"How's it going to the west?"

As soon as Nail and Uncle Sang entered the central tent, the commander of the Northland garrison, "Eagle Face", couldn't wait to ask.

"The number of those people is still growing," the veteran gave a military salute and gave a general account of the week's surveillance itinerary, "I was shocked, I didn't expect the Dawn Kingdom to be able to gather so many soldiers." ”

"How much?" Hawkface didn't care at all, and poured a cup of tea for the two of them, "Eight thousand?

"I'm afraid it's more than 10,000 people," Uncle Sang took a sip of tea, "the tent alone stretches for nearly a mile, and there are at least twenty or more flags that can't be named, and I don't know where they found these dead ghosts." ”

"More than 10,000?" the pen in Hawkface's hand stopped.

"If you don't believe me, you can ask the squad leader," he said, gesturing to the nail beside him, "In order to estimate the approximate number of people, we risked being discovered and approached the Old Holy City to investigate." The entire outskirts of the city were filled with soldiers and horses of the Dawn nobles, who blocked the passage between Hermes and the Dawn Kingdom, and most of the refugees had turned around and evacuated in the direction of Wolfheart and Eternal Winter. There should be a lot more on this side of Cold Wind Ridge, at least on the way back, I saw a few teams of no less than 100 people. ”

"That's exactly what happened," Nail added, nodding his head, "Dawn is probably waiting for the personnel to gather, and at the same time, the vigilance of the surrounding area has also been increased. I advise the follow-up reconnaissance team not to get too close to the Old Holy City, so as not to be discovered by the opposing patrolling knights. ”

Since noticing Hermes's abnormality, the Northland garrison began to infiltrate the plateau region with the assistance of Duke Kant, in addition to hoping to obtain more information, but also to prepare for the subsequent battle. However, His Majesty did not approve of Eagle Face's tentative attack plan, and only asked to remain vigilant and continue to scout. The deputy battalion commander had no choice but to suppress the idea of doing a big job, and while picking out suitable candidates from the garrison, disguised as refugees to take turns monitoring the old and new holy cities, he continued to send information to the Wudong side.

Of course, he has not been inactive in the past few months, and after confirming that the Holy City is not using a suspicious tactic, the Northland garrison has recaptured Cold Wind Ridge.

As for the appearance of the Dawn Army, it was two or three weeks ago.

"My lord, are you worried that this group of people will be detrimental to His Majesty's actions?"

"Hahaha, how is it possible," Hawkface laughed, "even if they quadruple in number, they will only be a slow target in front of the First Army, and even the Divine Punishment Army will not be able to break through the defense line blocked by the machine guns, so why should they touch His Majesty's feet? If that happens, Your Majesty will definitely agree to my plan. He paused, "This round of reconnaissance has been hard for you, so let's go down and rest first." ”

"Yes, my lord," Uncle Sang saluted.

Nail didn't turn away, but hesitated before saying, "We can't...... Repel them in advance?"

The two of them were stunned together, "What?"

"Your Majesty doesn't agree with us attacking Hermes on our own, but that doesn't mean we won't be allowed to stop the Dawn army, right?" Nail bit his lip, "If they attack the Holy City, I'm afraid that the bottom of Hermes Mountain will be in ruins." ”

The veteran sighed.

"Did you see anything?" Hawkface frowned.

"Looting and massacre ......" the nail covered his forehead, barely wanting to recall the bloody scenes, "they had not yet entered the old holy city, but had only set up camp on the periphery, and the inhabitants of the surrounding area were captured and put on sharp sticks, which were then used as bars to retain the camp. As for women, the fate is even worse—"

"That's enough," Hawkface interrupted, "it's a common thing in war! Both the Church and the Dawn Kingdom are enemies of Your Majesty, and it's better for them to consume the enemy than ourselves! And don't forget that we are the army, the sword in Your Majesty's hands! It is also our duty to kill people." ”

"But that's different!" insisted Nails, "we fought to achieve His Majesty's goals, but they ...... Just killing for the sake of killing, those villagers are not cultists, but in front of them, they are not even as good as their prey!"

"My lord, he was just a little stimulated," Seeing the displeased look on the eagle's face, Uncle Sang hurriedly said, "You too, do you know what you're talking about, as long as the church doesn't fall, we can't cross the Hermes plateau under their noses, how can we stop the Dawn gang?"

The New Holy City is like a huge fortress, connecting the flat area of the plateau into a whole, and the four outer gates correspond to the four passages to the various kingdoms, although it is now unguarded and refugees can enter and exit freely, but it does not mean that the Church will sit back and watch the First Army drive straight through the Holy City into the Dawn Realm.

Nails naturally knew this, and he took a deep breath, "Actually, there is still a small road to pass. ”

"Path?"

"When I came back, I talked to some of the refugees, and one of them told me that there was a two-person wide path in the seemingly steep cliff on the outside of the plateau. In winter it is closed due to the accumulation of snow and ice, but when the snow melts, the road can cross Hermes directly without entering the Holy City. ”

Hawkface looked at him for a few moments before shaking his head and saying, "Forget about it." ”

The nail lowered his head and stopped talking.

"As you know, it's not a reliable ...... No, it should be said that it is a battle plan that cannot be realized at all. The deputy battalion commander was unexpectedly not angry, "Let's not mention whether that path really exists, even if we can successfully reach the old holy city, we can't defeat tens of thousands of enemies in one fell swoop - Your Majesty made it very clear in the evening cram school that the first thing to consider before the army moves is logistics." The two-person wide mountain road is difficult to transport supplies, let alone machine guns and ammunition. In addition, the entire Northland garrison is only 500 men, and the ammunition ration is not enough to support a protracted battle, once the enemy is not defeated, we will be alone without assistance, and the whole army may be annihilated!"

Hawkface stood up and walked over to the nail, "I want a total war of annihilation more than you do, but that's just my personal thoughts. Your Majesty and Lord Iron Axe have handed over this army to me, so the first thing I have to consider is the safety and interests of the army, whether it is the resettlement of refugees before, or the current decision, understand?"

“...... Yes, sir. The nail clenched his fist and finally gave a military salute.

"Let's go down. ”

Just as the two were about to leave, a soldier lifted the curtain and walked in, "My lord, the reply from His Majesty Roland has arrived. ”

"Oh, show me," Hawkface hurriedly took the secret letter and unfolded it, and before Nail and Uncle Sang could get out of the tent, he stopped them again, "Wait!"

"Your Majesty has new instructions?" asked the veteran.

"That's right, the First Army has already set off by boat from the royal capital, and is heading towards the north at full speed, and is expected to arrive at the Cold Wind Ridge in ten days. ”

10 days...... Too late, Nail thought sadly, the army of Dawn could enter the Old Holy City at any moment, and in a day or two they could turn all the towns beneath Mount Hermes into hell. In a trance, the woman in red, who was struggling in the rain of bullets, reappeared in front of his eyes, as if to accuse him of what he had done.

"Until then, Your Majesty has asked us to take immediate action to prevent the Dawn Army from entering the Old Holy City—at least not to allow them to sack the monastery. ”

The nail jerked its head up.

"This ...... Can you do it?" Uncle Sang touched his head.

"It's hard, so Your Majesty has sent a special reinforcement that will arrive in the north tomorrow night," Hawkface closed the secret letter, "and the only one who can get here at this speed is the witch." Then he looked at the two of them, "Go and tell all the squad leaders to come to me for a meeting!" By the way, what's the name of the refugee who knows the mountain road?"