It was dawn and darkness.

With last night's withdrawal, Demir led his army with little rest and retreated all the way to the east.

Although it succeeded in merging with the 50,000 troops that came from the follow-up support.

But thinking of the terrifying firepower of the Prince's Army, Demir couldn't help but feel a little more worried in his heart.

The problem now is that Noxus seems to have no means at all to deal with this level of firepower.

"Has Nashat come back?"

He rolled over and dismounted, and asked the adjutant.

It's been a day since Nashat led his army out, and according to the time, they should have sent information by now.

Now the only thing he can count on is Nashat.

If he succeeds in raiding another German army, he will have a chance to suppress the prince's army by attacking from both sides.

As soon as the words fell, I saw a blue-winged bird flying rapidly in the sky, and then stopped on the shoulder of a man.

It had a message strapped to its leg, apparently from Nashat's side.

Without thinking much about it, Demir stepped forward, took down the letter, and then spread out his eyes and put it on it.

Just when he saw the first line of words, his whole body was like a huge blow, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

Seeing this, the surrounding adjutants had a bad premonition.

"The German army set up an ambush in advance, and our army suffered heavy losses, and Lord Nashat died."

Demir read this sentence in a daze, and his mind was full of impossibility.

How so?

How could the German army set up an ambush in advance?

How did they know?

Nashat is also dead, he has followed him for many years, won so many battles with him, and died so suddenly today?

He continued to look down.

"Our army lost more than 70,000 people in battle."

This number looks extremely dazzling, 70,000 people, in less than half a day, all died.

Demir's hand unconsciously strained and continued to look down.

"It is suspected that Demacia has the means to interrogate in an extremely short period of time."

Demir read this sentence again, only to feel a chill in his heart.

This is the only way to go.

Over the years, he has fought so many battles that there have been almost no errors in judgment.

This time is the same, according to his judgment, Nashat led the army, just in time to meet another German army, if the other party did not get the news in advance to set up an ambush, then Nashat's victory rate is very great.

Even if these German troops are armed with heavy gunpowder weapons.

Demir finally realized that he had miscalculated, and Demacia's preparations for attacking Noxus were far more adequate than he imagined.

If Demacia really had this kind of means of rapid communication, then it would be almost impossible for Noxus to win Demacia in the battle of poor information.

Although it has not been confirmed, Demir knows that they can't afford to gamble.

The direct loss of 70,000 troops in this battle, while Demacia had almost zero casualties, this huge difference in battle loss ratio is extremely terrible in history.

"Send a message to the Immortal Fortress and report all the information we have learned. This is too important to be mistaken! ”

Demir handed the letter to the adjutant, his clenched fist slowly loosened again, his eyes full of unwillingness.

In the face of Demacia's offensive, he couldn't think of a way to deal with it.

At the same time, he also knew that because of his misjudgment, the Immortal Fortress would probably be punished.

"General, what about these people?"

An adjutant stepped forward and questioned Demir.

Those who have redeemed are still in the ranks, numbering tens of thousands.

The Immortal Fortress meant to make them cannon fodder, and now these people can only obey Demir's orders.

Far away, Demir's gaze swept over the faces one by one, and he sighed: "Let them go east, away from the war-torn land." ”

This order is tantamount to letting these people go.

These people are the people of Noxus, and they naturally have the right to flee for their lives in times of war.

Even if Demir could force them to act as cannon fodder, to deceive as many shells as possible from the Prince's Army.

But what's the use?

Seeing the power of the artillery with his own eyes, Demir knew that this was just a way to brush up on Demacia's achievements.

The real war had to be left to them.

It's just that how to deal with Demacia next still makes Demir very worried.

"We can't go head-to-head with it, we can only retreat all the way, delay as much time as possible, and wait for news from the Immortal Fortress."

Demir sighed again and gave the order.

Now the firepower of the prince's army, going head-to-head with it, is tantamount to asking for hardship.

Five days later.

Immortal Fortress.

An expedited message from the border was sent straight into the conference hall.

On the throne, Darkwell listened with a somewhat gloomy face as he slowly read the contents of the letter from the informer.

The surrounding ministers also frowned when they heard this, and their expressions were serious.

Judging from this urgent letter, the situation on the western border is much more serious than they imagined.

"We underestimate Demacia too much! They dared to come, apparently well prepared! ”

"No wonder they dare to trade prisoners of war as soon as the war starts, gunpowder in hand, and they are not afraid of how much cannon fodder there is."

"And the prisoners of war they traded were all old, weak, sick and disabled, women and children."

"Demir was still sloppy, losing 70,000 troops in one night."

"What should I do about this?"

After listening to this, the ministers kept talking loudly, thinking that the good news sent back, but they didn't want it to be bad news.

Demir's first battle was so badly beaten.

However, after listening to the contents of the letter, they knew that Demir was probably not to blame.

He can indeed be more steady, but no matter how steady, he is still facing Demacia's heavy gunpowder.

The combat power of the two sides at the moment can be said to be not on the same level.

While they were still shooting with bows, crossbows, and catapults, the opponent could already shoot with cannon fire, and the power of any cannonball could crush the catapult.

More importantly, looking at the information on the letter, the number of artillery prepared by Demacia this time is difficult to estimate.

Not to mention, they also have another weapon at their disposal, firearms.

Darkwell asked in a deep voice, "What about our gunpowder?" How far has the R&D go? ”

A minister stood up and said, "It's still in the testing stage, and there are still a lot of unstable factors. It is indeed more powerful, but it is extremely easy to damage, and the range is not long enough, and there is a risk of exploding. ”

Noxus, as a country that relies on invasions to eat, naturally learned about gunpowder as a weapon early.

It's just that the technology he snatched is not mature after all, and Darkwell has great ambitions to develop more powerful and long-range gunpowder weapons.

In fact, in the most recent phase, he had sent troops to invade Ionia, and had already begun to use an artillery technology stolen from Bilgewater.

In some places, the method of stealing from Zaun has been tried.

The latter is more destructive and powerful, but the cost is also huge, and even the user itself will devour, which can be described as injuring the enemy a thousand and losing a thousand, and the damage to the geomorphological environment is far beyond expectations.

At present, there is no point in continuing to transform research and development, so the focus of ordnance research and development has always been on gunpowder.

They followed Bilgewater's method and added their own ideas to try to create a more powerful type.

However, there are still many problems.

Unexpectedly, it was now knocked on the door by Demacia with new gunpowder technology.

You must know that Demacia is recognized as arrogant and withdrawn in the Land of Runeterra.

However, they do have the ability to be arrogant, and they easily do not interact with the outside world, whether it is trade or otherwise, and are almost isolated from the world.

Gradually, many parts of the Runeterra also referred to Demacia as 'isolationism'.

However, it is not an exaggeration to say that such a lonely place is backward in information, but it has the cutting-edge gunpowder technology.

At this time, recovering from his thoughts, Darkwell looked at the minister who had just spoken, and said lightly: "What I want to hear is not this, you just need to tell me, can it stop Demacia's offensive?" ”

The minister hesitated for a moment and nodded: "If you don't consider the risks, it should be able to compete with Demacia's artillery." We can also settle for the next best thing and use ordinary artillery. ”

"That's good." Darkwell nodded, and ordered, "Both, make them in batches, and quickly ship them to the border." ”

The minister wanted to speak and stopped, but after thinking about it, he lowered his head: "Yes." ”

There's really nothing left to do right now.

Although it is said that its own artillery is risky, if it is not activated, it can only watch Demacia continue to bombard the city of Noxus.

Enabled, and maybe be able to compete with it.

Looking at the ministers below, Darkwell asked, "What about Kree?" Did you find him? ”

Soon a minister replied: "His traces have been found at present, and I believe that they will be found soon." ”

"Once found, tell him to go to the battlefield quickly." Darkwell nodded slightly and continued to ask, "Where is Demacia now?" ”

One of the ministers replied, "At the present pace of Demacia's march, they have just passed the city of Bruan, and in less than half a month, they will probably reach the borders of Grovet." ”

Darkwell was thoughtful when he heard this, and then ordered: "Inform the Academy of Magic, and ask them to send an additional team of mages to support the border city." ”

There is a magic academy in Noxus that specializes in magic, and every year it recruits mages from the private sector at a high salary.

Naturally, there are quite a few mages who have joined over the years.

Although Demacia is famous for its forbidden magic, and there are strange stones such as the 'Forbidden Magic Stone' that can resist magic, this does not mean that they are not afraid of magic at all.

It is no exaggeration to say that a powerful mage can defeat a warband on the battlefield.

So, it is still necessary to send them over.

After thinking about it, Darkwell continued to order: "Expand the recruitment efforts, and send another 100,000 troops to support the border in twenty days." ”

In fact, the recruitment of troops in each city has already begun, and part of the follow-up support is the current recruitment.

Continuing to expand recruitment now means they need more people to fill them.

At this time, a large part of the army was on the way to invade Ionia, but depending on Darkwell's intentions, he still did not intend to take it back.

Many ministers thought about it, but they still didn't speak after all.

Because they know that even if they say it, it's useless.

What they had to say, Darkwell must have thought of it, but he didn't do it, and the answer was already stated.

The Noxians are not averse to recruitment, because there are periods when the average person is not easily able to enlist.

After enlisting in the army, it means that there is a chance to soar, and every Noxians have a dream to become the next Darius.

But what is the situation now?

The recruitment did not start when Demacia called, but it has been continuing, but the intensity has been increasing.

Because many places have to use people, southeast and northwest.

Every year, tens of thousands of people with dreams join the army.

However, at the moment when Darkwell insisted on attacking Ionia on the one hand, and recruiting a large number of troops to intercept Demacia on the other side, it was like filling a hole, so in the past, the voices of the people who were already dissatisfied will only increase.

However, these things, in Darkwell's view, are not important.

It only takes one political achievement to flatten the voices of discontent.

He attacked and defended at the same time, whether it was the capture of Ionia or the defeat of Demacia, it was a merit.

Make one piece, and you can gag those mouths.

Besides, this is where Demacia is now.

They broke through the western defenses, and now they were probably on the border of the city of Bruan.

And this area, in the vast territory of Noxus, is like a small thumb.

It's just a loss.

Converted to proportion, it may not even be one-thirtieth.

And this is because they played a poor information and attacked too quickly, so Noxus was a little unable to react.

Now that Noxus is ready, Demacia will naturally not be so easy.

To put it bluntly, Darkwell admits that Demacia is a threat at the moment, but it is less important than the invasion of Ionia.

He has now sent more troops, activated the gunpowder that is being developed, and sent a special team of mages.

Suffice it to say that he has begun to take this matter seriously.

And Darkwell is not the only one who has this kind of idea at the moment.

Including some ministers, they still think that although they have temporarily suffered at the hands of Demacia, it is because they have not yet taken it seriously completely.

Noxus has dominated the Runeterras for so many years, when has he been wronged?

One of the ministers stood up and said, "If these gunpowder weapons brought by Demacia this time can be captured, it will still be of great help to us." ”

"Yes, gunpowder is more powerful than normal cold weapons, and most importantly, it is something that can burst into great power in the hands of ordinary people."

Another minister stood up: "If we can master this technology, it will be a big improvement for us." ”

Runeterrae has extraordinary power, but it is only a small number after all, and not just anyone can enter and exit the enemy army.

Gunpowder may not pose a threat to some powerful people, but at this time it is not as good as cold weapons.

However, on the battlefield with a large number of people, the power of gunpowder is manifested.

This is something that ordinary people can control, no special training is required, most people can master it quickly, and it can be manufactured in batches.

Although I don't know why Demacia's gunpowder technology suddenly improved so quickly, this battle, if you can capture the opponent's gunpowder weapons and study them, it will still be very helpful to Noxus.

The ministers were constantly discussing and discussing.

In their opinion, this Demacia march is probably about to end in Grovet.

The next thing they have to think about is how to fight back.

Not surprisingly, Demacia was still sending troops at this time, stationed all the way to the city they had breached.

And how to regain these lost territories is the next thing they have to consider.

(End of chapter)