Vol 6 Chapter 192: Marching on the ice field

Boundary Mountain Fortress, on the road to Blood Skull Valley.
The time gradually advanced to the end of winter, but not only did the weather not improve, but instead it became more and more severe-the rare days of clear skies seemed to have never existed before, covered by endless clouds and snow.
In the cold wind, a huge cavalry regiment followed the ancient road that was left from the sixth generation of Brandon I, maintaining a formation of four or five rides in a long and narrow queue. , Advancing towards the Valley of Blood Skeleton;
Riding on a leather-clad warhorse, walking on the sometimes bumpy and steady wilderness, the knights were carrying a heavier suitcase than before, and even the armor was wrapped in warm fur, and finally began to adapt to this cold winter the weather.
Of course, thanks to the hard work of the garrison guards in the fortresses of the Boundary Mountains ... Standing on a gentle slope, Earl Eckert, sighing and gazing at the road far away.
This is a wasteland in the north of the Boundary Mountain-not to mention settlements, there can be no silhouettes within a dozen kilometers; under such harsh conditions, it is still possible to maintain a relatively complete and normal road, which is simply unimaginable.
"Sir Ector--!"
The loud cry and the sound of horseshoes echoed under the sky, and a cavalry with a black lion gold flag galloped on the side of the queue until he saw the figure of the Earl of the Fury.
"On the order of the Duke-the floating city ahead has been anchored at the Camp of Blood Skeleton, and now two thousand legionnaires and the Duke's Legion are camping around the Horn Castle!"
"The legionnaires are camped on both the east and west sides of the Blood Skull Valley, and the wing of the Horn Castle ensures that the surroundings must be flat wilderness, and must not be close to glaciers and highlands. Investigate! "
"understand!"
The frowning Count Earl of Fury did not ask a word more, and extended his hand to the attendant behind him, "Map!"
The attendant who rushed over quickly spread a simple map directly on the horse.
Looking at this map of the glacier wilderness that hasn't changed much since "Sage" Brandon I, Earl of Fury frowned even more.
It looks like a flat glacier wasteland, but it is actually composed of large and small broken hills and rugged areas; there are glaciers, cliffs, peaks, frozen lakes ... area that can really facilitate the deployment of large-scale troops, really There is only one place of Blood Skeleton.
After seeing the terrain here with his own eyes, Eckert can basically confirm that the battle of the "Sage" Brandon I's Blood Valley was not an accident, but a carefully planned and designed battle. .
Only there is the discipline and formation of the imperial army, the advantages of cavalry assault and long-range crossbowmen ’s counterattack can be fully exerted; otherwise it is blocked in the fortress, no matter how many troops can only be on top of each team, Finally drowned alive by massive monsters;
If the Imperial Army is unable to maintain its formation when encountering enemies in a broken wilderness, I am afraid that only the front will be destroyed by monsters and evil spirits, and then divided and slaughtered.
Tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands of troops are deployed to determine the ultimate battle between the fate of the two forces ... It is only the final result and a throw; the real key is how to put all the troops into the battlefield and ensure that the final battlefield is against your own side The most advantageous.
At this moment, Earl Eckert suddenly realized how wise the Duke of Loren had done all he could to develop trade and unify the military system in the past few years, and finally hollow out the wealth of the Church of Byrne.
Because it takes a lot of manpower, material and financial resources, and the organization of steel discipline to want to do all this; who can be faster, more, and better prepare everything needed for the war and put it into the need to put it Location, who can win absolute initiative.
To a certain extent, who will win the war is likely to have been decided before the start of the war; no matter how knights stand alone, they can only set off unremarkable waves in the huge waves.
Therefore, a better commander will ensure that this kind of decisive battle will not happen at all-in the preparation stage of both sides, the enemy will be wiped out in the bud, and finally overwhelm it with the attitude of completely crushing the class.
The cold wind in the wilderness made Earl Eckert wake up from endless contemplation, stamped a few marks on the map with the coat of arms on the ring, and then handed it to the messenger:
"Give this map to the Earl of Ramalos in Lake City and the Earl of Regrell on White Horse Peak, and order them to lead their men and cooperate with the Empire Rangers to start reconnaissance near the marked location."
"It is forbidden to let go of a cave, and not to leave a trace; once the trace of the enemy is found, report it immediately, and it is not allowed to organize the battle without authorization!"
"Observe!"
The messenger who took the map was tucked directly in his arms, pulled up the flag and hurried along the queue to the next stop.
"Scout enemy situation, is this to prepare to fight the Azore's eagle king?" Looking at the messenger who had run away, the attendant behind Eckert couldn't help but ask.
The countless faceless Count of Fury looked back and glanced across his excited attendant, frowning.
…………………………
"On the contrary-we use cavalry to conduct armed reconnaissance on such a large scale, and we have to clean up the battlefield to prepare for war. The purpose is to avoid an immediate confrontation with the eagle king."
At the top of the Hornborg Tower in Blood Skull Valley, looking at Lucen, still confused, Loren explained quietly.
The gray pupil standing behind him said nothing, but his face still couldn't hide the curious expression.
The dark-haired wizard didn't answer him immediately, his gaze kept staring at a desolate valley of blood skeletons; just less than an hour after the horn fort was stationed, two thousand empire legionnaires and Bayern's knights had begun to surround Outside the castle, the ring-shaped fortifications and camps were built in the snow under the cold wind.
It must be admitted that the "black walls" of the empire are second to none in the Principality regardless of their endurance or adaptability; even in the frozen soil of the wilderness, they have a way to dig trenches with shields and shovels, even Civilized snow builds a "protective wall".
With the assistance of two thousand legionnaires, in just an hour, a ring-shaped camp built around the castle has already taken shape; with the simplest protective walls, trenches and camp areas;
Even in the "inner ring" near the castle, the legionnaires reserved a large area of ​​"open space" that had been dug up, temporarily used as a material distribution center, and later used to build food warehouses, military hospitals, ambulances, weapon storage rooms and The blacksmith workshop for repair, and according to the speed of the excavation, the simple road was repaired while the construction progressed.
According to the army commander who reported to Loren, they almost followed the standard of "semi-permanent barracks" to build this "temporary fortress";
And looking at the current progress of the project, the most basic construction can be completed in one day, and it can be used normally within a week; at most two months, this military camp can exist "semi-permanently".
The counts who followed Loren were almost silent when they heard this reply.
A fort can be built one day and night ... It is absolutely impossible to replace the knights of Byrne.
As for the reason-except that the legionnaires were almost all peasants and craftsmen, it was because the military system of the empire was unified as early as twelve generations; the soldiers of East Sakland and the soldiers of West Sakland except There may be differences in accents and military uniforms, from boots to armor, from weapons to training ... all the same.
Loren doesn't expect the knights of Byrne to be like the legion of the empire, nor does he need it; he only needs this group of people to understand the purpose and pains of his unified military system, and it is enough to stop opposing him.
Although the division of the two generations did not separate Baien ’s territories from each other, at least a semi-independent situation occurred-the poorer areas were better, the richer Earl counts expected to serve and pay taxes to the Principality, and the rest Affairs are handled by themselves, and no longer accept the interference of the principality.
In the wilderness in the distance, you can already see the marching cavalry team appearing within the control of the horn fort; several cavalry cavaliers are galloping towards the fortress.
"It's the messenger who went to contact the hussars. They are back!"
Looking forward, Lucien looked at the flag in the cavalry's hand and turned his head to glance at the dark-haired wizard on his side: "Coming so soon, it is likely that we found something-Lord Loren, we really ... will not be with Ya Does the Elf fight immediately? "
"It's not for us to decide, but for the leader of the Azores to decide."
Loren shook his head, but his expression was calm: "We have to think from their point of view-if I am the King of Eagles, should I immediately destroy this enemy who is trying to station in the Blood Skull Valley?"
"This ... should I?"
Some self-doubt gray pupils have very uncertain expressions: "Once we have established camps and fortresses in the Valley of Blood Skeleton, they will greatly threaten their existence and also be the biggest obstacle to their attack on the Fortress of the Boundary Mountain. If you do n’t destroy us, when you attack the Fortress of the Boundary Mountain, you will definitely be enemies!

"Yes, but this is our wishful thinking, not theirs." Loren smiled and sighed: "From the side of the Azores, this may be the result they want."
"Ok?"
Luisen's face was unbelievable.
"You think about it this way-they scavenged all of our reconnaissance strongholds, so we sent out scout cavalry; we found their tracks, so we sent a cavalry army in an attempt to catch them; they wiped out the cavalry, so we Mobilized a stronger army and directly controlled the Blood Skull Valley to all areas near the Fortress of the Boundary Mountain. "
"Isn't it natural to think about it this way?"
Luisen nodded, but not understanding, but the expression "Although I don't understand but I feel very reasonable".
"In simple terms, every move of the empire is a unilateral response to the elves' stimuli, which is very passive and predictable." Loren explained:
"After the Earl Braha ’s cavalry was wiped out, the empire had two options-either to stay in the fortress and stay out of it, or take the initiative to expand the control range to ensure that no similar situation would happen again.
"Everything is within the expectations of the Eagle King; so their goal is achieved. The next thing they have to do is to avoid our control and continue to do what they have been doing before; and at the same time ... "
"At the same time, it will allow the empire to waste a lot of manpower and material resources to maintain the existence of the Blood Skull Valley stronghold ?!"
Suddenly awakened, Lucien broke out directly.
The dark-haired wizard nodded slightly, agreeing.
"So I think the other party will try to avoid fighting with us in the short term; even deliberately release some bait to interfere with our attention, so that we have something to do, not to think about the troublesome things like" Where are they? "
"So when the enemy actually appears, we may not have any preparation at all." Loren's face had a playful smile:
"The last thing they have to do is to destroy our low morale and supply the fortress that is lacking."
It was obviously a joke, but Lucien swallowed in horror.
"Then ... what shall we do to avoid this happening?"
Lucien asked very hard.
"Simply put, it is to seize the initiative of this battle-of course, it is not easy to do this." Loren guessed: "We must seize the time to find their location and figure out what they want to do. "
"This is the real priority right now, so Connold promised us to let the Azore elf captive" flee "-although it seems hopeless, but as long as there is a possibility, then don't Should be let go. "
"And we control the Valley of Blood Skeleton, although it will consume a lot of manpower and material resources; but the elves who have been compressed in the range of activities will also be very simple; their supply is very limited, if they can not capture the Fortress of the Boundary Mountain before they are consumed, then It means the whole army is annihilated. "
Between the two talking, Dalton Kander, who had a gloomy face, had walked up to the top of the tower. His cold eyes stared at the face of the dark-haired wizard from beginning to end ~ EbookFREE.me ~ bad news? "
Loren asked instinctively.
Dalton nodded slightly: "Our Rangers found the Earl of Seth Braha, Knight Nazer, and the battlefield where the hussars were annihilated, just less than half a day away."
"Except for the traces on the battlefield, all the bodies, weapons, and broken armor of the Azores-if they really existed-all disappeared without a trace, only the cavalry's bodies were still there. "
Loren sighed: "So ... what about the good news?"
"We have found Captain Nazer."
"He is still alive ?!"
"He is not dead," Dalton emphasized:
"As for whether you are still alive ... it depends on what you think."