Chapter 877: A New Battleplan
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Benjamin tailor-made a battle plan swiftly.
Although the sector near Crusader's Gateway was not a flourishing region, there were a few military strategic locations here, as well as a huge storehouse that was very important to the Kingdom of Helius. As the Black Nightmare Army progressed, their forces were now enough to attack these well-protected outposts.
However, they still needed some transportation tools to move in the long underground tunnel.
Luckily, he had come prepared.
"Are the chariots completed?"
Thinking thus, Benjamin arrived at the military camp, directing his question towards Morris, who was buried in a pile of maps and papers.
"They should be completed tomorrow," Morris lifted his head and replied in a rather tired manner, "however… may I remind you that the production of this batch of chariots has been rushed, and I haven't had much time to design them carefully, so the quality is subpar. There is a huge possibility that they would break down if hit by a violent impact."
"But can they transport people?"
"Yes, and not only that, they are also much faster than the average horse. One chariot is able to carry a lot of people," saying thus, Morris gave it a few thoughts, before adding on, "but as for the ones you had requested before… The ones with destructive capabilities on the battlefield, well, I think it's best not to hope for that. Those things are too fragile."
"I understand."
Benjamin patted his shoulders and said nothing more. He turned to leave the tent. After that, he arrived at the store houses in the camp to see the crude chariots that had just been constructed.
These chariots were wooden transportations of gigantic sizes. Based on Benjamin's previous descriptions, Morris had designed them to have a structure similar to that of a bus, so they looked rather clumsy and heavy. Meanwhile, lines of runes had been carved underneath the chariots as a support. They were also the raw power that would enable these tools to be moved.
Because the design had been rushed, mages were still needed to control them if these chariots were to move.
Benjamin boarded the chariot and sat on the 'driver's seat'. He stretched his arms and held the steering wheel, using his spiritual energy to make contact with the entire chariot. In the next second, the wheels of the chariot began to turn slowly, moving the entire thing. It began to advance gradually.
The terrain around them was narrow, so he could only test it out for a while. After that, he stopped the chariot and got down from it.
"...It will do."
He looked at the chariot, nodding in satisfaction.
There were not many machines made for war in this world. It was only after the gradual formation of the Black Nightmare Army that Benjamin had brought up this production request to bring this huge group of people around more conveniently. Of course, it would be even better if they could create runic tanks, or that sort of thing. Nevertheless, that was a standard they were definitely unable to achieve right now.
However… Since these were chariots, even though Morris had said that they did not possess much fighting power, Benjamin still saw the potential of bringing them into the battlefield, and not just as a form of transportation.
"May I ask, why aren't you transporting the Holy Light Cannons from the academy here? Those are true fighting machines," the System hopped out, and spat those words out.
"Those things are too heavy," Benjamin shrugged helplessly, answered in his heart. "We are still engage in guerilla warfare, we wouldn't be able to drag around such heavy things. Just wait a while longer, wait until we're truly able to take over an outpost. Then we'll bring those things over for positional warfare."
"...Alright," thus, the System kept quiet.
Benjamin left the storehouse area and returned to his main tent.
The next few days passed by fleetingly in the midst of intensive preparation. Within that time, nothing seemed to have changed in the outside world. The Church has suddenly quietened down, apparently, and no one knew what they were up to. There were still surges of rebellious forces in various places throughout the kingdom, but compare to the initial fervor, they had subsided a lot.
Information regarding Havenwright and its surroundings had been sealed up tightly and was completely unreachable. There was no news even from the nobles, which seemed slightly strange to Benjamin. However, Duke Collin probably did not know how to contact them as they were hiding here, so he was not anxious.
Approximately in the evening of the third day, a great army comprising of hundreds of chariots lined up and passed through the underground tunnel neatly, arriving at the other exit under Pearl Lake.
Then, when night fell, the Black Nightmare Army returned to the surface of the earth once more.
Only this time, they launched their attack on quite a few places.
"Your team here is responsible for the storehouse in the north, your team is responsible for the small town in the south, you guys, follow Joanna and attack the military fort three miles from here, as for you guys, follow me…" Battle arrangements had long been made. As Benjamin gave his instructions, the Black Nightmare Army quickly separated into five troops on the barren land, setting off into different directions.
He was rather confident about this battle plan. The Church would never, in their wildest dreams, imagine that there would be a long tunnel under the Kingdom of Helius. After disappearing for a few days, the Black Nightmare Army was now using the underground tunnel to emerge once more in the northern region of the kingdom.
The pitch black sky was to be their best accomplice.
At the same time.
"...What has happened to our kingdom?"
On the city walls of Salman City, in the northern region of the Kingdom of Helius, the royal army guarding the city gates looked into the distance, at the barren hills. He could not help but sigh as he spoke.
As an important military location for the kingdom, Salmon City had more garrisons within it than most cities, although it was not big. Many armaments were kept and protected in the warehouses of the city, and almost a hundred priests lived here, with a bishop keeping guard inside the church. There were mountains on both sides of Salman City. Because of that, this city had become an important location for the defense of the region.
For example, although it was already late tonight, there were still almost a hundred soldiers standing guard at the city gates.
"Who knows? The honorable bishop says that it's all because of the trouble those mages have been causing," Perhaps the long night had been too quiet, or perhaps the chaos within the kingdom made them feel worried involuntarily; very quickly, some other soldiers responded, "But what on earth is His Highness the Pope thinking? It has been so long, something should have been done already!"
"Shh… Keep your voices down, how dare you complain about His Highness the Pope! Do you wish to die, what if someone hears you!"
"But there has been a lot of bad rumors recently…"
"Shh, enough! Carry out your duties properly!" The soldier beside him was rather shocked, and quickly advised, "It's because of recent events, those rogues have started to come out again, who knows whether they would come and attack us here?"
"This is Salman City, how could there be any rogue stupid enough to attack this place?"
"You're still on about it! Enough, enough, one day you're going to die because of that mouth of yours…"
Whatever it was, after a hushed discussion, everyone still obediently sealed up their own lips. They had heard rumors from the capital about the Pope's temper. No one dared to test him anymore; they had to forcefully press down on even the most hot-headed youngsters.
However, it was around this time…
"Attack!"
A sound closing in from the distance suddenly rang out behind them.
The soldiers were immediately stunned. They turned their heads, dumbfounded, only to see a vast and densely packed multitude of people suddenly emerging from the mountains in the other direction of Salman City. They were like killer ants from the forests, surging through the terrains of the mountains and plains towards them.
"That, that's…"
The soldiers had never expected such a scene.
However, what shocked them even more was how, after a few moments, almost a hundred small dots rose up from the midst of the charging multitudes, floating in the air. As they drew nearer, they finally turned into a hundred mages within their sight.
One of the leading mages had blue pieces of broken blades swirling around his entire body. His young face seemed extremely familiar.
The soldiers took a step back unconsciously.
"The enemy… The enemy is attacking!"
In the following second, heart-wrenching screams erupted from Salman City, echoing through the cloudy night sky.