Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 226 Preparation before the war
The Federation has three combat mage regiments stationed in Blackrock City in the Evil Moon Mountains - the scout unit, the defense unit and the high-level mage regiment. The scout unit has five hundred-man regiments of permanent combat mages, and the defense unit is supplemented by spellcasters sent from the rear to rotate. Only the high-level mage regiment is special, consisting of only more than one hundred high-level combat mages, who use their powerful air mobility to complete some dangerous combat missions such as surprise attacks and counterattacks.

A week later, the raid on the demon supply line, named "Operation Tear" by the Federation, completed a series of pre-war preparations.

The operation was commanded by the scout commander Andre Weiss, who would personally lead three hundred-man scout regiments of mages to advance covertly from the gap in the Evil Moon Mountain Canyon to the No. 3 supply line, and arrive at the hilly outpost camp in advance to wait for orders.

This was a mixed combat operation mainly composed of ground forces. High-level mages with strong air mobility were used as bait to frequently harass and attack the logistical channels of the demons outside the three to eight supply lines. In fact, it was to divert the attention of the demon priests and hybrid monsters in the target area, and create a gap in the enemy's defense for the mage group of the scout troops.

Although most of the combat mages in the scout unit are of low to mid-level rank, they are stationed in the Evil Moon Mountains all year round. In this vast combat zone spanning hundreds of miles, they have engaged in countless small-scale encounters with the demons. They are an elite force that truly walks the line between life and death.

They used group spellcasting to fight against the berserk demon soldiers whose strength was several times greater than their own, and were not afraid of the terrifying threat of the enemy's charge and self-destruction. During the most difficult times of the war, when the demon army advanced to the Black Stone City, they were able to cooperate with the city's defense forces, roaming around the battlefield in small teams, repeatedly harassing the demons' rear, in order to delay the enemy's advance and wait for human reinforcements.

It could be said that they were the group of spellcasters with the strongest fighting spirit within the Federation. Even though they knew clearly that the demons were sending powerful and terrifying hybrid beasts into the battlefield, no one backed down or was afraid to participate in the combat mission.

The hundred-man scout regiment led by Commander Damo Franky suffered a loss of more than 50% of its members in the last small-scale battle against hybrid monsters. It was forced to draw some low-level spellcasters from other regiments as reinforcements. Its combat power was far inferior to that of the other two regiments participating in this operation.

Therefore, Commander Andre Weiss not only distributed the "Gun of Annihilation" to their entire regiment, but also replenished them with 500 rounds of "Annihilation Magic Ammunition" with a wave of his hand. This can be said to be naked special care.

"Master Franky, if we run into the Demonic Tribe's hybrid beasts head-on again this time, we won't be defeated again." An old scout wizard who had been with Franky for a long time stroked the Annihilation Spear he had been given and snorted coldly, "Hmph, if I run into those Demonic Tribe's bastards again, I'll definitely blow a hole through their foreheads..."

The hybrid monsters created by the demons through secret methods are obviously different from ordinary wild monsters or mounted monsters. Not only can they spit out fireballs, ice blades, venom and other similar attack spells from their mouths, but their own flesh and blood bodies are also extremely tough and strong. They also have a certain degree of magic resistance and are almost completely immune to ordinary low-level area-type magic attacks.

Ordinary bloodline warriors and wizard followers simply cannot withstand the impact of its huge body, and the spellcaster's cluster range attack has limited damage ability to it. This means that the spellcaster has to gather many people to use powerful single-target attack spells to surround and kill a hybrid monster.

The berserk demon soldiers who can cooperate with the hybrid monsters in combat are a great threat to the spellcaster in this situation. Their bodies, strengthened by the injection of secret blood and flesh medicine, also have a certain anti-magic ability. In the case of close combat, the spellcaster can only hold the determination to fight to the death.

……

The three scout regiments marched much slower than the high-level mages flying in the air. It took them two full days to reach the low mountains overlooking the demon supply line.

Several dispersed scout teams have already encountered the demon scout cavalry active around the supply lines head-on several times. Relying on the ultra-long-range attack power of the "Lance of Annihilation", the scout mages can often detect signs of enemy activities long in advance, and use skilled concealment techniques to get close and attack, ensuring that the marching movements of their own troops are not exposed.

"Son of Fire" Phil Holden and "Storm Walker" Matthews Willy flew side by side, skillfully controlling the surge of magic power in their bodies, flying at high speed towards the small fortress that lay in the dark green primeval forest several miles away.

It was a transit station on the Demon Clan's No. 10 supply line, built by the Demon Clan into a permanent fortress-style fortress. There were about a hundred berserker soldiers and several Demon Clan priests stationed there.

Matthews, who was flying at high speed, suddenly let out a roar, which attracted Fair's attention and then slowed down his flying speed.

"Although Lord Gallagher allowed us to freely choose our harassment targets, there's no need to pick a stronghold so far away, right?" Matthews frowned and complained. "We flew all the way here from the canyon outpost, stopping to replenish our mana midway to barely make it here... The distance is too great. If something unexpected happens, I'm afraid we won't even have the energy to return."

Wearing a simple gray-black battle mage robe, Fel hovered atop a hundred-meter-tall tree. Hearing his comrade and online friend's cautious words, he scoffed disdainfully, "What are you afraid of? It's only a day's flight. How far is that? If you can't fly anymore, we can just walk back down to the ground. If you can't even walk... well, at worst, I'll just take the loss and carry you on my back, right?"

He took out two high-level elemental magic stones from the storage ring on his finger, threw one into Matthews' arms, and began to quickly absorb the magic power contained in it to replenish himself.

He kept nagging, "How long have you been stationed in the Evil Moon Mountains? Why are you still so timid? If you want to lure the enemy, you have to make a big noise... Those fools gather in groups near the Demon Clan's frontline center, which will inevitably attract the attention of the high-ranking demon priests in the central fortress. Those guys are not easy to deal with. They can easily turn from fake bait into meat on the chopping board..."

Matthews said unhappily, "Even if that's the case, we can quickly evacuate back to the canyon outpost. It's much less dangerous than going deep behind enemy lines, okay?"

As he spoke, he was suddenly stunned. "You mean... if they do this, the effect of luring the enemy will not be very good? If it happens repeatedly, it may arouse the suspicion of the high-level demons in the central fortress... They will not easily reveal the defensive gaps in the supply line, then our ground scouts will probably be severely damaged!" Although Sir Wes Gallagher is the chief of the Federation who came from a combat mage background and the supreme commander of the Federation's combat forces stationed in Blackrock City, his ability to restrain the high-level spellcasters in the battle group is actually very limited. In many cases, he can only play a nominal command and coordination role.

This is also related to the complex contradictions and struggles among internal factions that have existed within the Federation since its establishment a hundred years ago. Most of the high-level wizards in the regiments have more or less ancient family backgrounds of the seven wizard kingdoms. At the very least, they are confidants or close friends of the heads of certain departments within the Federation. They are a group of guys who only follow orders and not declarations.

Fel clenched his fist and crushed the magic stone in his palm, which had been drained of magic power, into powder. He said quietly, "So why is this operation mainly based on ground-based battle mage troops, while high-level spellcasters are used to lure the enemy and provide auxiliary support? Humph, this group of fence-sitters who have always been uncontrollable will soon be eliminated by the times..."

Disobedient spellcasters are like unsuitable tools. Now that more suitable replacements have emerged, they will naturally be abandoned by the orthodox faction within the Union...

Matthews's expression suddenly turned strange as he thought of this. He silently complained, "Isn't this guy the epitome of disobedience? How dare he gossip about others behind their backs? Has he forgotten how he was kicked out of the Mage Corps and retired early in disgrace?"

Of course, he didn't dare say this to Phil Holden, otherwise the mission might not be completed and they would have to fight here.

"Why not directly tell Mr. Gallagher about the drawbacks and loopholes of the enemy decoy plan? This would reduce the casualties of the ground forces..."

"Hehe, even though there are many fools, we are not the only two smart ones. Don't worry, there are other high-level people who share the same plan as us..."

Fell turned his gaze towards the supply transfer station in the distance and urged impatiently, "Alright, have you rested enough? Do you want me to go down and make you another cup of tea? If not, let's get moving!"

……

The two quickly flew to a place a few hundred meters away from the supply transfer station, slowed down their speed and began to observe around.

Matthews, whose eyes had been transformed by secret techniques, saw at a glance a huge deformed monster entrenched on top of the small fortress. It did not have four torsos, and only had a huge head fixed in a huge iron cage. Hundreds of red compound eyes on the head kept looking around, and then almost instantly focused on the two people floating in the sky.

"It's the Reconnaissance Eye Demon! We've been discovered!" Matthews warned in a deep voice.

The fortress below immediately became boiling with excitement. Four figures in dark red robes flew out from the gap in the skylight at the top of the fortress one after another and rushed towards Fair and Matthews.

"Damn it! What's going on? Isn't this a supply transfer station? Why are there four high-level priests?"

Fair couldn't help but curse, and he and Matthews looked at each other quickly, and they both found something wrong.

Among the four demon priests who flew into the air and rushed towards them, the leading priest was also wearing a dark red robe that represented a high-ranking status, but he was wearing a tall metal crown on his head, which reflected a dazzling light under the reflection of the sky.

His head seemed to be integrated with the crown, and the metal base of the crown was actually embedded directly into the flesh on top of his head, making his head appear to be more than one circle larger than those of other demon priests.

"That's... an ascended one! Damn it, that's an ascended one among the high-ranking priests of the demon race!"

The two men changed direction almost immediately and rushed towards the dense forest in the distance without looking back.

Matthews was so blown by the strong wind that he could hardly speak. He could only ask in a hoarse voice, "What should we do? Should we just run? What if they chase us? We can't outlast that promoted one!"

Fell snorted coldly, "Let's keep some distance and let them catch up! After a while, we'll pretend to run out of magic power and fall to the ground... Don't forget we brought the Gun of Annihilation!"

(End of this chapter)