Warhammer

His face was covered with scars, and one look at his only remaining eye was enough to make one understand the cruelty that came from his heart.

Seeing that the slaves were in chaos and the greenskin allies were concentrating on preparing to meet the enemy, and even planning to rush up to fight the enemy whose numbers and momentum were far greater than their own, he immediately ordered his men to prepare to retreat. This was an impossible battle.

The beastmen's achievements in the south have reached the ears of the northern pirates.

The 100,000-strong coalition army was defeated by an enemy force less than half its number outside the city of Tolosa after obtaining support from the ratmen (in fact, the ratmen just made a feint and then withdrew). They lost all their occupied areas and fled back to the sea.

If such an army were to head north, it would obviously only be faced by the greenskins and their warlords.

Pirates only seek profit and it is impossible for them to work so hard.

While retreating, the one-eyed leader glanced at the Estalia people standing beside the caravan, and hatred for Bilbarri losing an eye surged up in his heart.

"The slaves are useless! They'll soon become soldiers and fire at us!"

The chief issued a cruel order: he ordered his men to immediately open fire on the slave labor team, firing a round of free fire, and those who were close directly drew their knives and rushed to kill the slaves.

After a series of crackling sounds, dozens of Estalia captives died. The rest finally reacted and began to flee in the direction of the coalition forces and outside the battlefield.

Revolt?

They were unarmed and without any weapons.

Just as the pirate leader predicted:

Soon, those who were rescued would become soldiers of the enemy (the coalition forces), and then revenge would surely come.

The pirates sold out their teammates. The greenskins were angry and could only scream and fight back.

The battle didn't last long before it was over.

The greenskins were completely wiped out—they couldn't run too far. The wolves and rangers were watching the periphery of the battlefield, chasing them.

Only the pirates managed to escape with their intact organization because they ran fast and had greased their feet, but they also lost dozens of lives.

Can it be considered as revenge for those slave laborers who suffered?

The soldiers of the coalition forces quickly cleaned up the battlefield and confiscated all the spoils before disposing of them. This was the rule of the tribe and the Estalia soldiers had to abide by it no matter what.

Quick fight.

This is the third battle in the four days since we were away.

It's time to go back.

Two beastmen and three human officers are the main commanders of this mixed force.

All the officers are Blood Mother believers selected from the "Old New Army" and are devout and reliable.

On the surface, it seems that humans are in the majority, which can also be easily accepted by the Estalia "rebels" under his command who are not among the "reliable" ones.

Although the battle ended quickly and with great success, it still caused considerable losses to the coalition forces.

For example, a young and promising nobleman and patriotic commander from Port Bermoz led his family's privately-raised mercenaries and militia to join the Northern Expedition and devoted himself to the revival of the kingdom.

Unfortunately, he was killed by a flying axe thrown by the stubborn enemy.

He died at the age of XX.

He was also the general who shouted the slogan from the heart before the battle, deafening and terrifying to the enemy: "For the goddess! Long live the kingdom!"

After the sacrifice of this patriotic officer.

The commanders discussed it and decided, for military priority, to "temporarily" assign the subordinates led by this man to the command of the new human army and mix them with the new army.

War takes priority over everything else.

Chapter 98: Ai Er, courtesy name Zhongzheng

The war in the north now has a new player.

But Al was just warming up, and he wasn't ready to fully intervene in the Northern War.

But it is still necessary to put some pressure on the greenskins and prevent their offensive from continuing smoothly.

To the greenskins, a large army is the foundation. Their nature also dictates that they cannot stay and guard peacefully in one area for a long time. If they do not have a good fight to vent their seemingly never-satisfied desire for war, the greenskins will soon fall into internal friction and internal chaos, and eventually a new warlord will rise up to lead them to launch a Waaaagh against all the surrounding forces.

So apart from Demonterrey and Sahagun, and the few cities whose inhabitants had not yet fled and could be used, the greenskins did not maintain a large occupation army in the rear.

They were not meant for this.

The warlord's original intention was to use the Estalia puppet troops to take charge of such duties, but after El recaptured and seized all of the southern land for his allies, this plan temporarily failed.

So the rear of the greenskins is very empty.

Of course, they don't actually have the concept of "rear".

It should be said that perhaps only the green-skinned warlord would have it.

Ai'er reorganized his troops, and then temporarily formed some small and medium-sized guerrilla groups. He walked out of the northwest of the Pina Forest and attacked everywhere, attacking the baggage trains that were transporting supplies to the greenskin siege army, and attacking pirates and greenskin traveling teams.

If they encounter a large enemy force of more than a thousand people, they will gather their troops and try to ambush them, or even deliberately harass and provoke them in order to attract the enemy.

This kind of behavior is only possible when they have been winning battles and have high morale, and is the most arrogant tribal coalition in Estalia.

Otherwise, those leaders who brought their own food and prepared their troops and "followed the Regent to fight for the kingdom" would never do anything like using their precious troops and political capital to seduce the greenskins to fight head-on.

This time, Al was unwilling but had to embark on the Northern Expedition, as it was not just his coalition forces that were responsible for the expedition.

This is too much of a loss for him.

Moreover, it also underestimates the loyal and righteous heroes in various parts of the South who used to regret that they had no way to serve their country and no one to be loyal to them!

To a certain extent, there was also the desire to gain political capital - they were frightened by Al's purge in Margarita, where the blue hats came with "mobs" to destroy their homes every few days. They tried to gain a protective shield for themselves and their family by participating in such a glorious and correct cause as the Northern Expedition.

The North District, which was originally famous for its rich and powerful people and where owning a mansion was once regarded by the emerging elite as a symbol of being close to the old elite, has now become a large prison, with demonstrations taking place every few days and large-scale public trials of "traitors" every ten days or half a month.

It is said that after Al liberated the city of Margarita, some radical elements from the lower classes of the "Seven-Man National Salvation Association" that was originally loyal and patriotic sent a black booklet to the Regent.

It contains a list of all the people and forces that they have determined to have committed treason, collaborating with the enemy, and being disloyal.

It is even said that those radical "enemy nobles" also listed many stories of bullying by some powerful people, wealthy businessmen, and the upper class before the greenskin invasion, causing panic in the areas where the rumors were circulated.

Al judges the enemy and our friend based on that booklet, because there are many things recorded in it, and Al needs time to verify them. But once the evidence is conclusive, he will immediately mobilize the "blue hats" to raid the house and break in the door...

This, of course, was a rumor that Al had intentionally spread.

First of all, the bloody purge was largely borne by the "National Salvation Association and radical elements". Secondly, his prudent decision-making showed that Al was wise and kind. He did not kill people indiscriminately or exclude dissidents. He definitely did not take action because he saw that a certain family had many stains and was wealthy, and was suitable to be used as a warning to the rest in order to win the hearts of the people.

Although the purge was carried out under control, such an "unprecedented" act on the land of Estalia still frightened many people.

Although Ai'er was a foreigner, he held the only and most powerful military force in his hands. He also gained a lot of prestige for himself and the support of theocracy by deposing and enthroning the Pope (Fuzhen).

Also, he is a foreigner, and the regent is only a "deputy", which means...

Even though he's messing around now, he'll definitely go back to the woods in the future...right?

Therefore, most of the classes whose interests are harmed can just bear with it.

After all, we have experienced worse things.

.......

In all parts of the south under the control of the coalition forces, when the news came that Regent King Al had decided to lead his troops back north to launch a northern expedition to support the war in the north, there was joy and excitement everywhere.

People think that they can finally get rid of the greenskins and embrace a completely peaceful life again, right?

The city congress formed by Ai'er supported them and they won the battle. They made great contributions and the country will be stable in the future. They will all be heroes. Now they can be directly promoted to full-time employees and may even be promoted to a certain level.

Although supported by merchants, maritime and land trade are still affected by pirates and greenskins.

The nobles support, defend! The country! Fight! Struggle! The country has nurtured you for thousands of years. If the situation is unfavorable, I will give you a point. If the situation is favorable, can't I wave the flag, shout, beat the drum, cheer, and get some military merits?

Even the Church of the Goddess of War, which was tossed around by El and had its authority destroyed, and was facing a serious political and faith crisis, was supported by Margarita and a group of wealthy families in the southeast region.

The Church of War was in urgent need of winning the war, restoring order in the kingdom, and consolidating its position. The people who were frightened by Al's confiscation of property were also excited: the regent was finally gone! The singing and dancing continued, and the good days continued!

At the same time, Al began to encourage the powerful people in various parts of the south:

Ticket to the great war of national restoration!

Do not miss passing through!

The victorious Regent King leads his powerful and invincible army in the front, and the greenskins will surely be captured easily. A good man will put aside his family and fight only for the kingdom and the God!

Bringing honor to the family and making achievements on the battlefield are just around the corner!

He called on wealthy and powerful gentry from all over the country to form an army of volunteers, follow the tribal army in the Northern Expedition, and achieve great things.

"In the year before the Yuan Dynasty, the king's army went north to conquer the enemy. He ordered the good families in the south to follow the army, and many people followed him."

History in a word.

There are too many things included in it.

Fighting openly and secretly, gambling, fighting, swordplay...

Northern Expedition and restoration of the country, how pleasant and exciting it sounds.

The southern elites, who had not felt the honor, responsibility, loyalty and other indispensable elements of the medieval world for a long time, were so eager and enthusiastic.

They raised money to form and arm their own militias, and then followed them to the Pina Forest to participate in the Northern Expedition.

As for the elite commanders who emerged in this process, those who had strong beliefs in the Old Kingdom and Myrmidia, and had strong feelings of "patriotism", "glory" and "loyalty", frequently died in "war".

This can be completely understood as an inevitable sacrifice in war.

After all, it was because he was too loyal and loved the kingdom and the goddess so much that he went to the battlefield with his own food.

Leading the troops personally and braving the arrows and stones must be extremely risky - the general is bound to die in battle!

As for whether the soldiers under their command can come out after being mixed into the human legion of the tribe, even if they come out, after being influenced by this big dye vat, it is hard to say whether they will be loyal to Ai’er, the "Regent King, the Son of the Four Gods", or to "the Kingdom's Orthodoxy, the Church of War"; whether they will shout "Blood sacrifice to the Blood Mother, skull sacrifice to the throne - for Ai’er" or "Long live the kingdom".

.........

Why not incorporate these "rebel forces" into the coalition system from the beginning?

Al can't eat in such an ugly way.

Although these people who brought their own dry food to follow the Northern Expedition certainly had more or less lofty ambitions to fight for their country, first of all, they were all born into the rentier class, nobles, wealthy businessmen, colonial aristocrats...

If they were to send their own troops and pay for their own expenses, and in the end the troops would be transferred to Al's command for unified management, most people would certainly find it difficult to accept.

People have paid the money, so how is the credit divided in the end?

Even their own private army was dragged into the meat grinder by the coalition forces and suffered heavy losses. Who will be held responsible in the end?

This kind of thinking will definitely greatly affect their choices. They will not work hard, or simply not respond to the call to save their own family. Although Al can also turn around and carry out another purge by accusing them of "destroying the Northern Expedition"... Well, this charge is a bit unfounded, so it is still tentative.

But his goal remained the same - to weaken the South's war potential, and those powerful people who posed the greatest threat to him and had the ability to oppose him were the primary targets.

......

Why does it feel like this behavior is exactly the same as what a certain bald guy from his world, the transport captain, the one who always calls a bitch, the one who is always right, the one who humiliates Delin and Wenbai, the one who dispatches the admission warrant for Gongdelin... did on the battlefield?

This attack cannot be too blatant. For example, anti-counterrevolutionary activities can be used as an excuse, but others are just storing troops and food for no reason. In wartime, you can't say that others are plotting rebellion, right?

Or collude with external forces?

All the fucking pirates have been driven away, so where does the external force come from, Bretonnia?

Chapter 99: Poaching and backstabbing are El's specialties

Therefore, in order to resolve the concerns of these powerful and wealthy people with military forces to the greatest extent, Ai'er simply established another army in addition to the three armies of Vengeance and Fearless Storm, and named it: Estalia Restoration Alliance Army. All small "shareholders" who were willing to contribute manpower and money to participate in the Northern Expedition were incorporated into this organization, and then a military council was established, allowing each family to send people to participate. In name, all military affairs, big or small, were decided collectively, and the coalition forces did not interfere.

This makes many people interested.

After all, El's title of "the savior of Estalia, the wise and brave regent with all powers" is still a well-known title, and he has not yet reached the point where he is dubbed as "a beastman whore, an evil usurper and tyrant."

They didn't know that Al had already made up his mind to devour all the troops heading north, and those that could not be digested would have to remain in the Pina Forest, once again severely weakening the war potential of the southern region and preparing for his own coronation of the supreme power.

Therefore, there is no idea of ​​the measures that El might take. After all, who could have thought that the glorious, majestic, dream lover of countless women (even men), ruler of the Allied Kingdom, wise and brave commander, and regent El would be such a person?

When they arrived in the north, Al naturally did whatever he wanted to do with this mixed and ragtag army that was isolated from its hometown, cut off by the Pina Forest, and whose supplies and baggage were all in the hands of the Allied Forces.

Just by using the method of boiling the frog in warm water and cutting the sausages, he could slowly devour these troops bite by bite and put them into Al's pocket.

Due to the huge gap, the miscellaneous rebel army was unable to even launch an effective counterattack.

If El wanted, he could even continue to forcibly incorporate the remnants of the Estalia Kingdom Army as he did in the past, and not have the armored soldiers be paid at the parade tomorrow... Uh, no.

Meeting.

Have a good meeting.