King

The Holy Mountain of Light, a holy land that was originally filled with a sacred aura, became turbulent at this moment.

Ever since the news of the fall of Port Saintes came, the atmosphere in the Holy See has become tense.

The enemy is coming to the doorstep. This is the biggest crisis the Holy See has faced in the past three hundred years.

The last time it was so tense was the anti-clerical movement in the mainland three hundred years ago. Nobles from various countries jointly attacked the Holy See and forced them to give up their secular rule.

As the Pope, Pius VII looked gloomy at the moment. During his tenure, the Holy See created countless firsts, but most of them were negative.

The most important port of the Holy See, the Port of Saintes, fell in one day in a daze, which is a miracle in the military history of the mainland.

It was clear that they were sitting in a powerful city, but the 20,000 defenders didn't even offer any decent resistance, and they didn't even open the city defense magic circle.

I have seen waste materials, but such a waste defender still broke the world record.

What's worse is that after the fall of Port Saintes, the Franks did not stop their advance. At this moment, their army was less than two hundred miles away from the Holy Mountain of Light.

"Who is the garrison of Port Saintes, and who are the senior officers stationed there?"

Pius VII asked indifferently.

The murderous look in his eyes has condensed into substance. Anyone can tell at a glance: The Pope wants to kill someone.

"Your Majesty, the enemy launched a sneak attack at Starry Night, and the defenders failed to respond. Including the defender, Palidan, all the top generals in the city were killed when Port Saintes fell!"

Cardinal Asprilla replied bravely.

Regardless of whether the officers guarding the city died in battle, they must appear on the death list.

Things have developed to this point, no matter how powerful the connections are, it is useless. All the senior officials of the Holy See involved in the matter will now have their hands cut off.

Anyone with a little bit of political acumen knows that the Holy See not only lost miserably militarily in this battle, but also suffered a complete political defeat.

The most direct consequence is that they will be removed from the "mainland's top forces". Even if they can be reversed later, the bad political impact cannot be eliminated.

The majesty of the Holy See has not been wiped out, but not much remains. After that, if you want to use your power to overwhelm others, it won’t be that easy.

With such a huge loss, someone must be held accountable.

In order not to implicate oneself, the best option is to let all the defenders "die on the battlefield" together, and then pass the blame to the Franks.

It’s not that our army is weak, it’s that the enemy is too despicable!

"Excuses" are just passable.

The oil-rich Port of Saintes has always been a gold-plated holy land, and so many people are involved.

The enemy is approaching the city, and what is needed now is to work together in the same boat. Taking these details too seriously will do no one any good.

"snort!"

"These idiots died cleanly, and the mess was left to us.

The enemy army is pressing down on the border. How to block the enemy army and defend the holy mountain? Come up with a charter now! "

Pius VII said while suppressing his anger.

From Saintes Port to Guangming Holy Mountain, it is basically a flat river. Although there are several cities along the way, it is not a dangerous place.

As the hinterland of the Holy See of Dawn, the local defenders are not as numerous as the clergy, and their combat effectiveness is really not reassuring.

Having learned from the past, Pius VII no longer had confidence in the local defenders.

If the enemy cannot be stopped, a battle to defend the Holy Mountain will begin.

If it really comes to that point, regardless of the final victory or defeat, he, the Pope, will be engraved on a pillar of shame and will be infamy for eternity.

Compared with these terrible consequences, the matter of pursuing responsibility can be put aside completely.

"Your Majesty, the enemy forces are approaching fiercely. The Holy Court is currently empty, and the number of troops left behind is limited.

It was barely enough to protect the Holy Mountain, and it was simply unable to protect the safety of the entire Holy Court.

For the current plan, only by deploying large forces from the front line to return reinforcements can all the enemies be wiped out.

However, it will take time for the main force to return support, and before that, we need to find ways to delay time.

I beg your Majesty to order: Recruit believers..."

Blake's suggestion caused the hall to become silent.

Everyone knows that recruiting new recruits takes time. The enemy has arrived at the doorstep. Even if the new soldiers are immediately in place, it will be difficult to be effective.

If you can't deal with it with direct measures, you can only use folk remedies.

With a call from the clergy, all believers can become soldiers. Regardless of the combat effectiveness, the trouble it can cause to the enemy is definitely not small.

The only problem is that the aftereffects are too great.

The Franks are not fools. Once they discover that the people along the way have become enemies, they will definitely clear the area.

During the human civil war, although there were not many cases of city massacres, it was by no means unheard of.

It is conceivable that the believers will suffer heavy losses after this battle, and the villages and towns along the way may even become no man's land.

…

A dragon roar pierced the air, and everyone knew that Marshal Hudson was coming.

In the past few days, Hudson has been riding on a dragon, hovering over the land of the Near East, patrolling and inspecting the army.

The effect was very obvious. In order to leave a good impression on the boss, the noble lords and garrison officers along the way worked very hard.

Just after landing to review the war preparations in one place and preparing to rush to the next destination, a Griffin Dragoon suddenly fell from the sky.

"Marshal, there is an urgent message from the Kingdom!"

After taking the official document and glancing at it, Hudson's expression suddenly changed.

It was no secret that the anti-French war broke out, but the Frankish Kingdom's attack on the Holy See was absolutely unexpected.

What was even more unexpected was that this sneak attack actually succeeded in capturing Port Saintes!

Aslant's continental version of "surprise, attack when unprepared", it was played so smoothly, Hudson could only say: General!

It's just that when everyone besieged the Orc Empire together, Marquis Sunil's performance was only average and there was nothing surprising.

Port Saintes was defeated in one battle, then the next step was to "encircle Wei and save Zhao".

After running through the map of the Papal States in his mind, Hudson instantly had a picture.

The Frankish army was galloping across the territory of the Papal State. The army fought all the way to the foot of the Holy Mountain, forcing the Holy See to withdraw its troops from the front line and return reinforcements.

Perhaps the Holy See would withdraw its troops before the Frankish army besieged the Holy Mountain.

After all, anti-French work can be done at any time, but the safety of one's home base cannot be neglected even once.

If the enemy breaks through the Holy Mountain, even if the anti-French war is a complete victory, nothing will happen to the Holy See.

"Pity!"

Hudson couldn't help but sigh.

The Franks attacked the Holy See at the wrong time.

Earlier or later, the Alpha Kingdom would definitely send troops to help.

How could the Kingdom be absent from such a meaningful event as the overthrow of the Holy See?

From the moment the Holy See was established, the two sides had been fighting to the death, and there was no longer any room for maneuver.

Unexpectedly, the perfect opportunity to add insult to injury came to the door, and the kingdom was invaded by orcs.

After a brief period of confusion, Hudson quickly recovered. I don’t know whether the Franks could hold the Holy See to death, but they succeeded in bringing the Holy See down from the altar.

At this moment, the Holy See of Dawn is still a top force in terms of high-end power, but the decay of their army is an indisputable fact.

In fact, it was exposed in previous continental wars. It's just that the main players of the Holy See were on the field at that time, and although their results were a bit disappointing, they were still barely passable.

In addition, the Holy See's public relations kept emphasizing the complexity of the terrain, and their allies held them back, so they did not cause an uproar in public opinion.

At this point, the lid can no longer be closed.

It would be fun to see the next performance of the Holy See Army if they were as crotch-stretching as the defenders of Port Saintes!

As long as the Franks advance fast enough, they will have the opportunity to launch a wave of offensive and defensive battles on the Holy Mountain before the main force of the Holy See returns.

To force out the Holy See's ascetic camp and use the army to consume their resources is definitely a bloody gain strategically.

"Get a pen and paper."

Hudson immediately ordered to the guard not far away.

…

"Asshole!"

"The son of a bitch of the Holy See, how dare you withdraw your troops at this time? It's just..."

Bordeaux VIII cursed angrily.

The three armies agreed upon moved forward together to besiege the Frankish Kingdom, preventing them from looking at each other.

As a result, the war had just begun, and the Holy See suddenly withdrew its troops, disbanding the entire Eastern Route Army on the spot.

Without the Holy See's army as the main force, the remaining countries had limited strength and did not have the courage to provoke the Franks alone.

Anyway, the bosses have left, so they might as well go home and leave the anti-French cause to their allies.

The Holy See gave up its pick, and the pressure was placed on the Iliban Kingdom. At this moment they were forced into a dilemma.

If this war continues, then they will be the absolute main force of the anti-French alliance. Although there are many allies following, the morale of the army has been severely damaged.

Theoretically, the anti-French alliance still has the advantage, but it is not easy to win.

If you are not careful, you will suffer heavy losses.

They just wanted to pull the Frank Empire from its position as the most powerful country, but they did not want to lose both sides with the Franks.

Stopping the war is also not a good option.

Now that they are able to gather so many allies, in addition to issuing a call together with the Holy See, the Franks are more responsible for the public outrage.

The decisions made by some countries are the result of a slap on the forehead. When everyone calms down and issues a call next time, I’m afraid there won’t be such enthusiasm.

What's more troublesome is that just because they stop, it doesn't mean that the Franks will also stop.

Facing the entire anti-French alliance, the Frankish Empire was weak, but it still had the strength to catch the Iliban Kingdom's family and beat them up.

"Your Majesty, please calm down!

The withdrawal of the Holy See has become a foregone conclusion. We are powerless to change anything. The top priority is how to conduct the next war.

In fact, even if the Holy See army stays, it may not be able to play much role.

Judging from the situation in recent years, the Holy See of Dawn has been in constant decline.

A decadent force, the combat effectiveness of the army is destined not to be much higher.

Just look at the fall of Port Saintes and you will know that the current Holy See of Dawn is a paper tiger that can be broken with just one poke.

Thinking about it from another angle, it might not be a bad thing for the Kingdom if this pig teammate doesn't cause trouble.

At least when we integrate the military forces of the alliance countries, we encounter much less resistance.

With the alliance's strength several times that of the enemy, we still have a great chance of winning this anti-French war! "

Prime Minister Marquis Olmos analyzed it calmly.

If it weren't for the slightly hoarse voice and slightly trembling body, the credibility would be even higher.

However, those present are all people with high emotional intelligence, and they adhere to the principle of "seeing through things without telling them."

"Your Majesty, what the prime minister said is right. Let them withdraw as long as the Holy See withdraws its troops. We don't expect them to be useless anyway.

Next, we only need to stabilize the countries and carry out the anti-French cause to the end, and we will surely win the final victory! "

The Minister of Military Affairs, Marquis Franceco, echoed.

If there is no better choice, then explore your own advantages as much as possible under the existing conditions.

In order to downplay the impact of the Holy See's withdrawal, he simply belittled the Holy See's army as useless, as if the Holy See was really dispensable to the anti-French alliance.

After a slight hesitation, Bordeaux VIII nodded slowly.

The war has just begun. Before the full-scale war begins, naturally we cannot build up the ambition of others and destroy our own prestige.

"Count Midford, the important task of coordinating relations between countries will be left to your Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

No matter what means are taken, the allies must be stabilized and they must not be allowed to withdraw at this time.

…”

…

The impact of the fall of Port Saintes is still spreading. The anti-French alliance, which was originally full of confidence, received a blow.

The Holy See then withdrew its troops and added another blow.

Under the circumstances, the Frankish Empire had another scene.

Compared with the anxiety before the war broke out, countless people were relaxed at this moment and prepared to welcome the final victory of the war.

As a major contributor to the capture of Port Saintes, Marquis Sunil instantly became a hero admired by the Franks, and was almost touted as the number one general on the mainland.

However, all of this has nothing to do with the person involved, Marquis Sunil. At this moment, he is worried about the continuous attacks.

"crazy!"

"They're all a bunch of lunatics!"

"Where is the Holy See? It is clearly a cult!"

Looking at the information compiled in his hand, Marquis Sunil couldn't help but sigh.

In order to slow down their march, the believers along the way used various means to constantly cause trouble for the army's movements.

"Send the order, any suspicious persons who come close to the army, whether they are men, women, old or children, will be killed without mercy!

Anyone who harbors or hides the enemy will be killed.

Order the leaders to supervise each other, one person launches a sneak attack - massacre the village, ten people launch a sneak attack - massacre the town, a hundred people launch a sneak attack..."

After issuing three killing orders in succession, Marquis Sunil's gloomy expression softened slightly.

It's not that he wants to take extreme measures, it's just that these believers are too crazy. In order to cause trouble for them, countless fanatics launched suicide attacks against them.

If that's all it is, it's not unbearable. The key is that in order to take advantage of their sympathy, these lunatics even take advantage of their own flesh and blood.

In the craziest place, there were even bloodstains all over the town, summoning the devil to come.

The cruelty of the methods is comparable to that of a cult, and has nothing to do with the word "sacred".

As a last resort, Marquis Sunil could only bear the reputation of "butcher" and issued a clearing-style massacre order.

I don’t know if it can deter the enemy, but it will definitely implicate many innocent people. But there is no way, no one knows what is going on in the minds of fanatical believers.

If you can't solve the problem, then solve the people who may have caused the problem. As long as everyone along the way is dead, the attack will naturally not happen.

"Too much involvement" is not something a soldier should consider. What he needs now is to mobilize the army to the foot of the Holy Mountain as soon as possible to complete the great cause of destroying the Holy See.