Warhammer

Wouldn't you just stop fighting?

Why are you coming at me?!

Where are my teammates! Where is the Empire! Help me!

Chapter 153: Celestine's Worry

The greenskins who were rushing to the eastern border in a menacing manner, caught the border people off guard as they had a feeling that their rich neighbor's house was being robbed and they were watching the show from the side. They wanted to act well but were afraid of the knives in the robbers' hands, so they could only wander on the edge, planning to wait for the situation to become clear and the security officers (Imperial reinforcements) to arrive before following behind with flags and cheering...

They hastily assembled their troops, conscripting men to take up arms and join the military ranks.

Large and small forces are entrenched in the land of the border prince. Free people are an important group that makes up this country. Even a village or a family may be an independent "unit", so there is a general tradition of "army" among the people. It is a consensus in this land that all wealth is rootless if you don't hold a gun in your hand.

So at the official level, the standing armies set up by city-states and "principalities" were weak, but the martial virtues among the people were abundant.

The country is weak but the people are strong.

This is a common phenomenon in border areas.

Under normal circumstances, such abundant martial virtues are generally used to fight each other and defend the interests of their own people, but when they encounter a common enemy, they can still unite for a short time and work together to defend their common interests.

Soon, the military strength of the Matoaka people increased all the way, from a total of just 5,000 "security soldiers" - don't think it's a lot, it may be enough for a city-state, but Matoaka is the second largest city in the eastern border with a population of more than 100,000, and it radiates a large territory around it. Strictly speaking, it can be called the "Principality of Matoaka", just like the situation of Tyrell, but the power is more decentralized.

Its radiated "territory" is actually larger than most of the Tyrell Duchy. Without counting overseas colonies, it is a vast land.

These five thousand people are only counted if the "security soldiers", plain rangers, coastal patrols, etc. are all included.

Soon it expanded to ten thousand, twelve thousand, fifteen thousand... Soon, the number of available soldiers in Matoka's Generals' Committee (yes, border people also do this to avoid the emergence of powerful warlords) reached twenty thousand.

There were also many local militia organizations that voluntarily took up arms to defend their homes, but did not arrive in time, or did not choose to come to Matoka to join the main force, but instead stationed around their homes. These people might only turn into bubbles and melt in the sun when facing the greenskin army attacking with the force of a mountain of pressure, but their will to defend their homes could indeed cause certain obstacles to the enemy.

But what they didn't expect was that the greenskins advanced faster than they imagined.

.......

When the Matoka people hurriedly assembled their troops to deal with the threat of the greenskin army coming from the east, holding their spears tightly, standing behind the city walls, looking nervously to the east, alert to every movement that seemed like a rush of thousands of troops, there was also a group of people who felt a little...

depressed.

The Empire and Dwarf coalition forces came to nothing at Haimen Pass.

When they arrived at Haimen Pass, even the siege camp left by the greenskins had been completely dismantled. The people of Haimen were working hard to repair the destroyed city, and had made some progress.

Graham Whitebeard and his guards walked into the inner wall of Haimen Pass. After some repairs, the place was much better than when the greenskins retreated, but some of the damage still showed signs of a great battle.

He muttered all the way to the Clan Council Hall, cursing the greenskins and denouncing their meanness and cowardice. It was a pity that the warlord was not smashed in the head by him personally.

“Gronny’s beard!” he yelled to Celestine. “Champion of the Hammer Wielder, I was going to compete with you to see who could cut off that fellow’s head faster this time, but it seems there’s no chance for now.”

He added: "But I swear: If Gao Maoliang dares to turn back east and set foot on the land of the dwarves, I will personally put an end to its ignorant and evil deeds before anyone else!"

Although they were of no help, the people of Haimen Pass still welcomed the reinforcements who came from afar with great treatment. It just so happened that the East City District, which had been severely damaged by the greenskins, had a large number of vacant houses and vacant land, which could be used as military camps with a little cleaning. So the coalition forces soon settled down in the East City of Haimen Pass.

Although some people in the Imperial Expeditionary Force were glad that they did not have to fight a life-and-death battle with hundreds of thousands of greenskins, more people still felt depressed that they had no place to use their energy.

Participating in the expedition into evil, or serving as the vanguard, there may be some individuals who are ambivalent and put their own protection first, but most people are full of fighting spirit and are ready to carry out the great chivalrous expedition to support the dwarven allies who signed the Iron Alliance in the era of the God-Emperor.

To this end, we will face all kinds of dangers and make sacrifices at all costs.

When the former Southern Kingdom was invaded by the Arabi wizard Sultan Jafar and almost completely fell, the knights of the empire came from afar to support this war in a distant foreign land. After hundreds of years of bloody fighting, many knightly orders were simply defeated and destroyed, and many knightly orders were established. Eventually, the Arabi invaders were driven out of the south and the old order of this land was restored.

That kind of spirit may be missing today, but it has not been completely buried.

The changing times may make Taoists cry:

Morality has fallen, and people’s hearts are no longer the same;

In ancient times, people were simple and honest, and their hearts were clear...

Money and power have eroded many things, but noble spirits still survive and will be passed down from generation to generation. Even if they are weak, even if they are swaying like a candle in the wind, there will always be a time to burn, resist darkness, and find light...

Even though they knew the war would not necessarily end in victory, they still regretted not having formally engaged the enemies of civilization in the nearly one month since they entered the badlands.

If Mao Liang had not suddenly appeared, it would have been fine. It would have taken at least one or two months to get from Haimen Pass to the front line, but a large-scale enemy army "brushed past" them without even touching them. It was really a pity.

As a commander, Celestine did not have any regretful feelings for having no enemies. Being able to avoid a battle that was bound to be extremely brutal, for the generals it might just be a loss of an opportunity for them to go down in history and make great achievements, but for the soldiers it might be a good thing.

The dwarves were unhappy that the greenskins had abandoned the Seagate Pass and invaded the eastern border princely territories, the Seagate people felt lucky, and she was worried about whether the border people could withstand the sudden advance of the maverick warlord.

The greenskins had no choice but to charge forward to bypass the Seagate and break into the Border Territory. Otherwise, the Seagate, which had received reinforcements, would never let such an enemy that had disgusted them and left a deep mark in the Book of Hatred return to their side. They might even take the initiative to intercept them, just like Gorbad Ironclaw who chose to return to the Badlands after the High King blocked the siege of Altdorf at Blackfire Pass in vain and Waaaaagh disintegrated.

The greenskins were trapped between Matoka, Akendorf and Haimenguan.

To the north is Akendorf, and beyond this is the territory of the Empire. If greenskins appear here, even if the bigwigs in the country want to sell out their teammates, they will have to urge the border guards of Ivyland and even the troops of Sylvania, the Kingdom of the Night, to come and stop them. Blackfire Pass and greenskins, these two things combined have extremely strong symbolic meanings. Letting greenskins wreak havoc here is an unbearable blow to the prestige of a contemporary emperor. On the contrary, if he can emulate the deeds of Sigmar, the Savior Carl, and "Emperor Justinian" who defeated the greenskins at the Blackfire Pass, it will instantly add great authority to his imperial power.

The warlord was a "smart greenskin" who would never rashly go north to provoke the empire before he was sure. So there was only one way to the west, and there was no retreat. Blackwater Bay was blocked by the dwarf fleet, and there was no chance to sneak back to the badlands.

In that case, it would be a question whether the Matoka people could withstand the full-force attack of the greenskins.

Celestine had seen too much pain caused by war in Estalia, and if possible, she didn't want that to happen again anywhere in the world.

154: Battle of Matoka

There was a buzzing sound in my ears.

The only thing I could hear was my own heavy breathing.

My heart was beating as fast as if a monster was about to burst out of my chest.

The man struggled to stand up from the ground, and subconsciously picked up the hat in front of him that was decorated with long, gorgeous feathers.

This was a move he should regret.

Because when dealing with such a "special" enemy, the greenskins will also pay "special" extra attention.

"Waaaaaagh!"

A big guy riding a boar rushed by, screaming wildly and waving the fine iron short axe he had snatched from the dwarf. He hit the Matoka officer in the face, who was knocked over and was in a daze and didn't even realize that he was on the battlefield.

His handsome face was instantly shattered by the huge force. The dwarf-made axe, with the greenskin's extraordinary strength and speed, easily broke his tall nose and embedded deeply into his face.

But it failed to completely split his head open. The axe sank into his face and head. His entire weight was hung on the weapon. He was dragged by the greenskin for some distance before the big guy threw the axe off his head.

After rolling on the ground for a while, it lay face up and motionless.

That once handsome face is now so miserable that it is unbearable to look at.

This encounter soon ended with the brutal slaughter of the greenskins. The survivors of the border people in this battle were captured by the greenskins. According to convention, these people would generally be treated as slaves and given rations.

The greenskins treat even their own people as playthings, let alone the lives of their captives, who will soon be slaughtered in their brutal pleasure.

But their subsequent fate will be more cruel than they imagined.

The violence from the wild and badlands broke through the obstacles in their path with lightning speed and shook the entire border prince's territory.

The hastily assembled troops of the Matoka were no match for the Gao Maoliang war gang.

They even find it difficult to "persist in resistance."

A large number of local freemen's armed forces and reinforcements had no time to gather in the nearest town, and were hit and "smashed" by the greenskins who were rushing forward on the way.

The small town couldn't even hold out for a day before the surging green tide "knocked open" its walls, and then flooded and fell.

"As usual", Gao Maoliang did not actively carry out massacres and enslavement in these places. Of course, the slaughter and destruction due to the nature of the greenskins were also inevitable. As a big warlord, even a special greenskin like Gao Maoliang who "disciplines the army strictly" and intends to be the "lord of all tribes" rather than a single "greenskin chief" cannot impose absolute constraints on his subordinates.

What's more...

Even if it can keep the greenskins harmless and show the "kingly style", what can it do?

While the civilization is amazed, would the residents of the towns and villages in the lands occupied by its war gangs "prepare food and drink" to "welcome the royal army"?

On the contrary, slaughter and destruction can shock people, weaken their strength, break their spirit, and make them dare not and unable to resist.

So the greenskin army marched westwards, capturing cities and strongholds as if they were walking on flat ground. In just a few days, there were more than a hundred battles, big and small, but the border people did not win a single victory, and tens of thousands of people were killed or expelled.

The warlords implemented a strategy in the "occupied areas" that was more brutal than in Estalia, but slightly "better" than the general strategy after the greenskins conquered the city.

It rounded up all the men and able-bodied laborers and recruited them into the army, using women, children and their families as threats and forcing them to serve as vanguards of the army.

Some of them would brave the arrows of the defenders as cannon fodder and attack the city's morale with their brutal attacks; some of them would pretend to be deserters, trick the greenskins into opening the city gates and sneak into the defenders to cause chaos;

If the various forces on the border were attacking each other, these tactics might not have such a big effect, but the one facing them was a "greenskin", and they achieved unexpected success by taking such despicable means.

The Matoka people had never anticipated that the enemy would come so quickly and attack so fiercely. Their troops were even hit head-on by the greenskins while they were still on the move. Only a week after withdrawing from Haimen Pass, the greenskins' vanguard arrived at the city of Matoka.

The Matoka, who had not experienced a war for a long time, had never witnessed such a swift attack. Just like the time when Aiel crossed the Inara Mountains and attacked Miragliano by surprise, they did not realize until the greenskins were at the gates of the city that all the troops they had sent out and the reinforcements they had ordered were finished.

Matoka has now become a completely isolated city.

The number of greenskin troops that continued to gather outside the city was close to the total population of the city.

Compared to Haimen Pass, Matoka has no geographical advantage, no elite weapons, and no dwarves' tenacious fighting spirit...

The greenskins in front of them, on their way to Matoka, carried out a crazy sweep through the deliberate destruction allowed by the warlords, which not only restored the morale of the people who had lost in the siege of Haimen Pass, but also stimulated their bravery.

After the great warlord Mao Liang's tent arrived at the siege camp, the general attack officially began without any hesitation.

Prior to this, the greenskin siege troops had launched several attacks one after another, but they were all defeated head-on by the Matoka people. At that time, people regarded this as a victory to boost the morale of the army and the people. However, after the big warlords entered the field and the general offensive began, the Matoka people realized:

The previous few attacks, which were not very painful, were just tests by the greenskins.

Mao Liang learned the lesson at Haimen Pass and decided to take Matoka in one fell swoop. If he didn't take the city, the army's follow-up would be unprotected. Moreover, it was unacceptable that the war gang had not captured a single big city or important place since the uprising.

The Matoka people were unlucky and were blocking the way to Maoliang, that's all.

Their defenses were quickly broken within three days, and the intensity of the greenskin attacks became stronger and stronger. The warlord deliberately used this method to undermine the Matoka people's will to resist, and indeed achieved remarkable results. With external aid cut off and the enemy coming in full force, the Matoka people had little hope of winning the war, which further achieved the means adopted by Gao Maoliang outside of the military. After Estalia, although the army was wiped out and only one hundred survived, the warlord still used his influence on his allies at the time to gain the services of some human followers.

In later wars, it also deliberately used the power of these few foreign servants. In the conquests of the great warlords, it would show a different kind of "mercy" to the conquered people whose lands were trampled by its war gangs:

Some people are allowed to join the warbands of great warlords, serve them, and serve the warlords in their conquest journey.

These people were actually equivalent to, or even worse than, the "puppet governments" originally established in Estalia. In order to protect themselves and their families, they had to make an immediate change and pledge their loyalty to the conquerors.

For example, framing and persecuting other people in the same place. The warlords learned the lesson from Estalia that after Aiur entered the south, those city-states that had nominally surrendered to the greenskins surrendered and brought almost no hindrance to the latter's offensive.

It is said that all "traitors" must first cut themselves off from their own kind before they can gain the trust and protection of the greenskins.

No one wants to bow down to a group of wild, smelly barbarians who are always screaming and want to smash something, but when it comes to life, not everyone has the opportunity to choose.

Those who died under the greenskin butcher's knife may still yearn for such an opportunity...

Chapter 155: Waiting for liberation!

Through the threat of a knife at their necks, and the hard work of the few human slaves working for the warlords, the greenskins successfully "recruited" a number of collaborators for themselves in the "occupied areas".

Without exception, these people have either voluntarily or been forced to have their hands stained with the blood of their compatriots and fellow villagers. In addition, the safety of themselves and their families is under the control of the warlords. They have no choice but to go down the wrong path and serve the "beasts" that any wise person would despise and stay away from.

Through these people, the warlords can do something that the greenskins have never done before:

Infiltrate shrimp.

This is something that has never happened before, because it is hard to imagine that there would be people serving the greenskins, and it is also hard to imagine that the greenskins would use their brains for anything other than fighting and use methods such as "spies".

Before the siege officially began, "traitors" whose families were detained and lackeys who had been working for Mao Liang since early in the morning sneaked into Matoka City. They lay dormant in the city as refugee civilians, and only became active on the second day of the siege when the city wall was almost breached.

Taking advantage of the fact that the Matoka people lacked confidence in their defense and had low morale due to the fierce offensive of the greenskin army outside the city, they went to "visit" the powerful and wealthy in the city, declaring that the warlord did not come for slaughter, but wanted to re-realize his unfinished business in Estalia - to establish a "normal country" ruled by greenskins.

If the Matoka people put up a stubborn resistance, the greenskins would slaughter them after the city was captured, and nothing would be left alive. On the contrary, if they took the initiative to surrender and pay tribute to the warlord Gao Maoliang, just like those cities in Estalia who chose to surrender in the face of the greenskins' swords, they could avoid the disaster of war.

The big warlords need people to govern the city for them and collect tribute and materials. Those who are willing to serve can be entrusted with Matoka to guard the city full-time...

The greenskins want to establish a country?

And also give them official titles and make wishes for them?

Under normal circumstances, a normal person would definitely treat this as a joke, but what is Matoka's situation now?

The army is besieging, the defense is shaky, and the city is about to be broken...

Not everyone has a firm will to fight to the end and live and die with the city, especially the new vested interests after the holy war. They are not "constrained" by the old beliefs and glorious traditions of the past, and do not face the threats of corruption and monsters. Instead, they enjoy comforts that the ancients could not imagine... In this case, it is just like when El attacked Miragliano, he colluded with the powerful forces in the city and kidnapped the prince and his wife...

Why do we always mention Al when writing about greenskins?

Of course it’s because what these two people do is essentially the same!

Al is a model of success (real)!

Possessing the triple crown of beauty, virtue and dominance!

A few people can escape through teleportation, but it is impossible for them to take away all the family property. Even among close relatives, they can only take part of it.

Teleportation magic utilizes the dual power of the Wind of Heaven and the Wind of Light. It is a new "technology" that gradually emerged after the Great War and was widely used.