our family is gone

Chapter 712 Dark clouds over the city
Hamlet, remains.

When Lance in the dungeon ignited the Hand of Praise on the first Iron Crown, the out-of-control power caused a great noise.

No one knew what happened in the dungeon. For most people, it was just another new day.

The Scorpion Mercenaries spent the night and prepared to start today's exploration, while Hamlet's army also began to prepare for mobilization. The Royal Guards, Barbarian Mercenaries and heroes had also entered the ruins to perform their respective tasks.

Countless adventurers flocked into the ruins as the sun rose, trying to find the treasure that belonged to them.

Anyway, what rises with the sun over the ruins of Hamlet is hope.

At first, no one noticed the disaster. They just thought that the morning light was blocked by thin clouds, and it seemed that a gust of wind would blow away the sunlight.

Until the strange power turned into increasingly thick clouds that condensed above the ruins, casting shadows on the ruins.

And this expansion trend is becoming stronger and stronger, as if the ritual power that sacrificed the entire city in the past has resurfaced, bound to drag Hamlet into darkness again.

And the several powerful spellcasters in the new town seemed to have sensed something.

Alhazred woke up from his endless meditation. Lance came to him early this morning to talk to him about some situations and also to consult about the possibility of the Hand of Praise sealing ceremony.

The mystic walked out of the room and looked at the dark clouds that were beginning to appear in the sky. He didn't know what was happening in the dungeon, but he knew that an evil force was spreading rapidly and he had to take action, so he immediately walked outside.

On the other side, Brother Martin, who was planning to go deep into the ruins to demonstrate the power of the church because of his sudden "ambition", seemed to have sensed something, and he couldn't help but exclaimed when he looked at the increasingly heavy black clouds.

"Damn it! How evil is this place?" He turned around and called to the candle-lit priest, "Let's go, we can't stay here."

An old man is an old man. Although he does not have the special talent of a mystic scholar, he is still a legendary spellcaster after all. Even if he does not know the situation, running away is the best decision when he is in doubt.

There are also many extraordinary people lurking in the town. Some of them may not be as sharp as the legendary strongmen, nor as special as the scholars, but don’t underestimate these strange extraordinary people...

At this time, Alhazred came to Patton, and there were military management who were mobilizing the troops to prepare for the handover, and Leonard also appeared here.

"Something went wrong. Maybe something went wrong with the sealing ceremony on the lord's side, or maybe those adventurers triggered some ceremony. Anyway, that's not something we should consider.

An evil force has awakened in the ruins and is continuing to spread. If it continues, there is no doubt that darkness will cover the entire Hamlet. The undead in the ruins will probably become more powerful and even affect the town.

The most urgent thing now is to notify the city, and also to control the town so that there is no chaos. Those guys are not easy to deal with. Do you want to evacuate them first?"

"Evacuate? Where to? You should know what will happen if so many people rush into the city.

Moreover, the area behind the town is not a wilderness. Along the way, there are a large number of results of wilderness development, as well as various farms, medicinal fields, logging sites... and thousands of people involved.

Nothing has really happened yet, and if we do this, we will only create chaos ourselves."

"We really can't start a chaos on our own. There are more than a thousand troops surrounding the town now. Can we hold it?"

"There is a camp of 300 new recruits in this town. Here are 100 marines who just arrived today. The largest group is 30 artillery teams, but some of them are novices..."

Patton made a simple calculation of the troops currently distributed around the town, but from his words he could roughly tell that although there were a lot of people, most of them were new recruits.

Due to the recent expansion of the army, the training camps in the rear only completed the initial basic training and then sent them to the front line to start further practical training.

It is better to shoot skeletons than to shoot targets, and the same goes for artillery. Combining actual combat with training will waste resources. At the same time, there is no danger and you can gradually get used to the rhythm of battle.

They work hard during the day and study at night. However, although the total strength has almost doubled due to such a radical expansion, the veterans have also been diluted.

The only good thing is that these veterans are of high quality. They have all undergone literacy training and can recognize a hundred words or so. They are also very clear about executing the orders within the army. The army built with them as the skeleton still retains good combat capabilities.

"No matter what the disaster is, we must be prepared and first gather the workers on the construction site together. These people have a certain degree of order and can understand the instructions.

At the same time, prepare those places to guard against possible attacks, dispatch all police officers to patrol with live ammunition, and call back all soldiers on the front line to build a defense line..."

Leonard was the one who followed Lance at the beginning, and he knew a little about the catastrophe. He was also very clear that too many people must not die here, as that would become food for the evil god.

Of course, there is the most important thing.

"More importantly, we must be ready to retreat at any time. The Lord said that as long as people are still there, there is hope."

Reynald has a lot of say, and although Alhazred is powerful, he is only an advisor and does not interfere with their decisions.

Lance's ability to act also affects Hamlet's style. He is quick and decisive. When something goes wrong, he immediately finds a solution and executes the decided plan.

People kept coming in and out of the hall. The expanded meeting convened the current leadership of the town, including the mayor who was responsible for the operation of the town, the sheriff of the police station, and several people from the army.

The managers who were summoned responded quickly, did what they were supposed to do after receiving the orders, and prepared to deal with the unknown impact.

At the same time, several fast horses left the town and dispersed. Some went to the front line to gather troops from all sides, and some turned back to inform the city.

Because of the different training programs, each front line has its own area, so they are dispersed. It is also to notify the adventurers and scavengers active on the periphery to come back quickly.

Those who are going back also have to go separately, because there are more than just outposts along the way from the city to the town.

There are also several villages formed by large-scale wilderness development, with hundreds or even thousands of people. They must be notified so that they can gather the working people first. This will make it easier to evacuate when the time comes, and avoid being as embarrassed as when the Wolf Warriors invaded.

"The Royal Guards and those teams that have penetrated deep into the ruins cannot be notified."

Someone mentioned a very critical issue, which was the guards who set out in the morning.

Basically after every war, those who have performed well enough will be selected to join. The Royal Guard, which was originally composed of only 30 people, now has 50 people. At the very least, they are elites, and masters are not rare among them.

Even if the lord had transferred five of them, there were still forty-five people active in the ruins. Some of them were "spending money" to carry out the lord's secret missions. Some of them were acting as law enforcement teams with the heroes, exploring and collecting information about the ruins. In total, there were fifty or sixty people deep in the ruins.

At this time, a situation arose: the outer troops all had clear positions, and they could be notified to the location with just a fast horse.

However, the small teams that went deep into the ruins that morning had no communication channels at all, and even if they wanted to find them, they would not know their location.

"Light the signal fire."

"No, it's getting dark, and we can't see from too far away."

"What about firing a signal flare? Ordinary people can't tell what it means, only our people know."

It is called a flare, but in fact it is just fireworks. Adding different materials can create different effects. The principle of this thing is very simple. It was soon manufactured after the limits of whistles and the uncertainty of smoke signals were discovered.

What is launched at night is pure fireworks, while what is launched during the day is a cloud of colored smoke that lingers in the air.

"No, the vertical height of a pistol-fired flare is only 20 to 30 yards. A mortar-fired flare from the outside can reach 100 yards, but the problem is that there are too many buildings in the ruins, and if the height is not high enough, it is easy to block the line of sight."

"It's not that simple." Alhazred finally spoke, and he raised a very crucial issue, that is, the skeleton.

"Although I don't know the exact situation inside the ruins, I can be sure that the power has cut off Hamlet's connection with the sun. Those undead will be affected and they can't just withdraw if they want to."

Everyone had been in the ruins for so long and were military personnel, so they naturally understood what this meant. That was to say, after dark, the rioting skeletons would cut off the route of retreat. Even if they received the information now, they would be swallowed up by the endless skeletons.

"Here!" Leonard seemed to have made a decision. Without saying anything, he raised his hand and pointed to a place on the ruins map.

"Although the ruins don't have city walls, there are many guard towers left over from the past on the edge. They are more than ten yards high. We will fire flares towards the city from here. I believe they will be able to see them."

Leonard's fingertips once again drew a straight line from the town to the ruins, and then nodded heavily.

"Guide them to break out in this direction. This is the main road left over from the past. I will lead the cavalry to this side to provide support. If there is no road, we will fight our way out. We must also believe in their strength and will not fall easily."

"If it was Lord Lance who made this decision, I wouldn't raise any questions, but have you considered that the mercenaries would also see it and rush over here in order to survive. What would you do?
Hamlet only has one cavalry, and there is a high possibility that they will be entangled by the skeletons, but there is a greater possibility that they will be dispersed by the mercenaries. They will definitely not hesitate to use you to delay the skeletons. "

Alhazred was too calm, but without this calmness, he would have been controlled by the void existence long ago.

"Hamlet has no rule of abandoning his companions."

Leonard only answered with one sentence, and everyone on the field couldn't help but look serious.

Yes, the lord said that Hamlet would not give up on anyone.

"Then let's take action. There's no time to waste time talking nonsense here."

Patton was also quite courageous. When he said this, he was ready to bear the cost of failure together.

When Leonard walked out, the cavalry brigade had already assembled. After this period of development, the number of cavalry has expanded from fifty to one hundred.

In addition to the quality of the personnel, that is, the riding skills need time to train and accumulate, another reason that restricted Hamlet's development of cavalry was horses, especially qualified military horses were hard to come by.

The reason why it can expand by half in one go is that it is fleecing the Empire through Water and the Empire's logistics channels.

After screening and arduous training, these cavalrymen are also able to complete many tactical actions and fight immediately. There is no doubt that the skeletons everywhere will be the best targets to help them train.

Since the cavalrymen were going to be rotated anyway, the lord hoped that they could be stationed in the city and use their mobility to become a sharp knife.

So they did not go to the front line for training in the morning, but were the first team to gather and were now the most powerful force in the town.

They had received the notice, but gradually the situation began to become wrong. The veterans easily sensed the abnormal deployment. Those who kept coming out of the meeting room and running quickly revealed a seriousness and urgency. More and more people were mobilized, and the pressure of approaching danger began to spread.

Finally, at this time, Leonard returned to the cavalry and shouted loudly.

“An unexpected incident occurred, and the skeletons in the ruins began to show signs of rioting, but many of our companions are still trapped in it.

Now our mission has changed. We are going to the ruins to pick them up. This journey is bound to be full of dangers. I don’t know whether we can come back.

But Hamlet has never given up the precedent of any of his companions, so those who are willing to go up with me stand up. "

As he spoke, Leonard had already climbed onto his horse and put on his helmet as if his determination was firm.

Hamlet's mobilization inherits the lord's style, which has always been so straightforward and brief.

They never repeatedly emphasize the so-called treatment and rewards, because the daily treatment lets them know that they don't need to worry about these things. The lord never owes them anything, on the contrary, the lord's kindness is endless.

What's more, the ideological education promoted in the army made them understand why they were fighting, and they did not need material rewards to stabilize morale, but instead maintained a high fighting spirit.

Some of the cavalry had already reacted, in silence, but they had already made their choice through action, sorting out their equipment and then mounting their horses.

No one dropped out.

Seeing this, Leonard didn't say anything extra. He drew his sword, pointed it at the ruins and roared.

"set off!"

Leading the way, Reynald's collapsed horse rushed out, and the prepared cavalry also urged their horses to follow, and in a short time they gathered into a torrent, with a sentence echoing in it.

"Hamlet must win!"