Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 622 Heavy Troops Gathering
In the command post of the garrison fortress in Wangshan County, all the high-ranking officers who rushed here urgently were discussing the upcoming battle.

"Ground firepower only needs to cover the designated bombardment points north of Goris. We can completely deal with the enemies that have already entered the city and are engaged in battle with the Church's Inquisition Army," the Son of Flame emphasized to Pierce, repeatedly pounding the table. "You can rest assured. The air combat mages of the Independent Airship Regiment will definitely not fail... As long as we can destroy the entrance to the underground river deep in the Saint's Gap, the remaining demon lizardmen will become sitting ducks for us."

Pierce looked hesitant. After pondering for a moment, he slowly said, "It's not that I don't trust the aerial mages' abilities, but judging by the intelligence sent back by various parties, there are at least 30,000 demon lizardmen besieging Goris, and there are several thousand Winged Ones as well. If we don't use intensive artillery fire to suppress them first, I'm worried that the bombing operation will be hindered."

He raised his hand to summon Vaughn, activated the image-recording magic stone sent back by the frontline reconnaissance airship, and showed them to everyone, "Look, this is the latest conch beast to appear among the Lizardmen. It's as big as a three-story building. In groups of three or five, it can crash down a towering city wall. It also has black water vents on its back for anti-aircraft defense. How can you guarantee that you won't be entangled by the Winged Ones and exposed to their lock-on fire?"

The newly developed high-speed airship can indeed perfectly avoid Winged Creatures who rely solely on their physical bodies to rise to the sky in terms of cruising altitude and flight speed, but its safety is not foolproof. Once it needs to descend in altitude and enter bombing preparation mode, it will also need to face swarms of flying enemies. Whenever it needs to hover and fight back... it will immediately enter the air defense range of the ground enemy. With only two mages on a single airship, it is almost impossible to survive.

Although the bombing mission was not affected during the battle, this extreme one-for-one approach was absolutely not allowed by Harvey and the kingdom's high-level officials. No matter whether they were combat mages or experienced veterans, they could not be easily sent to the front line as consumable cannon fodder in this blocking battle.

To completely silence the incessant chatter of the Son of Fire, Pierce pulled out a military order stamped with Harvey's seal and repeated it in a stiff tone, "Mr. Holden, although you are currently one of the strategic advisors to the Army Mage Corps and concurrently command the Independent Airship Regiment, I must remind you... His Majesty's order grants me the authority of overall battlefield command, which means everyone must obey unconditionally, without exception."

The Son of Flame shrugged and immediately gave in. "Of course I obey the command, but have you considered... within this vast Holy City, there are still at least nearly ten thousand Church Inquisitors and devout believers stationed there, relying on various fortifications to stubbornly resist the enemy."

If the artillery and airship bombardments indiscriminately covered the entire city, he would not care about the lives of the Inquisition Army... but those mortal people, who were equally numerous, would not be able to escape the tragic fate of being destroyed together with the Demon Lizardmen.

When stationed in Blackrock City in the past, the Sons of Flame had also experienced the task of rescuing surrounding counties and towns and protecting the evacuation of ordinary people. Most of the time, the spellcasters remained true to their original intentions and tried their best to avoid causing large numbers of casualties among innocent people.

Pierce chuckled and muttered, "Didn't you all hate those church charlatans the most in the past? Why are you sympathizing with those believers at this critical moment? His Majesty has specifically instructed us that our primary mission is to destroy the exit of the underground river, buying time for the church forces that have already evacuated the Holy City. We'll disregard everything else... We only aim to inflict maximum damage on the enemy!"

The Son of Flame nodded in understanding and continued, "After the bombing mission is completed, if the enemy scatters and flees, do we need to pursue them?"

"Rush?" Pierce sneered. "Without the floating island fortress and subsequent supplies, where can they escape to? The several special forces ambushed around the Holy City will naturally gradually eliminate them and ensure that not a single one is missed."

After the Black Water was depleted, the enemy possessed only a tough, naturally magic-resistant shell. To the Bloodline Warriors, each armed with a bolter and standard weapon, they were nothing more than prey fleeing hastily through the mountains and forests. The two chatted for a few more moments about the specifics of tactical execution until Wayne hurried in from outside the command post.

"Commander, we've received a transmission from the front lines that the three mixed artillery battalions have arrived at their designated combat locations. We can begin operations as early as tomorrow evening!"

The Son of Flame wondered, "Our ground forces marched straight through Arid territory without encountering any obstruction along the way? Didn't that damned Count Zephyr solemnly declare that he would launch a counterattack against Saint Valen?"

Wayne scoffed and said calmly, "It was simply a certain order of the Church's Inquisition Knights that gave him the courage to launch a counterattack. After the Holy City was attacked, that order had already evacuated Rilke, the capital of Yarid. Earl Zephyr was so frightened that he quickly gathered all his forces and planned to stay in the capital and defend it."

The Mountain Kingdom was originally small in area, and its entire territory was even smaller than that of the Grizzly Bear Territory. After Earl West Wind returned to the country and ascended the throne, he firmly controlled the feudal power in the country. There were not even many vassal nobles assigned around the capital, let alone the powerful lords with their own troops stationed everywhere.

A mixed combat force of nearly 5,000 Northern Army soldiers entered the country without any warning. Taking advantage of the swift off-road capabilities of their alchemical vehicles, they quickly crossed the mountains and arrived near Goris. They avoided populated mountain villages and towns along the way and encountered almost no resistance. It was like a smooth journey, and they arrived at the designated combat location in just two days.

Since Harvey officially ordered the operation, the Northern Army took only three days to complete the assembly of two corps, with nearly 6,000 soldiers. The scattered combat troops from Jinhui City and Yinsong City arrived quickly on ironclad ships. A large number of airships transferred from Fengyuan City to Wangshan County were all assembled overnight, and all that was left was to inflate the airbags so that they could take off at any time.

An emergency mobilization of this scale is enough to make everyone realize the terrifying power of the United Kingdom's war machine running at full speed.

"I understand. Now that the ground troops are in place, I will go down and prepare. The independent airship regiment will be able to set off on time tomorrow afternoon!" The Son of Fire nodded, bowed slightly to Pierce, and left decisively.

Pierce suddenly called out to him, smiling and reminding him, "Mr. Holden, don't forget... our operation is codenamed [Skyfire]."

(End of this chapter)