——***——***——***——***

August 6, 1666 (MDay+127)

Jena Outer Front: Imperial Army Side

——***——***——***——***

Magical light soared through the clouds in the air, and blood soaked the soil from the ground.

Amid the dying groans of the wounded soldiers, the organ grew louder and louder. Under the guidance of the Pegasus Knights, the deadly magic of the music began to pour out on the Overseer brigade lines, causing sporadic casualties.

General Sid Nasser looked up and frowned imperceptibly. The enemy's air force seems to be fighting a little too hard.

Black rays burst from the tip of his staff, piercing an enemy Pegasus knight in the air like lightning. The lieutenant in red uniform fell from a stall in the air with his mount, smashing into Jena's parapet and turning red paint.

"It seems that the artillery of the Figota Brigade can only go so far, and the time gained in the artillery battle stage is a little insufficient. ”

The Minister of Security's lips twitched, secretly calculating the damage caused by the shelling.

Sid now stood in the middle of the battlefield, beside the Vauban trenches, which had just been abandoned by the Free Army. The first two were only tentative attacks to expose the distribution of firepower, and the attacking force retreated after suffering only one-fifth of the casualties. This time, he threw in two of his own battalions and two battalions of the Seventh Brigade to carry out a focused breakthrough attack with four battalions of 2,000 men, and took the trench in one fell swoop.

This is reality, not a heroic epic. Any fortifications are breached, which means that the attacker has paid a high enough price.

He stooped to the top of the slope and looked to the bottom of the trench.

Abandoned muskets by the enemy were scattered at his feet, many of which were stuffed with strips in their barrels, indicating the recruits of their owners. If it weren't for the large number of recruits, the trench would have been held back with more than twice as much firepower, and the attackers would have enough corpses to fill the trench.

These people with patriotic fervor did not have the opportunity to learn the correct methods of fighting, nor did they have the opportunity to escape. The few who survive will become the core of the next tenacious army full of veterans.

From the beginning of this war to the present, the Free Army has had so many officers and enlisted men with combat experience that it is enough to compensate for the amazing losses in the Civil War. Perhaps, many of the enemies he faced were those who had only been in the army for a few months but were already extremely tenacious......

Yes, Jena was the battlefield chosen by Sid himself. Far from the heavily fortified fortresses of Kengel and Lenni, either side could only build temporary forts, and the local looting of the peasants' grain stocks was enough to support a large-scale battle. He and his staff trodden every hill near Jena, and the height of each hill was marked on the map.

"It's only been a few months, and we've reached the point where we're going to bet on a close battle, and it's a battle with no superiority......"

Thinking of this, Sid felt a slight chill. Those young citizens are quickly turning into sophisticated warriors, draining the Empire's valuable elite troops. As far as his eye could see, so many veterans had died.

He was keenly aware that Jena was also the chosen battlefield of the other side.

"At this breakthrough point, a total of about 200 people were sacrificed. ”

The green ends of his hair floated in front of him, and a seductive female voice calculated the current situation for him, and issued a deliberately slow warning: "By the way, the other side has gathered a group of musketeers to try to kill you." ”

Behind the second paramias in front, seven or eight shooters, under the command of a lieutenant, pulled the trigger at the same time, and flint and gears struck, igniting the fire.

The corners of Sid's eyes jumped. Almost as soon as the voice issued a warning, the Minister of Security's arm moved. His movements are completely unrelated to the word "fast", but they feel frighteningly accurate.

"Bell, bell, bell!"

The blade on his right arm accurately blocked each of the five sniper bullets that were fired, and sliced through the magic patterns on them, preventing the attached magic from activating. Five lead particles smashed into the back of the knife, turning into small crumpled cylinders that fell weakly to the ground.

He didn't bother with the other three bullets that were destined to miss, but prepared an enhanced fireball magic in his left hand. Those few were obviously the elite veterans of the other party, and Sid had no intention of letting them go. Unfortunately, he didn't have a sufficient number of mages on hand, so he had to do it himself.

The Minister of Security's ordinary magic level is not too high, and there are five high-ranking mages and three cardinals in the main army alone who are ranked better than Sid, and he can command these people mainly because he is the Imperial Minister, the deputy commander of the legion, and has some small secret magic skills that no one else knows......

"Now there are four left. ”

Sid couldn't help but think of Victor von Gullick who died in front of him. The ominous association distracted him, slowing the flames to gather. The lieutenant on the other side took advantage of this time to withdraw the sniper team.

"What a quick response. ”

The corners of Sid's mouth twitched, but he threw the fireball out anyway. The enemy soldiers behind the wall lay down, and the magic flames burned near the wooden wall for a moment, but soon disappeared as there were no more combustibles.

"I'm sorry, it's all people's responsibility, I didn't notice their build-up in time. Does your right hand hurt?"

The female voice asked pretending to be concerned, but there was a mockery in her tone that could not be concealed.

Sid shook his head and retreated to the bottom of the slope, "If steel can feel pain, that's fine. ”

Only he knew that his non-existent right hand was aching.

In order to boost morale and create fear among the enemy and his own, Sid did refuse the treatment of the archbishop who had come to the front line, and turned his bones into sharp blades for war.

Knowing this, the pain was still endless, like there was really an arm there.

The scientific name for this phenomenon is called "phantom limbs", one of the occupational diseases of high-level mages.

In the days when the Elven Empire was still in existence or the glory of the First Koman Empire, the great magicians relied on their powerful magic to act recklessly. This phenomenon is often mentioned in the documents left by these sages.

The sages who became lichs, minds, and immortals repeatedly recorded this inhuman suffering. The bodies that had been sacrificed as the price of spells, the limbs that had disappeared in alchemy and forbidden magic experiments, the hopes and bodies that had been abandoned, all seemed to exist and were in constant pain.

Yes, in this world, the mind determines matter, and the will determines power. There are also times when the uncontrolled will will transcend the material, and what is not there will be transmitted back to the pain.

Those are the sacrifices that must be made to embark on the path of a great mage.

It's like a conscience that no longer exists. The Royal Department of Security does not need a conscience.

"Even though I know that my conscience no longer exists, it's still in pain, right?"

The woman, Magia Verri's voice was full of malice. Her slender fingers twitched the blade at the end of Sid's right arm. The phantom sliced from the knife and was sliced in two by the blade, not bleeding, of course.

A beautiful woman like a poisonous snake, a phantom that only he can see. As the illusion he possesses, she is in charge of psychic operations.

He has controlled countless souls, but few have been so useful and difficult to control. As one of the few innovative magicians, Magia Verri is proficient in spiritual magic and is even able to maintain a degree of independence. Unlike the illusions and undead who were purely used for combat, she was quite close to his thinking mode, and under the compulsion of magic, the two sides cooperated very smoothly.

In return, Sid acquiesced in her independence: he needed a staff officer with independent judgment, not a machine to carry out orders. As long as the task can be completed, he doesn't care about attitude.

"Count, then, my Miss of Conscience, how many men it will have to take for the vanguard to storm this humble cement-timber castle. ”

"A breastwork, an exposed fortress corner, an inner fort line. With the current lack of strength of this mage, about three hundred people can pave a bloody path to the back of the defensive line. Magia shrugged, "If you don't count the enemy forces that are preparing to counterattack from the flanks. ”

"Three hundred. "Then the problem is that we don't yet know how determined the will of the enemy forces to fight back is." ”

The enemy is ready to attack. Buckshot swept over his right shoulder, brushing past Sid's defensive magic.

The enemy was not numerous, and the young soldiers who had been repulsed from the trench line were regrouped by the staff officers near the second breastwork, gasping for breath and clutching the guns they had received again, ready to launch a counterattack against the Overseer Brigade and the Figota artillery.

The Liberty Army pointed diagonally, forming a line of Marshal Fox's signature diagonal attack, with the center of gravity heavily tilted in the direction of the Figota Brigade. Their plan was obvious, to knock out the artillery and cavalry of the Imperial Army while defending the main force of the Overseer brigade.

"Give it a try. Standard-bearer, organize the follow-up troops!"

Sid snapped, turning back to find the command flag of his Overseer Brigade. However, the flag-bearers could not approach and remained behind.

"The firepower of the Free Army is all concentrated near the command flag, and the flag cannot be close. Magia reminded.

"Tell them that if the soldiers can't bring my command flag, let the lieutenant bring it. If the lieutenant can't afford to bring it, let the lieutenant bring it. The firepower on the other side isn't strong enough for us to send generals, right?"

With a wave of his hand, the Minister of Security summoned a striking red ray, pointing in the direction where the enemy forces were gathered. With the flick of his fingers, the red light flickered in the air, turning into a command in the eyes of the Overseer Brigade officers.

"Overseer, forward!"

There aren't enough mages, but there's no way around it. The Minister of Security reminds himself that all the high-level spellcasters are gathered in the southern hills, ready to fight to the death against the enemy's high-level casters for the survival of the main army of the Empire.

He also believed that his troops would be able to make up for the lack of adequate magical support with training and courage.

"General Attack Order! Overseer Brigade, Advance! Kill those who retreat!"

A black-clad officer with a gold stripe on his shoulder shouted loudly, trying to regroup his ranks and break through the enemy defenses from another angle as ordered by Red Light. On this front, Sid committed most of his forces.

Meanwhile, the Overseer Brigade liaison officer runs up to Danica's command podium and delivers orders to the Duchess.

Danika López just shrugged her shoulders and said that her artillery had been prepared for a long time.

Figota's artillerymen received the signal for the attack. Precious shells filled with fuel and acid were brought out and stuffed into the chambers at this last moment. The female gunners used their wands to swipe the spell across the surface of the cannon, and the observer read the range of the opposite side according to the ruler. The muzzle velocity of these magic cannonballs will be higher than the previous ones, and it will be more difficult to intercept by the opponent's "Dragon Slaying Melody".

Acid bombs landed in the middle of enemy units, and water bombs covered a vast area from the enemy's assembly area to the fort walls. The shells smashed in rows against the wooden parapet, splashed and flowed down. Several shells were intercepted by the opposing organ, but many more landed at the target location. Burning water spilled from the shells and was ignited by the heat, creating walls of fire in one place after another.

"Will they stop the attack?" said an artillery officer beside Danica, "all our firepower is thrown in. ”

"I don't think so. If they were an army that could be repulsed like this, we would have won the battle long ago. Danika subconsciously clenched her pistol, "In front of this trench, blood will be flowing all over the ground. ”

The recruits of the Free Army began to waver, but not the veterans who stood at the front and back of the ranks. In Kengrad, in Fort Steele, in Lenny, these veterans experienced blood and artillery fire. They didn't stop, they didn't shoot indiscriminately, they just rushed into each other's trenches with muskets in hand. They know how to maximize their hits: get out of range and shoot last. Whether or not you can brave the psychological pressure of the opponent to shoot first to reach the distance of close combat is the difference between a recruit and a veteran.

On the other side, facing Sid's troops, the Free Army defended against the breastwork and fort walls. The ratio of recruits to veterans on this front is one to one, and the defense is not only strong, but also resilient.

Resilience means that after the Overseer Brigade breaks through a little, these people do not shoot indiscriminately or abandon their weapons and flee, but form small units under the command of the key officers and use resolute counterattacks to destroy the enemy before the gap is widened. In the face of elite soldiers of the empire who have at least five years of combat experience, these people at least do not fall behind on the scene.

One banner after another of the Overseer's Brigade retreated, fell, and was erected again. Some flags even fell in the lines of the Free Army and were never erected again.

Looking at the enemy array, a sense of powerlessness surged through Sid Nasser's body.

The Overseers Brigade had done their best, but there was still no way to repel the force. The opposing officer corps, both in number and quality, exceeded his expectations.

Maggie, who once knew everything about the state of the Julok army, dangled in front of Sid: "The calculation of three hundred seems to be an underestimate. Do you need me to make a plan for our retreat after the Figota Brigade is wiped out?"

"No need. ”

The Minister of Security muttered to himself as he crouched down and forked a corpse with the bladed staff on his right arm. His magic gathered at the tip of his right arm, and the corpse of the enemy soldier was instantly shattered into bone meal and blood. He shook and shook off the part of the meat.

"If the morale of the other side is high and the command is steady, then I will create their chaos myself. BloodyShield. ”

Bone and blood organized around his body, forming a strong shield. Sid is a grim and unassuming man, but when shrouded in this terrifying armor, he looks like a demon king returning from hell.

"Raise my flag. ”

Sid's voice was hidden behind the blood armor and sounded a little muffled.

"Since the Marquis of Elaine Pareña, not a single of my eleven predecessors has died in his bed. Sid Nasser has the ability to fight on the front lines, while Conti Fox cannot. ”

The twelfth Minister of Security of the Holy Comman Empire stepped forward like a machine, walking steadily towards the enemy's second Vauban trench at the rhythm of a pendulum. Behind him were the counter-offensive reserves, also marching to the beat of the rhythmic drums, and the proud command banner of the Overseer Brigade.

Beyond this line of defense, it is the main offensive force of the Free Army.

Sid pointed at the commander of the enemy army on the opposite side and unleashed a threatening blow. The tip of the blade on his right arm flowed with malice, and the circuits of metal casting were full of magic.

Like a finger in the arm, the bloody bullet penetrated the body of the officer opposite, and he fell in response. Even with the phantom limb, the right arm of the Minister of Security still has the same ability to kill and suppress as his hand. All the attacks were unabashedly directed at the opposing officers and spellcasters, and the gentleman's mask was all torn off.

"It's just the same method you did on the Southern Front. ”

It seems that because of the scale of this attack, the enemy's organ is also high-pitched.

——***——***——***——***

August 6, 1666 (MDay+127)

General Headquarters of the Free Army of Jena

——***——***——***——***

The Urgently Summoned Badge called back every magical officer of all rank who was working in a secondary post.

Every officer of the Free Army is equipped with this low-cost, confidential magic communicator, which has only one function, which is to flash hot to tell the holder that there is an urgent order to be issued to him. This is one of the secrets of the Free Army's ability to fight the Empire with a large number of low-level spellcasters.

"Don't worry about the password, urgently summon!"

Naimon raised the glittering badge in his hand, gasped and ran past the guard post and rushed into the gate of the headquarters.

What appeared before his eyes was an impossible sight: every room of the General Headquarters was empty.

The General Command of the Free Army should have been nervously busy with all sorts of news right now. In order to deal with the intricacies of information in the war, there should have been more than twenty officers in the headquarters alone who could use communication magic to liaise with the troops, and five times that number of officers would command the front line troops or summarize the conclusions of the reconnaissance units. Add the commanding soldiers and guards, and the command should have more than two hundred officers.

But all the rooms were empty, except for the sound of his own footsteps echoing through the hallways. The staff is still there, but now there is no one.

Naimon walked to the main conference room with confusion and pushed the door open. In the normally crowded conference room, there were only a few officers who had also received the summoning order, and the old fox who sat at the end of the long table.

Marshal Conti Fox's hair seemed to have turned much whiter overnight, and his figure looked much older. He sat in a late Second Empire Regency-style armchair, his hands crossed in front of him, his eyes downcast, as if staring at a map on his desk, and as if he were staring at nothing.

"The artillery command staff officer Namen Soleton was ordered to return to the unit. ”

Naimon whispered his assignment and sat down on a random stool at the far end of the long table.

"You don't need to tell you why you're late, you don't need a briefing anyway. Seeing that the men were already in order, the marshal said in a deep voice, "As you know, our front has reached the most dangerous time. The Overseer Brigade charged resolutely and objectively, with more than a third of the front-line officers killed in the first round of firefighting. ”

No one is talking to each other because everyone is in the know. Naimon, who commanded the bombardment from the top of the organ tower, knew all too well the severity of the battle situation at the front: after the blood-red figure had eliminated a quarter of the officers, even if he and the organ players were in full force, they could not stop the Imperial army from breaking through the entire line. Company after company retreated uncontrollably after heavy losses among officers and veterans, exposing the wide flanks of the attacking troops to Sid Nasser.

"All the staff officers have already been put into the second provisional battle group as commanding officers, but you can all deduce that the current situation is not optimistic. In addition to the forces defending Jena, we have the last experienced force at our disposal, which is not very numerous, but this is already our last reserve...... And the enemy, most likely, also has at least ten brigades of follow-up troops. While the entire Southern Front is now mired in unexplained magical chaos, time is still not our friend. ”

Jena claims to have 15,000 Free Army, but only about 4,000 of them are veterans, and all of them are recruits who have only been in the army for a month or two. These people are not lacking in patriotic fervor and dare to sacrifice their lives for their country, but they are not capable of facing a real battlefield full of flesh and blood. This counterattack was carried out by most of the veterans and almost all of the officers, and after these men lost their command, it was already remarkable that the new recruits alone could organize the defense.

"I would love to lead this force myself, but no one allows me to do that. Field Marshal Fox smiled wryly, "So, I have no choice but to hand over this force to you." Captain Namen Soleton. ”

"Huh?"

The young officer, who was studying the map in front of him at the farthest end of the table, stood up in a panic when he heard his name.

"You're now the commander of the 3rd Provisional Battle Group, Captain Soleton. Marshal Fox crossed his fingers, "If the second line of defense can't be held either, you're going to gather all the routed troops, regroup your ranks, and buy us time." ”

Naimon's eyes widened, his fingers gripping the edge of the table tightly, and it took all his strength to control the tremor of his legs.

Even the staff officers at the table were junior and mid-level magical officers who had graduated from Lennie's Army Academy or the Strategic Academy, and he had never imagined that a young officer like himself could master such an important force. If he fails, the entire Jena logistics base will fall into the hands of the enemy, and the best troops of the Free Army will be trapped in the Jena Narrow Grounds, unable to advance or retreat.

In other words, the defeat of the entire war.

A faint drop of sweat appeared on Naimon's forehead: "Your Excellency, Marshal, this task is probably too heavy for me-"

"This force is only five hundred men, and it is no bigger than the one you commanded before. Aside from the lack of officers, there isn't much to pay attention to, and you can use senior non-commissioned officers as your commanders. ”

"But I'm not sure—"

Field Marshal Fox's arm fell on the table: "No one here, including me, is sure, Captain." ”

Naimon took a deep breath. Field Marshal Fawkes had said it all, and it stands to reason that he should not have shirked any more, but he knew what would happen to the commander of a force trying to turn the tide. He had seen Sid's death-defying assault with his own eyes, and he was not sure that he would be able to escape from the man's hands. If he is a real military man, he should not hesitate to take on this task and use it as a stepping stone for his own promotion......

"It's still too difficult, Your Excellency. I might let you down, so please let someone else command. ”

He almost bit his tongue when he said this. He was never a competent military man.

The marshal's gaze rested on the medal on his chest. Naimon didn't wear many medals today, only the second-class freedom and two Blood Star medals, and he hid the rest in his wallet - of course, for fear of being targeted.

"I've seen your resume, you have quite a brilliant combat experience and personal ability. But that's not why I chose you. I chose you only because you are often in the most unlucky position, but every time you take the opportunity to escape. The rest may be higher in rank and better educated, but none of them have been through desperate situations as repeatedly as you do. I need a tough and lucky man as the last line of defense, and that person is you, Captain. I'll leave this last hope to you. ”

There is no choice. Naimon closed his eyes and nodded. He didn't look at the eyes of his colleagues mixed with jealousy, sympathy, and pity.

"Yes, Your Excellency. ”

"I can't tell you a lot yet, but you have to be sure that this is not a mission to die. You just need to stop this wave of the opponent's attack, and that's enough. Come back alive. Marshal Fawkes encouraged, "Do you need anything else?"

"I still need one more thing: Your Excellency, your marshal's command flag. Allow me to use this flag to boost morale. ”

Naimon gritted his teeth and made a somewhat non-sensitive request.

The "Kengal Fox" groaned for a moment, and a smile appeared on his face: "That thing is just a flag. If you think it will be useful, take it, right here on our former conning tower. ”

So Captain Naimon Soleton and five hundred veterans of the 3rd Provisional Battle Group, along with a marshal's banner, set out.

At that time, the twelfth Secretary of State for Security, Sid Nasser, had just cut the troops of Interim Battle Group II into two sections. The outcome of the battle looks like it's about to be decided.

——***——***——***——***

Author's Note:

Happy Dragon Boat Festival and June 1st (Hey, did you just swallow a festival...... By the way, I would like to commemorate Admiral Yang's death day.

This time the subtitle is interlude...... The overture to the next volume of "Summer Frost" will naturally be replaced with variations. The main characters are scattered in a large war zone from north to south, and when they all arrive, it will be time to decide the victory or defeat of the war.

Recently, the time has been tight, and the manuscript at the end of the manuscript has not been written in a satisfactory state, which is a real headache.

——***——***——***——***

Welcome the majority of book friends to come and read, the latest, fastest, the hottest serialized works are all here!