The day after the Free Army arrived near Reims City, Jiang Tian led his men to appear in the Ville Valley southwest of Reims City. But after entering the river valley, you can see washed-up corpses and suspected ship fragments scattered on both sides of the river bank more than ten meters wide.
And when this advance reconnaissance team went west deep into the valley for about several kilometers; as the terrain gradually rose, a rotten egg-like smell of hot spring sulfur began to appear in the air; however, it seemed that Mixed with it is another rotten smell that has accumulated for many years.
The vegetation in the mountains and forests seen along the way also showed signs of decay, dryness, and withering that were completely opposite to this season. At first, it was just a little bit on the edge of the branches and leaves, but as the team continued to deepen, it began to appear. Vast tracts of withering and decay.
Finally, even the grass from the shrubs completely dried up and fell, leaving only some bare twisted branches of the big trees; still stubbornly listening in the smell-filled air. But once you press it with your hands, the bark that is already brittle and necrotic inside will peel off in large areas.
Not only have the chirping of birds disappeared here, but even the chirping of insects in the soil has disappeared. Occasionally, you can still see the roads that have been maintained and repaired since ancient times; carriages dumped and abandoned aside, and the remains of dead draft horses; just It seemed like a long time passed.
Not only did the carriage begin to become brittle, but even the bodies of the draft horses were shriveled and withered; but according to local information, this abnormal area suddenly appeared only a dozen days ago. Even seven or eight days ago, there were people who escaped from it with scars all over their bodies.
However, this man was also seriously injured and died quickly due to subsequent infection and unknown heat poison; he just murmured some words before his death, mentioning ancient battlefields and the resurrection of the army of the dead. It also further proves the abnormal area deep in the river valley.
In fact, during the celestial changes that affected the entire continent hundreds of years ago, large and small abnormal areas were formed among the countries in the Western Continent; transportation and communications were cut off in disguise, and some cities and towns were also affected. The town and the vassal territory became an isolated island trapped by aliens.
Under such circumstances, the ascendant rule of the Rose Dynasty, which originated from the descendants of King Alstorfor, quickly collapsed. Due to the lack of supply and maintenance from surrounding areas, a large non-agricultural population gathered in the capital; severe famine and plague even broke out in Seine.
Then there were piles of corpses that could not be dealt with at all, and many changes occurred inside and outside the city, like a hundred ghosts walking at night; the royal guards and city defense regiments also suffered heavy losses under the exhausted efforts; in the end they had to be ordered to shrink their strength Guard the royal palace and castle.
The citizens of most urban areas were left to struggle to fend for themselves amidst famine, plague, and endless alien species; coupled with the looting and chaos taking advantage of the situation, a large number of tragedies against human ethics also occurred during this period. The predecessor of the underground tomb city was also born.
In other words, in order to escape and hide from the persecution of aliens and other people, the struggling residents of the city dug many tunnels and holes under the Seine City; and then, they were blocked in them and starved to death, or were trapped in all the tunnels that collapsed. Buried, or trapped in it and suffocated to death.
Therefore, when the surviving princes in the outer provinces decided the victor in the chaos and led the army to break through many abnormal areas and arrived at Seine City, what they saw was a huge dead city with a population of only ten or two. And the royal family, who had long lost their hearts while hiding in the castle, also came to an end.
On the other hand, as the northwest passage where other provinces enter the capital region and the Seine River Basin/Paris Basin; the Ville Valley is also an ancient battlefield where wars have broken out many times since ancient times. It can be traced back to the Roman dictator Caesar's "Gaul Wars", where he encountered an ambush.
Then from Emperor Vespasian, to Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, and then to the era of Emperor Aurelian, the tribes in the Gaul region of the mountains continued to rebel and were pacified; there were many tug-of-wars. The explosion occurred in the Ville Valley, an important node of the ancient highway.
Later, when the Western Roman Empire began to collapse and die. Sigrius, the last governor of Gaul, led the last provincial army, and was defeated by Clovis, the founder of the Frankish Kingdom, in a nearby valley; thus establishing the first dynasty of the Frankish Kingdom.
Later, there was a civil war between the founder of the Carolingian dynasty, Pepin III and his brother Carloman; a war of succession between King Charlemagne and his brother Carloman II; and many wars fought around the Weiler Valley and beyond. Waiting until the Frankish Kingdom collapsed, the Rose Dynasty rose from the ruins.
When King Alstorfo marched into Paris, the last battle, the "Battle of the Crown", also took place in the Ville Valley; not to mention, the subsequent succession of the Lily Dynasty, the Acacia Dynasty and the White Iris Dynasty, as provincial princes A necessary battle to officially take over the capital.
Therefore, in this river valley, the remains of ancient battlefields for countless generations have actually been buried in layers. Finally, Jiang Tian's team reached the edge of the abnormal area. Even in the middle of summer, the temperature here is significantly lower by several degrees, and even the wind blowing is shuddering.
In addition to the large, cold shadows naturally formed by the steep mountain walls on both sides of this area, there are even thick and lingering clouds in the sky, somewhat blocking the sunlight. Therefore, looking down from a high place, one can vaguely see the withered bones scattered on the ground, and it seems that there are still armor and clothes left.
However, Jiang Tian did not take it lightly at all. As he waved his hand from a high place, the soldiers waiting below did not hesitate to bring a small group of goats, and then whipped and prodded their backs, making them bleat wildly. They drove chaotically into the general area covered by the clouds.
And as the fleeing sheep gradually approached, the bones scattered on the rocks in the valley and on both sides of the road suddenly turned around and came over with a soft clicking sound, as if they had been stimulated by some unknown source; the next moment, there was a crash. They all stood up and picked up the swords and guns half buried in the soil.
Facing these living creatures that rashly broke in, they chased, slashed and threw them away. In the blink of an eye, these goats that could not dodge screamed and were pierced by nails on the ground. Then they swarmed up and were rusted. There were stains of swords and axes, hacking and dismembering, leaving a mess of blood and flesh on the ground.
But there were also two goats that were far away. After being frightened, they scurried around. They dodged the rust-colored weapons one after another and fled towards the place where they came from in a panic. And these corpses that had awakened and killed were chasing after them, but they stopped at the edge of the clouds in the sky.
It was as if there was a vague boundary that restricted and restricted them; facing the goat that was intercepted not far away, it was indifferent. The next moment, he dropped the only remaining weapon in his hand, turned around with a rattling sound, and returned to the original place, then threw it again or scattered it on the ground.
However, now that the Free Army soldiers are here, how can they let them go so easily? The next moment, many fine iron chains were thrown out and caught the corpses that were lagging behind. Under the reverse drag of the horses, they were pulled out of the range of the clouds with lightning speed.
This time, it was like poking some kind of hornet's nest. Not only did the bones that had fallen to the ground rise again, but there were even many mounds of earth raised on the ground, and more corpses emerged from the flying sand. Almost a swarm of swarms rushed to the edge of the clouds, and rushed to throw out their weapons.
Then, amidst the clanging sound, the Free Army soldiers who had been prepared used long shields and curved shields in the air to block most of the damage; only a few fish that slipped through the net injured the towed ones. The packhorse caused a whimpering sound on the spot, which was immediately calmed down.
However, the several skeletons that were trapped and struggling had been dragged down into the sunshine beyond the clouds; in an instant, streams of gray smoke began to evaporate. Then it turned from pale blue-gray to pale white, and the joints seemed to have lost traction and connection, and became brittle.
But Jiang Tian, who was looking down from a high place, saw something else. These resurrected bones, which are suspected to be ancient soldiers, not only have a certain degree of reaction mechanism, as well as remaining speed and strength; they also know the simple tactics of dormancy, camouflage and group aggregation.
Jiang Tian even suspected that within the scope of the clouds, even if they were smashed with heavy weapons, there was even a chance that they would repair themselves; there might be a hidden hierarchy and order between them. Because Jiang Tian saw that the bones buried underground were obviously more intact than those exposed.
Not only the limbs and trunk are stronger and more complete, but the armor and robes on the body are also in better condition, no longer the strands of the shriveled skeleton; although the color is gray, the texture and texture can be vaguely seen, with pieces of tattered robes and cloaks, Cloak; weapons rust less.
Therefore, Jiang Tian just raised his hand slightly and took a photo of one of the few beings wearing armor. He instantly threw it out of the range of the clouds and roughly smashed it into the pile of rocks on the other side. However, the armored corpse suddenly struggled, turned around and fled with a clanking sound.
However, driven and attracted by some inexplicable force, before it could rush more than ten steps toward the clouds, it knelt down under the sun again with its body covered in gray smoke. As the smoke evaporated and disappeared, the rusty yellow and reddish armor fragments on his body were scattered on the ground piece by piece.
Immediately, the mummy with gray hair and beard was revealed, and it seemed that the outline of life could still be vaguely seen; but the motionless one seemed to have truly rested in peace. Later, a small pile of personal accessories was found from the mummy with the remaining armor, and they were all collected and presented to Jiang Tian.
However, among the hunter team of the special service company that was traveling with them, someone uttered a low exclamation: "This seems to be the family emblem of Earl Alvin. However, the main branch of this family should be at the end of the previous Lily Dynasty. , the heirs were completely extinct in the Battle of Bailu.”
So under Jiang Tian's direct order, the Free Army soldiers present began to conduct various extreme tests against the skeletal soldiers shrouded in the clouds. Constantly driving in living creatures, luring and stimulating the resurrection of more corpses, and then pulling them out.
As a result, corpses of various ages and clothing styles were presented to the Free Army soldiers one after another; from ancient Roman centurions wearing wolf hoods and muscle breastplates to knights from local nobles who fought against the royal power nearly a hundred years ago. In war, wing-shaped helmets and mirror armor are common.
And as Jiang Tian used his own abilities and cooperated with the repeated matryoshka behavior of the Free Army soldiers, after luring and pulling out hundreds of corpses one after another, it seemed that even the area shrouded by the clouds had shrunk a bit; and A little lifeless bare ground was revealed.
During this period, the corpses that were tossed and disturbed endlessly even launched a brief counterattack beyond the scope of the clouds; it seemed that they were trying to recapture one of the corpses wearing a crowned helmet and with ostrich feathers still remaining; and then, they were The firearms thrown in the face exploded into pieces.
Arms, thighs, ribs, etc. were flying around and scattered all over the ground. Among the hundreds of skeletons that were exposed to the sun and covered in smoke, no one could escape. Therefore, not only was the ground cleared, no matter how hard the Free Army soldiers tried, no bones emerged from the ground.
However, during the continuous probing and offensive experiments, Jiang Tian also discovered a problem that cannot be ignored. It is a living creature that has been driven into the area covered by the clouds. However, there is no abnormality for a while, but as time goes by or the number of times increases, it begins to lose hair and become weak.
The first few goats that were driven in suffered from severe qi and blood depletion and body weight loss; not only did large areas of fur fall off, but there were also obvious cracks on the horns of their heads. It's as if there is some invisible existence that continues to suck away their life and vitality.
Therefore, Jiang Tian finally gave up his plan to continue exploring inside; on the spot, he released a large number of cement prefabricated panels and other building components from the "Dimensional Bubble" module. The soldiers present dug trenches, erected them, and then assembled them into a simple fortress.
A company was left to observe and guard nearby. The next step is to focus on solving the enemy that is now entrenched in the kingdom's holy land/ancient city of Reims and will fight to the end. But they are not the old nobles or kingdom officials in the traditional sense, but originate from the local clergy.
The leader has a great background. Among the five archbishops in the Kingdom's church system, he is the northwest archbishop whose identity and rank is second only to the archbishop of the capital. He was also the only one who survived the oath-taking movement that led to the great schism in the church. The highest church official.
But his original diocese's headquarters was the church in Chalon, the capital of the Champagne province. However, amid the ongoing turmoil in the kingdom, he came to the Holy City with a group of clergy and a collection of books and documents. Reims, and integrated local power, transcending the Burgundian dynasty.
Now they have declared the Southern Free Army to be heretics and called for a crusade to fight against them.
(End of chapter)
