After almost an hour of fast horses, the remaining hundred or so professionals of the Dragon Temple finally rode back to Rhea City. It is a miracle that this more than 100-mile road was completed in less than an hour with horsepower. During the whole process, although everyone brought a reserve horse and took turns changing horses along the way, many people still ran to death.

Panting and puffing, Frank led his team back to the city first, turned over and dismounted, but his poor horse was foaming at the mouth, rolled his eyes, and fell to the ground.

But Frank couldn't care about that much anymore, and he ran straight to the army headquarters in the city. And the professionals who followed behind also rode back to their respective temples to prepare for the battle.

"How's the situation, Roque? The orcs are coming soon. Frank ran back to the command in a frenzy and asked.

"Hall Master Frank, you're finally back!" Roque, the commander of the garrison of Rhea City, strode towards Frank and gave a military salute. His face was also ugly, he took Frank to a map of the imperial border, pointed to the location of Rhea City, and said: "Hall Lord, you see, our Rhea City is behind the Cecilia Mountain Range, originally it stands to reason that the Cecilia Mountain Range is our natural barrier, and the orcs generally attack from the only gap Fengshen Pass, so the emperor ** put most of the troops there." Although Rhea City is also an important border town, because of the natural protection of the Cecilia Mountains, there is only one regiment of troops in Rhea City. However, there are 30,000 orcs, and it is really difficult to resist. ”

The army of the Holy Dragon Empire is roughly divided into several units: cavalry, squads, battalions, regiments, divisions, regiments, and combined legions. The cavalry is fifty men, and it is generally a formation unit adopted by the scout cavalry team. And the first team is 100 people, the 10th team is a battalion, the 10th battalion is a regiment of 10,000 people, and when it comes to the division, it is the combat unit of the large corps. A division consisted of five regiments, plus logistical transport, for a total of about fifty-five thousand auxiliaries. Further up is the largest single unit, the Legion. A regiment of regular combatants totaled 200,000 and consisted of four divisions. And if you count the auxiliaries and logistics transportation, it adds up to about 220,000 people. As for the Combined Legion, it will only appear in a real big war, and the Combined Legion will be formed by at least two legions, with a total of hundreds of thousands of troops. A combined legion of this size has not appeared many times even in the history of the entire Holy Dragon Empire. The biggest legion alliance was the Battle of the Ancients a thousand years ago. In the War of the Ancients, humanity had a million-unit combined legion composed of five legions, and it was for this reason that humanity was able to win when the alien alliance was suppressed in terms of strength and number of strong.

So far, there are a total of five legions in the territory of the Holy Dragon Empire, and the strongest legion is recognized as the Red Flame Legion guarding the northern frontier. Due to the long-term defense of the frontier and the frequent attacks of the orcs, the Red Flame Legion is often on high alert. And the constant collision has also honed the Red Flame Legion into the most powerful of the four main battle legions except for the Imperial City Guard. The remaining four legions are the Imperial City Guards Legion, which is responsible for guarding the Imperial City and the Central Province, the Southern Thorn Legion, which guards the Southern Sea Frontier, the Central Legion, which is responsible for guarding the hinterland of the Empire, and the Thunder Legion, which is the frontier reserve. At this time, the three regiments of the First Division of the Thunder Legion were stationed in Rhea City. Among the five major legions, except for the Imperial City Guards, the rest are all full. The Imperial City Guards only guarded the central provinces, so they were not fully staffed, with only two divisions of about 100,000 troops. But because it is to protect the imperial city, the equipment training of the guards has always been the best. and was given the name of the Legion, and the Captain of the Imperial City Guard has always been a descendant of the Imperial Family, and will be awarded the rank of Lieutenant General that can only be awarded by the Legion Commander who is the main battle legion.

In addition to this, there is an army. This army is not subject to the emperor's ** side, but is directly under the Dragon Temple, with a total of about 20,000 people. However, the combat effectiveness of 20,000 men will never be weaker than that of two divisions. Because, this army is completely composed of professionals above the fourth order. What does the fourth-order professional represent, the fourth-order is already an intermediate professional, although it may not be able to be a hundred, but the strength is needless to say. The more than 100 third-order professionals led by Frank before could be killed from tens of thousands of orcs, and what about the combat effectiveness of the 10,000-person unit legion composed of well-trained fourth-order troops?

However, no matter how strong the emperor ** team is, at present, the city can only make up more than 10,000 people, and what is coming is a menacing army of 30,000 orcs. If you have 10,000 infantry alone, you can't resist it no matter what. And once Rhea City is lost, a large area of the empire's territory behind it will be exposed to the blades of the orcs. At that time, the orcs will open a gap, and a large group of orcs will enter the interior of the empire, and then, humanity will lose its natural defenses, and at that time, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Frank pondered for a moment and said, "What about the reinforcements?

Luo Ke shook his head helplessly and said: "As soon as we received the news, we have already asked for help from the Yumen Pass Fortress and the main hall of the Dragon Divine Temple, which is closest to here, as well as the first, third, and fourth divisions of the Thunder Legion, but unfortunately, according to the news we just received, the nearest reinforcement here, the Red Flame Legion guarding the Yumen Pass, has just encountered a fierce attack from the orcs, and there is no energy to come to the rescue." The 4th Division was ordered to rush to the aid of Yumen Pass as a reserve army, and the rest of the reinforcements would take at least four hours to arrive ......"

"You mean, we're going to have to hold out for four hours?" Frank looked ugly, "It's impossible. "You know, it only takes two hours at most for the orcs to reach the city. And the orcs will definitely attack the city with all their might in order to occupy it as soon as possible. Then, they need to hold out for two hours under the full attack of the orcs before they can wait for reinforcements. And with 10,000 people in the city, it can only support one hour at most, no, even half an hour.

"No, hall master, I have a solution. A slightly immature voice came.

Frank followed the sound and found that it was a young man who looked to be only thirteen or fourteen years old and had a slightly thin body, it was Yun Xiaoyu. "Is that you?" said Frank, visibly confused. Although Yun Xiaoyu had saved him before, he didn't think that a teenager could have a way to stop the orcs.

"Yes, I have a solution, but ......"

"It's nothing, there's a way to say it quickly. Frank stared at Yun Xiaoyu with eager eyes. Although he thought it was unlikely, maybe Yun Xiaoyu really had a way?

Yun Xiaoyu nodded. He walked up to the map, nodded three points on the path of the orc army on the map, and said, "What we need is undoubtedly delay. Then, we can send troops to these three places, I have observed them on the way back, these three places are all natural hazards, and the paths there are very narrow, and only one battalion can be sent to defend them. We only need to send three battalions each, and we can hold the orcs for at least an hour......"

Frank pondered, although this could indeed hold back the orcs, but those three battalions against 30,000 orcs would definitely be wiped out. Such an approach seems to be ......

After all, Roque is a real commander of the army, and he always puts the overall situation first. He quickly calculated, and he knew about the three natural hazards. Indeed, as Yun Xiaoyu said, only one battalion can be delayed for a long time. Drag the orcs for an hour like this, and in addition to those three battalions, there are still more than 7,000 people left in the city, if you fight a field battle with the orcs, it will be absolutely useless, but it should not be a big problem to defend the city. After all, if the orcs have to overcome the natural danger, they also have to face the resistance of the triple defense line, and even if they pass, it will cost a certain amount of troops. The rest of the troops should not be enough to disperse to the four walls to siege the city after arriving at Rhea City. Put two battalions on guard of the remaining three walls, and use most of the rest of the forces to resist the frontal attack of the orcs. Five thousand people, plus the city's garrison equipment and the assistance of the Dragon Temple, should be more than enough to hold on for an hour.

As for those three battalions, for the safety of tens of millions of imperial people, they had to sacrifice them. After all, the big picture counts. Roque made a decision at once. He immediately ordered: "Inform the battalion commanders of the 3rd, 8th, and 9th battalions and ask them to immediately assemble their troops, bring all their weapons and equipment, and be ready at any time." Let them come to me again. ”

The herald answered, and immediately turned and ran away.

Frank was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Are you really decided? This is to send those 3,000 people to death!"

Roque lowered his head and said in a low voice, "If you don't do this, more people will die." His voice was small, but it was firm, and it seemed that he had really made up his mind.

Frank nodded, then turned his head to look at Yun Xiaoyu: "Your name is Yun Xiaoyu, right? You saved my life before, and I haven't thanked you yet." ”

Yun Xiaoyu smiled slightly and said, "The hall master is not polite, I believe that no matter who is changed, he will do this." By the way, the hall master, I have one more request......"

Frank smiled: "Anyway, if I repay you favors, I will try my best to be satisfied." ”

"I'm going to follow those three battalions to the front. Yun Xiaoyu said word by word.

"What! Say it again!" Frank's smile suddenly disappeared, and he slammed the table hard, "Do you know what you're talking about......?

"Go and die. I know. Yun Xiaoyu slowly picked it up: "But they are going to die because of my advice, aren't they? So, I, want, go!" Yun Xiaoyu's voice was very slow, but there was an unshakable firmness: "What's more, Teacher Yu Wuqing, still died in the hands of those guys!

Frank said with a gloomy face: "No! Absolutely not, I won't agree! Yun Xiaoyu, let me tell you, whether you go or not, you can't change the outcome of those three thousand people." No matter how many orcs you kill, your Yu Wuqing teacher will not survive! You are young, talented, and timely. As long as you survive, cultivate well, and increase your strength, you will have a chance to avenge your teacher. Your teacher doesn't want you to die to avenge him. So I'll never agree, you get out!"

Yun Xiaoyu gritted his teeth, turned around with anger, and left the room. Frank looked at his figure, shook his head with a wry smile, and left.

The red sun on the horizon gradually fell down the mountain, and the sky gradually darkened. Rhea City, a border city, is not as noisy as it used to be. Roque had already drawn a cavalry team of several hundred men from the logistics transport team and auxiliary barracks to send most of the city's population to the safety of the rear, leaving only a few young men who volunteered to stay. Anyway, it is a defense of the city, and the cavalry is not of much use, so it is better to escort civilians to a safe area.

On the other side, the three most elite battalions in the city had already brought all their weapons and equipment, left all the grain and grass and baggage, and rode the horses made up in the city to rush to the blocking point.

All the soldiers in the city received the order and nervously prepared. All kinds of defensive equipment were carried up the city walls from the storehouses. All kinds of heavy crossbows, arrows, rolling stones, and fire oil were neatly piled up at the head of the city. There were still some that were not enough, so they simply demolished the houses in the city and moved the stones to the city tower for defense. And as the top priority of defense, the main gate of Rhea City was reinforced by craftsmen over and over again.

When everything was ready, everyone sat down quietly to rest, waiting for the orcs to arrive.

......

No one knows if they will survive tomorrow.

......

"How's the defense?" a man in Imperial battalion-level armor was standing on a high place, holding the long sword at his waist in one hand as he asked the adjutant beside him.

The adjutant looked serious and quickly replied, "Battalion Commander Larry, the 1st and 2nd squadrons are cooperating with the sappers to build fortifications, and they should be almost finished by now." In order to rush for time, we abandoned all our baggage along the way, and only carried basic weapons and equipment, so we only needed to build the simplest fortifications, and time would definitely be in time. ”

"Very well, you go down. ”

"Yes!" the adjutant saluted and turned to leave.

At this time, Larry's mood was extremely complicated. In his heart, he remembered what Roque, the military chief of Rhea City, had said to him an hour earlier.

"I know, this is for you to take your people to death. However, I had to do it to delay enough. Therefore, I order you to immediately rush to the point of blockade with your battalion and lead it. Even if you fight to the last man, you are not allowed to take half a step back!"