"Count Ford, let me ask you, if we depart from the Axebite Pass to the Empire, how long will it take, and how many people can pass?"
Sun Wang Laing and his queen Suria were standing on the castle of Montfort. Looking down, the Axebite Pass was right in front of them. If they started from Montfort and ended at Bogenhafen, the Empire's city behind Helmgard, the distance would be about two hundred kilometers.
"Your Majesty, it's impossible for us to send reinforcements to the Empire right now." Duke Ford's appearance was more down-to-earth. His skin was dark, and there were already wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. He was in his forties, and he had the more obvious characteristics of a mountain person. He had a strong build, wasn't tall, and spoke with an imperial accent. This was because Montford had been in contact with the empire all year round.
"Yes, Your Majesty, it's impossible for us to send reinforcements to the Empire right now. My army needs training, and the new recruits are far from being able to send reinforcements," Bertrand said. Bertrand also said. The old commander of the guards was injured by Khorne's brass whip in the battle of Khuilwu, and he barely made a comeback after several months of recuperation, and it seemed that he had not fully recovered yet.
From spring 2523 of the Empire to autumn 2524 of the Empire, Brittany was involved in a series of wars. The dukes were busy rebuilding after the war, and Laing's court was also busy reorganizing the army. After several wars, Brittany's top forces suffered heavy losses. The Old Guard had not reached the level of 2,200 people before the battle of Khuilwu, and the new recruits had not reached the level before the battle.
Similarly, the Coldstream Guards had only reached 1,500 people, and the First Guards Lance Cavalry Regiment had only reached 1,000 people. Laing even had a headache about where to find a qualified commander of the wing cavalry. Marshal Rokossovsky had died in the previous battle, and General Meretskov's ability was limited.
The Youth Guards only had 800 people, which was not enough to form a fighting force.
The only good news was that the battle with the Khoros had allowed many people to break through the shackles of legendary. Now, Laing's three elite troops added up to 700 legendary figures. It could be said that with the weakening of the Great Guardian and the disintegration of the Great Whirlpool, the restrictions on mortals were gradually lifted.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Raymond also walked up. This vice marshal of the Old Guard was enveloped in the light of the Holy Grail. There was a touch of red in his eyes, which was a sign that he had drunk the Holy Grail's Water. Under Duke Ford's envious gaze, Raymond said to Laing, "Give us at least two more months. If we want to support the Empire, we can send an army along the coastline from Le-Angoulin, or go upstream along the Rik River to Brunswick, then to Tara Beheim or even Becafen. Or we can go directly along the Wester territory to Nord and Örengrád."
Bertrand looked at Laing's reaction. Seeing that he did not refute, Bertrand continued, "Your Majesty, we have two ironclad warships, the Enterprise and the Varyag. They are the best weapons for naval warfare and transportation. Similarly, we have the Land Cruiser Dreadnought and the Dwarf Colossus MacZord on land. There is no reason for us not to use them. Although it is easier to pass through the Axe Pass, it is difficult to transport the two warships and reassemble them."
"My two beloved subjects, I know what you are talking about." Laing shrugged. "I even know that if we leave from Marlinburg, the Marlinburg fleet of the High Elves can escort us, right?"
"Yes." Bertrand thought for a while and suggested, "If the Empire can't hold on by water, we can at least support the Empire before Chaos attacks Tara Beheim."
"Yes." Laing nodded. How could he not know that it was convenient and fast to travel by water? As long as they could get through Le-Angoulin, Marlinburg, and Brunswick, it would only take them twenty days to reach Brunswick from Brittany.
Historically, for ancient times, whether it was war or people's lives, water was the most important lifeline. The priority and convenience of water was many times higher than that of land, and the loss of transportation was much lower.
"Do you think the Chaos army can't think of it?" Laing smiled at Ford, Bertrand, Raymond and the others. "I'm prepared for both eventualities. Of course, it's good to be able to travel by water, but if there is an emergency, we have to have a backup plan. Ford, tell me, what is the upper limit of the Axe Bite Pass? How long will it take?"
Hearing this, Duke Ford frowned. He thought for a few minutes before answering, "Your Majesty, the Axe Bite Pass is 154 kilometers long. If we depart from Montfort and end at Bogenhafen, the total distance will be 203 kilometers. To be safe and ensure that the logistics will not be interrupted, only 30,000 people can travel at a time. That's the limit."
"30,000 people. Very good. How long will it take?" Laing nodded.
"The plank road at the Axe Bite Pass has been repaired and strengthened many times. There are also a lot of sentries and patrols, but many places are still difficult to travel." Duke Ford thought for a while and gave an estimate. "If there are no accidents, it will take about 15 to 20 days for a small group of light cavalry like a caravan to travel for a month."
"If there are no accidents?" Suria asked.
"If there is no heavy rain, no large group of green dwarfs in the Gray Mountains, and no other situation, we should be able to reach Bogenhafen in a month." Duke Ford nodded. "If the Lady is watching over us."
"The Lady will watch over us." Laing smiled.
Although it would take a month to reach Bogenhafen from Montfort, it was the fastest way. If they were to travel from Culona to Brunswick through the Culona Road, they would have to travel more than 1000 kilometers.
Water transportation was really too important. Laing thought that the Eternal Chosen One, Eichahn, would have no reason not to think of it. He had to prepare a backup plan so that if the Chaos blocked the water route, he could still travel by land.
Thinking of this, Laing could not help but smile bitterly. The Axe Bite Pass was already very easy to travel. It was no wonder that in his previous life, Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of the Celestial Empire, spent his whole life on the northern expedition but was still trapped in Hanzhong.
Then, there would definitely be people who would say that Han Xin had succeeded in his scheme.
Actually, it was not the same. Zhuge Liang's difficulties were completely different from Han Xin's. First of all, during the time of Zhuge Liang, the forces in the Central Plains were in chaos. Han Xin had the opportunity to fish in troubled waters, but during Zhuge Liang's time, the Central Plains was already an iron plate.
Moreover, there was a very important geographical factor, and that was that Han Xin could take the water route out of Hanzhong. From the Chencang Road, he could directly transport troops through the Han River to the Wei River, and then follow the Chencang River all the way to Chang 'an. In ancient times, the water route meant efficiency, speed, and low losses.
Then the question was, why did Zhuge Liang not take the water route?
Unfortunately, during the Han Dynasty, there was a huge earthquake in Wudu, and the Chencang Road's landscape changed.
When Zhuge Liang left Mount Qishan, the Western Han River was no longer connected to the Wei River. Han Xin could transport troops and provisions by water, but during Zhuge Liang's time, he could only rely on soldiers pushing wheelbarrows to transport provisions through the mountain roads. This was a devastating disadvantage. At the beginning, they could still take the enemy by surprise (which was the first northern expedition). Later on, as long as the north was prepared, Shu would have no chance unless they could create a military miracle.
This was also the reason why Sun Yiwan wanted to attack Hefei. Hefei was the key point connecting the Huai River and the Changjiang River.
Similarly, if Laing wanted to support the Empire from the Axebite Pass, then the Brittany Grand Canal that he spent 16 years to build would be the key. The Grand Canal connected the North and South to the entire Brittany water system, and supplies and troops from all over the country could continuously come to the Montfort.
Laing thought for a while, and then he looked into the distance. The Grey Mountains were as majestic and magnificent as ever.
Karl-franz, my dear friend, you must hold on. Hold on until the Brittany reorganizes its army.
… I am the division line that holds on …
"What? Destroy the main force of Chaos in one battle? "
In the autumn of the year 2524 of the Empire's calendar, at the frontline of the Golden Fortress, in the Von Zhukov Castle, Emperor Karl-franz of the Empire was having a meeting. He was ready to listen to the opinions of the Kurfürst and the generals of the Empire.
After nearly two years of fighting, the people of the Empire were very clear that Chaos was not going to give up. These Northerners were different from any other enemy. They only had one goal, and that was to destroy the human world.
Under the continuous battles and endless losses, the army of the Empire was very tired. Now, their morale was completely dependent on the personal prestige of the Emperor and his speeches. As the intensity of Chaos' attack was very high, the Empire's army could not do anything about it. They could only fight one battle after another.
Karl-franz kept urging the resources, soldiers, and recruits at the rear to hurry to the frontline. At the same time, he also realized that if this continued, the Empire would not be able to outlast Chaos. The hundreds of thousands of troops basically did not need any supplies. They only needed to kill and that was the best food and soldiers' pay. The power of the Evil Gods made the enemy stronger, and the Empire was getting more and more tired. After almost exhausting all the troops of the Empire, the Emperor only had one hundred and twenty thousand men in his hands, and they were scattered along the Golden Fortress.
On the opposite side of the Golden Fortress was the three hundred thousand troops of Eichahn's Deputy General Keron, and they were still adding more troops.
Sitting on the main seat in Von Zhukov's castle, Karl-franz listened to the opinions of the people.
"Your Majesty, the Golden Fortress has begun to disintegrate. Although our wizards and priests can still maintain the operation of the Golden Fortress, they do not know how to repair some of the damaged and rusted areas." Kant, the supreme dean of the Empire's Academy of Light, said to the Emperor, "The things that Gelt left behind … are too profound. We have exhausted all our energy and still can't understand how the Golden Fortress works. The only thing we can do is to follow the rituals that Gelt left behind."
"Kant, you are the best light wizard since that traitor Eigrim. Even you can't understand the mystery of the Golden Fortress?" Karl-franz sat on the main seat. The Emperor had lost a lot of weight. In the past two years, except for when the winter snowstorm was the strongest, the Emperor was busy maintaining the northern defense line. This made the strong and energetic man visibly older. Crow's feet had appeared at the corner of his eyes. This was unbelievable for a sacred champion who was not even sixty years old.
Hearing Kant's words, the Emperor's tone was not very pleasant.
"This is a brand new spell that I have never seen before. I can't understand its principles. Your Majesty, maybe only Gelt himself …" Kant, the supreme dean of the Academy of Light, could only admit his mistake.
"Enough, Gelt has already escaped. We can't put our hopes on him." Hearing Gelt's name again, the Emperor frowned. Gelt was undoubtedly innocent, but he was also stupid. If he recalled Gelt now, where would the Empire's authority be? How would he explain to the Church of Justice? What about the Ludenhoff family?
"Alright, my dear ministers, I have gathered all of you today because I hope that you can think of a way." The Emperor gestured for Kant to leave. "Everyone has witnessed the war for more than a year and participated in the operation against the Chaos army. The Empire appreciates your efforts, but this is not enough, far from enough. Everyone knows the current situation. If you have any opinions, feel free to raise them."
The hall was silent.
Kurfürst Marius was aggressive. Obviously, he already had a plan.
Kurfürst Wamir and Kurfürst Alberich were silent. There was both hope and pain on their faces. They hoped to change the situation, but they were afraid of failure, so they were silent.
King of Nord, the holder of the Nord Elector, Theodorick Geisel, was angry, but he did not intend to speak. Perhaps he was already prepared to retreat.
Marshal Rick Helberg was frowning. Seeing the old marshal's expression, the Emperor could not help but want to laugh, but he also felt sad. Helberg had been racking his brains for months, trying to find a way to turn the situation around, but he could not think of a perfect plan.
The remaining generals and court ministers of the Empire were all silent. Boris and Emmanuel were not present, and there were only these few Kurfürst left in the Empire.
"Your Majesty, you mean … we have to give up the Golden Fortress?" Acting Archbishop Esme III asked tentatively.
"The Golden Fortress has helped us resist the army of Chaos. Galt deserves credit for that." The Emperor nodded. Karl-franz could only continue, "But … but you can see the situation now. If this continues, we will definitely lose."
Low murmurs of "oh oh oh" came from the hall. Obviously, all the military and political officials of the Empire realized this problem.
The Emperor needed to change. If the Golden Fortress continued to defend, the Empire would only be exhausted by Chaos.
Everyone looked at each other, and no one dared to be the first to speak. If they defended the Golden Fortress to the death, the Empire could still hold on for a while. If they changed their strategy and did not receive a suitable result, then it would be the person who spoke who would take the blame.
Therefore, no one dared to suggest giving up the Golden Fortress. Although there were many problems with the Golden Fortress, as long as they could make do with it, they did not dare to say anything.
Everyone was anxious. Everyone was waiting, waiting for the Emperor to speak.
At this time, only Kurfürst Marius spoke. Seeing that everyone was hesitating, the famous "Mad Count" simply said, "Your Majesty, I have three plans that can break Chaos!"
"Oh?" Hearing Marius' words, Karl-franz's eyes glittered. Mad Count Marius' plans were always full of whimsy and neuroticism. Most of the time, his plans were not only risky, but they also squeezed the potential of every soldier to the limit. Sometimes, his military plans would lead everything into the abyss, and sometimes they would bring a glorious military miracle. "Mr. Marius, please speak."
"The best plan is to give up the Golden Fortress directly! We will fight the main force of Chaos in the territory of Ostmark in one go! " Marius' voice was very passionate. He said firmly, "I've already thought about the process. We only need to do this, and we will have a chance to annihilate the main force of Chaos!"
"The best plan? What's the best plan? "
"Give up the Golden Fortress directly?"
"Fight the main force of Chaos directly?"
"Marius, are you crazy?"
The whole hall was filled with surprised voices.
"I'm not crazy. This is the only chance!" Marius said resolutely.
"What exactly should we do?" Karl-franz signaled for everyone to be quiet. He signaled Marius to continue.
"Our plan is … to copy the Battle of the Three Kings of Midenstanger by Knight King Laing -Macado!"
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