643 The secret of the expeditionary army Part 2 (1/2)
Saleen smiled very warmly, then said, ”It's been tough on you, go and tell Aini to come look for me.”
Saleen might be smiling, but he was feeling very frustrated, ”I should have let Nailisi get ready. Damned Judikaka, disobeying my orders by giving an excuse. If I fall out with him now, I don't think the contract will produce any backlash. This intelligence is of utmost importance though. Daniel and Aini have over twenty death mages and over one-hundred death magic disciples with them, these people will be very useful on the battlefield. The Undead Soldier Spell, especially the Berserk Undead Soldier, can destroy the enemy's battle formation. It will be tremendously beneficial during the defensive efforts. Since the Holy See's soldiers cannot be manipulated, I have to inform Daniel and Aini in advance. No wonder the Holy See's army can advance so quickly, the soldiers have been infected with a fatal divine spell, it works as though they had eaten some magic medicine which caused them to be excited.”
In Qin, medicines like these were strictly prohibited from existing in a regular army, even the mercenaries did not dare consume them. Only some mercenaries in Sikeqinya would consume similar medicines to raise their offensive power in the short-term, but the price was the shortening of their lifespans. The quality of their bodies would be impaired.
Saleen never expected the Holy See to be so ruthless, the Holy See was willing to sacrifice the lives of one-hundred-thousand men in order to flatten his city. ”If I didn't build the walls first and give up on commercial development, it will be difficult for me to avert this disaster even with two grade-9 sorcerers in my team.”
A small portion of the magic nuclei and magic beast materials which Saleen hunted had gone into circulation, they were sold to businessmen. The largest share was put into the development of the city's defenses. Many magic nuclei were exchanged for finished equipment and tools such as crossbows, feather arrows, magic stone cannons, and flying puppets.
Daniel and Aini arrived at the temple, then Saleen and Narnia recounted in detail the intelligence Judikaka had contributed. Aini immediately suggested that Saleen conceal this piece of information. If the nobles learned of such a situation, the people would definitely be shaken.
Saleen nodded, ”Aini's concerns are right. I have only one Metatrin City after all. The surrounding land is less than one-thousand miles and the people are not totally confident yet. The important nobles will be fine, but if those smaller nobles learn of this news, they might abandon the city and flee. Even though they cannot escape on land, they can still travel on ships.”
Saleen might be a mage, and mages were one of the smartest groups of people around, but he also did not know how to manage a bunch of nobles.
It was also good that the three kings had returned earlier, the installations atop the city walls could be made more stable. Saleen personally visited the magic trebuchets within the city and the temporary battlements to evaluate their defensive power. He led some soldiers and did an inspection of the city entrance.
The southern walls were almost developed out of a mountain, there was a part measuring about two miles which was entirely carved out of the mountain. The next location was the sealed region. Even though similar walls were installed there, there should be no issues with the defense at all. Judikaka had been stationed there for some time and the Caucasus people lived in the south. There were almost one-hundred-thousand people living in the mountains now.
Saleen had expanded the western walls by a few miles to completely seal the accommodation area of the Caucasus people. That way, the enemy would not be able to enter this area. Even if the enemy tried to leap over the mountain they would be exterminated by the Caucasus people.
As for the defense on sea, there was the dragon skeleton warship and dozens of skeletal warships. With Truman's magic cannon positioned on the peak of the White Rock Mountain, no warships would get close. It was even more difficult for the enemy to get onshore from this location.
What made Saleen vexed was that most of his enemies would not survive until next year. These enemies could not care less about their lives. Facing such enemies, even a mage could not calculate what they would do next.
The Holy See's expeditionary army was left with about ninety-thousand men. After resting for three days at the broken-edged barrier, these people had regained their offensive power. Archbishop Nicholas was secretly pondering the current situation.
The vanguards had suffered a setback and they delivered a piece of depressing news. The enemy's city was constructed holistically and there was a town with a radius of two miles situated about fifty miles west of the city. The size of this town could contain one-hundred-thousand troops. The enemy had actually executed a field battle and attacked his vanguards.
Even though the three-thousand cavalrymen were not the main offensive force, there was an almost equivalent number of enemies present. The enemies were actually unharmed as they slaughtered their way through and they even left in haughtiness.
”In the past battles, the enemy would suffer quite a lot of casualties too, but this time around, the enemy didn't even leave a single corpse behind. This is not good news. Scouts who went neared the town were killed, they didn't manage to collect accurate information. When these scouts were two miles away, the image they observed through the alchemical binoculars depicted that this was a military town. It was totally unlike that destroyed town which I went past. The battlements in this town are made of metal! The copper battlements built by Qin people are very difficult to destroy. Even if I get personally involved, I am not too confident either. I am afraid that there might be powerful mages in the city.”
This morning, Archbishop Nicholas had summoned all the commanders of the army and legions to his tent. Using a crude map, he pointed to the newly marked western town and gave his orders.
”Besiege this town, take it down within three days.”