Masked Knight

Chapter 73: [Before the war]

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When the first light of morning slowly shone on the earth, the wilderness in front of the wall of Watt Fortress seemed so calm and peaceful. Looking at this scene, no one would have thought that right here, just last night, there had been a tragic killing. Tens of thousands of people shed their blood here, and tens of thousands of people screamed and wailed here. But now, only the land that is still faintly glowing with red color can remind people of the massacre last night.

The thorn flower flag on the city wall is still erected, but the soldiers standing on the city wall already have tired and confused faces. At midnight last night, the Big Moon Kingdom suddenly launched a fierce attack on Watt Fortress, and the battle lasted until dawn. After both sides paid thousands of casualties, the Dayue Kingdom finally withdrew.

At this moment, the soldiers on the city wall had not slept all night, looking blankly at the Dayue Kingdom's military camp in the wilderness in the distance. In the endless military camp, the alien barbarians wearing furs and wielding long scimitars had already begun to form a team. "It seems that today is another fierce battle..." Some veterans couldn't help but sigh in their hearts. They glanced at the sun that had just risen in the sky and wondered if they could survive today.

The originally strong and tall city wall was already covered with ruins. The black smoke and red blood dyed the city wall into a frightening gray color of death. The city gate was cracked in the battle last night. , although the soldiers in the city had urgently reinforced it with giant wood before dawn, the soldiers on the city wall couldn't help but feel anxious when they saw the heavy and sturdy car slowly being pushed out of the Great Moon Kingdom's formation.

General Ruben, commander of the Northwest Army, stood on the city gate. He had personally fought all night last night. At this moment, he only felt physically and mentally exhausted. The defeats he had suffered over the past few days had already filled his heart with a sense of frustration. As the commander of the northwest army of the empire, he lost a large area of the empire's territory, lost troops and generals, and was finally besieged in the Watt Fortress. Ruben knew in his heart that even if he could hold on here, by the time the reinforcements defeated the Dayue Kingdom's army, he would be done as the commander of the army. After the war, the first person His Majesty the Emperor will kill must be himself, the defeated general.

But Ruben is still struggling to hold on. Just because he could never let the entire Northwest Army be annihilated in Watt Fortress! As a loyal soldier of the empire, he must persevere until the last moment! We cannot let Watt Fortress, the last barrier in the northwest of the empire, fall into the hands of the Big Moon Kingdom again! He knew that behind him was the vast northwest plain! If the Big Moon Kingdom breaks through the last line of defense of Watt Fortress, then the entire northwest plain will be destroyed under the iron heel of the Big Moon Kingdom!

Morale has already hit rock bottom. After successive defeats, there are only less than 100,000 left in the 200,000-strong army - and Ruben knows that even among these 100,000 soldiers, excluding those who have been injured and have lost the ability to fight, they are still fighting. There are less than 70,000 capable people. Ruben developed a deep fear of Reuenthar, the commander-in-chief of the Big Moon Kingdom—this terrifying opponent used strange tactics and was especially good at long-distance attacks. Just like a wolf on the prairie, he can always find the opponent's weakness and bite it hard!

Frankly speaking, Ruben knows that he is not an excellent strategic master. He is a diligent and willing soldier. He is better at being an executor rather than a decision-maker! Back then, when I was under the command of the great Duke Tulip, I could go all out to complete any instructions and tasks given by the Duke!

He slowly rose to his current position solely by virtue of his brave battles under Duke Tulip and his excellent completion of tasks and accumulation of military merits. Of course, this is also related to the lack of real military talents in the empire after the death of Duke Tulip. But if Ruben is asked to be the commander of an army and to strategize and win a thousand-mile victory, Ruben is not qualified for the job.

Especially when facing Reuenthal, an opponent known for his cunning and cruelty on the grassland, Ruben has been defeated steadily since he fought with him! In a completely passive state!

Recalling the glory he had enjoyed under Duke Tulip, Ruben sighed deeply and couldn't help but touch his half-white beard. He doesn't like being this commander at all. In comparison, he prefers to be a brave commander under the Duke. At that time, he doesn't have to think about anything, just execute the orders drawn up by the Duke! —Instead of being like now, following a group of staff officers at the headquarters to watch the sand table all day long, racking your brains to figure out the opponent's next move.

Shaking his head, Ruben forced himself to concentrate - the Big Moon King ** team in the distance had already begun to assemble the entire team! It seems that today will be another bloody battle!

"Hmph! Let's see who is more powerful, your saber or my long sword!" Ruben loudly issued an order, asking all the resting soldiers under the city to go up to the city wall to prepare for the battle.

Fortunately, like the traditions of the barbarians on the grassland, this Reuenthar also has his weaknesses - he is good at plain field battles, but he doesn't seem to have any good methods for attacking cities.

After learning from the previous news that he used sneak attack methods and lightning speed to pull out Blackstone Castle and Trier Castle in one go, Ruben braced himself for the opponent's sneak attack. Sure enough, in the past few days, Dayue Kingdom has used its old tricks again. First, three days ago, hundreds of thousands of troops suddenly arrived at the city, and then attacked the city without stopping. They almost caught themselves off guard - those damn detective horses. They are all idiots! Two hours ago, I had reported that the main force of the opponent was still in the important town of Mudan, which was hundreds of miles away, but in the blink of an eye, they were running down to my nose! If Ruben hadn't been prepared after suffering several losses in a row, he might have let the opponent succeed in a sneak attack again.

In the past few days, the other party always attacked the city at night, and only symbolically harassed them during the day. Obviously they want to use this method to consume the combat effectiveness of their own army, and want to wear down themselves with fatigue harassment tactics.

The soldiers have long been exhausted, but the main force of the Northwest Army is, after all, the elite of the empire! Reuben really couldn't beat Reuenthar on the plains. The foreign cavalry on the grassland came and went like the wind, which was really a headache. But you must know that in a battle like siege, no matter how powerful the cavalry is, it is useless! To attack a city, you rely on infantry!

Reuben ordered the archers to prepare. The only capital he has now is archers. When Reuenthar attacked the important town of Mudan, when the army retreated, they lost all their equipment, especially the catapults and fire crossbows that were essential for city defense. Those things were not brought out at all in the chaos!

Fortunately, Ruben made what was probably the most courageous decision in his life at that time!

When he saw that the defeat was irreversible, Ruben resolutely ordered that all military supplies that could not be taken away be burned! Although I was extremely distressed, the Mudan town had stored sufficient war preparation materials for many years, various sophisticated equipment, catapults, fire ballistas, etc., as well as enough food and grass for a hundred thousand troops to eat for a year, all of which were destroyed by a fire Burned it all! The fire that was started burned for three days and three nights. In the end, although Reuenthar gave the death order and killed and injured hundreds of people to extinguish the fire, only a little bit of the rest was saved. Just food.

Good thing Reuben made that decision! Otherwise, if Reuenthar had obtained that batch of sophisticated equipment, I am afraid that they would have pushed the slingshots made by the empire to attack the city by now!

"Sir! They are coming up!" One of his commanders shouted loudly.

Ruben cheered up, pulled out his long sword, and shouted: "Raise the battle flag!"

Under the city, the Dayue King's formation has been assembled. The cavalry are on both wings, and in the center are neat infantry phalanxes!

"Damn it!" Ruben scolded fiercely: "Infantry! God knows how Reuenthar trained those barbarians who can only ride horses but not walk into infantry! Hum, I thought that two square formations were infantry. Are you ready? Let me see how powerful your infantry is!"

The sun in the east has fully risen, and the sunlight shines on the wilderness. Reflected by the rows of scimitars, the swords are dazzling and murderous!