Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 379: Like Cutting and Sharing
The storm sea in mid-December seemed cold and dead silent. Compared with other seasons when the sea surface was relatively mild, the irregular blizzards in late winter often rolled up huge waves as high as 100 meters on the sea. The countless waves thrown up turned into ice in the air, accompanied by the howling hurricane. The terrible power was enough to destroy most small and medium-sized ships.

At the same time, various alien monsters in the ocean will become more violent in winter. Whenever a storm comes, they will leap out following the waves and attack any ships within sight.

Therefore, for fishermen, merchants and even many small towns on the sea, the winter storm sea is almost a dead zone. Only large magic fleets under the protection of heroic strongmen are qualified to plant the flag of civilization in this natural restricted area.

In the far east, on the dangerous and boring sea, a huge fleet of over a thousand people has been marching straight northward for half a month.

Route 29, which starts from the Port of Gailey Torrens and stretches northward, has already reached its end. From the nautical chart, the nearest island town is kilometers away. If calculated by straight-line distance, the fleet is only kilometers away from the Port of Odysseus, where it is impossible to land.

With the navigation technology of the Golden Age, this is almost a day and night's voyage for the magic fleet.

But in other words, as Lucia had not yet issued new orders, the 30,000 Northern Expedition troops had deviated from their original route a week ago, which was to cross the Eastern Storm Sea, the Middle Storm Sea, land in Lienia, and then turn to the Asiatan portal.

From a God's perspective, where they are at this moment is the northernmost border of civilization except for the north border and the other side of the sea of ​​fog.

Although the four armies were previously deployed to attack the North, all the generals believed that the only point worth discussing was whether to go through Otina or Sol. The two transmission paths had their own advantages and disadvantages, but both were much more reasonable than the two wings that could obviously only be used as feint attack directions.

Taking a step back, they could gather a hundred thousand men to storm Lord's defense line and confront the main force of the Giants in the southwest. Even if it seemed a bit pedantic from a strategic perspective, it was at least in line with the Golden Dynasty's frontal combat style for decades.

Only the ancient route of the Storm Sea - the waters around Port Odysseus have no conditions for landing. This was the conclusion Lucia herself came to.

The reason can be traced back to the end of the last Giant War. In order to weaken the influence of the Storm Dynasty in the North for hundreds of years, the Golden Dynasty artificially destroyed the Port of Odysseus when the main force withdrew.

Opheline, the last Storm Queen who still occupied the southern border at that time, controlled an ocean-going fleet no less large than that of the Golden Dynasty. Fam Azra, who was behind the Storm Royal Family, controlled an air force that surpassed all other races. If we also take into account the Storm Dynasty's unsparing investment in the North for the past five hundred years since King Odysseus, even Marica and Gefrey did not have the confidence to keep this sea route for a long time after the army returned.

Then there is only one solution left, which is to completely block the sea route, further expand the Lord Defense Line to the level of the Dikedas Fortress, and then take advantage of the fact that the overall terrain of the North is much higher than that of the rest of the border areas, and completely make the 30,000-mile Arctic ice field the backyard of the Golden Dynasty.

After the Golden Expeditionary Army held its last victory ceremony at the First Church of Marika, it moved a large number of the population of Odysseus to Asiatan, and moved hundreds of thousands of golden people to the north, settling them in Odysseus, Sol, Otina and other places that had been home to the Storm Dynasty for five hundred years.

When they evacuated, they used countless blasting arrays to blow up the port of Odysseus, sinking the war golems, heavy machinery, and even tens of thousands of giant corpses and boulders destroyed in the giant war into the port, forming a sea of ​​death with a radius of more than 100 miles.

Over the past twenty years, the beacon of civilization that once shone for hundreds of years has become a paradise for vultures, wild beasts, and sharks. The remains of war golems and giants continue to emit dangerous and chaotic magic energy, interfering with the navigation equipment of ships traveling within hundreds of kilometers, and at the same time corroding a large number of creatures into horrific monsters.

It was from then on that the borders of civilization were locked one thousand kilometers south of Odysseus. Before the construction of two large space portals in the north, Lord Fortress became the only gate to this backyard.

If foreign enemies want to invade the northern border, they must first conquer the towering Dickas Line at the southern end of Yatan, and then break through the entire Yatan plus the Lord Line before they can set foot on the Arctic ice field again.

In other areas outside the Lode and Odysseus Sea, the extremely cold northern storm sea and the plateau cliffs with an average altitude of more than 15,000 meters are enough to resist all powerful enemies, including the dragons. This is also the reason why the rebellion in the North continued for the next 20 years, but it could never shake the foundation of the Golden Dynasty's rule in the North.

In the locked backyard, even if three or two cats and dogs knocked over tables, chairs and benches, they could be beaten to pieces with a few sticks by the owner. Without external support, a rebellion in the normal sense would never succeed.

However, this is where things are weird. The Golden Dynasty had been on high alert for twenty years, and the Giant's Cemetery, which was unlikely to experience any more trouble, suddenly gave rise to a rebel army that engulfed the entire northern border. On the other hand, Lucia, as the commander-in-chief in suppressing the rebellion, seemed to have chosen a dead end that had no tactical value.

"Your Highness, General Caedreth requests to see you."

"Let him go and count the supplies. Yes, just like the punishment for discussing military affairs yesterday, let him start from my flagship and count all the weapons, food, and horses on every warship of our army. If he makes a mistake in a number, he will be punished with twenty more military sticks!"

As soon as the order was issued, there were several sounds of pushing and groaning coming from outside the cabin.

"Let go of your hands! Don't pull me, I can walk on my own. If the count is wrong, I will beat myself with a military stick. There's no need for you to interfere!"

Listening to Cadres' loud complaints in the corridor, Lucia's face was not as cold as her tone when she gave the order, but instead had a hint of smile on it.

This tiger general from the Scorching Sun Legion is indeed not stupid. If there is another outsider except his own personal guards within a radius of 100 meters, he will not choose to complain out loud.

The so-called "discussing military intelligence" yesterday was not Caedreus whispering to others, but he came to him openly to express his objection to the marching route, and Lucia found a random excuse to send him away to be punished.

It’s simple, just to temper this guy’s temper.

The Ancient Dragon Dynasty has no shortage of elite soldiers. Orc Warriors, Storm Knights, and Dragon Warriors are all elite troops capable of competing with the powerful armies of other nations, but it lacks a general who can lead a large army.

It can be predicted that with the conquest of the East, the pacification of the North, the recruitment of Storm Survivors and the Samir Clan, the troops under his command will become larger and larger. Under the turbid situation within the Senate and the Council of Elders, Lucia will never miss the opportunity to recruit a few more capable ministers and generals from the outside world.

The three generals selected from the 70,000-strong Blazing Sun Legion in the East Territory this time include the Fifth Legion Commander Leville, who was born a commoner. He is a military noble who fought his way up through countless rebellion wars. He has more experience in leading an army than most of the Storm Knights. He only needs to be convinced psychologically and can be used at any time.

The commander of the Seventh Legion, Serin, was born into a family of magicians in the West. She and Seren were biological sisters. In her early years, she caught up with the special period when Radagon returned to the Golden Dynasty, and then she came to serve the Scorching Sun Legion. Most of the members of the Seventh Legion under her command were clergymen and magic knights, and their main position was long-range tactical strikes and support, so there was no need for further polishing.

This is Caedreth, born into a small noble family of the Old Party that had fallen on hard times. His father died in the battle of Gefrey's southern expedition to the Storm Dynasty. His family heritage made him value honor and loyalty since he was a child. After the party struggle began, his poor family situation made him more radical in his style of doing things.
With his bravery that surpassed his peers, he became one of the only two tree guard commanders in the Scorching Sun Legion. However, his years of experience of charging into battle regardless of life and death also made him lack the perspective and patience to think comprehensively.

This kind of height and this kind of patience are exactly the lessons that Lucia wants to teach him.

(End of this chapter)