River Valley Defense.

As time passes, the autumn afternoon sun gradually becomes blazing. Such a sunny weather should have been refreshing, but the warriors huddled behind the collapsed fortifications inexplicably felt that the sun was pale and dazzling.

After a whole night of desperate struggle, they were obviously extremely tired, but the great danger that was coming at any time pressed every pore of them, making it impossible for them to sleep at all.

At this point in this kind of high-intensity war, everyone's willpower and physical strength have reached the verge of collapse, and often a single strengthening magic technique has led to a huge gap in the combat effectiveness of the two sides. At this point, the other side seems to have an absolute advantage. What's more, the Holy See's army was able to take turns resting and attacking, but Dios didn't even have a reserve left in his hands.

The line seemed to fall at any moment, but Dios still refused to give up, he leaned between several corpses, pulled away the blood-stained strips of cloth, and reworked the wounds on his body for the next wave of attacks.

Opposite him, the dwarf Hoel squatted there, looking lost.

"So, is the Green River Valley really unwilling to send troops to help?" Dios sighed and looked up. His cheeks were covered in blood.

"They say that not a single soldier can be mobilized without an order from the Grand Duke," the dwarf reproached himself, "and it is useless for me to plead with them......

"I don't blame you," Dios reached out and patted Hoel on the shoulder, soothing, "You've worked hard this time, do you need to rest?"

"No," said Hoel, shaking his head and brandishing his axe, "I can still fight." ”

"That's good, though. It's not a fight," Dios nodded and whispered, "I have other tasks for you." ”

"What? Hoel leaned over to him and asked, looking up.

'Now it looks like we're going to be able to hold on to one or two attacks at most. Dios said slowly, his voice calmly telling the doomed defeat, "Now that the Green River Valley is unwilling to support, it is only a matter of time before the defense line falls. But before then, we must withdraw the non-combatants, and I'm going to leave that to you. ”

"Good...... Wait, non-combatants withdrawing?" said Hoel, scratching his head, suddenly coming to his senses and glaring. "No, we dwarves will never be deserters! ”

"Others?" Dios shook his head helplessly, "Lord Herseus and Mr. Brooke are going to control the Magic Tower, and Cyrul has gone to the Snowton Empire for help, who else can take on this task besides you?"

"This ...... "Hoel pointed to the side, where the barbarian female warrior with a spear was resting against the battlement, and excused herself, "let her go." She's more suitable than me, and I'm not a deserter anyway. ”

"Let me go?" Bai Ji opened her eyes and glanced at him. He snorted coldly, "I'm a high-level, you're a middle-level, what's the use of you staying?"

"You-" Hoel opened his mouth, unable to say anything.

"Remember, take them into the jungle at the foot of the cast-iron mountains. Seeing that he no longer retorted, Dios commanded in a low voice, "The families of the soldiers of the mercenary group, the artisans and farmers, and the non-combatants of the mercenary group...... I've arranged it. We are gathering in the open space on the other side of the farm. ”

"Oh, okay. Hoel reluctantly stood up.

"I'll leave them all to you," Dios admonished, handing him a small wooden box, "and especially to protect Afra and the young children from wandering away in the forest." ”

"Is Afra among them?" the dwarf asked, looking up.

"Yes, so you must be careful," Dios patted him on the shoulder, "I also let them bring some more precious things, and Allegri will definitely come to you later." Remember, be cautious, what you have in your hands may be the hope for the future of our mercenary group. ”

"Well, don't worry," the dwarf nodded heavily, and as he turned to the mouth of the wall, he suddenly turned back and said, "Well...... What about you?"

"You go first, I'll break it off," Dios smiled, put the bandage on his arm hard, and stood up, "We'll go find you in the jungle, and we'll see you later." ”

"Well, definitely come back. The dwarf staggered down.

"Evacuation?" Bai Ji also stood up and said goodbye to the dwarf, her body slightly less wounded than Dios's. After all, Dios has always been at the forefront of the defence.

"Well, we have to withdraw," Dios mused, "Pakki...... Go and call the priests and chieftains of the Stone Tooth Tribe, and the Ogre Tribe would better retreat some distance as well. ”

Bai Ji walked away quickly, and Dios took a deep breath, looked at the temporary camp of the Bright New Army in the distance, and closed his eyes. He began to wonder if he had made the right decision to hold the line. He had expected that Herseus and Brook would be able to reach each other's divine attacks together, and that he would delay as long as he could, relying on his geographical advantages and his understanding of the Holy See's army. But what kind of turnaround can be delayed, even he himself doesn't know what to do.

Maybe the garrison of the Green River Valley came to flank them, or Snowton's reinforcements happened to arrive, or even something happened to the other side and they had to lead the army back. But now, the mercenary warriors he had worked so hard to train were almost dead, but it seemed that there was no way to save the situation.

Dios shook his head, reinvigorated. When such a disaster strikes suddenly, it may be wisest to retreat immediately. But now, since you have decided to stick to it, you must stick to it.

At the very least, he had to hold out until everyone in the valley had evacuated, and he only hoped that reinforcements would be brought in at that time, even if it was only one person.

"General Dios, are you looking for us?" the young priest with a somewhat tired face and the still energetic Chief Shifang greeted him along the defensive line. I don't know what the reason is, she has always called Dios "General".

"That's right, Priest, Chief," Dios nodded and explained in a deep voice, "The line may be difficult to defend any longer, and I would like to inform you that the tribe has temporarily retreated into the jungle. ”

"Hmm. I ordered it right away. The maiden priest nodded.

"I remember that before the war, there were about a thousand ogre warriors who were given equipment, right? Now, it's time to use the power of the ogre tribe.

"There are 1,100 armed warriors, and now there are more than 800 people left who can fight. The maiden priest responded.

"Tell them to remove the watchtower and prepare to deploy to the defensive line," Dios glanced at Chief Stonefang. "Does the chief have any opinions?"

Hearing the girl's translation, Chief Shiya scratched his head and patted his chest hard, looking like he had a big bag.

"The chief said that our casualties were too few compared to the other troops, and thank you to the general for taking care of them," the maiden priestess interpreted, "and the battle that followed." Leave it to us. "Now that Allegri has been attached, it is an agreed obligation to assist the defence. What's more, in the first two waves of battles, the mercenary group was almost killed and wounded, and still did not mobilize the ogre warriors to the front line, and Dios's care for the ogre tribe is obvious to all. Even if he didn't say anything, the somewhat embarrassed Stonefang Chief was about to take the initiative to apply for battle. After all, for them, the tribe is the most important thing. On the premise of protecting the safety of the tribe. They are willing to make a certain sacrifice.

Dios nodded, watching as Chief Stonefang went to deploy his warriors. Turn your head.

The maiden priest didn't go with her, hesitated for a moment and asked, "By the way, general, what about our legal professions?"

Dios frowned, the mana of these legal professions had almost been depleted. Their own physique is weak, and if they continue like this, they can only die in vain. But without their help, the battle would be even harder.

"Get out of here. Suddenly there was a faint command beside him,

"Ah...... Master Herseus?" Dios turned his face to see the old magician's figure gradually appear.

"The line of defense left only warriors and archers capable of fighting. All the others and the wounded are withdrawn," Herseus ordered, "and I will take over the legal assistance. ”

"But the other party's magic attack ......," Dios hesitated.

"It's better than if the other party hasn't launched it yet, and you're all dead, right?" Herseus snorted impatiently, "Hurry up, I have other ways to deal with the magic attack, and the other party's attack may start again." ”

Dios looked at the old mage's face and nodded silently.

It didn't take long for the horn to sound again, and squad after squad of wounded began to withdraw from the defensive line. Dios slowly ascended to the top of the city, his sword and shield striking each other, his voice hoarse. With his order, all but the warriors and archers were withdrawn and headed to the other end of the valley.

The line of defense fell silent. Dios silently calculated in his heart, six hundred ogre warriors, two hundred Anlan soldiers, three hundred and fifty mercenary soldiers, forty knights, and one hundred and fifty archers, this is all the remaining military strength in his hands.

"Deputy Commander, how long are we going to stay?" beside him, a young mercenary warrior suddenly asked.

"At this time, I don't need to say anything," Dios smiled, patted his slightly immature shoulder, looked at the warriors beside him and whispered, "Now, you are all my subordinates, and I can't tell you how long you will be guarded." But at least one thing, I'm going to be at the front of all of you. ”

He pointed to the valley behind him and continued, "This place was supposed to be our home, but we had to give it up at this time. But even if we fail, we have already paid for our relatives, our comrades, and our tribes—" he patted a smirking ogre warrior, "and we bought them time to retreat." And if we go down, even for a quarter of an hour, it's a real victory. ”

"If I have to answer your question," Dios drew his sword and sharpened it on the stone, "we'll hold it until the reinforcements arrive." ”

"And reinforcements?" the soldier said.

Dios stood up, his eyes burning, but his voice was soft, "Even if Anlan or Snowton give up on us, there is one person who, as long as he knows the news here, will definitely come immediately-"

"And we, right here, are waiting for him to come to our rescue, or to die with us. (To be continued......)

PS: (The first update, the state is not very good, please forgive me)