In the second week of the Cold Month, the cold winds from the northern mountains howled incessantly. A heavy snow fell for an entire night, covering the long defensive line in the north. Even the magic cannons and the army's spells had cooled down in the face of the power of nature. The mountains at the edge of the dark wasteland were covered in snow.
But even the most ordinary soldiers knew that this brief and quiet winter would not last long. The cold could only slightly slow down the speed of the Mutants, but their attack would not stop because of the weather. On the filthy and decaying land, the battle between the frontline and the Mutants would soon begin again. In some ways, it had never stopped.
In the northeast of the Gondor wasteland, in what used to be the wasteland, Andesha Wendell was walking on the cold and barren land. She heard the soft sound of crushed snow under her feet. Amidst the incessant howling of the wind, she heard something that seemed to come from the depths of the earth. Occasionally, a tremor would come from under her feet, giving her the illusion of an earthquake.
The Typhon commander stopped and looked in the direction of the dark mountains in the far north. That was Cecil's defensive line, and also the place where the 'Living Forest' had taken root.
"Do you feel the tremor under your feet?" Andesha turned around and looked at her adjutant. "It seems to have started again."
"Yes, general." The slightly tanned adjutant nodded. "This is the Living Forest. Madam Bertilla is launching an attack underground. Her main roots have spread under our feet, and it is said that she has extended to the vicinity of the magic scorch mark. But there is a very strong resistance from the enemy there."
Andesha did not speak. She followed her instincts and came to an open area covered in ice. She squatted down and brushed away the soft layer of snow that covered the ice. Due to the collapse of the Great Wall in the north, water vapor and cold wind from outside the Great Wall had poured into the northern edge of the wasteland. Now, there was a layer of ice and snow that covered the land. She looked through the thick layer of ice and saw a wide crack that seemed to go deep into the ground. At the bottom of the crack was a dim red light. She looked carefully and saw wriggling roots, transparent pipes, and slowly flowing biomass solution in the pipes.
As if noticing the sunlight from above, a thin branch of the wriggling roots suddenly crawled up from the ground. The root stuck to the ice and gently knocked on the bottom of the ice as if it was greeting Andesha. Then, it quickly retracted and continued to grow deeper into the wasteland.
"… Should I have returned the gesture just now?" Andesha stood up with a strange expression and said half-jokingly to the adjutant beside her. "I heard that the bark of the Solin Tree is theoretically part of the Typhon Royal Family …"
The adjutant was stunned for a long time before she said hesitantly, "This subordinate feels that there is no need to go to this extent …"
Andesha smiled and looked at the vast land behind her. She looked at the Living Forest that was still lush despite the cold winter and said, "When the soldiers we sent to the Cecil camp returned, they brought me a flower. At that time, I suspected that it might be related to some kind of facility the Cecil people had built near the camp. But I never thought that they would allow the Solin Tree to spread to the border. I have to admit that they are indeed a little better than the old-fashioned Tiphon people in terms of whimsy. "
"Their 'creative thinking' ultimately saved the situation in the north and prevented a terrible fate." The adjutant could not help but sigh. "The Living Forest blocked the main force of the Mutants that came out from the gap. And until now, Madam Bertilla's attack in the underground has greatly reduced the pressure on the entire northern defensive line and part of our defensive line. Without this external force, let alone standing here, I'm afraid that we would not even be able to maintain our current position."
Andesha nodded gently, and at the same time, she could not help but think about the current situation of the 'wasteland war'.
She was not too sure about the situation on the other fronts, but at least on the battlefield between Typhon and Cecil, the situation had completely stabilized, and there was even some 'progress'. With the Living Forest gaining a foothold at the border, the Mutants in the north had lost more than half of their main force. Typhon's northern army and Cecil had survived the most thrilling challenge at the beginning of the war. Now, not only had both countries stabilized their defensive line, but they had also used their powerful forces to push back the monsters that came out from the wasteland back into the interior of the wasteland. They had also set up several advance bases inside the original Great Wall. In a sense, this could be considered as having achieved part of the initial goal of 'counterattacking the wasteland'.
At this moment, she was standing on the original Gondor wasteland. Near her were two advance bases and a purification base built by Typhon's people. These bases together maintained the survival of the human army in the area, and at the same time, gradually suppressed and weakened the corruption in the wasteland in preparation for the further advance.
Of course, it was not easy for the vanguard to take root in the interior of the wasteland. The Mutants had not given up on their counterattack. Every day, a sizable army of monsters would swarm in from the south, and in the fierce battle, they destroyed the temporary infrastructure and infrastructure that the vanguard had painstakingly set up in the wasteland, causing new casualties and pollution. Every step the mortals took in this wasteland had to pay a high price.
But it was undeniable that both Cecil and Typhon's soldiers had grown rapidly in this tug-of-war. The mortals who were good at learning were quickly accumulating experience in fighting against the Mutants, and also accumulating effective methods to purify the wasteland. Although the advance on the northern front was slow, there was at least some progress every day.
The situation seemed to be going well, but for some reason, Andesha felt a faint uneasiness brewing in her heart. She knew that this uneasiness was not an illusory 'intuition', and she did not believe in intuition. This uneasiness came from the information she gathered from various sources, as well as her observation and research of the Mutants since the start of the war.
"General, you look troubled," the adjutant suddenly broke the silence, waking Andesha from her thoughts. "Are you worried about the Mutants' increasingly frequent counterattacks?"
"No, I'm thinking of something else. Do you remember what happened at Highland 74 not long ago?" Andesha shook her head and looked at the adjutant. "That was a huge attack, but it ended with a weak finish."
"Highland 74? Ah, of course I remember. "The adjutant pondered for a moment and immediately nodded." A few days ago, on a defensive line near the southern part of the empire, a large number of Mutants and hybrid beasts launched a well-organized and fierce counterattack. They broke through the defense line of the 16th Mountain Regiment led by Count Rick and occupied Highland 74 and a large area around it. But when the reinforcements of the National Knight Regiment gathered and prepared to fight to the death with the Mutants, the Mutants retreated very quickly. Other than leaving behind a piece of contaminated land and two burned towns, they did not seem to have the slightest intention of continuing to advance … "
At this point, the adjutant shook his head. "The think tanks of the Southern Imperial Army seem to be trying to analyze the intentions behind the action of the mutants, but no one knows what the monsters are thinking... In the end, it is still a question whether the monsters have brains or not."
"Of course they have no brains, but the commander behind them is full of wisdom. Those cunning dark priests will not do meaningless things." Andesha shook her head. "Those Mutants paid a huge price to occupy Highland 74, but they only stayed there for a day. As soon as our main forces arrived, they retreated into the depths of the wasteland. This does not conform to their initial pattern of 'destroying and advancing along the way'. This makes me … feel that something is not right."
The adjutant raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"All military operations should have a purpose. Those Mutants must have wanted to do something when they seized Highland 74. They stayed there for a day and then retreated. Perhaps they had achieved their goal. But what did they do there? There were no witnesses, no clues. "Andesha's brows were knitted together." The National Knight Regiment that recaptured the highland later dug three feet into the ground to investigate. They wanted to find the 'hidden danger' left by the Mutants, but they only found a lot of irrelevant traces. The ground was blown up, the mountain was dug up, and the ruins were burned. There were obvious traces of destruction. It was more like they were trying to hide something. "
"It's suspicious." The adjutant nodded. "But what's more suspicious is … I heard that similar things happened in other areas."
"Other areas?" Andesha's brows furrowed. "Where?"
"It was said that a large number of Mutants suddenly gathered in the northern defense line controlled by the Cecil Regiment and tried to storm a weak defense gap," the adjutant recalled. "No matter how strong the Cecil Regiment is, they are still mortals. The gap was lost. Just like Highland 74, the Mutants temporarily occupied the place …"
"And then?" Andesha immediately asked. "Did the Mutants retreat after a short period of occupation like the ones on Highland 74?"
"No. After the Cecil Regiment confirmed that the position was lost and the defenders had retreated, they directly mobilized the heavy artillery on the two nearby highlands and blasted the entire hill flat. After that, they threw a round of incendiary bombs. The Mutants seemed to have only stayed on the highland for a dozen minutes … I guess they didn't have time to do anything." The adjutant shook his head and sighed. "The commander on the Cecil Regiment called this arrangement … Superior Firepower Mapping Cover. In short, I'm envious. "
"… I'm envious too." Andesha's expression became more and more strange as she listened. In the end, she could not help but sigh. "I always thought that the Typhon Regiment was very vigilant and prepared for this wasteland. But now it seems that our 'persistence' in this aspect is far inferior to the Cecil Regiment, especially that pioneering hero who opened the coffin … I'm afraid that since the day he walked out of the tomb, he had made up his mind to use the strength of the whole country to counterattack the wasteland."
But after sighing, the young Wolf General quickly turned her attention back to the question she was thinking about.
There was a problem behind this. The Mutants must be planning something, and even their aggressive attack from the beginning of the battle was likely some kind of cover. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced of this conjecture.
If this was the case, then the relatively good situation in the northern front might be a great hidden danger. The Dark Magistrates who were still entrenched in the wasteland must be plotting their true goals on other battlefields, and the local advantage in the northern front might affect the judgment of the Alliance's monarchs.
"I have to send a message to Oldenheim." After pondering for a long time, the young Wolf General could not help but say. But she quickly shook her head. "No, you write it for me. You're better at writing than me. I'll give you an idea …"
… …
On a clear winter afternoon, the sun shone through the wide crystal glass into the study room covered with blue velvet carpet. Gwen sat behind his desk, and several magic network terminals projected the holographic projections of Heti, Bai Dewen, and the rest. Information from all over the empire was being gathered and sent to Gwen.
"So far, the northern front of the Gondor wasteland has been completely stabilized. General Philip, under the cover of Madam Bertilla, has successfully destroyed the main force of the Mutants entrenched in the northern part of Gondor. They have also built a propulsion base and purification facilities in the southern hills of the former Great Wall." Heti's voice rang in the spacious study room. Her voice was obviously more relaxed and high-spirited than a few days ago. Behind her was the large office of the highest government office. "The purification facilities are working well. The purification facilities we used to repair the Great Wall with the Silver Elves are still working in the wasteland."
"After all, it is the product of the Silver Elves' hundreds of years of research. They had built the Great Wall with their own hands. No one knows better than them how to fight against the wasteland." Gwen nodded and asked, "How is the situation in the southern part of the continent? It's mainly about communication. "
"The existing magic net-sentry tower data link is still under strong interference, and because some sentry towers have been completely destroyed, the transmission of signals across ultra-long distances is not smooth. We are still unable to communicate with the Silver Empire or the Kingdom of Kaolin in real time," Heti immediately replied. "But Mr. Lu is currently providing us with non-real-time battlefield awareness. Coupled with the transmission from the border of Typhon, we can at least roughly confirm the changes in the situation on the southern front.
"At present, the Silver Empire and the Kingdom of Kaolin have temporarily recovered. They have retreated to the south of the forest barrier and re-established a defense line in the north of Kaolin. Queen Bersetia is personally leading the 'Millennium Legion' to try to recapture the fallen areas, but because some of the contaminated areas have been turned into wastelands, the overall situation is still worrying."
"We don't have to worry about the Silver Elves," Gwen said with a sigh. "Their Millennium Legion is very powerful. The soldiers are extremely elite who have served for more than several centuries, and the commander has more than a thousand years of experience on the battlefield. During the outbreak of the demonic wave in Gondor, the legion fought against the aberrations on the front line. They all have real 'actual combat experience.'"
As he spoke, he looked at the tactical map hanging on the wall.
"Bai Dewen, what's the situation on the western front?"
"Her Highness Rebecca has made outstanding achievements. The aberrations have collapsed in front of the Dawn of the Earth."
(End of Chapter)
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