The shelling continued for a long, long time.

Shuge didn't calculate the exact time, he only knew that when he came out of the depths of the trench, he saw the sunset.

As Xiuge shifted his gaze down from the horizon, he saw the town of the Black Forest, which had changed its appearance.

There were not many intact buildings left for him to see in this town, and the artillery bombardment that lasted all day had created a thick cloud of magic that filled the dilapidated town, and at this time, there was no need for magic silence, because the flow of magic in this entire area had been completely disrupted, and even if magic was used, the traces created would be obscured by those fogs.

The drifting mist slowly rose from between the broken buildings, forming one strange totem after another, and the rays of the setting sun passed through these scenes, and sprinkled its own meager temperature on the broken land.

Shug didn't have much time to watch the spectacle of this massive magical bombardment, as he had to hurry to "dig the earth" now.

Towards the end of the shelling, a shell hit the trench, and the violent explosion destroyed part of the solidification ritual attached to the trench, causing a chain reaction to cause a shelter deep in the trench to collapse, burying thirty or forty soldiers of the Chasseur Regiment inside.

The urgency of time created many problems and hidden dangers in the construction of the trenches, and for the soldiers of the Chasseur Regiment, it was only the first time they had used this new type of position and fortification, and even the accompanying mages who had already learned the relevant content in advance could not do it perfectly.

While the Teresan artillerymen were resting, they had to make up for the mistakes and omissions they had made in the construction of the trenches as soon as possible.

With the operation of one magic after another, the dirt was constantly transported out, and it didn't take long for the collapsed room to be cleared, because the time was not too long, most of these soldiers survived, but there were still a few unlucky people who were crushed by the collapsed soil, and I am afraid that they had been directly suffocated at that time.

This method of death is desperate just to think about.

"Reinforcement, continue to reinforcement...... Don't save magic in these places."

Master Krautz conveyed the order: "We also need to build a temporary field hospital and ammunition warehouse in the third line of trenches, where nothing can be wronged, and if we don't want to be held accountable, we must make every ritual perfect!"

It was undoubtedly a sleepless night for the mages of the Fifth Chasseur Regiment.

Luckily, as spellcasters, their energy is much more vigorous and abundant than that of ordinary soldiers, and with the magical power supply from high-quality magic crystals and the potions provided by alchemists, they can stay high and awake for a short time.

Naturally, Xiuge didn't need these things, and with the vitality brought by the "Walking Forest", he was very full of physical strength and spirit, so he was far superior to ordinary military mages in terms of work efficiency.

However, the members of the Fifth Chasseur Regiment are also accustomed to his appearance, including those secret agents and veterans of the Ernst family.

….

They originally thought that Xiuge, as a young generation with a prominent position in the Ernst family, only came here to gild and mix seniority, but Xiuge's performance along the way was too good, and the ability he showed in some aspects made some soldiers ashamed of themselves, which made many people think that after the end of this operation, this young nobleman named Xiug Ernst was very likely to become the next batch of officers to be trained and promoted in the Kingdom of Waterl.

The sight of a large number of mages working with shovels and other tools in their hands was really shocking.

Amid the fluctuation of magical light and shadows and the constant clashing of metal and earth, Xiuge lit a cigarette, and there was no one else beside him, so he simply released the Touch of Calron, directly increasing his efficiency to the limit.

Standing alone in the dim light, listening to the voices of people coming from other places, it made Xiuge feel a little special peace.

He leaned against the wall of the trench, smoking a cigarette as he watched his mage's hand and Charon's touch at work.

The night sky in winter was very clean and clear, and the starlight was unusually bright, so Shug raised his head and looked at the night sky, he was not very interested in astronomy in the past, so he could not see the specific difference between the starry sky of Van En and the night sky in his past world, he felt that he was just looking for a sense of familiarity and peace in that clean picture.

There was a sound of footsteps at the other end of the trench, and Shug immediately reined in the touch of Calon and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

Soon, the light of a lantern illuminated Verin's figure.

She walked quietly and stood beside Shuge, her gaze lingering briefly for two seconds on the cigarette between his fingers.

But then, she said, "There's a temporary order, we need to go to Fort Black Forest tonight."

"Black Forest Castle?"

Shuge was a little puzzled: "What are you going to do there?"

"In the process of clearing the Black Forest Fort, our men found some weapons stockpiles left over from the past Deland Legion, among which are a dozen or so crystallized cannons, although they are all old models, but they are exactly what we lack now."

"Major Alfred thinks that tomorrow the army of the Delanders will begin to advance after one or two rounds of artillery bombardment, when they will find out the exact location of our position and launch a formal attack, and if our position can be supported by artillery at that time, then everything will be much easier."

As she spoke, she tilted her head, "It's time to go now, we are very short of transportation at the moment, so we may even need horses, anyway, time is pressing, let's go."

Hearing this, Xiuge had no choice but to dissolve his magic and give the tools to several soldiers of the hunting regiment who had rushed to take over his work.

Soon, a detachment quietly left the positions of the Fifth Chasseur Regiment and headed in the direction of Fort Black Forest.

This journey is not completely safe, although the road between the position of the hunting regiment and the Black Forest Fort has been cleared several rounds before, but under the current circumstances, no one can say whether the Delands will send a small force to return to such a sensitive place to carry out operations, after all, everyone knows that the results of the actions of the Fifth Chashering Regiment in the Black Forest region will determine the subsequent plan of action of the Wattel Kingdom in this area.

….

Both sides are scrambling for time, with the Fifth Chasseur needing to secure reinforcements and supplies, and maintain control of the roads along the Black Forest River, while the Deran army needs to find a way to wrest control of the vital roads and bridges before more Waters troops can come in.

Against such a background, it is difficult to say whether the Teresa will make any special moves.

However, compared to staying in the trenches to meet the artillery bombardment and charge of the Desa, the task that Hug has accepted is now very safe, and in this team, Hug has even seen veterans who are dedicated to his own safety, apparently this task is a small "favor" provided by Major Alfred and Master Clutez within reason.

Along with the team to the Black Forest Fort, there are also some alchemists, as well as soldiers who were injured in today's shelling, these soldiers are no longer able to fight in a short period of time, they will be placed in the relative safety of the Black Forest Fort for treatment, and ready to be evacuated at any time.

Many details show that Alfred and other officers are not so optimistic about the next battle that the Fifth Chaser Regiment will face, the Chasseur is not an expert in defense, and the weapons they bring are not enough for them to support a complete defensive position, however, in the current strategic plan of the Wattle Kingdom, the Fifth Chasseur Regiment also has to temporarily change its combat style and rely on defensive positions to meet enemies several times its size.

In the darkness of night, as he rode his horseback, he could see the shadow of the Black Forest Fort on the hills in the distance.

He squinted, earnestly looking at the huge castle with an aristocratic and magical aura.

It goes well with the hills and forests, and it should be very reasonable

But when Hug turned his head to look at the ruined town in the distance with a magical mist, and the river that had witnessed the roar of heavy machine guns a few days earlier, he felt that this castle was so......

Mismatched.

It looks like a signpost erected at the junction of the times, piercing and subtle.

The nearby plain should have been a vast farmland, and the soil on the Goddess Plains was very good for agriculture, and even though these farmlands were now dyed white due to the snowfall, in places where the snow was not too thick, Shuge could still see the black fertile soil that crept out from under the snow.

Seeing such soil, Xiuge was able to understand the obsession in the hearts of St. Steele's people.

Although the territory of St. Steele is vast, most of it is the frozen soil of the northern snow field, although that kind of place is rich in magic crystal mines, but it is time-consuming and laborious to mine, and sometimes it is very life-consuming...... In Xiuge's mind, there was even a conjecture that once the kingdom of St. Steele fell into a real moment of crisis, it was very likely that the first person to act on it would not be the Plains and Merlinle.

Rather, it is now its highland allies.

"If these farmlands are blown up by crystallized shells, the amount of mana in the soil will get out of control, right?"

….

"Well, yes."

Wei Lin nodded, "If high-powered crystalline cannonballs are used, then their magic explosions may even completely change the soil here."

"What a good land, it would be a shame if it were like that."

Xiuge sighed softly, but this sentence attracted a somewhat surprised look from Wei Lin.

Of course, she agreed with Xiuge's words, but she felt strange that as Xiuge, it seemed that she should not express such feelings...... Even if he was the illegitimate son of the Ernst family, he should not have had any special affection for agriculture in the past.

But considering that there were enough oddities about her friend and student, Wei Lin didn't bother to delve into and think about them one by one.

After leaving the surveillance range of the Fifth Chasseur Regiment's position, the mages in the team, including Wei Lin, deliberately called out their magic summons, and soon, these magical creatures ran or flew in different directions, and the purpose of their existence was to be able to detect the traces of magic in the area near the road.

Shug summoned the Ernst family rat swarm, which had been holding in the metal disc for a long time, and these magic rats with human will and wisdom quickly disappeared into the darkness.

As for the Ramping Rat......

Although it has been clamoring in Xiuge's spiritual world to come out for a walk, Xiuge has not done so, after all, this guy's size is really beyond the specifications of ordinary magical creatures, once it is allowed to spread joy, the movement is too big, and it is estimated that ordinary steam vehicles cannot match it.

Soon, a lot of information about a large area was passed on by the Ernst family's magical rat colony, and as these rats explored carefully, Xiuge's expression began to gradually change - the rats found many unusual traces in the close proximity to the road, and in a snowdrift, the rats even found discarded magic crystals.

It's a familiar thing, it's the waste that the casters have drained the magic from it, and the people who discarded it have done some cover-up, which means that the users of these crystals are deliberately covering their tracks.

So Shug immediately grabbed Verin, and he asked, "Do we have a mage operating alone in this area?"

Wei Lin shook her head quickly, "We only set up reconnaissance posts on the periphery of these areas, and there will be no military mages acting here alone, which is against military regulations...... Something unusual?"

So Xiuge immediately relayed his findings

Wei Lin, and at the same time, he also ordered the rat swarm to bring back the discarded magic crystals directly.

Wei Lin squeezed the crystal in her hand, and after quickly observing and sensing it, her expression immediately became serious.

"The concentration of mana is very high, it is a high-quality crystallization from the snow origin of the northern realm, and even if it is abandoned, there is still a lot of magic left in it, which is an extremely luxurious way to use it...... I'm sure it's not something we mages would do."

Zero doctors