Ella had overestimated the pirates' crafting capabilities.
When she returned to Zealand, the finished trebuchets always failed in all sorts of strange ways. She watched helplessly as one of the catapults threw stones and the entire upper half of the structure. There was also a trebuchet that bumped on the pebbles while pushing, and then fell apart completely.
Fortunately, Ella bought enough time. After a day or two of repairs, there was finally a trebuchet that was barely usable.
And this is enough.
The trebuchet drawings drawn by Ella were originally designed to conquer the huge walls of the wealthy cities along the Mediterranean coast. Even though it was crudely crafted by pirates and its power, accuracy, and range were greatly reduced, the simple wooden fences of the northern tribes were still like nothing under this civilized weapon.
The savages in Zealand seemed to have gotten some interesting toys. They excitedly threw boulders one by one, and then watched sections of walls, wooden houses, or groups of enemies being crushed by boulders falling from the sky. Every time a stone bullet fell, it triggered a series of cheers.
One barbarian even climbed onto the catapult with a big ax on his arm, hoping to use this powerful machine to throw himself directly into the city of Loland and start a killing spree. Ella was so frightened that she quickly pulled him down. If everyone followed his example, Lorraine would be red with blood in another sense.
Under the suppression of civilization, Luolan was captured within half a day.
Sigurd returned to Sifor with his exhausted army. Harald the Wild Hair trembled and reported two things to him: a fleet of less than a thousand people sailed out of the forest along the river and headed for Zealand. Also, Luo Lan sent a request for help not long ago after a long absence.
A black mist spread out from Sigurd's angry nostrils and floated into the sky.
The people of Sifor saw the black fog on the horizon from a distance, and hurriedly ran to Sigurd and kowtowed to pray for mercy. But Sigurd paid no attention to the people's pleas.
The black mist gradually became thicker and then spread to all directions. People were wailing and trying to escape the black fog. But they were unable to pass through Sigurd's infantry phalanx outside the city, and could only flee into the city.
The game of chasing each other with the black mist lasted all day. In the end, everyone in the city gathered in the last square, and the black mist surrounded them from all sides.
There were loud cries of mourning in the square, but the large area wrapped in black mist was so quiet that even the chirping of mosquitoes could not be heard. As the black mist spread, rows of people entered eternal sleep.
Looking down from the sky, the entire West Fore became pitch black and silent. I am afraid that in the next half century, West Fore will always be a dead place abandoned by the light.
Across the strait, people in Zealand also saw the death fog piling up in the distant sky. The excitement of conquering Roland was quickly extinguished by the huge fear coming across the ocean.
However, this feeling of fear did not last long. Because they saw the Valkyrie who led them to victory: Ella Cornelius Scipio, appearing on the city wall——
"It's so scary! How should I fight this!"
Ella hugged her head and shivered on the ground.
"These barbarians know that Sigurd is so photogenic and they still cause trouble for me, right? If we ignore this black fog, it will spread to the whole city within a day, but if we rush out, then... Were you forced to fight Sigurd?"
"Your Majesty, things are not that desperate yet. I just heard that Hestein has been guarding against Sigurd and asked people protected by the God of Light, Balder, to set up strong defenses on the walls of Zealand. Sigurd’s magic, although their level of protection is not as good as Baldur’s, they will not be captured in one day.”
"What about Lorraine? What should Lorraine do?"
"Even without Sigurd's magic, the city walls of Lorraine have been smashed by catapults and have lost their due function. So I think it is better for us to abandon Lorraine and run back to Zealand... Of course, this is just It’s just the opinion of a lowly maid, and it’s His Majesty who makes the decision.”
"Who asked them to smash the city wall of Luoran into this state!" Ella shouted frantically, "It's just an attack on a city. Can't we break in after breaking a section? But I saw that the entire city wall was completely destroyed. It's rotten and they're still throwing stones in it! I don't understand, it's just a catapult. How exciting is it to play with it? These barbarians! If we have to abandon Lorraine, then everything I have done before is not worth it. Is it meaningless?"
"There is still meaning, Your Majesty - we just need to turn Lorraan into scorched earth."
Ella was stunned for a moment. She slowly turned her head and looked at Amy, as if looking at a stranger:
"Amy, what did you just say? Can you repeat it again?"
"As long as we turn Lorraine into scorched earth, His Majesty's efforts will be in vain. Sealand will not be attacked from two sides, and Sigurd will not be able to settle down after landing."
"You said...turn into scorched earth? - What exactly do you want to do?"
"Kill everything, burn everything, leave no one behind, leave nothing behind. In this way, Sigurd will not be able to get supplies from Loland, nor can he replenish his troops in Loland - by the way, Your Majesty can also scatter nails in the ground. , poisoning the water..."
"That's enough!" Ella interrupted Amy loudly, "Amy, why would you say such terrible things?"
"Because this is the best way to reduce the enemy's combat effectiveness and protect us. That's what your Majesty's father did when the Tianfang Empire attacked the Qiqiu Empire more than ten years ago. I was only six or seven years old at that time, and your Majesty's father sent People came and drove us out of the village, and then burned our village down..."
"Enough! This war was originally started by Xilan. Are you saying that I want to kill all the people in Luolan to protect Xilan's people?"
"If Your Majesty is not willing, the humble maid can convey this order on Your Majesty's behalf. After that, Your Majesty only needs to say that I am conveying the order in your name..."
Ella's body froze.
"Your Majesty...Although I cried when my home was burned down...but I know that Your Majesty's father did nothing wrong..."
--"enough."
Ella covered Amy's chattering mouth with her hands.
"I will convey this matter personally."
Drop poison in the water,
and sprinkled the earth with thistles.
Food was taken from rich and poor alike and shipped to Zealand.
What was too late and what luck could not be taken away was just dumped into the sea.
As well as the people in Lorraine, they have all been driven into the middle of the square, waiting for Ella's judgment——
"Lolan is just a small place. The tribes here can move to Zealand first and stay there for a while."
"Your Majesty! That would consume a lot of time. They failed, and now they are just slaves. It is better to solve them on the spot! The remaining time can be used to strengthen the city defense of Zealand..."
"Amy, listen clearly - I said, enough is enough. This is the fourth time."
The young king is carrying such a heavy burden for the first time.
"I ordered to kill all these people in order to leave time to strengthen the city defense. I can't do it if you repeat it a hundred times. They are not slaves. There are no slaves in the Qiqiu Empire!"
"Your Majesty, without this time for reinforcement, we may lose this war. At that time, everything your Majesty has done will be meaningless!"
"Amy, don't you understand? If a leader has to rely on these things to ensure the victory of the war, it is ultimately because he is incompetent! Father burned your village because of his incompetence! You You can blame him! You can scold him! You can hit him! You can spit on him!"
——"Of course, I am also incompetent. So I have to throw poison, so I have to steal food."
——"But, I am not so incompetent that I need to kill all these innocent people to win the war!"
"Let the world see how I, Ella Cornelius Scipio, wrested victory from Sigurd!"
