The Fourth Calamity never believed in the steel torrent!

Chapter 324 Why are Butcher's Nails popping up?
"Damn it! The Black Hawk Empire's ghoul legion is charging up! Something seems off about their forces this time!"

"This is weird. Why do they all have a nail stuck in their heads? What are they for?"

Hiding in the trenches, Cambrian soldiers looked at the ghoul legion rapidly advancing in their direction and couldn't help but shout in shock.

At first, he thought he was seeing things, but as more and more ghoul soldiers charged toward them, he became certain that these guys had a nail driven into their heads!
The thing looked very long, and it was unclear how deep it was driven into the brain, but judging from the part that was sticking out, it must have been at least 20 centimeters long.

After being driven into the nails, these ghoul soldiers seemed to look even more ferocious.

If at the beginning, those ghoul soldiers looked somewhat like living people because of their coats, now, their appearance has absolutely nothing to do with living people.

The new ghoul army seems to have changed their original all-black appearance, replacing it with much more revealing clothing.

Their uniforms looked similar to the summer combat uniforms of Black Hawk soldiers, but with less fabric and a somewhat cheap appearance, which seemed rather out of place given the season.

After all, the season is transitioning to autumn, and the air is getting cooler.

If you were like them, simply wearing a black vest and thin pants, most people would obviously feel cold.

Because they had changed into military uniforms, the ghoul soldiers' ashen, lifeless faces and their obviously dead blue skin were all exposed, without the slightest attempt to conceal them.

If we add that nail, whose purpose is unknown but which is very conspicuous when stuck in the top of one's head, then we can combine all these elements together.

Clearly, compared to the silent, charging black legion at the beginning, these ghouls looked much more terrifying.

"Fire! Stop them!"

"Mortars! We need mortar support!"

On the battlefield, a group of Cambrian soldiers who had recognized the enemy were shouting wildly.

Andrei did not hide the thoughts of his soldiers about the enemy forming a ghoul legion, and most of the other generals shared the same idea.

Therefore, news of the Black Hawk Army's last use of those ghoul soldiers had already spread throughout the Cambrian Army's northern front.

Andrei wasn't too clear on the situation on other fronts, but he was certain that all the Cambrian soldiers on the northern front already knew that the enemy would resurrect the dead to continue fighting.

Although some officers believe that ordinary soldiers don't need to know so much.

Letting them know these things will only cause their morale to decline on the battlefield.

But Andrei doesn't see it that way.

In his view, since ordinary soldiers would inevitably encounter this ghoul legion on the battlefield sooner or later, he might as well tell the soldiers from the beginning rather than let them be caught off guard by the enemy and have their morale collapse.

Prepare them mentally in advance and do some ideological work with them; they will perform much better when facing this thing on the battlefield.

Upon hearing the commotion, players immediately set up mortars and began bombarding the ghoul soldiers on the opposite side.

To their surprise, almost at the same time the players set up their cannons and began bombarding the other side, the Black Hawk Army's artillery also began shelling them again.

This sudden artillery barrage caught many Cambrian soldiers off guard.

They were momentarily stunned, unsure whether they should quickly hide in the bunker or stay on the position to continue fighting.

They naturally knew that many of the Black Hawk Army's well-trained units were capable of infantry-artillery coordination, allowing infantry to advance 100 meters behind the barrage of fire, which was a remarkable feat.

But they had never seen such infantry-artillery coordination before. Their own soldiers had already rushed out, but their artillery only opened fire then. Wasn't this obviously an attempt to bomb their own people?

Without time to think, in order to avoid heavy losses of soldiers under enemy fire, the officers quickly ordered them to take cover in the anti-artillery bunkers in the trenches.

As for those player soldiers...

As for these strangely dressed guys, the officers on the position couldn't really control them. Anyway, these guys didn't need to be mobilized or given orders; they could fight on their own. Moreover, each of them had extremely high individual combat skills and was fearless in the face of death.

Since that's the case, let them fight it out on their own on the battlefield. Anyway, these guys don't really listen to my orders.

When the 120mm mortar shells landed in the ranks of these ghoul soldiers, some were immediately blown away.

However, overall, these mortar shells were not very effective at killing the enemy.

If shrapnel could damage the heads of these ghoul soldiers, they would fall and lose their life force. However, if the shells only damaged their torsos, it would have almost no effect on these ghoul soldiers.

Even when some ghoul soldiers had their limbs severed by flying shrapnel, they continued their charge.

It has to be said that this is the true meaning of the walking dead, the legendary march of the dead!
On the opposite Black Hawk Army position, the colonel who had previously commanded the attack looked at a newly arrived commander with some confusion.

Strictly speaking, this commander is not part of their military system, and he does not have any military rank on his shoulders, because he is a necromancer from the Imperial Academy of Magery.

"Master Heinrich, I don't understand why we're only opening fire at this crucial moment?"

"We could have suppressed the enemy with artillery fire earlier. Isn't it a bit too late to open fire now? This might hinder our soldiers' charge!"

Master Heinrich shrugged dismissively and pointed to the position ahead, saying:
"Don't worry, these things are nothing to the Empire's Resurgence Legion. They won't be affected much by the bombardment."

“In most cases, unless they are hit at close range, these shells are unlikely to kill Resurrection Legion soldiers. Ordinary injuries are no different from not being there for them.”

"With the cover of such artillery fire, they can rush to the enemy's position in one go and kill all the soldiers hiding in the artillery bunkers. If the enemy chooses to ignore our artillery fire and continue fighting, our cannons can kill as many of them as possible."

"No matter how we fight, we won't lose out. The reason we're only opening fire now is because we need to conserve our shells. Firing before they launch their charge won't have the same destructive effect!"

The colonel felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing these words from Master Heinrich.

Although he knew that these resurrected undead were completely different from normal people, the thought of his allies throwing shells at him while he was charging ahead gave him an urge to kill.

"I say, if we treat those ghouls like this, won't they rebel? After all, they were heroes of the empire before us!"

Regarding this question, Master Heinrich tapped the top of his head and gave a mysterious smile.

"Colonel, you can guess what that nail on their head is for?"

Recalling the appearance of those ghoul soldiers, the colonel shook his head.

He had already noticed that all of these guys had a strange nail stuck in their heads, which looked quite terrifying and made his forehead hurt just looking at them.

But he really didn't know what this thing did, since he had never seen it before.

Seeing that the colonel didn't even bother to guess and instead just waited for him to speak, Master Heinrich couldn't help but feel a bit bored.

"This thing is a failed technological product that the Empire researched before. It is called the Butcher's Nail. As the name suggests, once this thing is nailed into the brain, a normal person will be completely transformed into a brainless butcher."

Heinrich gestured as he explained in detail.

"Under normal circumstances, once this nail is driven into a person's brain, all that will remain in their emotions will be anger, and they will find it very difficult to feel calm."

"At the same time, this nail will be monitored and adjusted according to a special brainwave generated when a person kills. If a person does not kill for a long time, the nail will continue to drill into his brain, causing him unimaginable pain."

"So once this nail is in place, a person will lose all desires and will also lose most of their thinking ability, becoming a madman whose mind is filled only with violence and killing."

"Only by killing can he alleviate the pain in his mind. If he doesn't want to be driven mad by this terrible pain, he will naturally follow his anger and keep looking for targets to kill."

Master Heinrich seemed very interested in this invention, and his face was full of enthusiasm when he introduced it, as if he were introducing a rare treasure.

But after hearing this introduction, the colonel's expression turned horrified.

"By the Emperor, the person who invented this thing is a complete devil... I don't understand what the person who invented it was thinking?"

The colonel felt that even if he racked his brains, he couldn't compete with the quick thinking of some bad guys.

Honestly, he couldn't even imagine what such a vicious invention was meant to be used for.
"Don't say that, after all, it's all for the sake of war."

Heinrich shrugged, slightly annoyed that the colonel had used the adjective "devil."

"As you know, the war has progressed to this point, and everyone is lowering their standards. The Empire has no choice but to sacrifice some things in order to win the war."

"And Colonel, you should be glad that it is precisely because this invention has such great flaws, or rather, because this invention is so inhumane, that we did not choose to use it on the soldiers."

Goodness, thank goodness you didn't give this to the soldiers!
The colonel felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this. The thought of having nails drilling into his head and urging him to kill during future battles gave him an urge to commit suicide on the spot.

"Then why would we use this on these Resurrection Legion soldiers? Isn't that a bit too cruel to them?"

When the colonel asked this question, Heinrich chuckled coldly.

"Heh, no matter how cruel it is, it's still better than using this stuff on living people, right?"

"Those ghouls that we resurrected do retain some memories from their previous lives, but they are fundamentally different from living people. Moreover, they have a higher tolerance for pain, which makes them feel less uncomfortable."

“Previously, some ghoul soldiers mutinied because they were not satisfied with their current resurrection mode. With this invention, we will help them eliminate all unnecessary emotions and leave only war in their minds.”

"They were resurrected to be used purely as war machines. With this invention, we are now helping them return to their essence, allowing them to fight without distraction."

The colonel remained silent for a moment, then quietly moved two steps away from the necromancer.

To be honest, he now feels that he is less willing to sacrifice himself on the battlefield.

Even if it meant sacrificing himself, he hoped his body would be blown to pieces so that no one would pick it up.

Otherwise, if he were to be resurrected in this way, he felt that this thing was almost no different from eternal torment.

While Heinrich was busy introducing this vicious invention to the colonel, at the front line, guided by several necromancers, these ghouls, whose brains were almost burned dry by anger and bloodlust, all rushed into the position.

It wasn't until these guys rushed in that the Cambrian soldiers guarding the position realized the enemy's intentions.

"Get out of the bunker now! Stop hiding! These lunatics haven't stopped firing at all!"

A Cambrian soldier shouted as he charged out with his submachine gun, but he had only gone halfway when a ghoul soldier blocked the entrance to the gun emplacement.

Looking at the three soldiers hiding inside, he opened fire with his submachine gun. Almost at the same time, the Cambrian soldier with his submachine gun also pulled the trigger.

The two sides were firing at each other at a distance of less than a meter, and all the bullets hit each other without any deviation.

The three Cambrian soldiers in the bunker all fell down screaming, but the ghoul soldier, even with his chest almost riddled with bullets from a submachine gun, remained standing.

Large numbers of ghouls scurried through the trenches, efficiently slaughtering the Cambrian soldiers within, while Black Hawk Army artillery shells continued to rain down on the position.

Wave after wave of artillery bombardment, accompanied by the ghouls charging left and right like madmen, completely bewildered the Cambrian soldiers on the entire position.

Many soldiers didn't know what to do. If they rushed out, they would be bombarded to death. If they stayed in the bunkers, they would be killed by enemy submachine guns.

Even though they managed to break through and were lucky enough to avoid being hit by enemy artillery fire, the ghoul soldiers who charged forward were still incredibly ferocious.

Although the Cambrian soldiers were desperately trying to hit the enemy's head, they had been told by their superiors that the thing could only be killed by a headshot or being blown to pieces.

The problem is, in such a hasty exchange of fire, where do they have the time to aim at each other's heads?

They have to work hard to aim, while the other side can just pick up their guns and fire.

They would be hit by bullets and fall down even if they didn't die on the spot, but this monster, even if he was riddled with bullets, would be fine as long as his head was intact.

"Retreat! Retreat! Let our armored forces deal with these monsters, let the Mendeleev tanks crush them!"

The surviving Cambrian soldiers retreated in terror along the trenches; they no longer wanted to fight these monsters.

The remaining soldiers quickly retreated to the second line of defense along the rear trenches, but the ghoul soldiers followed closely behind.

Even if some soldiers tried to turn around and fire back to slow down their pursuit, their shots had almost no effect.

To draw a gun and hit an enemy in the head in such a short time is already an extremely difficult task, not to mention that these ghoul soldiers also know how to dodge!
Although these guys' brains were actually damaged because of the Butcher's Nail, most of their memories were in a state of confusion.

However, the various combat techniques that have almost become ingrained in their muscles are still etched into these veterans. Especially when they know that their heads are a weak point, they will shake their heads from time to time to try to avoid being shot in the head by the enemy.

If this trend continues, even if the Cambrian soldiers retreat, they will likely find it difficult to escape the pursuit of these enemies.

Until a player rushed out, bravely jumping into the ranks of ghouls, and then fought them.

Because of the short notice, many players didn't have time to readjust their classes and setups, and simply used the fanatic class they had used to boost morale to charge forward.

The fanatics naturally also have melee weapons, since Andrei can't currently produce weapons like the chainsaw sword and power sword from Warhammer.

Therefore, most players now use melee weapons that are either the same as those in Battlefield 1, or special two-handed greatswords similar to the Black Hawk Dread Knight.

Relying on their professional characteristics, they can use one hand to fight enemies with melee weapons and the other hand to shoot with a secondary weapon. At the same time, the armor they wear can also give them greater survivability.

These tough guys charged into the ghouls, fighting them relentlessly. They looked extremely brave, and the scene could basically be described as reckless.

Because ghouls have strong vitality, they are very willing to trade blows with players.

Both ghouls are unharmed when stabbed in the chest or abdomen, but the player is seriously injured on the spot.

But the players didn't care either, their main motto was "Don't be a coward, just do it!"
Medics hid behind the Zealots, occasionally throwing a medkit to the ground for a group heal. Zealots were generally much more resilient than their normal counterparts and wouldn't be easily killed by a single stab. Some Zealot players even pulled out flamethrowers and unleashed a barrage of fire at the ghouls.

Although flamethrowers weren't particularly effective at killing them, they generally couldn't kill these monsters on the spot.

However, this thing can burn a large area at once. You only need to guard one intersection, and you can use this thing to set a large number of enemies on fire in an instant.

"Retreat! Retreat to the second line of defense, and then reorganize the counterattack!"

"Don't worry about us. Your ability to continue fighting is the best reward for us. Don't let our sacrifices be in vain!"

Some players were giving orders to retreating soldiers while fighting off enemy attacks.

As he spoke, he couldn't resist adding a couple more sentences to stir up emotions.

Hearing this, the other players were speechless at this guy's perverse sense of humor, but many Cambrian soldiers who were retreating were deeply moved.

"Sir, rest assured, we will not let your sacrifice go to waste!"

"Sir, tell me your home address quickly, and I will take care of your wife!"

Damn! Why does that last sentence sound so awkward?
Although both sides' soldiers were quite resilient, the close combat was still incredibly bloody.

Fanatic players kept falling, Black Hawk Ghouls kept getting their heads chopped off, and some players respawned at the rear respawn point and simply charged in with bayonets.

After playing for a while, players discovered that the Trench Warrior class seemed to be quite effective against Ghouls.

After all, the special weapon clubs used by the trench troops were originally designed to hit heads, and when facing ghouls, these things were practically guaranteed to deliver critical hits with every strike!

The trench troops charged forward and could easily kill the ghoul with a single blow. The ghoul, facing this heavily armored enemy, behaved almost no differently than the ordinary Black Hawk soldiers, except that it fought even more fiercely.

But what good is fighting to the death and refusing to retreat?

In the past, when players fought each other, it was said that one side would experience a morale collapse, but both sides just charged headlong into battle.

As a result, the ghouls now show almost no advantage against the trench warfare troops, and even the necromancer in charge of controlling them was stunned by these heavily armored Cambrian superhumans.

However, when more Black Hawk soldiers armed with heavy firepower rushed over and joined the melee, the players' side eventually couldn't hold on any longer.

There's no way around it; there are too few players here, and the Trench Warriors simply can't withstand rocket launchers and the like. Their armor isn't thick enough, and their survivability isn't that abnormal.

After a chaotic battle, the Black Hawk Army successfully captured the first line of defense in this position, while the remaining Cambrian soldiers retreated to the second line of defense.

However, the enemy continued their shelling, seemingly trying to use the cover fire to allow the ghouls to continue their breakthrough.

But at that moment, the players' artillery fire also began.

Several Andrei's Hammer heavy cannons, which had been deployed by the player to the flank of the enemy's artillery position at some point, once again unleashed a deafening roar at the enemy's artillery.

As these 203mm heavy guns began to bombard the enemy positions, the Black Hawk Army's artillery gradually became overwhelmed.

As the officer gave the order, their artillery quickly moved, and at the same time, another group of mobile infantry rushed toward the player's artillery.

Although in previous battles, even if they sent out mobile units to chase the enemy artillery, it was useless, because the player would always have a portion of infantry accompanying the artillery, and these infantry were enough to buy time.

But it's impossible not to send troops to pursue them. If we don't send troops, their heavy artillery will keep bombarding us, which will only make the situation worse.

As the sounds of artillery fire from both sides gradually subsided, the boundaries of this battlefield were roughly redefined.

Although the Cambrian army did have one defensive line breached by the enemy, overall, thanks to the player's desperate cover, they managed to hold onto the remaining lines and were not on the verge of complete collapse.

Meanwhile, on the Black Hawk side, many Black Hawk soldiers cheered as they saw that they had finally achieved an effective breakthrough.

But when they realized that their breakthrough was actually achieved by a group of undead soldiers, many Black Hawk soldiers' faces immediately turned grim.

Clearly, few ordinary Black Hawk soldiers welcome these undead soldiers, since they are the very raw materials for these creatures.

If they were to die on the battlefield and end up looking like this, neither human nor ghost, it would be quite difficult for them to accept.

Even though the officers kept preaching that this was a contribution to the Empire and that it was giving the soldiers a second life, the actual performance of these ghoul legions on the battlefield still generated a lot of resentment among the Black Hawk soldiers.

"It seems that our ghoul army is not as strong as we thought. In order to break through the enemy's defenses, we will ultimately have to rely on powerful artillery and armored forces."

Hearing the colonel say that, Master Heinrich gave a disgruntled snort.

"I don't need you to remind me, Colonel. You can't conquer every battlefield with just one weapon, not even these ghouls."

"But we have to admit that these soldiers can give the enemy a great shock, and their breakthrough ability far exceeds the limits that ordinary soldiers can achieve, which is enough."

"We must make a quick breakthrough here and tear open this gap as much as possible. If we can drive back the Cambrian army here, we can at least withdraw one-third of the encircled army group!"

In fact, if Andrei hadn't divided the encircled army group into several parts, theoretically, if the enemy had broken through here, the entire army group might have been able to break out.

Even if only a third can be withdrawn, it would still be good for the Black Hawk Empire, better than being completely annihilated by the enemy in the end.

The colonel nodded, recalled the previous battle, and then analyzed:

"In my opinion, the reason why our offensive became weak in the later stages was because our artillery support did not keep up, because we were suppressed by the enemy in terms of artillery."

"What we need right now are heavy artillery with larger calibers and longer ranges. In addition, we need large, movable deflector shields. We need those things to protect our artillery!"

As he spoke, the colonel glanced in Heinrich's direction.

This thing is a magical artifact, and magical artifacts are usually controlled and managed by mages. So whether he can get the Deflection Shield depends on whether Heinrich can get it for him.

"Don't worry, the deflection shields will arrive on the battlefield soon. In addition to the deflection shields, I've also acquired some special weapons and equipment. I believe these things will definitely help us achieve an even greater victory."

Heinrich smiled, but the smile made the colonel feel quite uncomfortable.

This necromancer is a psychopath. If it weren't for the war, he wouldn't want to deal with such an inhuman creature.

I wonder what kind of outrageous weapon or equipment could make him smile like that?

Anyway, the colonel was certain that the special equipment that would arrive on the battlefield next was definitely not good stuff, and he wondered how the Cambrian people would deal with it.

The news that the enemy's ghoul army had suddenly appeared and launched a fierce attack on the front lines was immediately sent to Andrei via telegram.

When he learned that the special armored brigade was currently being ravaged by the ghoul legion, he frowned slightly.

"That's strange. I remember the Black Hawk Corps only deployed this thing once before, and then it seemed like they withdrew the unit for some reason. How come these guys are back on the battlefield now?"

He carefully examined the telegram, looking at the detailed description of the ghoul soldiers.

Compared to before, the ghoul soldiers now seem to have changed a lot. According to the soldiers on the front line, these guys are more like a pack of wild beasts than humans.

This gave Andrei a bad feeling: perhaps the Black Hawk Army had modified the minds of these ghoul soldiers, turning them into purer war machines.

In particular, the frontline soldiers repeatedly described in the telegram that these ghoul soldiers all had a special nail stuck in the top of their heads.

Even a fool could tell that these ghoul soldiers had changed because of that nail!
"Oh no, could this thing be some kind of Butcher's Nail?"

Thinking of the Devourer Legion from the Warhammer universe, Andrei couldn't help but shudder. He couldn't help it; the image of that thing was just too strong for him.

Butcher's Sting plus Necromancer, what kind of bizarre combination is this?

As for the fact that the enemy's uniforms had changed and were no longer the same as before with overcoats covering their faces, this did not surprise Andrei much.

From a cost perspective, these undead soldiers don't need to wear very nice clothes anyway. They don't feel cold, and they don't care about such things, so naturally they should try to save on fabric wherever possible.

If it weren't for the fact that making them run naked would be detrimental to Zhenguan and would also affect the morale of other friendly units, Andrei seriously suspected that the Black Hawk Army might actually make these guys run naked!
Moreover, now that these guys have been exposed as living dead, the Black Hawk Army naturally has no need to hide them anymore.

Revealing the true appearance of these guys openly can actually have a shocking effect on the enemy.

"Issue orders to some players to support the left flank, and give them an extra mission to go to the front as line-fillers."

"Next, we must concentrate our forces and wipe out the left-wing army group that is most likely to break through. Once we take them out, the remnants of the remaining two army groups will not be so scary."

Andrei quickly outlined his current goals by sketching a simple plan on the map.

However, after taking a look at the chaotic battle, he felt that he really couldn't spare too many players to provide support.

Because on his side, the encircled army group was also going a bit crazy at this moment. They were constantly launching breakout operations in all directions, trying to insert their troops into Andrei's lines from time to time.

At the same time, Andrei was also having his troops continuously divide and annihilate the enemy, which led to his army launching fierce attacks in the direction of the enemy.

Both sides were launching fierce attacks on each other, resulting in a bizarre state of mutual offense and a chaotic battle, especially since the Black Hawk Army's current tactics resembled a massive flood attack.

To counter this tactic, Andrei had no choice but to deploy a large number of players as elite forces, leading many soldiers to launch continuous counterattacks, employing a similar strategy of overwhelming the enemy and maneuvering back and forth.

As a result, he really couldn't spare too many people.

"Speaking of which, when will our commendation order arrive?"

Suddenly, Andrei looked in the direction of Moscow and couldn't help but start looking forward to the question of his promotion.

If all goes well, he should be able to get a promotion once he finishes this battle.

Although his military rank promotions were very fast, even unbelievably so, these promotions were all backed by solid combat achievements!

In this instance, he annihilated an enemy army group, or at least brought it to the brink of collapse. Considering the overall situation of the war, this was already a remarkable achievement.

To date, no Cambrian army has achieved such a feat!
At the same time, as the commander of the Volkhov Front, his own rank was only lieutenant general, which was obviously inconsistent with the status of a front commander.

Therefore, in Andrei's view, it was practically a foregone conclusion that he would be promoted to a higher rank.

If the Tsar withholds his own rank promotion at this time, what will happen to the other generals?
When other generals see that no matter what achievements they make, they cannot be promoted and they all have to work on seniority, what desire will they have to fight desperately?
At that moment, in Moscow, after some hesitation, the Tsar finally agreed to promote Andrei's military rank.

Meanwhile, along with this commendation and promotion order that was still en route, the Tsar transferred a total of eight infantry divisions from other directions, preparing to deploy these eight divisions together in the Volkhov direction and join the Volkhov Army Group.

"Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, why did you suddenly..."

Beside the Tsar, his eldest son, Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich, asked with some doubt.

In Alexander's view, the Tsar's sudden relaxation of the promotion of Andrei and the provision of a large number of reinforcements seemed to be inconsistent with his previous style!

Prior to this, Tsar Nicholas III had spoken with Alexander on several occasions about the Vorontsov family.

According to the Tsar, neither the old Vorontsov (General Constantine) nor the rising star General Vorontsov (Andrei) were good people; they were both harboring evil intentions!

Nicholas III sighed, looking somewhat tired.

“My son, you don’t understand. I really don’t want the Vorontsov family to become too powerful, but we are facing an even more severe test right now.”

“If we continue to show an overly obvious hostile attitude at this time, there is no doubt that other imperial lords will also feel disheartened, and they will only become more passive in their battles.”

"Although our relationship with the feudal lords has always been strained and there are conflicts between us, we must rely on their strength at this time."

Recalling the news he had heard some time ago, Nicholas III's face showed a hint of resentment.

Prior to this, the Black Hawk Empire held a very high-profile investiture ceremony for Lieutenant General Krasov, who had defected to them.

The Black Hawk Emperor personally attended the ceremony. He not only bestowed upon Lieutenant General Krasov the rank of Black Hawk Honorary General, but also conferred upon him the title of Duke of Belarus and granted him a vast tract of land surrounding Minsk.

Although the vast majority of Cambrian people, whether nobles or commoners, did not recognize such an investiture, there is no doubt that this event brought a serious sense of crisis to the Tsar.

If his side continues to be wary and suppress local nobles, while the Black Hawk Empire is trying to win over local power factions.

By then, won't the Cambrian Empire give rise to a second Krasov?

Krasov cannot hold onto his position as Duke of Belarus because he is not legitimate and does not have sufficient influence.

But if it were a family like the Vorontsov family, or other large families, and the Black Hawk Empire were to bestow titles upon them and go to great lengths to win them over, who could guarantee that these guys wouldn't betray them?

Therefore, the Tsar had to relax his suppression tactics against these guys.

Besides this reason, another reason is that the Tsar had already noticed the importance of the Volkhov Front.

With the Volkhov Front in place, the enemy was unable to completely encircle Petrograd, and the Cambrian Empire was able to successfully protect this important industrial city.

Furthermore, the existence of this army group even poses a certain threat to the Black Hawk Empire's central army.

At least this time, with Andrei's nearly 200-kilometer long-distance raid, the Black Hawk Empire's central army did indeed show some signs of wavering, and even their rapid advance towards Moscow slowed down.

Looking at it this way, the Tsar suddenly realized that if Andrei's power increased, he might be able to have this guy help him protect the capital.

(End of this chapter)