When the messenger of Bishop Stephen's Crusaders arrived at the Redemption Army camp, he was shocked to find that except for a few dozen baggage soldiers who were still sorting baggage such as arrows, the entire camp of tens of thousands of people was empty.
"Where are they?!" The messenger grabbed a baggage soldier by the collar, "Where is the priest?! Does he know that this is disobeying the orders of Bishop Stephen?!"
Bishop Stephen strictly ordered that the Redemption Army must wait for the Northern Expeditionary Force to move north before launching large-scale military operations.
But it is obvious that although Bishop Stephen has military acumen, it does not mean that the group of priests under him also have such a mind.
He probably couldn't imagine that the biggest reason why the priest was unwilling to abide by the commandments was because he could see that the core of this northern expedition was for profit, and only secondarily for victory.
In this case, the best outcome for the Redemption Army was to be used as slaves.
The worst result would be that they would be used as food reserves. For the priest of the Redemption Army, this meant that he would not receive a single cent in this great expedition.
In order to avoid ending up with nothing, the priest chose to take a risk and set out to march in the middle of the night when even birds were silent before the arrival of Bishop Stephen's messenger.
In order to raise the morale of his 80,000 elite soldiers, he also ordered the cook to add all the addictive drugs to the breakfast prepared in advance today...
Naturally, they were gone when Bishop Stephen’s messenger arrived.
Not only had they already set off, this massive army had even marched more than ten kilometers along the road.
The soldiers were panting from the long journey, but the drugs in their bodies provided them with a constant supply of almost insane morale.
"The God of Light bless you! The God of Light bless you!"
Every soldier was praying loudly, every soldier had red eyes, and when every soldier looked at the dark monster forest in the distance, there was no fear in his eyes, but greed as if he was looking at a vault with its doors wide open.
The priest and his crusaders were in the safest back-middle section, where he was arranging the final work.
"When the time comes, you will follow me and serve as commanders outside the range of the elven longbowmen. After ensuring that everything is safe, I will reduce the thickness of the divine barrier and provide these hungry soldiers with area-of-effect divine spells." The priest chattered on and on, with the emphasis on "safety."
"Group shield, tranquility to prevent morale collapse, pain relief to ignore pain, and berserker to make them attack more violently... In this way, even if the elves still have arrows in their hands, they will not be able to withstand our attack."
"But this way we can only enter the Monster Forest. The Elf Forest is still a mysterious place for us." The captain of the Crusader Army reminded, "Once we get there, the Elf Mage Group will occupy it."
"Hmph! Elves won't release strategic magic that will cause large-scale damage in their own forests! All of you listen to me, all of you listen to me—
Also, that bankrupt village chief of Scuol, keep an eye on him. That cowardly guy will definitely try to sneak back with all sorts of excuses, so we can kill him right away and save him from having to share our spoils."
"yes!"
The priest enjoyed the orders from the crusaders immensely.
It was just at dawn, and the bright sun shone from the east onto the marching formations of the Redemption Army.
The priest sitting on the sedan chair smiled, raised the wine glass in his hand and said: Even the God of Light is celebrating for us. It seems that victory is inevitable this time.
"With the blessing of the God of Light, we are sure to win!"
"For victory!"
The crusaders also raised their glasses, and as the red-purple wine poured, they drank it all and prayed for today's war.
On the other side, in the Monster Forest, an army of more than 10,000 elves and demons was making intensive arrangements in the forest.
5,000 swordsmen of various types and colors who volunteered to join the demon army were digging pits, and then carefully watched the golems made of cheap stone and soil enter the pits, and then buried them.
Then they painted their skin with green and earth-colored paint to enhance their concealment in the forest. Under the command of the elves, they went to an underground passage system called the "Monster Forest Trail" about 600 meters away from the edge of the forest and waited.
Those were tunnels left behind by some demons who lived in underground caves. After being strengthened by the elves with magic, these tunnels became huge underground shelters that could accommodate tens of thousands of soldiers.
The tunnels were improved and connected in all directions, just to cause chaos to the Redemption Army as quickly as possible after they stepped into the trap.
However, the elven commander in charge of directing the on-site operations knew very well that the key to whether the tunnel would be effective lay in whether the "beheading" of the priests and the crusaders could be successful.
"Quick, quick, quick! All riflemen, stand by in the trees immediately, and prepare yourselves to cast magic barriers to defend against arrows! Before the priests and the Skitarii enter our range, we must not open fire and expose our positions!"
The commander ran around in the elf formation, asking the elf archers holding the Gappa 1404 to go to the treetops and hide and wait.
"Don't forget the hidden magic! There's enough magic here, so don't think about saving it! Hurry up! They're coming!"
The core of this battle is to take advantage of the parish's current lack of understanding of the elves to launch a perfect ambush.
The key point of the ambush is to use bows and arrows to confuse the parish's judgment in the early stage, making the parish mistakenly believe that the elves are still in the previous bow and arrow period -
Once the parish makes a wrong judgment, the priest will underestimate the enemy and go to a place beyond the range of the longbowmen to wait and prepare for divine spells.
At this time, the longbowmen had to retreat slowly to give the Redemption Army the illusion that the elves were retreating.
The riflemen had to stay in the trees, even if the Redemption Army rained arrows on them, they had to endure it.
Endure until the moment when the priest advances, endure until the moment when the Skitarii appear on the battlefield—
And when that moment comes, the riflemen will, under the order of the commander, fire a volley at the priest, trying to kill the enemy commander directly, and at the same time kill the enemy's reserve troops and military police.
If nothing unexpected happens, after the priest dies, the gunshot will serve as a signal for the golems and demon swordsmen buried underground to take action.
Golems will launch sudden attacks from underground. They are slow-moving entities that ordinary soldiers cannot defeat.
The demon's swordsmen and axemen can make up for the Golem's slow-moving peacocks. Although the elven conscripts on standby in the rear are not as powerful as the regular army and rangers, they can provide medium and short-range long-range support and can hit whatever they point to.
When the priests died, their magic spells failed, and they were suddenly attacked from above, below, in front, and on both sides, even the most resolute legion would retreat, and those who did not retreat would be caught off guard and annihilated...
At that time, the Redemption Army would be directly defeated, and those soldiers who fled to the rear of the parish would become the source of information about the defeat in the front, further undermining the morale of the parish, and at the same time becoming a bandit problem that caused headaches for the parish.
…
If only everything could go this smoothly. The elf commander thought with sweat dripping down his face, the more complicated the plan, the more likely it is that it will fail completely due to unexpected events on the battlefield.
In order to avoid the complete failure of this main plan, the Elf Commander actually prepared several other plans...
But those are just backups, they can only protect themselves at most, but cannot achieve the set goals.
"Commander! The signal from the Hippogriff Rangers! They are coming!"
While the commander was thinking, a rifleman standing by in a tree pointed to the sun shining on them in the east and shouted loudly, "Damn it, damn it, we are still against the sun, against the sun!"
Couldn't the Redemption Army choose to launch the attack in the afternoon? ! The Elf Commander covered his eyes with his hands, climbed up the tree swiftly, and standing high up, he saw the mighty army in the distance.
As the intelligence said, an army of about 80,000 people is approaching the Monster Forest.
The most elite among them were the four legion phalanxes at the front, their armor gleaming in the sunlight.
Although it is not known whether those were just a few pieces of armor for bluffing or if everyone was really wearing armor, it is certain that these four legions are definitely much more elite than the four dusty infantry phalanxes behind them.
Furthermore, the subsequent vibrational changes of the Redemption Army confirmed the Elf Commander's guess—
The four elite legions were seen standing still to rest about 1,200 meters away from the Monster Forest, while the four dusty cannon fodder phalanxes at the back stepped forward in an unsightly chaotic formation and entered the range of the elven longbowmen.
Further away, the elf commander saw the sedan chair that should be used exclusively by priests, and the cavalry standing by.
(No, the distance is too far, we need to get closer.) He muttered in his heart, turned around and waved to the ranger captain who was waiting below:
"Free fire! Retreat immediately after five rounds!"
"Free fire! Five rounds!"
"Free Fire!"
The elf commander's orders were effectively conveyed.
The rangers, regular troops, and some young archers with long-range precision shooting ability who were on standby below pulled the simple and practical elven longbows in their hands.
All the elves were chanting something, perhaps for their loved ones, perhaps for glory, or perhaps simply to avenge their husbands who died hundreds of years ago.
Whoosh—
Even if the elves do not communicate verbally, they will at some point have something in common with the group and then directly "fire" at each other.
A black rain of arrows suddenly rose from the edge of the Monster Forest, and the arrows produced in the Oak Factory flew towards the vanguard of the Redemption Army with a cold glow.
But the Redemption Army had obviously done enough homework on the original tactics of the elves. Many people shouted and raised their stacked shields after discovering the rain of arrows. Those inferior shields were born in large numbers, not to mention that they also had the benefits of divine magic!
The fastest arrow suddenly stopped in mid-air, and after an explosion of golden light visible to the naked eye, it lightly hit the wooden shield.
The ranged magic of the Church of Light, group shield!
Although its individual strength is not as high as that of a single shield, it can cover all units in a certain area.
It may be because cannon fodder is not worth giving too many resources, the group shield applied to the cannon fodder phalanx is obviously very fragile.
But even so, the group shield still significantly buys the cannon fodder an extra second or two of survival opportunity.
“Boom boom boom—”
The first few arrows were blocked, but the arrows from the back that were not blocked at all were much more powerful.
Under the burst of the elven longbow, these arrows easily penetrated one layer of wooden shields, two layers of wooden shields at the farthest distance, and finally penetrated the bodies of many people, but that was all.
The Redemption Army's cannon fodders advanced against the corpses of their allies that had been riddled with corpses. It was as if the guys with shields on their shoulders that they were holding in their hands were not their fellow believers, but convenient cover that had come from nowhere.
"A bunch of inhumane things!" The elf commander could only curse upon seeing this.
Because this round of volleys may have killed only a few hundred people. "Keep shooting, keep shooting! Then retreat immediately! Lure them into our encirclement! Hurry!"
The elf was anxiously preparing for the second round of volleys.
But for the soldiers of the Redemption Army, their morale was not affected by this.
On the one hand, it was because the dry food they ate early this morning was mixed with a lot of addictive drugs, on the other hand, it was because their brains reacted slowly after eating humans for a long time, on the other hand, it was because it was not them who died and they had an extra human shield in their hands, and the most important aspect was the enhancement magic cast by the priest on them.
"Great God of Light! God of Light! Let us ascend to heaven!"
The magic twisted their minds, making them like wild beasts screaming for war. Angels from heaven danced in their eyes, and the monster forest in front of them became a sickly pig-headed demon.
As long as the devil is killed, even those who have committed the most irreparable crimes can be forgiven and go to heaven.
Those who are lucky enough to survive can also obtain wealth and glory, because plundering monsters and elves is allowed by the Lord.
They were fearless under the strong stimulation, and they pushed forward under the rain of arrows to a place less than 600 meters away from the Monster Forest. This was already the fourth volley of fire from the elves.
The fifth volley was approaching, the cannon fodders shouted the slogan of the God of Light, and the elite troops behind them also began to advance.
But in the eyes of the Elf Commander, the man carrying the sedan and the group of knights still showed no signs of moving.
Isn't this too cautious?! The commander gritted his teeth, and at this moment, he noticed that a second sun seemed to appear faintly in the sky...
Could it be…
His face changed drastically, and he turned around and roared to the people below: "Everyone turn around, archers retreat immediately! Go! Run now!"
That was a type of light magic used for nighttime lighting. Before the commander could explain anything, he saw a strong golden light bursting out from the tree in front of him. His own shadow stood out in the golden light, and he even felt the heat behind him because of the light!
Is this the power of a priest with many followers?! A magic spell used for night lighting can have the power to burn the skin?!
The commander swallowed hard. Fortunately, no elves were hit except the young soldiers.
They turned their heads and casually threw arrows to complete the fifth volley, then carried the wounded whose eyes were temporarily blinded by the strong light and fled.
They will be on standby at the rear. The trap area is 600 meters from the edge of the Elf Forest to the rear.
A large number of Golems were buried shallowly in the ground, and the howitzer Golems in the rear, which had already made trajectory corrections, were also ready to follow orders and fire at any time.
Everything is waiting for the moment when the Redemption Army enters the forest, everything is waiting for the moment when the riflemen kill the priests and the crusaders with the signal of gunfire!
But until then…
There is still one more hurdle to overcome.
The elf commander released magic, putting himself in a state of invisibility and magic barrier at the same time.
In the distance, the priest used divine magic to command the cannon fodder in front who were once again hit by a volley of fire:
"Forward! Advance at all costs! Those who have javelins and bows and arrows should immediately launch them into the Monster Forest until our vanguard and elite troops enter the forest!"
In the formation of the four legions that the priest had high hopes for, four groups of archers ran out of the ranks and fired three rounds of projectiles before the cannon fodder legion broke into the monster forest.
Of these three rounds of projectiles, only a few hit the forest, but many arrows hit the back of the cannon fodder's head.
The priest was a little embarrassed for a moment. After asking the archers to move forward for a distance, he was finally satisfied to see the scene of rain of arrows shooting into the depths of the forest without stopping.
The cannon fodder army was waiting patiently at the edge of the forest, while the elite troops were still on their way forward.
Once they meet, they will go directly into the Monster Forest and start a full-scale attack in the forest—
By then, the scarce forces of the elves and demons will be completely surrounded by me, and I will accomplish the great task of resolving the Elf Kingdom earlier than Bishop Stephen!
The pastor felt itchy as he thought that a scarf of glory and wealth was about to be draped over his shoulders.
But then again…
"It's not safe yet... but my magic is almost beyond the distance."
He frowned and muttered. As the army advanced, the number of believers around him became fewer and fewer, and the strength of his magic became weaker and weaker.
The "illumination technique" that could originally burn the skin directly can now only emit a stronger golden light.
He had to move forward, otherwise it would not be a small matter that the intensity of his illumination magic would decrease further, but a big matter that after leaving the range of his own magic, the cannon fodders who lost the benefits of his magic would fall into chaos.