With the assistance of those two magic crystal nuclei, the casting speed of the mage group increased significantly, and after another half an hour, the water of the moat finally calmed down completely, and the waterspout, which was majestic and invincible not long ago, had now turned into an ice sculpture. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

"Attack!" With James' order, the soldiers of the 9th Division stepped over the thick ice and launched another assault on Crete City.

After a day and night of fierce fighting, the 9th Division finally completely occupied the outer city of Crete, the drawbridge at the head of the city was lowered, and a large number of soldiers of the 9th Division quickly drove into the city.

The Cretan defenders, who had left behind more than 8,000 corpses, retreated with tens of thousands of households in the outer city, leaving the Ninth Division in a vast ruin, and with the support of the nearly impregnable obelisk tower and the nearly 200,000 inhabitants of the city, the defenders were still intent on resisting.

The situation is still grim, but James has seen the dawn of victory.

"Your Excellency, there are still heretics in the city who have not yet retreated to the inner city, what should I do?" a patrolling officer reported to him the situation in the outer city.

"Your Excellency, they are all heretics, and they also assist the rebels in defending the city, do you want to ......" A staff officer next to him did not finish his words, but made a "kill" gesture with his right hand, and the meaning could not be clearer.

"No, there's no need for that right now. James glanced at Marven and smiled meaningfully, "Master Marven, follow your plan now, and give it a combination of grace and might!"

"Your Excellency, while maintaining military suppression, pacifying these inhabitants can break the morale of the enemy army to the greatest extent. Marven secretly breathed a sigh of relief, the siege was going extremely hard, and the soldiers below were all holding back their fire, if James acquiesced, those poor civilians in the outer city would inevitably become the target of those soldiers' anger.

Due to the limited food in the city, the defenders looted all the food in the outer city before retreating to the inner city, and when the Ninth Division occupied the outer city, most of them had not entered a drop of water for two consecutive days, and many of them had to feed their hunger with wild vegetables.

The arrival of the Ninth Division made the residents of the outer city extremely panicked, and before the war, under the propaganda of the defenders' almost brainwashing, the image of the Ninth Division as fierce and cruel and bloodthirsty has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and after the fall of the outer city, many people chose to commit suicide in despair and panic, and almost no one doubted that the fate of the residents of Dat Town and Iru Town would also befall them.

However, to everyone's surprise, the 9th Division did not kill a single person indiscriminately after entering the city, and not only that, but they even took out their own military rations to relieve the civilians who were facing famine.

At the same time, the 9th Division repaired the fortifications of the outer city and adopted a posture of besieging but not attacking the inner city of Crete, although the Cretan defenders could still hold the inner city by relying on the obelisk white tower, but due to the loss of all the outlying strongholds, coupled with the heavy casualties of the main elite, they were unable to organize any decent counteroffensive for a while.

Faced with the dire situation, the Iliad royal family decisively issued a conscription order and extended the conscription to all men over the age of fifteen and under seventy, and since most of the inhabitants of Crete retreated to the inner city, after the forced conscription of soldiers, the size of the garrison increased rapidly.

"Elder Lichd, you promised to help us defend the city!" Bella's roar echoed through the palace, "but now that the outer city has fallen, where are the reinforcements you are talking about?"

Béla VII was annoyed by the situation of the war during this time, and the resistance brought by Lichd was only more than a thousand people, and as a result, most of the battles fell to the city defense army under his command, under the onslaught of the 9th Division, the city defense army lost its troops, and the few elites were almost killed and wounded, so that even if he finally kept the city of Crete, but without the army, he could not escape the fate of being a puppet in the end.

"Your Majesty is angry, we only need to support it for a while, our reinforcements will definitely arrive, and when the time comes, you will soon be able to restore the rule of the entire kingdom!" Lihid did not care about the pig-like face of Bella VII, and still persuaded bitterly.

"Two weeks, two more weeks at most!" Béla VII stretched out two fingers and said categorically: "No matter what method you use, if you can't retreat from the enemy within two weeks, then you can do it! I don't need to be a victim of your holy war!"

Lichd's eyelids jumped slightly, although the king did not explain the words, but the meaning could not be clearer, the military of the St. John Empire was crusading against the city of Crete in the name of "Qing Jun's side", as long as Nabella VII saw that the situation was not right, opened the city gate and surrendered, at least he could keep his current status as a puppet king.

Lihid coughed dryly twice, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, rest assured, the reinforcements will arrive soon, and besides, the Ninth Division is bloodthirsty and tyrannical and indiscriminately kills civilians, and the people of the Iliad Kingdom hate it to the core, I believe that in less than two weeks, our army will surely win a complete victory!"

"I hope so. Seeing that Lihid seemed to be confident, Bella's expression finally softened, "I have already lent you that ancient magic array, and I hope that Your Excellency can keep your promise." ”

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I promise I won't let you down. ”

After the fall of the outer city, the defenders of Crete waited in an atmosphere of anxiety for a new attack of the Ninth Division, but after a whole day, the Ninth Division, which had already besieged the inner city of Crete, showed no sign of further action.

"Enemy attack!" In the early hours of the next morning, the shrill sound of sirens woke everyone in Crete from their slumber.

People rushed out of their houses in a panic, and when they looked up, they found a huge shadow hanging over the city.

"Is this ......?" The shadow gradually drifted down the street, and the people's panic quickly turned into confusion and doubt-------- and what fell from the sky were large pieces of paper with white flowers.

"Boom, boom, boom......" A few loud noises were heard, and the trebuchets outside the city threw many huge white paper balls into the city. Balls of paper exploded over the inner city, and countless pieces of paper, large and small, were scattered on all the streets and alleys of the inner city of Crete.

Driven by curiosity, people picked up the pieces of paper that fell from the sky like snowflakes, and suddenly some fell silent, and many more wept bitterly, most of which were letters from residents of the outer city who had not had time to evacuate.

After the fall of the outer city, a large number of residents of the outer city retreated to the inner city, but they still had many elderly or infirm relatives who did not have time to evacuate, under the continuous deliberate propaganda of the Iliad royal family on the bloodthirsty image of the Ninth Division, they almost all had no hope for the survival of their relatives, they had a bitter hatred for the Ninth Division, and even some people continued to join the city defense army with the idea of avenging their relatives, however, to everyone's surprise, the Ninth Division not only did not open the killing ring, but took preferential measures, and the news that the family members were safe and sound suddenly made those inner city residents cry with joy, and the hatred for the Ninth Division was also unconsciously reduced by half。

In addition to the letters, a large number of leaflets were sent to promote the policies of the Imperial military, which hyped up peace and showed the tough attitude of the Imperial military, especially Marshal Rocherio, towards the rebels, in addition to the fact that the leaflets promised in the name of Marshal Rocherio that all civilians in Crete would not be held accountable for the war, and that the residents who reported the rebels and assisted the "Qing Jun" side of the Imperial army could also receive a large amount of material rewards from the Empire.

Most of the inhabitants of the inner city began to think calmly, joining the army and fighting a battle with little hope for the royal family, and standing by in the war, not only surviving but also possibly having the opportunity to rise to prominence.

This choice was not difficult to make, and soon, after five or six days, many young men began to evade military service for various reasons, and even in the army, many deserters appeared in these two days.

The situation had already alarmed the upper echelons of the defenders, but the Iliad royal family only showed lukewarm concern, and Elder Liched stayed at home for the past two days, as if nothing had happened in the city, only the rebel commander Garg, who assisted the royal family in defending the city, was very anxious, and was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot.

"These things are too big a blow to morale! Elder, the morale of the army is now fluctuating, except for those holy warriors who followed us into the city before, deserters have appeared in all parts of the city defense army. Calg clutched a pile of crumpled leaflets in his hand, and reported the military situation to Elder Liched in frustration, "And the soldiers that the royal family promised to help us are not in place at all, my elder, we are afraid that we will not be able to fight anymore." ”

"I know it's bad, Garg, but the true God is with us, and He will bless us for our final victory!" Elder Liched looked calm and composed, "Have you forgotten what we came here for the first purpose?"

Garg was stunned for a moment, then turned his worries into joy, "Elder, are you saying that the Ancient Magic Array has been repaired, and Lord Prophet will soon be able to teleport the most elite holy warriors over?!"

"Well, it's almost fair to say, there's still one step to go, the ancient magic array can be repaired, and when the time comes, the situation of the Iliad will be completely reversed!" Lihid's eyes seemed to have a gleam.

"Elder, I am relieved when you say this, after all, most of the residents of this Cretan city are believers of the true God, as long as the messenger of the prophet arrives, I am not afraid that they will not join the holy war!" Garg couldn't help but let out a long breath.

"But don't be too happy, the royal family doesn't plan to fall to our side at all, they just want to profit from both ends, and although Bella VII is not satisfied with being a puppet monarch, he will definitely not dare to really offend the St. John's Empire, but, you know, many of the generals of the city defense army are devout believers in the true God. Liched deliberately lowered his voice, his words barely emotionally tinged at the moment.

"I see, Elder. "On the occasion of the arrival of the messenger of the prophet, we need to purge the city of the heathen in time......" he smiled grimly and slowly drew his saber, "to show his devotion to the true God!"