Knight and Wand

Chapter 275: Seizing the City in Advance
The setting sun dyed the fortress standing in the narrow pass a terrifying crimson. Inside and outside the fortified city where the fighting had just ended, the flames gradually died down, and the remains of corpses and ghosts were scattered everywhere, like purgatory. The soldiers were busy cleaning up the battlefield and clearing the devastation left after the fierce battle.

The corpse crows let out creepy cries, and used their sharp beaks and claws to tear the flesh of the still warm corpses, leaving their black feathers stained with blood.

The soldiers cleaning the battlefield waved their spears, trying to drive away the corpse birds that were desecrating the remains of their comrades, but the disturbed corpse birds made annoying croaking noises and turned to pounce on the owners of their weapons.

(Uriah) ".Damn bastard."

The Knight Kantadar who was cleaning the battlefield cursed angrily, his expression full of indignation and disgust. He swung his sharp blade to chop down the zombie crow that was fluttering towards him, and then stomped it into a pulp with one foot.

These crows that bring disaster become even more annoying after they die.
On the battlements, the soldiers from Orland finally cleared the city wall and let the flag of the living fly again on the top of the city.

The coalition forces assembled in Baldim were too numerous to have a unified banner, so the soldiers used the sword-wing emblem that now belonged to the commander.

After a baptism of blood and fire, the fortress of Kilmerton Pass was returned to the hands of the living.

In the hall of the fortress, under the light of torches and braziers, the blood stains all around were still shocking, but this did not disturb the coalition generals who were already accustomed to mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

The soldiers temporarily brought tables from the fortress restaurant and put them together. Around the two sides of the spread-out map, the leaders sat in clearly defined camps on both sides.

On one side were the generals of the Thorn Flower Family, led by Earl Elliver, the Sea Eagle Knights and Duvana nobles, led by Princess Ines, and representatives of the Knights of Avalon, the Knights of the Holy Lake, and the Knights Ranger.

On the other side were the Lords of Kantadar, led by Earl Runaf, Earl Langstone, and Earl Sangetan.

Although there were dozens of nobles participating in the large-scale military meeting, in fact, only the leaders representing their respective armies spoke and discussed, and the noise in the hall was not chaotic.

Leon discussed the next plan with everyone and examined the current situation marked with chess pieces on the map.

The successful capture of Kilmerton Pass was of great significance to the coalition forces. This strong fortress blocked the route of Bardim County from the southeast to the northwest.

After summarizing the battles with the undead during this period, it was discovered that even if the corpses did not need supplies, they could climb over mountains and bypass the passes on the earth at all costs. However, the mobile altars used to expand the dark cloud area and the soul bell corpse carts could not follow the undead army to climb over the rugged and dangerous mountains.

The Soul Bell Corpse Cart must rely on roads for travel, and now, as long as this recaptured fortress remains standing, the undead in the southeast will find it difficult to pose a direct threat to the coalition forces' rear.

As he thought about it, Leon looked at Elif beside him and secretly expressed his gratitude to the Lord.

Count Thornflower, who had arrived in Baldim County not long ago, did not ask him for the command of the army. Instead, he trusted his strategy without hesitation and supported him to continue to be the supreme commander of the entire coalition army.

The battle to retake Kilmerton was able to be carried out ahead of schedule and to win so smoothly, thanks in large part to the 4,000 fresh troops brought by Earl and Ines.
Leon turned his gaze to the little princess who was leaning over the table, tapping her chin with the fan, staring at the map in deep thought.

The third princess who unexpectedly arrived at the front line of Kantadar was actually the one who contributed the most to the capture of the fortress.

Although she did not interfere with her own battle plan, she brought a total of thirty-one spellcasters to the coalition.

With the help of Harvey, a high-level warlock under his command, and the thirty warlock apprentices of the Northern Society who were brought by persuading King Redwyn, the coalition forces, which were suffering from a shortage of spellcasters, suddenly had a large number of wizards.

The role of these spellcasters actually far exceeds that of the 4,000 elite troops brought by Elifer and Ines.

Although the levels of those warlock apprentices varied greatly, and most of them were low-level spellcasters with dull talents who did not know any killing magic at all, Leon did not need these precious spellcasters to fight directly.

They only need these people to act as magic batteries, light up the soul-guarding holy lamps they carry on the battlefield, and act as BUFF plug-ins for each unit.

The addition of thirty-one soul-guarding holy lamps meant that the main force of the coalition had about six thousand more "anti-necromancer troops" who could attack the undead stronghold head-on without fear of the soul bells, without the need for Laura to reverse the altar.

Including the seven spellcasters originally in the coalition, there are now more than 8,000 professional anti-undead warriors in the army who can directly launch an attack against the Soul Bell.

This is also the reason why this battle was able to skip the originally planned second phase of the sickle tactics and launch a general attack on Kilmerton Fortress in advance.

Seeing the situation here, Leon couldn't help but have more confidence in the main force of Orland in the northern County of Mamor.

I learned from Ines that her father had mobilized all the forces of the Northern Warlock Society, and the royal family had even mobilized all the alchemy guilds across the country to build the Holy Soul Guardian Lamp at any cost.

I heard that now in the Warlock Society, all the wizards, from the teenage apprentices who have just learned to use magic to the experienced high-level warlocks who are one or two hundred years old, are equipped with the Holy Soul Guardian Lamp.

Even if we exclude the group of people brought by Ines, there are still more than a dozen high-level warlocks and more than a hundred apprentices under the command of Redwin III. With the help of the warlocks, the anti-necromancer forces over there can be conservatively estimated to be in size of 20,000 to 30,000.

With the large amount of intelligence obtained by himself and the Kantardars, as well as the anti-undead weapons provided by Laura, the Orland army will undoubtedly not have to suffer unnecessary losses caused by the Kantardars being helpless in the face of the undead.

Leon felt that he was not the only one carrying the burden when the sky fell, and the pressure was relieved a lot.

He came back to his senses from his contemplation and continued to say to everyone: "Since the original planned strategy was completed ahead of schedule, I will continue to use the previous sickle tactics, using the river to outflank the rear, and gradually recover the land southeast of Kilmerton Pass step by step."

Hearing this, Earl Langston on the side of Kantadar looked at Leon calmly and said, "Your Excellency, since we already have a large number of wizards, I think it would be better for us to divide our troops into several groups and march south on land at the same time to join your troops.

Although the land route is much slower, it can obviously speed up the recovery of the entire Baldim County by cooperating with your main attack force to encircle it."

Earl Sangetan and the lords of Kantadar from other counties also spoke out in support of Earl Longstone's proposal.

Count Runaf and the local lords of Baldim County did not rush to speak, but just observed Leon's attitude.

Listening to Earl Langstone's advice, Leon knew that the other party was upset about his strategy of insisting on moving eastward to the border of Serrian. Other nobles in the Sobornitz territory also wanted to move south to regain their lost territories.

However, due to their successive victories and growing prestige, Langston and others were unable to openly oppose the established strategic direction, and at this moment, it seemed that they did not want to miss the opportunity to move south.

Holding his chin, Leon fell into deep thought, carefully weighing the pros and cons.

After a moment, he felt that Earl Langstone's proposal seemed to be reasonable.

As long as the opponent can remain calm and not act rashly, attacking from both sides at the same time like crab claws can indeed speed up the process. With sufficient anti-necromancy means, the army now has a lot more tactical options.

The only problem was that Leon was not confident in handing over his precious warlock apprentices directly to the Kantadar army.

"Your Highness, what do you think?" Leon asked Ines.

After all, those warlocks are the forces under the command of the Third Princess, and Ines' opinion is still needed on how to deploy them.

The little princess looked up and smiled at Leon, then looked at the Kantadar noble opposite her:

"Your proposal makes sense, but the northern warlocks I brought with me must always be under the protection of the Orland Army. If you are willing to accept the command of our Orland Army after the division, I can dispatch fifteen low-level warlocks to help you."

Langston tapped the table with his fingers, thought for a moment, and looked at Leon at the top.

Thinking that so far, the other party, as a guest army hired at invitation, has been fighting against the undead sincerely, fighting on the most dangerous front line with their followers, and their credibility is very reliable. There is no sign of betraying the Kantadar people as cannon fodder, so he nodded.

As long as we can reach the border of Baldim, there will be hope of returning to our homeland in Longstone County in the future.

"Since we are all fighting to liberate the Sobornitz Territory, I have no objection. Then, Commander, who do you plan to appoint to command our attack?" Earl Langstone asked Leon.

Leon looked at everyone in the Thorn Flower family.

Earl's position was too important, and he thought it unsuitable to risk commanding the vanguard of the advance.

If anything were to happen to Lord Feng, the blow to the morale of the Thorn Flower family's army, as well as a series of subsequent impacts would be too great.

"Lord Elliver, what do you think about letting Lord Balfe command the army heading south?" Leon suggested.

"I believe Balfe can do it." Earl nodded.

"We will definitely live up to the mission." The scarred baron said in a deep voice to Leon and Feng Jun.

After deciding on the commanders of each troop unit, Leon discussed the detailed deployment with everyone.

After the arrival of reinforcements from Earl Elliver and Ines, the size of the coalition force has now reached more than 24,000 people.

Among them, 6,000 were militiamen stationed at various city gates north of Fort Kilmerton.

The 18,000 men who now occupy the pass area are the main force capable of fighting the undead in the field.

The number of elite troops who carry out the sickle tactics along the river should not exceed two thousand, given the limited transport capacity of ships, and the original personnel configuration does not need to be changed.

After the Battle of Kilmerton, there were three thousand men who needed to rest and rush back to the rear garrison.

At least 7,000 troops are needed to safely guard the pass area.

The remaining 6,000 soldiers can join Balf and march south.

After the preliminary plan for the next phase was finalized, Leon dismissed the meeting and asked the generals who had just experienced the bloody battle to return to their camps to rest.
Leading everyone and Leon through the corridors of the fortress, Elifer glanced and said jokingly:

“I see that you are becoming more and more like Count Trosa. Even I have never commanded such a large army, let alone a group of people from different countries.

Kantardars, Orlanders, Dineshines, you three, even the Serians.

Seeing how familiar you seem in commanding this large army, I'd have thought you've been fighting wars all your life.

Tell me the truth, are you really the son of a hunter? Not the prince of the Kingdom of Serrian?"

"Prince? Sir, you are joking. My ancestors for three generations were hunters in the border mountains. If it weren't for the proximity to the Holy City, I'm afraid my family wouldn't even have the chance to learn to read. Now that we can ensure the safety of the army, it is only thanks to everyone's help." Leon shook his head modestly.

Of course, he couldn't explain to Feng Jun that he had a top substitute in his mind who could act as an advisor around the clock, and Miss Saint Prophet would give him the best advice every time he made a mistake.

With Ye Ge possessed, he was unable to lead a mere 10,000 or 20,000 troops, so he might as well just grab a rope and go down early to report to Yin Niena.

After saying that, Leon looked back at his good brother beside him and said, "To be honest, this guy looks more like the prince of Serrian than me."

Azerien raised an eyebrow in a weird manner, but said nothing, and simply shrugged at Leon and Feng Jun.

Baron Balfe, who was following Elifer, stroked his beard, turned his head to look at Corvis who was following Leon silently, and couldn't help but interrupt: "Sir Arundel is of the royal blood of Vilania, and now he follows you. His cousin, your fiancée Miss Olivia, is also a distant relative of the royal family of the East Continent. There are already two of them. For a legendary person like Sir Leon, it wouldn't be strange to have a few more royal bloods around him. I think Sir Azerien might really be from the royal family of Serrian."

"That makes sense." Lohak nodded seriously and poked Azerien with his elbow: "Are you?"

Azerien rolled his eyes at the guy. He opened his mouth to respond to the Scarface Baron's teasing, but hesitated and closed his mouth.

His own family had been wiped out in the Holy City, and it was no longer meaningful to explain the origin of the Flarel family's genealogy.

Balfe did not notice the change in the noble son's expression. He just looked around in confusion, scratched his head and asked, "Come to think of it, I haven't seen Miss Olivia much except on the battlefield recently?"

As Elifer listened, he also remembered the girl who saved his wife's life.

He had heard Marcello, Redo and other knights sigh at the terrifying martial arts of the girl, but he had never had the time to see it in person. It was not until this expedition to the Sobonitz Territory that he finally saw the girl's powerful style on the battlefield in the past few days.

Elliver felt that Selva was truly a treasure land. He had never thought that the humble little mountain village under his rule would not only send three outstanding knights to his family, but also an extraordinary girl whose bloodline was from the royal family of Vilania in the East Continent.

"Yeah, where's your awesome little fiancée? Is she hurt?"

Hearing this, Leon choked a little in his heart, and quickly waved his hand: “Ahem, sir, don’t worry, Olivia is just a little tired after fighting for days, and she is actually quite introverted and not very good at dealing with crowds of people.”

Introvert? Balfe paused.

Since entering Baldim County, he had not noticed any introverted behavior from the graceful girl. If it weren't for her lovely girlish appearance and her heroic warrior temperament, sometimes people would even forget that she was a girl.

Leon didn't want to say more, so he quickly changed the topic to divert everyone's attention and turn the conversation to the main business.

Olivia was naturally not injured, she had just been hiding from Princess Ines these days.

Neither he nor his little lion had expected that Elipher could bring in Ines' troops, and that the little princess herself would go deep into such a dangerous front line.

Although, with his now mature identity and background, Leon was not afraid of what Ines, the little princess born after the civil war, could see from Olivia.

But in the end it’s better to avoid it as much as possible.
Ok?
While Leon was talking with Earl and the others, he looked at the team that was disbanding behind him.

By the way, what about Ines?
(End of this chapter)