At least two-thirds of the casualties had occurred after more than two hours of fighting, especially the Knights in Heavy Armor, which is why he stopped the battle.

Otherwise, if the fight continues, this proportion may increase several times.

From this point of view, the combat strength of the Wardsman Empire's heavy armored corps is not weak, but after all, it is not superhuman, and the continuous combat time of short legs is the biggest problem restricting them.

There are less than 500,000 steppe people left, and self-protection may be possible, but there is little hope for a strong attack.

And it was this night that decided all this.

If Philip is the commander of the steppe people, he will definitely seize this short opportunity to attack overnight, take advantage of the fact that the Heavy Armored Knights have not recovered, and then take advantage of the poor vision at night, Philip will not be able to command as his arm, and maybe there is a glimmer of hope, depending on how they choose.

But in any case, no one can deny that this is a great battle, and the danger of Gaokan City has been solved for the most part.

And the crisis of the eastern defense line has been completely resolved.

Even if there is a one percent chance that Philip and the others lose tonight's decisive battle, the remaining steppe people will not be able to cause too much trouble to the eastern defense line, and even the ordinary people in the city will not let them go.

Strategically, they have already achieved a huge advantage.

The immediate priority was to treat the wounded and to deliver the good news to the eastern defence.

When Philip rushed back to the Lion Castle to see Catherine, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, he had no idea that bad news awaited him.

"Mom, I'm back. Philip stretched out his arms and hugged his mother tightly, feeling the slight tremor coming from the body, and he had no idea but to hold it tighter.

"It's good to be back, my Bill, it's good to be back, I thought I'd never see you again. Catherine replied with tears.

Philip let go of his mother and hugged his two little sisters, he couldn't imagine what kind of nightmare would await him if he was an hour late.

Emma hugged her brother generously, her big eyes revealing a happy smile.

Little Bella disliked the stinking blood on her brother's body and wanted to struggle, but she remembered something and asked embarrassedly, "Brother, did Dad come back with you?" ”

Philip frowned, looked up at his mother, and asked, "Father is injured?"

There was only silence in his answers, including his mother Catherine, his aunt Stephanie, and Barton's old butler and his cousin Brad, who had just stepped in.

"Where's my father? Philip's brow furrowed even tighter, and a hint of gloom flashed through his heart, and he asked again.

But the answer to him was silence, and everyone lowered their heads and did not dare to look him in the eyes, except for Catherine, who sat down on the ground with her face covered, her body shaking violently, and a miserable cry coming from her throat.

Little Bella was scared and cried, only little Emma glared at her sister and then hugged her mother.

"Philip, your father ......"

"Mom, I'll talk to him. Philip, let's go out for a walk. ”

Stephanie was about to open her mouth to explain when she was interrupted by Bruce.

Philip's heart sank, but blood poured up on top of his head, and his temples seemed to burst out.

He glared at his cousin, who was close at hand, but he couldn't seem to tell the difference between distance and proximity, and Bruce's big face with blood and wounds flickered and flickered in front of his eyes.

Stunned, he was taken by Bruce's shoulders to his grandfather's study, and it wasn't until the ethereal smoke lit up that he seemed to react.

"In the early hours of this morning, the steppe people broke through the western city wall, the Marquis of Nuo was martyred, and his uncle's whereabouts are unknown. ”

"Missing?" asked Philip, who usually had only one explanation for missing on the battlefield, and that was that he had died in battle and that his body could not be found.

But he never imagined that one day, the word would be used on his father, who had only separated a few days earlier.

"Yes, I asked all those who were withdrawn from the front, and no one knows the whereabouts of my uncle.

Not in the wounded barracks, not in the temple, not in the castle.

The last person who saw him said that the steppe people had thrown down boulders and smashed down the walls, and when the ashes had dispersed, they did not see him again.

So ......"

Bruce's voice was low, and he didn't say the words the whole time, but the meaning was clearly conveyed.

The only possibility was to die in battle, because Philip believed that even if he was killed in battle, his father would not have been captured by the steppe wolf.

"Have you checked the Soul Monument?" asked Philip with the most hopeful glimmer of hope.

"No, there are too many people killed in battle, and the priest in charge of the inspection is too busy. ”

Philip looked down at his cousin, who didn't dare to look at him, and didn't say anything more, but came outside to whistle, and Arthur came running over.

At this time, Sophia, accompanied by Shi'an and others, also walked into the castle, and watched the silver figure fly into the night from a distance, looking so hasty and panicked.

In the temple, Philip met Bishop Melissa's successor, Bishop Gordon.

Compared with Melissa, who has a strong aura and a hard temperament, Gordon, who is a man, has to be kind and kind, and his temper is also very soft, I really don't know why the Southern Temple would arrange such a person to be the bishop of the military city, and the sense of disobedience is very strong.

He personally met with Philip and thanked him for all he had done for the city of Gokan.

To be honest, he was also very dissatisfied with the delay in the Southern Temple and the Sanctuary to take a stand and make a difference.

From the very beginning of the war, he had asked for reinforcements from the Southern Temple, not only more Templar Knights, but also priests of all ranks, especially medical priests.

With the resources of the temple of Gaokan City, whether it is priests or all kinds of medicines, it is barely enough to deal with a medium-scale war, but the scale of this war has far exceeded everyone's predictions, and of course, it is far beyond the load of the temple of Gaokan City.

Even if he knew that the nobles of Gaokan City, including Marquis No, were very dissatisfied with the inaction of the temple, he still knew that he was bitter.

All kinds of medicines are okay, the Southern Temple has supported several batches, and the Gaokan City Temple also has its own farm products, which can barely cope with it.

But the large shortage of medical priests was not enough for him to satisfy, so that he was a bishop who, in the middle of the war, was increasingly lacking in presence.

Not to mention the 500-member resident knights, the supreme commander is only a knight with a third-class title, and his strength is not outstanding.

This number can only maintain the law and order of the diocese, and in the face of the army of millions of prairie people, it is like a mantis arm blocking the car, and there is nothing to be done.

As far as he knew, even Leonardo Paladin, who had been frequently traveling to and from Gaokan City in the past few years and was born here, had been asked to come many times, but he was stopped for some reason.

Knowing what was brewing at the top of the temple, but being excluded from the core, made Gordon, who was only one step away from the archbishop, feel very bad.

Last night, he and his priests were even ready to be martyred.

Therefore, at this moment, facing Philip, who has a deep connection with the temple, he is both grateful and a little embarrassed.

In the face of Philip's request, Gordon personally arranged for someone to do it, and praised Matthew's bravery and strength.

Although Philip was in a position of power at this time, he did not put on an unstoppable appearance, after all, the other party was a real supreme leader of the Temple of Gaokan City, second only to the archbishop.

Although he doesn't belong to the same camp as Melissa, he is not an enemy, after all, he will join the temple in the future, and it is better not to offend people easily if it is not necessary.

What's more, Gordon has already made it clear in just a few words, and vaguely hinted that the Southern Temple may have some scruples or is planning some big move.

Whether it is true or false Philip does not pay attention at this time, and this is not something he can question at this stage, he can only wait for his grandfather Brad to come back.

From the unexpected loss of the defense line of Vera Di City to the unpredictable attitude of the temple, he believed that something else must be involved, otherwise with the domineering nature of the temple in its past, it would definitely not be able to tolerate the invasion of the steppe heretics.

After a brief conversation, Gordon politely sent off the guests, and now a large number of refugees and wounded people were gathered in the temple, and there were many chores waiting for him to deal with.

Philip followed the priest to the square, and he became the center of attention for the countless people of the city of Gokan, who had gathered here, cheering, kissing, praising and crying.

A team of Templars rushed over and helped him out of his embarrassment, led by the highest commander of the Templar Order, Morey, known as the Fierce Tiger.

He is not very old, he looks only about 40 years old, and he only succeeded Leonardo as the supreme leader of the armed forces of Gaucán City this summer.

Even if there are not many subordinates, the comprehensive quality of these 500 people is ridiculously high, and the proportion of the awakened is even as high as sixty percent, if it is filled with enough soldiers, it is an army that can be as high as several thousand.

Philip had seen clearly in the sky before, with only 500 people, he was entangled with nearly 100,000 steppe people for more than four hours, not to mention how many people were killed or wounded, and his own battle losses were only 35 people, which is already very revealing.

Philip had a lot of dealings with some of them, especially with Bass.

Morey was a warm man, and he hugged Philip and sighed with emotion about the hero's youth.

Philip is naturally very familiar with this set, even if he is worried about his father's news, but on the surface, he does not reveal a little anxious, and admires the combat effectiveness of the Knights Templar and the leadership ability of Morey.

The two tacitly touted business and separated, meaningless but very necessary.

Morey had not brought anyone up to the city wall to participate in the defense before, and he could sense the unhappiness in Philip's heart, and even if he couldn't use it to ease, he had to show a certain affinity, at least he couldn't turn his face.

But to be fair, that wasn't Morey's job in the first place, and it wasn't necessarily a decision he made, and the current pattern of the Temple of Gaokan City was a typical one of being strong and weak.