198. Virtual Reality
But they waited and waited until midnight and the moon was in the sky, but there was still no sign of the Salem Legion. Finally, another scout reported that the Salem Legion advanced all the way and lit torches on the way, looking like a fire dragon from a distance, but after thirty miles out of the city, they suddenly turned around and went back! Felix waited for most of the night in vain.
The general next to him asked: "Lord Head, they suddenly retreated at night, probably because they sent scouts to find that we were already waiting in formation and did not dare to fight, should we pursue or not?"
Felix glared and shouted: "How do we pursue? Do you want me to form a formation and chase them for fifty miles in the middle of the night? We won't be able to catch up at this distance, and by the time we reach the city, we will have not rested for a day and a night! Go back to camp and rest, and send out guards to stand guard at all times. "
… …
In the underground hall of the fortress, Raphael was still talking to Link through the communication parangons in the two magic formations, only to hear Link laughing: "Felix has been standing in formation for most of the night in the cold wind, and finally can't stand it anymore and wants to go to sleep. It's a bit far, and it's not convenient for them to return to Enril, so they retreated three miles back and set up camp. "
Raphael smiled bitterly: "This battle is quite wicked, it's not a regular battle, who made the battle plan? It doesn't seem like Lord George's style. "
Link laughed and said: "I did this many years ago when I led my people to hunt down those ferocious beasts in the mountains, we can't fight those beasts head-on."
El Mar giggled beside Raphael: "I knew it was your idea, not letting people eat and sleep well."
Link: "No matter what, the fortress must be defended, otherwise everything is just empty talk. You guys have a good rest, leave the rest of the night to me. "
… …
The Salem Legion seemed to have expected that Felix would attack the fortress first on the way, and that they would not be able to take it down in a day, so they went out of the city early in the morning and lined up in a battle stance, then retracted their troops and went back to eat. When it was almost sunset, they lined up and went out of the city, assuming the posture of reinforcing the fortress at night, but halfway through, they retracted their troops and went back to sleep, tormenting Felix.
The soldiers of the Giant Legion finally rested after a tiring day, and Felix sent out patrols to take turns to keep watch. In the latter half of the night, when everyone was sleeping soundly, the fortress where Link was located in the distance suddenly shone brightly. The magic formation inexplicably activated, and a huge curtain of light shrouded the surroundings. A gate opened, and General Wanani rushed out, leading a group of cavalrymen in bright armor.
Hundreds of soldiers also appeared on the city walls, beating war drums and blowing bugles. The chaotic battle cries soared into the sky and were deafening. What rushed out of the castle was a cavalry of a hundred men, led by Amon's former personal guard general. They were all armored warriors, and in terms of combat power, they were no less than the giant warriors. Although there were not many of them, they were the elites of the Salem Legion.
The Giant Legion was already on guard, and Felix had ordered them to keep an eye on the fortress. The vigilant giant warriors hurriedly pulled out their weapons and rushed forward to meet the enemy, and in the haste, torches were thrown all over the ground. Such a big movement of course alarmed the sleeping soldiers in the camp, and they picked up their weapons, put on their armor, and got out of their tents. Felix hurriedly assembled a cavalry team and rushed over.
When Wanani saw that they had alarmed the large group, they turned their horses away and galloped towards the fortress. The giant warriors in the rear chased outside the castle, and suddenly countless sharp rays of light shot out from the sky. It was the counterattack launched by the magic formation, instantly taking down dozens of enemies who had chased close to them, while the cavalrymen who left the city had fled into the fortress under the cover of the magic formation.
Then the light of the magic formation suddenly disappeared, and the surroundings were dark again. Link's tactic was not to rush over to reinforce Raphael, but simply to not let the Giant Legion sleep well, but to go out of the city to attack was also a big risk, so he sent elite cavalry. The scale of this battle was not large, and the sudden charge killed more than twenty enemies, and Link also lost eight cavalrymen, and then the gate was closed.
Felix's nose was almost crooked with anger. He finally figured out the tactics of the city of Salem, which was to use the powerful magic formation protection of these two fortresses to contain and disturb the Giant Legion, and let him expend his combat power here. What was consumed was not only the siege supplies, but also the stamina and morale of the soldiers. Although the Giant Warriors were strong, they were not made of iron after all. They needed rest and the encouragement of victory. They could not help but be restrained and disturbed.
The next morning, the generals of the Giant Legion were discussing the military situation in Felix's tent. Judging from yesterday's battle, the other party's fighting style was very shameless, and they did not want to set up a battle formation to decide the outcome, and their main purpose was to hold, contain, consume, and disturb. But Felix's purpose was to capture and conquer the city of Salem, and the logistical cost of the Assyrian Kingdom crossing the plateau was too high, and once a large legion was launched into battle, the battle must be finished quickly.
There were two choices in front of Felix.
One was to continue to attack the fortress where Raphael was, advance step by step, and win the first victory, nibble away at the enemy's effective forces, and uproot the strategic stronghold of Salem. But the fortress's defensive strength was beyond the Giant Legion's expectations, and after a day of fierce attacks, they did not manage to take it down. Such a magic formation was built in a small fortress, and not only was there a supreme mage presiding over it, but it could also summon terrifying monsters, and even the girl who jumped out of the walls was a supreme warrior. It seemed unfathomable!
If they consumed too much combat power while attacking the fortress, they would not be able to continue attacking Salem in a short period of time, and even give the enemy an opportunity to counterattack. The most difficult thing to judge now was how much more effort would it take to break that fortress?
The second option was based on the assumption that the fortress was full of the elites of Salem, and they happened to encounter the strongest fortress, so it might be much easier to attack the other fortress. But what happened in the second half of last night clearly proved that the other fortress was also protected by a magic formation, and it was also presided over by a supreme mage. As for how strong its defensive strength was, it would be impossible to figure out without a fierce attack. Perhaps the other fortress was easier to attack, and if it was successfully occupied, it could also reverse the strategic situation.
The third option was to directly attack the city of Salem. If the city of Salem put its most important forces in the two fortresses, then the main city's defenses would be weak. Both Felix and Lucien unanimously judged that Salem could not have the same magic formation as these two fortresses.
For a city like that to build a magic formation of that scale, it would take a hundred years of operation and countless manpower, material, and financial resources. Only a kingdom could afford the consumption of activating it at full power during a war, and if there were not enough supreme mages and mages to take turns presiding over the formation, it would not be able to operate at all. So it might be easier to move the siege firepower to the city of Salem, take a section of the city wall and rush into the city with all their might, than to attack these two fortresses.
The generals discussed all morning about which of the three options to choose, and finally decided to concentrate on attacking the fortress where Raphael was located. The reason was simple, they had already spent a lot of money, and maybe they were just a little bit away from breaking the magic formation in the fortress, and giving up at this time would be equivalent to wasting all their previous efforts. There was a prerequisite for continuing to attack the fortress, and that was not to let that fortress receive reinforcements, so Felix immediately formulated a battle plan.
The Giant Legion consisted of cavalry, chariot soldiers, sword and shield soldiers with spears, crossbowmen, and stone throwers. Their cavalry was not large in number, because the giant warriors were too tall and sturdy for ordinary warhorses to withstand the giant warriors' long-distance galloping. Chariot soldiers were the main branch of their charge, and because Enril lacked enough warhorses to pull the chariots, the number of chariots was also limited.
Stone throwers were a long-range combat force, mainly used to attack walls and fortresses, and could also bombard military formations. Crossbowmen set up high platforms on chariots to shoot arrows was also one of the tactics of siege. As for the majority of sword and shield soldiers, they could be used in various combat situations. Giant warriors could pick up heavy shields and wield long swords to fight, and each was also equipped with a spear that could be thrown from a distance during combat.
Felix divided the Giant Legion into two parts, with more than a thousand cavalry and sword and shield soldiers forming two battle formations between the two fortresses, on the one hand to prevent anyone from rushing out of the fortress where Link was located, and on the other hand to guard against counterattacks from the direction of Salem. The rest of the crossbowmen, chariot soldiers, stone throwers, and hundreds of elite sword and shield soldiers were concentrated outside the fortress where Raphael was located, intending to take it down in one fell swoop.
Felix did not immediately launch a battle, and the battlefield was calm the next day. He arranged for the soldiers to take turns on guard, while most of the rest rested where they were. It had been a day and a night, and many of the soldiers did not even sleep well.
Just as the generals were holding a meeting, the scouts reported that the Salem Legion had left the city again, this time with much more movement than yesterday, advancing in formation outside the city, with war drums beating in unison and shouts of killing, as if they were really at war with someone. They also fired thousands of arrows when the chariots charged, then sent people to pick up the arrows that had fallen to the ground, and then re-formed the formation, while the chariots behind rushed out again with the sword and shield soldiers, and so on and so forth.
Felix froze when he heard the news, then slapped the table and cursed: "Damn it, they're actually practicing military formations at this time! What were you doing earlier? Are you sure that we won't attack the city? "
Lucien frowned and said: "For a motley crew, this is the best time to practice formations. Everyone is in danger when a large army is pressing down on the border, unlike doing hard labor during normal times. It's just that the Commander-in-Chief is really bold, isn't he afraid of fighting us in a hurry? "
Felix scolded: "They have no intention of fighting at all, as long as our army moves, they will definitely withdraw their troops back to the city, they just want to fight a defensive battle relying on the strong city. Yesterday's formation outside the city was just a pretense to disturb us from resting. Today's military formation outside the city is to provoke me to give up the fortress and march forward, I won't fall for this trick! Pass down the order, as long as they don't advance more than 30 miles from the city, we will ignore them. Today, the whole army will rest and reorganize, and tomorrow we will continue to attack that fortress. "
There was no fighting on this day, and the Giant Legion waited in place to rest. As Felix expected, the Salem Legion was practicing military formations outside the city, and when they saw that Felix was not fooled, they withdrew their troops back to the city at dusk and did not march forward to reinforce the fortress.
In the underground hall of the fortress, Raphael said to El Mar with a gloomy face: "The Giant Legion has not made any movements all day, just like how you have to hold back your fist before punching, tomorrow they will definitely launch the fiercest attack. This is a crucial battle, and the casualties will definitely be high, so you will need to take the warriors up the walls tomorrow, be careful. "
El Mar also looked a little nervous: "If we really can't hold on, send a signal to Link in advance, and Link and George will attack from two directions to cover our breakout."
Raphael shook his head and said: "If that's the case, the whole battle plan will be ruined. In any case, we must do our best to defend tomorrow. I have a batch of parangons here, give it to the mages who are assisting in defending the city, and the formation must be kept intact." He reached out and grabbed out of thin air, pulled out a large leather bag, opened it, and saw that it was full of ordinary parangons.
El Mar exclaimed: "You hid so many parangons that you didn't even know about it?"
Raphael smiled faintly: "This is not from the city of Salem, have you forgotten my background? I am also one of the heirs of a prominent noble family in the Hittite Kingdom, and this is most of my property. Some of it was given to me by Teacher Goliath, who said that it might be useful at a critical moment, and he was right. I have been storing it in the space ring, and this space ring was also given to me by Teacher. "
El Mar took the leather bag and said: "I will make sure that these are your personal wealth, and when the war is won in the future, Aesop will return it to you with interest! There are spare parangons, but I don't know if the mages who help you operate the formation will be able to hold up. "
Raphael said with his hands behind his back: "War is equally cruel for both sides. Felix used a day to let the attacking soldiers rest, and this day's respite is more important for our mages. Rest well tonight, and prepare for a fierce battle of life and death tomorrow!"
El Mar looked at him with unconcealable admiration in her eyes, and suddenly grinned: "Felix really attacked the wrong fortress, he didn't know that you were here. People only know that Amun is invincible, but they forget that the supreme mage of the Hittite Kingdom, Goliath, is a god of war, he is just not as lucky as Amun. You are Goliath's proudest disciple, you have followed Teacher to many battles, and now you are also the high priest of Syah. It is a waste of talent to let you guard a fortress, with your talent, you can be the commander of a large legion! "
Raphael shook his head: "Don't praise me like that, I am still far from Teacher, and Teacher sent me here to receive training. Since it is training, I have to face difficult and dangerous tests, and I volunteered to guard this fortress. "
… …
On the third day, the most tragic battle on the Plains of Duc finally broke out. Felix gathered all the heavy crossbowmen and catapults, and yesterday, urgently transported firestones and a large number of arrows from the city. This kind of head-to-head battle was a test of the will of both sides, and the Giant Legion began to attack with firestones in the morning, consuming the defensive power of the fortress's magic formation.
Raphael did not fully operate the formation to resist, but only extinguished the flames on the stone balls. Countless huge stone balls had crossed the stone wall and smashed into the fortress, and he was trying his best to protect the weak parts of the wall from collapsing from the firestones. Under the whistling firestones that filled the sky, Lucien directed the mages to set up a formation to cover the sword and shield soldiers who drove the long ladders to attack the fortress. The giant crossbowmen also stood on high platforms, pushed forward by chariots, and arrows rained down from the sky, shooting at the defenders on the walls.
The magic formation guarding the fortress remained intact after half a day of fierce fighting, but its power had begun to weaken, because the mages who assisted Raphael in operating the formation were tired after repeated shifts. In the afternoon, there were finally giant sword and shield soldiers who rushed up the walls, and the first to bear the brunt was the commander of the Giant Legion, the seventh-level supreme warrior Jufei.
In the fortress were six of Amon's former guards, who were now generals leading the troops in Salem, and El Mar led the six generals and all the reserves in the city to rush up the walls to fight fiercely. Raphael could only activate the formation to try to prevent more reinforcements from rushing to the walls, while Lucien led the mages of the Giant Legion to also set up a formation to attack the magic formation and break through the siege.
El Mar transformed into the original form of an Ironback on the walls, his body covered in hard scales that were difficult for arrows to penetrate, and his sharp claws and long tail were unstoppable. Jufei fought desperately to barely hold off El Mar, and a chaotic battle broke out on the walls, which lasted until near dusk.
Since it was a breach in the protective magic formation that was torn open, it was impossible to deploy too many troops, so Felix concentrated all the heavy crossbowmen to cover him, and the sword and shield soldiers took turns to attack, paying the price of more than two hundred casualties on a section of the wall that was hundreds of feet long. As for the soldiers defending the fortress, more than two hundred were killed, and the rest were wounded, but only lightly or severely. The Giant Legion's catapults had used up almost all the firestones stored in the camp, including the ones that had just been transported from Enril yesterday, and the arrows of the giant crossbowmen were also running out. In the end, it had become a melee battle where the mages covered the sword and shield soldiers charging into the fortress.
Why did Felix pay such a high price? Because in the end, he could no longer back down. He always had a thought in his mind that the fortress was about to be taken, and one more wave of attacks would be like the straw that broke the camel's back, but the camel never died.
He had been thinking this in the morning, and at noon, but as a result, he fought until dusk, and there were no more firestones and heavy crossbow arrows to use. Within the walls of the fortress, all the buildings that were not strong had been smashed down, but the walls were still there. Felix also saw his disadvantage, and if he could not break the magic formation to open a gap in the walls, the sword and shield soldiers would have to pay a high price to charge into the fortress.
He wanted to reverse this disadvantage, but he never succeeded. In the end, the power of the fortress's magic formation had been reduced to its weakest, and it only connected the front defense of the walls to protect the walls. This offensive and defensive battle ended with Jufei being swept off the walls by El Mar's tail, the commander in the front was seriously injured, and all the giant warriors who rushed up the walls were killed.
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