What did you do with the dice?

Rusalka: (Wait a minute, why do the invincible me and the invincible Cat only have 2200 people under their command?)

Sanita: (After some consideration, I felt it was inappropriate for the logistics troops to have more personnel than the regular troops, so I transferred 200 of them to your side.)

Rusalka: (Damn! So they only gave me 2000 people at the beginning?)

Sanita: (Don't think it's too little. I'll let you take charge first and try it out. Just remember to watch the PL channel regularly. I'll point out any problems with command in a timely manner. If you have any difficult decisions to make, or any questions about the case progress and supplementary information, you can also consult me. For the sake of our friendship, I won't charge you any fees. Oh, sorry, my occupational disease has struck.)

It was only after Sanita added, "Don't worry, those who are given to you to protect the bait are definitely elite soldiers" that Rusalka felt a little more satisfied.

As for why Rewi Alley was assigned to the middle position, Sanitieta explained that it was because Rewi Alley liked to follow you, which made Rusalka accept it with some doubt.

Rusalka must have felt that her brother was deceiving her, this was the doubtful part.

As for the part about the letter, it was because he did not want to contradict his opinion that was very popular with Rewi Alley. Even though he knew it was false, Rusalka was happy to take it seriously.

It can only be said that Rusalka still has some understanding of his brothers. The reason why he did not let Aerie go to Sarolt's side was because he was worried that there would be problems with the command there and Aerie would not be protected well; the reason why he did not put her on his side was because Aerie was disobedient, and Sarnita did not want such a hero unit that had a chance of disobeying commands.

So, throw the hot potato to Rusalka and let his brother suffer a little. It's a perfect distribution.

On the way from Mingyue City to Sicily, Mengjili sent the city guards to escort them.

"Lord Pearl Tear, it's a pity that my mission is to garrison Bright Moon City. Otherwise, I would have followed you to defeat the Seven Sins heretics." Mungili and Rusalka sighed as they walked. "Back then, when that rift opened on the border of Esdi, countless evil spirits poured out. I was a newly minted Paladin, and I followed the troops to seal the rift without hesitation. I didn't think I could survive, but now I admire my courage."

Rusalka had an indifferent expression on her face and listened quietly to him showing off.

Mengjili changed the subject and said, "But ever since the rift was sealed, there have been complaints within Esdi, saying that the younger generations are getting worse with each generation. To be honest, I had the same thought at the time. I also felt that the younger generation, such as Sarolt, who had not experienced the baptism of life and death and blood, although they were very powerful, were far inferior to the older generation of paladins like Ono.

But now, at this moment, that thought is completely gone.”

Rusalka was bored anyway, so she just played the role of a comedian: "Why?"

Mungili: "Those who keep saying that each generation is worse than the previous one should look at Rewi Alley. It's like looking at my past self, full of envy."

What was he envious of? Was he envious of her foolishly accompanying him to Alice City to die? He had no plans to go, but if he didn't know, it looked like she was going to die.

"She has more options than I did back then."

What to choose? To be beaten to death by the Church of the Seven Sins, or to be hanged by the Grand Duke?

"In fact, young people like them don't need to live the way we imagine. Our generation's imagination is not enough to imagine their future. If they still need my blessing, then I can only give them one sentence: Go ahead, the next wave."

Even Rusalka felt physically uncomfortable after hearing the whole sentence. This guy said that he didn't think about surviving at that time, and then he seemed to be saying that Ai Li's behavior was the same as his at that time. Does he like her or is he cursing her not to come back?

It would be fine if you were the jinx, but Ai Li is in your own army. Isn't that the same as AOEing yourself as well?

Rusalka is really drunk. There is no one around who can say auspicious words, right? Besides, you are not Theresa, how can you represent the thoughts of the older generation of Esdi?

Theresa is considered an old-line figure in Esdi, right? Now she wants to take on the world. So, you're saying that young people should start by aiming to take on two worlds to surpass her?

Mengjili escorted Rusalka's team all the way to the border, and then repeatedly reminded Ai Li to protect himself. He led the city defense forces of Mingyue City and waved goodbye to Ai Li, who was holding a huge bag of snacks.

Ai Li, clutching the snack bag, turned to Rusalka, who was riding a bird with Phoenix, and asked, "Lord Pearl Tear, are we really going to Alice City to defeat the Church of the Seven Sins?"

Rusalka wanted to say, "Of course it's fake. I'm going to defeat the Church of the Seven Sins? Are you kidding me?"

But Sanitita had warned him not to leak any information, so he nodded and put on a pious expression. "Yes, since ancient times, holy light and evil have been sworn enemies. Moreover, now that we have found the legitimate heir to Sinidi and have the power to wield the artifacts in the treasury, it's time to call on those with lofty ideals across the country to join the royal restoration plan."

Ai Li had been fascinated by this kind of legendary adventure story since she was a child. When she thought that she was walking on this road that she had only seen in books before, and perhaps she could become a famous figure in future history books, her blue eyes sparkled as if a galaxy was lit up.

Rusalka also felt that she had such an inexplicable optimism that he couldn't understand, just like he didn't understand the values ​​of the two captured elves. This group of people armed themselves as much as possible to resist death, while at the same time actively rushing to the place where death was most likely to occur.

Death is the destined destination of every life. In this world with gods, people have a very firm understanding of this concept, so what they fear more than facing death is "not living to their fullest."

Just like these two elves, they obviously cherish their companions, but they will not feel too sad about their companions' death. When Rusalka asked about the ranger he killed, they would just say, "It will be sad that we can't see it anymore, but her companions will bury her belongings under the beautiful maple tree. She was the first one chosen, so it's not too bad when you think about it."

This also includes Ai Li. She is obviously afraid of corpses, but she is not worried about the threat of her own death. She unwaveringly follows Rusalka, the ruthless war machine, to the place where the most corpses are born, that is, the battlefield.

The reason why Phoenix pushed him back was because Theresa told her that Rusalka had cried for her. Because in this world, if there is someone who is willing to cry because of your death, that person can only be your closest relative or loved one.

Rusalka: Well, I was also puzzled after hearing about it. Although the result is good, the reasoning is completely wrong. I didn't cry because I regarded Phoenix as my beloved. I am an empathetic and good person from the 21st century. When a female Bodhisattva like Theresa died, I would also shed a few tears.

This is also why veterans on Earth often suffer from PTSD (Post-War Disorder) after retirement, while soldiers in this world rarely experience this psychological trauma. Perhaps this is the different ideological foundations forged by institutional and cultural differences. Even without the need for Rusalka's fearless talents, everyone is a little Sani Iron Tower in this regard...

Eh? Wait, that's not right. These natives are used to seeing death. My brother clearly has no talent, so why is he more accustomed to the survival mode of this eternal plane than them?

With this confusion, Rusalka led the army along the established route and soon reached the border of Sicily.

Chapter 152 Sicilian Front (2)

The border of the Sicily region is a small stretch of green grassland.

The sky is cloudless, the air is clear and crisp, egrets fly across the sky, and the breeze carries away the remaining heat from the summer. It is a good time for an outing and also a good day for a long-distance march.

In fact, Rusalka had been to this area once before. He still remembered that he led his army to escape from Mingyue City and ran to a baronial town to set up camp and replenish supplies. At that time, it was only about five kilometers away from the border of Sicily in a straight line.

This time, since the supply belt was relatively abundant, Rusalka did not need to go to nearby villages and towns to buy supplies. According to Sanita's plan, he could just go straight forward without wasting time.

It's still a bit strange not seeing my brother for a few days. Although they communicate with each other in the PL channel every day, Rusalka's desire to tell jokes or complain has decreased a lot because of the Internet cable. Moreover, with Aerie by her side, she and Phoenix can only walk in an orderly manner. Rusalka can only suppress a trace of anxiety all the way.

When the army was dispersed, Rusalka could truly experience the inconvenience of cold weapon warfare. Although there was indeed a good thing like the communication stone, it was also a disposable prop. When reporting to each other every day, they still used human messengers and domesticated pigeons. This basic intelligence exchange did have a considerable degree of delay.

Sometimes Sanitta would exchange information with Rusalka on the PL channel at 8 o'clock in the morning, and the messenger would not be able to verbally relay similar information until around four o'clock in the afternoon. Since most of the information was verbally relayed, it was not necessary for Sanitta to write a daily report every day while on the march. The ghostwriter would only record some important content, so there would inevitably be some omissions in the unimportant parts.

Rusalka: (Oh, if only I had a cell phone.)

Sani Tower: (You're dreaming. You're the one building the signal station? And you can protect it after it's built? And there are actually such buildings in this world. Look, the Mage Tower.)

Rusalka: (Oh, it would be nice if there was a mage tower.)

Sunita didn't reply. He was a big puffball and was just too lazy to puff.

----

"Father, this little baron, Rusalka, is becoming more and more arrogant. We haven't even avenged Mingyue City yet, and now he's brazenly leading an army of 30,000 into our territory. He's simply showing off his power over us. Give me an army, and I'll take them down!"

Momola Chenge, who was captured at the time, saw Sanitta, who had obvious murderous intentions towards him. He thought he would be killed by Sanitta. He was so scared that he begged for mercy desperately and vowed that he would never be an enemy of Rusalka again.

However, Sanitta later returned him to Mongili. When he returned to his homeland, the humiliation turned into hatred. The oath he had made before had long been thrown to the wind, and he only wanted to use revenge to wash away his shame.

Compared to him, the croissant from the Allen family was much calmer. He said nothing after being captured, but when he was handed over, he told Rusalka to wait in a very firm tone. Although the Allen family had suffered a setback today, they would definitely get back at it later.

Therefore, Sanitieta always felt that it was more reliable for people to die, especially the nobles of Sinidi, who always thought that they would not die if they paid a ransom after losing a war. As enemies, it was a good thing for such people to be brainless in a war.

But after the fight, they will definitely try to save face and use all kinds of tricks to provoke you regardless of gains and losses, forcing you to fight him again, and finally everyone will be hurt and there will be no progress. Especially these young masters, most of them have the attitude of being so angry that no one can get away with it, which is quite disgusting.

If you don't remove the roots of the grass, it will grow again when the spring breeze blows. Now we are talking about the sons of the two marquises.

If Croissant was willing to listen to his family's arrangements after suffering a great loss, then Chen Ge was the rebel. He asked his father for a fight every day at home, saying that Rusalka had won by luck by taking advantage of the city's defense. If he was given an army this time, he would definitely be able to kill them all.

The two marquises certainly knew whether the battle in Mingyue City was a fluke. For a master like Rusalka who could chop his way all the way from the basement to the City Lord's Mansion and wipe out the "Sword Saint" and the "Viper Squad", and now with so many troops around him, it would be difficult for them to find suitable people to take him down.

In addition, Esdi is either fighting against evil spirits or engaging in border frictions with the El Empire. Given their nationwide martial spirit, the army may not be able to defeat them.

Therefore, although the military power is in his hands, whether to send troops or not is not really up to his own will. Recruiting soldiers from the surrounding areas is one thing, but sending troops must first ask the Grand Duke for his opinion.

It was called a request for instructions, but in fact it was just exaggerating the danger posed by Rusalka to the point where he had to be dealt with immediately, which was a disguised request for stronger reinforcements from the Grand Duke.

For this reason, the two of them allowed the mastermind of the El Empire to break through the City Lord's Mansion. Although they knew in their hearts that there was a 99% chance that the Great Prince in Rusalka's hands was fake, but Sanita's conspiracy was here. If you want to ask for help and force the Grand Duke to send troops from the central government, then you have to fall for this conspiracy. You can only say that the false information that "Rusalka has the Great Prince in his hands" is "true or false and cannot be determined", and then pass it on to the Grand Duke, hoping that he can personally take action to settle this rumor.

The bad news is that Grand Duke Delei, as one of the three great dukes of Sinidi, no longer needs to master intelligence in his position, but rather to be the creator of intelligence. It doesn't matter to him whether the Grand Prince is alive or dead. He just needs to make sure that no one will believe it.

Therefore, even if he believed that Rusalka had the prince in her hands, he could never adopt an attitude of "Rusalka had the prince in her hands".

Therefore, no matter how the two marquises reported Rusalka's situation, his response would only be: Rusalka could never have the eldest prince in her hands. As the Grand Duke, saving the country of Snidi is my top priority. At this critical juncture of fighting against the Grand Duke of Oaks in the North and the Church of the Seven Sins, it is absolutely impossible to send the family's assassins to carry out a meaningless action for this false news.

But the good news is that although the Grand Duke appears to not care about this side, in fact, the team of rangers has actually shown his hidden attitude towards Rusalka.

So, at the end of the reply, there was a sentence: Kill Rusalka when his escort troops reach the basin in front of the Sicilian woods.

After the two marquises lit the letter, they summoned their family descendants and confidants and issued an order to send troops.

----

Three days later, Rusalka's army marched to the central region of Sicily.

Sanita: (The two marquises have already prepared a welcoming ceremony.)

Rusalka: (I can’t wait any longer. Serve it up quickly.)

Sanita: (Oh, and one more thing. According to those two insider elves, you are now the first on the Rangers' hit list. This means that you will be the primary assassination target during this period.)

Rusalka, who had been holding Phoenix in his arms for the past few days and could only sleep like a bird, and couldn't sleep like a cat, had reached a peak in terms of both his fighting spirit and his will to fight. He was almost suffocating. When he heard the news, he was so happy that he almost wanted to lift Phoenix in his arms and cheer: (There is such a good thing?!)

Sanita: (You know how to pop champagne at halftime.)

As long as you cross the basin in front of you and walk out of the dense forest along the river, you will have crossed the territorial boundary between the two marquises and officially arrived at the central area of ​​the Kingdom of Sinidi, which is within the direct influence of the Grand Duke.

Now Rusalka has also received the news that the spies have returned, and the two marquises have issued orders to send troops.

Sanita: (If they coordinate well and attack from both sides simultaneously, then under normal circumstances, my only response would be to withdraw our forces to the central mountainous area, using the height difference to buy time as much as possible, and allowing your central army to break through this area.

However, attacking too early or too late is not suitable. If you attack too early, you can slip away. If you attack too late, you will enter the forest and the number of people will not matter. Therefore, the best time to attack is when you are in the basin area, which is a dilemma.

The answer given by the staff of Marquis Allen coincided with Sanita's guess.

Since the route chosen by Sani Iron Tower was really a bit reckless, he did not consider reducing the pressure by choosing to pass through the territory of one marquis, but chose to go directly between the territories of the two marquises, with an attitude of being reckless and not afraid of being caught on both sides. Instead, he disrupted the battle ideas of the two marquises - from the beginning when he had to hold back the Rusalka army alone and wait for the other side to ask for help, to now he hopes to cooperate fairly with the other side and attack the Rusalka army at the same time.

But in addition to trust, the most basic foundation, cooperation also needs to build a bridge of communication to proceed smoothly. Sunny Tower is betting that they don’t have signal towers and mobile phones at home, and the communication stones are not unlimited.

Of course, he couldn't lose the bet. In this case, if the two parties wanted to communicate the time and details of the attack, or to divide the work and deploy strategic offensive and defensive points, they would need messengers to travel back and forth.

Now that Rusalka's army has cut off the communication line in the central part, they can only send messengers to deliver information in a small circle, and they are already behind in time.

And without knowing whether Rusalka really wanted to break through this area alone and rush straight to Alice City, they did not dare to fight a slow and tug-of-war in order to swallow up the military forces on both wings of Rusalka, and let them protect Rusalka's central army to pass through.

You usually let things slide, and donate less in the Alice City War, but now they want to pass through your two territories with 30,000 people, and you two marquises together let them go unhindered, and you did this under the order of the Grand Duke.

No matter how you look at it, this behavior is definitely hypocritical and passive, and the Grand Duke will definitely not let them go and settle the score later.

Marquis Allen saw that time did not allow the two families to discuss what to do. Since the time and place of the attack had been decided, it was up to each of them to decide on their own abilities.

But even if one relied on their abilities, they still had to focus on results. He asked his staff officer, "Attacking from the left flank will take a long time to break through. What if we go around it and directly block the exit from the woods?"

Staff Officer: "If Marquis Momola fails to hold down the enemy's right flank, and if they have sufficient communication and coordination, our army will be easily trapped on both sides. While we can achieve our goal of intercepting them, we may suffer heavy losses before Marquis Momola's reinforcements arrive."

Marquis Allen also knew that his life should not be handed over to others, even to Marquis Momola, who was as close as a brother. True brothers could become enemies.

In this era of civil strife in the kingdom, when even a poor baron like Rusalka can be forcibly promoted to a marquis, if his military power collapses, there will be people waiting for his body to be eaten with their knives and forks prepared long ago, especially since the Marquis Momola next door happens to be a giant whale like himself. Who knows if this guy will be so hungry that he will eat anything he wants?

Moreover, the purpose of attacking Rushaka was to get back the money he had previously given them, and ideally, to recapture Mingyue City. If this wasn't the premise, who would risk their lives and money to fight someone for something that had no benefit? Are they just bored?

Even if it was a problem of the eldest prince, it was something that Grand Duke Gaidelai should consider, and had nothing to do with the two marquises. If they had not wanted to take over Mingyue City and that land, they would not have sent troops to Mingyue City to wipe out the army of the El Empire.

But unfortunately, things were going too smoothly at that time. When the two marquises saw that Rusalka's army was separated by Mingyue City and could not return home, they decided to swallow up Zhulei Territory as well, so they couldn't help but attack him as well.

As a result, he failed to kill the eagle and instead had his eyes pecked out. Now that he has lost his eyes, he must take back Mingyue City no matter what.

Marquis Allen was reluctant to continue marching according to plan. He clearly knew that capturing Rusalka's center would yield far greater benefits than engaging those delaying troops on the flanks. "How about dividing the troops?"

"If we divide our forces... with our current military strength, it might not be easy to fight head-on."

The staff officer's words made Marquis Allen silent. To put it bluntly, the losses in the battle of Mingyue City were too severe. Te also knew that the reason why Rusalka dared to send so many troops to attack this side directly was largely because the troops of these two families had lost nearly one-third in the battle of Mingyue City. If the entire army was not gathered together now, it would be hard to say whether they would win or lose in a head-on battle with Rusalka's Esdi Army.

Of course, it is possible to send a small part to block Rusalka's way, but if Momola next door does not understand his intention and fails to cooperate and help send some soldiers to block the front, if his side only sends out 2 legion units, he really cannot defeat the small force of only one legion unit in the middle of Rusalka - because the high-end combat power is too different. Once Rusalka kills too many, its morale will definitely not hold up.

But if Momola's entire army goes to block Rusalka's way, and his entire army is foolishly responsible for holding up Rusalka's left wing, then there is only one Rusalka, and this will turn into a situation where he is making things difficult for the other party.

Alas, if only Shalossis were still alive, he could at least exchange a few moves with Rusalka to delay time. Even if he did the same as Rusalka and killed each other's soldiers to delay the morale collapse, it would make the situation look better.

Just when he was struggling, the sudden arrival of an envoy made his frown relax immediately.

It's time to put that madman Rusalka to death on the spot.

Chapter 153 Sicilian Front (3)

Rusalka put down the telescope. Seeing that they were about to cross the basin, based on the idea that supplies must be made before a war, Rusalka ordered the entire army to camp and rest on the spot, eat well and sleep well, and then march towards the basin area in full condition the next day.

After the bonfire was lit in the evening, amidst the aroma of food, the sparse sounds of musical instruments and some singing, the army on Rusalka's side enjoyed what might be the last peaceful night of this march.

Phoenix poured the food from the pot into plates, held two plates of food in both hands, and carried a cooking bucket by the tail, and came over to put dinner on the small table. Rusalka was responsible for wiping the table, getting the tableware, and doing the subsequent dishwashing.

Ai Li did not have dinner with them today because she was the army's mascot, so she had to eat with everyone.

As for why Rusalka and Phoenix were not there, it was because they knew that if the boss was sitting at the table during the dinner, it would become a social event; if the teacher was added to the class group, it would become a homework notification group, so how could they be happy?

So he consciously booked a table with Phoenix, and it was fine for just the two of them to eat.

Rusalka: "Phoenix, let me give you a brain teaser."

Phoenix: "Brain teasers?"

Rusalka: "I'm just asking you a question, and you'll understand after you answer it."

The cat nodded, and its ears followed suit.