The young man held a short sword in his right hand, and put the fingers of his left hand together in front of his eyebrows to block his eyes from the direct sunlight coming from the top of his head.
He squinted his eyes and looked at the scenery in front of him.
The keen young man can feel a sense of danger coming from the front.
Although this sense of danger is not directed at them, it is not a good feeling either.
The human buildings hidden in the mountains in the distance are slowly enlarging as the distance shortens.
That must be the place marked on the map - Difenni Village.
Although they were almost there now, the journey of the young boy and his group to Difenni Village was not smooth.
Although Heimel and Zeref have detailed maps of the Camode region, no matter how detailed the map is, it is impossible to even mark the road on the mountain.
Moreover, there are no real roads in this mountain, only trails formed by people or wild animals trampling on them all year round.
Of course, this is nothing to the nearby residents. After all, they have to deal with the mountains and forests every day. They have already figured out these paths, and the way back to the village is even more familiar.
But none of the three of them are locals, and no one has been here before.
In such a completely unfamiliar place, without any guide, the three people inevitably took detours and even started to get lost.
But in the end, what helped them break out of the predicament was not a good thing. It was the ominous sign - the footprints of the wolf-headed man, which pointed out the way for them.
The three of them followed these dense and messy footprints and quickly found the right direction.
After a while, they began to see the outline of the village.
"Is this the way?"
Zeref asked Heimer if he was not sure he was in the right place.
In fact, regardless of whether he came to the right place or not, Zeref was already giving up.
These footprints are spreading continuously, and the wet soil is full of these strangely shaped footprints.
Occasionally, people's shoe prints can be seen, but they are very old and are trampled to pieces by these new footprints, so the original appearance is basically invisible.
And this also shows that the number of the group of wolf-headed men is indeed very large.
Although the specific number cannot be seen, at least it is not something that just a few of them can solve.
"It should be right, that child's village should be right ahead."
Heimer looked at the map in his hand and confirmed that their location was on the edge of the mountain.
There is only one village on the edge of the mountain in this direction shown on the map, and that is Difenni Village.
There was a reason why Heimer was sure that this village would be attacked, and it must be the village of the child on the cliff.
A long time ago, he once participated in a tactical discussion.
As a vanguard scout, Heimer has the responsibility to lead the way, and he also needs to understand the commander's instructions.
Heimer is often called to attend such tactical seminars.
Although the young Heimer could not offer any constructive suggestions, he still listened carefully to the words of the elders who regarded themselves as "think tanks".
Someone once made an idea in these tactical seminars:
That's how the orcs in the north used covert means to surprise and attack the imperial capital of Noah's Empire, in order to avenge Noah's Badafir Legion's attack on the three major cities of Sharjah.
This assumption is not unfounded. With the orcs' tendency to retaliate, they will definitely not just swallow this humiliation.
Although this is just an idea, almost everyone present said "This is impossible!".
After all, the Sharjah Empire has a vast territory, and most orc cities do not have the habit of building walls. These orc gathering places are basically weakly defended.
Moreover, Sharjah was empty of troops at that time, and the number of troops that could encircle, suppress and prevent this human army was limited.
In addition, the soldiers of the Badafener Corps who completed this mission were all cavalry, so they could advance and retreat freely.
They had already left before the orc army arrived, and these orcs who came in a hurry could only see a piece of scorched earth.
But Noah was different. The strongest of the three fortresses in the north, the Wind Fang Fortress, had already blocked the main route for the orc army to advance.
Even if the Wind Fang Fortress can be broken through, there will still be two fortresses, Ghost Mountain and Giant Rock, blocking the way for the orcs to attack the interior of the empire.
There are also several rock-solid cities between the defense lines formed by the three fortresses, which cannot be easily broken through by the orcs.
Moreover, there are more than 200,000 troops stationed in the north, which does not include the temporary troops recruited urgently during war.
Two of the empire's four most elite "Iron Wall" legions are stationed on this road of the orcs going south, which is bound to turn this road into a "dead end" for the orcs.
It can be said that there is no problem of insufficient troops in the northern part of Noah.
Whether it is defense, support, or even counterattack against the orcs, this power is enough.
"But what if it can be circumvented? What if the three almost indestructible lines of defense we have carefully prepared are circumvented?"
Just when people were rejecting the possibility of this idea, one person raised an objection.
So they all looked at that person, and those who wanted to question him obediently shut their mouths.
Because the person who said this was the commander of the Badafener Legion sitting in the center - General Venacodo.
It is said that General Wei Nakodo will also participate in the tactics seminar. It is better to say that the tactics seminar itself is hosted by the general.
Vinacdo Norfin Corundi is a close friend of the current emperor Barnero II.
When he was young, he independently killed two mad griffins in the Colosseum and protected the nearly injured previous emperor, and was given the title of "Golden Lion" by the former emperor.
Later, Venacodo lived up to his name as the "Golden Lion" and not only became the strongest warrior in the empire, but also became the commander of the Badafingre Legion.
Venacodo was born into a noble family, but joined the army.
And he was so confident that he never relied on family connections and chose to start as a soldier at the bottom. He fought on the battlefield for more than ten years and made many military exploits.
And he personally participated in the "animal taming" plan that went deep alone and narrowly escaped death.
It can be said that no one here can question this person's birth, official position or qualifications.
"We fought for three months in the Sharjah Empire's empty homeland, and lost more than half of the thousands of elite cavalry. The combat power of the orc soldiers should be obvious to everyone."
General Weinacodo, who now has gray hair on his temples, picked up a long pole and drew circles on several locations on the sand table, and then continued:
"Then the elite orcs who are good at sneaking and exploring, such as the 'wolf-headed men', can bypass these defense lines and attack the interior by sending the wolf-headed men to invade from these locations."
The circles drawn by Wei Nakodo are all defensive blind spots.
It has to be said that Wei Nakodo's ability to become the legion commander was not just based on the sword in his hand, but more on his clear and wise mind.
"But general, how do the wolf-headed men blend into humans? It's impossible for them to get past the Fengya Fortress."
There are also races of orcs that look similar to humans. As long as some of the parts of these orcs that are different from humans are covered up, they will look no different from ordinary humans at first glance.
Therefore, the orcs will also send such orcs to blend into the crowd and pass through the defense line.
However, there are only a few orcs who can speak human language.
It might be possible to train a group of spies who are proficient in human language, but it would be a fantasy to have every orc soldier speak human language.
What's more, if you want to pass through the fortress, you must first be inspected. The possibility of a few lucky ones entering the defense line cannot be ruled out, but it is obviously not feasible to sneak in in large numbers.
If there are only a few orcs, how can they pose a threat to the interior?
Therefore, some people have raised questions about Weinakodo's opinion.
Wolf-headed men are very capable of invading, but they are not human-like and cannot enter these defensive blind spots. So the possibility of a surprise attack on the imperial capital is still not feasible.
"If, I mean 'what if'." Veracodo coughed lightly, "What if the Fengya Fortress guarded by that drunkard from Brighton falls?"
This "hypothesis" made everyone's expressions change immediately. Fengya Fortress was too important. Once it fell, it would be a disaster sweeping the northern territory.
"Although the Brighton man is not here, today's discussion should not be heard in his ears. I don't want to hear his chatter and make my head hurt."
Veracodo shrugged and made a little joke. This made everyone present laugh, and the originally serious topic became much more relaxed.
"The first line of defense centered on Phong Nga Fortress is the longest and strongest of the three defense lines, with a total of 80,000 defenders."
The long pole in Weinakodo's hand pushed the building blocks symbolizing Fengya Fortress on the sand table.
"Then once it is breached, places that did not seem to be defense loopholes will become fatal loopholes."
Next, Weinacodo used the long pole in his hand to connect the circled defensive blind spots in series. Those who understood it couldn't help but take a breath.
"Oh my God! No one is guarding these places at all. It's easy for a small group of troops to invade the interior! General, do we need to send people to garrison them?"
"As long as three hundred elite orcs can break through these weak defenses, they can reach the interior and threaten the imperial capital..."
Wei Nakodo, who was speaking with some ecstasy, did not reply to that question for the time being.
After a while, others reminded him again, and Venacodo replied:
"The above is just a 'hypothesis'. I am assured of the safety of Fengya Fortress under Brighton."
Veracodo smiled. This well-known general was not usually a very strict person.
Although he is over fifty years old, this general still retains the mentality and vitality of a young man.
"These so-called defense blind spots are actually areas that are difficult to fortify. Most of them are mountainous areas. If they are to be fortified, it will require a lot of military expenditures and personnel. Moreover, the local taxes are heavy enough, and we have to support a group of people who don't know when.
The troops that will be put to use will put too much burden on the local people. This is a problem that was taken into consideration when planning the initial defense plan. After all, if the troops are deployed in the above areas, it will be duplicated with the defense of Phong Nha Fortress."
The northern border was not originally rich, but it had to support a large number of troops.
Although it is said that taxes are shared equally across the country as much as possible, in fact it is the northern provinces that pay the majority.
This makes the economy of the northern border, which has always been troubled by disasters, even more decadent. The consideration here in Weinakodo is also for people's livelihood.
"So, I think it's unnecessary."
General Wenacodo put away the long folding pole in his hand and put an end to this issue.
"After all, the above things are just assumptions. Fengya Fortress will not fall. Even if it does, there are still us soldiers who have dedicated everything to the empire."
Therefore, this may not exist.
"Does it really not exist? General, it turns out that you also make mistakes sometimes..."
Heimer muttered to himself.
The figure of that man has always been the one he looked up to. This man who was regarded as the "God of War" and the soul leader of countless imperial soldiers, eventually died in something unknown.
"What's the matter? Mr. Knight."
The young man walking in front turned his head and saw Heimer behind him, who seemed to be full of thoughts.
"Nothing, we seem to be almost there."
Heimer unfurled his frown, and deliberately said in a lighter tone: "I finally didn't get lost this time."
He knew this village because it was one of the circles drawn by Venacodo.
The wolf-headed man is the ideal orc species to carry out the plan of sneak attack on the imperial capital.
The wolf-headed man is very agile and cannot be defeated by ordinary soldiers. In addition, the wolf-headed man is cunning in nature and is good at hiding.
Of course, it would be easy for these dangerous orcs to launch an attack on these villages and towns, which had basically no protective capabilities.
Having said that, the reason why Heimer suddenly thought of General Venacodo was actually because of the short sword hanging on the young man's waist.
This sword belongs to the general. Although it is not as famous as Veracodo's side sword "Phantom Fire", Heimer still knows that Veracodo never leaves his body with this dagger.
After all, "Phantom Fire" is a long sword, so it is not very convenient to carry it around.
Weinacodo has to go to various occasions, and it is not suitable to wear a long weapon in many cases. On the contrary, this smaller dagger can be carried around for a longer period of time.
Heimer didn't know why the boy had this dagger, but when Zeref found the boy, he held the dagger tightly in the boy's hand, even if he wanted to open the five tight fingers.
Neither can be done.
Presumably, it was something the general gave to the boy at a critical moment. Heimer did not intend to mention the origin of this dagger to the boy, lest it would bring back those sad memories.
"Front……"
The young man looked forward, his immature face showing a maturity that was not befitting his age.
A road appeared ahead, which was obviously no longer a forest path, but a real road.
Now, they are not far from the human village in front of them
The black-haired boy frowned and sniffed, smelling a disturbing smell in the air.
Of course it wasn't just the boy, Heimer and Zeref also smelled it.
That...disturbing, burnt smell accompanied by heat.
"My God of Light! Come and see!"
Zeref, who was facing the map at the front, was the first to see the source of the smell.
The boy and Heimer hurried forward. They were facing the village and saw this scene they didn't want to see:
The red light danced in front of my eyes, much like a clown's dance. It was so funny and ridiculous.
These red "clowns" danced strangely to the accompaniment of "crackling" sounds, accompanied by a drum-like sound when the roof beams hit the ground.
This performance is really wonderful...
It's so exciting that it's disappointing.
Yes, the teenagers know it, they know it...
What is that familiar smell?
It's the smell of fire.
The blazing flames ignited the entire village, as if a bonfire feast was held during the day.
It's just that this is not just burning wood, but also turning people's homes into coke.