In all fairness, Vlamar was not at all willing to participate in this war. He had always believed that the black problem in the southern polar region had to be solved before he could free up his hands to deal with the northern giants. Of course, both blacks and giants are monsters that should not exist in this world in Flamal's opinion. Their skin color and appearance are so strange that they have no other choice than to honestly accept the fate of death and enslavement.

Unfortunately, Vlamar was only a duke, not a Viking king. He had the right to oppose the sending of troops, but in front of the king, who had already made a decision, Vlamar could only show obedience.

The king's willingness to send troops was due to a secret letter from the pope.

A troop of messengers came from Gabriel, and King Vife read the secret letter they had brought, and summoned Vlamar as soon as possible.

The Duke's letter was incredulous———— the Pope promised that it would be a decisive war against the northern giants, and that he would be able to break through the Lock.

This is the first part of the letter. Flamal reacted by tearing the letter to shreds and throwing it in the face of the Holy See messengers. He had seen too much of such assurances, and every time he sent troops to the Holy See, he would say something similar. However, wars have never been won, and the giants stationed behind solid walls will summon metal monsters, known as "guardian spirits", when the battle situation is most dangerous.

However, this time it was different, in the second part of the secret letter, the Pope assured that the Holy See was willing to use the tithes for the next two years as a guarantee, and if the war could not overcome the Dragon Pass, the Holy See would give up this part of the proceeds as compensation for the war.

This is why the Duke and the King of Vlamar really took the war itself seriously and made the final decision.

The annual tithes collected are not a small number. Although the Kingdom of the Lord is different from the other four kingdoms, it is on the same side when it comes to the collection of taxes. Tithes were an invention of the Holy See, and the names of "Lord" and "Holy Lord" were similar, but even so, King Abbas of the Kingdom of the Lord agreed to tithes in the country in order to scrape oil from the commoners and nobles.

In contrast, the Viking kingdom, which worships the Holy Lord, has no reason to refuse.

The Duke of Vlamar was very cautious, and he took the letter and looked at it for a long time, and after making sure that the seal and the seal were indeed from the Pope himself, he hesitated to say that he was willing to go to war.

Flamar knew that the Holy See held some secrets. It is normal for commoners to be ignorant of this, but at the level of dukes and kings, intelligence gathering between countries and the Holy See has become important. Although it is not clear what it is, the Pope has made a solemn promise in his heart, and he must have enough to rely on.

The Viking kingdom sent half a million troops this time.

There are so many stories and memories in this wasteland north of Kamui Fortress. A lot of Flamal acquaintances have fallen here. They didn't even bring back the corpses, they either decomposed and disappeared, or became trophies of the northern giants.

New barracks were being built, also filled with cloth bags and various fillings to serve as walls, and small-caliber artillery was erected on the inner walls for defense. This is only a primary camp, and the follow-up work will be handed over to the labor that follows.

Grain storage.

Garrison.

In fact, there is no difference in the function of each small camp, but as long as they are connected to each other to form an area, they can have a huge defensive effect.

Looking at those who toiled in the cold wind, Flamar wrapped his leather robe tightly, and a wry smile appeared on his face full of vicissitudes. This kind of camp construction method has lasted for a long time, and has shown extraordinary effects on all the wars of the black people in the southern polar. However, the northern giants are different in that they ignore these basic defenses with their extraordinary physique, and the only weapon that can make them flinch and fear is artillery.

As for the muskets...... Only the dense fire of multiple soldiers firing at the same time could kill a heavily armed, armored giant on the spot.

Thinking of this, Duke Vlamar couldn't help but turn around and set his eyes on the Rhine Kingdom camp further north.

Duke Calis was a valiant warrior, but unfortunately he was a native of the Rhine. If he was willing to change his nationality and join the Vikings, Flamar was willing to promote Calis as a commander in front of the king.

The Rhines developed a new large-caliber musket. Yesterday, when the two armies met, Flamal went to visit Calis's tent, which was as large as a simple small-caliber gun. Because it was too heavy, it had to be handled by two soldiers. And it must be erected with attachments such as steel frames to ensure its stability and accuracy.

The new weapon soon showed its surprising power. During the scout contact battle a few days ago, the Rhines shot and killed several giant scouts from a long and hidden position. This was unthinkable before, as the Giant Scout wore armor, which was equivalent to an extra layer of metal protection. But in the face of the terrifying power of the new large-caliber musket, the giant armor completely lost its effect.

In the opinion of the Duke of Vlamar, the large-caliber musket was not too technical, and at best it was just a deviation in the use of weapons and the operation of the sword, but it achieved an unexpectedly good effect.

It's an uplifting encouragement. Flamal began to be full of interest in the upcoming fight. With the guarantee of the Holy See and the more powerful weapons, maybe this time you can really capture the Lock Dragon Pass and destroy all the northern giants.

……

It's dawn.

The army of the Rhine Kingdom leaves the camp. They lined up in a neat queue and followed a fixed marching pattern, with halberders in front, musketeers in the rear, and artillery in the third array...... During the two-hour march and continuous adjustment, a neat and orderly battle formation appeared under the Suolong Pass. As the officers shouted one after another, the defensive line began to be strengthened on the spot, the array of halberds became tighter, and artillery positions were built in the rear at a rate faster than usual training.

The Duke of Calis did not ride a horse, he chose to walk with the members of the guard. This morning was exciting, not least because the papal emissary at the extraordinary meeting last night gave absolute support to the Rhine (Harmony) army, promising that "the kingdom that comes first will receive priority in the distribution of the spoils". What's more, Calis saw the unusual activity of the Papal Army, which did not retreat in the rear, as in previous wars, but moved with the infantry of the Rhine Kingdom and appeared on the right flank of the battle formation.

Although the number of Papal troops actually dispatched was small, about 20,000, it became the most eye-catching focus of the entire battlefield.

This is only a superficial phenomenon.

The Holy See paid unprecedented attention to the war, sending 800,000 troops. The main force is the infantry with arquebuses, the second in line is the halberders, and the third is the artillery.

In the vast Papal army, there were also more than 4,000 clergy wearing robes of different colors. Most of them wore black robes, and their rank and status could only be judged by the rice frame emblem embroidered on their chests with silk thread. The cardinal bishop belongs to the upper echelons of the Holy See, and has more power in charge, and some of the cardinal bishops who are quite knowledgeable and experienced in military affairs can even lead the army into battle and become generals exclusive to the Holy See.

Such a huge battle shocked the other kingdoms.

The Holy See army arrived relatively late, and the vanguard had only arrived at the periphery of the fortress the day before yesterday afternoon. After knowing the specific number and size, the Duke of Vlamar immediately sent a messenger to deliver a message to the Vikings, asking King Vife XI to pay attention to this and levy more troops as soon as possible, and at the same time issue a mobilization order for some areas to start recruiting reserve troops.

The leader of the Saxon kingdom will be the Marquis of Brackbairn, who is much more cautious than Flamar. After all, he was an old man and had dealt with the Holy See more often, and the old marquis did not care about the large vanguard of the Holy See, and he waited patiently until the next day, until the first batch of the Holy See army arrived, and then sent a messenger to the direction of the capital city of London, with the same content as the Duke of Flamal.

The aristocracy was well aware of the attitude of the Holy See towards interests. Whether inside or outside, as long as they are sure to see and really get their hands on the part, from the Pope himself to the ordinary clergy, they will show extraordinary fanaticism and greed.

What is the concept of an army of 800,000?

In the history of the southern continent, it is difficult to find a record of a large-scale military dispatch by the Holy See. This is nothing more than two possibilities: either the Holy See is determined to win the northern part of the continent this time, or the Holy See has some kind of secret, or the advanced technology in the military field has a great, even absolute chance of winning.

In fact, this has been confirmed in the secret letters sent by the Holy See to the kings before. The pope, with "tithes" as collateral guarantees, demanded that the countries send troops. It is impossible to forge this in any case, especially if the papal signature is left at the place where the paperwork is registered. Although suspicion dominated the main part of their thinking, the kings made their choice in hesitation and doubt, and the size of their respective armies could only be regarded as average, about half a million men.

Following the instructions of the Duke of Calis, the craftsmen of the Rhine Kingdom soon set up lookouts behind the infantry phalanx. Standing on the wooden tower more than 30 meters high, Calis looked at the city wall in the distance with a monocular, and found that there was no change in the direction of Suolong Pass. The damned giants didn't get out of the gates, and they didn't mean to open the gates and release the army.

"They've learned smarter this time." The Duke sneered and thought to himself, he let out a disdainful snort from the depths of his nostrils, and then turned the camera to the side of the Papal Army, and saw Bishop Somsen on horseback.

He's a fat guy who is not so much burly. With a weight of more than three hundred kilograms, he looked like a mountain of meat, and the weight of the armor really overwhelmed the horse under the crotch, and he could only keep his head down, and his four legs seemed to tremble at any moment. But then again, physical weakness can't overshadow Bishop Somson's superiority in other ways. He was a well-known and recognized military commander, both within the Holy See and in other kingdoms.

A very comfortable sense of stability permeated Calis's mind. He had high expectations for the Holy See army, especially Bishop Somson's every move at this time, which meant the attitude of the Holy See towards the war itself. The main general does not need to be on the battlefield in person, but as long as he comes, it means that he will definitely launch a strong attack, or even a full-scale attack.

Putting down the binoculars, Calis, who was determined, instructed the adjutant standing beside him: "Order all branches to stand by and wait for orders." ”

……

The Lock Dragon Pass has entered a state of full alert.

The heavy ballistas were wounded in a very short time, and various spare parts and thick heavy arrows were taken out of the storeroom and sent to the various posts by the reinforcement squads. Inside the pass, the door of the material warehouse is open, people pick or lift, move out a large amount of plaster, pour it into the square pool dug in advance, inject a certain proportion of water and various auxiliary materials, and constantly stir to form a kind of semi-solidified state similar to cement, which can be used at any time and is specially used as a building material for repairing the wall.

Although everyone looks down on the white dwarves, everyone has to admit that the white dwarves are indeed very powerful. Cloth bags and rattan baskets filled with dirt were piled up inside the castle and pass of Suolong Pass all year round to cope with the damage caused by the cannonballs. Especially the wall itself, which is the key to keeping the white dwarves at bay.

Hu Yong stood on the highest tower first, frowning at the white army in the distance.

"Not long after the last war, why can't they wait to come again?" This question has been asked many times, but neither Hu Yongxian himself nor the staff officer corps standing behind him knows the answer.

Shi Zhenghao stood at another observation position not far from Hu Yongxian, he also looked serious, raised his hand and pointed to the white army lined up in front of Suolong Pass, and said seriously: "It is the banner of the Rhine Kingdom, and this time they will take the lead." ”

Hu Yong nodded slowly, his gaze crossed the rows of white infantry in order, and saw a farther position: "Halberdiers, musketeers, artillerymen...... It's still the same as it is. ”

A wry smile appeared on Shi Zhenghao's old face: "But it works, especially their artillery." ”

Hu Yongxian did not answer. He was silent for a moment and gave an order: "Let's follow the old rules, send five brigades out, and kill them for a while." ”

Shi Zhenghao let out an "um" and gestured to the adjutant standing on the side, who turned around and trotted away knowingly, conveying orders to the troops waiting in the pass. Looking at his figure that quickly disappeared at the steps of the tower, Shi Zhenghao retracted his gaze, looked at Hu Yongxian, who was standing nearby, and lowered his voice: "Are we ready, depending on the situation...... Summon a Patronus? ”

Hu Yong didn't say anything, he took a few steps forward, and came to a corner where there was no one at the other end of the tower. Shi Zhenghao knew his actions, and hurriedly followed, and in a relatively narrow space, he asked in a very low voice that only two people could hear: "What's wrong with you?" ”