Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 490 Attacking and Defending
At the same time, thousands of miles away in the north, a huge team composed of dragon warriors, humans and Samir people was winding eastward along the glacier.

In terms of geographical division, they have arrived at the eastern part of the Thor Defense Zone. A few hundred miles ahead is the frozen lake. Although they have not yet set foot in the lake area, Lucia has already felt that this place is much colder than other areas in the north.

The young soldiers who had been jubilant since the victory in the battle of Nameless Plains were forced to behave themselves here. They huddled in their leather coats like quails, huddled together in groups of three or five to share the heat, and even their voices were muted due to the cold.

Fortunately, the team has Borelius, an ancestor who controls the power of ice. He can always control the temperature around the queue within the range that humans can bear. Otherwise, the large army may not have time to reach the lake area and will be frozen into ice sculptures like the invading giants.

"Speaking of which, I have always had a question—" Lucia asked Borelius beside her, "Although the Samir people are naturally close to frost and storm in terms of strength attributes, they are flesh and blood after all. It is so cold around the frozen lake, and there is no grass on the surface of the permafrost. How do they survive here?"

Borelius smiled and explained, "Your Majesty, you may not know that the outer edge of the frozen lake is actually the coldest. Once you pass through the icy fog zone about 50 kilometers from the edge of the lake, the center of the lake is not that cold."

"When I fled here, I accidentally discovered that there are several geothermal hot springs at the bottom of the frozen lake that flow all year round. In the center of the lake, there are more than ten islands with an area close to that of the Far East Islands. The land on the islands is not fertile, but the plants grow very well. In addition, the lake is rich in various fish and shrimps. The combination of farming and fishing is enough to support 100,000 people."

"In the early years, I was annoyed by the noise of too many people staying around, so I did not allow the Samir people to settle in the center of the lake and drove them all to the settlement in the middle of the Erunga River. It was not until the war broke out again that I could not find a place for them to settle down in such a huge northern border. I went out a few times and gathered everyone back."

"The existing fourteen clans of Samir, the 130,000 soldiers and civilians escorted back by General Rosalind, and some scattered refugees can no longer accommodate them on the islands in the middle of the lake. I ordered the old, weak and sick to remain on the islands, and some of the young and strong men to be added to the Storm Army to follow General Neo to garrison Sol. Some of them will use the lake area as a barrier and rely on the old towns to reclaim wasteland in the north. At the same time, they will maintain necessary training and serve as reserves to supplement the front-line troops at any time. Although it is a bit difficult, we can barely maintain it."

"Well done," Lucia affirmed, "I said a long time ago that the war in the North cannot be won quickly. If the Royal Court wants to win, it must wipe out all resistance forces, including you and me, and transform the rest into giants. If we want to win, we must crack the secrets of the source of fire and the fire, break the Jedi seal, and lead troops from the outside to level the Giant Cemetery. At present, there are no more fresh troops in the North for giant transformation, so for the Royal Court, the faster the fight, the better. Conversely, for us, only by delaying long enough can we have a chance to slowly find a chance of victory."

Borelius nodded deeply. "That's roughly what General Neo and I thought. After the enemy's central battle group retreated, the Giant King's Court had lost the opportunity to attack our army head-on. To the southwest, a large area in the middle of the ice field is a natural barrier formed by the interweaving of the Erunga River and the Snow Valley, which lacks the conditions for deploying a large-scale battle formation. To the southeast, the frozen lake is the most solid barrier. Even if the enemy reoccupies the Far East and the Snow Ridge Line, the speed of sending troops northward along the Ridge Line alone will not be enough to form an offensive that can break through the low-temperature zone on the lakeside."

"Under this situation, no matter how hard the Royal Court fights back, it can only engage in minor fights. If they really want a large-scale decisive battle, they can only repeat the path your majesty took before, detouring 30,000 miles, passing through the Sacred Tree Forest and the Sol Plain from the west, and fighting our army head-on at the foot of Sol City. By then, our army will have the fortified city behind it, and the frozen lake as a backup, so even if all the enemy ancestors come out together, they will certainly not be able to get away with it." Speaking of this, Borelius sighed deeply and said, "Our army can have the strategic initiative today, which is entirely due to your majesty's miraculous interweaving and switching battles on the southern front. At the beginning, Karelius pushed all the strongest central battle groups to the Sol front line, and even went to the front in person, because he realized that the Sol battlefield was the core of the entire northern border. Only by firmly occupying this place and cutting off the connection between Sol and the frozen lake can they always hold the initiative in this war."

"But your majesty used the Giant's Holy Land, Lord's Fortress, and his own life as bait three times, and forcibly drew away more than 80% of the main forces of the royal court from the northern border. This created an opportunity for General Neo and me to counterattack Rexar. To be honest, General Neo only caught a slight sign of the Seventh Ancestor's army wavering before launching the surprise attack, and he dared to falsely claim that Kalerius was dead and launched a full-scale counterattack against the enemy. I would never dare to do that."

"After all, it is hard to imagine that your Majesty can defeat Calerius's 200,000-man army head-on with only a few thousand remnants of the army. But your Majesty did it, and General Neo also foresaw it. If either of you fails, this battle will undoubtedly be lost."

Neo laughed loudly upon hearing this and said, "In fact, I was not as confident as I showed at that time. However, after so many years of fighting, I can always tell whether the enemy wants to fight or flee. The opportunity for war is fleeting. If I don't choose to trust Your Majesty, will I really be trapped in an isolated city for the rest of my life, and starve to death until we run out of ammunition and food?"

Lucia recalled the many near-death experiences she had during the Northern Expedition, and for a moment she was quite sentimental. In any case, being able to come here alive meant that the many times she had taken risks on the edge of a knife had not been in vain.

After being chased by Callelius all the way, it was finally his turn to decide how to play in the second half.

He pondered for a moment and asked, "I have received news from various channels before, saying that the remnants of the Northern Garrison and the Flame Temple have not been completely destroyed, and there are still some remnants active in the Sacred Tree Forest of Otina. But why haven't we seen any trace of them all the way west?"

"This is really strange." Neo replied, "When I was guarding Sol, I also heard news from the former garrison commander Osarion many times. It is said that he has been gathering the remaining troops on the western front to fight guerrilla warfare with the giants. He even sent scouts to break through the siege twice and sent letters to our army for help. But at that time, the defense pressure of Sol was too great, and we were really powerless, so we could only wait and see."

"After Rexar was defeated, Lord Bolerius and I went west to help Your Majesty. We also tracked them down along the way, but found nothing. It was as if the thousands of remnants of the army had evaporated into thin air."

(End of this chapter)