Warhammer

Because bad news came from the south on the third day after they "recaptured" Matoka for the empire:

After a two-month siege, Myrmidon fell.

However, there is also good news, that is, the fall of Mirmidon was not beyond their control, but a temporary avoidance under strong pressure.

Misha, the regent of the Southern Alliance, proposed this suggestion to the Mirmidons, and the dwarves also expressed their support. So when the enemy's attack became more and more fierce, the Mirmidons finally made the decision to retreat.

Through the Alliance and Dwarf ships' round-the-clock transportation, most of the soldiers and civilians who stayed behind to defend the city were finally transported to the territory of Algaris. Misha personally led the army to meet these refugees from neighboring families and escorted them all the way into the territory of Lusigni.

After the greenskins seized the only tough bone in the border prince's territory, the south was also evacuated by the empty Algaris, and looking around, there was only Akendorf in the east and...

The two cities of Matoca, which surrendered and then rebelled, still refused to submit to the "barbaric rule" of the warlord.

182: The Belated "Patriotic War"

The news of the fall of Mirmidon made the Matoka people feel a little uneasy.

Isn't it a stalemate?

It’s only been a month or two!

How to deal with this?

After knowing that they were retreating, they were thankful that as the backbone of the fight against the greenskins, the border shield for thousands of years had not ended up with a city full of bones, but they were all thinking darkly in their hearts:

What's the point of forcing the alliance...

If the Mirmidons had not been persuaded to evacuate, perhaps they and the greenskin hardtops could have held out for another month or two.

By then, Master Wang will arrive, and there will be no need to worry about getting Mao Liang to come back to "fulfill his promise."

But what has been done has already been done, and there is no way to go back.

They surrendered and then rebelled and wanted to surrender again. Mao Liang had already let the Matoka people get away with it once with his "keeping promises", and no one would expect that this particular warlord would let his enemies get away with it a second time.

All of Gomaoliang's actions in the border area are based on his belief that he can rule over humans and establish a unique, green-skinned kingdom.

When it realizes that it cannot do all this, and is fooled and used by the people on the border because of its "kindness", it will certainly no longer restrain those of its own people who make a living by fighting and destruction. If the territory that Gao Maoliang had fought before had a degree of desolation of [30%], then there is no doubt that the next step will be [50%] [100%], and not even a single living person will be left alive.

So despite a little regret and entanglement, the Matoka people still burst out with unprecedented motivation and courage to defend their homeland. If they didn't fight hard at this time to buy time for the royal army, if the greenskins arrived before the royal army, then no one would be left alive.

The Mirmidons had previously set an excellent example for them, and although the Matoka’s repeated defections were somewhat despicable, their courage to defend their homes, themselves and their families was not discriminatory under any circumstances.

Of course, one can also wonder, why didn’t the Matoka people run away?

Their entire city-state - the area surrounding the principality - originally had only about 300,000 to 400,000 people. After the greenskins came, many of them fled. It is not certain whether there are 150,000 people now. If they want to escape, they can quickly reach Haimen Pass for refuge by boat.

Wouldn't it be better to run away first, and then wait for the imperial army to arrive and retake your homeland?

There are three main reasons:

First, although the Matoka people offered land to the Empire and gave Altdorf an opportunity to completely control the border princely territories in exchange for no post-war settlements, they might be able to move up under the imperial system by virtue of being the most knowledgeable and leading the way, but they did not really want to become autonomous city-states or regions under the jurisdiction of the imperial governor.

If they abandoned the city and ran away, the imperial army would come to help the Matoaka people regain their homes, but in that case the Matoaka people would inevitably lose all initiative. After all, a stray dog ​​who relies on others for survival has no right to bargain with its master, and that would not meet the Matoaka people's expectations.

Second, they felt that they had a chance. They just had to defend the city. It wouldn't take the Imperial army much time whether they went through Sol Fortress or Blackfire Pass. If they went through Sol Territory and the greenskins besieged Matoka, they could cut off their retreat. It was a risky situation, but not big, and it was totally worth the gamble.

Even Sigmar's Chosen Celestine personally led troops to Matoka to liberate the city. Isn't this enough to prove the importance the Empire attaches to the border? As long as they hold on, there will be a solution!

As for the last point...

It's a bit embarrassing.

With the fall of Mirmiden after the great retreat, the Alliance is currently on the defensive strategically because the king is not in the country. The only maritime force in the entire Blackwater Bay is the Dwarf fleet. The Matoka also had a small naval force that could only be described as a "fleet", but they were sent by the Greenskins to besiege Mirmiden, and most of them later surrendered to the Dwarf's patrol navy, or were simply sunk.

Given the size of the dwarf fleet, if they are willing to help, it would be no problem for them to withdraw the Matoka and leave an empty city for the greenskins, but the problem now is:

The dwarves don't help.

Or rather, they help, but to a limited extent:

"Let the women and children get on board! As for the men, go and take up arms like Bilbarri and Mirmidon. Use spears, stones, and whatever weapons you can use to defend your own homes!"

The Dwarf fleet issued such a call to the refugees who wanted to escape through the "allies" at the port.

Obviously, they also don't like the Matoka's repeated defections, and this time it directly led to the plan of Imperial reinforcements to support the mountains having to be shelved, with priority given to defending the "homeland".

For many years, the Dwarf fleet has been sailing across Blackwater Bay, sinking and killing countless greenskins who tried to pass through this strait to the border prince's territory. Although the Dwarves of Haimenguan had no obligation to do so, they were very kind to the border people and after the great war, they took the initiative to assume the patrol and defense mission of the entire strait.

This allowed Mirmiden, which had been attacked by greenskins countless times in the past, to ignore external threats and develop itself with peace of mind.

However, the performance of many duchies and city-states in the border princes' territories in this greenskin war obviously disappointed the dwarves too much.

The surrender of the Matoka people set a very bad precedent, which resulted in the greenskin troops behind them having an unimpeded passage. As long as they sent envoys to intimidate them, they could force those city-states that felt they were powerless to fight against the greenskins to open their gates and surrender, and send supplies, hostages, and servant troops to the barbaric invaders.

This shocked the dwarves, who had originally planned to grit their teeth and dispatch troops to help support the border people in their fight against the greenskins.

Isn't this the kind of backbone you have?

Before the great war, the greenskins just killed, killed, killed, killed wherever they went, and no one just surrendered or knelt down!

Although Mao Liang certainly grasped the weakness of human psychology:

Using Matoka as a "precaution", the following cities all felt that Gao Maoliang would keep his word and would not enter the country as long as they surrendered; and because of the special and fragmented political situation in the border princes' territories, each region did not have the power to fight against the greenskins alone. Even if they held on to the end, it would only be a "meaningless sacrifice" to delay the greenskins' attack. Every city on the greenskins' march, even those not at the forefront of the greenskin army, feared the fate of a massacre and wanted to protect themselves. They did not want to buy time for those behind them to prepare wedding dresses. In addition, they also had the idea that "others have already ordered", so they opened their doors one after another, and it could even be said that they "decided by issuing an order".

The reason is there.

It would take nearly half a month to travel from Matoka to Myrmidon at full speed. Mao Liang's army was "conquering cities and territories" all the way, but in just over a month, the enemy was at the gates of the city. The dwarves could not bear to see this.

If Mirmidon had one more month, or even half a month, to strengthen its defenses and train soldiers, relying on the protection of its homeland and the geographical advantages, it is possible that it could have stopped the greenskins on its own. Unfortunately...

So to the "culprit" of it all, Matoka.

The dwarves certainly understood some of their considerations, but it was just understanding. If they were faced with the same situation, with the dwarves' tough temper, the female dwarves would probably go to the battlefield and fight the greenskins to the death. Before the last dwarf fell, the home where the Era lived would never fall into the hands of the enemy.

So now, the Dwarf fleet has rejected the Matoka's request to evacuate the refugees, which actually represents the thoughts of certain factions in the city.

These stubborn guys, who are as hard as stone but as reliable as steel, said their ships would only carry women and children, and nothing else, including property.

"Your home and your country must be protected by yourself!"

Even the representatives of the alliance (Misha, who was actively increasing the population, implemented El's instructions and came to Matoka to join in the fun) bluntly stated: Bilbarri in the past and Milmiden now have both fought their own great wars.

Now, it is time for the Matoka people to use a sacrificial, sacred "Patriotic War" to wash away the submission they have carried and fight for their own future.

183: Imperial Military Advice

Although the Border Princes are generally considered to be a single "entity" geographically, they are actually made up of various political entities, large and small.

They generally use so-called "principality" as their unit. Border powers like Mirmidon are "principality", and even a village settlement with a few hundred or a thousand people also calls itself a "principality".

It is essentially a loose organization, with each city-state and "principality" being an independent country.

Because of the generally high degree of autonomy, the central government has no obligations to the local areas. In the face of war, every city and every state is an independent participant and is responsible for itself.

The Matoka people have ways to avoid the war. Now they have to give up everything and flee eastward with their families. Although the dwarves are disgusted by their despicable behavior, they will not go too far. They will still accept the refugees when they arrive at Haimen Pass. At least their lives can be saved.

But they were looking forward to the arrival of imperial reinforcements, and were unwilling to abandon their homes and businesses and live under someone else's roof. So even if they were reluctant, a war was inevitable when they were unwilling to leave and determined to fight to the death.

The Matoaka were not completely unprepared for the coming war. Even though they were ordered by the greenskins to plunder the land and give away a large amount of supplies, they still retained enough equipment to arm tens of thousands of people. At the same time, through trade - no matter how much the Matoaka disliked the greenskins, if they really wanted to fight the greenskins to the death, the dwarves would still help them more or less, and it would not be a problem to sell them some equipment or something.

After obtaining the weapons provided by Haimen Pass, they quickly mobilized all the male men left in the city-state and surrounding areas to join the army as combat personnel.

However, the Matoka people were afraid that the Celestine expeditionary force representing the Empire would control the entire principality through military means, so they declined Rhine's suggestion that the two forces be temporarily merged and the expeditionary force, which generally possessed higher military literacy, be the backbone to command the entire army.

He insisted on emulating Bilbali's "Ten Generals" committee system, electing eight local people with military and command capabilities, and invited the expeditionary force to send two representatives as advisers to form a ten-man commander-in-chief to be responsible for the dispatch and combat arrangements of the entire Matoka city and more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians in its surrounding areas.

This action made Rhine, who had originally thought that there would be no problems "behind" this time, so although the challenge was difficult, at least he could deal with it wholeheartedly without worrying about the rear, a little anxious.

After all, the stupid teammate came directly from outside the court, and was about to face a big battle.

As a young general favored by the emperor and deputy commander of the vanguard corps of the Imperial Expeditionary Force, he had gone to the Matoka Parliament more than once to lobby for the urgency of current military affairs, which would be best handled through unified command, with the vanguard corps, which, although only numbering 7,000, was a very elite core. Their members included old mercenaries with many years of experience, senior freemen, and religious warriors who had undergone complete military training and religious education. Their average quality was first-class even within the empire.

As for Matoka's situation, just break these people up and assign them to different positions. As high-level grassroots officers, the command framework can be established immediately.

But the Matoka people insisted on using the contract of "overseas self-governing territory" as their excuse. Although they clung to the Imperials, many people (especially the top leaders) were unwilling to hand over their troops to the Imperials, who were instead controlled by the devout followers of the state religion (Celestine's identity as the Chosen One of God was automatically substituted).

As mentioned before, the border areas are generally weak in military strength. The armed forces of the city-states are not strong. On the contrary, the private soldiers of the powerful are quite capable. If they hand over the power of the army, they will have to hand over the private guards they have kept for so long.

Since the Greenskin War, part of the "standing army", or the armed forces of the Matoka city-state, were sent to the Greenskins as cannon fodder by the decision-makers who dominated the city council. Others were trapped in the dilemma of having no guns after handing over their equipment, and were then recruited and divided up by each household, and have become a mere formality.

In times of war, these carnivores who rule the country all want to strengthen the power in their hands to protect themselves, and they do not hesitate to poach Matoka's people for this purpose - what if a war breaks out?

Can't we still mobilize civilians?

Rhine was very dissatisfied with this.

The greed, short-sightedness and selfishness of the Matoka people make them commit all kinds of stupid things even when faced with life-and-death situations.

Rhine complained to Celestine more than once. It was a rare thing. Theoretically, he could mobilize an "army" of tens of thousands of people under his command. After all, as a well-known figure and a predecessor of the emperor, Rhine's ability and status were recognized by the Matoka people. They were also willing to obey the command of this imperial general under appropriate circumstances. But he had no confidence in the war at all.

Rhine, who had participated in the Southern War and the Defense of Bilbarri, had some understanding of the combat effectiveness of Gao Maoliang and his greenskins. Although the greenskin warband today is no longer the same as the greenskins that swept across Estalia, as long as their leader remains unchanged, the characteristics of the greenskin race will remain the same. According to their characteristics, every warband led by a legendary general who has left his name in history has its own unique properties.

For example, [Gorbad Ironclaw] is good at mixed troop operations. He uses goblin wolf cavalry to harass and attack the enemy's flanks, catapults and dive bombers to carry out fire strikes, and also uses wyverns for air attacks. He coordinates infantry and artillery, and integrates air and ground. He is a green-skinned Napoleon.

Grimgor Ironhide made the warband invincible through his own incomparable and unprecedented savage courage, as well as his disciplined black orc brothers.

As for Gomaoliang, although it may not be as threatening as the other two in terms of direct military threat, it has Gomao Colossi, which symbolize the blessing of the greenskin heretic gods, and many savage greenskins from the badlands under its command. In the past, Gomaoliang had restrained the destruction they caused, but when that weird warlord decided to raise his butcher knife to a city like Matoka that disobeyed him without mercy, obviously no one knew how much energy those savage tribes shackled by it could release.

Rhine was very wary of this. As a general, his duty was to fight well in every war that came his way, but the behavior of the Matoka people made him lack confidence in this war.

Celestine, on the other hand, had no extra thoughts on this. She persuaded Rhine to try her best to do everything she could, while she herself played to her advantage as the one chosen by both gods, just like she did in Bilbarri, holding a scripture in one hand and a spear in the other, walking in cities and military camps to boost the morale of the people, while also allowing Rhine to strengthen the influence of the vanguard army.

Although Matoka's beliefs are rather mixed, they are mainly based on the faith in the two great human gods, Sigmar and Myrmidia. Celestine's identity makes it impossible for anyone in this city to ignore her existence. When she walks in the barracks holding a spear emitting a soft golden light, the militiamen all regard her as the arrival of a blessing. There are even fanatical believers who firmly believe that Celestine is the incarnation of the goddess sent to save them and protect the believers.

The current situation on the border has developed into a "North-South confrontation". Gao Maoliang, who has just conquered Mirmidon in the south, has undoubtedly begun to prepare his troops to march north to "unify" the border.

Places like Zorak and Kalundborg are forced to "compromise" and watch silently due to the might of the greenskins. If the imperial reinforcements arrive and defeat the greenskins on the frontal battlefield, there is no doubt that they will defect. But before that... Matoka needs to win, at least by persisting in resistance and blocking the greenskins, he can make the principalities of the border princes realize that the greenskins are not invincible.

Chapter 184: Bloody Battle of Black Rock

The news of the fall of Mirmidon and Matoka's surrender of land for help and the Imperial Expeditionary Force's recapture of the city, which had become an "Imperial Dominion", reached Black Rock Castle one after another.

Let’s not talk about the matter of Milmiden for now, but the second thing made Al frown, obviously it was not good news.

to him.

"Damn Imperials, the situation is tight on the front and tight in the rear!" Al took off his mask, stuffed it into the arms of his personal guard, angrily returned to his tent, and couldn't help cursing.

In Estalia, Aiur took advantage of the stalemate between the Bilbarri and the greenskins to sweep across the south and take the opportunity to become more powerful.

He had originally thought of taking a two-pronged approach, not to mention a complete replica, but at least to formally extend the claws of the Alliance's double-headed eagle into the fat piece of meat of the Border Prince Territory to wash his hands and share the fat. Now, he might have become the scapegoat who attracts firepower on the front line, allowing others to advance rapidly in the rear.

"Where's the chivalrous spirit? Where's the Iron Covenant? The goal of the Crusades is Constantinople, right? Damn it..."

"When you get bit by the Yankees, look at me..."

Kael'thas considerately took off the bloody helmet for Al and placed it on the armor rack beside him. He himself was also covered in blood, and it seemed that he had just come down from the battlefield.

He suggested: "Why not let the refugees in the country build momentum and 'invite' our country to send troops to protect the border security for the same reason?"

But after cursing and complaining for a few times, Al quickly calmed down. The battlefield where he was now was tens of thousands of miles away from the border. Even if there was a huge battle over there, it would not affect here for the time being. He could not let problems elsewhere affect the current war.

"Hera, by the way, where is Hera?" He suddenly remembered what he was concerned about before his thoughts were drawn to the issue of the border prince's territory, and he asked hurriedly, his emotions suddenly becoming nervous again.

He remembered that the fourth brother was snatched back by the guards and carried off the battlefield.

In order to break through the enemy's crowded position, Hera led her wolf pack to rush too deep into the inner ring of the city where the dwarves' firepower could no longer cover. The bloodthirsty wolves used blades, claws and even teeth to tear at the greenskins' flesh and blood defense line. These werewolf warriors following the four daughters, under the influence of the Blood Mother's blessing, were much stronger in physical fitness than ordinary angry-horned beasts. They usually only wore light armor and were the mobile force of the legion. They advanced quickly and brought the death wind that crushed the enemy's flesh and blood.

Hera had been invincible in past wars. She had personally killed hundreds of enemies from Estalia to the Battle of Black Rock. The warlike wolf girl might be the bloodthirsty warrior among the tribe's warriors, with the most "head counts" second only to Alina and the four-armed bull Alastair.

Every time, she would enthusiastically shout El's name and rush into the battlefield to kill. The Blood Mother obviously liked this "granddaughter" very much, so much so that in El's sight, the blessing mark on the wolf girl's body was almost so strong that it could condense into substance, which made her fearless of injuries and tirelessly carry out the noble killing and fight in the name of her father.

But this time she rushed too deep, and although she tore open a crucial hole, huge numbers of greenskins kept pouring out from the underground caves under Black Rock Castle, the soldier caves and cellars dug everywhere. The results of Hera's victory were soon swarmed in. Under the command of generals and warlords, and at the call of this bloody "Waaaagh", they surged forward with a madness that ignored death, and soon filled the hole that had not been completely controlled by the Alliance fighters and was steadily torn and expanded.

This put the vanguard troops led by the wolf girl into a dangerous and surrounded situation. They were surrounded by enemies on all sides, all of them were black, green, brown and green-skinned hybrids.

But Hera, who was obsessed with killing, forgot to retreat steadily and ask her father for help.

At that time, Al was riding on the Griffin Queen on Alina's head, fighting with the greenskins' captive flying monsters, and he did not notice that his beloved wolf girl was trapped at the first time. Fortunately, Kael'thas, who replaced him as the prime minister, immediately led the guards left by Al to the front line after receiving the news, organized a fierce attack, tore through the greenskins' defense line, and led his subordinates to fight in the encirclement of the greenskins ocean, and joined the wolf girl who had been rampaging for nearly twenty minutes.

But the wolf girl was now covered in blood, making her already fiery red hair even more vivid. She seemed to have emerged from a pool of blood. She had at least forty sword wounds on her body. Her left arm was severely wounded and almost severed, with only a little flesh remaining. She had two arrows in her chest, which had been smeared with toxins extracted from mushrooms by the green skin...

By the time the guards found their master's offspring, the number of warriors of the Fourth Legion's Dark Iron Wolves who followed the wolf girl was reduced from 143 to only 38. When Hera's body fell to the ground, they braved the siege of several greenskin warriors and trolls and took back the dying wolf girl, at the cost of the sacrifice of eight warriors.

Faced with such serious injuries, Kael'thas did not dare to be negligent. He commanded the battle while enduring grief and anger, allowing the troops to quickly seize favorable terrain through the defense line opened by the guards' wrathhorns, steadily expand the Alliance's control area, squeeze the greenskins' line, and at the same time hurriedly sent the seriously injured brothers to the rear to be rescued by the motherly priests.

Hera's injuries were so severe that the shamans once suggested that they might prepare to release the [Emerald Coffin] and use a secret technique that would be hated by the God of Death to resurrect the dead Daughter of El. The price would be to lose the ability to speak from then on so as not to reveal the secret of the resurrection of the dead and attract mysterious attention.

Fortunately, the tenacious vitality of her offspring allowed Hera to survive in the end. Perhaps the protection of the Four Mothers was also a factor. At least now, the Blood Mother did not want to let her only son in the mortal world fall into endless sorrow just because of the addition of a powerful and combative soul to her domain, so the Blood Mother did not take Hera away in the end.

Her injuries have stabilized. At least the Shaman no longer needs to be ready to release the secret technique of [Emerald Coffin] at all times in an effort to resurrect the wolf girl of Ai'er as soon as possible.