PFC Chapter 1229: The Precarious Fortress
Chapter 1229: The Precarious Fortress
Chapter 1229: The Precarious Fortress
Two cold moons were in the sky, the night wind was chilly, and the cold moonlight shone through the dark clouds that appeared and disappeared from time to time, reflecting a large fortress standing at the foot of the mountain.
This is the Ironstone Fortress, one of the important towns in the northern border of the Pars Empire and an extremely important link in its long border.
"General, they are about to attack!"
On the towering walls of the Ironstone Fortress, a scout captain crawled up to a burly middle-aged general. The moonlight reflected his pale and frightened face and a trail of blood on the ground.
He was hit by an arrow in the knee, but he still faithfully performed his duty of reporting the enemy's situation.
"This general has seen it. Although I really want you to go down and rest, every bit of combat power is extremely important now."
The burly middle-aged general nodded slightly, signaling the priest to give the scout captain a simple bandage on his wound.
The general's name is Brell, a Parsian border noble who has been guarding here for generations. He is the deputy legion commander and the current commander-in-chief of the Ironstone Fortress.
After making arrangements for the scout captain, Brell took a deep breath and walked towards the lookout tower on the edge of the city wall.
I saw countless densely packed human figures approaching rapidly from the horizon in a disorderly military formation on the opposite side of the dried-up moat below the city wall, making people tremble in their hearts with waves of fierce murderous aura.
Listening to the increasingly clear and dense footsteps, Brell forced himself to calm his mind and continued to observe attentively.
The cold moonlight reflected the unsheathed sharp blades, as well as the ferocious wolf heads with scarlet eyes, yellow fangs, and covered with gray-green fur.
"Is there at least 50,000 Jackal troops? And judging from their equipment, this is an elite force of Jackals, mixed with at least one main force legion."
Blair wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and looked around him.
There were only two thousand old and weak soldiers standing on the fortress wall, all of them looked trembling, and there was not even a longbowman who could pull a heavy bow.
Several wrinkled elderly magicians were even carried onto the turret and were trying their best to inject magic power, but judging from their shaky appearance, it was obvious that they could faint at any time.
An irrepressible atmosphere of despair was spreading wildly on the city wall. Although these weak Pars soldiers still held their posts, the fear in their eyes that could not be concealed said it all.
This is destined to be a battle that cannot be won.
Even though the iron and stone fortress was strong, it was still unable to stop the siege bridge constructed by the werewolf magicians. This was a 25-fold difference in combat power.
"I didn't expect that the other party would choose to launch an attack at this time. It seems that the other party has discovered the fact that the fortress is empty."
Blair clenched his fists tightly, dense beads of sweat were already running down his forehead, covering his determined face.
As an important town on the northern border of the Pars Empire, the Iron Stone Fortress had a total of three battle-hardened main legions and three ordinary legions stationed there. It was enough to easily deal with this army of gnolls and even had the ability to annihilate it completely.
But now, the main force here has already been transferred to participate in the war of annihilation against the Cold Flame Kingdom. After the defeat of the Unfallen Fortress, they were urgently transferred to the west to defend against the Iron Hand Islands.
"According to the letters from the generals on the front line, some of the legions were supposed to be withdrawn under the coordination of Her Royal Highness Princess Cecilia and Commander Barnett. Unfortunately, before the deployment was implemented, these two important figures were both stripped of their command authority for unknown reasons. Their whereabouts are still unknown. Even Chief Mage Antonio has disappeared without a trace."
Blair clenched his teeth, veins on his forehead showing.
If some of the legions had withdrawn, the situation would never have reached the irreversible point it is now.
The cruelty and greed of the Jackals are well known to everyone. An army of five Jackals legions is enough to easily raze this iron stone fortress to the ground. However, behind the fortress are villages that are almost entirely populated by the elderly, the weak, women and children.
The most crucial thing is that once the Iron Stone Fortress falls, the news of the lack of military forces here will undoubtedly spread quickly to the outside world.
By then, not only the gnolls, but also other barbaric races such as the lizardmen, orcs, wild boars, etc. who have been coveting this land will surely invade in a big way. I am afraid that this land will soon become a purgatory of blood and fire!
"General, what if I request reinforcements?!"
Beside Blair, a young staff officer stepped forward, his eyes widened as he said, "If there were reinforcements, this fortress would never fall. Even if it falls, we can fight to the death to buy time for the reinforcements, otherwise this land will be devastated!"
"Reinforcements? Where can we get them?"
Blair shook his head helplessly and sighed heavily.
Although he was at the border, he had a good understanding of the current situation in Pars because his family members were on duty in the imperial capital.
After Cecilia and Barnett both disappeared, His Majesty the Emperor issued a series of incredible orders, preparing to march into the Kingdom of Grimm to assist the Temple of Light in destroying the allied forces of the Kingdom of Cold Flame and the Iron Hand Islands.
However, before the exhausted army could gather, the terrible incident of countless roots wreaking havoc occurred.
Although those terrible roots soon disappeared, it was said that the Emperor also fell into a coma, causing chaos in the imperial capital.
In such an abnormal situation, how could reinforcements come to help?
As for the several fortresses around, they also have few soldiers and generals. Not to mention that it will take some time for them to arrive, and even if they arrive, they will not be able to stop such a large-scale army of werewolves.
"General, what you mean is..."
Hearing the strangeness in Brell's words, the young staff officer's already pale face lost even less color, and the staff in his hand almost fell to the ground.
"Need I say more? We'll just have to fight to the death."
Brel drew the two-handed sword from behind him, and a resolute and determined face was reflected on the polished broad sword.
He raised his sword high and encouraged loudly: "Brave soldiers, behind us is not only the land of the Pars Empire, but also the border of the human world. We must not let these brutal and greedy aliens set foot even a little bit!"
"Even if we die, we will make these bastards who covet the human race's land die on the spot!"
Brael's voice resounded through the night sky, roaring: "There are only brave men who die in battle, but no cowards who flee!"
After hearing Brell's encouragement, not only the old and weak soldiers around him, but even the pale-faced young staff officer and the scout captain whose bandages were bleeding were all excited and tightened their weapons.
"Archers and magicians, get ready. Let those upright animals have a taste of our power!"
Under Brell's command, the entire fortress quickly entered combat status, and morale also increased significantly.
While Brell and others were on full alert, the densely packed jackals under the city wall had already lined up, ready to launch an offensive.
"From the aura on the city wall, there are only about 2,000 human soldiers? The information about the city being empty is indeed true. Such a ridiculous lineup actually wants to stop my 50,000-strong army. They are really courting death."
At the core of the gnoll army, a gnoll leader with black fur and scars on his face sneered and said with contempt, "Tell the front troops to start attacking the city. This leader wants to see these stupid humans torn apart with his own eyes."
Under the command of the Werewolf leader, giant catapults were pushed out from the loose front army of the Werewolves. The launching grooves of the catapults were already loaded with stone bullets with green mist rising.
It is not difficult to tell from the color that it is obviously blessed with a corrosive spell that can penetrate armor and even flesh.
Behind the catapults, tens of thousands of gnoll light infantrymen holding round shields and short swords all had their fangs bared, and some were even drooling, obviously all ready to go.
"Are there hundreds of giant catapults?"
On the city wall, Brell looked at the enemy's formation, his body almost stiff and unable to move.
Even though they occupied the high ground, they only had a dozen magic cannons that had not yet been fully charged, and a thousand ordinary archers with limited range. Not to mention the wind magicians who could increase the range of their arrows, even the wind magic arrows had all been taken away by the main force, and they could not reach the opponent's catapult position at all.
However, the enemy's catapults could easily cover the entire city wall, which undoubtedly meant that the enemy would not even leave them a chance to resist.
After all, this fortress is only equipped with a buffer defense barrier, and with the current extremely limited number of magicians, it cannot play any defensive role at all.
For a moment, an irrepressible despair suddenly surged into the heart of the middle-aged Pars general. Facing giant stone bombs of this scale, ordinary shields were nothing but a joke.
Around Brell, the Pars soldiers were pale and some of them even had their legs trembling. They were undoubtedly facing death.
"It's a pleasant smell of despair. It's really delicious."
The corner of the gnoll leader's mouth rose, he sniffed with his slender wolf nose, and then burst into laughter.
His blood-red wolf eyes shrank, and he waved his big hand and said, "Fire, kill those humans, and make them and the villages behind them become our food!"
As the gnoll leader finished speaking, hundreds of giant stone bullets with a radius of more than one meter were fired out and whizzed straight towards the towering ironstone fortress walls.
The sound of the high-speed aircraft breaking through the air was like the scythe swung by the god of death, shaking the hearts of every soldier including Brell.
"Hahaha, arrogant human race, your doomsday has come!"
The gnoll leader's mouth was full of sharp teeth and his laughter became more unbridled.
Hearing their leader's loud laughter, the other jackals all started to howl like wolves, their faces filled with murderous intent.
Facing the corrosive stone bullets that were so close, just when Brel and others were raising their shields in vain and were ready to die in battle, a shining absolute defense barrier suddenly rose up and covered the entire fortress.
boom! boom! boom!
A violent collision sounded, and one after another stone bullets surrounded by green mist smashed hard into the translucent wall of the barrier. The broken stones scattered everywhere, stirring up waves of energy.
However, despite the shocking sound of the stone bullet, as the momentum gradually faded, the sudden absolute defense barrier remained intact, and even the light did not dim at all.
"This is……?!"
After seeing this scene, Brell, who had survived a disaster, opened his mouth wide, and could not believe his eyes. He had only seen such an indestructible absolute defense barrier on the city wall of the imperial capital!
But what is certain is that this sudden absolute defensive barrier obviously saved their lives!
"General, look!"
Before Bryer could figure out what was going on, the young staff officer's surprised voice rang out.
Looking in the direction of the young staff officer's finger, Brell noticed with surprise.
I saw a tall figure appear at the bottom of the city wall, facing an army of 50,000 gnolls alone.
Around the tall figure, a translucent purple energy barrier surrounded the air, appearing even deeper and more mysterious under the moonlight.
"A fifth-rank expert? Could this be the expert who saved us?"
Blair had already become incoherent, his eyes wide open as he asked, "This is definitely not the guardian of the Pars Empire. Who is he?"
Just as Bruel was puzzled, the soldiers around him began to cheer.
Whoever he was, he had obviously saved everyone present, and even the countless humans behind the fortress!
Needless to say, the person under the city was Lei Xiao, and the caster of the absolute defense barrier was naturally Xiao Jie.
There was only one reason why Lei Xiao personally showed up at the city gates, and that was to test his current strength.
"Gnolls? I've heard that this is a very tough race, and that they can even force Qiduo and Mia's Moon-Chasing Clan to move away from their home. So let me take a good look at how powerful you are."
Lei Xiao raised his eyebrows slightly, and Odoste instantly appeared on his palm.
Lei Xiao's mind moved, and one after another dazzling lightning bolts streaked across the sky and headed straight towards the enemy's camp.
Accompanied by a series of deafening explosions, when the dust stirred up by the thunder gradually dissipated, the hundreds of giant catapults and the dozen or so rows of werewolf soldiers behind them were all reduced to ashes, leaving only one deep pit after another still emitting thick smoke.
As all this happened in a flash, by the time the hyena leader reacted, not only were all the giant stone bombs blocked, but the catapult troops had also been completely wiped out!
"Who on earth is that? How dare he stand in front of my army alone?"
The gnoll leader's face suddenly darkened, and he said with murderous intent, "Human, no matter who you are, you and this fortress must be destroyed today!"
After saying that, the gnoll leader waved his hand, and thousands of gnoll soldiers with bloodshot eyes attacked Lei Xiao together.
(End of this chapter)