Warlords of the witcher world

Chapter 68 The Turning Point of War

"Huh, it seems that I was lucky, and hit that guy with one shot."

Holding up the smoking pistol in his hand, Herme's voice was a little disbelieving, because he didn't expect that he could hit the target with one shot.

Originally, Viato had prepared four of them. As the distance got closer and closer, one of the four shots would always hit one. Now the first shot hits. I have to say that this is really an accident.

What Hemei held was an arquebus pistol. Not many of this kind of musket were manufactured, and very few were circulated in the market. Not many people knew about it.

Herme was sure of this, and took out his matchlock pistol to shoot the Nilfgaardian blatantly, but it turned out to be a success, and the Nilfgaardian general was shot dead by him.

"Commander Herme, you are so powerful, you actually hit the enemy with one shot."

Beside him, Viator said, he said this sincerely, he has played with arquebus a lot, and knows that the accuracy of this thing is not very good.

And now that Herme hit the Nilfgaardian general with one shot, he was naturally surprised.

Herme looked at the musket in her hand, and her eyes were full of surprises, but then she adjusted her emotions so that her face would not be so surprised.

"It's just luck."

On the other side, Stribert's fall had a huge impact.

In previous battles, this general had already made himself the most conspicuous focus on the entire battlefield, holding a large banner embroidered with Baccarat's stag in his hand, inspiring the Nilfgaardian soldiers to come forward and fight.

Now he just fell to the ground in full view of everyone, and the flag in his hand also fell. The impact on morale can be imagined.

Stribert's guards didn't hesitate at all, they ran directly onto Stribert's body.

For them, the only thing they can do right now is to take the general back to see if they can be saved. If they can't be saved, they have fulfilled their responsibility by bringing the body back.

The Empire has always been very strict with the guards of fallen generals. Even in the best case, they have to be deprived of all glory, and then start from the lowest level of private soldiers.

But this is still the case of bringing the corpse back. If the corpse is not brought back, it will be regarded as a major dereliction of duty. According to the law, it will be beheaded directly, and even the family will be affected by it.

The actions of the guards seemed reasonable to them, but the impact on other Nilfgaardian soldiers was very bad.

When they saw the fall of the brave general who seemed to lead them to fight back, the fall of the banner leading the people forward, and the fleeing of the general's guards in a panic, the impact can be imagined.

"Our army has been defeated! Let's run for our lives!"

Defeatist remarks like these immediately came one after another, shouted one after another from the soldiers who were completely disappointed in the battle situation.

In normal times, military officers would directly execute those who spread such remarks.

But now, even the officers are convinced of the defeatist rhetoric, that defeat is inevitable, and now everyone should go his own way.

Groups of broken soldiers have already begun to appear, and it won't be long before the number of deserters will increase, more and more...

"The man in black has only one breath left, brothers, fight back! Let's fight back!"

Herme snatched the horn from Viator in a hurry, and then blew the horn as if to blow out his lungs, followed by a deafening sound.

Then the horns sounded one after another, forming a huge momentum.

The sound from this horn has only one meaning, that is to counterattack, and that is to attack.

More and more soldiers and Cossacks pushed the carriages away, or jumped over the carriages in groups, and attacked Nilfgaard, which had begun to retreat, like beating a dog in the water.

Facing the counterattack of the Adenians, the Nilfgaardians seemed quite powerless, and even when the Adenians counterattacked, the Nilfgaardians retreated.

Now, the Nilfgaardians no longer had the will to fight, and the death of the general made their morale even lower, and many people were unwilling to continue fighting.

Therefore, under the counterattack of the Adian people, they naturally retreated steadily.

Finally, the Nilfgaardians collapsed. Originally they were more or less able to fight and retreat, but with more and more deserters, this black army finally completely collapsed.

"No! No! How could this be? How could we lose the battle!"

The commander of the Wind Tower Brigade, Gwama, looked at everything in front of him with disbelief on his face. While fighting on the front line, he was shocked to find that they suddenly collapsed, and the Nilfgaardian army collapsed like this.

"You can't do anything, Master Gwama, let's go!"

The two staff officers of the Wind Tower Brigade looked at each other, and one of them shouted, but Gwama was still immersed in his own time, and didn't move at all.

So they made an important decision, one directly took the reins of Gwama, the other controlled his hands, and they were going to force the brigade commander to leave the battlefield.

Gwama naturally couldn't accept it, but those two staff officers were obviously experienced soldiers, they easily controlled the brigade commander, and then naturally led him out of the battlefield.

The large troops of the Wind Tower Brigade followed them and left. After all, it was a cavalry team, so it was easy to retreat.

But it's ridiculous to say that the group of noble children who were as arrogant and domineering as Gwama before the Wind Tower Brigade, now all shrink their heads, just watching the brigade commander being controlled by the staff around him, and then leaving together, they dare not Keep clamoring, and no one wants to stay and fight to the death with the northerners.

And Gwama's resistance was more like a process, and after a little resistance, he was taken away.

But it's normal for them to do this, because the sight of the collapse is too appalling.

The moment of the collapse was something no one expected. The scene was like a dam bursting. Nilfgaardians ran away without looking back. The pursuit of the Indians.

Then the Adian people fell into ecstasy, because this means that they can enjoy the fruits of victory next!

Ordinary soldiers are the most excited, because now is the time for them to make a fortune, and prisoners, armor and trophies can all make money.

But how much you can earn depends on your ability.

Therefore, the ordinary soldiers who still had energy rushed to the battlefield with all their strength, trying to get spoils from the Nilfgaardians.

Hemei didn't continue to pursue, he just sat down on a random stone under the escort of his subordinates, and the guards quickly guarded him.

As the excitement brought about by the battle disappeared, he felt exhausted rushing to his heart, and then he felt discomfort in many places all over his body.

Especially the arm wielding the scimitar, it was so sore. His elf scimitar was sharp, but it still required strength to cut people.

With Viato's help, Herme removed part of the arm armor, and then he began to twist his shoulders and slapped his shoulders from time to time to relax the muscles and relieve the soreness.

And everywhere he could see was covered with black corpses, and the Nilfgaardians were running away, completely different from their usual air.

In the past, such people were all barbarians in the north, but now they are the ones who have abandoned their armor and armor, civilized people like them.

Watching this scene, Herme felt that the pain in her arm was relieved.

He knew the significance of this battle. In the current situation where all horses are dead and the whole north is losing continuously, his victory is the first big defeat of the Nilfgaardians.

The political impact of this will be far-reaching, and the confidence of the North may be awakened by it.

And the political prestige he gained from it would also be terrifying. It is estimated that he will be the most eye-catching general in the entire north after that, but Nilfgaard will also pay great attention to him.

Hemei knew that after becoming the focus and core, he would have more difficulties in the days to come, and the Eastern Group Army would definitely want to solve himself.

At that time, he will have to face the key attack of the entire army group assembled by Duke Adal, and the difficult days are still ahead.

There are still three months before the arrival of winter, and Hemei knows that he has to survive these three months, and if he survives, he will win.

Fortunately, with this victory, he can continue to mobilize domestic and foreign forces to compete with the Eastern Army.

When winter came, the Southern Empire had to stop its offensive due to logistical problems, and the two sides entered a winter confrontation period.

At that time, he can recuperate, reorganize his troops, repair the defense line, and concentrate on preparing for the decisive battle in the coming year.

When Herme was conceiving for the future, Selchik did not know when he rode his horse and came in front of Herme. Looking at the bloody commander, Selchik felt very complicated and couldn't help but think of So The scene when I saw this knight on the eve of the mountain climbing battle.

At that time, he never imagined that this seemingly ordinary knight would now lead such a great victory.

"Congratulations, Lord Herme, congratulations on your victory."

Selchik said this, his tone was very sincere, without any other emotions, he was happy for Herme's victory, and he did not have any emotions such as jealousy.

As one who had lived through the worst phases of Aedirn's armies, his desire for victory was the strongest of all.

Now that victory appeared in front of him, how could he be unhappy?

As for the situation of jealousy, it does not exist. To be able to become the White Knight of the Kingdom of Aden, Selchik has long put these negative emotions aside.

"Ah, Lord Selchik, thank you for your congratulations, but then I think we will face many challenges, even more than now, and we still need your help."

"Yes, of course I understand, Lord Herme, I will do my best to help you, but for now, let us enjoy this victory."

Selchik naturally understood the political significance that Heme had in mind, as well as the inevitable violent counterattack of the Eastern Group Army.

The White Knight is a celebrity in the court of Aedirn. Although he does not participate in those court politics, it does not mean that he is ignorant of these political matters.

And Herme's mood was relieved a lot because of his last sentence, because as he said, no matter what, the most important thing right now is to enjoy this great victory and enjoy this moment.

In the distance, the Cossack cavalry is joining the pursuit of the Nilfgaardians. This can be said to be a specialty in the art industry, and their best job is to capture prisoners.

Thinking about it, they can get very rich results.

.

In the pursuit after the battle, the Adenites vented their anger of being suppressed and beaten for a month. They chased the Nilfgaardians all the way to the camp of the men in black.

It is a pity that the black-clothed soldiers who retreated before took away all the portable belongings in the camp.

And when the Adianites attacked, they set fire to their camp, trying to burn everything inside.

But they were not very good at setting fires. They just lit a few fires and left, because the northerners arrived much faster than they expected.

And it was for this reason that the people of Aedirn began to put out the fire as soon as they arrived, because the fire did not appear to be very large, and it was indeed quickly extinguished.

Then the northerners obtained the property of the entire Nilfgaard camp, and the results of the entire Central Army's one-month campaign are here.

And among these many spoils of war, Herme seems to have the biggest achievement is that they rescued [-] slaves.

These 3000 people were all captured soldiers and strong men and women. Children and old people were not wanted by Nilfgaardians. They were either driven into the forest to fend for themselves, or were killed on the spot.

Then these 3000 people were tortured by the Nilfgaardians. In order to eliminate their resistance as much as possible, the men in black hung them on the verge of starvation and tortured them in various ways.

When they saw the arrival of the Northern Army and the defeat of Nilfgaard, they were the most moved group of people. Many people shed tears when they were rescued. The Nilfgaardians did not treat them as human beings at all, and now their compatriots have come That's great.

And after Herme knew the news, she immediately sent a doctor to take care of these people. People who have been hungry for too long need to be taken care of carefully, otherwise it is easy to make jokes like being overwhelmed.

The reason why he attaches so much importance is also simple. These people have been tortured by the Nilfgaardians, and they will be the most determined group of people against the empire.

When these people recover in the future, they will be the most steadfast soldiers in the Northern Army's front line.

And he saved so many people, they will remember his kindness to some extent.

Hemei attached great importance to this. One of the important reasons why he was able to rectify the domestic forces at a relatively fast speed before was the Cossacks he exported to the Kingdom of Aden.

These Cossacks came to the Kingdom of Aden to join the army in the form of dispatch, and they all remembered the command of Herme.

When no authority can be found, they are naturally willing to obey Herme. The help of these people is of great help to Herme's various actions.

Besides these captives, the most obtained are all kinds of property and food. The property and food looted by the Central Route Army along the way are all here.

Nilfgaard tried to set fire to these things when they retreated, and they couldn't let the northerners get them, but unfortunately they failed, and the fire didn't burn much.

Marondo carefully protected these things. They were important military resources. Food could be used to support the army and the people, and the property could be sent to Novigrad in exchange for supplies and even soldiers.

In the end, Herme obtained a large number of Nilfgaardian prisoners, at least four thousand or more. With the Cossack cavalry, Herme's army captured the prisoners very quickly.

Herme specially ordered to protect these captives and let the Cossacks take care of them, and specially designated Vigoles, an old registered Cossack, to be in charge.

These people will be of great use in the future, whether it is exchanging captives or exchanging ransom, they are very convenient, and they are resources to be used.

As for letting the Cossacks take charge, it is because the Cossacks do not have as much hatred for the Nilfgaardians as the Adians.

If all these captives were killed by the angry people, then Herme would really want to cry.

Next, Heme deployed several Cossack warbands and Aedirn cavalry regiments that could break up and move to launch a counterattack. Now that the central army is defeated, the Nilfgaardians will inevitably shrink their front line, and they can regain a lot of lost land.

Herme would not let go of this opportunity, which could greatly increase his political and strategic points, so he deployed so many cavalry.

And the news of victory spread in all directions like a whirlwind, sweeping across the land.

The people of Adian are really eager for a victory. In the past month, they have won nothing but failures, and there is no news of any victory.

The news of various atrocities committed by the Nilfgaardians continued to spread, shocking everyone's hearts. Many people who always thought that the war had nothing to do with them now found that the war had come before them and raised their butcher knives against them.

Under such circumstances, the people of Aedirn were almost desperate, and in the eyes of many, the fall of their kingdom was inevitable.

Therefore, Hemei must spread the news of victory as soon as possible, so that the people of the country can regain their confidence and courage in the war, so that people can bravely face the Nilfgaardian invaders.

And Herme is also contributing to the flames. He needs to spread the news of the victory as soon as possible, and needs to turn the victory into his own political resources, so that he can mobilize all these resources.

The first task Heme gave himself was to integrate the resources in Aedirn to fight against the Nilfgaardian army. This victory is undoubtedly the capital for him to integrate resources.

But right now, the important thing is to enjoy tonight's celebration feast, to enjoy the sweet great victory.

.

The news of the victory spread quickly, and the streets of Wengerburg were ruled by these news for the first time.

Earl Herme won a big victory outside Wenger Castle. The number of Nilfgaardian soldiers killed and wounded reached a full tens of thousands, while the loss itself was only a few thousand.

At first everyone's attitude was disbelief, thinking it was a false battle report sent by the defeated front, but as more and more news of victory and the return of soldiers with pride on their faces, the citizens of Wengerburg also accepted this. unimaginable fact.

And when Herme finished handling the team matters on the battlefield and led the army back to Wengerburg, he enjoyed a thunderous welcome from the whole city. When the cheers sounded, Herme felt that it was better than the roar of artillery on the battlefield Even exaggerated.

"I didn't expect that I could receive such a welcome in the capital."

The crowd waving their hands wildly at him, with love written all over their faces, expressing their welcome, Herme sighed.

At the same time, I also lamented that life is really impermanent, and things can change so dramatically.

The guards of Wengerburg desperately stopped the fanatical crowd. Every citizen wanted to get close to Herme, the hero who saved the capital and the kingdom.

A team of Wengerburg guards kept stepping forward to help their comrades better stop the people.

If you let the people rush into the queue, it becomes an accident, or an accident in which they all have to be punished.

There is nothing wrong with the enthusiasm of the people. After all, Herme turned the tide, and everyone likes the hero who turned the tide.

The rumors about his victories are becoming more and more exaggerated. Some people say that he wiped out the Eastern Army.

"War is the best way to create heroes. Now that you have won the war, you are now the hero of the kingdom. The people naturally welcome you. What's more, you already have a good reputation. Many people think that God Cliff is looking after you. .”

Charon beside him said, with an expression on his face that Herme couldn't explain clearly.

While Herme was fighting, Charon helped stabilize the situation in Wengerburg.

And it was not easy at work. Charoen suppressed the remnants of the rebel party several times, and resolved even more public disturbances.

"Do you have any information from His Majesty the King?"

Herme didn't want to continue this topic. He always felt that this old friend had something to say and was hinting at something he didn't understand.

Right now, he is more concerned about the king and the prince. Although they have won the victory, the hearts of the people are still unstable. If either of the king and the prince can return to the capital to sit in charge, then the problem will not be too big.

And Charlene just shook his head, indicating that there was no news.

Seeing this, Herme was also silent. Since there is no news, let's stop asking more questions and enjoy the victory in front of us.

(End of this chapter)