Mage? Spell Engineer!.

Chapter 517: The Red Rapids of the Lane River

The victory at Sassan did little to alleviate the crisis at Valuvana.

On October 11, just after the end-of-ten-day break, everyone felt exhausted going to work. At this time, General Galishya, the former commander of the Southern Front who was responsible for guarding the capital of the Republic, knocked on the door of the National Assembly.

"What? What did you say?" The National Salvation Committee and the members of parliament received a piece of news with shocked faces, which made everyone perk up.

The general's voice echoed in the hall. He was steady and powerful, and even spoke at a slow pace: "I want to make it clear that we have discovered the enemy's movements on the north bank of the River Lane. Gentlemen, the time has come to defend Valois and the Republic!"

The members of the Military Committee did not overreact to the news, but others seemed a little overwhelmed. Some representatives who came from other places and were unfamiliar with geography even whispered to the people around them: "Where is the River Lane?"

General Garisha had anticipated this, and at his signal, the soldiers carried in a huge tactical map.

"Gentlemen, the blue line in the map is the River Rhine. Its large bend surrounds our capital and meets the Seine River that runs through Valois near the royal hunting grounds." He pointed with a long wooden pole: "Here, there, all the blue circled places are where the imperial army has arrived or will arrive, and our newly transferred guards are still being reorganized."

Seeing the dense or patchy blue dots, these politicians who usually chattered like animals suddenly stopped talking. They were silent and began to imagine countless gray animals emerging from the mountains and woods, and finally stepping into the glorious Valuana in an unstoppable manner, leaving the Republic in the dust.

It was the chief of the Military Committee who first asked the general: "If the enemy were to launch an attack along such a vast coast, how would the National Guard respond? How should each of us here provide the greatest possible support?"

"Thank you for your speech!" General Garisha sincerely appreciated the committee's attitude. He suddenly became more confident: "220 thousand miles! We must put all our strength into a decisive battle with them by the river! Mobilize, let all men who can hold guns go to the front line, let all women prepare dry food and clothes, let the factories provide enough concrete, steel and ammunition, and my troops need to move flexibly on such a long line of defense. I need enough transportation capacity."

"We'll find a way! But how will you save Valuana?" one representative shouted.

"Saved? Yes, saved, by defeating the enemy. We are not only buying time for the Western Front Army. If we fight with such a mentality without any desire for victory, we will not even achieve a stalemate, but only continuous defeats and failures, just like our terrible loss of hundreds of thousands of people on the Eastern Front.

"I am willing to make my plans public, but only reliable members of the military committee will be able to know the full picture."

There was a slight commotion in the meeting room, and finally the members who were not members of the Military Committee left tacitly.

"Great, gentlemen. Your trust and support make me feel more at ease than ever before!" Garisha said happily.

"Are you satisfied? The representatives trust you, but you don't trust them." The committee member signaled him to start explaining, and at the same time reminded him: "There are many narrow-minded gentlemen who left the table. You should be careful in the future, General."

"First, success depends on secrecy. The fewer people who are not involved know about it, the better. Second, please allow me to do the test just now. It at least proves that although you are arguing endlessly, you can at least consider the overall situation and unite in a critical moment."

"Of course, let's get started!" Soon General Garisha began to introduce his battle plan to the committee members. The committee members seemed to see countless soldiers moving precisely according to his instructions on the battlefield, like a well-coordinated machine, and the final output was an indisputable victory.
"The reckless gray animals are galloping on the land of Valois for the second time. They move incredibly fast, but they will eventually encounter cliffs. The imperial army has long lost the opportunity to turn around and will only crash into them and be smashed to pieces. We will end the enemy's attack here!"

His long stick touched the red mark, which was the confluence of the Seine River and the Rhine River, the edge of the royal hunting ground in the past and the arena for continental competition today.

In the early morning of the next day, when the sky was about to brighten, a rain kept the world dark again.

The soldiers of the Imperial Army wrapped themselves tightly in their robes. It was already late autumn and every rain made the weather even colder. What was worse was that more and more transport trucks and horse-drawn carriages pulling heavy artillery were stuck in the muddy dirt roads. The initial efficiency of the supply line was gone.

The good news was that Valuvana was within reach, only the second closest to the heart of the enemy since the war began.

Suddenly, a cannon sounded, a flash of fire streaked across the darkness, and an airship cooperating with the Imperial Army blew a long warning whistle - it turned out that the Valois defenders took the initiative to launch an attack!
On the 220-kilometer-long front line, the main force from the south brought by Galisha was all involved in the battle. Twenty-three corps charged at the enemy troops who had just crossed or were crossing the river, and collided violently. The sounds of fighting could be heard in every riverside and bend of the Lane River in an instant.

Since the Imperial Army was still on the move, they had originally grasped the situation that the remnants of the National Guard's Eastern Front were retreating, and the southern defenders who had just arrived around Valouana were still resting. The Imperial Army's Eastern Front Group advanced straight ahead with the new transport equipment donated by Byrne, but they unexpectedly ran into Galisha's battle deployment, and many troops even landed without immediately available artillery because they were preparing to cross the river.

For a moment, it was a contest of bullets and bayonets.

On the other side, Valuvana, in an unknown round of conscription, once again "squeezed out" several legions of combat-ready soldiers from the enthusiastic masses, and the Iron Crown Knights from Istani were on the way to provide support.

All the hired carriages in Valois and the ships on the Seine were dispatched, along with a fleet of Byrne-made trucks that were the main vehicles of the Imperial Army's logistics line.

This fleet of trucks was originally a convoy returning minerals and transporting supplies in accordance with a secret agreement. The mages of the Tower of Stars had been responsible for concealing their sight with illusions. Now they all appeared in unison, carrying guns, bullets and new soldiers to the front line.

The battle was most intense at the confluence of the Rhine and Seine rivers, where three National Guard regiments held their grounds, while the Imperial Army was on both sides. The National Guard was firmly wedged in the gap in the Imperial Army's front, insisting on not letting the two enemies encircle them.

They were also the first to receive General Garisha's order:
"Soldiers of Valois, we are participating in a battle that will determine the fate of our country. I declare that the stage of retreat has ended. From now on, we must go all out to drive the enemy out of our land without leaving a single one! I order: all troops that can fight need to launch attacks without stopping, and all troops that cannot fight must hold their positions and fight to the death!"

The telegram conveyed his news through the same telegraph line that once conveyed "Your Majesty's beloved dog Cosette gave birth". Today's message will also go down in history. Countless people died because of it, but the victims believed that the country would be reborn because of it.

Blood flowed from every battle-fought position into the river, surging on the surface of the Lane.

The sky finally began to light up, outlining the contours of the two airships. The sky was now a battlefield for spellcasters to fight over.

(End of this chapter)