Sword of Dawn

Page 468

Andersa breathed a sigh of relief and nodded: "It is true. The Cecils are menacing, but..."

As soon as she was halfway through her words, she suddenly stopped as if she had noticed something. The officers in the room didn't know what happened for a while, and they all looked at each other in blank dismay, but someone quickly realized that they asked everyone to keep quiet, In the silence, Andersa and her adjutant held their breaths and listened carefully to the sounds from outside.

The dense explosion sounds in the direction of the small triangular slope are rapidly becoming thinner.

"Less than half an hour," the adjutant at the side looked gloomy, "faster than we expected..."

An officer couldn't help muttering in a low voice: "If there are the Iron River Knights and the Priests, and the high-level war blessings combined with the strategic magic of the Battle Mage, we can stop the enemy's offensive in the northwest..."

Andersa glanced at the officer, then looked away: "We no longer have the Knights of the Iron River, nor the Order of Priests—only the main force of the Winter Wolf Knights, the Three Supporting Army, and this fortress. Ms. Gentlemen, think about how to deal with those Cecils on this basis, this is to face reality."

Andersa still maintained her stern expression and resolute tone, as if she hadn't wavered in the slightest, but as an elder who knew her well, Palin Winterhold could feel the depression and regret deep in the heart of this young wolf general .

But he couldn't think of words of consolation, and he knew that the vast majority of people here probably felt similarly, and even he himself was not very optimistic at the moment.

And this repression does not come from those Cecils, nor is it out of fear of battle—the soldiers of the empire have never been afraid of war, and what really shakes them is the cloudy future of Typhon.

The mutated Church of God of War, the out-of-control Ace Knights, the pollution that is hidden around and will suddenly erupt at any time, everyone tries not to discuss these things in this kind of place, but everyone knows that they are really serious. In front of everyone, even a large number of officers will have an even more terrifying worry after they have access to a deeper level of intelligence——

The Knights of the Iron River lost control under the influence of mental pollution, and they are believers of the God of War... Then, as a believer of the God of War or who has more or less contact with the belief of the God of War, will he also suddenly fall into madness?Even... Are the things I'm thinking about and the tactics I'm deploying at this moment really out of my own free will?

Soldiers of the Empire are human too—these terrible pressures are shaking everyone's morale no matter what.

"We have set up a large-scale arcane stress field on the west side of the defense line," Andersa suddenly broke the silence after a brief silence, "This is aimed at the various characteristics of the magic engine and the magic grid substrate. Sexual traps, they should be able to play a considerable role - if the enemy's advance is successfully blocked, the strategic spell attack of the Black Flag Mage Group will definitely have a greater effect."

Palin Winterhold raised his eyebrows: "Arcane stress field? That is the research result of the Royal Mages Association... have you put them into practical use?"

"Barely usable," Andersa nodded. "The main reason is that there is not enough time for the layout, but it can still play a certain role..."

After letting Earl Palin Winterhold rest temporarily, Andersa took a long breath. She was a little more relaxed than before, but only a little bit.

"Are we still unable to establish contact with the Cecils?" She suddenly turned her head and looked at her adjutant who had followed her for many years.

"All attempts have failed," the adjutant immediately straightened his body, and replied solemnly, "We tried to use the communication device to call the backup line of Changfeng Fortress, but the other party did not respond. We also sent three waves of messengers, but no one came back alive. ——It seems that the Cecilians have been completely angered, and they probably won't negotiate with us until the winner is decided."

"Damn..." Andersa gritted her teeth, "Could it be that their brains are also confused..."

The adjutant looked at his officer with some concern. After hesitating for a moment, the young man who had followed Andesa for many years couldn't help but said: "General, do you still think that this war can be stopped? Both of us The use of force has already been carried out... Excuse me, I think it is useless to try to contact those Cecilians at this time and try to explain the misunderstanding..."

"But the fact is that all of this shouldn't have happened!" Andersa stared at her adjutant, trying to keep her tone calm, "This war is not good for the empire, not good for everyone, only those who are polluted A lunatic gets some false satisfaction out of it—listen, call again, it's an order."

The adjutant met Andersa's gaze, and after two seconds, he bowed his head and accepted the order: "Yes, General, I will go to the communication tower again."

The adjutant left, while Andersa stayed here, facing the gradually crushing disaster with an increasingly heavy heart.

As time went by, more and more information began to gather in front of her.

That was the intelligence gathered by the scouts and the griffin troop in the sky, and in each piece of intelligence, the "steel advance tactics" of the Cecils were finally presented in the Winter Wolf Castle. In the eyes of the guards, about the performance of those chariots, about the fighting style of the Cecils, about the comparison of the combat capabilities and tactics of the two sides...

And along with the information came, there was also the advancing Iron Legion.

Before the sun went down, the last outpost set up on the western border of Winter Wolf Castle saw the Cecilian army—a steel chariot approaching from the plain, and the tracks of the chariot were easily torn apart amidst the roar of artillery fire. The defense of the outpost was broken, and the soldiers who escaped before that brought news that Winter Wolf Castle would enter the enemy's range in ten minutes.

This is the last information.

At the same time, the adjutant also brought the last bad news—the direction of Changfeng Fortress still has not responded to the contact from Winter Wolf Castle.

Andersa stood on a towering and solid city wall. The energy shield above the fortress was gradually increasing its charging level, and the enchanted city wall under her feet resonated with the magic power. Some stone bricks occasionally trembled slightly, but these continued. The rising level of protection did not make her feel at ease in the slightest.

Many things can only be understood after actually facing them, and no amount of pre-deduction is more profound than reality—Andersa clearly saw the shortcomings of Typhon's army.

The magical technology of the Cecils has changed this era, and the change of the era means that everything will change accordingly—this includes not only the way of life of human beings, but also everything on the battlefield.

The Typhons were a step slower, and this slow step was reflected on the battlefield, that is, the Typhons' army did not have enough units that could "equivalent" to the Cecils' new weapons.

Facing the steel chariot called "tank", the Empire's Iron River Knights have been absent, and the priests can no longer use it. Only the battle mages who have recently completed upgrade training can fight against it with the help of magic vehicles However, the latter has serious shortcomings in terms of numbers, and at the same time, on this new type of battlefield, they are far less experienced than Cecil's army, which has experienced civil wars and divine disasters.

After some comparisons, Andersa finally found out that when the Cecil chariots drove onto the battlefield, she couldn't find many troops who could step out of Winter Wolf Castle and fight the enemy head-on on the frontal battlefield!

From Contracting Fort to Winter Wolf Fort, several mobile units that have lost consecutively along the way have fully proved this point.

In fact, even if the Knights of the Iron River and the Priests were not absent, the dilemma of "no soldiers to use" would not be much improved. The reason is simple: the Knights of the Iron River and the priests are the elite of Typhon's elite. They are all precious trump cards that are difficult to train, but the army of the Cecilians... are all machines that can be mass-produced and ordinary people who can train quickly!

Before today, Andersa had seen information about the training speed of Cecil's army and the advantages and disadvantages of magic weapons from various sources. The fast-growing new-style army, she has also made many suggestions to the imperial capital in this regard, and thought of many plans to improve the existing army of the empire, but now she realizes that her imagination...is a little lacking after all .

On the far west side of the battlefield, there are faint smoke and dust and the brilliance of magic shining, which seems real and illusory in the gradually sinking light of the huge sun, and it is difficult to distinguish the real from the real.

Today, Andersa finally realized what she missed on that rainy night on the Paramer Heights.

Chapter 0979 Evening

Andersa didn't let herself sink into depression for too long.

It is a fact that Typhon is a step slower on the modern battlefield, but this does not mean that Typhon's military strength has lagged behind the Cecils in an all-round way-now her troops are only in a disadvantageous situation under certain conditions, and they can even only Passive defense in Winter Wolf Castle, but even so, it is not so easy for the Cecilians to break through this line of defense.

Her eyes turned to the distance, on the west side of Winter Wolf Castle, smoke and dust are gradually rising...

……

The heavy tracks crushed the dry and cold wasteland, the low roar of the magic engine and the mechanical friction sound of the gears and connecting rods came from all directions, the muzzle of the "Warhammer" main battle tank was raised high, and in this Iron Legion In front of him, the majestic walls of Winter Wolf Castle and the shining fortress shields were already visible in the distance.

The first attack wave is gradually approaching the optimal shooting distance. The echelon commander is in a solid tank, looking at the distant scene through the periscope. Except for Winter Wolf Fort, it seems that there are no obstacles set by the enemy in the wilderness. ——No more wooden barricades than nothing, no criss-crossing fences in sight, and no annoying interception troops.

"They seem to have given up on blocking our tank troops in the wilderness," the commander shouted loudly as the machinery was running loudly, "We are approaching the firing range."

"Those Typhons should know what a disaster they've caused!" The commander also raised his voice and shouted loudly, "I thought the famous Winter Wolf line of defense was so difficult to deal with - it doesn't even look as good as Boulder City Legion of clusters!"

The echelon commander immediately reminded: "Be careful! Those Typhons behaved a little abnormally on the battlefield, be careful of traps..."

Over the past year or so, the front-line troops in the eastern border have been expanding and training. Now its members are not only the soldiers of the original First Legion who were mobilized from the southern border, but some of them were originally stationed in Changfeng Fortress and survived the crystal war. The veterans of the Eastern Territory, who were plagued by disasters, have been retrained and have now become members of the new army, and the commander of this echelon is one of such "retrained veterans".

Rich combat experience and understanding of the Typhon people made him a low-level officer on the front line, but now, more and more confusion is gradually emerging in the commander's heart.

The Typhons have never behaved so strangely—as the party that declared war, they behaved as hastily and helplessly as the Cecilians. As a powerful army in the border area, they were restrained on the battlefield, and many elite troops did not Show up, I have heard that the Typhon people are also reforming the army to enhance the combat effectiveness of the border guards, but now it seems...why is the performance of Winter Wolf Castle not even as good as the Ansu era a few years ago?

Thoughts of confusion swirled in the commander's mind, but at the same time he did not forget to be vigilant and pay attention to the surrounding situation.

At this moment, he suddenly felt a slight itching and tingling sensation on the surface of the skin on his arm.

He lowered his head and saw that his hairs were standing on end.

"Pay attention to the magic trap!" The echelon commander immediately reacted, and he rushed to the communication platform, "The left and right wings are scattered, the rear team slows down and bypasses, the front team fires to clear the field at close range, and cooperate with the infantry to prepare for the enemy—"

The first wave of tanks responded immediately. Amidst the roar of machinery, the heavy steel chariots began to quickly change their queues. The "Steel Ambassador" chariots advancing in coordination opened their shields and began to prepare for the magical impact. Almost at the same time, the entire land in front of the chariot troop began to glow with a dense web of white light that seemed to be composed of countless tiny lightnings—the net of light seemed to seep out of the soil, sweeping across the battlefield in a blink of an eye. However, in an instant, fine sparks appeared from the mechanical cabins and rail guns of a large number of tanks.

The power ridge was severely damaged in the magic power surge, the magic power engine was running out of balance, and the gears and connecting rods burst into ear-piercing noises under the dual effects of inertia and engine loss of control, creaking and twisting into a ball, the affected tanks and many The functional chariots stopped one after another, and although more chariots did not stop completely, they also slowed down significantly, and there were continuous subtle explosions inside the chariots.

At this moment, low-pitched buzzing sounds came from extremely high altitudes, and the coordinated infantry under the protection of the steel ambassador raised their heads subconsciously. In the dimming sky at dusk, they saw that the sky above them was suddenly covered with Layer upon layer of focal points that looked like mirrors were formed, surging magic power surged in the air, and those mirrors began to quickly turn red...

The chariots that can still move quickly retreat or spread out to the two wings. The steel ambassador enters the overload mode and opens the wide-area shield to the maximum. The infantry quickly looks for the squad chariots to seek cover. Beams have been poured down...

……

"Confirm that the Arcane Stress Field is in effect! The enemy has been stopped!" "Aurora Rain has focused and is now fully projected!" "Second echelon mages are starting to store energy!" "Observing the results of the battle..."

The line of defense that was calm a second ago seemed to be boiling at this moment. The humming and explosions of the magic power focused on the eardrums, and a series of information was quickly gathered in front of Andersa. She had already retreated to the commander in the fortress. In the room, at the moment, he is observing the situation on the defense line through the magic projection made by the mage-the distant scene has been blocked by the overwhelming high-energy beam and explosion smoke.

"It worked," Earl Palin Winterhold looked nervously at the holographic image presented by the magic projection. This was the first time he used his battle mages to fight against the mechanical troops of the Cecilians. High energy beams seem to be able to penetrate their shields."

However, Andersa, who was in charge of the highest command, frowned, obviously she found the problem: "...we should wait for them to move a little further before activating the stress field, the mages are too impatient. Or if we have two traps That's good, we can intercept all those Cecils within the coverage of the beam rain..."

"They won't be fooled a second time," Earl Palin Winterhold said in a deep voice, "But we have achieved the expected results, and the next step is the confrontation of hard power..."

Before the Earl of Winterhold finished speaking, Andersa saw a flash of light in the depths of the smoke in the holographic image, and something shocking scattered the smoke, leaving a light blue trail in the air.

Immediately afterwards, the second and third flashes appeared in the smoke.

Just a few seconds later, a huge explosion came in from the outside—the direction of the city wall was under attack.

The smoke was blown away by the wind, and the Iron Legion of the Cecilians appeared again—the menacing army looked very embarrassed. After being baptized by the high-energy beam rain, nearly one-third of the war machines had been reduced to wreckage, and the other A large number of severely damaged and powerless chariots were scattered on the battlefield, and the survivors were using the wreckage as cover to bombard the walls of Winter Wolf Castle.

Even in a state of embarrassment, their attacking momentum is still astonishing.

At the same time, Andersa also noticed that some other enemies appeared behind those chariots - some soldiers with strange equipment survived the attack just now, and they were spreading to the position under the cover of their own chariots and the wreckage of the battlefield Seems to be searching for something carefully.

They are sabotaging arcane stress field generators buried underground.

Earl Palin Winterhold's face was tense. This was the first time he saw the army of "ordinary people" who were not completely wiped out under the attack of the strategic spells of the Black Flag Mage Group, but still retained a certain combat power. Not only am I amazed by the combat effectiveness and survivability of those ordinary people under the blessing of equipment, but also amazed by their courage after facing such a large-scale magical attack.

At this moment, the sound of the messenger spell came to the ears of Andersa and the Earl of Winterhold, and more news of the enemy's upcoming arrival came from the magic sentry on the heights of Winterwolf Castle——

"Enemy tanks are observed from the northwest!" "Magic reactions are observed from the southwest!" "The second wave of enemy offensives is observed from the front of the defense line!"

"You're right," Andersa looked at the Earl of Winterhold, and said slowly, "The next step is the confrontation of hard power..."

……

Behind the main advancing force, the original contracting fort has been temporarily transformed into the front-line command post of the First Legion. Various magical equipment transferred from the rear occupies the hall on the first floor of the castle. A large number of command, liaison, and coordination personnel are in the hall. The comings and goings in the middle make this place present an unusually busy scene.

It is Philip himself who sits here and directs the offensive operations on the front line.

A subordinate stood in front of him and reported the situation just sent back from the front line: "The advancing troops' actions on the west side of Winter Wolf Castle were frustrated. The extreme range is slowly weakening the enemy's shield. The second, third, and fourth echelons are trying to attack from all directions, but they are all bombarded by powerful cluster magic, and they have encountered some kind of trap that can interfere with the operation of the magic net device."

"It seems that the Black Flag Mage Group has arrived at Winter Wolf Castle," Philip quickly concluded, and frowned at the same time, "That kind of trap did not appear in the previous information... It seems that there are some Typhons who are not even us. Something new I've seen."

"General, do you want to send the reserve echelon into the battlefield?" The subordinate asked, "The Black Flag Mage Group has entered Winter Wolf Castle ahead of schedule, and the ground troops are now advancing slowly..."

Philip raised his head and glanced at the magic net terminal not far away.

"No," he shook his head, "keep the advancing troops at a safe distance, and continue to weaken the shield of Winter Wolf Castle outside the bombardment range of strategic spells. It doesn't matter if you slow down—as long as you continue to contain the energy of the Black Flag Mage Group That’s enough, there is no room for those mages to rest and adjust their deployment.”

"Yes, General."

After his subordinates left, Philip breathed a little. He returned to the tactical map and reconfirmed the terrain around Winter Wolf Castle and the deployment of enemy forces confirmed during the last reconnaissance.

Winter Wolf Castle is now passively defending. Although the combat power displayed is strong, it has not exceeded expectations. However, the troops mobilized from various places in Typhon must be continuously gathering towards the Winter Wolf defense line. The defense will be completely stabilized, and even an active attack will be launched.

However, he did not issue orders to commit more echelons or to change the offensive plan of the advancing force.

But looking at the tactical map in front of him and thinking about the current battlefield situation, some voices suddenly popped up in his mind——

"Would you like to try a more aggressive attack? Let several echelons on the front line launch a super-large-scale cluster attack against the defensive firepower of Winter Wolf Castle. So many tanks and multi-purpose combat vehicles are distributed on the open battlefield, and they can be attacked from all directions at the same time. If you attack, even the strategic spells of the Black Flag Magician Group cannot cover the entire battlefield...

"Mages with flesh and blood have limits, and super-large-scale strategic spells must have a cooldown period...

"Compared with another set of safe plans, the advancing troops may suffer greater casualties, but they can achieve results faster, and in this way, the battle exploits will belong entirely to the First Legion, and there is no need to share honor with others...

"This is a battlefield, sometimes the necessary sacrifice is in exchange for the necessary merit..."

Beside Philip, with a gentle and loving smile, Malm Dunit patiently waited for the young General Cecil to make a decision.

Philip raised his head, he turned his head to look in the direction of Malm Dunit, and suddenly showed a smile.

Malm Dunit's gentle and loving smile froze instantly. He seemed to be in great shock, and subconsciously said, "Why do you..."

"I once believed in the God of War devoutly, and even until now, this belief should and still can affect my words and deeds, affect my way of thinking, and even subtly affect my soul-not everyone has the ability to break the heart with their own will Steel seal," Philip said unhurriedly, "so, do you think Cecil's soldiers will not take any precautions after learning about Typhon's hidden danger?"

While talking, he raised his left hand, a thin pale gold chain hung down, and a small pocket watch-like device slipped down from his cuff, but when the "dial" was opened, what was revealed inside was shimmering light intricately curved runes reminiscent of creatures of the deep.

The moment he saw the rune, Malm Dunit felt dizzy, and his body quickly became unstable, flickering violently as if the energy was about to be interrupted!

In the next second, the figure of the former God of War Pope quickly dimmed, as if he was planning to use some kind of escape spell to escape from this place, but before he acted, Philip had already quickly pressed a button on the magic net terminal next to him— —

A certain kind of low-frequency oscillation that cannot be heard by human ears and contains powerful power instantly "echoed" throughout the room, directly suppressing Malm Dunit's spirit body like a requiem, and expelling it from the The dimension he wanted to escape to.

The nearby military officers and civilian staff heard a howl that did not resemble a human being. They saw a figure appear out of nowhere near the general and was knocked out in a panic. Several exclamations resounded all around.

Malm Dunit felt a bone-piercing pain. After becoming a spirit body, he thought that he would no longer be able to experience a similar feeling. However, some invisible force was tearing at the very core he used to sustain himself. The "divine power" made his soul seem to be split apart.These continuous blows finally angered this paranoid soul, he suddenly raised his body, raised the scepter in his hand high——

A spider's thread wrapped around his wrist.

Chapter 0980 Night of Winter Wolf Fort

Spider silk?

Malm Dunit showed a very short look of astonishment on his face, and in the next second, his astonishment turned into panic.

The spider silk merged into his spiritual body in an instant, and then seemed to grow and spread from his body. Endless spider silk emerged from his skin and began to wrap around his whole body. The former pope let out a roar of shock and anger, and then wanted to summon the power of the gods to help him out of trouble, but his efforts with all his strength failed to respond—some kind of power blocked the connection between him and the gods !

This was the fact that frightened Malm Dunit the most, even far better than those weird runes that Philip showed and the weird spider threads emerging at this moment—how could there be anything that could block his connection with the gods?How could there be something capable of intercepting the power of the supreme God of War? !At this moment, there is an unprecedented solid connection between him and the gods. How could this connection be broken so easily? !

In shock and astonishment, he roared in a hoarse and chaotic voice: "What have you done?! My connection with the Lord is the closest, how could it be..."

His roar stopped abruptly just after halfway through, the spider silks that had invaded his spirit body had completely taken over his mobility, and the figure of a white-haired girl appeared in his gradually frozen vision.

The white-haired girl came to Malm Dunit with a very serious look on her face: "Because you are closer to me now."

Unfortunately, Malm Dunit has not heard this answer.

It wasn't until this time that Philip really breathed a sigh of relief. While soothing his beating heart, he took a long breath, and then looked at the soldiers and civilians around him who were nervously paying attention to the situation and ready to help. Everyone—all of them took out the "mental protection device" they carried with them, and the nearest senior staff officer had already put his hand on the button that sounded the alarm. Seeing everyone's reaction like this, the young imperial general was relieved Wei Wei nodded: "The crisis is over, everyone go back to their posts."

Then he looked at Naritil, who was standing aside, and Malm Dunit, who was sealed by layers of spider silk and presented a weird "cocoon" shape, and couldn't help saying: "This is the god who is on the verge of madness." The 'messenger' sent out to spread pollution? I didn't expect to catch it so easily..."

Naritil on the side immediately shook her head: "Because it's just an avatar, so it's very simple."