In the afternoon, the 9th Division was already under the city, and Marven stood in front of the formation, looking at the city of Crete not far away. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The city of Crete was the only city of its size in the Iliad, its walls were tall and strong, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and although its city defense force was mediocre, it had nearly 200,000 inhabitants in the city, and the whole army could still put a lot of pressure on the 9th Division.

"It seems that there is probably a fierce battle here!" Marven took a closer look, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, this Cretan city was built on the water, its moat and the wide Yar River, about 100 meters wide, and the water was extremely deep, if the royal family decided to resist stubbornly, with the elite of the Ninth Division, I am afraid that there will be a lot of casualties.

"Go to war directly? Hehe, is James trying to force the Iliad royal family into a corner? I said Marven, why don't you manipulate Mance to dissuade him, but let him instigate him?" Rogge walked up to Marven, shook his head and sighed, "Although it is very likely that the leaders of the rebels are hiding in this city, there is no need for the Ninth Division to start a war to forcibly take over. ”

Marven smiled bitterly and said, " Rogge, I read part of the power struggle at the top of the empire from Mance's brain, although there is very little information, but it is not difficult to deduce that the suppression of the Iliad royal family has become a consensus among the supporters of the Great Prince, especially Rocherio and his henchmen, what they lack is just an excuse to make trouble, rather than doing some unnecessary dissuasion, it is better to simply push the boat, not to mention, the ancient magic array may be able to directly help us leave, and after taking over, we will have the opportunity to use it. ”

"Marven, your analysis is very reasonable. Rogge bowed his head steadily, but let out a long sigh: "It's just that, the civilians of Crete City are afraid that a great disaster will suffer......

Marven was silent for a long time, as soon as he closed his eyes, the tragic scenes of the slaughter of Dat Town and Iru Town seemed to be still vivid, and every day in the Iliad Kingdom made his soul suffer.

After a while, Marven clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and said word by word: "I hope this war can go well." But this time, I'm not going to sit back and watch that commander slaughter the city!"

Rogge turned to look at Marven and found that the latter's momentum had suddenly changed, and his body was full of Sensen's murderous aura.

"Okay! This is the Marven I know!" the mercenary mage looked admiring, "If there is anything that needs our service at that time, we can't give up the definition!"

An hour later, only a dull trumpet sound was heard from a distance, and the siege began.

For a time, arrows were like flying locusts, stones were raining down, and the defenders on the city wall were screaming endlessly, but it didn't take long for the defenders in the city to start fighting back with the tall city walls and strong arrow forts.

Arrows infused with magic came from various towers on the city walls, and when they fell into the ranks of the Ninth Division, they exploded violently, blowing up the soldiers of the vanguard battalion who tried to approach the sneak attack.

"No, their counterattack is too fierce, retreat!" Marven grabbed Mance and roared loudly into his ear.

He simply wanted to deceive the trust of the Imperial army, and did not want to die in battle.

The long-range attacks of the 9th Division failed to effectively suppress the opposing side, leaving the vanguard battalions deployed in close proximity to bear the brunt of the attack, and almost became a live target for the defenders of Crete.

Those elite crossbowmen were directly blown into pulp before they could put up an effective resistance, and even the magicians who cooperated with them were killed by three, and even the heavy infantry was not much better, no matter how strong the armor was, it couldn't resist the impact of the magic arrows after the explosion, and the phalanx was almost disrupted, and it was only with the protective magic blessed by the mage regiment that they could barely gain a foothold in front of the rain of arrows.

Mance held back the fire in his belly, how could the pioneer battalion, as a famous elite of a hundred battles, have been so cowardly, if it weren't for the control of Marven's spiritual magic, he would now be eager to send everyone up, desperate, and fight each other.

Looking at the pioneer camp that retreated in embarrassment, James's face was very ugly, and when Mance and his party rushed into the camp tent in a panic, he slapped the table and scolded angrily: "Mance, why did you retreat, just after the battle, your pioneer camp broke down on its own, what impact this will have on morale, you should know better than me!"

"Your Excellency, it was not on his fault that Chief Mance ordered the evacuation, but please be considerate of our plight. Marven hurriedly came out and said: "The fact that the city defense of Crete City was able to repel our first round of attack without difficulty shows that they have been fully prepared for a long time, and before we arrive, I am afraid that someone has already informed them." ”

James snorted coldly after hearing this, and said hatefully: "Actually, I don't know, although this royal family has submitted to the empire on the surface, and even become a vassal, but they always think about independence, we fight to the death with the rebels, but they watch the fire from the other side, nothing more than to profit from it, I thought that since they have been rewarded by the emperor and have won the trust of His Royal Highness the Second Prince, even if they want to be independent, they don't need to collude with the rebels, now it seems that I am probably taking it for granted." ”

After hearing this, everyone bowed their heads in agreement, judging from the careful preparation of the defense army of the royal capital, it is very likely that they secretly colluded with the rebels, and from the perspective of their combat effectiveness, some of their elites may even be disguised by the rebels.

"Your Excellency, Commander, I have a question that I have been unable to understand. Hammond touched his chin and cautiously walked over to James.

"You're Hammond of the Pioneer Battalion, your martial arts skills are very good, just say anything you have any questions. James glanced at him, and he was still quite impressed by this great man with excellent martial arts.

"I can't figure it out, since the Iliad royal family is so troublesome, why didn't the empire completely wipe them out in the first place, so that they are still secretly making trouble, and there was no trouble when the Iliad was directly incorporated into the territory of the empire?"

"That's right, isn't the empire going to conquer the world? Why do you still have so many vassal countries, can't you just swallow it up?" A few mercenaries around Hammond also followed suit, lest the world be chaotic.

Looking at this group of young men with strong blood, a rare smile appeared on the commander's face, "Hehe, I had the same idea as you when I was young, and for this matter, I also consulted the Imperial Military God ---- Marshal Rocherio, do you know what he said?"

He looked around and saw that everyone was listening with bated breath, and even the captain of the guard couldn't help but be curious and leaned over.

James cleared his throat, quite complacent, the experience of fighting with Marshal Rocherio was the greatest honor of his life for him, "Lord Marshal once said that we cannot repeat the mistakes of the Dark Horse Empire. ”

"The Dark Horse Empire is the most powerful empire in history, it conquered the world under the leadership of the Dark Horse King, but the glory of this great empire was extremely short-lived, after the Dark Horse King defeated the Demon Realm, this great empire also fell apart, and at present, the territory it controls is only the far Far East......"

"Although the King of the Dark Horse is like a god and proud of the past and the present, he has made a fatal mistake, he does not have a reverence for the gods and a pious heart, you must know that this world is created by the omnipotent Father, and man cannot rule the world, only God can. ”

James let out a long sigh and sighed with emotion: "So, although the Dark Horse King was supported by almost everyone, he was defeated in the end, not only did he not solve the demon crisis, but he completely buried the most talented generation of powerhouses in the history of Middle-earth......"

"If man can't rule the world, then why start endless wars and cause these countless killings?" Marven pouted and sneered, "I don't know what's the point?"

"Meaning, of course it is meaningful!" James' eyes showed an extremely fanatical look, "Although we can't rule the world, we can build world hegemony in the name of the Father, through unremitting battles! Let the other countries of the world become our strategic buffer zone, and let them continue to pay tribute to all kinds of resources and treasures for us!"

"Both Charlemagne and Marshal Rocherio have said that suzerainty is sometimes more tangible than dominion, and that we can only collect tribute, and we don't have to invest a penny in those vassals, and we don't have to deal with a lot of problems in their own countries, and the key is that we can also have the support of the Father, so it's a good deal. ”

James pointed to the map on the table by the way, "So you see, after so many years of expansion, the empire has only incorporated those areas that are closer to the mainland and rich in resources, and the empire has retained more than a dozen large and small vassals, which at least will not become a financial burden for the empire in peacetime, and can be used as a strategic buffer zone for the empire in wartime, and can also be taken over militarily if necessary." ”

"The marshal and the emperor are really far-sighted, and this kind of strategic thinking is indeed beyond the reach of ordinary people. Marvin has to sincerely admire that these high-level decision-makers are all far-sighted and have maximized their own interests in an extremely complex environment.

"However, although the Empire allows these vassals to exist, if they infringe on the interests of the Empire, we can only destroy them at any cost and install a more obedient agent. James suddenly changed his words, and his tone gradually became cold, "Pass the order, gather all our remaining men and horses, and attack the city with all our might!" I don't believe it, with the strength of our entire elite division, we can't take the capital of this small country!"