...
When Anna walked into the temporary underground headquarters, the atmosphere in the room was quite heavy.
Seeing her arrival, everyone stood up and bowed to her. "Greetings, Your Highness!"
Iron Axe even knelt on one knee and said, "I'm sorry to have frightened you. I failed to see through the enemy's tricks and was caught off guard by the demons. I'm very sorry for my negligence. "
"You don't have to be like this." Anna waved her hand and said, "Just treat me as an ordinary person who cares about the war. I'm just here to ask about the situation. This attack... Is everyone okay? "
Although she had become the queen, she was still not used to such an occasion, especially when Vendy and Agatha also bowed to her. Although she had never mentioned it in the past and rarely expressed her thoughts in front of the witches, she actually liked the feeling of calling each other sisters in the Union.
And this attack on the camp was the same. Compared to being surrounded by the God's Punishment Witches and guards and being sent to the underground bunker at the beginning of the battle, she preferred to fight together with everyone, just like in the previous Months of Demons.
However, Anna knew that since she had accepted this identity, some things could only be kept to the bottom of her heart.
She only hoped that her appearance could make everyone feel at ease.
Iron Axe hesitated, which was rare for him. "Your Highness, the situation is not very good."
"Can you tell me about it?"
"Of course, we happened to be discussing this issue." He looked at Filin Schilt, who nodded and opened the notebook in his hand.
"According to the current statistics from the medical team, the First Army suffered more than 200 casualties and nearly 700 wounded in the night attack," The Light Of Dawn said in a low voice.
"However, due to the limited time, this is only the most rough statistics. The actual number of casualties will definitely rise further. After all, Miss Nana... can't take care of so many wounded."
More than 200 casualties — this was a loss second only to the battle of the church. And that was a decisive battle that would determine the fate of both sides. This was only the first battle after the northern expedition, and the First Army was still a long way from the Taquila ruins.
It was no wonder that Iron Axe had a difficult look on his face.
Anna had seen the scene in the wounded barracks. Soldiers covered in blood lay in a row on the ground. The air was filled with the thick smell of blood and endless moans of pain. With Nana's magic, it was impossible for her to cure all the wounded in one go. For those with broken limbs or ruptured internal organs, she could only cure five or six of them in one day. Therefore, if he wanted to save more people, he had to save his magic power and use it in the most critical areas.
For example, for patients who had their lungs pierced or their intestines cut, they would only heal the fatal wounds on their organs. If the problem was not so serious, the medical team would be responsible for suturing the epidermis after drinking purified water; if the problem was serious, the wound would be left open and further treatment would be done the next day. During this period of time, they relied on the sleeping fern and donghua's potion to help the seriously injured endure the pain. As for whether everyone could survive until the next day, or whether the potion could cause addiction similar to the Dreamland Water, it was no longer a problem for the medical team to worry about.
In such an oppressive environment, it was not an easy task to precisely distribute magic power to the parts that needed treatment. It was hard to imagine that the little girl who used to read and write with her, who would feel dizzy at the sight of blood, had now grown to such an extent.
"I'll talk to His Majesty and try to persuade Madam Spear of Fallen Dragon Ridge to help the front line," Anna replied slowly. "With her, the medical team can save more people. By the way, how did the demons get close to the camp without making a sound? "
"I think … the demons must have taken advantage of the blind spots of the Magic Eye." Sylvie looked a little depressed. "I'm afraid they sent the Devilbeasts to test my detection range, but I didn't realize it at all …"
"We should have thought of it first," Agatha said, blaming herself. "After the battle at the Northbound Slope, the demons noticed Sylvie's existence. The Devilbeasts were able to determine the approximate distance of the Eye of Magic through our vigilance. After that, the demons gathered at the farthest edge and launched a sneak attack on us at night. They chose the moment when Tower Station No. 1 had just fallen, which was also the moment when the defense of the camp was at its weakest. "
"That's true, but it's not anyone's fault." The Light Of Dawn comforted her. "If you want to deceive the demons, you have to deliberately turn a blind eye to the approaching Devilbeasts. But this is contrary to our usual training. Even if we knew the demons were going to do this, it would still be difficult for thousands of soldiers and ordinary workers to disguise themselves flawlessly. In other words, the demons would have discovered this distance sooner or later. Even if they didn't set up an ambush at Tower Station No. 1, they would have waited for us at Tower Station No. 2 and Tower Station No. 3. "
"If I remember correctly, the Spider Demon's shooting range should be about 2-3 km. Additionally, it crawls very slowly. It took a long time for it to enter Sylvie's shooting range. Is it because of her good luck that she didn't discover it?" Anna was puzzled. "I don't know much about military operations. Please forgive me if I'm wrong. The First Army has its own detection methods, right? For example, the hydrogen balloons that often rise in the camp. "
"You're very observant, Your Highness," Iron Axe said while placing his hand on his chest. "To put it simply, the First Army's wartime intelligence sources are divided into three levels. Besides Sylvie, Lightning, and Miss Maggie, the last level is the army itself. However, when facing demons, this level can only be used as a backup and emergency measure. "
After listening to the Commander-in-Chief's explanation, Anna finally had a basic understanding of the First Army's intelligence system. During the battle to unify the Kingdom of Graycastle, this system did not make any mistakes. However, when the enemies were demons, an insurmountable gap appeared in front of the First Army.
That was, no matter if it was two-legged or four-legged, no one could outrun a Devilbeast with wings.
This meant that once the Devilbeasts crossed a certain distance, the scouts would not be able to return. They could not even survive, let alone send back any information. The Devilbeasts, which could hide in the clouds and wait for an opportunity, had an absolute advantage. Coupled with the flat terrain of the Fertile Plains, they were like eagles hunting chicks.
As a result, the third level's intelligence circle was greatly reduced. Even Sylvie could not assist them. The flying demons could enter the Magic Eye's detection range at any time and hunt down the soldiers in the outer circle, while the First Army had no ability to rescue them.
A word involuntarily appeared in Anna's mind.
It was a word that Roland often mentioned with a complicated expression.
"Air supremacy."
— Only the side with air supremacy could truly take the initiative in the war.
In addition, he would also say some ambiguous words, such as the Black Ribbon, Autumn Mountain, and so on …
Anna shook her head and suppressed these distracting thoughts. "According to this explanation, the Spider Demons should have entered the third level's alert range at that time … Was it because it was night?"
"Poor visibility at night is only one of the reasons, Your Highness," answered Filin Schilt. "According to the analysis of the General Staff … those deformed monsters might have been waiting for us from the beginning."
Anna blinked in surprise. "You mean … they were buried in the ground in front of us?"
"Yes, that's the only explanation for why those huge monsters appeared within our shooting range without a sound." Filin said solemnly, "I've asked Miss Sylvie. She said that scanning through obstacles would consume a lot of magic power, and the range would be greatly reduced. Now that I think about it, those Devilbeasts were not only testing us, but also attracting Miss Sylvie's attention. As long as she kept watching the sky, she wouldn't have the magic power to pay attention to the changes underground. "
"That's why the demons could accurately attack every corner of the campsite at night?"
If it was a stationary battle, it would be much easier. The black curtain that Sylvie saw was not to conceal their position, but to conceal the moment when the Spider Demons crawled out of the ground.
Not only did the demons react quickly to the First Army's combat methods and intentions, but they were also extremely proficient in using magic power. It was indeed very difficult to fight against such an opponent.
No wonder the atmosphere in the headquarters was so heavy.
This was not a good sign.
If Roland were here, what would he do?
Just as Anna was about to say a few words of encouragement, Edith suddenly giggled.
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