Warlords of the witcher world

Chapter 69 The Golden Pagoda Gate and the King's Death

The battle with swords in the distance was noisy, and the screams of the northerners being trampled under the horseshoes of the Nilfgaardian cavalry came, and the captives were wordlessly driven into the slave carts.

Villages are burning, black plumes of smoke rise into the sky, and death is everywhere.

Duke Adar Aip Darcy, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Group Army, stood condescendingly on the nearest hill with a disgusted face.

According to the traditional Nilfgaardian rules of war, he was surrounded by officers and guards to ensure his safety.

Duke Adal looked at the northerners as if he was looking at some kind of unacceptable garbage. Just appearing in his field of vision was already a great crime.

Adal is a man with a deep and powerful voice, has almost pathological self-esteem, and is very sensitive to many things.

Even in political struggles, he maintains an extremely arrogant attitude.

Although he was on the battlefield, he still wore a meticulously groomed noble dress.

The hue of the costume is classic Nilfgaardian black gold, and the golden sun's coat of arms shines on his right chest, as if he always showed a proud attitude.

It's like he's at a dance, not a battlefield.

But considering that he never thought of going to the front line in person, it didn't matter.

A ceremonial sword hangs on the Duke's waist. The hilt is inlaid with rubies. The sword is not sharp. He doesn't use this sword to fight. He prefers to drive others to fight for himself.

In his view, that belonged to the behavior of wild animals, not civilized people.

However, although he is so proud, Adal is not a waste. Being able to survive three monarchs in the Nilfgaard Empire is enough to show his ability.

Frankly speaking, it would be an understatement to compare the Nilfgaardian court to a den of snakes and scorpions. Only by showing superhuman ruthlessness and cunning can you save your head here.

Adar Aip Daxi met all the above conditions, from the various conspiracies in the palace to the war in the north, he tirelessly participated in it, as if everything was just a game of chess.

As for those chess pieces that may be hundreds of thousands of fresh human lives, this has never caused any waves in his mind.

Just as he was watching the killing in front of him indifferently at this moment, it was like enjoying a war repertoire in the city of the golden tower.
Duke Adal cleaned Aden with fire and sword, which is exactly what Nilfgaardians like him think of the north: the northerners are barbaric, uncivilized, and will eventually fail, and Nilfgaard is about to be destroyed Rebuild a "civilized" world on the basis of the North.

The slaughter in front of him is just the inevitable price for bringing the barbaric north to civilization.

However, under these grand narratives, there are still some venting of the Duke himself.

Venting anger at the defeat of the Central Army.

Before, Duke Adal used his connections to change his appointment from the original Western (Verdon) Army Group to the Eastern Army Group, in order not to fight against troublesome opponents like Foltest and Wizmir.

In his opinion, Livia's Mi Wei and Aden's Demavi are easier opponents to deal with.

And that was indeed the case, under his brilliant strategy, he successfully forced the kingdom to surrender to the empire by taking advantage of the absence of Livia's monarch, Mi Wei.

Although Mi Wei ran away in the end and caused some troubles for the imperial army, these were all minor problems.

Next, the attack on Aden went even smoother. The people of Aden never thought that the Nilfgaardian attack could be so swift and ruthless.

Under the offensive of the imperial army, the Aedirn army disintegrated one after another, and the actual resistance of Demavi's proud army only lasted for two weeks. After two weeks, the army actually fell apart.

Originally, according to the plan, the Nilfgaardian army would continue to advance triumphantly, and with the cooperation of a series of rebellious traitors, they would take down important locations one by one, and finally join forces with the Kaedweni army on the Diffany River.

Yes, the Kaedwenian strategy was initiated at the beginning of the war.

If the Aedirn army collapsed as Duke Adal said, the greedy King Henselt would never let go of this opportunity.

But things should have developed like this, until that Herme appeared, and the form changed.

He first deterred Kaedwen, then stabilized the situation in the capital of Aedirn, and then he defeated the central army that was supposed to go straight to the capital of Aedirn.

The impact of this defeat was enormous. First of all, this was the first major defeat of the Nilfgaardian army on the northern battlefield, and the political impact was far-reaching.

Due to the characteristics of a political animal, Duke Adal subconsciously thought of these influences, and his political enemies in the city of the golden tower probably took action.

So after receiving the news, he sent a letter to the city of the golden tower, asking the ancient families (the top dignitaries of Nilfgaard) to keep silent on this matter and not to add fuel to the flames.

If they want to use this to do something, then things will be completely troublesome.

For this, he needs to spend a lot of political resources, but it is also necessary.

Then, over there, the Aedirians counterattacked.

After the Central Route Army broke up, they left behind a large number of occupied areas, including a large number of slave catchers and task forces responsible for destroying Aedirn, as well as many slaves and property that were not used back home in time.

Now under the counterattack of the Adenites, these things belong to them.

The merchants and nobles who invested in the Eastern Army Group suffered heavy losses this time. Their slave hunting teams and sponsored troops were all smashed into the counterattack of the Adian people.

Most of these people invested in the Eastern Group Army under Adal's introduction, but now they have come up with such a result.

Adal's political reputation has suffered a heavy loss after this wave.

In the end, it was the people of Aedirn who regained the morale of resistance.

Judging from the battle report he received, since Herme's victory, the resistance of the local northern barbarians has risen to a higher level in an instant.

The villages and nobles who originally expressed their obedience also began to have other thoughts, and their actions became ambiguous. Adal had to send many troops to the place to garrison.

Now, in the vast Imperial Aedirn occupied area, there are guerrilla operations everywhere, destroying the imperial supply and attacking the imperial convoy.

They hid in forests and high mountains. Once the regular Nilfgaardian army came, they would hide inside as quickly as possible. The imperial army couldn't catch these guys by their tails.

Although they also have the cooperation of the Scoia'tael, the area of ​​activity of the Scoia'tael is limited compared to the vast majority of people in Yadian. They are also unfamiliar with the Scoia'tael in many places, and at most they can provide some ideas for guerrilla warfare.

Even in Livia, which was successfully obtained through political maneuvering, guerrillas began to appear in some areas, disrupting the rule of the empire.

As a result, Adal had to transfer several tactical cavalry regiments that had just been transferred from the rear to suppress them, and nip these signs of chaos in the bud.

After encountering such a series of things, Adal's mood can be imagined.

However, he still firmly believes that the empire will win, and he has never doubted the victory of the empire.

Right now, he is gathering troops from the three routes and gathering the routs of the central route army, while cleaning up the northern rebels in the occupied area.

When cleaning up the rebels, the Nilfgaardians showed extremely cruel means. Obviously, they often do such things, looting villages, smashing villages and burning villages in one go.

At the same time, these areas are also made into white fields, and the Nilfgaardian army is very good at doing such things.

And this is done either for the convenience of future reception by the residents of the empire, or for the classic Nilfgaardian model of destroying local productivity.

Because of this, the number of rebels is increasing.

But then again, under Nilfgaard's various tyrannical acts, it is inevitable that the number of rebels will increase after the defeat of the imperial army.

The Empire suppressed the northerners with a weapon called fear, and the Empire looked so powerful, so impossible to defeat.

It is precisely because of this that the northerners will just shiver there, waiting for the imperials to kill them.

And if the seemingly invincible fear is proven to be defeatable, then the backlash will be very terrifying.

A'dal is also very clear about this, but he can only continue to intensify these brutal repression - he has only this choice.

The battle line has returned to the southern border of Aedirn, and Nilfgaard was supposed to bring the war to the core of Aedirn, and they almost succeeded, but now this can only be thought about.

This was a fact that Adal had to accept before the main forces of the three armies converged.

Therefore, he will not show mercy to the "instigator" who caused all this.

"So, General Markosh, oh, to be precise, it should be Major General Markosh Vaughn Hornde, as you said, will you take responsibility for it next?"

Adal didn't continue to watch the scene of the northerners being killed. He turned his horse's head and looked at the commander of the Wenger Burnie Division, Marcosh, who had taken off his armor and was being escorted by the soldiers.

"Yes, I will take all responsibility."

Makosh said neither humble nor overbearing, he just took out a document,
"However, before I am sent to the city of the Golden Tower to accept the review of the military court, I ask you to accept my battle report. It is my summary of Hemei's army. I hope it can help you."

Makosh looked calm. Since he had to take responsibility, it was normal at the moment.

But he didn't regret it, at least he brought back many soldiers directly, and reported everything he summed up to contribute to the future war of the empire.

After accepting the documents, Duke Adal just waved his hand, silently urging the general to leave.

He didn't want to see this face, he should take the blame, get out of the battlefield now is what he should do.

A'dal had already selected this person, and wanted him to take the blame. Anyway, this guy is also conscious, so of course he will be the one to take the blame, and this matter is considered over.

However, A'dal planned to read the document he gave to get to know the situation of this enemy.

Although Adal doesn't know much about military affairs, he understands the importance of collecting information. It can even be said that in his opinion, information is life.

Seeing this, Marcos didn't say much, but retreated silently, preparing to be escorted back to the city of the golden tower.

He didn't worry too much about his future.

Although after the First Northern War, the emperor had a purge of defeated officers, it was more like a purge of the forces left in the army by the usurper emperor who couldn't even mention the name.

As a well-known emperor faction, Marcos knew that he would not be punished. At most, he would be thrown rotten eggs by the people of the capital, and then the war in the north would probably have nothing to do with him.

For this, he didn't have much pity, and even felt a little lucky.

Looking back, that Herme made him feel very bad.

Makosh had an inexplicable feeling that it was right to stay away from that person.

And it's good to leave the battlefield now.

After Markos left, the next waiting visitor entered.

It was a smiling young man with black hair hanging behind his shoulders, wearing an empire-style shirt with black and white checks on the sleeves, and holding a wooden cane in his right hand, the cane was exquisitely carved.

The left hand is holding a small box, which obviously contains important things, and Sandor holds it tightly.

Seeing this man, the disgust on A'dal's face became even stronger, as if he wished to give him a kick right away.

Different from the one towards Makosh, here is more of a kind of contempt from the heart, and the expressions of the generals and guards around him are also the same.

Sandor of Baccarat, the mad dog of Imperial Intelligence.

In terms of origin, Sandor is actually very noble. He was born in a duke family, a member of the ancient Nilfgaardian family.

It's just that, after being deprived of a large piece of land by his duke uncle, Sandor began to build his future from the ground up.

He joins the lower echelons of Imperial intelligence, the lowest tier, where the dirty work is best suited to fools and lunatics.

In a place where intelligence officers have the shortest life expectancy, Sandor stands out with his madness.

Then he quickly emerged in the intelligence department, and then his reputation as a mad dog came out.

Sandor's reputation as a mad dog mainly comes from the fact that this person dares to play with anything dangerous, monsters, poisons, viruses...he dares to play with anything, and their faction has no scruples.

As for the suicide attack, it is the most basic existence in the series of jobs they have done.

This faction is the "fighting faction" of the intelligence department, known for its various brutal methods.

They were so insane in what they did, that even Chief of Intelligence Lee Dorrick had to be careful with them.

"I salute you, great duke, commander of the Eastern Army, in the name of the great sun, I bring a gift, I present a king and a prince's head... a fragment."

Sandor's etiquette is impeccable, showing his good upbringing, which is the only thing Adal is satisfied with him.

And the things he offered can be said to be extremely disgusting.

The box was opened, and what was exposed inside made A'dal, who had directed countless bloody operations, want to vomit.

But after such thoughts appeared, they were immediately controlled by him.

Because it literally means a pile of head "fragments", the very broken kind, the kind with brains and eyeballs mixed together.

And as if to prove the authenticity of the two heads, the subordinates behind Sandor took out a crown.

It was a clean crown of Aedirn, apparently washed, and a pile of blood-stained royal items were thrown out, but they were broken.

Sandor's face was ostentatious, as if this pile of "detritus" was some sort of badge of honor—or, as far as he was concerned, it was.

Assassinating the king and prince of Aedirn was an important reason why Sandor's team was sent to the Eastern Army, and it could be said to be their top priority.

As for why there is such a team coming, it is because Aedirn's military strength has continued to grow over the years, and the level of worry about Demavi has continued to rise.

In Nilfgaard's judgment on Aden, Aden can use 7 to [-] people to fight against the empire, and the degree of danger can be imagined.

So for this king, Nilfgaard sent the Assassins.

"You finally took the heads of Demavi and his son? Well, after that damned defeat, there is finally good news, but looking at the tragedy, it is the one you controlled that completed the killing." Monster. Sandor, aren't you really playing with fire? If that monster gets out of your control, it's a mutant, and if you're right, it's the founder of a school of mutants, sure you can Control? If it gets out of control, what terrible casualties will it cause?"

From Adal's tone, we can know that he knows what these things are made of.

The joy of King Demavi's death is obviously not comparable to the worry of the "monster" who created this terrible scene.

It is conceivable how terrifying the "monster" can be if a bloodless and tearless scum like A'dal can be made to have such an attitude.

"Please rest assured, this is absolutely safe. The Imperial intelligence department has already assessed the danger of our actions and believes that we can control the situation. And don't forget, Vic Vallo College also provides Without the support of magic, the witcher dug out of the ice cannot escape our control."

Sandor was still smiling all over his face, as if he couldn't see the disgust, disgust and contempt that couldn't be hidden in the eyes of Adal and the large group of generals around him, because he didn't care about these at all.

After working for so long in the most notorious faction of the Imperial Intelligence Service, his reputation has long since disappeared.

"Then go and try to take that Herme's head off for me. If he dies, many things will be very convenient. Let's see how powerful the monster you control is. Besides, this pile of... rubbish, And Wang Guan, Daiman, come here and take over, the garbage will be buried, Wang Guan will keep it, and then send someone to spread the news, which should bring a lot of trouble to that Hemei. And send the news immediately When we arrive at the City of Golden Pagodas, the people should really want to see this news.”

As a politician, Adal knows how to use all resources.

Although he didn't do this, it can also be said that his subordinates did it.

We have to do a good job of publicity and publicity to wash away the reputation of being defeated. After all, the people are always chasing hot spots.

"Yes, as you please, great duke, your servant will be happy to serve you."

After A'dal finished speaking, he turned his horse's head and left immediately, without even looking back.

Because he really didn't want to, he really didn't want to get along with this spy chief.

This guy was smiling all day long, and looked like he was planning some kind of conspiracy every day, so the Duke didn't like him very much.

A'dal's contempt for this person came from the heart, without any falsehood.

Not to mention his identity, if it wasn't for the great cause of the empire that needed this person, he really wanted to hang this guy who came from an aristocratic family but willingly descended to become a grassroots intelligence officer.

Watching the Duke leave and seeing the killing in the distance, Sandor's smile became even more intense, and all he saw in it were opportunities.

Then he began to enjoy the future, and if he could remove the head of Herme, plus the heads of Demawi and Stannis before, they would definitely impress the Emperor.

Before long, he might be able to replace Lidorick and become the leader of the Empire's intelligence department.

But this is just a fantasy after all, some things are never possible.

No matter how hard Sandor worked, no matter how outstanding his achievements were, it was impossible for the Imperial Intelligence Department to be handed over to a militant faction like him.

But, Emhyr has never minded giving people such illusions, he has always been a master of this way, and everyone is hanging.

It was in this way that the emperor drove many people to work for him.

Next, Sandor began to get busy with assassinating Herme. This is not an easy task, and requires a lot of preparation...

(End of this chapter)