Warhammer

Mao Liang faces a difficult choice.

Attacking a well-defended city with a force almost equal to that of the defenders would inevitably result in heavy casualties.

But it cannot be delayed.

Because every bit of time passed would increase the possibility of Black Rock Castle winning the battle. Seagate and the Alliance, one in the north and one in the south, one in the east and one in the west, the Mountain Kingdom and the Alliance sandwiched the greenskins in the middle, and they might come to reinforce the war in Mirmiden at any time.

Having failed to capture Bilbarri last time, Al finally unified the south and expanded his army by 100,000 to the north, disrupting the situation and destroying the plans of the warlords.

This time it might be the Alliance and the Dwarf coalition that come... In that case, after the coastline is blocked, if Gao Maoliang wants to make a comeback, he may have to develop inland.

But it would be impossible for it to be like in the badlands, with war gangs gathering in a roaring manner.

And if they suffered a huge loss in Mirmidon, and more than half of the warband was lost... the Alliance would definitely not sit idly by. Even Matoka, a traitor city that is already "notorious" in the border area, might not be able to hold back and take advantage of the greenskins' decline to wash away their shame...

After some thought, the warlord finally made a decision:

beat!

Launch an attack immediately!

Before other variables come into play!

Even if all his warbands were exhausted, as long as they could capture Mirmidia, slaughter everyone here, and plunder it, it would greatly shock the entire border princedom.

Even if it fails this time, Gao Maoliang can always withdraw his warband back to the Badlands. With the fame and resources gained from the dwarves and border princes, its development in the Badlands will only be faster and more rapid than before. It will have the opportunity to make a comeback next time, and the next time, and the next time after that - if the Old Continent is really difficult to conquer, it can always try to develop towards Araby?

The greenskins are not a species that only advances and never retreats. On the contrary, these savage, brutal, and cunning creatures have done this kind of despicable act of "grab and run" in the past. They are not fools who mindlessly launch suicidal attacks on their enemies (sometimes they are not).

Gorbad Ironclaw and King Gollum the Potbelly will decisively retreat with their warbands when continuing the war is no longer feasible. For the greenskins, as long as they have achieved "success", they already have the reputation. Failure may be a blow to them, but even if they have nothing, as long as the powerful warlords are not dead, they can still rise again.

The same situation as that experienced by Fort No. 1.

Having made up his mind, Mao Liang did not make any more attempts.

After half a week of continuous bombardment, the engineering equipment had been completed. On the morning of the sixth day, under the cover of morning mist and smoke created by gunpowder, the greenskins completed the assembly of the attacking forces. The greenskins in the north, south and east directions roared with earth-shaking "Waaaaaagh"!

They launched a full-scale offensive against Mirmidon.

From early morning till noon, the bloody battle between the two sides around the city wall never stopped. Every minute, a large number of soldiers from both the enemy and our side fell on the battlefield. Mirmidon had the strongest military force in the entire border prince's territory. After obtaining the assistance of the dwarves, there were more than 20 city defense cannons on a single city wall alone.

This was also firepower that had never been seen in the entire Border Princes' Territory. Apart from the 327 artillery pieces deployed by the Imperial Army when Emperor Justinian marched south to the Black Fire Pass, the Battle of Mirmidon was perhaps the most intense battle that had broken out in the Border Princes' Territory in hundreds of years.

At the end of the day, more than 4,000 artillery shells were consumed. The fierce firepower of the defenders caused the greenskins who were attacking the city to flee several times, but they were suppressed every time by the warlord's supervision team.

After a day of fierce fighting, the best result the greenskins achieved was a successful attack on the second wall of the northern defense line, where they briefly controlled an area no more than ten meters in size. However, they were quickly driven back by the elite soldiers of Myrmidon, the "Sons of Myrmidia", also known as the "Citizen Guards", using halberds, thus ensuring complete control of the wall was in the hands of the Myrmidons again.

As the name suggests, this elite army of the principality worships the goddess of war, Myrmidia. They are devout in their faith and have superb fighting skills. Although there are only 6,000 of them, each of them is a warrior with equally strong will and martial arts.

Mirmidon is one of the few cities or principalities on the border that has a clear "official belief". Most people here believe in the war goddess Myrmidia. When the latter tried to upgrade to the "Almighty Goddess of the South", she also subtly incorporated the border princely territories into the geographical concept of "the South". The people of Mirmidon have no objection to this. After all, they were originally in the "south of the empire" and have close relations with the traditional southern kingdoms, namely Estalia and Tyrell. They have no objection to being "a family in concept".

It starts from Inara in the west and ends at the Black Mountains in the east, with Blackfire Pass and Thor Fortress as the dividing line. The area below this place is the south.

This is consistent with the plan that Al is currently implementing, which is to establish a "Southern Empire" or "Great Southern Alliance" after occupying the border princely territories.

It can be seen that the former (the two kingdoms) and the latter (the new alliance) are inherited from one generation to the next, and are not usurped or annexed as rumored and slandered...

Because it is located in a place surrounded by wars, the desire for victory in the war is gradually placed on Myrmidia, the goddess of war. Therefore, the city was filled with a strong atmosphere of worship of the goddess of war. Citizens liked to duel and discuss military affairs. Those fanatical soldiers would even become clergy after retiring. As priests of Myrmidia, when war broke out, these people would join the battlefield with great enthusiasm, inspire the soldiers' courage and not fear sacrifice for the greater good.

They used to be able to use war magic from Myrmidia, but after the goddess disappeared, the priests also lost the ability to cast divine spells, which caused the city's faith in the goddess to decline slightly. However, Myrmidia's fanatical believers can still pick up weapons and use hand-to-hand combat to prove the firmness and strength of their faith.

Those veterans who "transferred" into the clergy after retiring from the army are not like their counterparts in the South who have enjoyed too many comfortable days. They still maintain the fine tradition that clergy must wear armor and hold hammers.

"Without strong armor and sharp weapons, one cannot defend the true faith!"

They wore heavy armor, with only a pure white robe with gold on the outside. On their chests were engraved spears symbolizing the Myrmidian faith, with a chain around their waists holding the scripture "Holy Spear". They held a shield in one hand and a hammer in the other. They were at least an elite unit.

Compared to the Estalia and Tyrells who have enjoyed peace for too long and have become too decadent in both literature and martial arts, the Myrmidons are more like true and qualified "Myrmidian warriors".

There are more than two combat priests stationed on each defense line. They can greatly inspire the courage of the soldiers, and when encountering stubborn enemies, they will lead the way and fight on the front line.

Even a big and ferocious guy might not be able to get away with it when facing these fanatical combat believers.

After Estalia and Tyrell, two major countries and holy places of Myrmidia, "fell" to the hands of "pagans" one after another, the belief in the goddess of war suffered a serious blow in the Old World. It is said that the Empire's Flaming Sun Knights once considered launching a holy war expedition against the Alliance to recapture the "holy land", but were forced to give up the decision due to pressure from all sides. However, many people chose to "quit the group" because of their disappointment with the current situation...

But the Myrmidons still held on to their old beliefs, and regarded all this as the goddess's training of her believers and herself.

They claim:

Mirmidia once again ascended to the throne of God as a queen. Before she is about to ascend to the omnipotent goddess, there will be a trial waiting for her. This is the truth of why Mirmidia disappeared. The goddess has descended to the mortal world! She will embark on the great road to deification again, regain what she lost, and officially become the omnipotent goddess of the entire south...

Although it is not explicitly stated what "taking back what was lost" means, everyone probably knows that it refers to hostility towards a certain person or country.

Driven by a fanatical belief of "sacrificing for the gods", the clergy of Myrmidon showed a fearless spirit of sacrifice in battle. They regarded death in battle as a dedication to the goddess, which would eventually lead to the return of Myrmidia.

This atmosphere caters to the "doomsday test" that Mirmiden is facing at the moment, and gradually gives the city an aura of holy war and sacred sacrifice. The military and civilians' will to resist is very tenacious, and the greenskin siege is progressing very slowly.

When it comes to sieges, the greenskins have always been weak. Although Mirmidon's defense is not as good as Seagate, it is still not easy to capture.

Gao Maoliang's army suffered a bloody defeat on the walls of Mirmidon, but they also achieved considerable results. During the three days of fierce fighting, the greenskin catapults threw "flowing fire" from the badlands into the vehicles, recreating the tactics used by the greenskins at Haimen Pass.

The Goma Colossus, a symbol of the blessing of Goma's second brother, is an ugly moving monster, a filthy thing made of mud, rocks, and feces.

It is also the reason why Gao Maoliang is regarded by the crazy greenskin shamans as an important symbol of "the Chosen One of the Second Brother Gao Mao", because apart from it, no greenskin warlord in recent years has been able to create a Gao Mao Colossus to serve under his command.

Amid the shaking of the earth, two hairy colossi slowly moved towards Myrmidon from two directions. These monsters, taller than the city walls, withstood the defenders' panicked artillery attacks. Their bodies kept breaking in the process of advancing, but they still firmly completed their goal.

It "crashed" into the city wall, completely crushing the outer wall of the north city, and fell to the ground along with the desperate soldiers on the wall.

The other giant statue continued to advance into the city, stepping on the bodies of its "comrades" mercilessly.

In the face of such a monster that transcends humanity, spears and bayonets are meaningless.

The defenders had never thought that the city wall would be breached in this way. Although they knew that there were "colossi" among the greenskins, they had never seen them with their own eyes, so they were not prepared.

The measure that the Bilbarri people took to deal with the greenskins' colossi was to set up hidden firepower points, and when the greenskins deployed the colossi, they would use their best gunners to concentrate their fire. As long as they could break up their legs or arms, the threat would be much smaller.

Facing a complete Colossus, no matter how many ordinary soldiers there are, it is meaningless. They can even cause a large number of casualties by crushing and trampling them, not to mention the greenskins who swarm into the city through the gap in the city wall knocked down by the Colossus.

173: Defense of Mirmidon (VI)

After a week of hard fighting, the battle of Mirmiden continued. The greenskin army once captured the walls on three sides of Mirmiden's periphery, taking control of the entire outer defense line of Mirmiden and pushing the front line into the city.

But the Myrmidons still relied on houses, ruins, and the middle section of the city wall to resist, and eventually a stalemate was formed with the greenskins on the battlefield.

Three of the six outposts on the periphery have fallen in the past few days, which is good news for Gao Maoliang.

After defeating the enemy and completing their goal, the greenskin detachment destroyed the enemy's fortress, turning it into ruins, and then went to Mirmidon to join the warlord. However, the number of troops under Mao Liang's command decreased instead of increased during this period, and the huge losses caused by the siege also troubled this shrewd greenskin.

The great warlord was anxious about the war, and he even began to wonder whether he should choose to go to Black Rock Castle first, repel the combined forces of the dwarves and the Alliance, obtain the pursuit of the greenskins there, and then go to Weihaimen Pass, or cross the border to the west.

In this case, it might be able to gather a mighty "million-strong army" in its hands, which could crush Mirmidon with its manpower, and it would also be able to open up two or even three battlefields, such as sending a detachment south to attack Algaris, and hold the Alliance back to prevent the Beastmen from disrupting the situation. To this day, Gao Maoliang still regards the "Alliance" as the Beastmen led by that beast cub.

The bloody battle at Mirmiden reminded Gao Maoliang of its failure at Bilbarri. Mirmiden, which mobilized the people for self-defense, was even more difficult to deal with than Bilbarri, which was well prepared.

But this time, the power to deal with Mao Liang is not as strong as before.

One of the main reasons why Gao Maoliang was able to make a quick comeback and grow to its current size is because when it crossed the sea to the west to attack Estalia, it did not send out all its forces. Instead, it left behind a greenskin guard force of 60,000 to 70,000 in its local area, the City of Golden Oath, where its former headquarters was located.

It is managed by the black orc dragon guards who are loyal to it.

After the warlord fled Estalia, he returned to the Badlands. Although his legacy was divided because of his failure in the Southern Kingdom, and even many of his generals left the team to fight alone, the warlord killed several generals who were blind enough to provoke him as soon as he returned to show his strength. He quickly reorganized his old subordinates, and then went east to fight the rampant Chaos beasts and ghouls there, spreading his name and prestige again, and then developed to the north of the Nehekhara Kingdoms in the south, annexing many wild orcs to join his warband...

But no matter what, the losses suffered by the warlord in Bilbarry are still difficult to make up in a short period of time. Its most valued and trusted guards and generals were killed or injured. It took it six or seven years to rise from nothing in the badlands. Although it has a previous foundation, the greenskins in a region cannot appear one after another like the game refreshes. Whether the resources can bear it is also an important issue. Otherwise, with the reproduction method and speed of the greenskins, why doesn't Mao Liang just send out a million troops and then come out again?

Mirmidon's persistent resistance made it very worried that what happened in Bilbarri would happen again, because just to its southwest, in Algaris, which was less than two days' journey by land and boat, the tens of thousands of legions of the Alliance, under the command of the beast cub's eldest son, were vigilant to the north, eyeing the ugly greenskin army.

No one would believe that the great warlord would not attack the Alliance after destroying Mirmidon.

Because the Alliance got its start by defeating Mao Liang in the Greenskin War.

It's impossible for the greenskins not to bear grudges.

If the Alliance members are convinced that Mirmiden is strong enough to resist the greenskins, or even compete with Gao Maoliang's army, then they will most likely choose to come to reinforce. If both sides work together, it will be extremely difficult for Gao Maoliang to capture Mirmiden.

By then, it will have suffered heavy casualties in Myrmidon, and the cities in the rear that it has conquered will most likely no longer be satisfied with the status quo of submitting to the greenskins, and may even "reform" and rebel. As long as it can hold out for a while, the coalition forces of the Alliance and Myrmidon will inevitably come to reinforce it.

Therefore, the battle in Mirmidon cannot be delayed, otherwise it will inevitably lead to the same situation as the last war.

But what the warlord didn't know was that while he was worrying about the Algaris Alliance Army in the southwest, someone who often COSed as a very disdainful person finally COSed as a disdainful person in the physical sense.

.......

"The greenskins are causing trouble again. Their army is approaching our borders. The whole world has heard of it. At this time, our country should unite as one, strictly observe discipline, and prepare for war. The enemy is coming fiercely, and I led our elite troops to stay in a bad place, resulting in a lack of domestic military strength. This is my fault;"

"My son, please be prudent first. Don't make the same mistakes as before and after the Battle of Gedaz River. Repeat the mistakes of the Northern Army. Move the people on the border to our country to avoid disaster. This is the best choice. Don't take any actions outside the rules to stimulate the ambitions of the greenskins and cause them to invade our country. The mobilization has not been completed yet. If a major war occurs, there will inevitably be a danger of losing troops and overthrowing. This is indeed a major threat to our allied countries;"

"We must guard against them and not start conflicts without authorization. We must wait for international reinforcements and domestic solidarity. This must be a planned move. If they send troops to disturb us, we can avoid them first and wait for me to lead the troops back... My son, you must know that only by being patient and firm can we not give the enemy a chance. Stay and defend carefully!"

Although the original text is slightly different, the meaning is roughly the same. This is a "telegram" sent directly to the Alliance through the rune communication of the El Dwarves, warning Misha not to go into battle without authorization. To deal with the powerful greenskins, she should speed up mobilization, arm the military and civilians, and use defense as the main formation.

Misha, who knew clearly the true purpose of her young father, naturally understood it. After receiving the refugees from Mirmiden, she withdrew the troops to the south of Algaris on the grounds of escort and contraction, and stayed on the border line between Lusigny and the Border Prince's Territory.

After learning that the colony of Giant Tower was under siege, a part of the army withdrawn from Haimen Pass was separated into two groups of 6,000 soldiers each to support this place.

Because this city has nominally sided with the Alliance, although it is a "joined free city" with a high degree of autonomy. After all, Aiel only wants a port to deploy power to the badlands and does not seek more complete control, but it is still equivalent to joining the Alliance and becoming a part of this country.

When the Giant Tower Colony compromised with Aiur and chose to establish this kind of "tributary" relationship, it was also to obtain protection from the Alliance Army.

That's right.

What Al is doing, in a sense, is...

Selling out teammates.

When my friendly forces are in trouble, I remain as still as a mountain.

Of course, because the Alliance has never signed any formal treaty with Myrmidon, and even because of the Myrmidian faith, the relationship between the two sides is far less harmonious than that between the Kingdom of Tirell and Myrmidon in the past, so...

Ok.

Still a bit unacceptable.

Therefore, he very actively requested that the country open its doors to accept refugees. It would be best to try to take all the people in Mirmidon away, leaving some of them to fight the greenskins to buy time.

This is not very authentic.

Mirmidon is right next to Argaris, and Misha has at least 70,000 to 80,000 troops. Apart from the 8,000 militia mobilized from the Argaris people and the citizen guards mobilized from Lusigni, Verezzo, Remas and other places, the alliance's standing army alone has 50,000 troops.

If this force goes to support Mirmidon, there will be absolutely no problem in defending the city, if nothing else.

But under Ai'er's instruction, Misha began to deliberately create the phenomenon of insufficient Alliance troops, and the reinforcements going to the Giant Tower were simply stationed there permanently, on the grounds of guarding against the greenskins.

Ai'ercun aimed to expand his power to the border princes after the war. Naturally, Mirmidon, the first border country that had successfully gained huge prestige in the Greenskin War and could further influence Vidanos, Kalundborg and other places in the north, would hinder the expansion of the alliance.

He didn't want the Mirmidons to lose, it was just...

They could win the war, but only when he was free and the Alliance was able to intervene heavily on the border.

Therefore, Mirmidon, who fought with the greenskins until he became paralyzed and was similar to Bilbarry, is more in line with the interests of the Alliance countries.

Al's work was flawless. The Alliance was indeed short of soldiers and generals. The main efforts of the 13th Plan and the 23rd Plan were placed on economic development and institutional reform. The army was only reorganized to a minor extent, and the foundation was still adjusted from the system during the Great Patriotic War.

The domestic mobilization was also secretly instructed by the highest level of the alliance. Although it was very effective, the military insisted on prolonging the training plan on the grounds that "untrained soldiers cannot be rashly sent to the battlefield, which would be irresponsible to individuals and the country." Therefore, the number of troops in Misha's hands on the front line is indeed far from enough compared to the greenskins and the defending Mirmidon...

Gao Maoliang was worried that the alliance would stab him in the back again, at least temporarily showing the alliance its weakness. Al, who intended to sit on the sidelines for a while, would not have such an idea.

But while Al was not a human being, he also thought that he was still a human being after all.

Watching hundreds of thousands of people in Mirmidon die in battle or at the hands of the greenskins, Aiur could not say that he had a clear conscience.

So he tried to eliminate the war disaster in the border princes' territories in a unique way.

.........

Gao Maoliang scratched his chin.

It was feeling annoyed because of the war, when it suddenly received a piece of news that shocked its body and sent its thoughts back to many years ago.

Among the pirate scums who once followed the warlord and served under Mao Liang, someone brought a message to the warlord:

There is a man who claims to be the special envoy of the King of the Alliance and hopes to meet with the warlord!

This seems familiar, as if it has happened before.

174: The Unexpected Path

"Let him come and pay his respects to me!"

After some consideration, Gao Maoliang decided to meet the person sent by the beast cub.

Although it has a green skin, it has learned a lot of civilized things and concepts from the Zhendan people who taught it.

It wanted to see how the beast had the nerve to send people to look for it after it had successfully tricked it and deceived the warlord by "begging for a temporary cessation of hostilities" in a very flattering and humble manner last time.