On the other side of the battlefield, Emperor Frederick I of the HRE was dragging his still ill body to the front line to inspect the situation of the battle, and his right-hand man Marshal Wallenstein was still by his side.

The battle in the night sky is still fierce, and the magic of the two sides is constantly blooming like bright fireworks. Judging from the scene, the HRE army, which has air supremacy, has a lot of advantages, while the Pera defenders can only fall into a passive counterattack. After a long period of continuous bombardment, the magic shield on Mount Ajid has been weakened by Yanzhòng, and many of the defenses on the position have also been damaged.

However, this huge fortress still stands, and the defenders of Pera stubbornly resisted, and the heavy magic cannons on the position counterattacked one after another, although it was difficult to directly hit the floating ships that were constantly moving in the sky, but many ships were also wounded in many places over time. As for the elite assault troops on land, the casualties were even heavier, the dragon knights of the Teutonic Knights retreated to rest because of excessive losses after breaking through the first two defensive lines, and even William III, the son of the Grand Duke Albrech, the chief commander, was accidentally hit by the opponent's magic cannon and was not lightly injured.

Not far away, the makeshift camp for wounded soldiers was crowded with a large number of wounded soldiers who had been rescued from the battlefield, and some clergy members of the army were scrambling to help them heal. However, the number of people participating in the rescue was obviously insufficient, and everyone was already very tired from the long war, their divine power had greatly decreased, and the medicine was also extremely scarce, so they seemed to be in a hurry.

Screams and wails continued to be heard, and Frederick couldn't help frowning, and he coughed lightly and asked Wallenstein, "Aiqing, it seems that the night battle is not good for us. The casualties of the soldiers are getting heavier and heavier, why don't you stop for a while and continue the attack early tomorrow morning?"

The field marshal sighed and said, "Your Majesty." It's not that I don't want to be sympathetic to the soldiers, but tonight is probably the key to the war, and I must grit my teeth and lay down this hard bone in front of me in one go!"

The Emperor glanced at Wallenstein and asked with a little surprise, "What do you mean...... The time for the other party to break through is tonight?"

Wallenstein nodded, "That's right. Judging from all indications, the other side is ready to break through, and the troops responsible for the broken rear are holding on to Mount Ajid. This is the strategic core of the entire city of Pera, and the enemy will definitely do everything in his power to hold this subsequent position. And as long as we take Mount Ajid, it will not only mean that we will take the whole city of Pera. They can also take advantage of the momentum to pursue their breakthrough troops from behind, and they will definitely be able to annihilate their last main force in one fell swoop under the front and rear attacks! It was impossible to cross this obstacle to pursue the enemy, and could only watch the other side break through and regroup in the south. ”

Frederick was silent, the siege of Pera by the HRE and Nicene armies was not invulnerable. Although they have several times the enemy's army. However, in the face of the very solid defense of the city of Pera, it is necessary to encircle it on three sides and mobilize troops to attack it at the same time, but the troops are still overstretched. In particular, to the south-west of the city of Pera, it was located at the end of the encirclement, at a distance from the main army, and at the same time a prominent point between Pera and the southern states. From the topography, the HRE army did not have an advantage here, and had to face reinforcements from inside and outside the city at the same time, and suffered the most casualties in the siege of the city in the past two years.

The enemy's infiltration forces constantly sneak in for sabotage. Reinforcements from the southern city-states launched several major offensives to break the encirclement, where the two sides fought and suffered heavy casualties. During this period, HRE sent troops to reinforce the area many times, but they failed to completely consolidate the battle line. Up to now, the position here is still full of holes, although it can barely prevent the southern army from entering the city, but because the enemy is more familiar with the local terrain, it is often difficult to completely intercept the infiltration, reconnaissance and smuggling of materials by some small forces.

After determining that the defenders of Pera were ready to break through from here, Frederick decided to send his royal brother, Prince Eugen, to lead reinforcements again, but despite this, it was still uncertain whether he could intercept the enemy's desperate breakthrough. In case the enemy's main force really succeeded in breaking out of the encirclement, it would be able to gather reinforcements from the south and gain a foothold in the extremely difficult terrain of the Tianqian Hot Spring Pass Fortress, while it would be difficult for the HRE to continue to send a large army south without completely stabilizing the rear.

Once the enemy regroups at the Thermosense Pass, they will have an absolute terrain advantage, sufficient troops, and rear support at any time, and their defensive capabilities will be greatly increased. On the contrary, the combined forces of the HRE and Nicaea forces had to stretch their battle lines and once again fall into the quagmire of long and arduous siege warfare under extremely unfavorable conditions! This situation must not happen, and the treasury of the HRE has been depleted and can no longer support a long-term large-scale war.

But if he can lead the army to capture Mount Ajid in front of him, the enemy's last line of defense in the city will be lost, and every difficulty will be solved, and the rear door of Pera's main force for breakthrough will be wide open, and the whole army will be wiped out under the pursuit of the HRE army from the back. At that time, the battle situation will be completely in your hands, and the small city-states in the south will be leaderless, and they can be easily defeated one by one!

In this way, the empire will no longer have an opponent in the Balkans, and its strength will be greatly strengthened. And his own prestige can completely subdue the unruly big feudal lords in the country, and even the Holy See of the Bright Sky Sect does not dare to point fingers at him anymore!

Thinking of this, Frederick I gritted his teeth and said to Wallenstein: "Your Excellency Marshal is right, we must take Mount Ajid in one go! However, the defense here is strong and easy to defend and difficult to attack, even the elite of the Teutonic Knights led by His Excellency Count William have also returned, I think that if we really want to take this place, I must personally lead the army to attack, so as to inspire the soldiers to charge bravely without fear of death!"

The marshal was taken aback when he heard this, and hurriedly persuaded: "Your Majesty, please don't be impulsive, the injuries on your body have not healed yet, in case of another accident, I am afraid that not only will it not be able to boost morale, but it will give the enemy a chance!"

The emperor shook his head and said, "What you said also makes sense, but now is the critical moment, and there is no way to take risks." Otherwise, according to our current progress, we don't know when we will have to lay down Mount Ajid, I'm afraid it will be too late by then!"

(To be continued......)