Imperial Crown.

Chapter 137 Iron Legion
The news of the Death Hand's siege also reached the coalition tent. The military meeting that was already in progress had to be stopped and the atmosphere suddenly became solemn.

Minsk's face was gloomy, and his eyes swept across the whole place: "Things have changed. We can't wait any longer. Let's follow the previous plan - organize the army and attack!"

Humans are not undead, and it will take quite some time for an army of 30,000 to be fully organized and ready to set off.

Every legion began to get busy, and only Raven, the "scout captain", had some freedom as he did not have to participate in the reorganization of the army.

As for scouts, they must be outside at all times. How can they conduct reconnaissance in a military formation?

So Raven took his personal soldiers and went out first, finding a place with a wide view and began to observe the war.

The siege had begun, and the first to launch the attack were the skeleton archers. Their bone arrows rained down like rain, covering the sky for miles. Then they smashed down in waves, overwhelming the defenders on the city walls so that they couldn't even raise their heads.

At the same time, the undead army was also advancing.

A large number of cannon fodder skeletons serve as pioneers, mixed with first-level skeletons and rotten soul corpses. Every few steps, there will be a second-level plague colossus guarded by second-level bone cavalry.

There were only a few Plague-like giants encountered before, but looking up now, there are at least dozens of them participating in the siege. Their bodies are so tall that they are almost as tall as the city walls, and they hold huge bone shields that look like city gates in their hands.

Raven frowned slightly. Although the coalition suffered a crushing defeat in the battle where Viscount Morgan died, the Undead Army at that time had basically no tactics to speak of. Apart from knowing how to rain arrows before the battle, they just rushed in in a swarm.

But now, these undead armies participating in the siege showed a hint of tactical deployment.

The rain of bone arrows never stops, and a large number of skeleton soldiers provide cover and cooperate with the Plague Colossus to advance.

If the undead army had had this kind of dispatching capability during the field battle, the coalition forces' losses would have been even greater.

"Did the war give them experience, or is it that the commander this time is really different?"

Reality soon gave Raven the answer.

The sea of ​​skeletons gradually approached the city wall, but the rain of arrows did not stop, covering their own vanguard as well.

Skeleton soldiers are not easily harmed by arrows, and will not have morale problems due to the rain of arrows coming from behind. They are indeed the best choice.

The defenders on the city walls did not just take the beating. After several months, they had developed a set of methods to deal with the undead.

Raven put his hands on the awning, with a hint of surprise on his face.

On the city wall, something similar to a carriage appeared - it was covered with steel. I don't know if it had wheels, but it was enough to withstand the rain of bone arrows. Then, clusters of fire splashed out. They were arrows shot from a fire-enchanted crossbow, targeting the plague colossi.

The flames fell on the shield regardless of the cost, but it was difficult to achieve success. Some were bounced to the ground, and some were extinguished as soon as they landed.

Raven said with a look of realization: "It's not a fire enchantment, it's just an ordinary kerosene arrow!"

Obviously, several months of hard fighting have exhausted the city defenders' reserves of enchanted crossbows, and the fire-enchanted crossbows also have a service life and may have expired long ago.

But the defenders' efforts were not in vain. Even ordinary kerosene arrows, in large numbers, could slowly ignite the shields.

Soon after, a new carriage appeared. It was similar in shape, but much larger, and the crossbow arrows shot from it were thicker than buckets!

It's a bed crossbow.

The huge bone shield that was like a city gate became fragile after being burned by the fierce fire, and was immediately smashed to pieces by the huge impact force carried by the crossbow arrows.

Then the crossbows and crossbows aimed at the head of the Plague Colossus and began to shoot.

Their huge bodies were excellent targets. Once their shields were broken, it wouldn't take long for their heads to explode, leaving green soul fire flying everywhere.

"Why not use the magic crystal cannon?" Volaf asked.

"Bone dragon." It was Eric who answered him: "The magic crystal cannon is aimed at the ground, not the air. The magic crystal cannon on the city wall must have been removed by the bone dragon long ago, leaving only the empty shell."

As they were talking, the army of bones had already rushed to the city.

The moat had long been filled with countless bones, and under the city wall there was a pile of bones several meters high.

Although more than half of the Plague Colossi were destroyed, some of them still rushed to the edge of the city. They stepped on the piles of bones, clung to the city walls with their hands, lowered their heads to support themselves, and formed a wide ladder!

The skeleton soldiers climbed up the ladder and rushed towards the city wall!

Heavy hammers deep in the city wall hit the fingers of the Plague Colossi. Some of them were still wrapped in fighting spirit, and bone fragments were scattered everywhere, but it was difficult to shake their bodies for a while.

The means were not limited to this. Barrels of kerosene were pushed up and poured on the Plague Colossus. The raging fire ignited and also burned the skeleton soldiers who stepped on them.

But the skeleton soldiers do not feel pain. They rush to the top of the city wall with flames burning, are pushed down, then rush up again and are pushed down again.

Even at such a long distance, Raven felt that he could faintly smell the stench of burning bones.

The Plague Colossi climbing on the top of the city began to disintegrate, but before the soldiers on the wall could catch their breath, new Plague Colossi rose from the ground and rushed towards the wall.

Each Plague Colossus will consume hundreds of undead souls. Looking at this reckless attitude, we know that the Hand of Death has made up its mind to break through the City of Mon'en!
woo-

The horn sounded, and Raven looked back to see that the Iron Legion had completed its preparations and was coming out in full force.

The vanguard was the Iron Brigade consisting of 500 Iron Warriors, all wearing enchanted plate armor that reflected the sunlight like mirrors. Holding steel shields and long swords, they began to advance with heavy steps!
Although there were only 500 people, their calm momentum was comparable to that of thousands of troops, and like a slowly advancing unstoppable city wall.

Behind them was the Iron Legion's 5,000-man army, all in full helmet and armor, with even the crossbowmen wearing bright armor. These were the elite troops guarding the empire's borders, with a total cost of no less than millions of gold coins, and war machines that consumed hundreds of thousands of gold coins every year.

——Iron Legion!
Looking at the slowly advancing battle formation, Raven's eyes showed a trace of longing: "One day, sooner or later, I will also have an army like this!"

The Undead army, which had been on guard against them, immediately launched an attack!
The Iron Brigade's speed was not fast, but its steps were very steady. The Skeleton Soldiers who came into contact with them were unable to offer any decent resistance.

The tattered weapons in the hands of the Skeleton Soldiers were simply unable to break through the defense of the Iron Brigade, but the soldiers of the Iron Brigade could smash those skeletons into pieces as long as they took action!

With the Iron Brigade as the vanguard, the entire Iron Legion was like a wedge, driving deeply into the Undead Army.

The other four legions also slowly completed their respective preparations. They deployed along both sides along the gap torn open by the Iron Legion. On the one hand, they were expanding the results of the battle, and on the other hand, they were preventing the Iron Legion from being attacked.

Now that the army has set out, Raven's "scout unit" certainly cannot stay where it is, but instead rushes out and begins to circle around the periphery of the army formation, occasionally breaking up a group of skeleton soldiers before circling back. They are doing this so openly and honestly that no one can find fault with it.

There are only more than thirty cavalrymen. We can't expect them to kill their way through the undead army and reach the city of Mon'en, right?
The speed of the Iron Legion's advance aroused the vigilance of the Death Hand Cult. After a storm of bones, more than a dozen Plague Colossi rose from the ground and rushed towards the Iron Brigade.

When they got close, five of them fell to the ground and gray-white soul flames began to condense in their mouths, obviously preparing to launch a few soul-burning fires.

This immediately aroused Raven's interest.

Minsk has obviously been in communication with Earl Tyrone in some way. Even if he has not encountered it directly, he must be very familiar with the combat methods of the Plague Colossus. However, he still chose to let the Iron Brigade advance in a dense formation, so there must be a way to deal with it!
Then this countermeasure appeared in front of Raven.

The five hundred steel warriors activated their fighting spirit almost at the same time. Some of them stood up straight, while others half-knelt on the ground, with their shields connected to each other. Under the strengthening of the steel fighting spirit, these shields were almost linked together without any gaps.

It's like a wall made of steel!

The deadly white soul-burning fire roared out, scorching the steel wall. The color of the shield surface changed several times, but it was ultimately not broken.

The Iron Brigade was not just defending. At the rear of the team, hundreds of Iron Warriors took off the javelins from their backs, infused them with fighting spirit, and threw them out!

A silver-gray arc streaked across the sky and then fell on the plague colossi.

The heavy javelins were wrapped in steel fighting spirit and smashed down with tremendous impact force. Even though one alone was difficult to break, the large number of them still broke the bones of those plague colossi, and the green soul fire floated!
The Plague Colossus, which had not prepared the soul-burning fire and was only determined to rush forward, was in an even more miserable state. It was almost smashed to pieces by the spears!

This is the terrifying combat power that erupts after the extraordinary people gather together!
The bone dragon in the sky originally wanted to swoop down to deal with this group of steel troops, but after seeing this scene, it immediately began to pull up and turned to the other side of the battlefield.

Although it was much stronger than the Plague Colossus, it did not want to use its body to withstand those spears.

However, because they did not want to take on the tough challenge of the Iron Brigade, the other four legions suffered. Every time it swooped down, even without exhaling, the faint dragon power it carried was enough to terrify most soldiers, and many of them even lost control of their bladders on the spot.

And once the dragon's breath spews out, it will be even more deadly. Except for a few fourth-level legion commanders, no one can resist it.

Coupled with the plague colossi that appeared everywhere on the battlefield, the formations of the four temporary legions, which had low levels of training and coordination, began to become chaotic, and the orderly advancement turned into a melee.

This actually reduced Raven's pressure. The more chaotic the battlefield was, the fewer people would notice him, and he would have the opportunity to step out and analyze the war from a bystander's perspective.

Such scenes of decisive battles between large armies were rare, and Raven absorbed the experience and lessons from them eagerly.

Gradually, he began to discover that there seemed to be problems with the command of each legion commander. For example, in the Fourth Legion, a brigade had penetrated too deep and was completely surrounded by the skeletons. If Raven were in command himself, he would definitely order both sides to speed up their advance. This would not only resolve the crisis of this brigade, but also expand the results of the battle.

But Viscount John chose to lead his team to advance diagonally. Although this rescued the brigade, it also made the overall formation more chaotic.

"Is my vision better than Viscount John's?" Raven asked himself this question, but immediately shook his head.

I know my own level clearly. Although I have some theoretical knowledge, I have never really commanded a large-scale military operation. To put it in a good way, it is just armchair talk. To put it in a bad way, it is "I won't go up, just talk nonsense."

Then he discovered that not only the Fourth Legion, but the decisions of the other three legions also had many problems to varying degrees.

"I understand." Raven's eyes became clear.

He is now looking at the entire war from the perspective of a bystander. Of course, he sees it clearly and understands it, but people in the war may not have the same perspective as him, and it is even more difficult to control the overall situation in the chaos.

On the other hand, the optimal solution that Raven thought of might not be the optimal one. For example, Viscount John's diagonal insertion destroyed the formation, but it also boosted the morale of the Fourth Legion to a certain extent.

This also made Raven secretly alert himself, telling him not to overestimate himself and not to take marching and fighting so easily.

As the melee unfolded, the battle intensified, with the Iron Brigade as the vanguard, the coalition forces slowly but steadily advanced towards Mon'en.

The Hand of Death Cult also saw the determination of this side, and their siege force became more and more fierce!

Magical spells began to appear on the top of the city walls. The Necromancers in the Undead Legion began to show their power. At the same time, more and more skeleton soldiers rushed to the city walls regardless of the cost, and would not stop even if they would be buried in the flames!

As more and more souls died, the piles of bones grew higher and higher.

The Hand of Death wants to pave a broad road leading to the city wall with the bones of the undead!
In an instant, everyone who observed this action, whether inside or outside the city, understood the tactical intentions of the Undead Army, but few could stop it!
If there were still third- or fourth-level extraordinary people on the city, they might be able to quickly destroy it, but these forces had long been exhausted during the long years of defending the city, and their numbers were getting smaller and smaller.

Now, in the entire Mon'en City, the only real strong man left is Tyrone Shiva Slater, who possesses the fifth-level corrupt poisonous fighting spirit.

He could not appear on the city wall, and could not even be exposed to the sight of the Hand of Death. Once anything unexpected happened to him, the entire City of Mon'en and the entire war would be doomed to complete failure!

Seeing that Mon'en City might be breached at any time, Minsk began to become a little anxious and immediately ordered the Steel Brigade to speed up its advance.

……

(End of this chapter)