The meeting hall fell silent. Ansai glanced at everyone in the room. After a while, he said, "Continue to discuss the troop deployment plan. Hand it over to me before sunset. Is there anything else?"
Gaylord could not help but ask, "What about White Raven City?"
"Castellan Warren fought bravely. I will report what happened in White Raven City to the Church. I hope His Majesty will confer him the title of Viscount. His title … will be inherited by his son," Ansai said calmly.
"His two sons are in White Raven City too."
"Then let his nephew inherit the title, or someone related by blood. Cousin, uncle, illegitimate son … I don't care. Just find someone related to him and let them claim the reward," Ansai said coldly.
The meeting room was in an uproar. Everyone thought that Ansai had brought out the urgent report from White Raven City to discuss a rescue plan. They did not expect Ansai to be so cold-blooded. It seemed like he had never considered helping White Raven City at all.
White Raven City was just a sacrificial pawn in Ansai's plan from the start.
The Northern Territory was vast. In a situation where there was a great disparity in strength between the two sides, if one city and one city stood firm, they would definitely be defeated one by one. On this point, Ansai and Luo Bu had the same opinion. They had to concentrate all their chips in one hand. After the meeting with Luo Luo and Luo Bu, Ansai began to mobilize the army.
Even Dut City, which was thousands of miles away, received the order. Only Ansai, who was defending White Raven City, did not move a single person. He needed someone to buy time for him.
There was a reason why Angsey chose Storm's End Fortress as the location for the final battle. Two and a half days was too much of a rush for the mobilization of the army. Even though the various cities had sent out their vanguard troops to travel through the night, the price they had to pay was exhaustion. Even though the generals in the conference hall were having a heated argument, their eyes were bloodshot.
The nearby cities were still fine, but the troops that were further away had not slept for two days and two nights. For example, Roche had to leave a small team behind to gather up the stragglers. The rest of the troops would arrive in the next two days. These troops still needed to rest and reorganize. If they joined the battle now, they would only be able to display about 60% of their combat power.
Ansai needed time, so after weighing the pros and cons, he could only give up on White Raven City and regroup at Storm's End Castle.
In fact, many people understood this logic, but none of them could be as ruthless as Ansai. Because the retreat order had been issued long ago, a portion of White Raven City's civilians had arrived at Storm's End Castle, but there were still sixty to seventy thousand people left in the city. Ansai had sacrificed these people, using their lives to buy time.
"I can lead some men to launch a surprise attack on White Raven City. With two horses, we can definitely rescue Warren from the city." Gaylord knelt on one knee and pleaded. He did not care about the lives of the civilians, but he had a good relationship with Warren. The latter had taught him swordsmanship and helped him a lot after his father's death. He was like a teacher and a father to him.
However, Ansai's words shattered his last hope. "Anyone can leave White Raven City, but not Warren. Warren is the backbone of White Raven City. Every minute he lives, he can delay the monsters for another minute. We can gather more reinforcements, and the soldiers can rest more. I believe he will understand this."
… …
White Raven City. The sun was setting on the horizon.
Less than one spell had passed since the last fierce battle. At the most critical moment, dozens of monsters rushed up the city wall. Warren and his men arrived in time and killed 14 monsters. The rest of them were forced to jump off the wall. With everyone's help, they barely survived another crisis.
After a day of bloody battle, the city wall was covered in broken limbs and blood. The original commander had died in the morning. An Orenta Eagle Goat fell from the sky and pierced through his heart with its horn. The current commander was a squad leader named Middleton. He pulled out a sharp tooth that had pierced into his shoulder and said to Warren, "White Raven City can't hold on any longer. While there are still more than a hundred of us left, Castellan, prepare to break out. We can pave a bloody path for you."
The fat Sheriff Hollings leaned against the wall. One of his legs had been bitten off by a Goat Head Crocodile. He had simply bandaged it. Although the bleeding had stopped, he had lost the ability to fight. He said dejectedly, "Why haven't the reinforcements from Storm's End Castle arrived yet?"
Another officer who was in charge of population statistics smiled bitterly and said, "Don't you understand, Lord Hollings? There won't be any reinforcements."
"Huh?" Hollings was a little confused.
"If Lord Ansai really wanted to defend White Raven City, he wouldn't have asked us to evacuate the civilians." The officer was unusually clear-headed. He looked at Warren, who was standing on the city wall and looking down. The monsters seemed to know no fatigue. They were ready to attack again after only a short while.
Warren turned to Hollings and said, "Can you still walk?"
The latter nodded and stood up with the help of a guard.
"Let's find a place to hide first. The monsters will launch their next wave of attacks as soon as the sun sets, and we won't be able to hold them off. Remember what I'm about to say. Once the city is breached, you have two choices. One is to escape the city amidst the chaos. The road to Storm's End Castle is probably blocked, so you can try your luck and go to Morton. I personally recommend you to choose this path, or you can go to the Frog Tavern in the north of the city if you're willing. I'll lead you to fight in the alleys. If I die, Middleton will take over. If Middleton dies, you can choose someone else. Our mission will be accomplished when the last person dies."
"Why?" Hollings found it hard to understand. "Lord Ansai is treating us like this. Are you still going to serve the Bretton Family, Lord Warren?"
Warren waved his hand. "This has nothing to do with the Bretton Family. I'm doing this for the Northern Region. I can roughly guess what Lord Ansai is thinking. You've all seen the strength of these monsters today. The truly powerful ones haven't made their move yet. Even with the help of Storm's End Castle's army, it won't make a difference. White Raven City is finished. What we need to do is delay the monsters outside the city as much as possible and buy enough time for Lord Ansai. Otherwise, not just White Raven City, but the entire Northern Region will fall. Millions of people will die."
After a moment of dead silence, Middleton was the first to express his opinion. "Choosing the first path will only lead to certain death. Since that's the case, we might as well make our lives count."
Although Hollings' face was pale, he shook his head. "I don't want to hide. I'm only missing a leg. I still have my hands, and I can still fight. I don't want to be found starving to death in a cellar. That would be too embarrassing. If I have to die, I'd rather die in battle."
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