The next day, Marshal Jiuzhan of the Tingxiao Empire sent a letter of war. The words in the book are respectful and not provocative. It first praises and expresses sincere admiration for King Kelman's courage to lead the army to the front line, and finally invites Kelman to fight with him on February 15th. Mallord Plains.
Kelman looked at the challenge letter on the desk and didn't pay much attention to it. After all, it was expected. But an urgent battle report from New York made Kelman very worried. This battle report was delivered early in the morning. Kelman immediately summoned all officers above the level of legion commander (including legion commander) to discuss the matter. This group of people were summoned to the main tower of the castle without even having breakfast. Waiting in the main hall.
The highest-ranking military officer present was naturally Prince Reza, followed by the commander-level Earl Philip and Governor Yuanyasu, and then more than a dozen regiment commanders such as Duke Nanton and Duke Kasugi.
A sand table has been placed in the center of the main hall, and the various troops, strongholds, and major cities of Tingxiao and Yafei are clearly marked. On the marching route of both sides, even the marching scenes of the soldiers were displayed on the sand table through magic. Basically, the current battle situation is clearly visible on the sand table.
"Everyone, take a look." Kelman pointed at the sand table, and flames of war immediately broke out around the city of Xituo on the east coast. The Yafei sergeants guarding the city were fighting fiercely with the Tingxiao people on the city walls.
"What? These Tingxiao people on the eastern battlefield have already reached Xituo City?" Duke Nanton said in surprise.
Many of the officers present also had the same expression as Duke Nanton. Obviously, these people did not expect that the Tingxiao mercenaries were advancing so quickly on the eastern battlefield.
"Not only did they attack Xituo City, they also surrounded it. There are now fifty or sixty thousand Tingxiao mercenaries piled outside Xituo City." Kelman said with a frown.
Now the officers began to talk quietly.
"Xituo City is the largest city on the eastern coastline. There is a provincial road that leads directly to New York City. Once this city is captured, these mercenaries who regard wealth as their lives will definitely attack along the provincial road to the wealthy New York City in the northwest. Yincheng, then our escape route will be cut off." Earl Felie analyzed.
"New Inn City is the transportation hub for this war's baggage, so we must not let anything go wrong." Count Kasugi said. Some officers also agreed upon hearing this.
"At that time, Prince, you swore that you would not lose a city or a place after returning to Maine. Now the Tingxiao people are sweeping in all the way from the battlefield on the eastern front. This..." Governor Yuanyasu said and looked at Resa The prince glanced.
At this time, no one spoke in the hall.
"Your Majesty, it's not that my veteran doesn't stick to the battlefield on the eastern front. It's that Siduo City is going north and cannot be defended. If we send troops to guard the small castles along the way, it is tantamount to sending these elite Maine troops to the court. Xiao people cannibalized it. Therefore, the old minister decided to only send troops to guard the most critical city of Xituo." Resa explained.
"But now Xituo City is also besieged. It doesn't take long for it to be breached." Yuanyasu said calmly.
"At that time, Jiu Zhan led more than 100,000 men to kill under the wall of Yilingbona City. I only had 70,000 troops in hand, and I also allocated 5,000 to capture Xituo City, and there were several thousand more to defend against those monsters on the south side of the mountain range. Governor Yuankang, please tell me, should I send more people to Xituo City so that I can lose this mountainous city to Jiuzhan before His Majesty arrives here? Does that make you proud? Heart?" Resa replied coldly.
Yuanyasu also looked unhappy, "Prince, what do you mean? You..."
He was about to retaliate, but was interrupted by Kelman.
"Okay!" Kelman said angrily, "When do you still have time to argue here? Can you retreat from the enemy by arguing?"
It was completely quiet now.
"How long can the five thousand people in Xi Tuo City hold out?" Kelman glanced at Prince Resa.
"Your Majesty, the city's defenses are solid and the terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It cannot be captured by those motley mercenaries relying on their numbers." Resa replied in a deep voice.
Although the prince said so, most people in the audience did not believe it. Even Kelman felt that Resa's judgment about Xi Tuo City was too optimistic.
"Ha." Yuanyasu sneered, but because His Majesty was angry just now, he did not continue to ridicule.
"Your Majesty, although the prince said so, after all, the number of people attacking the city has reached more than ten times that of the defenders. I think it is better to be careful. Now we should send a team of troops to rescue Xituo City." Duke Jisugi. said.
"Yes..." Many people agreed with Duke Kasugi's point of view.
Seeing that most people were in favor of sending reinforcements to Xi Tuo City, Resa said nothing more.
"I'm still thinking, why did Jiu Zhan ask me to wait until February 15th for a decisive battle with him? It turned out that he was waiting for his mercenaries to attack our rear, and wanted to take advantage of our unstable military morale before engaging in a decisive battle, but he It’s too simple.” Kelman sneered.
"Then, who among you is willing to lead the army to rescue the siege of Xi Tuo City?" King Kelman glanced at the officers around him.
For a while, no one came out, and everyone was not a fool. If you go to Xituo City at this time, even if you wipe out all the Tingxiao mercenary groups, you still have to share the merits with Prince Resa's defenders. How can it be realistic to kill these Tingxiao regular troops on the front line of Yiling Bernard Fort? .
"No one wants to go?" Kelman's voice turned cold.
There was silence in the hall for a while.
"How about letting these mercenary groups follow to rescue the siege?" the representative officer from the Military Affairs Department asked in a low voice.
Everyone was deep in thought for a while. After thinking about it carefully, many people thought that this idea seemed good. There was no need to send out regular troops and no one suffered a loss. They just let these mercenaries and Tingxiao's mercenaries fight.
As a result, many people really nodded and looked approvingly at the representative of the Ministry of Military Affairs.
Only Prince Reza, Earl Philip, Governor Yuanyasu, Duke Kasugi, and Duke Nanton were still clear-headed and did not say a word.
"Nonsense!" Kelman slapped his palm on the mahogany railing at the edge of the sand table. "You haven't eaten a single meal, and you're all so hungry that your brains can't work? Let these self-interested servants come first and don't follow orders. If the army goes to the rescue, why don't you just let the soldiers of Xituo City fend for themselves?"
Seeing that His Majesty was furious, the military meeting fell into silence again.
"My veteran is willing to lead the army to rescue Siduo City." Duke Nanton looked at the people around him and stood up and said. After hearing this, many officers' eyes widened and they couldn't help but turn their heads to show gratitude to this colleague who "sacrificed himself for others".
"Old minister is also willing to go." Duke Jisu also stood up at this time.
Kelman looked at the two people who stood up, thought for a moment, and felt that they were indeed suitable candidates. Although these two are not independent generals, they are more skilled and calm. They thought it would be no problem to rush to Xituo City to help them.
However, Kelman still glanced at Count Philip, who nodded slightly.
"Okay, then you two will go. Nanton will be the chief general, and Yushan will be the deputy general. Each of you will lead an army of 5,000, and rush to Xituo City for rescue immediately. There will be no loss. Do you understand?" Kyle Man snapped.
"Understood. I will fulfill my mission." Nanton and Ji Shan took the order and left.
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At this time, the four mercenary groups heading north along the coastline were still marching towards Xituo City. Because there was no traveling under the stars and night, the Sifang Mercenary Group was still relatively energetic at this time. When we were less than five miles away from Xituo City, we could already see smoke and dust billowing in the distance, and the smell of gunpowder smoke in the air was already quite heavy. After walking another mile or two, we can already see the city of Xituo, which is nestled in the mountains. Looking at the thick smoke rising from the city wall, if you prick up your ears and listen carefully, you can actually hear intensive shouts of killing.
"Qiao Zhi, lead twenty agile assassins to discuss the situation ahead. Remember to pay attention to safety." Lai Wu ordered the strong man Qiao Zhi beside him.
So Qiao Zhi led twenty cavalrymen away from the large army and took the lead into the sparse forest ahead along the path. But Lai Wu stopped the large army and waved to Alvin on the airship, meaning not to go any further.
Since the last visit to Fevoni Mountain Forest, Qiao Zhi has been Lai Wu's most reliable source of battlefield information. These assassins were arranged for him by Lai Wu. They did not need to take action during frontal combat. They only needed to listen to Qiao Zhi's arrangements and snoop for intelligence on every corner of the battlefield.
Alvin could see further from the airboat. Beyond the mountain forest ahead, there was the provincial road. Looking far into the distance, on the narrow and winding mountain road spiraling up in the distance, although it is not clear, you can vaguely see that the dense black spots are all human figures, and Xituo City is located at the end of this mountain road. The end. Who could imagine that there is a huge city on this steep hillside, a city surrounded by mountains and sea.
Looking further down, on the provincial road connected to the mountain road, the eyes could no longer see clearly, and Alvin began to pray in his heart that those black figures had better not be human beings.
Alvin quickly asked Kui Qing to lower the airship. At this time, Qiao Zhi also rode back on the "Dream Horse" with a serious expression on her face.
"Are they all human?" Alvin glanced at Qiao Zhi and asked.
Qiao Zhilian nodded several times with an expression of disbelief on her face, "I took a look and saw that there were at least 30,000 to 40,000 people on the road from the provincial road to the mountain. These Tingxiao people have already The mountain roads in Xituo City are completely surrounded."
"Can we still get out of the forest in front?" Laiwu asked.
"No, as soon as we leave the forest, we will encounter a large army of Tingxiao people. If we go out, it will be tantamount to death." Qiao Zhi sounded very sure.
At this time, the other assassins also came back one after another, basically bringing back the same news - the exit to the northeast of the mountain forest had been blocked by Tingxiao's army.
Qiao Zhi counted the number of people and found that three assassins had not returned yet, so they were probably in danger.
"Are those tens of thousands of Tingxiao people regular troops? Or mercenaries?" Lai Wu asked after thinking.
"Looking at the various flags, they should all be mercenaries." George replied.
Laiwu nodded and began to think deeply.
Alvin and Laiwu were in trouble now. After pondering for a moment, Laiwu made a decision that surprised everyone - everyone boarded the airship.
Laiwu gave an order, and all available combatants boarded the airship, leaving only about ten wounded soldiers stationed in place. In fact, they were left to take care of the horses that could not be taken on the airship. Chen Zhu and Kaiba, who were lying leisurely in the carriage to recover from their injuries, were also carried to the airship. The two people looked confused and had no idea what was happening outside.
There were originally more than a hundred magicians on board the airship, and now more than three hundred people suddenly came on board. In addition to the original baggage in the cabin and the armor installed around the airship, all this weight The total amount has obviously exceeded the carrying capacity, so that the current flying speed is very slow, and the steering and lifting have also become very slow. It was quite difficult for the little girl Kui Qing to control, and Alvin looked helpless as he watched.
In this way, a "heavy" empty boat headed towards Xituo City two miles away.
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Yiling Bernard Castle Royal Camp.
The Duke of Nanton and the Duke of Jisugi had already gathered ten thousand troops and marched from the city of mountains to the city of Xituo.
"Brother Nanton, can I ask why you went to rescue Xituo City?" Duke Jisugi on horseback suddenly turned his head and asked for no reason.
"There is no way. I have an incompetent son who insists on setting up some kind of mercenary group. There was no one along the way. I thought it was just a slow march and failed to keep up with the large army. I didn't expect to go to the Military Affairs Department yesterday. After checking, this guy actually disappeared after passing the Wind Iron Castle. I expected that with his character, he would go to the east coast to try his luck. As an old man, I also have a hard life. At this age, I can't help but I have to be tortured by these children." Duke Nanton sighed bitterly.
If he had known that Laiwu was commanding an airship with hundreds of people to fly above tens of thousands of people at this time, he would probably have been so frightened that he fell off his horse.
"Is it the kid named Laiwu?" Duke Kasugi asked curiously, "That kid looks quite smart."
"Hey, he can still catch your eye, brother? Then you look up to me too much." Nanton smiled, "My sons know how to get money from me when they are not doing their jobs all day long. Compared to your family, It’s really far off.”
"Oh, it's all the same. The same thing doesn't make people worry. My child fell in love with a girl from the prince's family. He couldn't get over it, so he shamelessly begged me to go find out about the prince." Qi Shan was angry. road.
"Oh? What did the prince say?" Nanton also became interested.
"The prince is quite encouraging, but the girl doesn't like him. My son also knows how to get frustrated. One night he came back and made trouble all night. Oops, he made the whole house restless." Duke Jisugi said. He smiled bitterly and said, "Look, even the Maine Front is unwilling to come this time, saying that it doesn't want to see the girl from the prince's family again."
"Brother Jisu, I think it's not that he doesn't want to come, it's that you don't want to bring him here..." Nanton looked at Jisu with a deep smile in his eyes.
"Brother, where do you start talking about this?" Qi Shan hesitated for a moment, looking confused.
"Oh, brother, if you follow me to rescue Xituo City today and don't take advantage of the great military achievements, how can I understand your thoughts? Don't forget, you and I have been messing around in this court for so many years. Na." Nanton joked.
"Yes, I'm afraid this military merit is not easy to get involved with, so we should leave it to the young people." Qi Shan sighed, and then joked to Nanton: "Brother, what are you doing with these guys?" All the family members who are in the Royal Legion have been brought with them, but I don’t believe you if you say you didn’t notice anything.”
"Ha, brother, you looked very carefully. But let me tell you, whether or not you noticed it is another matter. But I heard that the prince's second son was completely ruined." Nanton said Wan glanced at Ji Shan and said, "It is said that even his martial arts training has been ruined, his face has also been ruined, and he has completely become a useless person. Comparing his feelings, who can swallow such a sigh of relief after seeing his son being tortured like this? "
"Ah? Is there such a thing? The child's face was beaten like that by the princess. No one can blame him, but he is so good, how come his cultivation has been ruined?" Ji Shan asked in a low voice with a look of surprise on his face.
"I don't know if this is His Majesty's intention. Or maybe someone is using His Majesty's hands to report his personal grudges. However, since the Prince himself didn't bring it up, naturally no one will pursue it. Maybe Your Majesty doesn't know about it yet. Nanton said.
"Then brother...who do you think will win this time?" Qi Shan asked, staring at Nanton carefully.
Nan Dun couldn't answer for a while. After pondering for a while, he said helplessly: "I guess I can't guess it."
"Who isn't?" Hearing this, Qi Shan also laughed.
"Oh, by the way, do you know that old guy Qian Xiao?" Nanton asked on second thought.
"Duke Qianxiao? When you talk about him, it seems that I haven't seen him since I came to Yiling Bernard Castle. I don't seem to have seen him at today's meeting. Where are the others?" Qi Shan asked curiously.
"This old guy is much smarter than us. When he was passing through New York City, he reasoned that it was freezing that day and that Old Han's legs were bad and he couldn't walk. Your Majesty also knew about his leg problems, so he allowed him to I recovered from my illness there." Duke Nanton smiled.
"Huh? You still have this trick?" Duke Jishan said with a dumb smile.
