Unlike the aristocratic coalition that can only flee hastily in the wilderness and hills, the Cecil Combat Corps has always received support from the mainland as well as the Leslie area and the Conde area. Although due to road and transportation restrictions, These supports were not timely, but in this situation, these supports were enough to give the soldiers some breathing space and rotation.
On the afternoon of the tenth day, Knight Byron led a thousand troops and a large amount of supplies from Cecil to the west, and successfully merged with the first and second mixed corps led by Knight Philip. When they met, Wald Perich was leading the soldiers of the Second Corps to bundle up groups of noble coalition prisoners of war and send them to the rear.
Byron found Philip who was leading the team: "I brought more 'Persuader' light artillery shells and replacement acceleration rail components - by the way, things look pretty good here. ”
Due to many days of marching and fighting, Knight Philip’s face looked a little tired, but his spirit was still high: “These things came at the right time - the food can rely on the dry food carried and from the enemy.” Seized, but the artillery shells are indeed very depleted."
Byron raised his head and looked at the prisoners with numb expressions, stiff steps, and walking zombies with their hands tied. From the mental state of these prisoners. , he knew that this chase was coming to an end.
“It is the lord’s duty to keep these people alive as much as possible,” he said to Philip. “Most of the noble coalition forces are farmers and hunters recruited from various places, as well as various Serf soldiers and slave soldiers are all labor force."
"I know," Philip nodded, "but to be honest...the enemy is getting more and more scattered, especially after entering the open area. Several nobles led troops to flee in different directions. We used artillery fire to eliminate and intercept some of them, but there were still several troops that rushed into the forest farther west. I think at least a quarter to a third of them The enemy escaped."
"This situation was expected by the lord," Byron nodded. "We have powerful artillery and ray guns, but after all, the number of people is limited. We must destroy all the enemies or Integration is unrealistic, but don't worry, the lord said something before I set off - the nobles have castles and real estate they can't let go of, and they can't wander around forever. One day we will deal with those who run away. "
"I hope so," Philip took a deep breath and looked up at the long, almost endless line of prisoners, "after this war is over. , the entire southern part of the kingdom became a whole..."
On the twelfth day of the pursuit, the core of the noble coalition - the team of knights and mages composed of extraordinary people, as well as the nobles who supervised the battle, finally completely collapse.
It would have been impossible for the noble private soldiers who lacked organization and discipline to persist until today. The reason why they can continue to flee is mostly because the extraordinary people in the coalition are still using their strong willpower. and deterrenceThe situation was maintained, but when the will of these extraordinary people reached its limit, the entire coalition team collapsed almost in an instant.
The coalition of nobles began to surrender in droves, and the surrenders were led by knights, mages and even noble lords themselves.
In fact, according to general rules, the surrender of nobles should be easier - according to the usual "rules" of noble wars, nobles who surrender and are captured on the battlefield will receive treatment consistent with their status in exchange. With the ransom as a bargaining chip, their lives will be guaranteed, and they will even be sent to the conqueror's castle with great courtesy and become guests. However, the Cecil people's terrible fighting methods and Gawain Cecil's disobedience The style of aristocratic rules frightened those people, and they did not dare to put their lives in the hands of those Cecil soldiers.
But after their physical strength and will were exhausted to the limit, no matter how much worry and fear they had, they could not get up from the ground and continue moving forward.
The noble soldiers who lost their fighting spirit - including knights and levies - stayed on the plains like frightened goats. Most of them had eaten the last bite of food, and even the horses they once rode The war horses and rats they caught on the road had been used to satisfy their hunger. They could not lie down to sleep or eat or drink safely for many days. All they could think about was the rumble of exploding artillery shells. There were dozens of these people in piles. Some groups of hundreds of people were scattered everywhere, and all Cecil's soldiers had to do was run around on the vast plains to gather these people, and then hand the ropes to their hands and let them Tie yourself up.
Wald Perich and the Second Combat Corps led by him were mainly responsible for collecting these prisoners and escorting them to the rear. The number of prisoners was so huge that the people responsible for escorting them could not match them. However, they did not have to worry about the prisoners escaping on the way - those people had completely lost their will to resist after many days of fleeing, and even if they resisted, the unarmed levy prisoners could not deal with Sisi. The ray guns and melting swords in the hands of Er combat soldiers.
As the number of prisoners increased and the battle lines became longer and longer, an embarrassing and unexpected situation emerged: Cecil was short of manpower.
The escort team of the Second Combat Corps began to be in short supply. Even Walder asked the Knights to transfer a thousand reserves from the Kant area to the front line to receive prisoners of war. Not only was it not enough to escort the prisoners, Even the manpower needed to guard the tens of thousands of noble conscripts and prisoners of war in the plains was insufficient.
While the two orthodox knights Philip and Walder were worried about this unexpected embarrassing situation, the Byron knight volunteered to take a team of troops to the south to mobilize reinforcements.
Knight Philip has always criticized Byron's careless behavior and lack of knightly ethics, but he has to admit that this old colleague with a mercenary background always has a command when solving some unexpected situations. A novel idea that dazzles people - although there areSometimes his ideas are confusing, but overall he can solve problems very well.
After waiting for some days with expectation, the two knights Philip and Walder waited for Byron who returned from the rear - he still brought the team he had taken with him, except that There wasn't even a single person outside.
On the plains of the increasingly chaotic Horsman area, Philip looked at Byron in astonishment as he seemed to have returned without success: "Didn't the lord allocate people to you? You can also train soldiers... ..."
"I didn't go back to Cecil, otherwise I wouldn't have come back so quickly," Byron said proudly, "I just went to Leslie Hall and met Viscount Andrew. ..."
"What then?" Philip asked doubtfully, and kept looking behind Byron, except for the group of people and many carriages that Byron took away and brought back. , he could not see any supporting manpower, "Are the people sent by Viscount Andrew still behind?"
"I borrowed five thousand axes," Byron pointed to the carriages he brought , "After that, Viscount Andrew will send someone to transport a batch of grain for temporary transition. Other than that, there is nothing else. There are not many people in Leslie's territory, and they also help to watch the fishing from the Baishui River." Where are the thousands of people who came out?"
Philip didn't react at once: "Axes? Why did you bring five thousand axes?"
"Give them to those prisoners. They went to cut down the woods on the east side of Horsman's territory and built a prisoner-of-war camp on the spot. In addition, you can search among the prisoners later. There should be people who survived Count Horsman's side. Take them to take over nearby farms and Granary - if not, then bring a few more cannons there." Philip was stunned for a moment as he listened. He couldn't imagine how all these magical operations in Byron's mind came up: "You mean... let these prisoners build a prisoner of war camp and lock themselves up?"
"You can give them ropes and let them tie themselves up, why can't you let them themselves?" Build a camp and lock yourself up?" Byron waved his hand, "These people have been completely demoralized, at least they will not be able to recover in a short time. We must take advantage of them while they are still in this state and use the shortest possible time to defeat them. The people will be completely controlled and then transported to Cecil in batches - the last sentence was given by the lord." Philip was speechless and had to admit that what Byron said made sense.
So, on the last day of this long pursuit, the last coalition of nobles on the Horsman Plains ended their long and painful escape in an unprecedented dramatic way.
Under the supervision of thousands of Cecil soldiers, the coalition prisoners of war, wielding axes lent to them, took three shifts day and night to cut down a forest on the edge of Horsman's territory, and then built their own He set up a prisoner of war camp and locked himself up.
When the last batch of coalition prisoners of war was received by the Cecil people, Viscount Carroll and his last personal entourage and companions were trekking through the muddy terrain in the northern part of the Horsman area.in wetlands.
The once high-spirited young Viscount has lost his glory. His gorgeous coat has become dirty, his breeches and boots are torn by thorns, and there are still a few pieces on his complexly patterned cloak. There was a hole penetrated by a thermal ray gun, and the hair that had not been washed for many days was stuck to his forehead like greasy waterweed. And beside him were Viscount Consisco and Viscount Mari Olan, who were even more embarrassed than he was.
They luckily escaped from the hands of the hungry Cecil people, but they had no idea where to go next. Severe fatigue was destroying the thinking ability of these three nobles. They only felt that My own life is as bad and messy as this muddy wetland, with no hope at all.
At this moment, the sound of horse hooves suddenly came from behind, causing Viscount Carroll and his companions, who were trekking hard, to stop nervously and frightenedly.
But when they turned around, they found that the person in front of them was not the Cecil.
Lady Luo Penni Glen stopped in front of them, and there was a sizable team behind her.
"Countess Grant, you also escaped?!" Viscount Carroll looked at the lady in front of him in surprise. He found that the other party's situation was much better than his own, although she seemed to be in a better situation. She was a little embarrassed, but not only did she have a horse to ride, but the guards around her seemed to be well equipped. I really don’t know how the countess did this in the chaos, "These people..."
"I gathered up the people who were separated on the plain," Luo Penni smiled, "Viscount Carroll, it seems that you are separated from the team again."
This scene seems familiar, Viscount Carroll He vaguely remembered that when the army was in chaos on the mountain road of Gravel Ridge, the lady appeared in front of him like this and gathered up the disorganized troops. But now such a situation had completely reappeared, and he had to sigh. The wonder of fate: "You will always see me in a sorry state..."
"Follow me - I still have a few extra horses," said Luo Penny Grant to these destitute people in front of her. The nobles extended a helping hand, "We have to unite."
Several nobles in trouble and the last followers they led joined Luo Penni's team. Viscount Mari Oran couldn't help but feel this way. The team's future felt curious: "Where are we going?"
"To the north," Luo Penny Grant looked back at Viscount Mari Olan, "We are going to the Rock Fortress."
"Rock Fortress?" Viscount Carroll couldn't help but hesitate when he heard this familiar name, "Then we have to pass through my territory...those Cecil people..."
p>
"The Cecil people have already left from there. They certainly didn't expect that we would return after we finally escaped pursuit," said Luo Penny Grant. "They are limited in number and cannot occupy every noble in a short time. "
"They left..." Carol couldn't help but feel something in her heart when she heard Luo Penni's words.Then I..."
"Don't think about returning to your castle, Mr. Viscount," Ropenny Grant knew what Carol was thinking. She immediately turned her head and warned seriously, "Don't Forget, those Cecilians blew down your first wall in front of you - they can also blow down your castle. "
As she spoke, she turned back, with seemingly endless perseverance in her eyes: "No place in the south is safe anymore. Gentlemen, our only hope is to seek help from the Holy Spirit Plains. To seek help from Count Pompeii, you need to go to the Rock Fortress - it is an extremely strong fortress. Its walls are poured with magic metal, which can resist the attack of the great magician. It is completely different from the walls of the Carol Territory. The Sirians could not break it. "
Perhaps it was the same confidence in the Rock Fortress, or perhaps the severe fatigue that affected Viscount Carroll's judgment. He was easily convinced by Ropenny Grant. He nodded: "Okay. Let's go to Rock Fortress..."
"Of course, but before that, we have to gather our lost companions as much as possible," Luo Penny Grant smiled, and her smile seemed particularly contagious, "Together. There are still several teams that escaped from the Cecil people's pursuit. We need to gather all the separated people. Only if our team is large enough and enough nobles are gathered, the Rock Fortress will realize the situation. Only if we are serious will we receive us more seriously..."
(Double updates should not be possible for the time being in the past few days=.=)