Kurfürst Marius' idea caused a huge commotion in the hall of Von Zhukov's castle.
Reenact the Battle of the Three Kings?
The people in the courtyard looked at each other, unable to comprehend what Marius was up to.
There was no doubt that the Battle of the Three Kings, fought by the current Sun Wang Laing and Boris Todbringer, was the most glorious victory over the Orcs and Green Skins in human history. After the battle ended, it immediately became the focus of all the military aristocrats in the Old World and one of the must-study battle examples in the major military academies and universities. Laing, under the situation of absolute disadvantage, always held the initiative of the battle through the combination of strategy and risk, bravery and flexibility.
One attacking and one defending, the concentration of the superior forces, the diagonal formation, Laing's control, and the exquisite use of the cavalry and the timing of the attack. On one side, there was the support of the Lake God, and on the other side, there was the fire magic. In the end, the Ice Witch unsealed the river and destroyed the Orc army. This battle had been studied countless times by the generals and military aristocrats in the Old World.
Marius mentioned the Battle of the Three Kings, and everyone was naturally familiar with it. Yes, if such a military miracle could be accomplished, the Empire still had a chance.
"Tell me in detail." Karl-franz was slightly tempted. He glanced at Volten, the champion of Charlemagne's Chosen of God, who was sitting in the corner. Seeing that Volten did not speak, the Emperor thought that there was no lack of top-level combat power. As the champion of Charlemagne's Chosen of God, Volten had the strength of an advanced Sanctuary-level. Moreover, with the Divine Hammer Gail Maraz, he was very powerful. In more than a year, 32 barbarian chiefs, champions, Chaos wizards, Chaos champions, and Chosen of God had died in Volten's hands.
"Marius, war is not a game of chess. You can't use the existing battle examples." Ivan, the Griffin Duke, spoke. He was Laing's Godfather, and this old general was also a Sanctuary-level expert. He stroked his goatee and frowned. "Let's not talk about other things. How can we guarantee that the Army of Chaos will attack according to our predetermined location, and that they will be the main force?"
Marius sneered. The Mad Earl first took a deep breath and then made a pig's growling sound. After about five seconds, he said to everyone, "Lose a battle. Fake defeat to lure the enemy, just like in the Battle of the Three Kings."
Ivy led the Kurfürst to the map and pointed at the entire Golden Fortress.
"The western sector of the Golden Fortress is Örengrád and Auster. There are Nord's navy, Empire's navy, Kislöw's navy, and even the High Elves' navy. The Dark Shadow Forest is long and complicated. It has never been the main attack direction of Chaos."
"To the east of the Golden Fortress is the Ostmark Wasteland. Further south is Sylvania. Chaos will not be interested in attacking there. Furthermore … we know the situation in the east."
Everyone couldn't help but nod. Everyone was clear about the situation in the east. Was it occupied by the undead?
Were the undead their allies? For now, it seemed that they were. In the past year or so, the undead had supported the Empire's army and resisted the attacks of Chaos many times. Although the two sides didn't have an official alliance, there was some tacit understanding. The army of Chaos was also not interested in attacking the pile of dead people. The undead didn't have the blood and killing that Chaos craved, and they couldn't appreciate the emotional fluctuations of the dead.
Karl-franz somewhat understood. The emperor asked, "You mean, we should give up the Golden Fortress in the middle sector and lure the enemy in?"
"That's right." Marius nodded. The Mad Earl grunted like a pig again and smacked his lips. "If we want to lure the enemy in, we have to lose a battle. And we have to lose a real battle. We have to make the Chaos bastards feel that they can completely defeat us at any time, and even … even have the chance to kill the supreme emperor of the Charlemagne Empire in front of him."
"This way, the Eternal Chosen One will definitely lead the army to charge through the Golden Fortress. As long as they enter the battlefield we set, the army of Chaos will be attacked from three sides. We will have a chance to defeat the Eternal Chosen One."
Marshal Rick's eyes suddenly sharpened. He stood up and wanted to yell, "What are you planning, you idiot? Go tell Charlemagne! "
The emperor stopped Helberg. He listened carefully to Marius' plan.
The situation was very critical now. Karl-franz knew that if this continued, the Empire would definitely lose. It was time to consider taking some risks.
What the Empire needed now was a decisive victory. If they could kill the Eternal Chosen One outside the Golden Fortress in one go, or if they could destroy the main forces of Chaos and force the Eternal Chosen One to give up on the south and return to the Wasteland of Chaos to wait for an opportunity, it would be a success.
The emperor understood Marius' strategy. It was to open the middle section of the Golden Fortress and attract the attention of Chaos. Then, they would feign defeat and retreat. They would lure the Eternal Chosen One and his main forces into the breach. Then, they would fight the army of the Empire at the location chosen by the Empire. Then, they would attack from three sides and delay the main forces of Chaos. This would give Wo Teng time to defeat the Eternal Chosen One.
This was indeed a replica of the Battle of the Three Kings. Laing also fought in this way. He had fewer people on the right wing, so he feigned defeat and lured the Green Skins to attack. Then, he used the diagonal formation and the strong defensive line of Midden and Lady Veronica's Doomsday Curse to cause the Green Skins to suffer huge losses and be unable to defeat Midden. On the left wing, Laing gathered his superior forces and pierced through the Orc formation. Then, he let Teresa and Aurora flood the Orc formation. Then, he froze them. When the battle was intense, he decisively sent out the Old Guard to secure victory.
Marius' plan was to plagiarize on the spot. He would open the Golden Fortress and interrupt the battle. The emperor would lead a small number of troops to feign defeat and lure the main forces of Chaos to attack. Then, he would set up a position behind the Golden Fortress and wait for the enemy to enter the encirclement. Wo Teng would be prepared to deal with the Eternal Chosen One. At the crucial moment, the Gryphon Knights and Rick's Praetorian Guards would attack from the side to secure victory.
There was a chance! The Emperor's eyes lit up, but before he could say anything, General Albrecht Ludwig Johann Rudenhoff, a trusted aide of Emmanuelle's, spoke up: "Of course this is a good plan, but here comes the problem. Everyone, who will be the one to feign defeat? At that time, the ones responsible for the feint were the Inner Ring Teuton Guards of the White Wolf Knights, the White Wolf Knights, and the sons of Yuric. They were the most elite troops of Middenheim. If they couldn't organize an orderly retreat, then the feint would immediately turn into a rout. At that time, the unorganized army would easily crush the allies behind them, and then we would really have lost the momentum. "
As soon as General Rudenhoff spoke, everyone couldn't help but nod. Carl Franz simply said, "Then let me and my Rik guards do it!"
"There are too few of us. Two to three hundred Rick's Praetorian Guards will be swallowed by the enemy." Helberg shook his head.
"And the Franz's Praetorian Guards?" The Emperor did not give up.
"Not enough training, Your Majesty. If the Praetorian Guards are used to lure the enemy, we can't count on them in the following battles." Ivan, the Griffin Duke, narrowed his eyes. This veteran general did not agree with such a risky approach. "Then, who will be able to fight against the main forces of Chaos at the critical moment?"
Marius' plan was too risky. Not only did they need Karl-franz to go up personally, but they also needed to bet on the fact that the army could retreat in an orderly manner without feigning defeat. They also needed to ensure that they could lure the Chosen One of Chaos to lead the main forces here. They also needed to ensure that the armies of the other Kurfürst could hold back most of the Chaos army. Lastly, they also needed to ensure that the Emperor's Praetorian Guards could open a path to the Chosen One. In the end, Woteng had to win.
After hearing Ivan's words, the atmosphere in the hall cooled down.
"…" Emperor Karl-franz felt reluctant after hearing it. Although the Emperor still had other ideas, he could only say, "Tell us your plan, Marius. Let's discuss it first."
Marius looked disappointed. Normally speaking, when a person proposed the best plan, the second plan, and the third plan, it was actually because the best plan was too radical, and the third plan was equivalent to admitting defeat. It was a way to induce people to choose the second plan. But Marius was different. Marius really wanted to act according to the best plan. Seeing that the Emperor did not accept it immediately, Kurfürst Marius' interest was greatly reduced.
"The second plan is still the same. We need to retreat in an orderly manner." Marius said to everyone, "The difference is that we retreat first and leave a protrusion in the middle of the Golden Fortress to lure the enemy to attack and let the main forces of Chaos enter our encirclement. Then … we hold the front and launch a pincer attack."
This strategy was much less risky, but the possible outcome was also much smaller. Also, it was a bit of a gamble.
"What if the main forces of Chaos don't come?" As expected, Kurfürst Gesser asked.
"Then we'll at least take down part of the Army of Chaos. We'll talk about the rest later." Marius could only shrug.
"What's the worst plan?" Karl-franz thought that the best plan was too risky, and the second plan was easier to accept.
"The worst plan is … we attack directly from Örengrád through the Linsk River! Cross the Golden Fortress and launch a surprise attack on Prague! " Marius said seriously, "Chaos will never expect us to attack first. We can definitely catch them off guard. But the problem is that we have to gamble. We have to gamble that the Eternal Chosen One is in Prague. Otherwise … this is the best plan, the middle plan, and the worst plan. Your Majesty, please decide."
"Your Majesty, please decide!" Everyone in the hall looked at Emperor Karl-franz.
Karl-franz hesitated again and again. He thought for a long time. In the end, under the strong opposition of Helberg, Ludwig, and Duke Ivan, the emperor did not choose the best plan, but he also did not choose the worst plan of attacking Prague.
He chose to retreat slowly and reorganize the Empire's defense line. At the same time, he ordered the opening of the middle section of the Golden Fortress to create a protrusion. He was going to set up an ambush there and lure the main forces of Chaos into a decisive battle with the Army of Chaos.
The location of the decisive battle was the Hof Wind Root in the middle of Ostermark. It was a barren swamp and a protrusion. The Empire's army was going to set up a defense at the Hof Wind Root and let the main forces of Chaos be trapped in the swamp. They would use the advantage of firepower and pincer attacks to find an opportunity to send Wo Teng to the Eternal Chosen One and let him defeat the Eternal Chosen One.
This battle plan was named "Plan to Protect the Tarabek River".
Everyone knew that if this plan failed, Chaos would directly attack Herzig and Tarabek, and the Empire would lose half of its territory.
After the battle plan was decided, everyone dispersed and began their preparations.
"Then, Esme III, I'll have to trouble you to head to the frontlines and preside over the abandonment of the Golden Fortress." Karl-franz was very tired after a few hours of discussion.
"Understood." Acting Archbishop Esme III walked out of the castle hall. His face was ashen as he gripped his archbishop's scepter tightly in anger.
What the hell was this battle plan?
Luther Huss, Wo Teng, two heretics!
Galt! Enemies of the Church! The biggest traitor!
You want to give up the Church of Justice's efforts over the past year and the Golden Fortress? Give up the Holy Wall of Justice and let the Empire's enemies step into the Empire's territory?
Esme III was furious. He felt that he had never been treated as an equal by Emperor Karl-franz. He believed that he was the religious leader of the Empire, but the Church of Justice was now in Wo Teng's hands. The emperor only treated him as a servant and not an equal leader.
He didn't even get a chance to speak in the meeting. Everyone just gave him the battle plan and let him carry it out.
If you want me to abandon the Golden Fortress, then so be it! When Esme III arrived at the frontlines of Aldefen, the acting archbishop announced that all the combat priests and monks would be transferred away and abandon the maintenance of the Golden Fortress. He took his people and left the frontlines in the north, embarking on the journey back to Brunswick.
You can drown yourselves with Wo Teng and Luther Huss! Since no one needs me, so be it, Esme the Third thought indignantly.
The acting archbishop, Esme the Third, immediately left with about two hundred combat priests and a thousand holy warriors from the Church of Justice. What was left behind was the trembling and cracking walls of the Golden Fortress that had lost the blessing of faith.
Unfortunately, the Empire still didn't understand how the Golden Fortress worked. From the Empire's point of view, if they removed the middle section of the Golden Fortress, the only things that would collapse would be the areas that were abandoned.
In fact, if Galt was still around, the great alchemist would be able to fine-tune the defenses of the Golden Fortress.
However, Galt thought of this problem before he left. The great alchemist smelted the entire Golden Fortress into one! The failure of a few nodes meant the collapse of the entire Golden Fortress.
On the seventh day after Esme III left, Emperor Karl-franz and the generals of the Empire were still setting up the rear lines and arranging the battle order. While they were mobilizing the troops, a report came from the frontlines that the Golden Fortress had begun to collapse!
The main forces of Chaos gathered thousands of troops. When the hated walls were shattered, they chanted and sang praises to the Chaos Gods and began to attack along Aldefen. The gathered Northmen cheered and rushed into the Empire through the expanding cracks.
Aldefen was declared lost within six hours, and the entire northern part of Ostmark was taken over by Chaos.
At this time, only half of the Empire's preparations were ready. Helberg's troops had already begun to set up the formation in Huff Wind Root, but Marius' and Woten's troops still had 30% to mobilize. The second and third lines of defense were also not ready! The Empire only had about 90000 troops ready to fight.
However, the commander of the Chaos faction, Keron – the Conqueror, was also taken aback. Eichahn's deputy commander was dumbfounded when he heard that the Golden Fortress had collapsed so abruptly. Keron didn't have the time to mobilize all of the Chaos troops. Instead, he mobilized all of the troops that he could mobilize in a short period of time and personally led the Chaos Guards. About 200000 Chaos troops charged directly towards the location of the Empire's final battle — Ostermark Province's Heffwind City.
The Empire's luck was not bad. Chaos was indeed heading towards the designated location, but there were still too many of them.
Karl-franz was in a hurry. When he rushed to Huff Wind Root, he realized that the situation was bad. The Emperor knew that the situation was urgent. The defense line behind the Golden Fortress was not ready. If he failed in Huff Wind Root, Chaos would reach Tara Beheim.
He was forced to make a decision.
Captain Gentry of Rik's Praetorian Guard accepted the Emperor's order and personally carried the letter to the East.
The Empire decided to ask for help from the Undead.
The battle of Huff Wind Root had to be won. Otherwise, half of the Empire would fall.
Just like that, the battle of Huff Wind Root that would decide the fate of the Empire was about to erupt.
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