Chapter 347: Seizing the City
More than ten miles west of the town of Baranly is the camp of the Firdsvain Army.
"Lord Vidis, we should attack Sarleon as soon as possible. That little girl Amy has indeed completely abandoned the capital of Sarleon! Now Sarleon is home to only some stupid and greedy nobles and a bunch of powerless pariahs! Without Godric here, we will surely be able to capture the city in one fell swoop!"
Lord Ali 'Forkbeard' brandished his battle axe, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
"I don't want to continue fighting with Sarleon... The war has lasted too long. My brothers haven't been able to rest for more than a year. Ever since Wind Island Port was looted by the Bacchus last year, riots have broken out all over the country. Many refugees have also appeared in my Howling Light Bay... Besides, other countries will also take the opportunity to attack Sarleon City. It will be an extremely difficult battlefield there. It's not as easy as you think!"
Count 'Red Sword' Edin disagreed.
"That's why we need to act as soon as possible! As long as we can seize Sarleon before all the other forces do, we can rely on Sarleon's strong walls to repel all enemies! As for the rioters in the country... drown the entire family of those who cause riots, and capture the entire family of those who want to escape and make them slaves. They will be scared..."
Chahueli was still persuading.
"Cha Hu, the domestic riots are happening because we have been raising taxes... For this war, we have raised taxes four times! Not to mention the civilians, even our soldiers are having a hard time now... This war has only enriched the Bacchus Empire, but has dragged all the countries into the quagmire! We cannot let the war continue..."
Count Aidin still shook his head.
"But the war can't be ended, can it? We tried to withdraw, but what was the result? As long as we withdraw, the Baccus will join forces with Sarleon and D'Shar to attack us! As long as the Baccus are still here, no one can leave the battlefield... Only by capturing Sarleon, cutting off the Baccus' retreat, and forcing the Baccus to withdraw first, can the war be ended!"
Cha Hu glared and said hatefully.
"Okay... stop arguing! Aidin, what Chahu said is right. As long as the Baccus are still around, this war will never end. I guess Amy thinks the same thing. She gave up Sarleon on purpose - but we have to seize Sarleon, otherwise it will be occupied by the Baccus... If we let the Baccus take Sarleon, we will fall into a deeper quagmire."
King Vidis
This was indeed Amy's intention in abandoning Sarleon. Now four nations were fighting in the west of Sarleon, and the Bacchus Empire was in control. If they could not force Agasson and Cleon to withdraw, no nation would be able to escape.
On the contrary, if the Sarleon Kingdom, which had been struggling to resist, could abandon its capital and stay away from the battlefield, it would not only gain room for maneuver, but also force other countries to seize Sarleon City.
Moreover, you may not be able to grab it if you go to grab it, and you may face a big fight.
But if they don't go, the loss may be even greater. After obtaining the Sarleon City, the Bacchus Empire will probably directly launch a full-scale conquest to the west - the Sarleon Kingdom will definitely be happy to see this, and will most likely continue to provide money and food to the Bacchus Empire.
"Perhaps, it is not a bad thing for us that this war has lasted so long... At least we have succeeded in getting our brothers to recognize our own 'Hall of Valor' and 'Valkyrie'! Of course, we should really end this war now..."
Vidis made up his mind: "But the only way to end the war is to capture Sarleon! This is the only way to limit the Bacchus... and, after all, it is the center of the entire continent! If we can take Sarleon, we will be recognized by most of the nobles in Sarleon!"
Afterwards, Firdsvain's army began to march towards Sarleon.
…
South of Baranli, Desha Camp.
"Lord Tahir, I suggest you change direction and attack Nundaburg... The Firdsvain will definitely target Sarleon, so Nundaburg should be relatively empty now. We should now capture Nundaburg, retake Singal, and kill that bastard Ramon... Sarleon is very tempting, but even if we attack Sarleon, we will only be trapped inside..."
A knight in black helmet and black armor was persuading Tahir.
"Conquer Fort Noorda? Recapture Singal? Ha!... You want to recapture the garrison, right? But that crappy place of Singal means nothing to me! If I can occupy Sarleon, I won't have to submit to anyone... and it's an empty city now! Without Godric, no one can stop my cavalry... I just need to be one step faster than the others..."
Tahir looked at the knight in black armor with a fake smile: "If you, the Twilight Knights, don't dare to go, you can leave on your own..."
The D'Shar army began to form up, and some cavalry were already galloping towards Sarleon.
The knight in black armor stood in the camp, took off his helmet, looked at the D'Shar warriors taking action around him, and spat contemptuously: "Brainless idiots, unable to distinguish between good and evil... and insist on going to die!"
This is a Twilight Knight.
It was Alistair who was hit in the vitals by Leon's sword in Toba City.
"Aren't we going to Sarleon?"
Another Dusk Knight asked Alistair.
"Of course not! These D'Shar asses will probably die in Sarleon!"
Alistair whispered back, "We are going to Long River Town... to seek refuge with Queen Sonad who has abandoned Sarleon..."
"Ah? Why? She won't accept us, right?"
Twilight Knight didn't understand.
"She will accept it... She can even give up Sarleon. She is much smarter than these D'Shar fools! Such smart people should be our allies! Besides... Sarleon's troops defeated the Knights of the Dawn last year! They should have been our allies..."
Alistair shook his head and led his horse over.
"But...but that Leon..."
The Dusk Knight spoke hesitantly, probably because he didn't want to provoke Alistair.
Alistair smiled calmly: "He is no longer here... It was just an accident on the battlefield. I do not regard the Sarleon Kingdom as an enemy... I just want to find a promising king to establish my career!"
"Then, wouldn't it be better to go to the Bacchus Empire? They are much stronger now!"
The Dusk Knight asked in confusion.
"It is precisely because they are stronger that we should join the Kingdom of Sarleon. If we go to Bacchus, we can only be considered a mercenary at best, but if we go to Changhe Town, we may very well become lords..."
Alistair jumped on his horse and said, "Besides, I have what Sarleon wants most... the secret of the Three Prophets!"
A team of dusk knights headed towards Changhe Town.
…
Sarleon.
The two Bacchus armies joined together and set up camp northwest of Sarleon City.
"Agathon, we may be in trouble... There are tens of thousands of rioters in Sarleon City. It will be difficult for us to capture the city quickly."
Cleon fiddled with the fire in front of him with a stick.
"I know... and, if nothing unexpected happens, the Firdsvain and the D'Shar will try to seize Sarleon..."
Agathon did not sit next to Creon, but stood in front of the fire.
"Yeah... If we don't care about them, they will probably force the mobs into slaves or auxiliary troops, and drive them to attack everything nearby... But if we attack Sarleon first, the D'Shar and Firdsaway people will probably take advantage of the situation..."
Cleon shook his head as he spoke: "She gave up tens of thousands of disobedient people and the entire Sarleon City. Amy is a very cruel girl."
"This is no different from what His Majesty Marius did before. She was forced to do so. In my opinion, we can just ignore Sarleon and let the Firdsvain and D'Shar fight for it... let them face the mobs. While they are attacking the city, we can go around to Yaragal and set up camp, and then try to besiege the city and block them."
Agathon planned to sit on the mountain and watch the fight between the two tigers to see if he could reap the benefits.
"But if we don't care about Sarleon, once the Firdsvain or D'Shar occupy Sarleon, we will lose our original strategic advantage... Deerheart Village and Belmont Farai will definitely be captured. In addition, Amy took away everything in Sarleon and Yaragal, and we may not be able to find supplies!"
Creon sighed.
"I know, but this is much better than getting directly involved in a melee... Our troops are more disciplined and more suitable for fighting in formation. The D'Shar and the Firdsvain are more suitable for this kind of chaotic melee... Besides, even if we run out of supplies, we can definitely hold out longer than Sarleon - there are tens of thousands of people there now, and they will eat up all the food in just two days!"
Agasson said this with some helplessness.
“Agathon, you may not have seen what happens after tens of thousands of civilians riot, and you don’t understand what the D’Shar people will do when they are hungry... Let me tell you, I saw it with my own eyes when I was fighting in D’Shar! That was the case in the important city of Saidu last year... I surrounded that city, and there were five or six thousand people in the city, and the food consumption was very high. I thought they would surrender due to lack of food..."
Cleon shook his head and said, "But they didn't! Those Deshar people... after they ate up all the edible things in the city, they started to use the civilians in the city as military rations!"
"There is such a thing... If that's the case, maybe it will be more beneficial for the Empire to rule this place in the future... I want to force them to do this, which will make the people of Sarleon recognize the Empire!"
Agathon frowned and said something a little vicious.
"Agathon, this is why I have never liked you. You are an excellent general, but you always treat people from other countries as if they were not human beings. In fact, if no one deliberately incited them, those so-called mobs were originally good citizens. That is tens of thousands of lives! If we capture Sarleon, those people will become the people of Bacchus! I don't want to see such cruel atrocities happen again... I think His Majesty the Emperor doesn't want to..."
Cleon spoke softly. He was not blaming Agathon - if he simply looked at it from a general's tactical perspective, Agathon's strategy was actually the most advantageous choice for the Bacchus Empire.
But Creon did not like this option, as it would inevitably lead to a terrible tragedy for tens of thousands of refugees in and around Sarleon.
"General Cleon, you are a respectable man, but we are generals, and it is our duty to capture cities and win wars. As for how the people should live... that is the responsibility of His Majesty the Emperor, and he will definitely do a better job than us."
Agathon was actually very polite to Creon, although he didn't like him very much.
In fact, both of them are generals with good character, but their ideologies are indeed different.
Cleon was born into a civilian family. He lived a hard life in a place where wars were constant. He saw a lot of people's sufferings and often thought about problems from the perspective of civilians.
Agathon was born into a wealthy and noble family, and most of the time he would consider issues using the honor system of that era. When he was not fighting, he would help the poor and the weak, but he would never walk among the farmers like Cleon did.
"Well... let's put it this way, Agasson. Let's leave the choice to fate... I'll attack Sarleon, and you'll hold the bridgehead to stop the enemy. You only need to hold out for one day, then you can retreat and find me in Sarleon. If I fail to take Sarleon within one day, we'll retreat to Seven Forks Fortress together to avoid a meaningless war of attrition."
Cleon began to draw a tactical map on the ground with a stick: "I think we should try to give those civilians a way out. This is the only thing we can do."
Agathon sighed and nodded. "Let's do it. I hope you can conquer Sarleon City in one fell swoop!"
…
The next day, Sarleon City.
At this time, the area around Fierce Lion City had become a brutal battlefield.
There are two battlefields, one at the foot of Sarleon City, and the other at the bridgehead forty miles west of Sarleon City.
Creon originally attempted to launch a quick attack on Sarleon, but he unexpectedly arrived at Sarleon with D'Shar's cavalry.
And Agasson was at the bridgehead, just in time to block Firdsvain's troops.
With some elite troops from the Empire's First Legion and the newly formed Third Legion, Agasson would have no problem stopping the Firdsvain .
But Cleon was somewhat helpless. He led the main force of the Second Legion of the Bacchus Empire and could easily defeat the Desha people. However, the Second Legion was composed of infantry and certainly could not annihilate the Desha cavalry.
That is to say, even if Cleon wins, it will be impossible for him to capture Sarleon - the D'Shar cavalry will continue to harass, making it impossible to attack the city with peace of mind.
While the Bacchus and the D'Shar were fighting outside of Sarleon, something unexpected happened inside Sarleon.
The city gate suddenly opened and countless refugees rushed out of the city frantically.
Cleon originally thought that the mobs in Sarleon City were planning to come out to join the battle, so he quickly ordered his troops to withdraw and prepare for defense.
And Caliph Tahir responded in the same way.
But the refugees rushing out of Sarleon City ignored the two armies and ran away like frightened birds and beasts...
Afterwards, Cleon and Tahir looked at the open gates of Sarleon and reacted in the same way again - "Charge! Capture the city!"
In fact, when the city gates were open, the cavalry could definitely capture the city faster than the infantry.
But the fastest D'Shar cavalrymen reined in their horses immediately after reaching the city gate...
As a result, the city gate was blocked by the Desha people!
But General Cleon suddenly stopped: "Stop! Stop... All troops stand by!"
Running slowly actually has its advantages. Clion saw that the tallest tower in Sarleon City seemed to be constantly tilting?
What happened in the city?
Creon didn't know, but regardless, it was the right thing to do to have the entire army on standby to see what the situation was.
The experienced veteran saved his troops by feeling...
The Desha people did not stop, they were still rushing towards the city in a disorderly manner.
But the D'Shar who entered the city first encountered an enemy they could hardly imagine—countless Fallen poured out from the streets of Sarleon!
At the same time, in the tower of the House of Lords in Sarleon City...
It collapsed with a loud bang!
