Chapter 400 The Emperor's Last Words
Although he had anticipated the death of Emperor Marius, and knew that Emperor Marius would use his own life to ensure that the entire Bacchus Empire was cleansed of all Snake Worshipers, Leon was still extremely sad - these were his few true friends.
A respectable role model.
A truly powerful hero.
A wise emperor who always brings life to Bacchus.
The only thing Le Ang can do now is to faithfully fulfill his promise to Emperor Marius. Catching the enemy in one fell swoop is the best tribute to his friend.
The death of Emperor Marius made the entire Bacchus Empire no longer accept Snake Worship. Especially the common people.
After the news of Marius' death spread, the residents around Dilingang were united, and tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians risked their lives to launch a comprehensive expulsion of the Snake Cult.
At the same time, the serf general Ivaylo, who was originally accused of "treason", reappeared.
——Ivaylo did not actually commit treason. After he was sure that he could not defend Dilingang, he pretended to surrender to the Snake Cult with the remaining forces of Dilingang. He saved the few troops under his command and also protected the civilians of Dilingang from being slaughtered indiscriminately.
Of course, this is indeed surrendering to the enemy in battle, which is completely inconsistent with the "honor" in the eyes of the nobles of the Pendor continent. In the eyes of many nobles, this is an act of cowardice, which is more shameful than treason.
But Ivaylo was originally a serf, he had never been a noble - he didn't care about honor, he only cared whether his men would die in vain.
As a senior general who "voluntarily abandoned darkness and joined the light", Ivaylo played a decisive role in the Snake Cult army.
He stopped the Snake Cultists from killing civilians indiscriminately from within, and after General Sulla arrived at Port Imperial, he cooperated with the Shadow Wolves to kill several Snake Cult priests from both inside and outside, creating the best conditions for Emperor Marius' counterattack.
After Emperor Marius entered the Imperial Port, Ivaylo organized a large number of militias, and together with Emperor Marius, he pushed the Snake Worshipers of the Imperial Port back dozens of miles - this serf general enjoyed great reputation among the poor at the bottom.
Using militia to fight against the Snake Cult warriors would certainly result in huge losses, but no one in the Bacchus Empire would care too much about the losses at this time - Emperor Marius could lead his troops to fight at the risk of his life, so why would others cherish their lives?
Three days later, surrounded and expelled by tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, the Snake Worshipers lost their hiding place and were forced into the wilderness north of Dilingang.
The threat to Dilingang has been lifted, and the Snake Cult has lost all its bases.
This made it easy for Li Ang to find the main force of the Snake Worship Cult.
Or to be more precise, it was the main force of the Snake Cult that came looking for him.
The Snake Cult army that was expelled from various places all gathered together near Buyulin Village. The scale was quite large, at least 10,000 people, but the exact number was impossible to calculate.
But these were not the followers of the priestesses that Leon had killed before. Most of them were well-equipped Snake Cult warriors.
Except for the poor training and tactical level, this Snake Cult army has a very high level in other aspects - those Snake Cult followers with poor equipment and skills had already died in Dilingang, and it was not Li Ang's turn to deal with them.
These regrouped Snake Cult troops did not attempt to counterattack Dilingang, but began to march northward.
If nothing unexpected happens, their target is Eraclea - for Kavala, the Abyss Gate in Lake Eraclea is much more important than the Port of Diling. Now that they have lost most of their bases, concentrating their forces and forcibly breaking into the Noldor Forest has become the last option for the Snake Cult.
Just as the Snake Cult army began to march northward, Li Ang led the army to launch an assault.
Li Ang is ready to annihilate the enemy on the designated battlefield.
Although he was using only one-third of his troops to deal with a larger and stronger enemy, Li Ang was absolutely confident that he could achieve complete annihilation.
The soldiers in this battle were well-trained and well-fed, with plenty of arrows, and they also brought a large amount of explosives and grenades.
In addition, Marius sacrificed his life to earn the unanimous hatred of the Snake Cult among the people of Bacchus. The Snake Cult army had neither a base nor supplies, and the village of Buyulin was surrounded by troops from the Bacchus Empire and spontaneously formed militia.
The battlefield situation has basically formed an encirclement, and the encirclement is gradually shrinking.
Leon's troops blocked the north, Alina and General Ivaylo were leading the troops of Dilingang to compress the space of the Snake Cult army from south to north, Agasson was cruising in the west with his cavalry, and to the east was the vast ocean.
Plus, General Sura's Shadow Wolves are killing in secret.
Once the Snake Cult members leave their army, they will be devoured by the surrounding troops without leaving any trace.
Of course, the surrounding Bacchus troops did not dare to launch an attack easily - after all, the Snake Cult still had more than ten thousand troops gathered together.
Only Li Ang has enough ability to take the initiative to attack.
Li Ang's tactics are also very simple, which is to implement oppressive annihilation.
When fighting against the Bacchus Empire, of course you cannot use formations; but when fighting against the Snake Cult, you should always fight in formations.
Leon divided the troops into four parts. Klose and Sigismund each led a thousand heavy infantrymen, formed a military formation and slowly advanced southward, constantly oppressing the space of the Snake Cult and making it impossible for them to organize a large-scale attack.
Lisadilan and Wendy each led eight hundred Noldor elves, not on horseback, and coordinated the advance of the heavy infantry in a skirmisher manner, using the range advantage of the Noldor's bows and arrows to kill the enemy at a distance.
If the enemy organizes a large-scale cavalry charge, or uses a large number of troops to try to waste time, the Silver Hand will use grenades to clear the way, blow up the cavalry and drive away the horses, and then continue to maintain the army formation to carry out orderly annihilation.
This is not a line infantry tactic, but more like an infantry-tank coordinated tactic - shooters with higher accuracy and range advance in a skirmish line following the tank-like heavy infantry.
The bows and arrows in the hands of the Noldor elves have a range at least twice that of the javelins of the Snake Cult.
Relying on the advantage of range to advance step by step and maintain the overall military formation is the most appropriate way to deal with the Snake Cult, a poorly trained and disciplined force, and it is also the way to minimize casualties on one's own side.
But this method is not suitable for dealing with the army of the Bacchus Empire - the heavy crossbows of the Bacchus have a longer range than the arrows of the Noldor...
The only problem is that Noldor arrows are difficult to make due to complicated craftsmanship, and require ebony, so they are very expensive and relatively heavy. Each person would only carry about thirty arrows into battle.
But as long as you can win the battle, most of the Noldor arrows can be recovered.
Heavy infantry like the Silver Hand is enough to ensure absolute advantage in local battlefields in close combat.
However, Le Ang would not engage in close combat with the Snake Cult's troops. Although his troops were not afraid of the Red Death, who knew what other poisons those Snake Cult warriors had?
Moreover, the people of the Snake Cult are not afraid of death and have great strength. If a hand-to-hand fight ends in a one-for-one fight, it would not be worth it.
It's better to be slow. The Snake Cult warriors are strong and well-equipped, and their spears are very threatening, but they are really weak in long-range attacks such as bows and crossbows. They basically have no ability to fight back when shooting at long range.
This tactic was simple and slow to advance, but it was quite effective. The Snake Cult army organized several forced charges and tried two large-scale spear attacks, but none of them succeeded, leaving only corpses all over the ground.
With Leon's continuous annihilation, the encirclement formed by the surrounding Bacchus troops was shrinking. After suffering heavy losses, the Snake Cult army had to retreat to Buyulin Village to defend.
This means that the Snake Cult army will be completely trapped in the small village of Buyulin.
In this way, we can just surround them and starve them to death.
It seemed that Leon was about to fulfill his promise to Emperor Marius.
But at this moment, something unexpected happened...
General Agasson of Dilingang suddenly led his troops to charge towards Li Ang from the flank!
The army he led was not large, consisting of the soldiers of the Shadow Legion whose thumbs had been cut off, and his personal guards, the Iron Ring Centurions.
There were less than two thousand troops in total, sixteen of whom were disabled people without their right thumbs. Logically speaking, such troops could not pose much threat to Li Ang.
But the problem is that Leon is currently concentrating on dealing with the Snake Cult's army and is completely unprepared for Bacchus's troops!
…
Three days ago, Emperor Lin Hong Kong.
"Luciana, don't cry, this is the destination I want most..."
Emperor Marius lay on the couch, looking pale and with a low voice.
He was not seriously injured, but his bright eyes had lost their luster. His fingers trembled slightly, but he was unable to stretch them out...
"Your Majesty, I'm not crying... What do you want to say?"
Alina said with tears in her eyes.
She knew that these were the last few minutes her adoptive father left in this world, and she would not be foolish enough to stop Emperor Marius from speaking.
Both Alina and General Sura next to her have witnessed the death process of many people. Most people would tremble slightly before death, their bodies unable to move, and they could only whisper softly.
This is the body supplying all its last energy to the language system, allowing the person to leave a final message for the world.
Alina's only thought was to let him say as much as possible.
"Sura, my friend, please do me one last favor... After I die, please help Luciana become the emperor of the empire, and then return to the Ashborn... If anyone refuses to obey..."
Emperor Marius looked at Sulla with difficulty, and his words were already intermittent.
"Don't worry, before I return to the Amara Continent, I will make sure that all those who disobey me disappear completely."
Sura nodded and stepped forward to help Marius say the second half of the sentence.
"…Your Majesty…I am not you. I do not have your wisdom and courage…"
Tears welled up in Alina's eyes.
"Luciana, I know you don't want to do this job... I actually have some selfish motives. If I let someone else become the emperor, my two sons will probably have a hard time living a good life... Only you won't make things difficult for them..."
Emperor Marius turned his head slightly, with a trace of kindness in his eyes: "Moreover, only you are suitable, only you will always firmly promote reforms, and only you will not blindly let the empire continue to conquer... Child, Sulla will help you solve the troubles among the nobles, and all the killings and infamy will fall on me; Leon is a trustworthy man, he will definitely be able to eliminate the Snake Cult. The two greatest threats of Bacchus will be eliminated together after my death... Promise me, child, promise me that you can do this job well..."
His voice became smaller and smaller.
"Your Majesty...I promise you...I promise."
Arina lowered her head and knelt in front of Emperor Marius. Tears from her eyes fell on the back of Marius's hand: "But I don't know what to do..."
She felt empty inside. She couldn't refuse Marius at this time. She just hoped that Marius could say more, anything.
Seeing Alina nod in agreement, Emperor Marius smiled, just like he did when he asked Alina to pour him wine.
"After I die, you will submit to Leon as the Empress of the Empire. Bacchus is no longer his opponent. Keep Bacchus' independence and let the New Pende Kingdom become the suzerain state... This can bring long-term peace to the entire continent and let people live a better life..."
Emperor Marius smiled and said the last words: "Only you can do it, and only you are willing to do it..."
As he spoke, he closed his eyes.
“Your Majesty… Your Majesty?! Father?!!”
Alina stared blankly at Emperor Marius, who was still smiling but no longer happy, and slowly placed her forehead on her adoptive father's chest.
General Sulla placed his hand on his chest and bowed his head to give his friend a final military salute.
There was no tragic crying, nor any sad farewell.
Until the very end, the emperor was still thinking about how to make people's lives better. Alina and Sulla would naturally not cry and disappoint the deceased.
But in this world, there will always be some people who are obsessed.
For example, Agathon.
When Emperor Marius' last words reached Agathon, the marshal collapsed.
"Sura... I will obey His Majesty's will and pledge my loyalty to Alina. I am also willing to cease fire and rest after dealing with the Snake Cult, but I will never surrender to Leon! The Empire cannot be inferior to any country!"
Agathon was in his military camp, looking at General Sulla who came to report to him, shedding tears and shaking his head firmly.
"This is not surrender. It is just lowering our status to form an alliance with New Pendor and recognize the suzerainty of the New Pendor Kingdom... Bacchus is still an independent country."
Sura explained patiently.
"I know! But then the Empire can no longer be called the Empire!"
Agathon's eyes were red as he shook his head angrily: "Is Bacchus still Bacchus after losing his glory? I will not obey such an order!"
"Whether Bacchus is called an empire or a kingdom, it's just a title. Is this false title more important to you than the lives of all its citizens?"
General Sulla shook his head: "Agathon, I am also a Bacchus, but I was born in a wasteland where a country has been destroyed... Bacchus was once powerful and glorious, but where is it now?"
"I witnessed the rise of the Ashborn Empire from a few isolated cities. With the efforts of two generations, it became a new powerful country. I know why..."
"It's not because the Ashborn Empire has such a powerful army, but because it treats most of its citizens well!"
"In order to deal with the Snake Cult and to make life better for more people, His Majesty Manius sent out the Shadow Wolves and Phoenix Knights to support the Continent of Pendor... But you should know that His Majesty Manius is also capable of sending troops to expedition to Bacchus! So why didn't he do so?"
General Sulla gave Agathon a sneer and said, "Your Majesty Manius, Your Majesty Marius, Your Majesty Leon... Why can they be called 'Your Majesty'? Agathon... I'm afraid you don't know what true honor is."
"... Maybe. But I have something I must stick to... Sulla, I am a descendant of the conquerors. I cannot let the empire established by the conquerors lose its crown. I will leave the empire's cavalry to you. You can lead them to continue to clean up the Snake Cult... I will do what I should do."
Agathon was not convinced and left with his guards.
The army of the Bacchus Empire, under the command of General Alina and Sura, still encircled the Snake Cult army.
But at the moment when the Snake Cult army was about to be completely wiped out, Agasson rushed into Li Ang's army at lightning speed with a group of wounded soldiers who should not have appeared on the battlefield.
