Chapter 1565: Chapter 56: The City Falls_2
This kind of deployment, purely out of obligation with no benefits in sight, would hardly see any enthusiastic participation.
Including within the front line at Cleston County itself, the military mobilization has only been half completed.
It’s not that people don’t want to move fast; there’s simply a lack of experience in mobilizing the entire populace, making it fundamentally difficult to speed up.
As a consequence of such sluggish response, some Noble territories close to the Black Stone Mountain Range have already turned into hunting grounds for the Centipedes.
The city may appear to have fifty thousand troops, yet in reality, ninety percent are just for show, with less than ten percent of the Noble’s Private Army being reliable.
This is already the result of a county-wide strategic contraction, concentrating the private armies of smaller Nobles; otherwise, the situation would be even worse.
Watching the Messenger Soldiers depart, Viscount Pierre continues to inspect the city defense. Cleston County is his stronghold, not to be abandoned unless absolutely necessary.
As twilight gradually descends, Viscount Pierre’s expression grows increasingly grave.
He hasn’t been idle this past month; to better resist the Earth Core race’s invasion, Viscount Pierre has spent significant resources gathering battle experience from the Kingdom and Earth Core race.
Ultimately, he concluded: the enemy is extremely fierce, favoring attacks at night.
“Boom, boom, boom…”
Numerous flying stones assault the city walls, and the City Defense Magic Array, already activated, instantly springs into action.
With an earth-shaking crash, countless flying stones hit the Magic Barrier, sparking bright bursts of firework-like flashes.
The dazzling light both deflects the enemies’ stones and exposes the City Defense Magic Array.
Within the Centipede camp, watching from afar, Marshal Howell’s face suddenly darkens upon witnessing this scene.
The City Defense Magic Array isn’t cheap; it is typically reserved for crucial defense lines and strategic points, where no expense is spared in arranging it.
“Deploy the Demon-breaking Spear!”
Marshal Howell commanded coldly.
The defeat in the previous Southeastern Province offensive and defensive battle had already disgraced him thoroughly; if failure struck again, his position as Marshal would be at risk.
Abandoning his power and retiring prematurely would become his best option. Worse yet, he might not even have the chance to retire peacefully, dying on duty prematurely.
The political struggle among the Giant Centipede Clan is always synonymous with violence, adhering to raising elites through relentless competition, where failures become nutrients.
While the Earth Core World is rich in mineral resources, high-end products remain high-end. Even if the cost is possibly far below the surface world, it hasn’t reached the point of flooding the market.
Having suffered once, Howell became cautious in using the “Demon-breaking Spear.”
There are still many more cities to attack later, so such core strategic resources must be used sparingly.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
A deluge of spear fire approaches, and the perceptive Viscount Pierre urgently orders the defending soldiers to intercept.
Stop as many as you can, for if the City Defense Magic Array is breached, subsequent city defense will be a nightmare.
The Magic Crystal Cannon atop the walls is aimed at the enemy’s mounted crossbows, unleashing continuous firepower.
For a moment, the sound of cannon fodder echoes through heaven and earth, as countless Centipede Soldiers stream out from the camp, launching a charge under their officers’ direction.
As time ticks by, the battle heats up, and the City Defense Barrier, repeatedly struck by Demon-breaking Spear attacks, suddenly releases a huge smoke plume.
“Boom, boom, boom…”
A deafening roar resounds, and the initially fiery scene vanishes abruptly.
Countless stones fall directly onto the city walls, making the already precarious city defense suddenly appear desperately fragile.
As a massive stone falls, two defending soldiers don’t even have time to react before being crushed into pulp.
Splattering blood lands on the neighboring soldiers, eliciting a piercing scream that instantly causes chaos.
The rookies’ poor performance immediately grabs the attention of the city defense officers, who hastily come to stabilize the troops’ morale.
A similar scene plays out repeatedly before their eyes, leading Viscount Pierre to suspect that deploying rookies to the walls was a mistake.
Anger doesn’t solve the problem; Cleston County only has so much foundation. With a shortage of troops, extensive use of rookies is necessary.
In that instant, Viscount Pierre’s face fills with regret.
If he had known about the invasion earlier, he would have initiated reserve training sooner, avoiding the current predicament.
Deep inside, he has resolved that, as long as he survives this ordeal, he will emulate the Alpha Nobles across the mountains and build a powerful Family Private Army.
“Boom, boom, boom…”
The roar resounds once more, and a section of the overwhelmed city wall suddenly collapses, revealing a breach in the seemingly solid defense line.
“Third Legion, fill the gap immediately, and block it at all costs!”
Viscount Pierre nearly roared as he gave the command.
Defending beyond the walls positions these rookies to be useful.
If the protection of the walls is lost, and it turns to close-quarter combat with the enemy, the scene would be unimaginable.
In the blink of an eye, the two armies clashed, and after a brief skirmish, the Third Legion began to fall behind.
The gap that originally appeared was not filled, and instead, due to the defenders’ continuous retreat, it showed signs of expanding.
Realizing the situation was dire, cold sweat broke out on Viscount Pierre’s forehead.
“Guard Commander, immediately send a message to the Governor’s Mansion.
Inform Marquis Simon, if reinforcements do not arrive soon, Cleston County will not hold!”
After speaking, he directly led his personal soldiers to act as a supervisory team, cutting down soldiers attempting to flee.
…
Gutland Province, Governor’s Mansion.
“Your Excellency Governor, the situation in Cleston County is dire, they might not withstand the enemy’s assault!”
While speaking, Military Officer Viscount Paleti handed over the plea for reinforcements.
The battle had erupted less than a day ago, yet five plea letters for aid had arrived in succession, with each one more urgently worded than the last.
“Tell Viscount Pierre, he must hold on.
Three days.
No, two days!
I only ask him to hold for two days!
As long as Cleston County can endure for two days, reinforcements will arrive.”
Marquis Simon stated firmly.
The enemy came too quickly, Gutland Province was completely unprepared.
This was a failure in the Kingdom’s strategic forecast, no one thought that after suffering a major defeat, the Giant Centipede still dared to initiate a new round of war.
“Your Excellency Governor, based on the feedback from Viscount Pierre, it’s not just difficult to hold for two days, even holding for one seems impossible.
The battle started only two hours ago, and already the City Defense Magic Array is broken, now the city walls have a breach.
The garrison is mostly recruits, their combat effectiveness is extremely poor, trying to withstand the enemy’s blitz seems…”
Before Viscount Paleti finished speaking, Marquis Simon angrily cursed:
“Foolish Pierre, a total waste!
I assigned military instructors back then to greatly develop the reserve, yet this idiot paid it no mind.
Now that trouble has arisen, he wants me to clean up his mess!
Fifty thousand troops garrison the city, yet they can’t even hold for two days, what kind of people are these?
…”
Cursing won’t solve problems, but it can vent emotions.
Looking across the entire Gutland Province, Viscount Pierre is considered an outstanding noble, yet now he bears the brunt of misplaced anger.
The lack of enthusiasm for earlier war preparations was due to the Black Forest Kingdom’s flawed military mobilization model, which lacked sufficient fairness.
The Major Nobles were fine, having enough influence to ensure they were not too disadvantaged no matter how things were allocated.
The medium and small Nobles were miserable.
Those with stronger military strength had to take on more military obligations, yet could not guarantee equivalent returns.
Often, they invoked the great cause of the Human Race and the Kingdom to exploit the middle and small nobles.
In this context, nobles not on the front lines had to learn to slack off moderately to avoid suffering losses.
Prior to the Giant Centipede invasion, the threat to Cleston County from foreign enemies was normally the beast tides that occurred only once every few decades.
Most beast tides were to thin out excess magical beasts, maintaining the ecological balance of the Black Stone Mountain Range. Usually, they posed little threat, with high-order demon beasts rarely joining.
In the early stages, they would hide within the castle, and after the Magical Beast Army dispersed, they would emerge to defeat them individually.
Without pressure, there was naturally little incentive to expand the army.
The end result was: the ruling group at the top of the Black Forest Kingdom was exceptionally stable, and as long as there was no continental war, there was no talk of replacing the old with the new.
The price was class stagnation, and a decline in the Kingdom’s combat power.
Such chronic issues exist in many longstanding kingdoms. The initiated reforms to survive were essentially to unblock the path to upward mobility.
“Your Excellency Governor, discussing this now is meaningless, everything can wait until after the war!
The urgent matter at hand is the provincial defense battle, should Cleston County fall, then…”
Military Officer Viscount Paleti had just finished his ominous prediction when suddenly a guard burst in from outside.
“Marquis, bad news, Cleston County has fallen!”