diymy #683 - Strength supremacy Black Snake Bay
#683 - Strength supremacy Black Snake Bay
Inside the damp, moldy Sola Fortress, the once bustling hall was now quieter than a library.
Morning light filtered through narrow windows, illuminating every speck of dust in the smoky air.
The leaders of various secret societies and captains of soldiers, both big and small, surrounded the large mahogany table in the center, saying nothing.
On this long table used for meetings, the tattered battle flag bearing the Ursion family crest was laid out flat, and the burning gazes of those around it almost seemed to set it ablaze.
"Didn't you print this yourselves?" In the silence, an old wizard couldn't help but ask.
This question was quickly echoed by a few others. Since Horn entered Green Blood Town on March 22nd, they had taken only seven days to conquer the formidable Avis Temple by yesterday, March 29th.
In terms of siege warfare alone, it only took five days.
Avis Temple, along with its surrounding villages and strongholds, had a garrison of 4,000 soldiers and a large number of transcendent knights.
The Allied Forces, on the other hand, had a total of only 8,000 men, of which over 2,000 from the God's Punishment Army were raw recruits.
Noveya glared at the old wizard, her eyes narrowed: "Are you questioning my integrity?"
"No, no," the old wizard quickly waved his hand. "I was just asking."
Noveya raised two middle fingers at the old wizard and said with a smile, "I've been flying for too long, just stretching my fingers. Do you have a problem with that?"
"...No."
Danio, now able to vent his frustrations, retorted, "It seems that the Holy Grandson's power is greater than Messiah's, isn't it? Old Java, I didn't expect you to be such a devout believer."
Even though it was "one of their own" being ridiculed, the surrounding secret society wizards burst into laughter.
Old Java, who had previously made sarcastic remarks to Danio, was now on the receiving end of Danio's sarcasm, and his face was not a pretty sight.
However, he couldn't refute it and had to pretend he didn't hear, focusing intently on studying the floor tiles.
Picking up the flag, Seromis ran his hand over its smooth texture, his voice betraying no emotion: "Avis Temple was actually breached in ten days... Noveya, you were there. Can you tell us how it was done?"
"I can, but I don't want to. I've been flying all night, and I need to eat and sleep." Noveya pointed to Danio beside her. "He read the battle report and knows the Salvation Army's tactics well. I'm going to eat."
Taking out the battle report that Noveya had brought, Danio calmly stepped forward to explain, "We used a new type of clockwork cannon, which you can think of as a large clockwork musket."
As a former Salvation Army officer, Danio, although not present at the scene, had far superior language skills and judgment in describing the battlefield situation than Noveya.
"Your Excellency first used five clockwork cannons to continuously bombard the city walls, blasting them open and exposing the earthen walls inside. As it was on the verge of collapse, Count Ursion, the city's commander, tried to escape but was captured by the Guardsmen ambushing around the docks.
The next day, Your Excellency escorted Count Ursion to the city walls. Count Ursion ordered the soldiers inside the city to surrender and promised that no one would be killed upon surrender. As a result, the soldiers' morale plummeted, and they surrendered one after another. That's how Avis Temple was breached."
"Worthy of those who defeated the Papal Guard of the Edict Union."
"In fact, the God's Punishment Army's contribution to this operation is also undeniable," Danio corrected. "Most of the villages and military strongholds were taken by the God's Punishment Army because they were not equipped with clockwork cannons."
Although they still didn't quite grasp the concept, the fact that Avis Temple had fallen was right in front of them, and Seromis began to doubt himself.
Could it be that Blackwater Bay was unable to counterattack the Empire simply because they were not united enough?
Shaking his head, Seromis looked at Danio for the first time with genuine interest: "Does Lord Horn have any other requests for us in the letter?"
"No, His Excellency said that your greatest help is to protect yourselves."
If the original secret society members had heard this sarcastic remark, it would have undoubtedly provoked a thousand kinds of anger, but now there were only a few faint complaints.
In the meritocracy of Blackwater Bay, strength is the only truth.
............
"Worthless trash! Being captured is one thing, but being forced to shout at the gates to open them? He should just die! Just die!"
Duke Podosha's facial muscles were all contorted, and white makeup powder fell like snow. His spittle flew like raindrops onto the white paper of the battle report.
Under the black tent, all of his knights and counts had arrived. They collectively lowered their heads, secretly glancing at the gnashing Duke Podosha.
Only Count Katsi walked directly to the table, began to rummage through several maps, piecing them together, and frowned as he scanned back and forth.
It wasn't that the other nobles were lazy, but their relationship with Duke Podosha was too distant.
If they had done that, they probably would have been caught and sprayed by the ruthless Duke Podosha the moment they took a step.
"You trash! You're all trash! You can't take a city in two months! I treat trash like this!" Duke Podosha pinched the battle report with his thick fingers, gritted his teeth, and tore the battle report to shreds, slamming it hard on the ground.
"What are you looking at?" Podosha glared at the knights and nobles. "Am I keeping you around just to watch?"
A knight coughed. "Your Excellency, since they're coming, why don't we wait for them and strike at their reinforcements?"
"I'll surround your horse to death! What if Sola Fortress cooperates from the inside?"
"Then perhaps we can take the initiative to meet them by boat?"
"We have nearly 20,000 people here. How many can the boats carry at once? If you're stupid, stay at home and don't embarrass yourself."
Three or four nobles made suggestions in succession, but they were all rejected by Podosha. The remaining knights and nobles understood.
They were all used to the battlefield. Who hadn't fought against rebels in the south and the frontier, as well as bandits and marauders?
Duke Podosha's performance clearly showed that he was scared after hearing that the Salvation Army had defeated Prince Condé and only wanted to fight easy battles.
The Duke couldn't handle the pressure after Ursion lost Avis Temple. Otherwise, why would he be so irritable?
"What Your Excellency said is reasonable. It's not good to fight in front of Sola Fortress. This area is not easy to fight in." Relying on his memory, Count Katsi recalled the contents of the battle report. "The enemy should have some kind of magic-driven trebuchet with great power but also great weight.
They won't be able to clear the sunken ships in the Moen River channel for a while, so they can only go by land. It's estimated that their transportation speed won't be fast.
Although we don't have trebuchets, we have knights. Everyone has heavy armor and is resistant to hard battles. We have serpent-men servants to carry armor, so the swamp is better than land.
So, why don't we set off now and travel day and night? They definitely won't expect us to arrive so quickly.
When we block them in the swamp area, Your Excellency should have already assembled the ordinary infantry. Then you can bring the soldiers over by boat. We can join forces. What do you think, Your Excellency?"
Although Katsi didn't finish his words, Podosha understood the meaning behind them.
The most important thing was the word 'by boat'.
If the knights achieved their goal, then Podosha could naturally come by boat to support them and get some credit.
If the knights didn't achieve their goal, and the main force was defeated, then it would be normal for Duke Podosha to avoid battle, protect the ships, and return to Fran.
In other words, waiting for the Qianhe Valley army to attack was uncontrollable, but taking the initiative was controllable.
As long as people are alive, the specific situation of the battlefield is still up to the supreme commander, Duke Podosha, to write, right?
Even if they lost, Duke Podosha had already found a scapegoat for this battle. Wasn't there that Count Ursion who abandoned the city, fled, was captured, and then shouted for the city to open its gates?
"Look at him! If you could all plan like this, why would I have to work so hard as the commander?" Patting Count Katsi's shoulder, a satisfied smile appeared on Podosha's face. "When I get back, I'll write a commendation report for you!"