Late summer in the west, late autumn in the city.
It was a quiet morning, the fog in the forest had not yet dispersed, the sun had just risen from the horizon, and the sunlight washed through the forest like a sea tide.
The sound of a cannon broke the tranquility, and countless birds jumped out of the forest.
Outside the Muqiu Walled City, the army of the Xihe Principality, which belongs to the Dragon Backbone Empire, came to the city and almost immediately launched an attack on the elven towns.
The supreme commander of this force, Delos, the eldest son of the Grand Duke of Xihe, was sitting in the rear at leisure, wearing a special steam armor.
"Has the surrender letter arrived?" he asked the adjutant.
"Not yet," the adjutant replied.
"Attack." Delos waved his hand.
"Sir, it's only been half an hour." The adjutant was a little surprised.
By convention, the besieged town was given enough time to consider surrender before noon.
"If these elves will surrender, they will surrender when the city is broken. The troops of the Dragon Head Regiment have almost reached Luoye City. Do we still have to waste half a day here?"
Delos glanced at the adjutant coldly and said.
The adjutant stopped talking.
Delos is the heir to the Grand Duke of Xihe and the future ruler of the principality.
Under the loving training of the Grand Duke, Delos became an extraordinary warrior at the age of thirty, obtained an important position in the imperial army, and became a leader among the young generation of imperial nobles.
Grand Duke Xihe even proposed marriage to the imperial princess Fred on his behalf, but in the end he lost to a more powerful competitor.
No one around Delos was aware of the jealousy and competition that the grand duke's son had towards the knight king.
This mentality became especially strong after Fred became the Queen. When Lucio marries Her Majesty the Queen, there is no doubt that Lucio will be given the title of prince and rule the country with Her Majesty the Queen.
The large army led by Lucio was overwhelming, and Delos, who was sent to the west, couldn't help but become anxious.
There was another cannon blast, and the outpost position accurately shattered the iconic relief on the city wall. A burst of cheers followed, and more artillery fire began to greet the elves' walled city.
"The things made by dwarves are really good for fighting." He commented.
"This is also thanks to the Grand Duke's actions..." The adjutant smiled.
"Don't mention the old guy at this time. I feel uncomfortable when I think about it." Delos's face dropped.
The adjutant, realizing that he had stepped on the wrong foot again, quickly shut up.
The Duke of Xihe borders on the land of the Beishan dwarves. When Fred chose to form an alliance with the dwarves, the Duke of Xihe responded most positively.
He actively sent envoys to the Beishan King, who ruled many dwarf clans in Beishan, and finally proposed marriage to the Beishan Kingdom in exchange for the mining areas of his territory, hoping to marry the dwarf king's youngest daughter to renew his marriage.
From the perspective of political marriage, this is a good deal.
Fred's alliance with the dwarves was to use the dwarves and the empire's alchemist team to develop mechanical technology to provide new weapons for the troops. The Principality of Xihe has good relations with the dwarves, and can also use this channel to obtain equipment and technology equivalent to those of the central empire. And the dwarves can get their beloved minerals.
The dwarf princess has not yet come through the door, part of the transaction has been completed. The dwarf has received the minerals as a bride price, and the principality's troops have also received a group of weapons. The dragon roar artillery that is currently bombarding the city wall, and Delos are currently wearing The steam armor is one of them.
What made Delos angry was his father's selfishness.
According to most human aesthetics, a stout and short dwarf is definitely not good-looking. The appearance of the little princess of Beishan is different from other dwarves, she is naturally slender.
Delos met the female dwarf when he visited Beishan Kingdom. Her appearance was more like a smaller human girl than a dwarf, and she could even be a bit like a child.
As for Delos's father, he had an abnormal hobby in this area and was even famous in the aristocratic circle, which always made Delos feel very embarrassed.
He even suspected that one of the big reasons why he lost the proposal was because of his father's behavior. It was not easy for him to accept a female dwarf as his stepmother.
"Hurry up, we should be able to solve it before noon." Delos looked at the walled city in the forest with ease, "It is also a big town, there should be something better than the border villages."
According to his estimate, with such a disparity in troops and equipment, the elves in Muqiu Walled City would not be able to fight this battle.
"Yes." The adjutant gave the simplest answer cautiously.
In his opinion, Delos was not much better than his father in terms of being a good womanizer, and he became even more indulgent after his failed proposal to Fred.
This war is expected to be negotiated with Mu Xia. The discipline of the empire's army in this attack seems to be quite good, and there will be no large-scale burning, killing and looting. The troops of the Xihe Principality do not dare to do too much. Go too far to avoid being held accountable by Longshou Fort.
But during the attack on Muxia Town, how many people would care if a few elven civilians disappeared due to reasons other than fighting.
At this moment, Delos noticed a commotion coming from the direction of the temporary sentry tower.
"What happened?" He frowned in displeasure.
There shouldn't be any surprises in this attack. According to the previous analysis, it is impossible for Muqiu City to receive any reinforcements, because other nearby elven towns are currently unable to protect themselves, and the entire Muxia City is now asking for external help.
And there was no movement at all nearby.
The adjutant quickly sent a herald to learn about the situation, and then reported to Delos: "Sir, the left wing sentry tower reported that there is a strange shadow in the clouds above the six o'clock position."
"How many targets?" Delos asked alertly.
Maybe it was the Pegasus troops of the elves, but they couldn't be that many in number. That kind of combat power should be very precious to the elves, and it was unlikely that they would be invested on a large scale at the western border, which was not that important.
Moreover, they also have a bipedal flying dragon cavalry that has not been dispatched, which can completely deal with it.
"One, and it seems... not small." The adjutant gave an answer that was far beyond his expectation.
Delos immediately looked around, climbed up a tree, and then looked toward the sky. As an extraordinary warrior, he had long-distance vision like a falcon.
From the location reported by the subordinate, there is indeed a dark shadow that makes people care about the thick clouds, and it is obviously moving.
The black shadow seemed to sink a little, and its outline in the clouds became a little clearer.
Delos's heart suddenly sank. He seemed to be... impressed by this outline!
He had participated in two dragon-slaying operations with Lucio before, and he had seen dragons before!
No, how could there be a dragon in a place like this and at a time like this?
He was still doubting that the black shadow penetrated the clouds and swooped down this way.
In the sky, an eye-catching red suddenly appeared.
