Warlords of the witcher world

Chapter 76

Koente is a very ordinary Yadian village. The villagers built a settlement together, reclaimed fields outside the settlement, and lived by farming.

Such villages can be seen everywhere in the Kingdom of Aden, and these residents also live a life of sunrise and sunset every day.

If nothing else happens, their descendants will continue this kind of life, and this kind of life will be passed down from generation to generation.

But things changed with the outbreak of the Second Northern War.

Originally, the local people thought that this war was like the countless wars they and their ancestors had experienced. As long as the front line did not come to them, it would not have any major impact on their lives.

And even if the battle line is drawn, they have enough time to leave and hide in the mountains or forests to avoid being affected by the war-this is also the experience summed up by the people living in this land.

But the development of things is beyond people's expectations, and the experience of the ancestors does not work at this moment.

The rapid disintegration of the Aedirn army and the overwhelming force of the Nilfgaardians were beyond everyone's expectation.

When the Nilfgaardian cavalry appeared in the village brazenly, and when the golden sun fluttered under the black sky, most people didn't even react.

Next, of course, is the looting, killing and slave hunting that Nilfgaard is best at.

Slave raiders swept across the land, putting young men and women in slave carts and killing old people and children.

Finally, light a fire among the villages and fields, and let the flames destroy it all.

When the Nilfgaardian army left, all that was left was a ruin, a charred ruin.

Since then, the village named Coent disappeared, only the ruins named Coent.

Ghouls once swept through, eating everything they could find, and then they left, and the ruins have been utterly deserted since.

In the ensuing tug-of-war between Nilfgaard and Aden, this ruin has become more concerned by everyone, because it is on the front of the tug-of-war between the Adenians and the Nilfgaardians.

Generally speaking, villages in this situation would be very miserable. Under the constant see-saw between the two armies, the village would become ruins sooner or later.

But now it's in ruins, so it doesn't matter.

Therefore, it became a symbol of the place where the soldiers of the two armies confronted each other.

The troops fighting here use this as the center to mark their positions.

Surrounding the ruins, the two sides continued to engage in various confrontations, and various small-scale battles could be said to be endless, with several or even dozens of people fighting one after another.

In such constant battles, the monsters that originally lived here were wiped out one after another.

But even so, due to the constant presence of the dead, corpse-eating monsters continue to appear.

God knows where these monsters came from, as if they could never be killed, they crawled out of the ground continuously.

Some scholars believe that there is a complex world far beyond people's imagination, and these monsters live in it, but no one has ever confirmed this view. After all, most people who dare to go deep underground are dead.

Also because of its characteristic of being on the front line, it has also become a place where spies, spies and traitors from both sides meet.

They would always choose to meet here or nearby to exchange intelligence and information.

This originally unremarkable village has become more and more "lively" since then.

The various confrontations surrounding it are also very "wonderful". It can be said that various war stories are staged every moment, and the fate of countless people is also changed or ended here.

But now, a group of mercenaries entered the ruins, with about 300 people, they seemed very carefree, and didn't care whether they were discovered or not.

It is completely different from the various characters who carefully gathered in the ruins before, as if they were eager to be discovered.

These mercenaries are dressed in different ways, and many of them are wearing armor pieced together from various armors, which is a typical mercenary outfit.

However, from their armor and clothing styles, one can see the obvious southern style. There is no doubt that this is a mercenary team from the southern empire.

"Damn it, leader, this ghostly place is really dangerous. We have been attacked several times by those corpse-eating monsters along the way. I also saw groups of monsters watching us in the depths of the forest."

A young mercenary complained. He was sitting on a tree stump, his long sword was not put away, but rested on the ground.

There is blood on the sword, which shows that it has experienced a battle.

"This is the north, Albrechd, you have been in the north for so long, why are you still not used to it, and the south is not without monsters, we have also drilled through the woods, why do you always look so strange look."

Cunningham Hill Palatinate, the head of the mercenary regiment who directed his subordinates to station and fortify in the ruins, glanced back at the deputy, and then replied like this.

Among the group of mercenaries, the captain didn't look like a mercenary, but a knight, and he was indeed a knight. He was wearing a black armor, and there were many crows on his cloak. It is decorated with feathers, so it has the title of "black crow".

His tone was the kind of joke that only occurs between close friends, which shows that the relationship between the two is very close.

"Ah, I just can't get used to it. The monsters running around in the north are really uncomfortable. At least the monsters on our side won't run in groups on the road when they are in a mess. Thinking that we will probably spend our lives in the future Staying in the north, facing such a situation for the rest of my life, I feel a little uncomfortable."

The deputy continued. Hearing this, the head of the regiment and many mercenaries who heard these words also lowered their heads uncontrollably, showing some sad emotions.

"I don't want to either, but we only have this choice now, do you all want to be hanged by Duke Adal?"

The leader was silent, the answer was already obvious, and the leader continued to direct his subordinates to work.

The head of the mercenary regiment was the second son of a knight family of the Nilfgaard Empire. Cunningham became a knight servant at a very young age and left his hometown.

As the second son, he was naturally unable to inherit the family's gradually declining fiefdom, so his parents arranged for him to learn war skills from a knight the family knew well.

When he became an adult, he naturally became a knight. After the family gave him a set of armor, he was asked to find his own way of life, so Cunningham picked up the job his parents used to do - licking blood on the tip of a knife.

His parents were mercenaries, and he naturally became a mercenary or a bounty hunter, working in the provinces of the empire where fish and dragons were mixed.

The empire's provinces are always full of opportunities, where gangsters and local snakes run rampant, family vendettas and street melees are everywhere.

And his ability is still very good, a series of tasks have been completed very well, so he hasn't smashed it.

Of course, this also has something to do with his style of accepting tasks. Anyway, he would never accept missions if he was too risky. No matter how attractive the reward was, this made him never overturn.

In the process of working, he also built his own team, and it was in this process that Albrecht Hohenzollern, who was of similar origin to him, joined his team and became his deputy.

And as the team grew bigger and bigger, he became the head of a mercenary group.

After becoming a mercenary captain, the next step is to participate in higher-level struggles.

Then he joined the North-South War, joined the Eastern Group Army, and became a unit under the Eastern Group Army.

Originally, this mercenary group should have made a lot of money in the great victory of the empire, but as the Eastern Army's offensive was blocked, things changed.

During the counterattack of the northerners, Cunningham first left behind the slaves he was supposed to escort to escape in order to preserve the mercenary group. This allowed his people to escape smoothly, but he also fell to the criminal record.

This is actually a normal thing. When the counterattack of the northerners came, there were more troops doing this, but it was a pity that they were seen by Adal Aip Daxi.

Duke Adal, who was in a fit of anger, directly ordered their regiment to go to the front line as cannon fodder, so in the next series of border frictions, this mercenary regiment with 500 people originally became 300 people.

Moreover, the Eastern Group Army deliberately did not provide these mercenaries with sufficient supplies and medical supplies, making it clear that they would consume them to death.

But A'dal actually didn't mean that. He just wanted to pay some price for those mercenaries who ran down from the front line without any injuries, but there was a thing called layer-by-layer increase.

If this continues, the mercenary group will be finished, and the mercenaries in it will also have to be buried with them.

After all, the mercenaries are only fighting for their own interests. Right now, the higher-ups are blatantly trying to kill them, and then they have to fight for their own lives.

So they have to do one thing that has not happened for a long, long time in the history of the empire's conquests, and that is to surrender to the enemy.

In the past few decades, Nilfgaard's campaigns have been so smooth. The empire can always quickly defeat the enemy country, and then pull the war into the stage of security warfare, so it is straightforward for an organized unit to surrender to the enemy—even if it is a mercenary group. extinct.

Cunningham knew that what they were going to do was very risky, and the empire would never let them go if they found out, and it was hard to say whether the northerners would come to receive their mercenaries.

However, the mercenary captain is confident that the northerners will come to meet him, because he has information and important information about the next move of the Nilfgaard Eastern Group Army.

After all, Cunningham has a Nilfgaardian noble status, which allows him to get close to many people. From the words of these people, he knows a lot of things, and he also got some military information that has not been published yet.

For this information, the northerners will definitely come to meet him.

As for how to convince the northerners that he has such information in his hands, before the current action, Cunningham and the northerners had been exchanging information for a full month to build their own credibility with the northerners.

It was risky, but that was the only option Cunningham had.

Don't do this, wait for the above to consume their own troops?
In the end, his series of adventures paid off, and the northerners agreed to meet his troops.

Next, it was Cunningham who led his troops to the ruins.

Cunningham has to be thankful, fortunately, his family members are basically dead. During the First Northern War, his father and brother were turned into ashes on Mount Sodden, and his mother died because of excessive grief, so he can rest assured betrayed.

Originally, he was supposed to inherit the family's territory, but due to the operation of some bureaucrats in the City of Golden Towers, he lost the land that should have belonged to him, and somehow became a "dead man".

As for his subordinates, the mercenaries are all people who have nothing to worry about. For them, going anywhere is not going, isn't it just defecting?It's okay to go with the leader.

.

While waiting in the ruins, the mercenaries built the fortifications of the camp, trimmed many horses and fortifications, and prepared for defense and attack.

The mercenaries are a little anxious now, because the northerners who promised to come have not come for a long time, and they have not been seen.

Cunningham was undoubtedly the most anxious one. He had been counting the time. According to the time, the barracks should have realized something was wrong by now.

"Damn it, why don't those northerners come here, Cunningham, is there really no problem with your agreement?"

Albrecht whispered in Cunningham's ear, he knew that this might cause uneasiness, so he kept observing his surroundings while speaking.

"Keep waiting."

Cunningham shook his head, just saying that, now he can only wait.

And then, the sound of horseshoes came from outside the ruins, which made everyone nervous, and some of them changed their expressions immediately, because they recognized the source of the sound of horseshoes.

Nilfgaardian.

The imperial cavalry in black armor appeared in front of the mercenaries the next moment. Without any hesitation, they rushed towards the mercenaries directly. It seemed that the mercenaries should be judged as traitors.

The mercenaries didn't hesitate at all, they just picked up the crossbows in their hands and shot without any mercy because of fighting side by side in the past.

Thanks to the well-built fortifications of the mercenaries, these cavalry who did not give their horses vests failed to rush in. Instead, some people directly ran into the refusal horses, and were killed by crossbow arrows and spears at close range.

After a short period of time to determine that they could not gain an advantage, the Nilfgaardian cavalry decisively turned their horses. This is a new content in the Nilfgaardian cavalry drills.

After leaving behind a bunch of corpses of men and horses, the cavalry were "sent off" back, but Cunningham and his mercenaries did not feel any joy because they knew that this was just a small Start.

The cavalry was only here to test, and the infantry was responsible for the main attack. According to the rules of war of the empire, the infantry should be nearby.

Also the next moment, the Nilfgaardian infantry regiment also appeared in front of the mercenaries. These black-clad and black-armored soldiers formed a black phalanx and came towards the traitors.

Seeing that the edge of the field of vision was filled with Nilfgaardian troops, many people in the mercenary group felt a little hopeless.

Some people scolded and sharpened their weapons, preparing for the final battle; With memories they cherish.

But no one here wavers, they have been soldiers under Cunningham for so long, and they have long been the regimental commander's men.

The mercenaries also know that those big officials want to kill them now. Such things are not uncommon in the Nilfgaard Empire. There are always people who want to clean up the mercenaries who do black work. Gad will never be without a part.

The backbones have followed his existence for a long time, so how could they be easily shaken.

The solid army formation of Nilfgaard was getting closer and closer to them. Cunningham could clearly see the black and white grids and the golden sun on the soldiers of Nilfgaard. He knew that if the next battle was fought, he would definitely defeated.

Cunningham is quite regretful now. It seems that he was tricked by the northerners, but he didn't start to lose his temper. He chose the path himself, so there is no need to embarrass himself there.

His deputy, Albrecht, had almost the same idea. He didn't say much, but used a whetstone to temporarily sharpen his sword to prepare for the next battle.

And just when Cunningham was ready for a decisive battle, suddenly, on the two wings of the solid Nilfgaardian army, there was a burst of roar of gunpowder, and then there were crossbow bolts and arrows flying from there.

The advancing Nilfgaardian army was obviously caught off guard by this, and a large group of people fell down in an instant, while others turned their shields in a panic to resist the possible attack.

There was another long-range attack, and this time the effect was much smaller than before. The Nilfgaardian's shield blocked the attack.

Next, groups of Cossacks suddenly appeared from the forest, howling into the battle formation of the Nilfgaardians. They rode or walked, all brandishing machetes and parrot picks.

These Cossacks wore armor, most of which were modified from captured imperial equipment.

They rushed directly into the battle ranks of the black-clothed army, like bulls, forcing the battle into a melee.

Melee is exactly the combat mode that the Cossacks are best at. In every battle, they will try their best to turn the scene into a street fight. This is their favorite battlefield.

The Nilfgaardians in front of them were obviously dragged into the rhythm of the Cossacks. They were obviously very unskilled in this kind of battle, so they retreated steadily.

The horn sounded, and Cunningham was familiar with the orders of the Nilfgaardian army. He knew that the sound meant to retreat.

The Nilfgaardian army did indeed begin to retreat. After decisively leaving some people behind as their backing, the other Nilfgaardian troops began to retreat in an orderly manner.

When the Cossacks wiped out the rear troops, the Nilfgaardians had regrouped, and the Cossacks did not pursue them.

The mercenaries cheered for the rest of their lives, and among those Cossacks, a figure stepped out. It was a strong Cossack. Cunningham knew this person, the Cossack Ataman Seliwa who was very active on the front line Love.

"You are slow in coming, northerner."

Cunningham said angrily, but the ataman opposite just shrugged.

"Isn't everyone here? Nilfgaardian, let's go, you better really have such important information as you said, otherwise some people will be very angry."

Of course, Selivalov couldn't say that they just planned to take the opportunity to fish out a Nilfgaardian army and then give them a hard blow.

By the way, this is also to see if these mercenaries really betrayed.

"The news I brought is of course important." Cunningham said firmly, "I brought news that Nilfgaard will launch a general offensive, and I also got some blueprints."

　It's a bit late because of the review, I'm really sorry

　　
　
(End of this chapter)