Volume 1: The Rise of Elanhill Chapter 0056: Driving Straight In
"Is it really a good idea to fight a war without declaring it like this?" At least 10 infantry regiments and more than 25,000 soldiers are gathering towards the border. Des, who still stayed in Seris, asked Chris, who also stayed in the castle.
Chris shrugged and answered, "History is written by the victors, dear Des! As long as we can win the war and defeat everyone who comes to stop us, then everything we do is right."
Within two hours of the decision to send troops early and start a war, Ireland Hill's troops stationed in various places moved out of the barracks. From such a small detail, we can see how high the level of combat readiness of Ireland Hill's troops is.
Countless money was poured into the war machine, which was built with countless gold coins. At this moment, it began to turn. What was awe-inspiring was that this machine, which had just roared, had already shown its power to everyone.
"I don't think there is any problem! After all, we didn't send you any notice when we went south to plunder." Toxel, the envoy of the Grassland Empire and the minister of the Grassland Empire who was in charge of liaison between the two countries in trade, said with a smile.
This time, Ailan Hill did not act alone, but after showing his strength to the Prairie Empire, he also tied the Prairie Empire to his chariot. The two countries had already signed a secret treaty and formed an alliance.
The Grassland Empire has always dreamed of revenge, so it is very supportive of Ailanhill's attack plan. They promised to provide troops when they go south to help Ailanhill win the war against the Alante Empire.
Therefore, on the third day after the main force of Ailan Hill began to move south, the troops of the Grassland Empire also began to gather southward. They advanced rapidly southward under the guidance of the guide, and miraculously did not harass any Ailan Hill civilians along the way.
50,000 grassland cavalry, coupled with more than 40,000 Ailan Hill infantry, this war was destined to be more than a local conflict from the moment it broke out. In Chris's plan, this war could at least be seen as a rehearsal for the destruction of the Alante Empire.
"First, after breaking through the border defenses of the Alante Empire, the cavalry of the Grassland Empire will immediately disperse, forcing the enemy's cavalry to gather in the main city." Chris repeated his old trick and took out his strategic plan for attacking Maine.
"Then use infantry and artillery to attack these main cities. The four large cities near the border and the seven defensive castles will be captured as soon as possible." He pointed to the map and introduced his attack plan to his allies.
"The cities we attack are those that have been influenced by us. The merchants there have basically sided with us. There are already many factories in the cities, and the roads have been reinforced with our own money." After getting rid of the hesitation of declaring war without authorization, Des said with a confident smile.
This was an attack plan he came up with on his own. He sold some factory facilities to these cities in advance and spread spies in these cities , almost turning these border cities of the Alante Empire into the back garden of Ailan Hill.
In order to allow Ailan Hill's southward troops to advance quickly, he even built roads in these places in advance and constructed this place: according to his expectations, as long as the war started, Ailan Hill would take this place at the fastest speed.
"I think... while we are discussing tactics here, the war on the border has already begun, right?" Chris looked to the south and murmured softly.
…
Yes, the war had already begun. At the same moment, on the border of Alante, an Elanhill soldier wearing an M42 helmet crossed the boundary marker symbolizing the border line with his weapon on his back. Behind him, soldiers passed by the Alante soldiers standing next to him one by one, and the funny thing was that the other side had no intention of stopping him.
"Thank you!" An armored Alante soldier took a candy from an Elanhill soldier passing by him and greeted him with a smile. These Alante soldiers, who had long yearned for the affluent life in Elanhill, quickly stood on the side they had long hoped to stand on.
There was no smoke rising, no artillery fire or gunfire. Everyone was in harmony, as if they were performing a well-rehearsed play according to the script. The bloody slaughter imagined did not occur at all. Under the shining of gold coins, surrender became a matter of course.
"Long live Ailanhill!" An officer of the Alante Empire, holding his helmet and pressing his sword, shouted a slogan that made people laugh and cry as he looked at the rows of Ailanhill soldiers passing by him.
As soldiers on the border, they had not received their military pay for several months. The bigwigs above had planned to move the funds to the north after the war in the south was over, replenish the military pay and boost morale before launching an attack on Ireland Hill. Unfortunately, Ireland Hill did not give them this opportunity, and the war broke out when they least wanted it to happen.
At the far end of the road, on the wall of a not-so-large castle, dozens of Alante soldiers pushed a huge black-gold eagle flag of Elanhill down from the battlement.
The rolled up flag was opened by gravity and faced the wind. The Elanhill soldiers who came to take over the castle squinted their eyes and saw the huge flag of their country fluttering on the city wall in the sunlight, like a huge poster.
Yes, poster - this is a new word. Recently, Ailan Hill is about to become a holy place in the minds of bards and opera troupes, because there are many novel and interesting plays. Whenever a new play is performed, a huge promotional poster will be posted at the door of the theater.
"Sir! There are a total of 500 garrisoned soldiers in the castle, 10 war horses, 100 swords, 550 spears...all handed over to you." The leading Alante officer stood behind the Elanhill sergeant and respectfully reported the garrison forces in the castle.
The sergeant of Elanhill withdrew his gaze from the national flag on the city wall, smiled politely at the other party, and then turned sideways to look at his men: "Okay, we have seen the excitement, let's go in and take over this castle!"
Beside him, the soldiers who were watching the fun also retracted their gazes, and a dozen people walked into the castle guarded by hundreds of people - such things happened next to every castle on the border, and to take over these castles, only an infantry squad of troops was needed.
"Are we here to fight or to travel?" Kolya put down the telescope, frowned and looked at the officer beside him. He complained in a depressed tone: "Surrender again? I have captured three castles and the ammunition consumption is zero. How can I write a report?"
The officer next to him shrugged his shoulders and said to his superior with a sly smile, "We are doing well here. I heard that three soldiers in Bourjois sprained their ankles because they advanced too fast... I'm curious about how he writes the report."
"Pfft...Ahahahaha!" Kolya couldn't help laughing out loud after hearing the news. He was just worried about his report being difficult to write, but that little bit of worry was swept away.
The six main infantry regiments heading south had not yet deployed, and relying only on the four garrison infantry regiments on the front line, Ailan Hill easily broke through the border defenses of the Alante Empire. Those castles that were supposed to be like nails guarding the intersections have now become tourist attractions.
In Naru, the bustling city closest to the border, a fat man was holding two women and teasing them on the luxurious main seat in the city hall. This fat man was the city lord Adam.
Although his name sounds nice, he has a bad reputation in Naru City. His nickname is Greedy, and he is a complete idiot. He is the confidant of Prime Minister Clark. In fact, it was because of his ability to make money that Clark pushed him to the position of Lord of Naru City.
Adam should have been working at this moment, but he had long forgotten about serious matters and preferred to flirt with the two women who were conquered by his wealth and power. Just as his hands were wandering inside the clothes of the two women, an officer rushed into his hall, rolling and crawling.
"Get out!" Adam frowned at his subordinates who had ruined his mood, and shouted in a long tone, "Useless things! Is this what I taught you every day? Have you even forgotten the basic etiquette?"
"My lord! My lord! It's bad! It's bad! The army of Elanhill is coming!" The officer didn't care about being scolded, and cried out in a sobbing voice: "Now, now, now they may have reached the outside of the city!"
"What? Are you kidding? There are seven castles on the border! We are at least 100 miles away from the border!" Adam subconsciously pulled his hand out of the woman's clothes and said sternly with his small eyes staring at her.
"I, I don't know either..." The officer of the city guard had no way to explain why the other party could easily pass those seemingly heavily defended castles, but he did see the army of Elanhill appearing on the horizon on the city wall just now.
Those grenadiers were very easy to identify. They had no armor, only helmets. They shouted loud slogans and marched in neat steps, little by little approaching the tall and thick walls of Naru City.
"Quick! Gather the troops! Our walls are thick and high! We can hold on!" Although Adam was greedy, he was not a fool. He knew it was too late to run now. He had to stay here and wait for reinforcements to show up. So he shouted orders, trying to make a last-ditch effort.
