Imperial Crown.

Chapter 80: "Sand King" Heleti
The cold wind rushed into the hall with the scouts, blowing the fire in the center even brighter, sparks and ashes flying everywhere, and illuminating the platform at the end of the hall.

On the high platform was a dark iron throne. Even though it was covered with thick beast leather, it still couldn't conceal its coldness and sharpness.

A man sat atop it, his legs spread apart, wearing a heavy suit of enchanted plate armor painted a sandy yellow.

The iron helmet with a face covering was placed on the armrest of the throne. The man held the wine glass in one hand and supported his chin with the other hand. His rough face, which had been weathered by wind and frost, was calm and indifferent, and naturally showed a majestic demeanor.

"Sand King" Helaiti, a third-level yellow sand knight.

boom--

"As expected, they are here." As the door was closed, Heleti stood up and looked at the scout: "Tell me in detail."

"Yes, sir!" The scout said in a relaxed tone, "There are about a hundred of them, all riding horses. Although they look respectable, I can smell the earthy smell on them from a distance."

"Haha, a bunch of mud-legged peasants." King Sand laughed and shook his head: "How is the equipment?"

"It's hard to see the weapons clearly, they are mainly spears, but the shape doesn't look like lances." The scout paused and said, "As for the armor, they are wearing cotton robes on the outside and leather armor on the inside. In addition to the knight leading the team wearing enchanted plate armor, only one person is wearing enchanted chain mail."

"Oh..." Heleti nodded slowly and asked the last question: "How far is it?"

"When I came back, they were setting up camp at Fangma Slope." The scout's voice became a little annoyed: "I wanted to set a fire to surprise them, but their scouts were quite capable, so I didn't dare get too close."

"Well done." Heleti waved his hand and said, "Go and have a rest."

"Yes!" The scout stood up and retreated from the side.

"Hmm..." Helaiti took a sip of wine, his eyes flickering as if he was thinking about something.

At this time, there were three other people sitting in the hall besides Helaiti. However, contrary to the usual practice of the horse thieves who had no rules and acted recklessly, the hall was extremely quiet.

“Snow Chicken…” Heleti’s eyes fell on one of them: “What do you think of what the scout just said?”

The man called "Snow Chicken" immediately sat up straight with a flattering smile on his face: "Lord King Sand, your men are indeed elite and they see the situation very clearly."

"That's all?" He Lai asked with a smile.

"Of course not." Facing Heleti's smile, Snow Chicken shuddered: "Those more than one hundred people are the 'Eagle Army' I mentioned to you before, the private soldiers of the Griffith family, divided into three teams, each with thirty-six people."

"Although your scouts say they are peasants, I think that's an understatement." Snow Chicken said with disdain, "They are just a bunch of young masters from Shining Gold Town. If they encounter even a little bit of trouble, they will definitely run away in fear!"

"And the leader wearing plate armor should be Eric." Snow Chicken's tone was filled with disgust: "He is the most pretentious person in the entire Eagle Territory. He relies on himself to be a first-level extraordinary person. He wears plate armor all year round, which is disgusting."

At this point, Snow Chicken looked at a bald man next to him and said, "But Lord Iron Shield, you are different from him. You are much more handsome and elegant!"

The man called Iron Shield looked to be about forty years old, wearing a suit of fine steel plate armor. Hearing this, he didn't even raise his eyelids, and it was obvious that he looked down on this "snow chicken" very much.

Snow Chicken smiled awkwardly, looked at Heleti, and said through gritted teeth: "As for the man in chain mail, he must be Raven. He is most afraid of death and will just leave everything to his men!"

"Hatred will make people paranoid." Heleti shook his head: "If he is really afraid of death, he should not appear in the Bloody Highlands. No one here will care about his noble status."

"Yes, yes..." Snow Chicken said with a smile: "Your prudent attitude is simply a role model for us!"

Ignoring Snow Chicken's stiff flattery, Heleti looked at the other two: "Jose, Eugene, what do you two think?"

Jose was a man who looked to be in his thirties. He pushed up the hair on his forehead with his left hand, which was missing a little finger, and said with disdain: "They are just a bunch of rabble. Boss, if you give me fifty people, I can flatten their camp tonight!"

"Hmph, don't underestimate Eric." Eugene, also known as "Iron Shield", snorted coldly and glanced at Jose. "He is also from the Iron Legion. He is an expert in marching and fighting, especially in defensive operations. If you underestimate the enemy, you may end up in trouble!"

"Put away your little thoughts now." Jose's nickname is "Poison Hook", and his words are like spitting venom: "I know what you mean. You are from the Iron Legion. Isn't it just to raise your own status by praising him?"

"If the Iron Legion is really that powerful, why are you here hanging out with us?"

"Jose!" Heleti stared at him and tapped the back of his chair in warning: "Let's stick to the facts."

"Yes, boss." Jose shrank his neck, but still not convinced: "Even if we talk about the facts, Eric is only at the first level, but I am at the second level! Moreover, the poisonous fighting spirit is specifically used to defeat steel. As long as I rush in and kill him, those more than a hundred gerbils can be killed at will, right?"

"Humph, you can only survive until now by following Lord Sand King." Eugene first praised Heleti a little, and then launched a counterattack against Jose: "I am also a first-level, and I also have Iron Fighting Qi. Why was it that during the previous drills, I always won when the same number of people were fighting?"

Jose glanced aside and said, "Tsk, it's just a game, don't take it seriously." "Alright..." Heleti rubbed his temples and said, "Jose, I agreed to the confrontation exercise. You said it was just a game. Are you questioning my decision?"

"Eugene, don't keep talking about your Iron Legion. Remember, we are horse thieves!"

The two glared at each other in disgust, then nodded in unison.

"Yes, boss!"

"Understood, Lord Sand King."

Heleti nodded with satisfaction and looked at Eugene: "Eric is from the Iron Legion. What tactics do you think he will use this time?"

As he spoke, he winked at the guard beside him, who immediately pushed up the stand with a map on it in the corner.

Compared to the version drawn by Simon, this map is much rougher, but it is still much more advanced than the horse thieves who just randomly drew an X to mark it. It is undoubtedly guided by Eugene.

Eugene stood up and walked to the board. After a quick inspection, he pointed to a spot and said, "If I were Eric, I would not attack rashly, but would choose this place as the battlefield."

Heleti looked in the direction of his finger: "Fangmapo, isn't this where they set up camp?"

"This shows that Eric has excellent foresight. Fangmapo is not only suitable for camping, but also a good place for defensive operations." Eugene drew a circle with his finger. "Our troops are all genuine cavalry with very good mobility. If they fight on the Great Plains, he will not be able to deploy a well-defended circular formation with the few people he has. Once we stab them in the ass, the whole army will be destroyed."

"Although Fangmapao is not very high, as long as we can deploy a force of about 30 people, we can completely block the slope and force us to charge head-on."

At this point, Eugene looked at Snow Chicken: "Their configuration is a squad of crossbowmen, a squad of spearmen, and a squad of sword and shield soldiers, right?"

"Yes, you have a great memory." Snow Chicken flattered with a smile.

Eugene did not comment and turned to Heleti: "If it were me, I would let the sword and shield soldiers form the first line of defense, the spearmen in the back, and the crossbowmen at the end, forming a simple three-layer defense line, using people as a wall and fighting a positional war!"

"A solid layout is indeed the style of the Iron Legion." The description was simple and clear. Heleti immediately imagined the scene in his mind, and then looked at Jose: "If the other party arranges the formation according to what Eugene said, what will you do?"

"Too easy, Boss." Jose also stood up and walked to the other side of the board. "A mob of more than a hundred people would have low morale in the cold and snow."

"Give me fifty elite soldiers from my own army, and I will choose the hunting tactic, close range and projectile attack, then return - they are only equipped with leather armor, which cannot withstand the barrage of arrows. Each round of rain of arrows can cause enough casualties, and the range of the cavalry bow is longer than that of the ordinary crossbow. They can only take the beating and cannot fight back."

"As the losses mount, their morale will surely drop. They will either collapse or charge directly at us." Jose showed a confident smile on his face: "No matter which one, we will win!"

Eugene's mouth twitched as he fell into unpleasant memories. When he led his team into the Bloody Highlands, he was defeated by this tactic and became a prisoner of Heleti: "It's winter now. The power and range of the horse bows will be greatly reduced. As long as the sword and shield soldiers are well covered, your galloping shooting tactics will not cause effective damage at all, but will only waste horsepower!"

"Haha, I'm too lazy to argue with you." Jose turned to Snow Chicken and said, "Tell me, am I right, or is this inflexible tortoise right?"

The snow chicken was caught between two people, feeling very awkward.

"Enough!" Heleti's voice rescued the snow chicken: "Now we are discussing tactics, not letting you two fight."

"Eugene is right. The defending side has more advantages in a battle, not to mention that the opponent can seize the advantageous terrain first."

"And since Raven was able to kill Anderson, he is definitely not an ordinary person. He would not rush here to die. Either there is something fishy about the team of 100 people, or he has a backup plan."

"So... tomorrow's tactics will be arranged like this." Heleti raised his voice: "Jose will lead the army, Eugene will be the deputy, and 100 people will be transferred from the main camp, and 30 people from each of the two branch camps."

"No matter what tricks you use, you have to eat them all. Can you do that?"

Jose pounded his chest heavily and said, "Don't worry, Boss! I will definitely kill them all!"

"Your will will be carried out, sir!" Eugene showed a hint of dissatisfaction in his eyes, but still made his position clear.

No one mentioned any other tactics, not even "Hook" Jose.

Because they are the horse thieves of "Sand King" Helaiti, the strongest force in the southeastern periphery of Bloody Highlands. Either you don't fight them, or you fight them with thunder and lightning to show your power!

At the same time, Eric was making final preparations.

……

(End of this chapter)