Volume 3: Artifacts Chapter 154: The Battle of Tedega Hills Part 1
Tedega Hill, Holy Mountain, Duke's Castle.
The Celtic Duke has been in a very good mood recently. The most difficult period has finally passed , and the barbarians are about to switch from strategic defense to strategic offense.
It was also the Empire's own fault. It was so arrogant as to provoke the Shining Gold People and ruined a good hand.
Now, with the support of the World Bank and other parties, Tedejia Hill has initially developed its own industry. It has steel smelting, armor forging, and a certain ability to assemble alchemical weapons... In the near future, a steam engine factory will be put into production. Although it can only produce some steam engines with outdated technology, it is enough to accelerate the industrialization process of Tedejia Hill.
The Barbarian Legion had completed its rearmament and training, and the proportion of armor and auxiliary combat weapons had reached 70% of the original Northern Legion. Considering that the Barbarians themselves had stronger physiques than humans, the Celtic Duke believed that his army was enough to defeat the Northern Legion head-on.
Unfortunately, the Northern Army, now the Royal First Magic Army, is withdrawing from the Tedega Hills. With the support of the World Bank, the Art County Alliance launched an attack on the Empire's Snow Army. The Empire is mobilizing elite troops to the North to fill the gap.
As a result, the Empire's military strength in the Tedega Hills fell to its lowest point.
This is a great opportunity for the Barbarian Legion to recapture lost territory, march out of the Triumphal Fortress, and destroy the City of Saint Len.
In the hall of the Duke's Castle.
The Celtic Duke summoned his generals to mobilize for a counterattack.
The Duke did not wear the Duke's uniform of the Golden Shield Empire this time, but wore a traditional barbarian fur cloak and a bear-faced helmet with a duke's crown. The walls of the hall were hung with flags of the barbarian tribes, and the leaders of the barbarian tribes sat under the flags representing their tribes.
Meat was cooking in a big pot in the middle of the hall, and the Iron Guards put the meat in big bowls in the hands of the barbarian leaders.
The Duke and the barbarian leaders grabbed the meat with their hands and ate it with big mouthfuls .
The whole hall was filled with a wild and bold atmosphere.
But the human nobles in the corner seemed somewhat out of place here.
Baron Sergei held a large bowl of meat, but he did not eat it. Instead, he looked at the barbarians with a strange look.
Although the Duke's castle and meetings had barbarian characteristics, they still abided by the systems and etiquette established by the Empire.
But since the economy of Tedega Hills has been getting better and better, the Celtic Duke has begun to remove things with imperial characteristics and fill them with barbarian things. Now the Duke's Castle is still in the style of a human castle except for the appearance, but the interior is all barbarian style.
Humans don't fit in here, as if they are just a group of outsiders.
The Duke of Celtic finished a bowl of meat, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and said to his generals: "According to the information provided by the Golden Man, the Royal First Magic Legion evacuated very quickly. They abandoned most of their baggage and left it to the army that replaced them.
The number of the Imperial Army that will replace the Triumph Fortress has been found out. It is the Fury City Armored Assault Division, with a strength of approximately 20,000 people.
Our Barbarian Legion has 350,000 excellent warriors, and has an absolute advantage in terms of manpower."
Hearing that the enemy this time only had 20,000 men, the barbarian generals all laughed. The disparity in the strength of the two sides was too great. Not to mention that the barbarian army had now completed its modernization and reorganization, even the former barbarian army could have overwhelmed the opponent's thin force with a tide of men.
When the barbarians were very optimistic about the war and discussed which route to take to attack the city of Saint Lun, a discordant voice sounded.
Baron Sergei under the Canglang said loudly: "My nobles and leaders, and the respected Duke! I want to remind you that the Fury City Armored Assault Division is an army personally formed by the Prime Minister of the Empire, Meteor, and it performed very well in the war against the Art County Alliance in the northern battlefield.
The Imperial Army is now gradually becoming magically-oriented. The Fury City Armored Assault Division must be equipped with the most advanced magical weapons in the Empire. We cannot underestimate the direct forces of Meteorite. "
A barbarian leader sitting near the Celtic Duke said to Baron Sergei with disdain: "We all admit that Meteor is a very good politician, but the methods of politicians are useless on the battlefield. The Golden Man said... the magic of the army is the general trend of future wars, but magic technology has just emerged and there are still many imperfections.
What weapons need on the battlefield is practicality, not fancy glass bottles.
Magic weapons can give the Fury City Armored Assault Division an advantage in certain battles, but they will not have much impact on the outcome of the battle. No matter how powerful the Magic Titan is, it will be torn apart by the brave barbarian warriors. "
The Duke of Celtic agreed with the words of his trusted general. He said to Baron Sergei: "Leave the war to the generals who really understand war, and the human nobles should do what you are good at. The logistics of the barbarian army will be left to you, and you can also take out some money as a reward to encourage the barbarian warriors."
"As you command, Your Excellency the Duke." Baron Sergei accepted the order submissively.
As industry developed in the Tedega Hills, humans used their racial advantages to quickly become wealthy, which further widened the gap between humans and barbarians.
In order to suppress the rising power and influence of humans, the Celtic Duke almost sided with the barbarians. Instead of implementing the promised military establishment, he imposed heavy taxes on human merchants in various ways.
The Duke's vigilance and suspicion increased the barbarians' growing hatred towards humans. This sense of alienation and crisis gave humans, who were no longer afraid of the barbarians, more ideas.
Baron Sergei knew that nothing he said would be accepted by the Celtic Duke.
The barbarian generals, who believed victory in the war against the Empire was within their grasp, looked at the human nobles as if they were looking at meat that had already been cooked in a pot.
The Celtic Duke was not a magnanimous leader. When humans were weak before, he could show a friendly attitude and give some privileges and benefits to human nobles. Now... he has regarded humans as a threat. The first thing he would do after his victory would probably be to chop the human merchants who have made great contributions to him.
Baron Sergei stopped arguing and stopped expressing his opinions.
He listened carefully to the barbarians' discussion on how to win the first battle, listened to them venting their grievances after being suppressed by the Imperial Army for several years, and listened to them vowing to restore the glory of the Barbarian Legion.
Soon every word spoken at the Duke's Castle War Mobilization Meeting was delivered to the Triumph Fortress at the first possible moment.
Into Luke's hands.
This proved that the conspiracy he had set up in the Tedega Hill was very successful. Even if the Celtic Duke could see it, he had no way to break the impasse unless his balancing act could coordinate the increasingly intensified conflicts between the barbarians and humans.
Obviously, the Celtic Duke didn't have this ability. He didn't even realize that he was in a dead end.
After receiving the important intelligence, Luke immediately convened a military meeting to discuss how to resist the all-out attack by the barbarian army.
