Warhammer

Then, he immediately stayed in the Eagle's Nest Temple and took control of the most critical Grand Temple and all the people inside it. This decision was not only to take the high ground and overlook the entire city, but also because of the instructions of the Four Mothers.

Chapter 77: Attacking Heresy

El rode a griffin, circled in the sky for a while, and then landed on the preaching square of the Myrmidia Temple.

The Wrathhorn Beast Regiment and the most loyal and reliable "Old Mortal" troops, that is, the earliest backbone of the mortal auxiliary army, have now basically completely become like Ai'er. From body to soul, they have converted to the Blood Mother and the Four Gods. They more or less despise the old goddess Mirmidia, and think that the so-called "Goddess of the South" is nothing but a pretentious and hypocritical mortal who is not worthy of the title of God at all.

They are the most reliable part of the mortals in the Legion, and now, they have been given a special mission by Aiel:

"Control of the Great Temple of Myrmidia"

For the land of Estalia, such behavior is almost the same as trampling over the Vatican and holding the emperor hostage to control the princes.

But who can blame Al for holding justice in his hands—and the sword?

When Aiel entered the city, the old church forces immediately took control in the name of "for the safety of the clergy", and separated the core leadership such as the "Southern Eagle", the war leader and other high-level clergy and the middle and lower-level priests, monks, and crusaders.

The latter were all gathered in the Great Temple, while the former were placed under house arrest in the Parliament Hall in the Royal Capital along with the people in the Parliament.

Now, in the preaching square, the two rows on the left and right in front of El were filled with Myrmidia's clergy and mortal servants.

Monks, monks, priests, guardian warriors and other middle and lower-level clergy in the city of Margarita were basically wiped out.

Male left, female right.

The total number is around 6,000.

Compared to Margarita's current population, the ratio is nearly fifty to one, which is exaggerated.

At a rough glance, the ratio of men to women is almost half and half, and there are even more female priests than male priests.

Al was a little curious about this. Although Myrmidia herself was a woman, he had never heard that she showed any extra attention or preferential treatment to women. The Church of War, like the State Religion of Sigmar, was still dominated by men and occupied an absolute dominant position. Mortals worshiped "Mirmidia", but she happened to be a goddess.

But that’s not the key at the moment.

There are a total of two Red Army Vanguard Legions, assisted by a 2,000-man mortal legion, and nearly 5,000 tribal troops stationed in the Great Temple, firmly controlling everything inside and outside.

Now, three thousand fully armed soldiers were standing guard in the preaching square, separating the two clergy groups divided by gender. A murderous aura lingered in the field, and the crowd was whispering. In the past, they were glamorous clergy, respected monks, warriors who boosted morale and led the way on the battlefield, bringing the noble anger of Myrmidia to the enemy and strategic masters who won glorious victories for the kingdom...

But now, they are just a group of captives in Aiel's cage, who are full of speculations and expectations about their own fate and are unaware of their own situation.

The war with the greenskins was a war of family, country, and race. At that time, the naturalized beastmen, who were both "on the side of order" and "neighbors", could unite with the Estalia people, but when the foreign enemies were driven away...

The most critical contradiction between the two parties will soon be impossible to ignore and will inevitably break out.

"Belief!"

There was no way that El would not preach among the Estalia people, because this was currently his best and most effective way to control the southerners, whose numbers far outnumbered those of the Beastmen, and bring them under his command.

As long as the missionaries are used to attract sheep for the four mothers, it would be a plan to wipe out the entire family for the War Church. There is no room for compromise and it will be a life-and-death struggle.

Therefore, instead of letting this conflict continue to brew and allowing El's enemies to take the initiative, it would be better for El himself to take the initiative and at least destroy the power of the Church of Mirmidia in the south. The most merciful outcome would be to serve as a mascot under El's rule, retaining a certain amount of power and showing off his presence during festivals.

In the first step, the Waaaaagh initiated by the greenskins has helped Aiur complete most of the task.

If you are more evil, you can just uproot it, like Black Friday, not allowing any activities, in an effort to completely eradicate the influence of the Goddess of War.

However, this is too difficult and is not a good solution for the tribe at the moment, so Al plans to adopt the first method.

"Hit! Hit first! Break his legs, then force him to submit! Shunchang will perish!"

At the same time, it is also to test...

The silence of Myrmidia was a heavy blow to the faith of mortals, even to the clergy whose faith should have been stronger—or perhaps because of it, they were more severely damaged.

After the greenskins and pirates wreaked havoc, most of the tough and steadfast ones had died on the battlefield, or retreated to the south or north to continue resisting. It cannot be said that the rest were all afraid of death, but they were certainly not as resolute as the first clergymen who climbed onto the city walls and the battlefield, and insisted on fighting even when their calls to their gods went unanswered.

Therefore, the green-skinned warlord, Brother Maoliang, has helped Al complete most of the work. The rest should be done by this young man who has no martial ethics and backstabbed his big brother.

Clapping his hands, the Southwest representative ran up to Al with the document in hand and opened the file, like an angel announcing an order in a TV show.

"Since the fall of Margarita... the church has done many wrong things... We hereby declare that after the assassination of His Highness Tiger Nissus, the 'Southern Eagle', the Royal Capital Church's unilateral arrangement for Andrew Nissus to succeed is illegal. Permoz, Galaz... and other places refuse to recognize his orthodox identity."

"At the same time, in view of his many behaviors during the occupation... he has committed the three major crimes of treason, apostasy, and blasphemy!"

The crowd of clergymen immediately erupted in doubts and noise, far exceeding the first noise that raised the illegality of the Southern Eagle's identity.

After all, that position is real. According to convention, representatives from cathedrals and temples across the country must be present, and the Knights of the Burning Sun and the War Church of Tyrell who are stationed in the empire must also send representatives. Then, after a complicated ceremony, the position is finally established.

Margarita did it unilaterally, and although she did it to boost morale, it was still a violation.

It is understandable that they do not agree and they want to re-elect. After all, the people from the southwest have relied on the support of others in this war, so it does not matter if they are given some food and drink. This is the view of most of the clergy in the royal capital church. As long as they can recover, after all, the other party has made efforts, it does not matter even if a priest from the five southwestern cities is chosen to serve as the Eagle of the South.

However, the illegal "trial" of the Southern Eagle was a very serious matter for the entire Royal Capital Church.

"Therefore, on behalf of the people of Permoz, Galaz... and other places, as well as the tribes and the kingdom coalition, we hereby declare that all the crimes committed by the false 'Southern Eagle', Andrew Nissus, during the occupation will be investigated and publicly tried!"

"After the investigation of the southeast region is completed and it is confirmed that there are no traitors who are kowtowed to the invaders and seek cooperation and there is a risk of stealing power again, a day will be chosen to re-elect the apostle of the goddess Myrmidia on earth, the most honorable... successor to the Eagle of the South."

The sentiment is exciting.

Many excited priests and warriors even wanted to rush over and grab the messenger, but they were forced back by the angry guards who were half a person's height and holding cold halberds. They could only shout, yell, debate and quarrel without being blocked by the army.

Al thought they were noisy and didn't bother to listen to what they were shouting, so he just ordered the guards to move forward.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The sound of orderly footsteps came from all directions, forming a line in the four directions of east, south, west and north, and slowly pressed towards the crowd. For a moment, all the shouts turned into a variety of noisy sounds with a hint of fear, doubt, and anger.

El pinched the queen's head, and she cooperated by spreading her wings and letting out an ear-splitting scream that instantly drowned out the entire audience.

Taking advantage of the silence, Al clapped his hands.

"This is a decision made by me, the Southwestern Cities Assembly, and the coalition forces. At the same time, I believe that in this city under our feet, in the glorious Margarita, the people also hate those leaders who are in office but cannot fulfill their responsibilities and protect them."

"Now, the purpose of summoning you is for this."

"Those who agree with the public trial should stay; those who disagree should walk out."

Four lines in four directions formed a square with a large part of each of the four corners exposed, just enough to include everyone inside.

After Al finished speaking, he stopped talking and used the mask to block his gaze from the female clergy, admiring those pleasant-looking young ladies.

Chapter 4: The Eve of the Purge (-in- K chapter~)

Margarita.

A magnificent city, a prosperous port, the pearl of the southern world...

It is a major city with commercial ports and maritime transport as its core, and it is an important gateway for east-west traffic.

It is somewhat similar to Marienburg in the Empire, but the financial atmosphere is not as strong. After all, as a capital city, it also has a nominal supreme leader, the secular king who resides here. Merchants cannot get unrestricted treatment in specific areas like their counterparts in the Empire.

Therefore, the wealthy people and capital of Estalia like to explore overseas and open up new channels to the colonies in the New World. After all, there is no freedom overseas in the local area.

Many things will be constrained and hostile by the interest groups represented by the church, the nobility, and the king. Although the nobles of the kingdom also have their own family interests overseas, as long as the main forces and members remain in the local area, they will still hold on to fixed assets represented by land. This is the ancestral property, the immovable hens and cows that continue to lay eggs and produce milk, and they are very repellent to the intervention of emerging businessmen.

In this regard, the nobles of Estalia are slightly more, um, moderate than the average nobles of the Empire. On the one hand, they are willing to use the family's capital to engage in commercial activities and expand overseas, but on the other hand, they hold on tightly to fixed industries such as land in their native land. In this way, if commercial and colonial activities result in a total loss, which means a serious blow to their vitality, they can still get up again through slow accumulation.

In the new era, the imperial aristocracy slowly moved towards two extremes. On the one hand, they insisted on tradition, past glory, loyalty, and virtue, and were very conservative. They were hostile to the activities of the bourgeoisie while coveting their wealth. On the other hand, they opened their doors to embrace and were willing to merge with the emerging class, becoming the representatives of capital and feudalism, and cheering for the factory owners and bourgeoisie.

In his previous rough investigation and analysis of Estalia society, Al came to a conclusion:

The overall social contradictions in the Southern Kingdom are not intense. Although the common people have been troubled by various problems such as land annexation and the impact of industry on handicrafts, generally speaking, as long as they are willing to work hard, there is no shortage of ways out.

After all, there is still the golden road of getting on the ship and going to the sea.

Thanks to the Southern Kingdom's long-standing tradition of emphasizing commerce and trade, the traditional nobility and the emerging bourgeoisie that was undergoing transformation and rebirth did not become irreconcilable.

The noble status here is not as difficult to obtain as in the Empire and Bretonnia. Generally speaking, as long as you are rich enough and your reputation and prestige are not too bad, it is easy to obtain a noble status for yourself. Of course, the nobility obtained in this way is not as valuable as those powerful families with heritage, long history, and emphasis on bloodline, which are deeply rooted in major cities.

But overall, you are in me and I am in you, and both sides can coexist and win together in a state of mutual benefit.

Therefore, it would be very difficult for Ai'er to gain support through the redistribution of means of production through military means alone and then enter the country. If it were to force its way through, the lower classes who had benefited would not support the beastmen and would also face hostility from all sides.

But the turmoil created by the greenskins gave Al an environment that was very suitable for his development:

The kingdom's armed forces in the southern region were basically wiped out, a large number of able-bodied laborers were taken away as conscripts, and the lower-class people suffered huge losses, but the middle and upper-class nobles and wealthy businessmen also suffered a considerable impact in the process, which affected them.

El, with guns as the core, led a "Southwestern Cities Conference" and decided to kick the Old Kingdom forces represented by the capital Margarita out of the victor's negotiation table on the grounds of settling treason, and even took them as trophies.

The flag of the coalition forces is the only regime in the entire southern region.

The part about righteousness basically falls into Al's hands. From now on, he just needs to not have a sudden brain failure, for example, he will do something like the Qing Dynasty's inability to deal with a widow with a boy or the emperor's father and regent, and come up with something like the shaving order, or he will be too unscrupulous and make no secret of not considering himself an "outsider" and openly manipulate the internal affairs of what is nominally another country.

Basically, there will be no situation where people oppose the tribe's interference in internal affairs under the pretext of "opposing the Beastman tyrants".

But the key question arises again.

How Al won the support of the majority.

In this majority, Al is arranged according to "public > all others".

So, how do we win over a group of people who have just escaped from enemy atrocities, looting, disasters, chaos, a declining life and a ruined country?

The best way is of course to rebuild their homes, protect them from war and restore their peaceful and happy lives. But...

That's not what Al wants right now, or rather, this is not what he wants to do first.

"revenge!"

"National hatred and family feuds must be avenged!"

"Burn! The! Energy! To! Protect! The! Country!"

"As long as the last Estalia dies, after killing the last greenskin or pirate and clearing out the last traitor, we will be victorious (bushi)!"

Revengeful sentiment.

Revenge on the enemy... is too far away.

Revenge for traitors, divine reckoning, that is most appropriate!

Al naturally knew that the fire of revenge without material support could not burn for too long, unless Mirmidia came down to earth in person - then he would have to consider fertilizing the forest or killing or imprisoning the gods.

Or the gods will become active again, allowing supernatural powers to fill the world once again.

Otherwise, faced with the dilapidated homes, the loss of nearly one-fifth of the men, and the current situation of a 60% drop in the population of Margarita, no matter how much hatred people have, it cannot be supported for too long without material foundation.

The dead are dead, and the most important thing at the moment is always reconstruction...and all the settlements and anger can be left behind temporarily, waiting for reconstruction.

But Al did not want to inject the great fire of revenge into the Southern people who had suffered the most. This fire would be used by him and only needed to burn for a moment.

for example......

"Hang the coward! Hang the traitor!"

Under Al's deliberate manipulation, such slogans would be heard in Margarita every day. The people who survived the disaster were in urgent need of a valve to vent their emotions. At the same time, perhaps they also gained psychological advantages by doing so:

I demand the trial of cowards—I am not a coward!

I demand the trial of traitors—I am patriotic!

Of course, such overly dark inferences are not always applicable and appropriate.

But it probably doesn't matter.

Every day, the demonstrators, from disabled veterans to women and children who had lost their men, to those whose homes had been burned and whose property had been looted, had nothing but anger in their hearts.

They would gather into large and small groups of people to demonstrate in front of the homes of the rich and nobles in the northern district, especially the pseudo-officials and parliamentarians who had held city positions during the occupation, and they would curse, smash and loot things, and even erect a simple gallows directly in front of the homes of the nobles and wealthy businessmen.

At the instruction of Al, with the same emotional needs, the fucking parliament is a bunch of insects. They lost their troops and humiliated their country before, and they were defeated step by step! I followed King Al back to my home and didn't dare to fight back. They let people steal my money, rob my house, burn it down, and run away. What a bunch of good-for-nothings!

The human warriors called "Avengers" and "Fearless", who now control the entire process and are responsible for defense and public security, will also stand up and support the people, and even use force to break up several bloody conflicts.

For example, the armed forces of the nobles who had previously been blocked and scolded because of dissatisfaction and had sent out their family's private soldiers to drive away the people were directly disarmed and held as prisoners, or when the demonstrators became radical such as smashing and looting, they turned a blind eye and waited until the situation was almost intense before stepping in to stop them.

The entire Estalia upper class was in a panic. They thought that the greenskins had been defeated and the pirates had fled, and that the good days would return with the royal army entering the city.

As a result, this Master Wang...why does he feel something is not right?

Aiel entered the city, sent soldiers to guard the parliament, placed the "Eagle of the South" and a group of parliamentarians under house arrest in the capital's Grand Council, rode a griffin into the temple, and announced an "investigation" of church monks, bureaucrats, and upper-class celebrities suspected of treason. These series of actions have made people uneasy, but the vast majority of the people who were most seriously injured in the disaster are very supportive of this.

The burning anger needed a channel to vent, and at the same time, they could ignore Ai'er's series of actions that "blasphemed" the faith of Myrmidia.

During the period of pirate control, they openly looted churches and temples, dragged away statues of the goddess, massacred priests, raped nuns, and so on.

Al has a good card called "Clear Traitors", and any slight shortcomings in the details will not affect the overall situation.

During this period of time, there has been an endless stream of Margarita dignitaries who have visited the coalition forces directly or tried to establish connections with El through the southwestern forces. Just after hearing the rumor that El "the tribal king likes women, especially beautiful and mature women", they have been trying to offer beauty to the commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in order to establish an alliance.

"This is a girl from my family (distant cousin), who has been a widow for many years and longs for a hero! I have long known that the king is a hero, so I came to see him today. If the king does not abandon me..."

Barbara.