In the eyes of the grassland nomads far away in the southern tip of the Rigal continent, the settled residents of a self-proclaimed civilized society are nothing more than a group of weak and powerless sheep. This refers not only to the fact that most of them live by farming and lack the ability to fight and hunt and gather. Grandchildren, grandchildren and young and old have stayed on the same land all their lives, like domestic animals in captivity. The farmers and workers of the West Coast and the empires were also spiritually different from the Absera.
Anyone who has experience in herding knows that no matter how big the flock is, as long as the leader is found and controlled well, the rest of the flock will obey the instructions. This kind of blind obedience and lack of opinion is also deeply reflected in human beings. Compared with the nomads who live in a harsh environment and live in a harsh environment, the higher the level of civilization of the settled residents, the larger the population base of a single country. The psychology is more obvious.
Scholars attribute this to the results of rigid professions and classes. Peasants who know nothing but farming their whole life do not have their own opinions. The "majority" composed of them faces the aristocrats who have innate force and class advantages. When one is in the "minority", the first reaction is naturally to grovel.
The nature of living things is to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. When faced with individual animals that exist at a higher level in the food chain, the first reaction is to flee. The same is true in human society, but sometimes you can't even escape, so in the end you can only choose to swallow it and accept it.
Most people have long been accustomed to the inequality given by others in life, including appearance, property, power, and origin. As social creatures, human beings are destined to be unable to get rid of the fact that they are compared with other individuals since birth. If you can't bear it, If all of this happens, life will no longer be possible. Therefore, ordinary civilians will choose to retreat and tolerate when faced with inequality and oppression from high positions. Even if they gather together to have far more power than the other party, they will always tremble and submit because of the few who have the advantage.
Unequal, not beautiful, but at least they are alive - this is the reason why this unreasonable social situation, common in the south of Avenella and many other west coast areas, still exists today. It does not need to satisfy everyone's ideals and universal concepts, it just works well in this specific situation at the moment, and it will continue to exist like this.
Until someone or a group of people tries to challenge it, the lords and nobles of Avenella will run rampant without taking the people seriously.
But people are still people.
They are not livestock where nothing else matters as long as they survive for the moment. They are not sheep in captivity.
They are living human beings.
Our sage once said when Prince Edward made the March Declaration that he gave the people "dangerous and extremely beautiful hope" - and this is the biggest difference between human beings and other life forms.
Captive animals cannot picture the future in their minds. They have no imagination and therefore no dangerous consequences.
Hope is a wonderful thing for human beings. It can not only help people in distress continue to persevere in the extremely difficult situation they are in, but it can also become the reason for collapse in other situations. What was missing was the last straw.
The power of words is terrible.
Edward ignited a spark of hope in the hearts of farmers who had always been accustomed to accept things as they were.
They had no desire. If they had any desire, they would just stick to their current life and not lose more. But now they have a taste of the good life and see signs that everything will get better. They saw the light of hope ahead. They were no longer fighting a confused war for the interests of lords that did not belong to them. They had a purpose, they had determination, and they understood the direction they wanted to move in.
This expanding spark will one day start a prairie fire, but right now it has just begun to spread from the Ecasta Plains to the Nella Forest. The first to bear the brunt are those whose villages were burned and their wives and children were slaughtered. The southerners farmers.
Beauty needs to be contrasted with ugliness, and once the hope possessed by human beings is completely exterminated due to the malice of others, then even the settled residents, who are no different from sheep and domestic animals, will be wiped out in an instant because they have no worries. , burn through the cauldron and become the most terrifying avenger.
——The Otolo people were excluded from the circle of the Confederate Army.
In a sense, this is not a surprise.
There was no such thing as unity between the Southern Allied Forces under Ashbern II and the Otolo people. The sentiments held by the deep-rooted southern nobles of Avenella are subtle and contradictory. On the one hand, they do hold the traditional west coast kingdom thinking like Ashberon II, and treat the merchants and travelers of Otolo everywhere. The status is set above the common people and businessmen of the family. On the other hand, as nobles themselves, they also have a strange impulse to gain some humble sense of superiority by performing in front of the other party, belittling the other party, and so on.
In the final analysis, this kind of twisted pride may still be a manifestation of inferiority. They want to show some prestige in front of a character who is far stronger than themselves and make the other party look at them with admiration. They defeated the Northern Army, so they started cheering and raised their heads. Chest, not paying attention to Otolo's heavy infantry regiment; the Otolo people went too deep into the Nella Forest and were divided and strangled by the Northern Army. Although they themselves suffered great losses, they noticed that it was not the opponent's attrition 4 Cheng still maintained good morale and military discipline, and his excellent qualities did not collapse in this foreign country. Instead, he began to say that this incident "represented that the empire's top combat effectiveness was not that good."
The southern nobles, who spoke unabashedly, inexplicably thought that the noble cavalry of Avenella was superior when their own side was defeated because the Otolo people also failed. The Otolo people, who were exhausted physically and mentally by the Northern Army's guerrilla warfare tactics, no longer had the leisure and elegance to play aristocratic games with them.
As long as they get together, the nobles of Avenella will pretend to be sarcastic. If they can't afford to offend, they can still afford to hide. Therefore, with the mutual acquiescence of both parties, the so-called coalition became in name only in late June 192. Not only were the Otolo and Avenella southerners separated, but the Southern Noble Alliance itself also began to appear. Some different sounds.
The Otolo heavy infantry, which had only one legion commander and no real strategic commander, after breaking away from the command meeting of the southern nobles of Avenella, were unfamiliar with the place and were inevitably confused about the situation. In an uncontrollable dilemma.
Their morale was in a low state due to the failure of the first pursuit. Then, in order to ensure that the surrounding situation was still under control, a small group of infiltration troops were sent, and a large number of people who were unable to move freely were caused by the trap of the Northern Army. The wounded became shaky and almost collapsed. The sluggish negative emotions spread like a plague and infected the entire team. Even though the faith in their hearts was still there, it was already in danger.
The empire made two wrong judgments - they overestimated the logistics, military coordination and strategic command of the southern army of Avenella, and fought alone without the support of a reliable command system and logistics operations. The Otolo Army can only squeeze its own potential.
The energy of soldiers is limited. It is calculated as 10. If 40% of the energy must be allocated to looking for food and water, then the combat effectiveness will definitely decrease. It is not unreasonable to say that food and grass should be sent before the soldiers and horses are used.
This is the first point, and the second point is that they underestimated the tenacity of the Northern Army.
Even if the Southern Allied Forces are unreliable, if they can take advantage of their top professional troops to win quickly, neither the consumption of soldiers nor the maintenance of morale will be a real problem.
Use an ambush to defeat the enemy and then pursue the victory, completely separating them into a series of scattered small groups.
As long as the main force is eliminated, the remaining militia Otolo people can take care of themselves without dealing with Ashburn II - but all of this was completely eliminated by the noble cavalry of the Southern Alliance who cheered and ran to snatch the spoils. After the land was destroyed, it was also an independent act of the Otolo people to try to make amends. Due to the distribution of spoils and a series of internal conflicts between the nobility and militia, the Southern Allied Forces were stranded in the Nella Forest Corridor for a long time, forcing the Otolo people who were unfamiliar with the local terrain to enter the Nella Forest alone.
The Northern Army was shrewd. They knew that they could not gather together to engage in head-on legion warfare on the plains such as the Nella Forest Corridor, so they dispersed and retreated deep into the forest to take advantage of their numerical advantage to fight protracted guerrilla warfare. As time went by, without reliable logistics and friendly support, the Otolo people, fighting a war that did not belong to them in a foreign land thousands of miles away, put too much pressure on themselves like a tight bow. pressure.
The continuous decline in morale and the overall misjudgment of direction caused them to become more and more like a numb training target in the hands of the increasingly progressive Union soldiers.
Sure, they've beaten their opponents. However, due to the stupidity of the friendly forces, they were unable to expand their results in time - Otolo's heavy infantry was through and through elites, they were excellent, and they could exert the greatest effect as long as the positions were allocated reasonably. But they were held back by the stupid and incompetent Confederate Army of Avenella.
Facing opponents who are immature but cannot be underestimated, what they have is a group of incompetent teammates. The Otolo heavy infantry, which was reduced by 40% but still trying to maintain order, is still fighting alone. They are getting more and more tired, with dented armor, damaged shields and injuries. The soldiers who were ambushed and hit have not been able to get sufficient logistical supplies, physical strength and endurance for a long time. It also began to decline, and under such circumstances, they had to endure the self-righteous and strongly uncooperative attitude of the southern nobles.
"It's as if they care more about seeing us suffer than victory -" the legion commander said angrily in private. On this day, under the forced order of Ashbern II, the local farmers and the internal affairs were familiar with the situation. The knights and sergeants under Archduke Dehat in the La Forest Corridor area finally formed a joint force with the Otolo people. With the locals leading the way, they began to advance more smoothly. It seemed that the situation was finally going to stabilize again. At the time.
Due to the lack of intelligence, the Otolo people, who had no idea what actions Ashborn II had taken against the local farmers and nobles, were once again stabbed indirectly in the back by this stupid teammate.
Edward gave the farmers the dignity of being human beings and the hope of a better life. Although this thing is just a little bit of starlight, once you taste it, everything will never be the same again.
What Ashberon II did was exactly the opposite. He used the consistent way of thinking of the West Coast nobles and royal families, believing that as long as violence and power were applied, the people would be obedient and obedient. But the people who had lost hope and had their homes destroyed no longer chose to swallow their anger this time.
When human beings are pushed to the extreme and all hope of survival is cut off, they have the momentum to move forward in spite of everything.
The seniors of this legion witnessed it on the other side of Tambur more than 20 years ago, and more than 20 years later, they experienced the horror of it all again.
The legion commander realized what was happening. Even though he was not a real famous general, he immediately knew there was a scam from the way the farmers dispersed quickly.
In order to prevent the front from being stretched too long and being defeated one by one like before, they adopted a slow formation this time in which the entire army marched in order. This gave Edward the long-awaited opportunity to catch them all in one fell swoop.
Due to lack of supplies, they were only dispatched once. After that, the Northern Army's more than 2,000 heavy cavalry, which had been recuperating throughout the entire process, followed the farmers' signal to disperse and rushed over from their hiding spots in the distance with an earth-shattering sound. . The Otolo people, who use equipment aimed at infantry and use throwing spears instead of spears, cannot do much against the cavalry with full plate armor, not to mention that most of the throwing spears have been exhausted before this.
——They turned their attention to the knights next to them. If the more than 500 cavalrymen under Archduke Dehat were willing to help, even if they could not win, they would at least be able to retreat in an orderly manner. But the actions of Ashberon II not only forced all the peasants to rebel completely, but after the king directly killed the grand duke and forced them to massacre their own people, how could these people obey his leadership.
They set up a posture to separate themselves from the Otolo people, and dropped all the weapons in their hands on the ground, turned over, dismounted, raised the white flag, and waved it vigorously. Seeing this, the Northern Army adjusted its angle and headed towards Otolo without hesitation. The infantry array rushed forward.
"I curse you damn guys -" the legion commander shouted loudly in Otolo's heavily accented West Coast dialect, and then his voice was drowned in the earth-shattering sound of horse hooves.
The Otolo people fought to the bitter end.
The heavy infantry array looked as fragile as paper in front of the heavy cavalry. The impact force of the fully armed knights weighing one ton when sprinting at full speed was enough to knock the soldiers and shields away directly. They worked hard to maintain the formation, but in The Otolo hoplites, who had been hit one after another before and had never kept up with supplies and logistics, were on the verge of physical and psychological collapse.
After another 10% reduction in staff, it was inevitable.
Instant collapse.
"We surrender!" More than half of the entire 10,000-person army suffered casualties. The knights of the Northern Army spread out in a fan shape and were knocked out from their left and right wings. There was no formation left in the front, and they were still turning around and planning to charge back again - the situation was decided, and even if they continued to persist, their lives would be wasted.
Otolo people.
The battle was defeated.
Even if it is only an incomplete establishment 1 among the more than forty legions of the empire, even if it is just an unrecognized secret operations force, it represents the top level of Otolo's conventional power.
This is already the second time that Avenella, a small country with a population of only two million, has defeated a world-famous enemy elite on its own soil.
Last time it was Sivalier, and this time, it was Otolo.
These thousands of captives represented a clear message. The only thing on the legion commander who hid all his badges was the golden-red dragon scale that could be regarded as a token. Along with a letter signed by Edward Ewtlin Schur When the blank letter bearing Faga's name was returned to the emperor of Otolo, he remained silent in the palace for a long time.
"——Alas" After a long time, in the silent palace, His Majesty the Emperor let out a long sigh.
But let’s get back to the present, to Nella Forest.
After learning that the Otolo people were completely wiped out and that the knights and nobles under Duke Dehat had rebelled, Ashbern II smashed the jar and killed all the remaining knights of Dehat who had not gone on the expedition. Arrested, disarmed, and issued an edict ordering all aristocratic children over the age of 12 in all southern towns to enter the battlefield to fight for the king.
This was not in line with the rule that as long as one of the nobles fought for the king, the others could stay at home, but at this moment Ashberon II had no worries at all.
He roared loudly all day and night like a madman. The royal guards and his cronies held hostage the families of the great southern nobles and even themselves, forcing their troops to obey orders. Under the threat of force and death, those militiamen from the territories farther south who did not rebel because of the death of their family members had no choice but to march all the way into the forest.
Centuries of aristocratic thinking and practices on the West Coast have proven to be very effective.
In a short period of time, Ashberon II used such power and terror to amass an unprecedentedly powerful military force. With a total of 180,000 troops, even the Northern Army in its heyday could only be defeated. And the act of throwing them all in at once was both good and bad for the Northern Army.
The advantage is that the enemy no longer has a reserve force, and as long as they defeat this army, they will win a great victory.
And the downside is.
With a simple numerical advantage and a march covering a large area with a blanket search, Ashborn II made a mistake and directly and brutally made the Northern Army's miraculous guerrilla tactics against the smaller Otolo Army completely ineffective. Unable to ambush the large-scale Southern Allied Forces, even if the small-scale guerrilla team attacked, they could only be wiped out by the opponent and cause little damage.
The year began in July 192 of the Avenela calendar.
After ushering in a victory, the Northern Army was in the midst of a desperate offensive by the Southern Allied Forces.
Hasty retreat.
The front line that once advanced to the territory of the Grand Duke of Dehat was shortened by nearly one-fifth in just a few days.
Driven by the royal power and high-pressure policies, the Southern Allied Forces, which were just a miscellaneous army, took advantage of their overwhelming numerical advantage to directly cause the Northern Army, which had lost its material supplies and could no longer have large-scale frontal combat capabilities, to retreat one after another.
Victory seems to be coming.
It became elusive again. (To be continued.) m.
