Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 751 Hunter and Prey

Deep in the northern wilderness, at Yanshan Mountain.

Phil Holden, the Son of Flame, put down his binoculars and said to his close comrade Stormwalker standing beside him, "The lizardmen are being spotted more and more frequently on the outskirts of the canyon. It looks like they'll soon be infiltrating the surrounding area."

Yanshan is nearly twenty miles away from the Lelu Grand Canyon. Although it is located at a high point, it is still impossible to clearly observe the specific situation inside the canyon using only reconnaissance magic and alchemical telescopes.

To avoid alerting the enemy, the Northern Army did not send reconnaissance airships to the canyon to investigate, allowing the alien floating islands hiding there to gradually gain a foothold and begin to send out sporadic winged beings to expand their range of activities.

Stormwalker Matthews Willie said in a deep voice, "The artillery positions will be ready tonight, and we can launch long-range artillery bombardment into the canyon as soon as the forward command post set up at Big Bear Lake gives the order."

The fire mage nodded, pondered for a moment, and then spoke, "If the enemy's evolved beings appear, we high-level mages will still be responsible for the main battle. Instruct the bloodline warriors not to be reckless; they will only throw their lives away in front of such a powerful enemy."

Stormwalker smiled wryly, "And what about the Starfire Warriors His Majesty trained? Don't you trust their combat capabilities?"

“I believe in His Majesty’s foresight and arrangements. However, most of these people are new recruits from mortal backgrounds with almost zero combat experience. I do not believe that simply equipping them with an alchemical armor fused with beast souls will give them the ability to become extraordinary.”

Callum, who happened to arrive, hesitated for a moment before interjecting, "Colonel, there's no need to worry. The Starfire Warriors' armor is a war weapon specifically developed to counter the Lizardmen. Compared to us throwing ourselves into battle with our bare hands, they can even withstand the lightning attacks of the Red Lizardmen and Winged Ones with their armor alone. Projectiles like Black Crystal Spikes are no different from tickling them."

The leader of the Bloodline Warrior Special Forces took the initiative to speak. The two high-level mages naturally could not openly question the emperor's decision. After a long silence, the Son of Flame slowly said, "In that case, let's arrange for them to be responsible for cutting off the target's retreat route... Anyway, we are going to lure that guy to Yanshan to surround and annihilate him."

……

"It's about time..." The deputy commander of the Independent Artillery Regiment, Lynx, paced back and forth on the fully erected position, occasionally turning to urge the communications soldier beside him, "Contact the Big Bear Lake Command again and ask when the attack order will be issued!"

Looking north from the summit of Yanshan Mountain, the setting sun casts a blood-red glow on the vast wilderness. In the boundless, dark green primeval forest, wild birds can be seen taking flight from time to time, and as night falls, the mournful howls of beasts can be heard all around.

The Leroux Canyon in the distance was also shrouded in the blood-red sunset, appearing even more tranquil as the twilight gradually encroached... But everyone knew that what kind of hidden dangers lay beneath this seemingly peaceful scene.

Before Lynx could urge him again, the communications soldier finally received the order from headquarters: "Battalion Commander, headquarters has ordered an artillery barrage in ten minutes!"

Lynx's eyes lit up, and he pressed for details: "What are the specific firing instructions?"

"The general said, launch a sweeping attack... until the target in the canyon is completely destroyed."

This means that the Yanshan artillery position would need to unleash tens of thousands of shells without hesitation into the canyon, which is about three miles in diameter. It is likely that by the time the bombardment ends, the entire center of the canyon will have been completely plowed up by the shells, and the low-lying areas will even be filled in.

The setting sun completely disappeared below the distant horizon.

Then the first cannon shot finally resounded atop Yanshan Mountain...

The Northern Army was already adept at the entire bombardment process. They opened with several volleys of solid shot, followed by reconnaissance airships patrolling the canyon's perimeter calibrating the landing points and providing timely feedback. The artillery positions, receiving the coordinates, quickly adjusted their firing angles, and then unleashed another volley. The sheer force of hundreds of cannons firing simultaneously was earth-shattering. "Buzz—buzz—The enemy inside the canyon has reacted—buzz—A large number of winged beings have taken to the air—"

"Currently—we cannot observe the situation of the floating islands—please maintain fire support!"

Clearly, under this level of bombing, apart from the winged species that can fly and take off to avoid the shells, the vast majority of the demon lizardmen warriors who can only stay on the ground have no way to escape. A small number of individuals active on the periphery may be able to find cover in the canyon walls to hide, but those standing upright on the floating island in the center can only passively take hits.

The airship carrying the Son of Flame hovered high above the artillery position, followed closely by hundreds of similar airships that took off one after another, already prepared for battle.

“After the battle began, I had mixed feelings…” The fire mage chuckled at the stormwalker and said slowly, “For a moment, I didn’t know whether to hope that there really was an evolved being in the canyon, or to hope that this damned guy would not appear in front of me.”

The fierce victory on the Ice Sea front and the heroic sacrifice of several close comrades still haunted the Fire Mage. Even now, he was not afraid to fight them again, but his eagerness for revenge was intertwined with his desire for the operation to go smoothly.

Stormwalker paused for a moment, then said softly, "His Majesty and the General Staff's judgment is pretty much correct. If it weren't for sending the evolved beings here, they would never have sent a floating island to their deaths for no reason..."

Humans have firmly planted a permanent military base in the frozen sea and permafrost. These equally intelligent lizardmen will naturally try every means to retaliate. The best strategy is to rely on the underwater navigation advantage of the underground river to bypass the defensive lines set up by humans on the surface and silently erode their strategic depth.

The Son of Flame nodded in agreement. “That’s right, everyone’s ideas are in agreement… They seem to be planning to shorten our strategic depth, use floating islands for underwater advances, create breakthroughs in the wasteland inland that the Northern Army cannot fully monitor, and use these as bases to launch a general offensive against our capital.”

The artillery positions beneath their feet continued to roar. After a few more moments, the fire mage finally couldn't resist picking up the communicator and trying again to contact the reconnaissance team located on the outskirts of the canyon.

"Buzz—Buzz—Colonel?"

What is the current situation?

"The Winged Ones—Zzz—have discovered us and are gathering—Zzz—intending to pursue us—"

The Child of Flame frowned and pressed further, "Has the main objective of this operation not been discovered yet?"

"Buzz—For now—Buzz—Be careful!"

A warning sound, noticeably louder, suddenly came through the intermittently emitting static communicator.

Before the two high-ranking mages could react, the communication signal was suddenly cut off, and less than a few seconds later... another communication was immediately established in the alchemy communicator.

"Buzz—Colonel, suspected target spotted! Repeat...suspected target spotted! It...it just attacked one of our reconnaissance squads and is now heading at full speed toward Yanshan position!"

The highlight of this operation, and also the target of the Northern Army's trap to lure out the enemy... the high-level evolved humans of the Lizardmen have finally appeared!
(End of this chapter)