Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1235 Is Everyone Fighting?

The entrance area of ​​Lostra Town has become a meat grinder. Led by the Eagle of Gray Hill, the fighters of the Liberation Front attacked the enemy's checkpoints and passes on the mountain road with a desperate momentum. Every time a checkpoint is destroyed and a pass is crossed, at least dozens of people are sacrificed. And such a fierce offensive is just one of them. From the east and northwest sides of the town, where the terrain is relatively flat, more enemies are pouring in like a tide. The captain of the Lostra Town security team didn't know what his sentinels were doing to allow the enemy to get so close to him, but he was no longer in the mood to hold his men accountable. The most urgent task was to stop the enemy's first wave of attack. He believed that although the rebels were powerful, their manpower and logistics were always the biggest hidden dangers. As long as he held on and fought a defensive war and a war of attrition, they would be the first to collapse.

Although the Lostra Town Guard had not been in battle for a long time, they had not fallen behind in daily training. In addition, they had the advantage of terrain and firepower, so they managed to maintain the balance for a while. The battlefield was full of flames, and people fell down every moment, closing their eyes unwillingly. The sound of gunfire and shouting scared the residents of the town so much that they huddled in their houses and trembled. No one dared to leave their homes. Even the mine inspection team responsible for supervising the miners' work was transferred by the captain of the guard to serve as temporary firefighters. Therefore, for a while, no one noticed the abnormal noise coming from inside the mine.

But this only applies to the outside world.

The miners in Lostra implemented a two-shift work system. Even in the middle of the night, half of the miners were still working in the dark and depressing mine tunnels. No one was more familiar with the environment inside the mine than these miners, and they knew everything that happened in the mine tunnels. Therefore, when the explosion occurred, they realized what happened.

"Is this... the sound of gunpowder exploding?"

A miner held onto the shaking tunnel wall and said hesitantly, "But I remember that there has been no blasting mission recently. Moreover, judging from the direction the sound came from, the mine tunnel over there seems to have been abandoned a long time ago. Who would..."

His voice stopped abruptly, not because he didn't know what to say, but precisely because he knew what to say, he didn't dare to continue.

Unplanned explosions, unusual movements in abandoned mines, and faint sounds of gunfire from the outside world... all these clues combined, even the most reluctant miners can figure out what's going on. The mine fell into an eerie silence, and after a while, the miners turned their eyes to one person. He was the strongest and most experienced of all the miners, so even if he didn't want to admit it, everyone would assume that he was the leader of the miners - just like the long-departed boss Giovanni.

However, for the miners in Lostra Town, especially the older miners, the title of "Boss" seems to have a special meaning. No one except that heroic and unruly man can get this recognition, or a sense of responsibility. Therefore, the title of the man in front of him has evolved into another form -

"Boss," someone asked hesitantly, "What should we do?"

The man called "boss" glanced at him, then looked around. Every miner who met his gaze lowered his head unconsciously, without saying a word. A silent, oppressive and almost frozen atmosphere spread in the dark and narrow mine. What should I do? Making a choice is not an easy thing, but as a leader, you have to do it, no matter how good or bad it is.

"Baal, Maso, and Zigeri." He finally spoke, calling out their names one by one in a deep and serious voice: "Go and contact the people scattered in other mines, let them get closer to each other, don't disperse, and don't act rashly; Gray, Ted, Budley, Caron, Sadrick, you guard the key forks, don't let anyone go, if those blue dogs ask, say there was a landslide in the mine, it's very dangerous, we are cleaning it up, anyway, find a reason to stop them outside first; by the way, I remember that the blue dogs' weapons are kept in the warehouse in their rest area, a few people come with me, no matter what happens, at least we have to arm ourselves first..."

The members of the mine inspection team all wore blue uniforms and had a unique arrogance and conceit of the Western Continental colonists, so the miners privately called them blue dogs. In the mines, this was a name as ominous as a landslide.

As he gave the order in an orderly manner, the miners understood his choice. The strange thing was that they were so uneasy before making the choice, but when they actually made the choice, they suddenly felt relieved. No one even questioned why he did it. Everyone silently obeyed his orders and started to act.

Only a thin, underage miner rolled his eyes and quietly retreated to the outside of the crowd. He was about to slip away when no one was paying attention, but was fixed by a pair of calm and stern eyes from afar across the crowd: "Klosso, where do you want to go?"

All of a sudden, the miners' eyes were focused on him. For the first time in his life, Clotho was being paid so much attention to. His face immediately turned red and he stammered, "I, I'll help too! I know where the Blue Dog's warehouse is. I can lead the way!"

"Everyone knows that you are not needed to lead the way. I have not given you any instructions, so please stay with me for the time being." The man looked at him deeply, as if he had seen through every thought in his heart that he thought was hidden: "Don't forget how Red died."

The short miner's expression changed immediately.

More than a decade ago, the miners in the mining town of Lostra were dissatisfied with the oppression and exploitation of the Westland colonists and rose up in rebellion. However, the uprising ultimately failed due to the disclosure of an informant, and the miners suffered heavy casualties. The then leader Giovanni fled the mine with the survivors and never returned to his hometown. The informer Red was valued by the Westland colonists and became a member of the mine inspection team, responsible for supervising the work of his former companions. As if to avenge their private contempt and scorn for him, his attitude towards the miners was even more harsh and tyrannical than those Westland colonists.

Finally, whether it was because of long-standing resentment or because they were originally dissatisfied with his betrayal of his companions, during a suspicious landslide, Red went to the landslide site alone to investigate and fell to his death. After the incident, the miners all said that no one was present except him. Due to lack of evidence and the fact that the Westland colonists did not care much about the life and death of an indigenous miner, the case was hastily closed. But everyone knows that Red's body did not rot quietly in the depths of the mine, but became a sacrifice to commemorate those who died because of him.

It was an unspoken secret, so when the miners' leader mentioned that vile name, it didn't take long for someone to realize that Clotho was trying to repeat history.

"Are you going to betray us, you little bastard?!" someone shouted angrily.

"I, I didn't!" The short miner turned pale with fear, and waved his hands to deny: "I didn't want to betray you! I just, just wanted to save you. The power of the Westerners is not something we can contend with. They have artillery, explosives, and all kinds of terrible weapons. We, we are just a group of miners, how can we fight against them? What those people do is not feasible, they will only bring war... Please, Lostella Town is obviously peaceful, and there has been no war for a long time, why do they want to come back? My parents, my sister, and your parents and relatives will all be involved in this war... Aren't you afraid and worried!?" At the end, he turned around and questioned those who were looking at him with contempt and disdain. He thought that everything he did was for the residents of this town, even if they lived under the rule of the Westerners? As long as there is no war, you can live; as long as you can live, isn't it the luckiest thing in the world?
Under his questioning gaze, the others actually hesitated, because they couldn't find any fault with this statement for the moment. It seemed that this kid was different from that guy Red. Even though both of them betrayed their companions and leaked information, the former did it to protect his relatives and friends, while the latter was purely for his own selfish desires. They really can't be generalized... right?

Only the miners' leader remained unmoved.

"You said something like that, which means you are still unconvinced in your heart, but I won't blame you, because you are still young and haven't realized the cruelty of the world yet." He said in a calm tone, speaking to this stubborn young man and to other companions who had wavered in their thoughts: "Your mistake is that you naively think that we have the right to choose, to join this war or to wait and see. But in fact, war cannot be controlled by anyone. It is more like a natural disaster to us. When a mine collapses or an earthquake occurs in a mine, can we stop it?"

"At least we can run away!" Croso raised his neck, his eyes full of stubbornness and unwillingness to accept defeat. "You've told me since I was a kid that when the mine gets angry, we have no choice but to run away. That's what I'm doing now!"

"No, that's not running away. That's going towards it."

The miners' leader slowly shook his head: "What I have to do is to lead everyone to escape, at least to a place where we can be guaranteed not to be harmed."

The young miner was stunned, not sure if he understood what was said. But the leader didn't even look at him, but walked past him and said to everyone in a deep voice: "Let's act sooner, the longer we delay, the more disadvantageous it will be for us."

Someone couldn't help but shout to his back: "What about you, boss?"

"I'll go meet them."

After leaving a few simple instructions, the leader of the miners quickly disappeared into the depths of the mine. The miners who remained looked at each other, and after a while they dispersed to perform their respective tasks. No one paid attention to Clotho, who was slumped on the ground. The latter seemed to have lost his soul, sitting alone on the rock wall, at a loss.

In war, everyone will make their own choices, but many times, they don't know whether their choices are correct. Even the person who seems the most resolute may just be better at hiding his emotions than others.

……

When the mechanical soldiers stationed in the camp under the cliff came out in full force, an overwhelming rain of arrows fell in an instant, submerging every steel body in the gray rain. The rangers of Maul's Hammer were uniformly dressed in silver-gray half-armor and obsidian iron helmets, with real red tail feathers from the Varan eagle fluttering on the horns of the helmets. These hunters who dared to climb walls and hunt monsters in the most precipitous mountains roamed in the deep valleys of the mines in the town of Lostra, as if they had returned to their most familiar hometown.

They climbed over the mountain road, climbed up the high ridge, and launched an attack from a high position. In just three seconds, they emptied all the feather arrows in their quivers, and then shot out the burning skeleton chains, which fell from every direction, entangled the body, feet and even the magic furnace on the back of the mechanical soldiers. The other end of the bone chain was firmly fixed on the cliff, making it difficult for the enemy to move. The fearless rangers grabbed the grappling hooks and slid down the bone chains, just like the sailors who jumped onto the enemy's deck after a naval battle, abandoning their best long-range attacks and fighting the enemy to the death, even if they risked their lives, they had to intercept them here.

At the same time, the commander of the chariot unit, who realized that Lostra Town was under fierce attack by the enemy, issued an order for the entire army to attack. The steel chariots burning huge steam furnaces drove out from the slowly opened gates and returned to the base camp along the repaired roads in the forest. However, just after leaving the base, there were bursts of rapid horse hoof sounds in the forest, and then, like a nightmare in the night, demon horses stepped on the blue flames and rushed out from behind the slope out of sight. Under the guidance of the leading knight, they launched a desperate charge against the steel creations with their flesh and blood.

"Roar!" During the seventh charge, Jose Asher heard the heavy breathing of his beloved mount and the sound of another companion falling to the ground. His mount was covered in blood and wailed around its master's body, but his companions could not stop for him. People once believed that the ash creatures were cold monsters born from the darkness, without souls or emotions, but no one who saw the scene at this moment could say the same thing. The knight reluctantly withdrew his gaze, and at the same time, he suppressed the last bit of hesitation and pity in his heart. He told himself that at this moment, I am the monster without souls or emotions, born only for war.

"Come closer to me—"

He raised the spear in his hand and swung it at the enemy chariot that was spewing flames: "Charge!"

……

Mitch took a deep breath. He was suddenly no longer nervous, but instead felt relieved as expected.

"Let's go." He turned around and said to his companions, "It's our turn to fight."

Give me some meow