After Becoming The Tyrant CH 168 Two Kings Duel
The remaining army retreated, and the Battle of Douro City ended with Legrand's victory.
In this battle, the military power of Bressi's old aristocracy suffered a devastating blow. On the main battlefield, tens of thousands of Bressian knights died, and their corpses were piled from the lowlands in front of the high slopes into the nearby Loman Creek. On the day of the battle, people in the lower reaches of Loman Creek saw the water turn the color of wine.
Later, Loman Creek was also called the "Blood River."
Bressi's army led by Duke West was almost completely wiped out, while the flanking army led by Prince Malorin suffered an equally fatal blow as they advanced along the Loman Creek and tried to pass through the angle between the forest and the sloping plateau. The musketeers and "Bloody Rose" bronze cannons arranged by the King taught them a hard lesson. The battle between there was no less bloody than the frontal battlefield.
Prince Malorin's army reacted even worse to artillery bombardment in the narrow terrain than the previous Eternal Knights. The cavalry were crowded in one place, and everyone was just trying to flee. No one thought about forming a defensive circle. The infantry, which by convention was placed on the flanks of the cavalry for protection, was trampled by the knights on their own side. Afterwards, when the military designers searched the battlefield, they found that the number of people killed in the chaos even exceeded the number of people who died under artillery fire.
This was the battle with the largest number of casualties on the frontal battlefield since the war began.
In previous wars, enemy nobles were often not killed directly. Instead, they followed the rules of chivalry and held captives for ransom before being released. However, in this battle, there was no distinction between the lives of noble knights and the lives of civilian soldiers. The Legrand Empire released all the anger it had accumulated since the beginning of the war.
The corpses of the invaders piled up like hills, turning the land depressions into bloody mud swamps and becoming the new "Deadman's Land".
After the victory of the battle, the King left a follow-up force to clean the battlefield to prevent the spread of plague, and then quickly returned to defend Yoringshire County.
"I am confused about something, Your Majesty."
The Head of the Households followed behind the King.
"Duke West doesn't seem like someone who would have the guts to take action against an angel."
In the battle that just ended, Duke West's arrow of betrayal played a certain role in why the war between the angels and the Devil ended so quickly. However, anyone who understood knew that Duke West's betrayal must contain suspicion——he had no reason to attack the angels.
"Because angels can not be defeated."
The King replied with profound meaning.
The Head of the Households thought for a while and suddenly realized the answer.
According to the teachings of the Holy Court, the victory of a war was determined by the Holy Lord. As the beloved angels of the Holy Lord, once they appeared on the battlefield, they themselves were symbols of victory. If an angel fell in a war, it would be a heavy blow to the doctrine!
In addition, this Holy Legion movement was to cleanse the heretic Legrand in the name of the Holy Lord. The Holy Legion used faith as its banner, and the appearance of angels on the battlefield meant that their actions were indeed righteous, but... what if the angels fell? This would be a heavy blow to the faith of the Holy Legion movement.
Because this showed that they were not protected nor blessed!
But if the fall of the angels and the loss of the battle were due to Duke West's betrayal, then things would become completely different. One must know that among the teachings of the Holy Court, the most core one was the "theory of original sin" of mortals. Human beings were born with sins. The angel who descended to save the Holy Legion died due to the betrayal of the Holy Legion. This would not shake the faith of the Holy Legion movement, and would also stimulate the believers' atonement psychology.
"Is it because you knew this that you chose to call the heroic souls to participate in the battle?"
The Head of the Households found that his voice was dry and hoarse.
"How should we fight against the faith in the divine?" The King seemed to be asking himself. "The only ones who can fight against faith are ourselves."
After the battle, the Devil quickly returned to hell——don't forget, hell was still at war with the host of angels at this time. The heroic soul knights also disappeared together, but they did leave something for Legrand that was very important to the current battle situation.
In this era, the only thing that could compete with the Holy Court's faith were the heroic souls that all Legrandian people were proud of. They founded the Legrand Empire, and they were the origin of Legrandian history. Their appearance on the battlefield to fight against the angels for Legrand showed that they were not wrong.
Human beings were small, humble, and practically like ants.
But humans themselves were enough to compete with the gods!
"Theolde."
The King turned his head and looked in the direction of Newt City.
Who had the ability to turn his back on angels? There was only one person, the one person who was least likely to do this.
The Emperor of the Holy Empire, the Pope of the Holy Court.
Theolde.
"There will be times when God's agents want to use the light of God to ascend the throne."
The King whispered. He urged his horse forward, and the wind swept his cloak, scarlet as blood.
Although they haven’t met yet, the confrontation had already begun.
The King's voice was calm, but the Head of the Households only felt a chill running up his spine.
It was hard to describe that feeling. More clearly than ever he could see the most terrifying and crazy side of this war——
Angels, the Holy Lord, gods, hell... In this war, they have become…
Chess pieces!
………………
The autumn of 1433 was destined to be extremely turbulent. In the late autumn, Legrand was trapped in one whirlpool after another.
In the city of Douro, King Legrand led an army to fight against Bressi's army, which was several times his own. During the battle, the founders of Legrand, the bravest knights' souls appeared on the earth and met with the Legrand warriors, fighting side by side. The final battle ended with Legrand's victory.
For the Legrandian people, this was a victory that boosted the morale of the country.
But for the Holy Legion, this meant something else——
During the Battle of Douro City, angels appeared on the battlefield, which proved that the Holy Legion movement here was indeed blessed by God, as the Holy See claimed. However, Duke West, a native of Bressi, betrayed the Holy Legion in a despicable manner, causing the battle to be lost. The angel betrayed by this Bressian man fell at the hands of the Devil.
This incident was like the story everyone knew in the holy book.
The Son who originally wanted to save the world was eventually abandoned by the world and was crucified. From then on, mortals have been burdened with original sin since birth. This story in the holy book was repeated today, and the fall of the angel had become the common sin of all the soldiers who participated in that betrayal as well as all the Bressian people.
If you want to atone for your sins, you could only fight for the Holy Lord and wash away the sins of betrayal with the blood of heretics.
Pope Theolde publicly preached this to all Holy Legion warriors.
At this time, Theolde's prestige was unprecedentedly high. On the way to attack the city of Newt, he performed a miracle given to him by the Holy Lord and changed the direction of the wind that blocked the soldiers' advancement. That battle went smoothly and surprisingly quickly. Despite the heroic resistance of the Legrandian soldiers, Newt City was quickly captured by the power of the Knights Templar and the Holy Legion of the Holy Land's zealots.
After capturing the city of Newt, Theolde surprised everyone and did not stop and rest in the city. Instead, he personally led the Knights Templar to advance and launched a surprise attack on Collin County in the west. With Legrand's main force stationed in Yoringshire County, he quickly gained another city.
Throughout the battle, Pope Theolde personally visited the front line and showed amazing military command capabilities. The military officers who had originally criticized Theolde had no choice but to bow to him.
Among the Holy Legion, a saying quickly spread:
Pope Theolde was the incarnation of the Holy Lord in the mortal world. His will was the will of the Holy Lord. Because of this, he could miraculously win victory after and victory. God would establish a true kingdom of God on earth through him.
"Our food transportation route has been cut off, Your Majesty."
Sisian reported.
The Pope stood on the tower of Collin County City, looking into the distance. The geographical location of Collin County was very special. One could attack the Rose Palace along the river to the north, and also attack Yoringshire County where King Legrand's army was located to the east. If the Pope's original plan was followed, after seizing Collin County, he would take advantage of the lack of troops in the Royal City of Legrand to directly attack the Rose Palace.
The reason why Duke West was allowed to lead an army dominated by the Bressian nobles to break away from control and attack Douro City was to conceal this true intention.
But this plan was still interrupted.
King Legrand, Pureland predicted his true purpose.
"You were right." Sisian had to admit, "Pureland ia a very terrifying opponent."
The Knights Templar were advancing menacingly, but King Legrand did not dedicate his troops to support Newt City and Collin County, blocking their progress head-on. Instead he adopted a more cunning and effective method. When the Knights Templar attacked Newt City, another Legrand army, led by General Johan, followed the King's orders and went around behind them.
The other side was very patient and waited until they captured Newt City and marched into Collin County before they launched an attack and directly cut off their food transportation route.
If Legrand had cut off the food transport route when they captured Newt City, then with the strength of the Holy Legion, they could quickly turn around and join forces with the Mason family to attack from both front and back to strangle this Legrand army. However, the other party endured it until they captured Collin County before taking action.
By this time, the Knights Templar had penetrated deep into central Legrand, with the main force stationed in Collin. If they wanted to reopen the grain transportation line, they must withdraw from Collin. But such an important city as Collin, once captured, could not be given up under any circumstances.
Attacking the royal capital was doomed to failure if supplies could not keep up. If they turned around and seized the line, they would have to withdraw from Collin County, and all their previous efforts would be wasted.
King Legrand used this method to resolve the crisis in the royal city and pushed them into a dilemma.
Fierce and cunning indeed.
He was like a hybrid of a lion and a poisonous snake.
"Your Majesty, what next?"
Sisian asked in a low voice.
Theolde looked towards the direction of King Legrand's army in Yoringshire County: "Let the Holy Legion of the Sea go north and join us. Then... wait."
What were they waiting for?
He didn't say.
Theolde turned and descended the tower. The wind poured into the tower and made his robes rustle.
………………
While Theolde asked the Holy Legion of the Sea to go north, in the northern region of the Holy Empire on the other side of the Abyss Strait.
Autumn was coming to an end, and the weather in the near north had begun to turn cold.
Ferri III, who had disappeared from people's sight since he was forced into the far arctic ice field, stood on a mountain peak. A crow flew down from the sky. He reached out to catch the crow and took down the letter it brought.
At the end of the letter was the autograph of Emperor Legrand.
"He did it."
Ferri III sighed. He was already wearing a thick cloak in autumn, and his face was pale and exuded a chill. It made him look even more strange. Ferri III looked up at the sky.
"The Battle of Douro, what a Battle of Douro."
He suddenly smiled.
He hoped the person on the other side of the Abyss Strait could succeed.
After all, the only people in this world who could determine the direction of history were those two people, those two people who were qualified to be called true monarchs in this day and age.
"Let's go, we have already been late for a long time, it's time to join the battlefield."
As Ferri III spoke, he put away the letter and walked towards the bottom of the mountain with the knights who followed him into the tomb of the gods. Behind them was an army whose faces were hidden under silver hoods. This army, from Ferri III to the soldiers, were all shrouded in a chill.
Their goal——
Recover the port, start an uprising in the Holy Empire, and rebuild Bressi!
………………
1433, a time of great strife.
Pureland, the King of Legrand, won the battle of Douro, and Theolde, the Emperor of the Holy Empire, won the battles of Newt and Collin County. Theolde's soldiers aimed for the heart of the Legrand Empire, and Pureland's sword cut the lifeline of the Holy Legion. Both sides had gains and losses, and each was facing a crisis. The situation of the war was changing rapidly.
In this war, the two most outstanding kings of this era finally came face to face, and they drove the entire world to dance in the vortex of death. This was a war like never before. Although the afterglow of the gods still hung over the earth, they were no longer the protagonists.
Later historians regarded this war as the dividing point between the age of gods and the age of mortals.
Because, from here on——
Two kings duel, using the gods as chess pieces.