On the road from Black Rock Province to Huowu City, thousands of soldiers were uniformly wearing breastplates and pointed helmets. Even the lining was a uniform yellow-green color.
The weapons carried on the shoulders of the soldiers, from spears, axes and sickles, to giant swords and heavy hammers, are all standard equipment with perfect craftsmanship. There is even an entire guard carrying a tower shield as high as half a man, marching heavily along the way.
Such an army array stretches for several miles, creating a majestic scene with swords and halberds like a forest and cold light like a bush.
In addition, there are some soldiers who are not uniformly dressed, or they are wearing full-body plate armor, holding swords and shields with flowing lights, as luxurious as knights; or they are rangers wearing cloaks and carrying crossbows, looking around like hawks.
Scanning; there are also grenadiers with armed belts strapped diagonally on their bodies and filled with alchemy grenades and explosives.
Among the marching queues, there are more than a dozen phantom horse carriages, and those who can ride on them are basically mages from the Black Rock Province. If you look from a distance with the "secret vision", you can see the aura of protective spells.
Not to mention the heavy ballistae, even advanced spells may not be able to completely break through its defense.
In addition, there are some mages who are directly flying in mid-air, flying in groups of three or two, condescendingly scouting the surroundings of the army. Some mages with rich families simply sit on flying carpets or floating saucers, and fly out leisurely.
With the flying magic pet and the reconnaissance magic eye, he will not let go of any blank and unknown areas.
The above are just the regular men and horses that Nelem recruited from the Black Rock Province. If you look at the rear of the army array, there is an even longer team, with carriages of different sizes and beasts of burden mixed in.
.
Most of this rear team is mercenary groups and adventurer organizations recruited by Nelem and Black Rock Province. Since the Imperial Legion and the Aboriginal Alliance have signed a peace treaty, these mercenaries and adventurers want to find a second place.
A battlefield to make money.
Many people originally heard that snakemen and frogmen were harassing the borders of the southern provinces, so they planned to go south. Unexpectedly, Huowu City suddenly changed greatly. Many mercenaries who smelled the smell of blood and copper soon
Gathered under Nelem's command.
Of course, there are also some adventurers who are well aware of the strength of Fusman and the Imperial Legion, and understand that the battle in the future will be very fierce, so they do not take the initiative to participate. They just follow the team to see if there are any additional errands.
With similar thoughts, there are also a large number of military merchants who have been following the army for many years. They drive horses and chariots and provide extra food, drink and entertainment to the army soldiers every day. This has always been the norm.
Moreover, even the most mediocre businessmen who follow the army have spears and broadswords hidden under the shafts of their cars. They dare not go into battle to kill the enemy, but when doing business with the army, they will inevitably encounter some fighting situations. Everyone needs to be able to protect themselves.
, it is impossible to expect Nelem and those master mages to lead an army to rescue them.
"Father, we only have two days left to travel from Huowu City. The rogue team that went to reconnoiter first has returned."
Inside the Phantom Horse carriage, which is made of fine gold, with protective runes engraved on the inside and outside, and with a light repeating ballista on top, everyone is surrounding Master Nelum, and the crystal ball in the middle shines with three-dimensional illusion light and shadow.
, listening to one of the sons say:
"Just as my father said, the private passage can still lead to the city's sewers. Our ally Dr. Olenso even left a guide mark in the sewers."
Nelum sighed: "Dr. Olenso really helped us a lot this time."
"But father, the secret passage is too narrow, and our army is walking on the main road. Fusman and the others must have detected it. We can't send too many people to sneak into the city through the secret passage."
Nelem smiled and said: "Of course I understand this, but now we must have someone who is familiar with the environment inside the city to sneak into Huowu City and cooperate inside and outside so that we can break into Huowu City."
The high mage who led a group of colleagues and the Mysterious Knights to escape from Fire Dance City took the initiative and said: "Let me take care of this matter. I will bring a group of people to destroy the magic arrays at some city gates and directly disintegrate them."
Their city defense also has an 'anti-teleportation spell tower'. As long as you attack outside the city and contain their manpower, the number of legionnaires guarding various parts of the city will naturally decrease."
Nelem nodded in approval: "Our regular army alone has a full army of five thousand men. Counting two mercenary brigades and a group of adventurers, the main siege direction will definitely put a lot of pressure on Fusman!
The imperial legion he brought originally only had more than 3,000 people, and they had suffered a lot of casualties in the city before. Even if they are really veterans of the legion, they cannot withstand such consumption!"
Someone asked: "But there are still many guards and low-level mages in Huowu City, right? And what if Fusman forcibly orders the people in the city to help defend the city?"
"This is indeed a troublesome matter." The high mage said: "But we can sneak into the city first and try to contact our former subordinates, or simply incite the people to initiate a riot."
Nelem doubted, "Now there is a plague in Huowu City. I heard that it has been isolated into small districts. Is there any way you can incite a riot?"
The people below all laughed: "Don't worry, the more restraint the Imperial Legion has on the people, the easier it will be for us to incite the people. The worst we can do is to use some magic control spells or crazy incense to let them attack the legionnaires."
"Okay, very good." Nelem was full of confidence and said at the same time: "The main problem now is how to deal with Fusman and his several high-ranking mages!"
At this point, everyone present became quiet. Counting Nelem himself, there were only three people present who had mastered the seventh-level arcana and entered the ranks of high mages. And according to what they had learned before, there were five people under Fusman's command.
High mages, dozens of intermediate mages, countless low mages and arcane knights.
And not all high mages are good at fighting. Even if Nelem followed the "Fire Demon" Sidons to fight in the New World decades ago, after many years of prosperity and leisure, his vigor and bravery are still there.
It was almost done, and in the battle outside the prison, he was suppressed by Fusman almost the entire time.
High mages who have experienced frequent battles on the battlefield like Forsman naturally have better combat experience and adaptability. As for the amount of equipment on both sides, there will generally not be any huge difference.
As an important city of the Pentagram Tower, Fire Dance City also has large-scale magic item manufacturing workshops, and its reserves of raw materials are also very rich. As a rare rich area in the New World, Black Rock Province can also withstand continuous consumption.
So in the end, it still depends on the strength competition between powerful figures. Otherwise, even if there are tens of thousands of soldiers to command, they will be just a pile of meat under the ruthless bombardment of the ninth-level mage.
"Don't worry, with Dr. Olenso as my strong support, I'm still confident in dealing with Fusman." Nelem quite trusts Xuan Weizi.
Everyone who heard this looked at each other in shock. In their opinion, it was hard to say how much Dr. Olenso was capable. What's more, if Fire Dance City was really captured, Nelem's trust in Dr. Olenso would be different from that of Dr. Olenso.
I am afraid that I pay more attention to it than other people present - not that I am afraid, but that is the case now!
So when they set up camp in the evening, the mages used "shelters", "magic mansions" and tent wonders one after another. Some of Nelum's children gathered together on the pretext of discussing military affairs, and did their best to "avoid detection".
"test", "mage's secret room" and other anti-prophecy methods.
"Everyone is here? Tell us, what do you think of the upcoming battle?" Nelem's eldest son looks like an army general, with two thick beards, and looks even better than Nelem.
old.
A mid-level mage said: "What do you think? Do you really think that with just five or six thousand of us, we can break through the Fire Dance City occupied by the Imperial Legion? I think there are many people here who built the city's defenses.
Have you contributed?"
Looking around, everyone nodded and showed expressions of difficulty.
"So, everyone thinks what my father did is too aggressive?" the eldest son asked.
Some people also said: "In the worst case, Huowu City will be given to Fusman. Who else will not continue to do business?"
"You can't say that. Although my father doesn't take much care of us, our births are destined to have our interests tied up with our father. What if Fusman calms down in the future and takes the initiative to attack us?"
"Although I don't like Forsman either, I know Finn Byron under his command, and it's not like we can't communicate and negotiate. Maybe we can do his job. After all, he is Forsman's male favorite and staff secretary.
The influence is much greater than that of ordinary officers."
"Someone has already tried his approach. Finn Byron seems to be easy to talk to, but in fact he doesn't take hard or soft words. Let me tell you, if one day he sets his sights on the Black Rock Province, he will only attack Beaversman.
More ruthless!"
"Does that mean there's no need to talk?" the eldest son asked.
"I am in favor of fighting this war." A young son wearing a monocle said: "This has nothing to do with my father's personal wishes and impulses. It is purely the interests of Black Rock Province, which almost all passes through Fire Dance City.
Thus forming connections with other places.
If Fire Dance City is lost, where can we find an environment with so many blacksmiths, tanners, brewers, dyers, glassmakers, armor masters, carvers, alchemists and magic apprentices all concentrated in one place at the same time?
A large number of handicraft workshops maintain supporting links between upstream and downstream and directly produce finished products.
This is why so many Chamber of Commerce representatives have settled in Huowu City. Without Huowu City, how many years would it take us to recreate such a production chain in Black Rock Province?"
"That's right. Some things are difficult to reconnect once they are broken." The eldest son combed his beard and said, "The various industries in Huowu City need raw materials from Black Rock Province, and Black Rock Province needs Fire
The craftsmen of Dance City make finished products. Once the two are separated, external forces will take advantage of it... No wonder my father went to Archmage Qidaluoq before, and he also provided two blade golems."
"Blade Golem, I've seen it in the south too. It has more than a dozen sharp blades all over its body. It rushes into the enemy formation and spins. Killing people is easier than cutting wheat. Second-class demonized weapons and armor, once they hit it, they will be immediately killed.
Tear it into pieces... Archmage Qi Darok provided this kind of killing weapon to my father, and his support is obvious."
The eldest son saw that everyone's attitude was basically the same, so he said: "So it seems that everyone will have no objection to capturing Huowu City?"
A carefree son said: "We will arrive outside Huowu City tomorrow, and it is impossible to turn back now? What did you want to say when you called us here?"
The eldest son said: "I just want everyone to understand what is the reason why we have to take the risk to participate in this war? If it weren't for my father's mistake, Fusman easily occupied Huowu City, even if he occupied the
If we lead the army to defend the city, we won’t be as passive as we are today, right?”
The scene fell silent for a while, and the eldest son said: "I think you all have experienced what kind of character my father is. Even if we take back Huowu City this time, the image of father's incompetence has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so what else can we do?
Relying on Huowu City for long-term benefits? If such a person continues to serve as the chief mage advisor, is the Chamber of Commerce Alliance as optimistic about the development prospects of Huowu City as before?"
"Brother, are you planning to murder my father?"
"You said this, but I have never said it before!" The eldest son seemed a little flustered, but his eyes were shining: "I mean, my father is getting older, and the affairs of Huowu City should be handed over to younger generations.
.After Huowu City is retaken, aren't the people that father can use still be our brothers and sisters? Then we might as well take our family as the leader and set up a municipal council in Huowu City. The mage advisors and officials from our various places are members, and some of them are allowed.
Representatives from the craftsmen's guild in the city have joined us, and we can discuss it together if anything happens in the future."
Everyone nodded after hearing this. In this way, they can better protect their respective local interests, and be completely tied to Huowu City, no longer bound by their father.
"But... can this really be done?" Some people questioned: "Anyway, my father is also a ninth-level mage. If he refuses to let go... my father has killed his rebellious son before.
"
"How could he not be injured when fighting someone like Forsman?" The eldest son chuckled: "Even if he can successfully defeat Forsman, I still have follow-up methods!"
The children of Nelem present looked curious and greedy, and asked: "Say it quickly!"
"I have already contacted the Eye of Mystery. They will send three high-ranking mages to help secretly. Once my father is successfully killed, Huowu City will form a direct alliance with the imperial province! Join the Eye of Mystery's camp.
middle!"
"Ah?! Isn't this too dangerous? This is not only a betrayal of my father, but also a betrayal of the entire Pentagram Tower!"
The eldest son showed a fierce expression: "This is the only chance for you and me! Do you really want to be weighed down by your father for the rest of your life without any further opportunities? As long as you bring Huowu City to the Eye of Mystery, we will gain
There are ten times more development opportunities than today! You can also get formal guidance from the Mysterious Eye mage in arcane arts! It’s much better than the crappy way like the Tower of Pentagram!"
"But, but-"
Everyone was still hesitating, and the eldest son slammed the table and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, to tell you the truth, the magicians from the Eye of Mystery have arrived in the Black Rock Province. According to the agreement, they will kill the group of mistresses that their father brought before.
With an illegitimate child... I think all of you here don’t want a group of competitors to carve up your own interests in more than ten years, right?”
"What? You didn't notify us and took action beforehand?!" someone exclaimed and tried to run away.
"Who dares to leave?!" The eldest son clapped his hands, and well-dressed and capable soldiers sprang out from the curtain behind everyone, setting up demonized weapons with shining auras. The eldest son said in a gentle tone: "I am here today to hope that everyone will
If you don't want to join forces, then I don't mind cooperating with the Eye of Mystery alone. But think about it, if your father knows about this conversation, even if you push me out to die, he will still have the slightest trust in you.
? I’m afraid it will only make you more fearful and defensive!”
After saying this, the eldest son threw out a contract scroll and said: "For the sake of everyone's future safety, I signed this contract with my own blood, so that we can advance and retreat together. Otherwise, don't blame me, the eldest brother, for being rude!"