Could it be that I was mistaken?

“…… You...... Go right away and catch a few more people back. ”

The casual order was very accurate, and the adjutant who had been with him for many years did not delay for a second, and trotted away directly with the guards.

The fear in Shi Li's heart intensified, and he forced himself not to think about the worst as much as possible. He walked back and forth in place, casually commanding to let go of the two bound routs, and then waited restlessly.

There were fleeers everywhere, and with his previous experience, the adjutant did not use violent means this time, and he directly brought back twenty or thirty soldiers who had retreated from the direction of Suolong Pass as a senior officer. In fact, things are not as complicated as imagined, it is very simple, just shout "a few people, I need your help".

They are veterans with a lot of experience and strong willpower, not a rout in the true sense of the word.

All the bad news was confirmed from the mouths of these exhausted, panting, unkempt soldiers.

It was a terrifying, dark red giant monster. Neither slashing with an axe nor firing with a crossbow will cause damage. This was confirmed by everyone———— there were at least thousands of arrows shot at the monster, and it was nothing. It was as if it were just a puddle of weirdly colored mud, pierced by something like a stick, without compromising its essence.

Shi Li pondered bitterly.

He had never been more torn than he was now. It's not that they don't believe what these soldiers say, but they can't find a solution to their current predicament.

Keep moving?

Stay here and rely on the existing terrain defenses?

Or do you want to retreat with the routs?

Reason told Shi Li that he should choose the last one.

But in this way, the so-called "reinforcements" became a joke.

When leaving Roaring City, His Majesty the Lion King repeatedly told him that no matter what difficulties he encountered, he must persevere, and the second batch of reinforcements will soon arrive. The Leon Clan will use the strength of the entire clan to give the strongest support, and you must help Hu Yongxian and Shi Zhenghao to hold the Lock Dragon Pass.

This is related to the security of the northern continent, and even more related to the face of His Majesty the Lion King. The reason is simple, if Shi Li's reinforcements don't perform well or don't work as well as they should, when the dragon and tiger reinforcements arrive, many things will become difficult to control.

War is inherently a continuation of politics. Even when communities are in danger, the word "politics" is an important factor that cannot be bypassed.

After hesitating for a long time, Shi Li made the final decision.

"Wait...... I, I need more intelligence. I'm going to see for myself if that red monster is really that powerful. ”

He decided to just stay here and wait.

and other reinforcements.

and so on.

At the same time, it is also a reasonable excuse for himself, in order to have a better explanation from the lion king.

If you turn around and run away without even seeing the enemy, such a person is not worthy of being the commander of the lion army at all, but is an out-and-out wreck.

What's more, Shi Li is not without chips in his hands.

……

The huge rout group came and went quickly.

At dusk, the distant mountains and fields were no longer full of people. This was due to the fact that Hu Yongxian gave the general retreat order in advance while he was still alive. He was indeed a good commander, and only by keeping more people alive could it be possible to talk about future victories.

Huge figures appeared at the end of the mountains and the horizon. As many as four monsters came into view first, and they appeared even more bright red in the afterglow of the setting sun.

Shi Li stood on the mountain beam with a dozen cavalrymen, did not dismount, and watched these red giants coming from a distance from afar. Including Shi Li, a pair of eyes revealed expectation, fear, and shock. They are all waiting for the final moment.

In the day that was about to pass, the division gathered more than 20,000 defeated soldiers. It really can't be any more, this is the limit of the supply of supplies carried by the army. Shi Li made two preparations———— organized these people, and if they could fight, they would immediately retreat to Roaring City. An orderly withdrawal is much better than a chaotic escape, and of course it is more important to consider intelligence information.

Up to two hundred were selected from the rout. Among them, there were officers of different classes, some of whom had a high status of a thousand heads, and some ordinary soldiers who were stationed in different areas of Suolong Pass. Shi Li asked them one by one, and got the slightest homogeneous answer from the different mouths, which also gave him a clear understanding of the entire battle situation that took place at Suolong Pass at that time.

When faced with a special situation, habitual thinking always prompts humans to react instinctively. Hu Yongxian and Shi Zhenghao are indeed recognized by all tribes as famous generals, but even they cannot escape the constraints of this fixed logic. They are equally terrified in the face of a red giant they have never seen before. Especially in the face of the threat of death caused by an unknown source, it is difficult to maintain the usual calm mind in the depths of the brain, and instead pins the solution to the problem on the supernatural being that has produced the effect.

All the soldiers and officers unanimously admitted that they had not used rockets or the white muskets and artillery captured in previous wars when they were stationed at Suolong Pass.

They didn't even use hot oil when the red monsters gathered at the base of the walls.

Needless to say, the power of fire attack is self-evident. Shi Li was speechless about this, except for lamenting that the passage of time had caused the former hero to grow old, become difficult and stubborn, the only thing he could do was to shake his head and sigh.

Shi Li is a middle-aged man, younger than the two commanders who died in the battle on Suolong. They are indeed heroes, and both in terms of experience and flexible use of tactics, they are all several levels higher than Shi Li. Unfortunately, they panicked at the most dangerous time, and of course the main reason was the Patronus.

It is indeed a super-powerful being that has shown miracles more than once in history. If there is no protection of the guardian spirit, there will be no later lock dragon pass.

When the brain is dominated by fear, even the smartest person will not think of more. They could do nothing but pray to the great patron saint, and they did not have the idea of "fire attack" at all.

It's like a lonely child who can only ask for help from his most trusted relatives.

This is the problem of Hu Yongxian and Shi Zhenghao, although they have died in battle, they must be held responsible.

However, this cannot be considered their fault.

The captain of the scout came running from a distance on horseback, and as he approached the cavalry squad, he tightened the reins to control the speed of his horse, nervously and slightly excitedly reported, "Lord Qiyu, those monsters are coming. ”

Shi Li wore a steel helmet and nodded majestically in silence.

Being eligible to be selected into His Majesty's forbidden army and becoming a deputy commander is naturally outstanding. Shi Li was familiar with the history of his own people, and he learned about the process and results of the wars between barbarians and whites from the clay templates of the archives. Regarding the timing of this large-scale attack by the southern whites, Shi Li had the same question as Tianhao———— since they had the advantage in the number of soldiers and weapons, why did the whites choose to attack in the cold winter?

Seeing the red giant coming from a distance faltering as reported by the rout, the expression on Shi Li's face became more and more secure than before. No matter what, you have to try, even if you can't beat it, you can run it. This position was three kilometers away from the improvised defensive position of 20,000 lion reinforcements. It will be night for a while, and the position here is high enough, if the situation is not right, the adjutant and cavalry will immediately set fire to the dry firewood stacks that have been piled up around them, and use the fire signal to notify the tens of thousands of troops behind to evacuate quickly.

His Majesty the Lion King is also difficult!

The reinforcements previously ordered to be sent in the direction of Suolong Pass could not be less than 30,000 people. However, the lion clan fell into civil strife due to economic problems, and although the national teacher opened the royal family's private treasury and took out a large amount of gold and silver, he was still unable to win the hearts of the people in a short period of time, and could only reluctantly piece together 20,000 soldiers and hand them over to Shi Li.

Whether it is for the majesty of His Majesty or for the face of the lion clan, this battle must be fought!

Under the slanting rays of the sunset, the bright red giant finally walked into the dry valley under the mountain beam. It used to be a river, but it had been cut off for years, and the gentle riverbed was covered with shrubs, and the dim light and weeds covered it made it difficult to see that some kind of secret was hidden in the ground beneath the bushes.

The giant "Six" led by stepped into it.

The adjutant who stayed by Shi Li's side couldn't hold back his nervousness, and subconsciously clenched his fists and whispered excitedly: "It's in, it's in!" ”

Shi Li still didn't speak, he stared anxiously into the distance in silence.

The northern barbarians were much closer to nature than the white southerners. Witch practitioners are the spokesmen of the gods, and their understanding and use of herbs has a history of thousands of years. "Pharmacology" is a compulsory course for all witch practitioners, and although not everyone can master the "poison science" that is differentiated, most of them know how to blend.

There were exactly six of these witch walkers among the reinforcements. Shi Li asked them to use the plants they could find nearby to concoct a poison commonly used by the lion clan.

If Tianhao was present, he would definitely recognize that the main ingredient of this poison was mutated strychnine. Shi Li's method was simple and practical: he ordered his soldiers to cut out thousands of wooden sticks, smear them with poison, and stick them upside down under the shrubs in the dry riverbed. As soon as the giant "Six" passes by, it will immediately be pierced by sharp wooden thorns.

Does it work?

In fact, Shi Li was not sure in his heart.

Night had fallen, and only a small part of the sun's afterglow was left to pass through the black line in the distance, revealing more and more the hideous and terrifying red monster that came slowly.

Their speed has not diminished in the slightest, and their movements have not changed. This means that the toxins that enter its body in large quantities as the wood thorns do not work. Or rather, "Six" is immune to such things as toxins.

Shi Li's face was filled with an undisguised expression of deep disappointment. Without thinking, he raised his right hand, swung it downward with slow, uncertain force, and ordered the adjutant who was standing beside him on horseback: "Release the arrow." ”

Ten light cavalry had already been ready to go, and they left the mountain beam and ran in the direction of the giant "Six". They stopped about a few hundred meters away from their target, took out their fire folds, and drew feathered arrows from the quiver on their backs. The front of these arrows is all made of steel, and the surface is wrapped with grease-soaked cotton cloth. The soldiers lit their arrows close to the fire, drew their bows and arrows, and shot hard at the land that was about to be shrouded in the dark darkness of the night and trampled by the red giants in the distance.

A dazzling fire rose from the depths of the bushes and weeds, and the flames burned rapidly along the makeshift trenches made of stones beforehand. The lion people are no strangers to the "mortar construction method", and although the comprehensive effect of the mortar temporarily deployed by the soldiers under the command of Shi Li is not as good as that of cement, it can be waterproof and anti-permeable in a short time. They built a temporary shallow trough more than a kilometer long with gravel and mortar along the perimeter of the highly toxic wooden sticks, filled it with flammable materials such as hay and firewood, and sprinkled the surface with improvised oil.

Previously, in order to prevent the rout from attacking the position, Shi Li ordered to shoot and kill as many as hundreds of soldiers who had escaped from Suolong Pass. These dead were not wasted, and their bodies were cut up and boiled in cauldrons and bonfires to make grease. Combined with the hair removed from the corpse in advance, hay, and the natural and characteristic flocculent floc of nearby plants in winter, it is the best source of ignition in the world.

Under the gaze of everyone's incomparable expectation, the giant "No. 6", which was tens of meters high, suddenly retreated.

It was clearly frightened by the sudden burst of flames from under its feet, and even its backward movements became swift and urgent, like someone accidentally reaching out and touching boiling water at a terrible temperature, and retracting with lightning speed, a completely instinctive nerve reflex.

A hideous and excited look suddenly flashed on Shi Li's face. He swung his right fist fiercely and let out a low roar of infinite satisfaction: "That's right! That's it! They're afraid of fire, these damn monsters are afraid of fire! ”

He hurriedly gave an order to the adjutant: "Quick, ignite and send a signal, let the archers behind rush over as quickly as possible, and let them taste the taste of rockets!" ”

Two bonfires were lit on the mountain beams. By convention, this was a signal for the offensive. If only one fire is lit, it means that the whole army retreats.

Two thousand lion archers quickly arrived at their designated positions.

The sudden appearance of a long line of fire in the dark night terrified all the giant "Six". This is their greatest weakness, and it is the secret that Bishop Somson has tried to hide from the kingdom's coalition forces. The crimson giant monsters retreated one after another, and the flames pierced the darkness, reflecting as many as a dozen red figures. The reason why they left Suolong Pass and headed north was to satisfy their strong hunger desires.

Fear of flames could not counteract hunger, and the current "Six" was not the state in which it had been developed in Gabriel. Through the absorption of a large number of deceased bodies, they produce primary wisdom. Standing dozens of meters away from the raging line of fire, these terrifying biochemical weapons began to gather, as if they were thinking and discussing countermeasures.