Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 410 The curtain rises
"Let's sort out the situation our army is facing--" Lucia sat at the temporary marching conference table, looking at the generals of the Southern Expedition Army sitting in two rows, headed by the three legion commanders Hilbert, Leville, and Serin, and below them were more than a dozen heroes holding senior military positions.

"In our rear, it is basically certain that the tenth ancestor Adonis has led the Holy Land Regiment to take over the defense of the Giant Cemetery. The whereabouts of the ninth ancestor Amodia are questionable. She may be heading south with the army, or she may still be staying at the frozen lake. But no matter what, this means that our army's retreat has been completely cut off, and the 20,000 comrades led by Rosalind will no longer have the opportunity to support us."

"At the same time, Giant King Karelias and an unknown number of Founding Titans are chasing our army from the direction of the cemetery. The Third Founding Titan, Mocero, and his Western Regiment are expected to attack from the west. The Southern Regiment and the Central Regiment will also launch a siege on the north and south fronts. In short, in the next month, our army will be in the middle of the ice field, that is, in the middle reaches of the Erunga River, to fight against nearly 200,000 elite enemy troops, including all the mobile high-end combat forces that the Giant King's Court can bring out."

"Do you have any doubts about this?"

There was a solemn and solemn atmosphere in the big tent, and even the expressions of the heroes could not be seen changing.

No matter which faction they belonged to before, at this point they have become comrades in life and death who have entrusted their lives to each other. Not to mention that they are just reporting military intelligence in advance, even if they have to go out for a decisive battle with the Giant King in the next second, no one present would frown.

"Okay, then I will give you my military orders now." Lucia stood up and stared at her generals with burning eyes.

"Before reaching the final battlefield, being surrounded by the enemy means the failure of the war. I will die in battle with you. In return, our army must complete several high-speed penetrations within the next month, using the tortuous and complex terrain of the middle reaches of the Erunga River to disrupt the enemy's deployment, gradually weaken the enemy's combat power, and finally lead them into the battlefield we have preset."

"here--"

He suddenly drew out the Sword of Night and Fire, and drew a tortuous and complex trajectory on the map, eventually pointing to a village more than 2,500 miles north of Lord.

Kueros - the ancestral home of the Kueros clan where all the members of the clan were killed at the beginning of this war. It is a small village with no more than a thousand people and covering only a few dozen hectares, but its location is extremely delicate.

What makes it special is that it is almost at the same distance from all the important towns in the surrounding area, just within the distance that a knight can gallop in a day and a night.

This is by no means a good thing in peacetime. It is precisely because Kuerros is remote enough and poor enough that the northern nobles feel comfortable leaving it to the Samir people to reproduce, just like skimming a rotten bone from the edge of a bowl without even bothering to look at it.

But in this war, this distance can easily become the chasm that determines life and death.

Once a decisive battle breaks out here, the enemy's nearest reinforcements will take a day and a night to arrive. If we make good use of this time, we will have the opportunity to minimize the gap in enemy and our own forces within a limited time.

However, this also means that Lucia's ambition is not limited to finding a way to survive from the cracks of the 200,000-strong army.

What he wanted to fight was a war of annihilation, a war of annihilation between ten thousand people and two hundred thousand people!
"Our first target is the town of Slovens, 725 miles southwest. According to scouts, there were originally 150 Central Regiment troops stationed in that direction. However, at the moment we are holding the meeting, 3,000 enemy Western Regiment vanguard troops are approaching in that direction."

"We have six hours to get to Slovens, fifteen minutes to mop up the garrison there, two hours and forty-five minutes to rest, prepare, and set up an ambush, and then we will meet the 3,000 vanguards. If we defeat the enemy before the main force can react, we can buy time and space to continue moving south."

"From now on, all tribes will abandon all baggage that needs to be pulled by carriages. Everyone will only carry three days of dry food. Water problems will be solved by using ice and snow. Every time you arrive at a place, you will raise your own food and grass. I don't care whether you rob the surplus food in the warehouses of the northern nobles, open the treasury of the Giant King's Court, or even kill the giants and roast them into jerky. I only care about one thing, and that is speed!"

"The unit that takes the longest to prepare should march first. Don't be afraid that I will let you die behind us, but you must always be afraid! Afraid that your delay will bring death to your comrades! Only by maintaining this beast-like fear can we seize that glimmer of hope! Do you understand?" Everyone shouted in unison: "Understood!"

"Let's go." Lucia said calmly.

This day is December 49st, the last day of the th year of the Golden Calendar.

As the sky brightened, the 10,000 southern expeditionary troops led by Lucia herself cleared the camp. They did not even set fire to the camp to avoid attracting the enemy's attention. They headed northwest in silence.

At the same time, five thousand miles away, Rosalind, who was escorting the military and civilian troops to the entrance of the Snow Ridge Line, received the news brought back by the scouts from the North Pass.

"It is just as Your Highness said. All the enemy troops stationed in the direction of the frozen lake have retreated southwards—" The scout seemed a little excited, but not because of excitement, but out of worry about the fate of his lord.

"I personally saw the ninth and tenth giant ancestors, Amodia and Adonis, lead their army southward to the Watcher Fortress. The troops under their command are more than the 80,000 who surrounded the frozen lake before. The preliminary estimate is that there are more than 100,000. In addition, those high-level giants of more than three generations seem to be guarding something. But there are too many enemy heroes, and some of them are even scattered outside the army as sentinels. It is impossible to get close to observe."

"It's the Giant King." Rosalind sighed softly, her eyes looking at the endless snow and wind on both sides of the ridge line, as sad as the dark night that just passed.

"Kalelius was attracted to the south by Your Highness. Even though he knew that we were watching from the snowy plains between the entrance of the Ridgeline and Guntherfred, he still wanted Your Highness' life more than the 20,000 Northern Expedition troops and 120,000 soldiers and civilians from the North who could be evacuated from the sea at any time."

"Your Highness will not be defeated by such an uncivilized beast."

The one who spoke was Caedres. Ever since crossing the Sea of ​​Death at night, the commander of the Tree Guard had only trust in Lucia's decisions - to be more precise, it was unconditional and blind trust.

Since Your Highness had already made the decision to launch the first phase of the decisive battle in the southern part of the ice field, is there any need to worry?
All they had to do was to follow His Highness's orders before departure, escort these soldiers and civilians safely to the frozen lake, and then wait quietly for news of victory in the rear.

For Caedreus, after experiencing that horrific "going to the sea" feat, he would not be surprised even if he was told half a month later that His Highness had chopped off Calerius' head.

"The military and civilian teams are ready. Let's set off now." Chief of General Staff Loren put on his armor and reminded the two.

No matter what complicated thoughts the people in the rear had, south of the 3,500-mile Ridgeline, the largest and most intense battle since the outbreak of the Northern War had already begun with the common will of both sides.

As for which side's wishes the final outcome of the war will follow, that is beyond their control.

(End of this chapter)