Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 769 Stalemate and Urban Warfare

Eastern defense line of Eisengard, Rhinoceros Horn City.

boom--

The sniper, positioned high above the damaged tower, fired first, accurately hitting the enemy below who was crouching behind a stone bunker.

The demon lizardmen troops hiding in the ruins of the building suddenly stirred, and several black lizard soldiers who had been exposed were immediately targeted and called out one after another.

The airships flying overhead hummed softly, seemingly chasing after the few remaining winged beings, heading straight towards the city gate.

"Attention all personnel! Open fire at will!"

Before the officer finished speaking, a burst of gunfire erupted from the trenches. Bullets rained down on the fearless enemy who charged forward, mowing down large numbers of them like wheat being harvested.

The machine gun immediately roared to life after the automatic rifles went silent during reloading, while the whooshing sound of the portable artillery firing ammunition continued throughout.

……

The southern gate of Rhinoceros Horn City is where the Northern Army's front-line command post is located. The command post and observation station are set up on the city wall, with dozens of beam anti-aircraft weapons mounted on high points. Every section of the city wall is guarded by several magic-powered machine guns. Simple defensive fortifications and trenches have been built both inside and outside the city wall. The enemies that were originally active in this area have been almost completely wiped out, and even the winged beings in the air are unwilling to venture there easily.

Battle Commander Wayne stood on the city wall crenellations, raising his binoculars and constantly looking towards the locations where small-scale battles had broken out inside the city. "Notify the battalion headquarters at the front that they must hold the entrances and exits of the city's underground waterways no matter what, and block the enemy's retreat route... They can only hold out until noon tomorrow at most, and their supplies will probably run out."

That will be the time when his army will advance in full force and completely wipe out the remaining lizardmen forces lingering in Rhinoceros Horn City.

There must be an underground river deep beneath Rhinoceros Horn City, but it is blocked by a solid and thick layer of rock. The floating island fortresses that have sailed here cannot break through the earth's crust to rise to the surface. They can only rely on the city's several natural underground water pipes to draw water and, under the cover of night, continuously pour into the city to carry out their killings.

Rhinoceros Horn City fell overnight. The several nobles who ruled the city didn't even have time to organize an effective defense and counterattack before they were slaughtered in an instant. Fortunately, the Lizardmen couldn't deploy large war beasts to indiscriminately destroy the city. The intricate city roads and dense buildings gave many local residents enough time to escape.

Although Wayne's main Northern army arrived a step too late, they still managed to seize a southern city gate thanks to their overwhelming firepower, thus securing a safe escape route for their foreign compatriots and preventing them from being directly surrounded by the enemy's underground army and becoming lambs to the slaughter in a pen.

"Commander, the situation of the Fourth Battalion in Bell Tower Street, southwest of the outer city, may not be optimistic... The reinforcements of the Demon Lizardmen are pouring out of the waterways under the Bell Tower, and there are also enemies attacking their fortifications in the streets and alleys outside. Should we urgently send reinforcements?"

"Send a squadron of airships over there to take care of the targets in the streets and alleys. At least we can't be caught in a pincer attack..." Wayne frowned, but couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "They're like a bunch of rats in the gutter, you can't kill them all!"

It's no wonder he was in a bad mood. The Northern Army had been in Rhinoceros Horn City for almost a week, and had fought dozens of battles, large and small, with the Lizardmen who had occupied the city earlier. Starting from the southern city gate they had initially captured, they were advancing step by step into the city. Along the way, they had destroyed and blocked nearly a hundred underground waterway entrances, but they still couldn't completely seal off all the channels through which the enemy could reinforce from underground.

The underground sewers of Rhinoceros Horn City were almost as dense as a spider web. Streets and alleys that soldiers had just swept the day before might be suddenly attacked the next day by several Black Lizard warriors leaping from an inconspicuous well, brandishing black crystal spears. Fortunately, the suppressive firepower of their weapons was always present. Given enough time… the Northern Army would eventually fill in all the holes in the underground sewers and completely recapture this important city on the eastern defense line.

Seeing that the commander seemed a little down, the adjutant quickly joked, "These past few days, the soldiers have been secretly complaining that the city's water supply has been polluted by those damned lizardmen. Even after filtering and boiling, it's still like drinking their bathwater..."

Wayne couldn't help but chuckle, a rare smile appearing on his gloomy face. "No wonder I've been feeling a metallic taste in the water I've been drinking these past few days."

In fact, he was already used to this pungent, rotten smell. If he could completely wipe out these despicable alien monsters, Wayne wouldn't even mind bathing in their blood and filth.

……

However, after chatting briefly with his adjutant, a communications soldier hurriedly ran up from the city wall.

"Commander, the main force of the Second Battalion has discovered a group of locals hiding in a cellar on Blacksmith Street outside the East Gate. There are about forty of them, and the leader appears to be a low-ranking bloodline warrior..."

Wayne narrowed his eyes and said calmly, "Blacksmith Street is so close to the inner moat, and almost every day there are reinforcements of the Lizardmen pouring out from underground. Do they want to die if they stay there?"

The communications soldier paused, then explained in a heavy tone, "Most of their families and relatives were brutally murdered. They are unwilling to evacuate with our troops and would rather die in battle than leave and wait for an opportunity to take revenge."

This situation is not uncommon. The Northern Army has encountered it many times in the city in the past few days. These locals who voluntarily stayed in the city to seek revenge were mostly led by some slightly capable members of the Guardians or knights' squires. Relying on their familiarity with the complex terrain of the city, they moved around carefully, protecting themselves while also being able to suddenly deliver a fatal blow to a lone and injured Lizardman.

The vengeful rage of mortals can also scorch these alien monsters.

However, what the communications officer reported next surprised Wayne.

"According to frontline soldiers who encountered them, the leader of this group... appears to be using our standard-issue weapon, which looks somewhat like a single-shot magic gun that has long been obsolete."

This matter is not sensational. The day before yesterday, Wayne received a telegram from the capital city... These almost obsolete old magical weapons had been transferred from the wizarding family of Darius to Eisengard. According to His Majesty the Emperor, he does not seem to intend to pursue these audacious people, and indicated that if the circumstances are right, the Northern Army may even provide some supplies and support to these local rebels.

In other words, send them some bullets or gun spare parts to help them improve their combat capabilities as much as possible.

After all, in many cases, the Northern Army, which went to fight in foreign lands, was far less familiar with the local situation than the civilian resistance organizations that lived there.

On one side are alien monsters blatantly invading their homeland, and on the other side are human compatriots from a neighboring country who have come from afar to provide assistance. For the fierce and valiant people of the grasslands, distinguishing between allies and enemies is simply too easy.

(End of this chapter)