Although he had expected Emperor Marius's death and knew that Emperor Marius would use his own life to make Bacchus Empire resolutely cleanse all Snake Worship Cult's disciples, Li Ang was still extremely sad - this was one of his few true friends.
A respectable role model.
A truly powerful hero.
A wise emperor who always brings life to Bax.
The only thing Li Ang can do now is to faithfully fulfill his promise to Emperor Marius. The best tribute to his friends is to kill all his enemies in one fell swoop.
The death of Emperor Marius made Bacchus Empire as a whole no longer accept Snake Worship Cult, especially the common people at the bottom.
After the news of Marius' death spread, the residents around Imperial Port united as one, and tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians risked their lives to launch a comprehensive expulsion of Snake Worship Cult.
At the same time, the serf general Ivaylo, who was originally accused of "treason", appeared again.
--Ivaylo did not really treason. He just pretended to defect to Snake Worship Cult with Imperial Port's vitality after he was sure that Imperial Port could not be defended. He saved the few troops under his command and also saved Imperial Port civilians from being indiscriminately killed.
Of course, this is indeed surrendering to the enemy on the battlefield, which is completely inconsistent with the 'honor' in the eyes of the Pande Continent nobles. In the eyes of many nobles, this is a cowardly act, which is more shameful than treason.
But Ivaylo was originally a serf, he was never a noble - he didn't care about honor, he only cared about whether his subordinates would die in vain.
As a senior general who "actively abandoned darkness and turned to light", Ivaylo played a decisive role in Snake Worship Cult's army.
He stopped the Snake Worship Cult gangsters from killing civilians indiscriminately from the inside, and cooperated with Shadow Wolf Pack after General Sura arrived at Imperial Port. He worked inside and outside to kill several Snake Worship Cult priests, creating the best conditions for Emperor Marius's counterattack.
After Emperor Marius entered Imperial Port, Ivaylo organized a large number of militiamen, and together with Emperor Marius, they forced Imperial Port's Snake Worship Cult followers back dozens of miles in one fell swoop - this serf general had a huge reputation among the poor at the bottom.
Using militiamen to fight Snake Worship Cult warriors will of course cause huge losses, but at this time no one in the Bacchus Empire cares about the losses too much - Emperor Marius can risk his own life and lead his troops to kill, so what reason do others have to spare their lives?
Three days later, surrounded and expelled by tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, the Snake Worship Cult gangsters lost their hiding place and were forced into the wilderness north of Imperial Port.
The threat of Imperial Port has been eliminated, and Snake Worship Cult has also lost all its bases.
This makes Li Ang easily find the main force of Snake Worship Cult.
Or to be precise, it was the main force of Snake Worship Cult who came to him.
The Snake Worship Cult army that had been expelled from various places all gathered together near Buyulin Village. The scale was quite large, at least 10,000 people, and the specific number could not be calculated.
But these are not the followers of the priestess that Li Ang once killed. Most of them are well-equipped Snake Worship Cult warriors.
Except that their training level is still low and their tactical level is still not high, this Snake Worship Cult army has reached a very high level in other aspects - those Snake Worship Cult followers with poor equipment and skills have long since died in Imperial Port, and it is not Li Ang's turn to deal with them.
These regrouped Snake Worship Cult armies did not try to counterattack Imperial Port again, but began to march north.
If nothing else, their target is Alaclay - for Kavala, Abyssal Gate in Lake Alaclay is much more important than Imperial Port. Since they have lost most of their base areas, concentrating their forces and forcibly breaking into Noldo Forest becomes Snake Worship Cult's last choice.
Just when Snake Worship Cult's army just started to march north, Li Ang led the army to launch an assault.
Li Ang is ready to annihilate all enemies on the established battlefield.
Although he was using one-third of his troops to deal with a numerically superior enemy, Li Ang was absolutely confident of achieving total annihilation.
The soldiers in this battle were well-fed, had plenty of arrows, and also brought a large amount of explosives and grenades.
In addition, Marius sacrificed his life to gain the Bax people's unanimous hatred for Snake Worship Cult. The Snake Worship Cult army had neither a base nor supplies, and Buyulin Village was surrounded by the Bacchus Empire's troops and self-organized militia.
The battlefield situation has basically formed an encirclement, and the encirclement is gradually shrinking.
Li Ang's troops have blocked the due north. Alina and General Ivaylo are leading Imperial Port's troops to compress the space of Snake Worship Cult's army from south to north. Agason is cruising in the west with cavalry, while to the east is the vast sea.
In addition, General Sura's Shadow Wolf Pack is killing in secret.
Once Snake Worship Cult's people break away from their army, they will be swallowed up by all the surrounding troops.
Of course, the surrounding Bax troops would not dare to launch a strong attack easily - Snake Worship Cult after all, there are tens of thousands of troops gathered together.
Only Li Ang has enough ability to take the initiative to attack.
Li Ang's tactics are also very simple, which is to implement oppressive annihilation.
When fighting Bacchus Empire, of course you cannot fight in formations; but when fighting Snake Worship Cult, you should always fight in formations.
Li Ang divided the troops into four parts. Kloze and Sigismund each led a thousand heavy infantry, forming a military formation and slowly advancing southward, constantly oppressing Snake Worship Cult's space, preventing them from organizing a large-scale attack.
Risadiran and Wendy each carry eight hundred Noldo Elves. They do not ride horses and cooperate with the advance of the heavy infantry as skirmishers, taking advantage of the range advantage of the Noldor's bows and arrows to kill the enemy at a distance.
When the enemy organizes a large-scale cavalry charge, or uses a large number of troops to attack the enemy, Silver Hand will use grenades to clear the way, blow up the cavalry and drive away the horses, and then continue to maintain the military formation to carry out orderly annihilation.
This is not a line infantry tactic, but more like an infantry-tank coordination tactic - shooters with relatively high accuracy and range follow the tank-like heavy infantry in a skirmish line.
The range of the bows and arrows in Noldo Elves's hands is at least twice as far as those of Snake Worship Cult's throwing spears.
Relying on the range advantage to advance step by step and maintain the overall military formation is the most suitable way to deal with troops like Snake Worship Cult who have low training and discipline. It is also the way to minimize one's own casualties.
But this method is not suitable for dealing with the Bacchus Empire's military formation - Baxian's heavy crossbow has a farther range than the Noldor's arrows...
The only problem is that the craftsmanship of Noldo arrows is complicated and difficult to make, and it consumes ebony. The cost is very high, and it is relatively heavy. Each person can only carry more than thirty arrows in battle.
But as long as you can win, most of Noldo arrows can be recycled.
Heavy infantry such as Silver Hand is enough to ensure an absolute advantage on local battlefields in close combat.
It's just that Li Ang will not engage in melee combat with Snake Worship Cult's troops at will. Although his troops are not afraid of Red Death, who knows what other poisons those Snake Worship Cult warriors have on them?
Moreover, people in Snake Worship Cult are not afraid of death, and their strength is very strong. If a hand-to-hand fight results in a one-for-one fight, it will not be worthwhile.
I'd rather go slower. Snake Worship Cult warriors are powerful and equipped, and they can throw spears very threateningly, but they are really weak in long-range attacks such as bows and crossbows. They basically have no power to fight back during long-range shooting.
This tactic is very simple and the advancement speed is very slow, but the effect is quite good. The Snake Worship Cult army organized several forced charges and tried two large-scale attacks and spear throws, but they failed once, leaving only corpses everywhere.
With the continuous annihilation of Li Ang, the encirclement composed of the surrounding Bax troops is also constantly shrinking. The Snake Worship Cult army had to retreat to Buyulin Village to defend it after suffering heavy losses.
This means that the Snake Worship Cult army will be completely trapped in the small Buyulin Village.
In this way, we can directly implement a siege or starve them to death.
Seeing that Li Ang is about to fulfill his promise to Emperor Marius.
But at this moment, something unexpected happened...
General Agason of Imperial Port suddenly led his troops to charge Li Ang from the flank!
The troops he led were not many, they were Shadow Legion soldiers who had their thumbs cut off, and his personal guards Iron Ring Centurion.
There are less than 2,000 troops in total, and 1,600 of them are disabled people without right thumbs. Logically speaking, such troops cannot pose much of a threat to Li Ang.
But the problem is that Li Ang is currently focusing on dealing with Snake Worship Cult's army, and is completely unprepared for Bax's troops!
Three days ago, Imperial Port.
"Luciana, don't cry, this is the destination I want most..."
Emperor Marius was lying on the couch, his face was gray and his voice was low.
He was not injured, but his originally bright eyes had lost their sparkle, and his fingers were trembling slightly, but they were unable to reach out...
"Your Majesty, I'm not crying... what do you want to say?"
Alina said with tears in his eyes.
She knew that these were the last few minutes of her adoptive father's stay in the world, and she would not stupidly stop Emperor Marius from speaking.
Both Alina and General Sura next to him have seen the death process of many people. Most people will tremble slightly before death, unable to move their whole body and can only whisper softly.
This is when the body supplies all its last energy to the language system, allowing people to leave the last message for the world.
If you can say a few more words, let him say as many words as possible. This is Alina's only thought.
"Sura, my friend, please do me a favor... After I die, please help Luciana become the emperor of the empire, and then return to Ash Descendants... If anyone is dissatisfied..."
Emperor Marius looked at Sura with difficulty, and his words were broken.
"Don't worry, before I return to the Amara Continent, I will make all those who are dissatisfied disappear completely."
Sura nodded and stepped forward to help Marius say the second half of the sentence.
"... Your Majesty... I am not you, I don't have the wisdom and courage like you..."
Alina burst into tears.
"Luciana, I know you don't want to do this job... I actually have some selfish motives. If someone else becomes the emperor, it will be difficult for my two sons to live a good life... Only you will not embarrass them..."
Emperor Marius turned his head slightly, with a trace of love in his eyes. "Moreover, only you are suitable, only you will always firmly promote reforms, and only you will not blindly let the empire continue to implement any conquests... My child, Sura will help you solve the troubles among the nobles, all killings and Notoriety will fall on me; Li Ang is a man of his word, he will definitely eliminate Snake Worship Cult. Bax The two biggest threats will be eliminated together after my death... Promise me, child, promise me, you can do this job well..."
His voice became quieter and quieter.
"Your Majesty... I promise you... I promise."
Alina lowered his head and knelt in front of Emperor Marius. Tears in his eyes fell on the back of Marius' hand. "But I don't know what to do..."
She felt empty in her heart, and she could no longer refuse Marius at this time. She just hoped that Marius could say more, and she could say anything.
Seeing Alina nodding in agreement, Emperor Marius smiled, just like when he asked Alina to pour him wine.
"After I die, you will surrender to Li Ang as the empress of the empire. Now Bax is no longer his opponent. Keep Bax's independence and let New Kingdom of Pendor become the suzerain... This can bring long-term peace to the entire continent and let people live a better life..."
Emperor Marius smiled and said the last sentence, "Only you can do it, and only you are willing to do it..."
As he spoke, he closed his eyes.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty?! Father?!!"
Alina stared blankly at Emperor Marius, who was still smiling but no longer smiling, and slowly placed his forehead on his adoptive father's chest.
Sura General put his hand on his chest, lowered his head and gave the last military salute to his friend.
There were no sad cries, nor sad farewells.
Until the end, this emperor was still thinking about how to make the people live a better life. Alina and Sura naturally would not cry and make the deceased chill.
But in this world, there are always some people who have obsessions.
For example Agason.
When Emperor Marius's last words reached Agason's ears, the marshal collapsed.
"Sura... I will obey His Majesty's last wish and be loyal to Alina. I am also willing to cease the war and rest after solving Snake Worship Cult, but I must not surrender to Li Ang! The empire cannot be subordinate to any country!"
Agason was in his military camp, looking at General Sura who came to summon him, shaking his head firmly while crying.
"This is not surrender, it is just lowering one's stature and forming an alliance with New Pande, recognizing New Kingdom of Pendor's status as suzerain... Bax is still an independent country."
Sura explained patiently.
"I know! But then the empire can no longer be called an empire!"
Agason shook his head angrily with red eyes. "Bax who has lost his glory is still Bax? I will not obey such an order!"
"Bax being called an empire or a kingdom is just a title. Is this false name more important to you than the lives of all citizens?"
General Sura shook his head. "Agason, I am also Baxian, but I was born in a wasteland that has been destroyed...Bax used to be powerful and glorious, but where is it now?"
"I have witnessed Ash Descendants Empire rise from a few isolated cities and become a new powerful country with the efforts of two generations. I know why..."
"Not because Ash Descendants Empire has a powerful army, but because it treats most citizens well!"
"In order to deal with Snake Worship Cult and make more people live a better life, Emperor Manius sent Shadow Wolf Pack and Phoenix Knights to support Pande Continent... But in fact, you should be very clear that Emperor Manius is also capable of sending troops to expedition Bax! But why didn't he do this?"
General Sura glanced at Agason sarcastically. "Your Majesty, Emperor Manius, His Majesty Marus, Li Ang... why can they become 'Your Majesty'? Agason... I'm afraid you don't know what true glory is."
"... Maybe. But I have something I must insist on...Sura, I am a descendant of the conqueror, and I cannot just let the empire established by the conqueror lose the crown it deserves. I will leave the empire's cavalry to you, and you can lead them to continue cleaning up Snake Worship Cult... I am going to do what I should do."
Agason was not convinced and left with his personal guards.
Bacchus Empire's army still encircled Snake Worship Cult's army under the command of generals Alina and Sura.
But Agason, at the moment when Snake Worship Cult's army was about to be completely wiped out, rushed into Li Ang's army with a group of wounded soldiers who should not have been on the battlefield.