Chapter 55: A City Under Siege
The siege training lasted for three full days.
“That should be enough.” Rasul sheathed his sword. “If we continue, this child’s spirituality won’t be able to handle it.”
“Then let’s stop here for now.” Asker nodded, and Nuo immediately stepped forward, holding the battered Peggy in her arms to heal her.
“Say, why are the members of your team all like monsters?” Rasul slung his sheathed sword over his shoulder. “All of them have strong wills, are unyielding, never back down no matter how much pain they endure, and they’re all beautiful girls…”
“Women being too beautiful is not a good thing either. They are like exquisite porcelain, always making people worry that they will be broken accidentally. It’s better to be more robust…” He stuck out his tongue and licked his upper lip. “I’m done playing, I have to go.”
“Thank you then.” Asker nodded. “Your guidance these past three days has been hard work.”
“You’re welcome. I initially just wanted to see how long she could last, I didn’t expect her to actually persevere until now.” Rasul waved his hand dismissively. “Anyway, let her rest well.”
“After all, there’s not much time for peace left.” He put his hands in his pockets, his left arm crookedly holding his sword. “A more brutal war is coming soon. If she can’t learn that sword technique quickly…”
That sword technique? Asker stared at his back. What was this guy hinting at?
“Your people should also work hard. If they die in this war, then my sparring these past few days would have been wasted.” Rasul’s figure disappeared around the corner.
“How is Peggy?” Asker pondered for a moment, then turned to ask Nuo.
“Her spirituality is severely depleted, nothing serious, but she might need to rest for a while.” Nuo replied, her voice hesitant. “Asker, the war that person mentioned…”
“Yes, it’s coming soon.” Asker stood up. “All of you, be prepared.”
Back at the barracks, all the girls were assembled, even Hood, who had been in the workshop, was called out.
“Just received a notification.” Asker hung up his phone and said solemnly, “The Latin Crusaders are coming again.”
“This time it’s a full-scale attack, a total of about twenty thousand men.”
“The vanguard has already reached the ruins of Olympia town, equipped with a large number of powered armors, firearms, and…”
“…mortars.”
A thunderous boom exploded from outside, and the floor beneath their feet seemed to tilt instantly, with a terrifying aftershock and shockwave.
Hood lost his balance and fell to the ground. Eleanor quickly pulled him up and asked everyone:
“Is everyone alright?!”
Asker rushed to the window and pulled open the curtains.
He saw black smoke rising from below. It seemed that mortar shells had hit the Olympus Tree, causing a slight earthquake throughout the city inside the tree.
“Everyone, follow me.” Asker said quickly. “Hood, you’re non-combat personnel, immediately go to the training ground on this floor to take cover. That’s the closest location to the trunk, less likely to be hit directly.”
“Oh, okay!” Hood also knew that this wasn’t the time to hesitate and nodded quickly in agreement.
The members of Azure Longsword hurriedly went to the emergency elevator and quickly reached the top floor.
On the top floor of the Olympus Tree, in the center was the Grand Arena at the top of the trunk, surrounded by huge branches extending in all directions.
Because they provided easy access to the areas below, all the branch areas were military restricted zones, now occupied by the Mages Union and the Olympia City Guard, continuously projecting firepower downwards.
“Things are serious.” Seeing Azure Longsword arrive, Rudashius and Quintus, who had been waiting, quickly walked over.
“As you can see, Mr. Asker, the Crusaders have somehow imported a large number of 150mm mortars from the Holy Solomon Empire.”
“Although the accuracy of these mortars is not good, the Olympus Tree itself is too large, so it’s not difficult to hit.”
“Considering that the Olympus Tree itself houses a city, every hit on the trunk is equivalent to an earthquake in the city.”
“A few more earthquakes like this, and Olympia will be in ruins.”
Quintus briefly explained the severity of the current situation, then said seriously:
“Our mages have already set up defenses in the branch areas, most of our forces are maintaining the scale-shaped magic circle, trying to intercept the enemy’s mortar fire.”
(Scale-shaped magic circle: countless small defensive magic circles joined together, forming a huge shield like scales, generally used to protect large castles.)
“And a small number of Arcane Mages are responsible for targeting and bombing the enemy artillery.”
“However, the enemy’s command strategy is very cunning. There are almost no established artillery positions, all the artillery is scattered at the foot of the mountain in all directions.”
Asker nodded to show his understanding and said, “So, we need melee personnel to go out of the city and eliminate these artillery, right?”
“That’s right, otherwise, the Olympus Tree can’t withstand such a long-term bombardment, because the cost of consumption for both sides is simply disproportionate.” Rudashius added. “For them, it’s just an endless supply of shells. For the mages of Olympia, it’s a real loss of spirituality.”
“So we must find a way to eliminate as many artillery units as possible before the balance of war tips. Of course, the Latin Crusaders will definitely arrange for knights to intercept our troops who go out to fight.”
“The intercepting forces won’t have too many people.” Quintus added. “Because our Arcane Mages will be targeting and killing a large number of troops, so they can only choose to disperse their forces as well, using a spearhead against a spearhead.”
“Even so, it’s still very dangerous.” Rudashius said seriously. “Considering that the enemy’s forces are far greater than ours, even if we disperse to fight, it will still be a bloody battle for us.”
“But there is still a chance of victory.” Quintus said lightly. “According to the Lancaster combat equation, the personnel losses of both sides only depend on the forces invested in direct combat. No matter how many troops are not engaged in direct combat, they are just numbers.”
“Heh, Mr. Quintus, war cannot be calculated with mathematics.” Rudashius shook his head and turned to Asker. “How about it?”
“Mr. Asker, are you ready for a war destined to have heavy casualties?”
“Of course, do we have any other choice?” Asker said with a smile.
“I knew you would say that.” Rudashius smiled and patted him on the shoulder, tossing him a pair of glasses. “Here, this is something the Mages Union made, called tactical glasses.”
“Simply put, it’s a small communicator with an electronic map attached.” Quintus explained. “We have specialized radar mages who are responsible for monitoring the distribution of enemy artillery at the foot of the mountain. They are modeled as light dots on the electronic map displayed on the glasses screen through the command system.”
“For every enemy light dot you eliminate, Olympia will record points for you as military merit. After the war, potions, formulas, and transcendental materials, including Sequence II, will be added to the merit redemption list as a reward for defending the city.”
“Of course, the premise is that we win the war.” Quintus said solemnly. “If we lose, Olympia itself will be in danger, and all the wealth prepared for you will naturally fall into the hands of the Crusaders.”
“For the city of Olympia, for the people in the city, and for honor, commitment, and our own interests.” He slowly turned around, looking at the battlefield below filled with gunfire, his voice gradually lowering.
“We can only rely on you.”
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