Twain, who had been forced to follow the First Army, found that he had underestimated the First Army's strength.
From the beginning to the end of the battle, the two sides had not even touched each other. Uncle Sang and his men just kept firing at the troops of the Kingdom of Dawn. There was no overwhelming rain of arrows, no sweat, and no blood. Twain could see nothing in the battle line, which was more than a kilometer long. However, from time to time, the troops of the Kingdom of Dawn fell in groups, as if they were cooperating with the First Army.
This made the battle look like a child's play, like an empty drama.
However, from the screams coming from the side of the road, Twain knew that it was just an illusion. The more relaxed the First Army was, the more powerful they were.
He finally understood what Nail meant by the "fighting style of the First Army".
A troop of hundreds of soldiers acted like a single person. When they were silent, they were like ghosts. When they attacked, they were also silent. Everything was carried out according to the plan. Their discipline was unprecedented. Compared to the lethal weapons, Tang En felt that the Northern Garrison was not much inferior. Under the cover of the night, they had set up an ambush before dawn; all five platoons had gone into battle, and there was not a single supervising team behind them; as the commander, Eagle Face, did not stay in the camp but stayed in the ambush circle closest to the old Holy City; everyone was highly focused and had a clear division of labor. Every order was executed quickly … If it were not for these details, even if they had fierce weapons, they would not have been able to achieve such results.
After witnessing the whole battle, Twain could not help but feel lucky that he had chosen to leave Hermes in time.
If he had stayed in the Holy City and waited for the First Army to invade the city, a businessman like him would have been punished as a sponsor of the enemy.
Well, he sighed secretly. It was too dangerous outside. If he could go back safely this time, he might as well do business in the City of Evernight.
Although he did not have much money, it should not be a problem to feed his family.
Fu'er in the "Paradise on Earth" should also miss him very much.
Twain thought, "I really hope I can get home earlier."
*****
In the evening, Eagle Face walked into the temporary tent and saluted Edith. Then he handed her a booklet and said, "The battlefield has been preliminarily cleaned. This is the report of each squad. I've summarized it."
"Thank you for your hard work." The Pearl of the Northern Region took the booklet and flipped through it. It was expected that the First Army had no casualties, but the Kingdom of Dawn had found more than 1,000 corpses and more than 600 wounded, which meant that the First Army had lost about 20% of its soldiers. Not many of them were killed by bullets. Most of them were killed by aerial bombardment and trampling on each other. The strafing along the way only exacerbated the chaos.
This was also in line with the General Staff's deduction. After all, the number of soldiers stationed in the North was too small. It was impossible to transport enough ammunition by relying on the Magic Ark alone. Coupled with the fact that they lacked the means to pursue and attack, it was expected that more than half of the enemies would escape. As long as the task of driving away the army of the Kingdom of Dawn was accomplished, it would be considered a successful battle.
In the end, more than 1,800 people abandoned their weapons and surrendered. Among them, 25 were nobles, and the one with the highest rank was a count who called himself the Lord of Hundred Flowers. But what piqued Edith's interest was another Baron called Raymin Payton. According to the report, he repeatedly emphasized that he was an old acquaintance of a high-ranking official of the Kingdom of Graycastle and a friend of the King of Graycastle, even though he promised to pay the ransom and requested to be treated well.
"Did he really say that?" She shook the booklet at Eagle Face.
"I guess he's just talking nonsense. Or maybe he thinks that the King of Graycastle is still Timothy Wimbledon." The deputy battalion commander frowned. "What do you plan to do with these surrendered nobles?"
"It's impossible to ransom them. Throw them into prison for now." Edith pondered for a moment. "Maybe they'll be useful in the future. As for the non-nobles, just dismiss them on the spot. We don't have enough food to give them. "
"Yes."
"Did you find the whereabouts of the King of Dawn, Appen Moya?"
"No one with his characteristics was found among the corpses." Eagle Face shook his head. "When we interrogated the captives, someone seemed to have seen Appen. But at that time, he and a group of Knight seemed to have changed their clothes and didn't carry any flags or family emblems. The others wanted to retreat with them, but they were stopped by the Knight. Because of the long distance and the chaos, the guy couldn't be sure that the other party was Appen. "
"Where did they meet?"
"In the old Holy City."
"Then it's most likely him." Edith shrugged. "To gather such a large army, the king is indispensable. If the king is in the army, where do you think he should go? "
"Uh... the front?" Eagle Face said uncertainly.
"To be precise, the back of the vanguard," she explained. "There are no walls in the old Holy City, so it's all about speed. So when it comes to plundering, the king should be the first to do it. His Knight Regiment is usually the vanguard, so they can eliminate the threat in advance and ensure that they are the first to enter the city. "
"So when the bomber operation began, they were already in the city?"
"Yes. Because of this, Appen escaped the air attack of Maggie and Miss Hummingbird, and had enough time to identify the situation and choose the right direction to escape. That being said, it's a good decision to put down the king's dignity and escape in disguise within an hour." Edith raised the corner of her mouth imperceptibly and licked her lips gently.
"Damn it! We let the biggest fish escape! "Eagle Face said angrily." If I could prepare a pursuing force in advance... "
"It's no use," she interrupted. "On such a wide plain, unless you can predict his escape route, it's impossible to intercept him. The ambush on the main road just took advantage of the enemy's habit of retreating and herd mentality. So when they fled to the wheat field on the other side, the killing effect of the flintlock was greatly reduced. "
"..." The deputy battalion commander did not refute, but still looked very upset.
"You don't have to blame yourself. You know, it's not necessarily a bad thing." Edith smiled.
"Why?" Eagle Face looked up in surprise.
"It's complicated to explain. You just need to understand that fear is contagious. When those people realize how terrible it is to be the enemy of Graycastle, will they still ignore His Majesty's warning?" The Pearl of the Northern Region paused. "I'm afraid that Appen Moya's throne won't be so easy to sit on."
Seeing that she did not want to talk about it further, Eagle Face did not ask further. "So what should we do next? Occupy the old Holy City directly? "
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