of the man in black almost couldn't wait to start his action. According to years of experience in the battle, such a temple must be full of wealth - and it is indeed the case.

As the famous Temple of Meritelli in the north, this naturally made the Nilfgaardians a lot of money.

Although the Melitelli Church does not take the initiative to pursue wealth, there are always people who donate wealth to the church devoutly.

Moreover, upper-class nobles such as kings and nobles would always seek help from Melitelli's temple for some magic potions.

For example, aphrodisiacs and so on, the temple will be happy to provide these, and then charge a lot of money to this group of rich people.

Excluding the coins needed for the operation of the temple, the Melitelli Temple has accumulated a very exaggerated wealth for hundreds of years, and now it has all fallen into the hands of the man in black.

As for the priests in the temple, according to the practice of the empire, all those who failed to escape in time were hanged, and all the books in the temple would also be burned.

The Nilfgaardians got the gold and silver they craved, but they got a lot of hatred.

But this pair of men in black also belonged to the fact that if there are too many lice, they will not bite, and if there are too many debts, they will not worry about it. Is this a little bit of hatred?Not bad at all.

They captured slaves and captured them all the way, and the whole Temeria was already full of anger.

The empire's superficial dominance over the occupied territories is only due to their strong military presence.

The slavery and plundering of the empire this time is even more exaggerated than the second Northern War. After all, everyone has been holding back for so long, so this time we must seize the opportunity to make a good move.

Many places in the south of Temeria were almost captured by the Nilfgaardians. Of course, this also has a lot to do with the spontaneous migration caused by the notoriety of the men in black.

In the countryside, the imperial soldiers who moved alone would almost certainly have their throats slit.

Then no matter how hard the men in black searched, they couldn't find the murderer. Every villager would only respond to them with silence. In the end, if they wanted to establish their prestige, they could only massacre, but such things continued to flow.

The Nilfgaardians also stopped their killing after realizing that the killing would not deter the Temerians.

After all, it was impossible for them to kill all the Temerians, nor could they capture all the Temerians as slaves. After all, the empire still wanted to establish a rule in Temeria—even if it was a shaky rule.

Anyway, the man in black didn't care at all about the hatred accumulated against the temple, making a fortune was the most important thing.

Finally, after looting everything in the temple, they lit a big fire, and the whole temple was ruled by flames.

Priests of Meliteli who were expelled from the temple set up a hidden camp in the forest outside Eldran. Instead of rushing to take revenge on the men in black, they focused on rescuing slaves and refugees and sending them to Redania or Aden.

Their camp is deep in the forest, in a long-abandoned druid circle.

In the age before human beings expanded here, the druids established their worship center here, and even the city of Eldran was actually a forest at that time.

As the forest dwindled, the druids left here.

But before leaving, they told the secret of the ring to the Church of Melitelli, who they had befriended.

Now, the priests of Meliteli have rebuilt the place.

They carved statues of goddesses, used their agricultural skills to reclaim the abandoned land, and used it as a transit point for refugees and slaves.

"Remember, the medicine must be taken according to the time, understand? If you insist on taking the medicine for about three days, you will be fine, and then you can continue your journey."

After spreading the herbal medicine on the wound, Nenneke, wearing a blue headgear, put a medicine in front of the wounded man, and the wounded man lying on the animal skin was full of gratitude,

"Thank you very much, Mammy."

"Needless to say these words, it is the best thanks to me for you to get well sooner. Alas, it is also a pity that the medicine pot of the temple was destroyed by the Nilfgaardians. If it weren't for you, many people here wouldn't need to be cured for so long. "

Nannik was in a cave full of wounded people, illuminated by small candles on the cave walls.

Some of the wounded here are so serious that they can only rely on herbs to hang their lives, while others are very simple, just malnourished.

But Melitelli's priests take care of them equally, and those who are hopeless will be given mercy.

And when they recover, send them on the road to Redania or Aedirn.

After ordering the apprentice girls present to continue to take care of the wounded, Nennik walked out.

She had just heard the sound of the bell, which said that something happened outside and she needed to go out.

Walking out of the cave, the clearing was now full of Meritelli's warriors and freed slaves.

The warriors, clad in blue burqas and bearing the emblems of Meriteri, were being hailed as they rescued their people from the Nilfgaardian slavers yet again.

The slaves who were brought in were basically malnourished and skinny, but they looked at the camp with hope in their eyes.

"Sister Nancy."

The leader of the samurai saw Nannike and immediately said respectfully to her.

Although it is said that there is a lack of connection among the Meriteli churches, there are still regional leaders. Nannik is the most authoritative Meriteli priest in Temeria.

Temerian warriors.

Looking at these well-known militant factions in the Meritelli Church, Nennicke had to admit one thing. At this time, these people are still the most useful.

"We rescued more than 30 slaves this time. There could have been more, but we were blocked by the Nilfgaard Rangers. It is already the limit to be able to bring these people back."

The samurai said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, this is something that cannot be said, and if it is said, it will seriously affect the morale.

"You've tried your best, I know that."

Nannik didn't mean to blame them, Mammy looked at the slaves who were joyful because of their freedom and said,

"And the number of people you brought back is just right. If there are more, I will have to reduce everyone's supplies."

"Are there more people who have decided to stay?"

Samurai immediately realized what Nannik was talking about.

In the eyes of many refugees and slaves who came here, Camp Melitelli was a very suitable place to take refuge.

This place is located in the depths of the forest, so it is difficult for anyone to find it. There are also priests of Meliteli who are good at farming and medical treatment. It is naturally the best to escape the war in this place.

This has brought about problems. Although everyone is not eating rice and is willing to work, the production of food takes time.

It was originally expected by Nennik that the food they brought was enough to support the growth of the crops that had been planted, but now it seemed that everyone's rations had to be reduced.

"Yeah, after all, it's still too chaotic outside. The Nilfgaardian Rangers are staring at this distance, like a group of wolves looking for corpses, looking for all the food they can swallow."

For those people's thoughts, Nannike understands and is willing to help them, but this does make the situation worse
"We must find a way, Sister, if necessary, I am willing to..."

The samurai didn't finish the sentence, but the meaning between the lines was already very clear.

Nanike didn't answer for a long time, but he didn't leave either. Some things had to be faced after all.

And just when Nennik was thinking, someone suddenly came in front of the two of them in a hurry.

"Lord Bard, Sister Nannic, the people of Aden are on the move!"

"What? Are you sure?"

"Sure, very sure. I saw with my own eyes a large number of men in black retreating from the east, and they were chased and killed by the cavalry of the Aedirians."

Nannick and Bud looked at each other, and both of them saw a look of relief. It was great not to have to do that unbearable thing.

.

From the perspective of the Nilfgaardians, the Adenians are more likely to launch an invasion from the Anglin region in the south. In the Second Northern War, they cut off the Nilfgaardian army by starting from the Anglin region. back road.

That's why the empire deployed a lot of troops in the Anglin area to ensure the security of the flanks, in order to prevent the situation like the last northern war.

Therefore, in the vision of the Nilfgaardians, it is unlikely that the Adenians will launch a surprise attack from the north.

And the sight of the Floating Harbor, or the smallness of Pertekt's Aedirn army, confirmed their opinion.

Now that winter is still here, it is definitely impossible for the Ardian people to dispatch.

However, out of caution, Marshal Hart deployed [-] Nilfgaardian soldiers in the northeast, which was three times the number of Adian people on the opposite side.

However, the marshal was wrong. Even though the Nilfgaardians had such an advantage, they still failed in front of the Aedirians.

On the wilderness outside Eldran, [-] Nilfgaardian soldiers stood out in battle posture, ready to welcome the northerners who might arrive at any time.

And the northerners came quickly.

The first thing that appeared was a large number of northern cavalry. Looking at these riders wrapped in furs and with bows on their saddles, many officers recognized their identities. They were nomads from the Hackland grasslands.

Not long after, the infantry of the northerners also arrived. These infantry were nothing special. Judging from their equipment, they were just ordinary northern conscripts.

The artillerymen from Aedirn arrived last. They had quite a number of artillery pieces, obviously they had been strengthened, but the empire was not afraid. Now they were no different than before. The number of artillery pieces in the empire was no less than that of the north.

The Nilfgaardians felt a little absurd. According to the information detected by the scouts, the number of northern troops who came was only 1. They were able to defeat the front-line troops purely because of their luck.

As a result, these northerners did not rush to escape with their fruits of battle, but even chased them in the face.

Many Nilfgaardian officers are now holding their breath, ready to avenge their previous failures.

But what the Nilfgaardians never expected was that the northerners actually launched an attack on their own initiative, and the outrageous cavalry went first.

The artillery range of the northerners is farther than theirs. It is obvious that the northerners can consume them with artillery, but they choose to attack. This really makes people wonder how to evaluate it.

A large number of Hackland riders launched an impact, and a small number of Hackland heavy cavalry formed the impact arrows.

And they were led by a knightess, with a sword in one hand and the banner of Aedirn in the other.

The black-clothed army was overjoyed in an instant. I was afraid of you running away just now, but now you actually bumped into each other on your own initiative. That's great.

The crossbowmen released round after round of arrows, causing some of the galloping cavalry to fall down, raising a cloud of dust.

The infantry set up their spears and shields and prepared to deal with the impact. These infantry still maintained the average level of the Imperial Army.

The Nilfgaardian cavalry was ready to outflank the enemy's infantry and cavalry at any time.

The Nilfgaardian artillery began to fire, causing their artillery to explode among the northern cavalry, but their bombardment did not last long, because the northerners' shells fell on their positions, and the Nilfgaardians had to start Shooting with the northerners.

In this kind of confrontation, the Nilfgaardians are undoubtedly the ones at a disadvantage. The number of their artillery has increased, but the quality is not as good as that of the northerners. The quality of artillery is the same.

The Harklans also kept releasing rounds of arrows, which landed on the formation of the black-clothed army. Unfortunately, the armor of the black-clothed army was tight, and most of the rounds of arrows landed on the armor and shields.

Finally, the Haklans were getting closer and closer to the Nilfgaardians. Even the elite black-clothed soldiers could not restrain their nervousness in the face of this scene.

But it was also at this moment that the Hacklanders performed a "trick" in front of everyone.

The Harklan cavalry archers released arrows at an extremely close distance from the men in black. At this distance, many men in black fell down with arrows in their faces. At this moment, the Haklans caused more casualties to the enemy than before. All add up to big.

Then they turned their horses' heads in unison, and advanced in parallel to the formation of the Nilfgaardian army. At the same time, they kept shooting, and a steady stream of men in black fell down.

Of course, the men in black were not relentless, and kept shooting at the parallel cavalry, and some people fell off their horses, or fell down with the horses.

It would be great if the Nilfgaardians could shoot a round of shotgun against the upper cavalry at this time, but the Nilfgaardian artillery suffered heavy losses in the previous confrontation with the northerners.

The Harkland heavy cavalry who crashed into the Nilfgaardian formation were not aimed at piercing through the formation.

These heavy cavalry were like a spoon, digging out a piece of the cake called the Nilfgaardian army.

The woman rushing at the front of the team was like a rampaging carriage, whether it was a shield wall or a spear, it seemed that they didn't exist in front of her.

The most exaggerated one was that she directly knocked five heavily armed heavy armored soldiers into the air, which was truly appalling.

Those Nilfgaardians who were "dug out" panicked. They never expected to encounter such a situation. The front here collapsed almost instantly.

And the Nilfgaardian generals who witnessed all this smooth flow of water were so shocked that their mouths were about to drop.

Most of the guys here are experienced officers, so they have a pretty good idea of ​​how difficult this is.

First of all, a general with strong prestige is needed, secondly, continuous drills are needed, and finally, the bravery of soldiers who are not afraid of death is needed.

And even if these conditions are met, doing such a tactical move is extremely dangerous.

Anyway, none of the Nilfgaardian generals here dared to say that this could be done, but the person opposite them did it.

After the cavalrymen completed their "acrobatics", a large number of northern infantry rushed up, and the Nilfgaardians who had just been "tricked" by the Harkland cavalry began to retreat immediately after the battle.

Seeing this, the Nilfgaardians immediately dispatched cavalry, preparing to detour to the rear of the northerners.

And the people of Aden had obviously expected all of this, because those cavalrymen who had finished "teasing" went directly to the two wings.

The battle thus entered the most intense stage, and the two sides began to fight across the board. Even if the Nilfgaardians were teased with such tricks at the beginning, the problem of the lack of troops in the north also became prominent over time.

However, the northerners have an extremely ferocious general. She is the incarnation of the dragon and the goddess of the battlefield. As long as there is an opportunity on the battlefield, she will seize it without hesitation.

.

After the Battle of Eldran, Herme couldn't help but be speechless after receiving the battle report.

"Sakia smashed through the Nilfgaardian line at the most critical stage of the battle? Then he chopped off all the heads of the Nilfgaardian generals? Even if they choose to start from the weak points of the Nilfgaardians , this is a bit outrageous."

However, Lord Protector said so, but he was not surprised by it.

He knew exactly what Saskia was.

But he really didn't expect that Saskia could achieve such a feat.

He originally only let Saskia defeat the Nilfgaardians on the border. With Saskia's ability and the artillery he strengthened for her, Herme believed that this would not be a problem.

Occupying Eldran is a surprise, but occupying Eldran is also good enough to disgust the Nilfgaardians.

Herme really wanted to mobilize her main force in Anglin, but considering the current strategic situation, she stopped this action.

The Lord Protector knew that Emhyr would send out his direct descendants in this war, and even he himself would come to the north. He had to wait, or he would rush into Emhyr's gun—he didn't want to be dragged Multi-dimensional wedding dress.

(End of this chapter)