723 One-million gold coins Part 1 (1/2)
The anonymous town was situated on a plain where there were no tenable defense positions, it could be invaded from all directions. Usually, the offensive party would seal three of the city gates. They would then feign an attack at two doors and conducting a strong attack on one door.
If the defending party fled, it would be pursued by cavalrymen and sustain massive losses.
This was the standard strategy used to deal with an isolated city, but there were sorcerers in the city, so this method wouldn't be so plausible anymore. At the moment, the Qin people were only left with around twenty-thousand troops. If the three-thousand cavalrymen were set aside to chase the fleeing enemies, then only eighteen-thousand troops would be left. Split among the three directions, only six-thousand men would be stationed at each gate.
Even if two-thousand troops were transferred from each side to make up ten-thousand soldiers at the frontal, the camp commander would not be confident of conquering this city.
A death sorcerer was like a huge rock weighing on the heart of the Qin's camp commander.
On the battlefield, a death sorcerer was more useful than an elemental sorcerer. With sufficient high level magic nuclei a death sorcerer could summon an endless stream of spirits to partake in battle. Even though the summoned spirits would be low grade creatures, spirits at grade-2 or grade-3 were still a nightmare for human soldiers.
The most common attacks displayed by a spirit were poison, fear, ageing, corrosion, and illusion.
If there were no mages around to disperse these effects continuously, the soldiers' offensive power would deteriorate much more severely. The mages were asked to meet with the camp commander, then the commander professed his worries.
This army contained a grade-7 sorcerer, five grade-4 grand mages, and eighteen white-robed mages. As the six white-robed mages in the vanguard group were captured by the winged skeleton, the mages were very vexed.
”We don't know what the enemy will do with the six white-robed mages. It will be okay if they are used as hostages, but if they are used for death magic experiments, then those six white-robed mages will be doomed.”
This was a standoff between two armies, it was not some personal vendetta. Even if the white-robed mages had a backer they would not be able to regain their pride.
”Send someone to talk to the sorcerer.” Qin's grade-7 sorcerer said worriedly. He originally thought that this mission would be a walk in the park, so he had agreed to organize a campaign. Had he known that the enemy was a death sorcerer, he would never have participated. One would need to rely on a grade-8 elemental mage to suppress a death sorcerer even if the death sorcerer was at grade-7.
The camp commander laughed bitterly, ”How should I discuss this with them? My losses are huge, should I go apologize to the sorcerer before withdrawing the army?”
The mages knew about the worries the camp commander had. A grade-4 mage spoke up, ”In that case, we will help you to plead mercy when we return. The enemy is a death sorcerer and we had no idea about that. When the war began, we already lost three-thousand cavalrymen and over two-thousand infantrymen. If the offensive against the city is perpetuated, we will not obtain any benefits at all.”
The camp commander nodded, then said, ”Then we should attack it too to gauge the casualty rate. Great Mages, we will feign an attack at the main gates, please use your magic to coordinate with me and minimize the number of casualties. Record the battle and send it back so I can explain my case better.”
The mages did not have any good ideas. It was impossible for them to join the vanguards, their main mission was to bless the soldiers with magic. Since the camp commander had made this request, they could only agree.
A squad emerged from the Qin army, it was a low ranking officer who was leading forty cavalrymen. This squad came before the city and began hollering.
”To the people in the city, two-hundred Tanggulasi people have disguised themselves as Metatrin's soldiers and infiltrated your town, my general…”
The low ranking officer was cooking up stories and it was impossible for the winged skeleton to listen to his nonsense. A spirit archer fired an arrow and it simply penetrated the commander's skull. With a thud, his entire skull was shattered, causing white brain matter to spew in all directions.
At this point in time, Mu En spoke up. A gigantic shadow engulfed his back, forming a horrifying human face. As the man's mouth twitched, Mu En's voice was amplified dozens of times.
”Get your sorcerer to come over and talk, you are not worth it.”
The forty cavalrymen acted a little slowly. Bone arrows from the city gates were fired downwards. In the blink of an eye more than half of the soldiers were exterminated. The remaining dozens of cavalrymen turned around and escaped.
In the earl's residence, Saleen released the shackles around the six white-robed mages. He gave each of them a small stool and allowed them to sit across from him.”Do you recognize me? Saleen asked with a wide grin.
The six white-robed mages shook their heads, Saleen's name was not that renowned yet. Saleen was clad in a magic robe which resembled a piece of light armor, these mages did not even think that Saleen was a grand mage.
Mustering courage, one of the white-robed mages said, ”We are Qin mages, no matter who you are, just let us go…”
Piak
Cuisi, who was at the side, wielded a whip and smacked the mage's face. The thorn on his whip did not pop out, but the whip swiped past the white-robed mage's face, tearing through the flesh and revealing the face bone.
Saleen simply cast a Chunlin spell to stop the bleeding.