All over the continent, nobility, big and small, and officials from all over the country, almost at the beginning of the nine hundred and sixty-sixth year of the empire, all focused their attention on the imperial capital to see the secret relationship between the most popular Duke Tulip in the empire and the regent.
war.
The private army of the Tulip family refused to allow the official army to stay outside the territory, and then the two sides started a war of words. Then the regent issued an order to warn the nobles and lords of the private army, and then the Prairie King sent envoys into the imperial capital.
If you look at these things one by one, anyone who is not a fool can see some clues.
Although the imperial capital still maintains a superficial peace, the whirlpool underneath has gradually become a bit scary.
In contrast, the northern war zone received less attention.
This, in fact, does not mean that the empire does not pay attention to the war in the north.
However, the Roland Empire has been established for thousands of years, and now it is the Augustinian Dynasty. Whether it is the great achievements of the previous emperor Augustine VI or the great efforts of the regent who took over, the foundation of the empire is still relatively solid. Even though there was a northwest warlord pattern before, the prairie people
Harassing the border is a minor problem and can only be regarded as a local war.
The empire is a behemoth, with an entire continent, a population of tens of millions, a vast territory, an army of millions, and vast territory and abundant resources.
At this time, even the most negative people would never believe that the empire would die.
As for the invasion of those monster races in the north, in the eyes of most people, it is nothing more than local arrests and wars. The empire covers the entire continent, and whether it is for population, resources or the number of troops, it gives people enough
Confidence.
Even when the frontline war situation is relatively severe, in the minds of many people, the weight of those invading monster races is just another grassland war. No one will really regard this "local war" as a
Serious trouble.
Therefore, it is the struggle between the powerful officials and the king in the center of the imperial capital that attracts more attention.
However, after the Prairie King Saladin sent an envoy to the imperial capital to hand over the arrogant credentials, the palace was silent for several days. But it finally seemed to compromise with the Tulip family.
An order was issued, indicating that the grassland people were arrogant and offending the majesty of the Roland Empire. The Tulip family, which was responsible for guarding the border, was ordered to reorganize the army and make sure to give the grassland people some color.
After this order, the subtext was: the regent had given up the intention of transferring the Tulip family's private army away from the northwest.
In this round of chess between the two sides, it seemed that the genius young Duke had won again.
Afterwards, both parties got along peacefully. It is said that the young emperor Charles of the empire also paid a visit to Duke Tulip at the request of the regent. As for whether the two parties reached any private agreement regarding this visit, outsiders do not know.
However, this matter seemed to have disappeared, and the tense atmosphere that enveloped the imperial capital finally gradually cleared up.
When things got here, many wealthy and aristocratic families, big and small, were sitting back and watching. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, in this silent struggle, most of these nobles, large and small, have their hearts towards the Tulip family. After all, the royal family suddenly raised a knife against the Tulip family. God knows, this is to reduce the power of the Tulip family.
Or is the royal family preparing to take action on the entire aristocracy?
Taking back power, this kind of thing can easily lead to feelings of sadness.
What's more, although the regent's order to "recruit the private armies of noble lords to participate in the war" was relatively soft-spoken, the meaning still gave rise to a sense of resistance in the hearts of many noble families.
Fortunately, Duke Tulip resisted this order. Otherwise, if Duke Tulip relented and surrendered to the family's private army, wouldn't all other wealthy families have to follow suit?
These private armies are all armed with their own money. They are all private property, and no one is willing to send them to the front line to die.
In this world, there are many people who harm the public and enrich themselves, but there are only a few who have such noble thoughts as destroying their family and serving the country.
The storm in the Imperial Capital seems to have dissipated. Although everyone knows that this matter will have an unsolved problem sooner or later, in general, many people are relieved.
And at this time, in the warm spring, the war in the north finally kicked off with great vigor!
The nine hundred and sixty-sixth year of the Empire, March 9th.
Sunny, no wind, no clouds.
Early that morning, the observation soldiers on the city wall reported that those monster races seemed to be making unusual movements.
After hearing the report, General Rostock did not dare to slack off and immediately led many of his subordinates to the city to watch.
The old General Rostock knew very well that those monsters had been slow to launch an attack throughout the winter, with heavy thunder and light rain, but he would not slack off. At the beginning of the war last year, he fought fiercely with the opponent.
After fighting for several times, General Rostock has deeply understood the powerful fighting capabilities of these monster races.
The opponent has not launched an offensive all winter, and is probably just preparing to launch a thunderous attack when the spring flowers bloom and the soldiers have finished repairing.
Moreover, for a long time before, the empire was almost unable to detect the other party's military situation.
Sending scout cavalry out of the city for reconnaissance is of course useless, because even when the orcs are not attacking, there are large numbers of wolf cavalry walking in the occupied area. The human scout cavalry went out twice, causing great damage but almost negligible benefit.
As for aerial reconnaissance, it was gradually strangled by criminals.
Since the arrival of the elves, the tribes with the ability to fly among the elves have firmly taken the initiative in the sky. General Andre of the Air Force also sent several reconnaissance airships, but without exception they were chased away by the opponent.
After returning, the two sides also had several small-scale frictions in the air.
Judging from the results of the battle, the opponent's elves are in the sky. The flying archers have many advantages when facing the relatively heavy and slow airship. What's more, the airship's combat effectiveness is mainly air-to-ground, and when encountering air-to-air
The enemy has lost almost 90% of its combat effectiveness.
It can be said that in the battle for "control of the air", it seems that the guilty people have the upper hand.
The only piece of valuable information was what Longbottom brought back when he took the ragtag group of mercenaries to "airborne harassment operations" behind enemy lines. Only then did the leader of the northern theater learn that these charges had been resting and recuperating throughout the winter.
Opening up wasteland for farming, building towns and settlements, it seems like these guys are planning to take root here!
After learning the news, General Rostock was also deeply worried. It seemed that the enemies in front of him were much more difficult to deal with than the prairie people. In the past, those prairie people were enemies of the empire. They just relied on the superior force of the prairie, the cavalry.
, ran to the inner reaches of the empire, harassed them for a while, and then left after plundering them.
But these monster races seem to be settling here!
Although the empire had done a thorough job of clearing the country before the war, but...after all, food, livestock, equipment, weapons, etc. could be brought back, and those that could not be brought back were burned on the spot.
But I can’t bring the land back!
The land currently occupied by the criminals extends from the Frozen Forest to the south and the Kaspersky Defense Line to the north. Although it is a relatively narrow area, the land area is about the size of most of the empire's provinces. They farm here.
There is no way to stop building a house.
As for the barren land in the north, how can the other side grow enough food... General Rostock is puzzled by this... But now, he has to worry!
There was no objection from the upper management to the surrender of these useless and barren lands. After all, the weather in the north is cold. Every year from January to October, ice and snow blow from the north. This cold frost weather will last until April and May of next year.
To relax.
In the past, it seemed that this land was definitely not suitable for farming. Are you kidding me? More than half of the twelve months of the year were covered in freezing weather. How could we farm this land?
Therefore, it cannot be said that it is a strategic mistake to give up these useless lands and build the Kaspersky Defense Line in a place with geographical advantages.
But this year... the weather in this strange place is too abnormal! Not only does it not snow in the winter in the north, the temperature is warmer than in the south! Moreover, there is plenty of rain!
Once this kind of climate comes, the orcs can calmly turn the barren land into farmland and accumulate their food bit by bit.
After a few months, I think it’s time to harvest the first wave of grain that was planted.
Whenever I think of this, even the most devout believers can't help but murmur in their hearts: Are the gods blessing these damn monsters? Otherwise, why is the weather in the north favorable to them?
Therefore, on March 9th, when reports came from below that the enemy had made any changes, General Rostock did not dare to exaggerate at all and immediately led his men up the city wall.
Sure enough, as soon as I climbed onto the city wall, I took the telescope in my hand and looked north. The enemy camp, which had been quiet all winter, was indeed boiling with noise.
In the originally silent enemy camp, those hairy monster orcs emerged from nowhere. One by one, they put on their armor again and held weapons. Some were lining up, some were sharpening their knives, and some were shouting.
Shouting...that scene was in full swing.
What Rostock didn't know was that after the Elf King Luoxue came to the front line, he learned about the plight of the orc army in the previous human "air raid" and immediately issued an order to mobilize a large number of dwarf craftsmen.
After the army, the orc camp was different from before.
During this winter, the dwarves used their innate abilities to dig caves similar to cellars one after another in the military camp. The dwarves' skills were indeed extraordinary. Those caves were very solid and were hidden low, without showing off at all.
Stuffy, and strong enough to defend against human air strikes.
As expected, no race can surpass the dwarves in their ability to dig holes.
Seeing that the cover of the thickly covered wooden boards above the caves was lifted, small groups of orcs walked out of the cellar, picked up weapons, put on armor, and repaired it after a winter. These orcs were full of energy.
, and the natural racial characteristics of the orcs, after the winter, many orcs began to take off their long hair normally, but they looked even more muscular.
After the horns were blown, the iron armored phalanx of orcs that once made the scalps of human soldiers go numb came out of the open camp door.
There were dull loud noises in the distance, and then, in the huge camp of the orcs, many black spots were slowly coming from the distance, and the orc warriors in the camp immediately dispersed like a tide.
, make way for those original black shadows.
As they got closer, they could see clearly the black shadows of the imperial generals through the telescope, and they couldn't help but take a breath!!
Monster! Real monster!!
Those are huge monsters!
Judging from visual inspection, the individual monsters are much taller than the big trees next to them. Some of them may be over ten meters tall!
Those monsters are covered with long brown hair, but under the sun, they seem to be a light golden color! One by one, the monsters stand up, with short and thick lower limbs. The upper limbs are thick and long, with a long tail trailing behind them.
Like an iron rope, as huge as an oak tree! The head is huge. It is slightly flattened. He opens his mouth and roars to the sky. The sound is really like the howl of thousands of animals, which can make people change their color even from miles away!
They walked one by one, leaving countless deep footprints on the ground!
And those monsters, each one has a huge iron ring tied around its neck. Under the iron ring, the thick black iron chain has been dragged down, but there is a six-edged iron hammer hanging! That huge iron hammer, one is like
As big as a cow!
But it was carried in the hands of these monsters without any difficulty!
General Rostock carefully counted the number of such monsters, and there were more than twenty! The orcs nearby saw these monsters coming up from a distance, and everyone looked up to the sky and roared. They let out bursts of cheers.
Some orcs even stepped back and saluted those monsters.
The twenty monsters finally arrived outside the criminal camp. They lined up in a row, breathing heavily from their large nostrils and blowing out white air. Their huge eyes stared at the human wall in front of them, and they let out low roars from time to time.
Looking at this row of monsters whose heads are almost as high as the city wall, the human defenders on the city wall couldn't help but subconsciously clenched the weapons in their hands, and many people had unnatural expressions in their eyes.
There was a bit of panic.
General Rostock's face was also ugly, and behind him, some generals couldn't help shouting in surprise: "Who can tell me, what the hell are these!"
"Go quickly!" General Rostock looked back at his subordinates and said solemnly: "Go and ask all the magicians to come to the city to help in the battle! Also, go and notify the Holy Knights!"
The battle started at noon.
Throughout the morning, the human defenders were a little panicked by the roars of the monsters from time to time. After the orcs' armored squares were arranged one by one, there were rows of catapults behind them.
At noon, there were several orcs wearing the skins of ancient monsters. Each one looked extremely old, and some were so thin that there was almost only a skeleton left. The leather robes on their bodies were colorful, as if they were made of
The skins of various different beasts were put together, and everyone's wrists, ankles, and necks were wrapped with necklaces or bracelets made of weird animal bones. These old orcs came out, and behind them
The first warriors of the phalanx all suddenly knelt down together. Each orc warrior even dropped their shields and weapons on the ground and prostrated on the ground, showing great respect.
The old orcs danced and danced for a while, and the bone ornaments they wore all over their bodies made a rattling sound, and then a series of strange, like chanting curses, suddenly turned low, sometimes high, like a kind of
It was like a weird ballad. The old men jumped and sang hard for a while, and finally they were exhausted.
And this time...
Under the noon sun, those old orcs were not ordinary dancing gods, but some special beings with noble status in the orc tribe. Even the leader of the tribe or the king of the entire tribe had to respect them when they saw them.
A group of people! These old orcs are the symbol of authority in the orc tribe. They have two meanings of existence among the orc tribe: first, they represent the orc tribe and carry out various sacrificial activities to the gods. And second...
...It is a very complex and domesticated orc tribe's most powerful war weapon:
Behemoth!
After these old priests performed some ancient rituals, they stopped jumping. Some of them took off the bone ornaments they wore around their necks or wrists and held them in their hands. However, after a series of weird spells, they turned into
Made countless fine bone meal!
As the wind blew, the bone powder drifted away and immediately dissolved in the air. Under the sunlight, the humans on the city wall clearly saw this magical scene...
In the air, the colors containing bone powder suddenly expanded. Under the sunlight, they turned into faint golden arcs of light, which immediately spread and soon covered all the orcs behind.
The phalanx is all covered in it!
And those orc warriors were bathed in the arc of light. One by one, they seemed to become restless immediately. Then, the orcs stood up one by one and began to roar loudly. The roar was full of violence and anger.
, some even grabbed weapons, raised them to the sky, beat them hard and patted their chests...
Gradually, all the orcs began to shout wildly! Each of them seemed to be covered with an arc of light, and within the arc of light, it seemed that the bodies of the orcs had faintly swelled a bit, and their hair stood on end. Their hair stood on end.
Congested and red eyes!!
Even the humans far away on the city wall could clearly feel the sudden violent momentum!!
The twenty giant Behemoths standing there were also bathed in the arc of light in the sky. Then one by one, the giant beasts seemed to be suddenly aroused with anger. Originally they just kept roaring in a low voice, but at this moment,
But one by one they raised their huge heads, as if they had broken free from some invisible shackles, and looked up to the sky and roared!
Twenty giant beasts roared one after another, and the movement was like countless beasts roaring together in people's ears, or like a series of thunder hitting people's hearts!
Then, those Behemoth beasts roared together, and in the open space ahead, a huge vortex suddenly appeared in the air. The vortex became bigger and bigger, and there was a faint tendency to approach the city wall...
Finally, boom!!!
With a loud noise, the vortex exploded like a bomb, and a circle of impact air waves visible to the naked eye swept towards the city wall. In an instant, the wind became strong, and the air waves impacted the city wall, and there seemed to be a faint hint of shock in it.
The fluctuation of some kind of power!!
On top of the city wall, many officers saw that it was not good and just started shouting to make everyone be careful. However, as soon as the sound came out, it was immediately cut off by the wind!
With a bang, the air waves instantly covered the main city wall. Countless soldiers above seemed to lower their heads subconsciously under the strong wind to resist the wind. But when it happened, they noticed something strange!
It turned out that the air wave was sweeping over, but it didn't seem to have the impact of the strong wind as imagined. Everyone stood there, but it seemed that the wind had no strength at all. Although it seemed to be blowing violently, it made the wind blow.
No one feels anything at all!
At this time, under the city wall, a group of magicians from the empire who had been sent by Rostock to assist in the battle finally arrived belatedly, but they were facing the aftermath of the strong wind.
This "violent wind" that seemed scary in scale but not very powerful made the human soldiers on the city wall look at each other in shock. However, some of the magicians below suddenly changed their expressions and immediately exclaimed:
"Psychic storm! It's psychic storm!!"
Buzz!!
The magician just shouted out, and immediately heard the roar of the Behemoth beast in the distance again.
But this time, when I heard the roaring human soldiers, I immediately felt something different!!
The roar of the giant beast fell into my ears, but it seemed to be ten times more violent than before. It seemed that as soon as I heard the roar, a sense of unreasonable fear surged up in everyone's heart like a tide, and instantly
It almost makes one's body numb and weak.
There were even more soldiers standing on the edge of the city wall. They felt as if they were filled with an indescribable despair and fear after hearing that sound. Their hands and feet softened, and even the weapons in their hands suddenly fell to the ground.
There were even dozens of human soldiers who fainted as soon as they closed their eyes. Some simply fell straight down from the city wall and were smashed into a pile of pulp!!
"This is magic!!"
A magician from the magic union came to the front line to fight. He was dressed in a white robe, which showed his identity as a senior magician. His face was solemn at this moment, and his body suddenly rose into the sky and floated above the city wall!
A voice immediately spread with magic power: "Attention all magicians, this is a psychic storm! Sing the light spell to resist!!"
At this time, the sound of ping-ping-pong-pang-pong continued, and more soldiers had dull faces and frightened eyes. Many of them lost their weapons, and some simply sat down on the ground. Only some generals had strong warrior strength.
, they all opened up their fighting spirit, and then they immediately cleared their minds and dispelled the weird fear in their hearts.
The magicians flew up one by one, spreading their hands. With the first magician taking the lead, in the sky, more than a dozen human magicians quickly chanted human light magic spells.
The incantations carried with magic power were transmitted to the ears of the soldiers, and many people with dull expressions gradually came back to their senses.
At this time, the horn of the orcs sounded!
Amidst countless shouts and roars, black iron-clad square formations and orcs holding their shields high, like giant iron-shelled turtles, approached the human city wall.
The twenty Behemoth beasts, after collectively releasing a "spiritual storm", roared anxiously, took long strides, and ran towards the city wall!
Boom, boom, boom, twenty giant beasts ran, as if the ground was shaking.
"Ballista!! Aim at those monsters!! Quick!!" General Rostock roared angrily: "Kill them!! Kill them!!!"
Some of the soldiers in the tower were still being harassed by the opponent's psychic storm, while some had recovered. Although they still felt that their bodies were sluggish and their limbs were sore, they finally responded to the commander's repeated shouts and roars.
He turned the direction of the ballista, pulled the noose, and aimed it at the running giant beasts.
After the sound of the noose being pulled, hoo-hoo-hoo! Huge crossbow arrows roared out and shot toward the Behemoth beasts...
