"I know, I know everything. Isn't it just a secret …" Westwood Town's mayor, Old Zik, lowered his head and bowed his body. He crossed his hands in his sleeves and walked toward the town hall.
The rainy season had just ended, so the ground was wet and slippery. If it was possible, Old Zik really did not want to go out, just like how he did not want to be the mayor.
However, he had no choice. The Grand Duke sent people to understand the situation, so as the mayor, he could only come forward.
He treated these arrogant messengers with good food and drinks, explained the movements of the strange light cavalry unit that passed through Westwood Town two days ago, and reported the situation of the light cavalry unit collecting food and horse fodder in town. He also showed them the list of the collected supplies and the receipt given to him by the unit. This was proof that could compensate for the taxes paid by Westwood Town.
The messengers thought that this should be a light cavalry that carried out a secret transfer mission, so they bypassed the Grand Duke's Efenasburg and did not enter the town to disturb the Grand Duke.
This was also what the Grand Duke was unhappy about. As a member of the Eastern Region Alliance, not only did the Alliance's troops not inform him of the transfer, they did not even visit his castle when they passed by. This was very rude and made the Grand Duke angry. It was obvious that the commander of this troop did not respect the Grand Duke …
However, the messengers obtained a piece of good news from Old Zik. The commander of the light cavalry that passed by two days ago said that they were the vanguard, and there would be a large group of troops coming in a few days.
He believed that the commander of the follow-up troops would visit the Grand Duke to make the Grand Duke happy.
Perhaps the commander would tell the Grand Duke the purpose of their military transfer and what their designation was. He did not reveal it now because Old Zik's status was too low, so he wanted to keep it a secret.
So after the messengers ate and drank their fill, they did it themselves and went back after catching a dozen chickens and geese in Westwood Town.
The entire Sidins Duchy was extremely poor now, so it was impossible for Old Zik to give the messengers anything.
If it was not for the fact that Old Zeek owned a farm in Westwood Town and could sell some agricultural products to Efenasburg to pay the taxes collected by the Grand Duke and barely get by, he would not have been able to become the mayor …
Every time the Grand Duke's messengers came, they would sweep the town. Old Zick believed that when he returned to the town hall, the townspeople whose chickens and geese had been taken away were already waiting for him to go back and give compensation.
Those bastards of the Archduke's messengers did not understand that the eggs laid by the chickens and geese they caught were often a month's supply of salt and needles for the townspeople.
To them, it was just a meal that they could casually grab on a trip to the countryside …
Fortunately, he had already warned the townspeople not to do anything when the messengers were catching chickens and geese. They should just watch from the sidelines. He would give them compensation when he returned after sending the messengers away.
Otherwise, if the townspeople went to protect their chickens and geese, they might end up with their families destroyed.
Old Zick had been to Efenasi Castle many times, and he had seen the Grand Duke's entourage galloping unscrupulously on the streets of the castle. Those who could not dodge in time were injured and whipped.
These envoys were all trusted subordinates of the Grand Duke. The consequences of offending them would be very miserable.
He remembered that before the messengers left, they had told him to keep his mouth shut and not to reveal anything about the light cavalry that had passed by two days ago.
Old Zick found it laughable.
Wasn't it just military movements that needed to be kept secret? He was not a child and naturally knew that. Moreover, he had no interest in where the light cavalry was going or what they were doing.
Although the light cavalry was a little strange and their behavior was a little abnormal, Old Zick did not say anything to the Grand Duke's messengers.
Sometimes, Old Zick felt that his days would be more comfortable without the Sidins Duchy.
During the war in the East, Grand Duke Sidins fled and the duchy perished. It was then divided into new territories and all the citizens of the duchy became citizens of the Aueran Kingdom.
Old Zick did not think much about the change in his status. He thought that no matter who ruled Westwood Town, the citizens would have to pay taxes and serve in the military.
In fact, he had guessed correctly. An official appointed by a noble came to Westwood Town and was in charge of collecting taxes for the citizens. The tax rate was not high at all for the citizens of the town, it was only 30%.
Old Zick's farm had also relied on the good times of the past few years to save up some money.
A year later, nearly a thousand labourers came to the town and repaired the road to Efenasburg. However, the labourers seemed to be living a miserable life.
Then, for some reason, there was a war. A group of soldiers came to the town and shot the official dead in front of the town hall. They then took away the treasures stored in the town hall.
After they left, Westwood Town was left alone and the citizens elected Old Zick as the temporary mayor.
Three years later, Grand Duke Sidins returned and the Sidins Duchy was reinstated. As a result, the tax rate in Westwood Town was doubled from 30% to 60%. At the same time, many labourers were distributed.
The year before last, Grand Duke Sidins said he wanted revenge, so he added a war tax.
In the first half of last year, all the young men in the town were conscripted. In the second half of the year, they were conscripted again. Sixteen-Year-Olds and forty-year-old men were also forcibly taken away.
Now, Westwood Town was filled with the old, weak, women and children. There were no young men in sight.
Sometimes, Old Zick would think how good it would be if Grand Duke Sidins did not return. The tax rate was very light and no one would force the young men in the town to join the war.
Life had to go on. After two days, Old Zick woke up early and hitched two ox carts in the farm. He filled the cart with cabbages that were freshly picked by his wife and the hired women in the morning. They were still wet with dew. He was going to send them to Efenasburg to be sold.
He and his helper, Lame Mark, each drove an ox cart to Efenasburg. When they were almost there, they found that the road was blocked by a group of soldiers.
This group of soldiers should be the follow-up group mentioned by the light cavalry that passed by Westwood Town a few days ago because they all wore the same brown-gray military uniform.
An officer brought two soldiers and walked towards Old Zick and Mark. Old Zick and Mark were not afraid.
A few days ago, they came into contact with the vanguard of this army. Although they were mysterious, they were very disciplined. They set up camp outside the town and only sent a few officers with a group of soldiers into the town to collect provisions and horse fodder.
During this period, they also went out to buy a few pigs, sheep, chickens and geese. They paid in cash and did not offend the poultry and livestock raised by the townspeople. They also did not break into the townspeople's houses.
The officer only came to check what was in Old Zick and Mark's two carriages. After discovering that it was cabbages, he tore a leaf and put it in his mouth to taste. He thought that it was fragrant and sweet. The quality of the cabbages was very good.
Old Zick was very happy and decided to give a few cabbages to the officer. The officer declined. Old Zick said that they had just met two days ago and that there was no need to be polite.
The officer was stunned. Old Zick said that your vanguard had just passed by our town a few days ago. I was the one who helped them gather the provisions to be collected.
So the officer asked Old Zick what was going on. When Old Zick finished, the officer laughed and said, "Since we are old acquaintances, I will also do you a favor. You don't have to send things to the city to sell. We will buy these two carriages of cabbages."
Soon, the soldier sent by the officer came back with a chubby veteran. The veteran looked at the cabbages and was very satisfied. He directly gave Old Zick a very good price, and it was a cash transaction.
Old Zick asked the fat veteran if he still needed cabbages. Their farm still had five or six ox carts like this.
The fat veteran was very happy and said he wanted all of them. This cabbages was enough for their kitchen for a day. He wanted to send as much as he could.
So Old Zick's farm was busy for the whole morning. He called a lot of townspeople over to help move all the cabbages onto the ox carts and sent them to the barracks. After finding the fat veteran, he quickly paid for all the cabbages.
After asking the lame Mark and the town's helpers to send the ox carts back to the farm, Old Zick decided to go to the city and buy some fine linen for his precious little daughter to make a new dress for her.
For the past two years, his precious little daughter had been wearing the old clothes left behind by her sister before she got married.
Today, he sold all the cabbages in the farm and had just enough money to buy something.
The left side of the road to Efenasburg was filled with military tents. The color was the same as the military uniforms worn by the soldiers, all of them were brown-grey.
There were no fences or trenches between the tents and the road, but the soldiers on the other side of the tents did not come to the road. The occasional neighing of war horses and galloping horses were all behind the tents, restrained by the soldiers to not run wild on the road.
However, there were not many pedestrians and carriages on the road. The people who came out of the city all looked panicked and wanted to escape.
When he arrived at the castle gate, Old Zick found the reason why the people who came out of the city were so panicked.
It was because there were hundreds of corpses hanging on the wall. They were all dressed in luxurious clothes and many of them looked familiar.
Old Zick walked closer and squinted his eyes to look at the corpses hanging on the wall. In the end, he unexpectedly found familiar people.
The team of Grand Duke's envoys who came to Westwood Town to interrogate him a few days ago were all hanging on the wall. None of them escaped …
Looking at the city gate, Old Zeek found that the guards at the gate were also soldiers in brown-gray uniforms.
He walked to the front of the city gate and handed a piece of paper to a soldier who was walking towards him.
It was given to him by the chubby old soldier. When he heard that he was going to Efenasburg to buy something, the soldier told him to wait for a while and gave him the slip when he returned.
The soldier looked at the road pass and showed a rare smile. He returned the road pass to Old Zeek, waved his hand and shouted a few times at the back. The general idea was that this was their friend and they could let him pass.
Old Zick then asked him why the trusted aides of the Grand Duke were hanging on the wall.
The soldier smiled and replied that there would no longer be a Grand Duke Siddings here. We've taken back Efenasburg and this place will be Aueran's new territory.
.....
For the temporary Aueran court in Whitestag, the past three months were both painful and joyful.
First, the defensive line in Ambrize was set up. All the troops stationed at the second line of defense retreated to the outskirts of Whitestag and began the rare regrouping and reorganization that had happened since the start of the war.
At first, they were still on tenterhooks, but the continuous reports of victory from the Ambrize Prefecture's defensive line finally made everyone in the kingdom feel at ease.
No one had expected the combat power of the Monolith Corps to be so strong. They were practically fighting against seven people at once.
When the eastern nations discovered that the Aueran troops at the second line of defense had all retreated, they occupied the second line and pressed into Ambrize.
When they found out that Ambrize County had set up another defensive line with only one legion, the seven legions of the Eastern Region Alliance were overjoyed. They did not wait for the arrival of reinforcements and directly launched a fierce attack on the Monolith Legion. Using their heads to smash against the hard rock …
The first wave of attack was made up of cannon fodder from Siddings and Rimodra. As expected, they lost more than ten percent of their troops in less than half an hour. Their morale crumbled and they retreated from the frontlines.
The senior officers of the Eastern Regional Alliance could only shake their heads and sigh. Their allies were too weak. The wave attack launched by fifty to sixty thousand people was completely useless. They couldn't even detect the location of the enemy's heavy catapults.
The sound of muskets being fired could be heard from the defensive line. The soldiers at the front fell one after another while the ones at the back turned and ran. It seemed that it was better to let them do some chores.
The nobles from Sidins and Rimodra who were watching the battle turned around and left in shame. They gathered their bodyguards and rushed to where the corps set off from. Among the defeated soldiers, they caught nearly a hundred of the so-called deserters and executed the cruel punishment of beheading them. Then, they gave a speech to boost the morale of the soldiers.
It was a pity that no matter how hard the noble officers tried, they couldn't rouse the soldiers' courage. Most of the soldiers just looked at them numbly, unmoved by the speeches and encouragement. The noble officers' hopes of organizing another attack were dashed.
Next, a standing corps of Nasri and a light cavalry corps from Canas attacked. Based on their usual coordination, the Nasri corps would be the first to attack and attract the enemy's attention.
On the other hand, the light cavalry corps of Canas would lie in ambush at the back. During the fiercest moments of the battle, they would charge into the defensive line from the flank and cause the defenders to lose focus.
The Nasri corps would then take the opportunity to launch an all-out attack and charge into the defensive line without caring about casualties.
With a pincer attack, it was easy to break through the enemy's defensive line.
As long as they occupied a position in the enemy's defensive line and held it firmly to resist the counterattack of the defenders, then used the advantage of military strength to reinforce and replenish, using this defensive position to exhaust the enemy's military strength, they could finally cause the enemy's entire defensive line to collapse …
The first attack from the cannon fodder corps didn't even get within 150 metres of Monolith's defensive line before they were defeated. This time, the joint attack from Nasri and Canas was a little more impressive.
The Nasri standing army rushed to within 100 metres of the defensive line, but they had no choice but to retreat due to more than half of the casualties.
The light cavalry corps from Canas advanced a step further. They fell within 50 metres of the defensive line, the corpses of their men and horses piled up densely. Only a few hundred of the 4,000 light cavalry corps managed to make it back.
The impression and lesson that this attack left on the senior officers of the Eastern Regional Alliance was that the enemy's defensive firepower was too fierce. First, it was the projectile. It should be a heavy projectile that could throw the projectile more than 400 meters away.
The Nasri corps had braved the rain of grenades to launch their attack, but when they were 200 metres away from the defensive line, they were met with concentrated fire. The soldiers at the front fell to the ground one by one. The area 100 to 200 metres in front of the defensive line was littered with the corpses of Nasri soldiers. Blood flowed into small streams.
One of the high-ranking officers from Nasri couldn't help but cry out, "This is a massacre, not a war!"
The light cavalry corps of Canas charged within 100 metres of the defensive line and stepped into the minefield. Coupled with the countless grenades, the area they were charging at became a land of death.
Only a few hundred light cavalrymen managed to pull on their reins and turn their horses around to escape, saving their lives.
The failure of the two attacks finally made the senior officers of the Eastern Region Alliance pay attention to the Monolith Corps in front of them.
They soon found out that it was reinforcements from the region.
So, they looked at the high-ranking officers sent by Shiks. They were their old rivals, the victors of the colonial war.
However, the high-ranking officers of Shiks were devastated. They knew of Monolith. Like Thundercrash, they were Shiks' opponents in the colonial war.
The problem was that they hadn't participated in the colonial war. Those who did were in the region.
That was why they didn't know much about the two corps, but they had seen how powerful Monolith was.
So, the third attack was left to the Shiksan army. They were going to send two corps and a Canasian light-cavalry folk to back them up.
There was a reason why the Shiksan army was ranked first in the eastern alliance in terms of combat prowess. They were able to bring out single-arm lever throwers with a range of 560 metres. That was a huge contribution in breaking through Aueras' first line of defence.
Nasri's standing corps prepared close to a hundred wooden carts and shield carts to cover the soldiers as they charged at the enemy's defensive line.
Unfortunately, the carts and shield carts were rendered useless by the grenades. Instead, they became the focus of the bombardment and caused the soldiers hiding behind them to suffer heavy casualties.
Now that the two standing corps of Shiks were about to attack, it took them three days to prepare hundreds of wooden and shield carts.
However, they didn't use the carts and shield carts to cover the soldiers. Instead, they used them to protect their throwers from the cannons in the defensive line.
Their throwers had the longest range anyway. As long as they could block the enemy's cannons, they would be in a situation where their throwers could hit the enemy while the enemy couldn't.
After a few days like that, the enemy would either be unable to endure the bombardment and retreat from their defensive line or lose their morale.
It could be said that Shiks had focused all their technological tree on the throwers and grenades.