The evening sun shrouded the hillside. The harsh winter has long since ended, and the temperature is getting warmer day by day. Under the imperceptible blowing of the spring breeze, the flowers and trees on the whole land have pulled out new shoots, and the surroundings are full of a tender green full of life.

But at this moment, an aura of dark magic that was incompatible with this vitality was hanging over the hillside. Even the spring sun is powerless to drive away this haze. Through this layer, there is a dark magical energy like a faint black mist, and you can clearly see that this is a military camp.

However, compared to the energetic and crowded human camp, this camp is dead silent, with no sound, no traces of human activity, and no external defensive measures such as fences, trenches, horse barricades, and breastwork built by normal military camps. The main reason why it is said that this is a military camp is that there are groups of silent sentinels passing by from time to time on the periphery. From afar, the silent sentinels could be seen clad in rusted armor and shimmering blades in their hands.

But even this kind of guards who keep moving around reveal an inexplicable lifelessness.

At the top of the hillside, there is a medium-sized tent with a flag fluttering on the side of the tent with a red dragon-shaped pattern on it. In Sivania, no one can mistake this pattern. This is the blood dragon banner of the vampire Aerufat.

At this moment, he and his undead legion were stationed here. Not far away, it is the valley that connects Sivania to Ryan proper. This road in the middle of the valley has now become the front line of the war. The undead army and Ryan's army were stationed in two parts of the valley at the moment, facing each other four days apart, preparing for this inevitable war.

In the middle of this tent, a very small meeting was taking place at this time. There were actually only two people in attendance, Ashrufat and Eric.

For Ashrufat, it was a helpless result. In fact, he also hopes to gather a group of capable subordinates here to give advice and express opinions on the current situation. But in reality, of all his subordinates, Eric is perhaps the only one with strategic vision and military literacy. Because he was once a general. Almost all of the dark mages possessed a unique sense of tactics and sharp judgment in skirmishes. However, almost none of them have experience in large-scale wars, especially the combat experience of tens of thousands of troops, let alone the ability to observe war situations.

Both of them were looking through the information that had been gathered from various places.

"It's not good. This is the conclusion that Eric came to after reading various letters, reports and analyses. "The Ryan people not only have the upper hand in quality, but also in quantity. ”

The war with the Binzu some time ago can be said to be the best touchstone for the combat power of the undead legion. In general, the combat effectiveness of the undead legion is weaker than that of the human army. There are two important points, the first is that the undead are good at melee combat, but they lack long-range attack capabilities, and they are easily killed by heavy fire before engagement. The second is that although the undead do not know how to fear and retreat at all, it is precisely because of this that they do not know how to avoid danger. This makes them always vulnerable to casualties on the battlefield. Especially when the battle situation is unfavorable, the undead will ignore the enemy's advantage and rush directly to die, instead of choosing to temporarily retreat to avoid the enemy's edge and look for opportunities to fight back like normal humans. Without the support of magic, it would be difficult for the undead legions to compete head-on with the well-armed human army.

"It's like that's how bad it is. Ashrufat replied.

"What do you think, Duke, or what do you think your chances of victory are?" said Eric, turning his attention to the map spread out on the table. "You can't let them go through the valley. If you go through the valley...... Then you are giving up your only advantage. ”

"Hmm. Ashrufat agreed. "If they get here...... On a battlefield where the army can be fully deployed, they have a great advantage. Their army was armed with a Tempest Cannon, which I had heard...... It can shoot a dozen or even dozens of shells at a time...... A single Tempest Cannon can even destroy a medium-sized phalanx. ”

"I've heard of it too, but it seems to be rumored that this weapon is not very stable and prone to explosions...... "Eric mused. "If I were to say it, I could only choose to be in the valley, that is, to arrange the battlefield along the main road. Otherwise you don't have any chance of winning. Once they have made their way through Sivania and set up battle formations in the field, even an idiot commanding an army can be victorious. All he had to do was give the order to let his cannons, whether they were Tempestal Cannons or not, shoot at ranged units like musketeers and archers!"

Eric reaffirmed his opinion. "Only this valley...... The narrow terrain made it impossible for superior forces to deploy, and the crowded formation also made it impossible for soldiers to alternate between front and back...... That's how you have a chance. ”

Eric unknowingly uses the word "you" to make Aethrufat realize that the old soldier doesn't actually see him as someone "on his side." Of course, in fact Eric has agreed to play for him. Now, if Eric falls into the hands of the church, he will never be able to escape the charge of "betraying humanity and taking refuge with vampires".

"But you don't have the strength to deal with this path. Eric didn't realize what Ashrufat was thinking, and he frowned. "The last time you won through this path, but this time...... This is your door...... If I were a Ryan, then I would definitely ...... Pick an elite team of Elite Movers and attack from this path into the depths of Sivania. You'll have to dedicate enough troops to defend this area! Dividing this special force will have little effect on my combat power. And if you divide this defensive force, you can cause a significant attenuation of strength. ”

"I'm not worried about that. Ashrufat replied. "In fact, I want them to do that. ”

His confident tone surprised Eric slightly.

"You've got a force in the middle of the road, and you're going to make a head-on attack?" asked Eric. "You have two options, either you have a large force, but this is a big debuff to your frontal troops. Either you have to prepare an elite army that is fast and mobile, but this is ...... The frontal battlefield has become a serious problem again. He shook his head, no way. It's stupid to think. The Undead Legion lacks qualified commanders, and all the dark mages do not have the ability to command thousands of undead creatures at once. If the vampire were going to let him come, he wouldn't command such a strange army.

"I'm going to command it myself!" replied Ashrufat.

"Then the frontal battlefield ......"

"Both!" replied Ashrufat. "My idea is very simple, just rely on Mimilu!"

"Mimilu?" Now that Eric knew of Mimilu's existence, he even deduced that Ashorufat was able to drive straight into the country with a group of rabble's greenskins, largely relying on the help of the "half-beasts".

"The trail is rough and difficult to walk in places. Ashrufat explained. "If the army goes this way...... It takes about six days, and the fastest can be four days. When they get out of the path, they must pause and set off for the nearest city. By the time they reached the city of Meno, it would take three to five more days. In other words, it will take them a total of ten days!"

Eric didn't answer. Ten days, it's about the same. Eric walked the trail, knowing how bad the trail was, and ten days was a conservative calculation.

"If I were to start from here, leave behind the slow-moving troops, and lead the cavalry on a rapid march day and night, it would probably take about seven days to reach the city of Meno. Ashrufat continued. "In other words, as long as I get the news, I can stop them under the city of Meno. I was sure of this battle, because in order to go this way, the Belcelluillgrudge had to abandon heavy equipment such as artillery, and the number of people should not be too large. ”

"Then the enemy attacks in front of ......"

"Resist, just hold them back. I will return in time. "Eshurufat knows that he has another trick, which is to use the teleportation system in the Dark Castle. After he annihilated the Troop Force, he was able to return to the frontal battlefield in a very short time.

"I see. "The mountainous area between Sivania and Ryan is an extremely difficult obstacle for almost any person who walks on his legs, but that doesn't include the Half-Beasts. "As long as ......"

"Mimilu can monitor this trail. If you want to talk about one or two pedestrian spies, even Mimilu is difficult to detect. But when it comes to an army of thousands of people, Mimilu will definitely not be mistaken. Ashrufat said. "The Legion will cross the path safely and reach the foot of Meno City, and then I will be waiting for them there!"

He thought back to the whole plan again and chuckled. There shouldn't be a problem, and he's very confident in Mimilu's ability. There is also no gap in time for the other party to take advantage of...... Although this victory cannot change the balance of strength between the two sides, it will definitely be a blow to the enemy. The Ryan will be more cautious and more careful, that is, the more time it will take, making it much more likely that the war will drag into the summer.

That's how it should be...... He looked up at the outside of the tent. Although he couldn't see it, he knew that Mimilu must be standing between the mountains at this moment, at the top of a mountain that was too steep for humans to climb, looking at the movement of the entire valley.

......

"Hey, it's boring......" Mimilu crouched on the top of a mountain, yawning out of boredom. At her feet was a mountain that looked like a pinnacle. If humans want to climb such mountains, they must be specially trained and equipped accordingly. But for Mimilu, climbing this place is no different from walking up a flight of steps.

The strange thing that Ashrufat had given her was hidden in a small hole nearby. Her mission is simple, whenever she sees an enemy, she will use that strange thing to notify her master.

But for now, it seems that those people have no intention of going down this path. Mimilu blew the wind here for two days, but found nothing but bugs flying around. It must be said that there are a lot more bugs in the mountains than in the castle - there are no such damn knick-knicks in the castle at all.

Hey, it's all to blame for those guys, who actually put a whole bunch of lasso traps in the camp. Mimilu immediately understood that the other party was already on guard, and then Ashrufat sent her to monitor the mountains.

It is impossible for a human army to march at night in such a mountainous area. It's getting dark, and Mimilu will soon be able to go to sleep.

Mimilu's cat-like ears suddenly moved, because she heard something that she shouldn't have heard in the mountains—it was the neighing of horses. Although the voice was faint, Mimilu was sure that she was not mistaken.