Alien Arms Empire

Chapter 298 298 Two dead ends

 Hesand Castle is the western gateway to the royal city of King Gemelin. There are generally not less than 3,000 troops stationed here to defend the royal city.

Even when troops were mobilized to attack the Kingdom of Leyte, the garrison at the River Sand Castle remained untouched. To be on the safe side, the King of Gemelin also sent a relatively reliable count to guard the place.

Although, due to the limited economic strength of the Gemelin Kingdom and the insufficient production capacity of the Cyric Consortium, the most elite needle guns have not been replaced by the troops stationed here, but several guns were indeed strengthened here a few days ago. A muzzleloader that supports the scene.

Logically speaking, no matter what, we should be able to hold on here for a while, or at least resist for dozens of days, to buy time for the defense of the royal city.

 But now, the knight kneeling in front of King Gemelin cried and reported what he saw with his own eyes, which really shocked everyone present.

　Until now, the King of Gemelin knew that some of the rumors that he did not believe before were actually true.

 It turns out that the troops from the Kingdom of Wright appearing in the hinterlands of those kingdoms are actually true! But before, he actually used cowardice as an excuse to kill those knights who went out to gather information.

"Your Majesty! The troops of the Kingdom of Wright have indeed occupied the River Sand Castle! I saw it with my own eyes! And...I also deliberately brought back two witnesses of the River Sand Castle..." The knight who saw the fall of the River Sand Castle with his own eyes lowered his head to the king. There are also reports from a group of ministers.

This time, he was ordered by his superiors to bring back witnesses and investigate as clearly as possible, so he did his best to collect relatively detailed information.

As he spoke, he described the enemy's strength as impressively as possible: "The opponent's troops are not many, but their equipment is quite well-equipped. I dare not get too close, but I am sure that the royal flag of the Kingdom of Wright has been hung on the river sand castle. …”

In fact, he also saw the soldiers of the Northridge Regiment. Those strange soldiers wearing steel helmets, gray-green long windbreakers, special armed belts, and holding new rifles were very easy to identify.

They are neither the traditional military attire of the Kingdom of Wright, nor are they completely different from the distinctive attire of other countries.

　　Hearing the report of the knight who went to spy on the intelligence, or to confirm the enemy's position, the minister next to him immediately became panicked: "Your Majesty, things are more difficult than imagined!"

"Isn't it... that Count Hershey has rebelled?" Another fat noble looked panicked and looked at his colleagues around him, asking uncertainly.

His first reaction was that the commander guarding the river sand castle surrendered. Otherwise, how could more than 3,000 soldiers lose the river sand castle with a high city and a deep pond without holding on for a day?

However, his guess was immediately rejected by the person next to him: "It shouldn't be possible... Earl Hershey shouldn't rebel... He is His Majesty's cousin!"

This count has always been loyal and somewhat capable, not like a fool who rebels in battle.

Hearing the discussion of these ministers, King Gemelin's face became uncertain. He did not believe that his cousin had defected to the enemy, but he could not figure out why a relatively strong city was lost so easily.

At this moment, the knight who went to inquire about the news spoke out the news he had learned: "Your Majesty! I rushed back from the River Sand Castle, and there were rumors spreading among the troops over there... I heard, I heard that Hull Lord Earl Xi has already died for his country..."

"What?" As soon as the news came out, all the ministers and some of the remaining generals in the royal city were shocked.

They thought that Hesand Castle was lost accidentally. They were even more willing to believe that Hesand Castle surrendered without a fight, and they were not willing to believe that it was captured by the enemy after resisting.

 Because if the river sand castle can be captured by the enemy, then the royal city where they are located will also suffer the same fate.

Therefore, when they heard that Hesha Castle had been captured and His Majesty the King's cousin had been martyred, everyone present changed their expressions: "This... this..."

The king finally couldn't bear it any longer. He looked at a close minister and asked, "Is there any news from Cyric? Where are our reinforcements?"

 The special envoy for help was sent out more than ten days ago. This is also one of the ways that the Gemelin Kingdom came up with to save itself.

The trusted minister looked embarrassed and said: "The envoy over there has sent news. Cyric is trying to find a way to dispatch supplies, but it will take time for these supplies to be transported from the surrounding areas to our royal city. !”

Before the king could say anything, another minister on the side shouted dissatisfied: "What a joke! Where do we have time?"

 Immediately, other ministers followed suit. These ministers are basically not of the same mind as the Cyric Consortium: "Yes! When their reinforcements arrive, our royal city may be breached!"

　　Previously, when the Cyric Consortium was working on the matter of the Kingdom of Gemelin declaring war on the Kingdom of Wright, they were all in opposition and were not very optimistic about this matter.

 But in the end, the king was dazzled by the benefits and sided with the Cyric consortium. He received arms "assistance" from the Cyric Consortium, and he was filled with the ambition of drinking from the endless sea of ​​horses.

As a result, now that the army has been defeated, the dream of swallowing up the Kingdom of Leyte and becoming a world-class power has also awakened...

Amidst the noise, the king heard a minister yelling in anger: "They were the ones who encouraged us to go to war in the first place! How could they ignore it when it ended up like this!"

Then, in a trance, he heard another minister vigorously defending the Cyric Consortium: "They didn't say they don't care, they just hope that we can persist for one to two months, but now it seems that we have We can’t hold on for that long!” It’s not that these ministers influenced by Cyric are so stupid, but they can only grasp the life-saving straw of Cyric’s consortium.

The most reasonable and easiest way to save the kingdom now is to wait for Cyric's follow-up material reinforcements.

As long as it can hold on for a while, the Gemelin Kingdom can more or less arm tens of thousands more troops.

At that time, equipped with the advanced weapons and equipment of the Cyric Consortium, this force may really be able to repel the army of the Kingdom of Wright, just as the Kingdom of Wright defeated them.

But before these people finished speaking, an opposing minister immediately retorted: "Let alone a month, even three days, you may not be able to persist!"

This sentence woke up all the dreamers.

Hence, without bothering to investigate why Cyric's reinforcements were so slow, the King of Gemelin immediately looked at the generals aside and asked: "How many troops are left in the city?"

"There aren't many left! The 3,000 most capable people have been transferred to the offensive force. There are still a few hundred people left, as well as some temporary recruits..." the general replied hesitantly.

The king also knew that there was something fishy inside, so he shouted sternly: "How many people are there? Tell me! What's the use of being secretive?"

"About 3,000 people!" The general lowered his head, feeling that this number was a bit embarrassing.

The king's body swayed and he almost lost his balance: "Three thousand? Only three thousand?"

 He knew that all the troops that could fight before had been deployed to the front line, and they were probably all annihilated.

 The remaining defense forces are actually not very effective in combat. Most soldiers are equipped with Cyric flintlock muskets, and there are very few needle-fired muskets.

The number of smuggled revolvers and K2 lever rifles from the Datang Group is basically negligible, and there are no decent cannons to use.

In other words, even if you have cannons, you don’t dare to use them—if the cannons really hit each other, the centuries-old royal city would probably be destroyed in one fell swoop...

"Isn't this a joke? If we have three thousand people to defend a wall as long as the royal city, it would be good to have 800 people on one side!" At the same time, some ministers also questioned angrily.

The general corrected the other person: "You haven't calculated the strength to guard the palace. Can't you transfer all the palace guards to the city wall?"

"If the city wall is lost, can the palace be defended? At this time, we should first find a way to defend the palace..." The minister asked sternly, as if he didn't understand.

The general was obviously unwilling to give in. He sneered and said sarcastically: "What do you know? If there is a problem in the palace, how can His Majesty's safety be guaranteed? If someone takes the opportunity to cause trouble..."

 “Who will cause trouble at this time?” The anxious minister spread his hands and asked.

"What if! Something goes wrong! Even if you die a hundred times, it won't be enough!" The general was not to be outdone.

The minister became angry and said: "You!"

 “What are you doing?” The general still responded in kind.

 “That’s enough!” Finally, the King of Gemelin couldn’t help but scolded, and the hall immediately fell silent.

In desperation, he looked at the other minister on the other side and asked like a dead horse: "What about the peace matter? Is there any progress?"

Signing for peace is naturally to the Kingdom of Wright. Since they thought of asking Cyric for reinforcements and supplies, they must also want to have a good talk with the Kingdom of Wright.

Even the senior officials of the Gemelin Kingdom have already prepared a series of concessions and compromises such as land cession and compensation.

The minister lowered his head and answered the king's question dejectedly: "There is no news about the envoys we sent to the Kingdom of Leyte to seek peace. It seems that the peace talks with the Kingdom of Leyte are unlikely to go smoothly."

"That's a joke! If it were you, would you negotiate with us in this situation?" Prime Minister Gemelin, knowing that this was unlikely, shook his head and said regretfully.

The king had no idea at this time and lamented: "What should I do?"

 (End of this chapter)