Warhammer

The beliefs in this border area are very chaotic, with everything there. There is also the belief in Sigmar, but it does not fight against the mainstream. Perhaps it is because they are afraid that the empire, which is close at hand and has frequent exchanges with them, will use the issue of faith to interfere in the rule here. After all, most of the immigrants from the empire have ventured out because life at home is difficult, and naturally they do not want to wake up one day and "return to the rule of the empire."

Orthodox gods such as Ulric, Mirmidia, Tal, and Shalaya all have believers here, and there are also some strange ones such as the "God of Harvest", "God of Rain", "God of Good Luck", and "God of Happiness". These are very suspicious. They may be vests worn by some chaotic "netizens" who do not want to reveal their real names, or they may simply be pseudo-beliefs fabricated by some mortals themselves.

So if the White Wolf, the Goddess of War, the God of Nature and other gods of order all send blessings and appear together, it is possible to defeat the greenskins, but this possibility is too high...

It might even be less likely that an alliance created by some unknown guy far away in the badlands would suddenly take the lead in recognizing the greenskin's barbaric kingdom, and sign a "non-aggression treaty" with the big warlord Gao Maoliang to demarcate the border.

right?

Chapter 158: The advance of the big warlords has made some people unable to sit still

No one could have anticipated that Mao Liang's "military operation" in the border area would progress so rapidly.

When the Matoaka people chose to surrender to the greenskins after resisting for three days, handed over hostages, and sent troops from their own city to assist the greenskins in the attack, when the news reached the south, all the border people were cursing the Matoaka people for their cowardice and shamelessness. The greenskins let the Matoaka go, but carried out brutal massacres and "abductions" in a large area to the west of it. A large number of men were forcibly "recruited" to serve Mao Liang's army, but it was also possible that they were simply torn away from their homes, causing them to lose support, worry about their families, and have no intention of resisting... and the Matoaka people undoubtedly played the role of "fake army" in this process.

For a time, Matoka's "name" resounded throughout the borderland and Blackwater Bay. Even the Matoka people in Haimen Pass had to publicly break away from the "traitorous cowards who kowtowed to the greenskins" in their hometown and announce how they would oppose the greenskins. Despite this, it was inevitable that people would look at them with strange eyes and talk about them behind their backs:

"He's a Matoka!" "We have to keep a close eye on him, lest these cowards secretly open our city gates when the greenskins come again!"

But scolding cannot stop the war.

Soon, the cursing Zorak people woke up and found themselves facing the same choice as the Matoka people.

"Submit or perish"

For the major cities in these border areas, Mao Liang used his large army to give them a choice.

During the conquest, it fulfilled its promise to every city that had been tested by the warlord's "choice question":

If you don’t open the door, you will be massacred.

Those who surrender after being surrounded will not be pardoned.

It only gives a city two days, at most.

Mao Liang knew very well that his assault, in a sense, was using the "intimidation" caused to the enemy to quickly subdue the border people, so deterrence was very important. Its starting point was the same as in the Estalia period, to minimize casualties in the headquarters and to "scare" the border princes at the lowest cost.

It seemed like the Matoka people were thinking that everything would be fine once the Order reinforcements arrived—didn’t Gao Maoliang know that?

It is so special that how could a warlord among the greenskins who wanted to establish a country for the first time not know this.

But this idea facilitates its conquest, so it will be happy to take advantage of it.

After the Zorak people symbolically resisted the greenskin vanguard with curses, they held a "Citizens' Assembly" in the city, calling on all the people in the city to vote on whether to resist to the end or "endure humiliation", and they reached the same result as the Matoka people.

Although it is shameful, there is nothing we can do about it.

The entire city of Zorak has a population of less than 100,000.

Perhaps only one-third of the greenskin army has arrived.

This military resistance was probably useful, but it was also limited. In addition, the Matoka people had already set an example of "enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens". The Zorak people were angry and powerless, and even a little angry:

Damn it, why did you surrender after just three days of resistance? You brought the green house over here and expect us to fight to the death?

Anyway, the greenskins are just going to steal our food and recruit some cannon fodder troops, so I'll surrender too!

Gao Maoliang kept his promise and even treated the Zorak people better than the Matoka who had held out for a while. The greenskins still required the Zorak people to do "labor", which actually meant providing servants to serve the army, but they only symbolically required 500 women and children to be taken as hostages outside the city.

It tries its best to make its actions appear to the border people as a nomadic warlord who has come to "strike an Autumnal Equinox". In this way, facing the absolute gap in force and the threat of massacre, the border people will have little desire to resist.

People can fight to the death with invaders for their homes and survival; but no one would think of risking everything to fight against a "passing natural disaster."

Even if it means sacrificing mature crops in the fields and spending several years' savings, it is acceptable as long as it can be avoided.

As a result, the greenskin army was able to advance smoothly southwards. The supplies from Matoka, Zorak and other places filled the greenskins' stomachs and strengthened the greenskin army.

The dwarf military observation group sent by Haimenguan to assist in the defense of Mirmidon angrily wrote in their report to the fortress:

"Those ugly green things were still using weapons and armor made of bones and stones at the Sea Gate, and used primitive catapults to attack the city walls; now in Mirmidon, they have been equipped with human iron tools and started to use gunpowder weapons to bombard the city!"

"In this land we call the Great Wilderness (i.e. the Border Prince Territory), the cowardly tall men have armed themselves with a powerful enemy with their cowardice!"

After Zorak chose to surrender, Gao Maoliang repeated what he did to the areas around Matoka in the surrounding areas of this city. He forced the Zorak and Matoka people to do some very harsh work for the greenskins, including but not limited to the forced requisition of supplies and able-bodied men, or to attack those who resisted the greenskins in a certain place. Then he slaughtered the locals indiscriminately to intimidate the surrounding areas, and at the same time forced the puppet soldiers to get their hands stained with blood, creating confrontation and hatred.

The main force of the warlord continued to move south, and the momentum seemed to be exactly what some border people had expected: they would pass through Algaris, the southernmost major city in the border territory, and go find trouble with the man who had defeated the warlord in Birbali.

Confederacy.

Argaris was formerly the southernmost principality of Lusignan in Tirell.

Aiel had laid siege here for half a month, using siege weapons captured along the way and the legion's own artillery (these were originally intended to be used to attack Sartosa, but Aiel temporarily changed his decision) to bombard the city, destroying its defenses and capturing the place where the Tirells first made their fortune.

As expected, Vidanos, which was at a critical juncture, did not want to resist the greenskin army after so many cities had set an "example". Fortunately, before the greenskin army arrived at the city, a large number of people in the city who were unwilling to surrender had fled south to Myrmidon.

This is the largest and best developed city in the entire East-West Border Princely Territory.

Mirmidon's importance in the entire Border Princes is probably equivalent to the empire in the entire Old World defending against Chaos, Skaven, Greenskins, and all disasters that endanger civilized order.

It is the largest city on the border and also the most strongly defended city. Countless greenskins have attacked this city in the past. Its unique geographical location - located at the end of a narrow peninsula, with the largest "tributary" of Blackwater Bay, makes it always face the first wave of threats from the greenskins in the badlands crossing the sea.

Across the sea from it is the Giant's Tower. This former elven colony was later abandoned and then rebuilt and developed by immigrants from human countries (mainly the Southern Kingdom).

Mirmiden was once the leader of many border principalities' wars against the greenskins, as well as the "Pirate Age" against the rampant Arabi raiders. Most people here are devout believers in the war goddess Myrmidia, and have close relations with the two southern kingdoms. It is worth mentioning that the founder of Mirmiden was from the Duchy of Lucini, the southernmost kingdom of Tirell.

The Black Bay Peninsula where it is located is home to a population of over 400,000, which is a very large number for a long and narrow peninsula that is often threatened by war. It also has a large number of manors, properties, and immigrant armed forces in places such as Algaris and Vidanos, making it the undisputed first border city.

The people of this city have become accustomed to war, even though they have been in a "truce" era for a hundred years. But when the threat of the greenskins once again approached the people's land and the clarion call of war once again spread across the land on both sides of Blackwater Bay, the wild and indomitable blood of the Mirmidon people still boiled.

The Mirmidon Legion, composed of citizen soldiers, professional soldiers, and elite troops, had been mobilized when the greenskins invaded Matoka. They initially tried to go north to reinforce, but the Matoka only persisted for three days, so this goal was shelved. After that, the rapid progress of Mao Liang made the Mirmidon people very vigilant. They realized that it might be difficult to resist the greenskins outside their homes. In addition, the "fall" of Zorak was so rapid, so they had to make the worst and most negative plan:

The army remained on the Black Bay Peninsula, defending the homeland of Mirmidon.

At the same time, there was a "little giant" who had been paying close attention to the situation in the border prince's territory and had his free hands ready to take action at any time, and he could no longer sit still.

Mao Liang was attacking too fast, and his momentum had already seriously threatened the alliance's homeland.

If it really rushed into Tyrell and killed a lot of people, it would be so stupid, and Ai'er would be emo.

If you're not my brother, where are you from?

I think it’s exaggerated that I could “rub out” “one hundred thousand elite soldiers” in Pina Forest.

It’s only been a short time since Mao Liang was defeated by Bilbarry and ran back to the badlands... The speed and scale of his comeback have already surpassed that of a certain wolf whose catchphrase is "I will definitely come back"!

Chapter 159: Al: Oh! Can we reconcile now?

The Alliance cannot sit idly by and watch the greenskins fight their way through Algaris, invade Lusigny, and even further threaten the former Kingdom of Tyrell, the core area of ​​the current Alliance's eastern territory.

After the merger of the South, even the Principality of Lusigny, the birthplace of the Tyrells, which is one of the areas with the most "serious" anti-Alliance sentiment in theory, is regarded as the "local" core area of ​​the Alliance in the eyes of the "kind and broad-minded" Ai'er. It is not because the people here may not be so convinced of the authority of the Golden Palace and the flag of the double-headed eagle, but as long as they do not directly rise up or completely ignore the orders of the two centers of the Alliance: Margarita and Remas, Ai'er can temporarily acquiesce to them in some aspects! "Do as they please."

Including but not limited to, in foreign trade, sometimes still using the name of "Kingdom of Tirell - Duchy of Lusigny" instead of "Alliance - Lusigny", or worshipping the most recent Lusigny prince as the "legitimate prince", even if he has been dead for decades, and ignoring the "Duke of Lusigny" designated by Aiel, etc...

But Al still regarded the Lusignans as:

rebellious child;

The child may not be able to accept it at first, but will gradually understand it;

After all, he is a king who regards the country as his home and the country as his wife. What's wrong with being tolerant of a disobedient child?

Therefore, if this place is ravaged by the greenskins, it will be as important to Ai'er as if Estalia itself were invaded.

At this time, we have to put the matter of the dwarves aside for the time being.

Al can support the dwarves "regardless of compensation" and bring his own food, but there is no need for him to give up the territory he has worked hard to develop to help them develop.

If others were in the Badlands, and Tyrell was harassed by the greenskins, not to mention that the development of the past few years would have been wasted, the resentment that the Tyrells might have about this would be enough to make him very troubled to restore his firm rule over this place:

Everyone accepts that you are the king—it doesn't matter if you send your troops to help the dwarves fight—what's the point of helping outsiders and leaving your home to be harmed by the greenskins?

Helping the dwarves, in general, is to strengthen the power of the allies who will deal with the End of Time together; but the Southern Kingdom is directly related to the power in Aiur's hands when he faces the End of Time.

For someone who is used to having his destiny in his own hands, he has a clear sense of what is important and what is not.

The greenskins retreated from Haimen Pass too quickly and decisively, and Celestine's expeditionary force and the reinforcements from Eternal Peak were left empty-handed.

And Al ordered the subsequent two batches of troops to be combined together, with a total of 30,000 troops. They were originally supposed to go to Haimen Pass under the escort of the dwarf fleet to support them in dealing with Mao Liang's army head-on, and then wait for an opportunity to go deep into the badlands. The troops that would meet up with the Eastern Expedition Army led by him no longer needed to continue to go to Haimen Pass to carry out the mission - turn the ships around and head back immediately to defend their home first.

Ai'er sent a "telegram" to the High King's army at the Sea Gate Pass and Black Rock Castle front lines, explaining the situation. The latter naturally expressed their understanding and also made the decision to support the border areas in fighting against the greenskins.

After all, Mao Liang's mighty army of more than 200,000 or 300,000 is a threat to Haimen Pass. If they are allowed to stir up trouble in the border areas and then march eastward, it will be a huge threat to the Kingdom of Mountains.

The special nature of Gao Maoliang means that the Waaaagh he initiated may not be as wild and warlike as other warlike warlords, but he has made unprecedented "green" utilization of the occupied areas. Once his army develops, its threat is difficult to compare with any greenskin army.

Therefore, the dwarves will not allow Gao Maoliang to expand in the border prince's territory.

When the greenskin army surrendered Matoka and began to advance southwest, the Alliance Army, which had already stepped half a foot into the Haimen Pass and had not yet had time to disembark, immediately "got ready", turned the ship around and headed towards the country.

Because looking at the trend, no one would be stupid enough to think:

Damn Mao Liang, this green-skinned warlord, after breaking through the border prince's territory, will ignore the Southern Alliance that is so close to him.

Holding grudges is almost the nature of intelligent races, not to mention that Al had shamelessly tricked Gao Maoliang by begging for mercy, and had even used his identity as a "Zhendan" to establish a relationship with the warlord... and then decisively "backstabbed" Gao Maoliang.

To some extent, Al and Gao Maoliang are a pair of twins of success or failure.

Both of them are alien races, both are "making the most of a small effort", and both are trying to "enter the country" and establish a regime, but Ai'er was very successful, while Mao Liang...the greenskins are both his success and his failure.

Al has done everything that Gao Maoliang wanted to do. After backstabbing him, it's hard to say what the warlords will think of Al and his alliance...

It can't be that "that shrimp who I don't know whether it is a human or a beast completed what I wanted to do. In human terms, I am so relieved", so he took Al as a confidant, right?

When Matoka was lost, seeing the greenskins heading west, Al decisively ordered the troops on board to rush home. He himself was eager to take the troops and head west to ask the dwarves for ships, but considering that the fighting at Black Rock Castle was getting more and more intense, Al would be suspected of betraying his teammates if he left at this time even if he had the most appropriate reason. Besides, he believed that the border princes had such a large territory, which was larger than a single southern kingdom. It would not be able to hold out for a few months, right?

So his troops are still cruising around Iron Rock for the time being. During this period, this fortress liberated from the greenskins and Aiur's army have attracted countless greenskins to come "looking for a fight". Of course, it can also be described as "moths to a flame."

The previous team that was separated through a fierce melee had a total of eight greenskin and goblin warriors. The warlords each led a part of the troops to form this loose, Pinduoduo team. After bypassing the dwarf's assault position, they were in high spirits, blowing drums and gongs all the way, running towards the west in a lively manner, looking for a southern shrimp who was said to be very good at fighting who was running around here - suddenly they were ambushed on the way!

What kind of person is Al?

When he knew someone was going to cause trouble for him and had time to prepare, he would at least arrange the venue into a dangerous place and hide eight hundred swordsmen on the ceiling of the cellar screen, not to mention ambushing with eight hundred dump trucks to kill the enemy the day before the fight.

In addition, there were no difficult characters among the greenskins who came to fight him, so Al easily caught the trace of the enemy army heading west. By constantly carrying out small-scale harassment, he successfully made this greenskin army enter a state of "itching to fight". The generals commanding the army were already tired of the enemy's "despicable" style, and were eager to do something quick and hard (meaning chopping and hacking). After that, he successfully led the enemy into the encirclement network set up in advance by the Eastern Expedition Legion through a simple means.

There were a total of 55,000 greenskins - some were eliminated or scattered during their infighting on the way westward. Although some scattered greenskins joined this seemingly imposing war gang along the way, their numbers were decreasing instead of increasing.

They just plunged headfirst into the place of death that Al had set for them.

It is a canyon that is wide on the outside and narrow on the inside. From the outside, there is nothing unusual to see. It seems like an ordinary canyon.

It is not surprising that there are many such landforms in the Endless Mountains.

What awaited the greenskins afterwards was not the hearty, exciting fight they longed for, but a one-sided massacre.

The traps set up in advance, the crossbows, catapults and artillery carried by the army launched a massive bombardment on the greenskins.

The greenskins held out for a while, and some of them used their traditional skills when they were hit head-on, choosing to run away first, while more greenskins howled and charged towards the enemies in front of them - standing in front of them were the heavily armored Wrathhorn Guards, supervised by the Sons of Aiur, Hera and Alia, and the (human) Legion Spearmen.

There is no doubt about the result.

Chapter 160: Actively Becoming the Enemy

The greenskins couldn't even shake the Alliance Legion's front line and could only keep crashing forward into the iron wall. The wisents controlled the power of the Wind of Akshar and used the flammable materials buried in advance to turn their retreat into a path of fire. The greenskins were caught in a dilemma. Even if they tried to retreat through the gaps that had never been blocked under the scorching flames, the heavy cavalry that ambushed at the entrance of the passage in advance and advanced at full speed as soon as the battle broke out, and the wolves that rushed out from the flanks would not give them a chance to escape.

This confrontation between the westward-moving greenskins and the Alliance's eastward-moving army soon ended with the glorious "Hasegu Massacre" or "Hasegu Victory".

The High King was overjoyed when he heard the news of the battle and declared:

The allies from the south have completely eliminated the threat from behind for the Sons of the Mountains. By destroying the enemies in front of us and retaking Karak Black Rock, the Golden Age will be restarted by our own hands, and the Eight Peaks Fortress is right before our eyes!

They immediately launched a large-scale offensive and successfully captured dozens of greenskin-controlled hill forts around Black Rock Castle, and moved their cannons close enough to hit the ancestral temple and clan hall, which were once the core of the fortress, at any time.

They increased the intensity of their probing attacks and began to gradually move the previous low-intensity confrontation into the next stage. The main reason why a major war had not broken out before was due to concerns about casualties and the Supreme King's "can't afford to lose" mentality.

Without the right opportunity, they are unwilling to rashly start a decisive battle. Digging trenches under the enemy's nose like they are doing now, apart from wasting ammunition and supplies, has basically no risk. It can also steadily erode the greenskin-controlled area and eliminate some of the greenskins' manpower that can't help but attack every once in a while.

It is the dwarf version of building a stronghold and fighting a static battle. The progress is slow, but it is stable and extremely suitable for the dwarf's military style. They have no shortage of supplies and value manpower more.

It belongs to the "superior firepower" doctrine in a sense.

And the alliance of El is naturally... um, mobile warfare?

It doesn't seem to be the case...but it does fit the bill by using the quality advantage of the troops to quickly destroy the opponent.

Now that the Aiel tribe has joined the game, it has successfully created a considerable advantage for the dwarven army on the front line. Retaking Iron Rock has gained the dwarves an important fortress on the front line. Not to mention the forward base, the Eastern Expedition Army has blocked all enemies attacking the rear of the dwarven army of Black Rock Castle from the west. This has largely guaranteed the safety of tens of thousands of dwarves and hundreds of thousands of human "mercenary" troops.

Gao Maoliang's warband suddenly rushed out from the badlands, catching all forces south of Blackfire Pass off guard. If it chose to rush towards the main dwarf force in Black Crag Keep, it might even rush behind the High King without the dwarves' expectation, and form a double-sided situation with the greenskins in Black Crag Keep to sandwich the dwarves.

Although the dwarves have continuously reinforced their positions and defenses, which is almost equivalent to building a new solid fortress close to Black Rock Castle, so that they will not be completely wiped out and defeated if they are attacked from both sides, the offensive on the front line will inevitably be delayed, and they may even have to retreat to Thunder Castle through tunnels.

In that case, the dwarves' preparations to capture Black Rock Castle would be in vain, and something even more terrible would happen...