Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 466 Green Pine Assembles, Three-Way March into the Vast Sea
The battlefield situation then began to change rapidly.

The first to make changes were the Green Pine Kingdom.

If the fortress cannot be defended, then the city cannot be defended! On this point, the entire Green Pine Kingdom quickly reached a consensus.

Trapped in a siege, death is the only outcome. But Green Pine still has wise men and military strategists.

On the day the Minister of War arrived at the front, he summoned the generals of various departments who had already been assembled and conveyed the latest instructions from King Kluge XI.

A dozen or so magic lamps hung from the frame, illuminating the tent as bright as day. Amidst the swirling smoke, faces displayed a variety of expressions.

There were remnant generals who had just escaped from the rout, fresh troops officers urgently transferred from the rear, and some meritorious sons wearing expensive armor.

The remaining elite forces of the kingdom have all been assembled here.

Harold stood at the very front, with a huge map hanging behind him, marking the current enemy and friendly forces in red and blue.

The Minister of Military Affairs cleared his throat, and the tent gradually quieted down.

"What Han Hai relies on is nothing more than the 'strong guns and powerful cannons' of that despicable Eastern Evil God. Our army held its ground, like holding a large shield to await magic, which was exactly what we encountered, and it is not surprising that we suffered some setbacks."

Well, with only a few tens of thousands of people, it is indeed a "somewhat disappointing" situation.

"Your Majesty is wise, and the gentlemen are intelligent; they have already found a way to overcome the vast ocean."

Harold looked around at the kingdom's soldiers, who had been recruited from various places and whose faces still showed some confusion and panic. He calmly began with a question: "Gentlemen, as warriors, how do you defeat high-level mages?"

One of the great knights stood up first: "Close in, flank them!"

"Once we get closer, those weaklings will be scared out of their wits!"

"That's right, once we get close, a magician is no match for a naked young woman!"

While this statement is somewhat exaggerated, the principle is correct. At close range, agile and faster warriors have countless ways to block a mage's attack line of sight and casting intervals, slowly breaking through the opponent's defenses.

What does this have to do with the vast ocean?

"That Han Hai is skilled in ranged attacks and has a penchant for overwhelming people with fire; he's following the path of a magic legion?"

"Once they get close enough to charge, they're nothing more than lambs to the slaughter."

Harold also found several people to give their own testimonies.

These were routed soldiers who had managed to break through the defensive line. They tore off their outer garments, revealing the scars and bullet holes on their bodies, and proved with their own experience that once they got close enough, the so-called "advanced firearms" of the Han Hai were no different from the dwarven muskets.

The gun couldn't keep up with the professional's movements; running out of bullets required a "slow" reload; and the frail body was no match for the professional's attacks...

Based on this understanding, Harold announced a new strategy against Hanhai.

The Green Pine Army is about to break up into smaller units.

“Drive all those ignorant people out of the countryside, disrupt their lives, and make sure they don’t recognize each other!”

"Our brave warriors scattered and hid in villages and hamlets, blending into the crowds! They hid in the cities!"

"Those hypocritical people of the Hanhai, don't they like to pretend to settle refugees and maintain order? Then let's find an opportunity to get close and kill them!"

Harold gesticulated wildly, his eyes bloodshot, and his voice grew increasingly loud: "His Majesty the King has issued an unprecedented and unimaginable reward!"

"Killing one Han Hai person will earn you a third-class war merit and a reward of one hundred silver coins! For each additional person killed, your rank will advance by one level and you will receive an additional one hundred silver coins!"

"If you can kill an officer of the Han Hai, as long as his identity is verified, you will be immediately granted a position and gold coins of equal rank. If you kill an enemy 'company commander,' you will become a squadron leader; if you kill a 'brigade commander,' you can obtain the position of city lord!"

"Gentlemen, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

To further incite the soldiers' bloodlust, Harold also brought truckloads of silver coins.

The Minister of Military Affairs casually removed a large box from the carriage, broke it with both hands, and the wooden frame quickly shattered. Silver coins poured down like water, making a melodious clanging sound that instantly caused an uncontrollable commotion among the soldiers present.

Silver coins are even more effective than gold coins. They are the main currency with the highest value that soldiers can use in most situations, and they are the most direct symbol of wealth among them.

A large enough quantity can create a more frenzied and volatile atmosphere.

Just like pulling out a USB drive containing dozens of Bitcoins, it's far less impressive than pulling out hundreds of bundles of cash.

Under the deterrence of the Royal Guard, no looting occurred. A burly lieutenant, Green Pine, stood up, panting heavily. His eyes were fixed on the pile of silver coins, his Adam's apple bobbing violently. He asked loudly, "Sir, what is the proof of killing the enemy? We can't, we can't deny our merit!"

This person, who is usually quite eloquent, is now stuttering like this, which shows that the allure of money is not immune to the temptations of professionals as well.

Everyone works so hard to cultivate themselves to this level, not for money, but for ideals?
Now that the money was available, the most pressing question for everyone was how to acquire it.

The heavy breathing on the field blended together, and Harold burst into laughter, raising his right hand high to display a shiny little object.

"Rest assured, everyone. This time, we will not be able to erase your attacks, nor will we frame you for killing innocent people and claiming credit for them."

"The thoughtful lord of the opposite vast sea has already prepared everything for you."

"This item is called Tiger Tag in Hanhai and Dog Tag in the army. It is specially made by Hanhai. A dog tag is a merit in battle."

"No need to hang up heads, cut off ears, or knock out teeth. As long as you get this, the reward and title are waiting for you. You can redeem it as soon as you see the card. There is no lie!"

This was truly a twist of fate, a lucky accident.

The tiger badges of the Han Hai are the soldiers' badges, which simply record the soldiers' personal information. This is a special measure to prevent the identification of friendly forces' remains after a major battle.

The Hanhai soldiers held extremely high status, and whenever there was a sliver of a chance, they would wrap their comrades' remains in flags, record their names, and send them to the memorial hall.

This thing was made using a special laser engraving machine brought from Dongxia, and it's something that most forces can't really counterfeit. Green Pine used this as proof of killing enemies, which was very suitable and saved them a lot of trouble in identifying their identities.

In the past, the Green Pine Kingdom calculated military merits by dividing them into slow battles and fast battles. Slow battles were judged by the number of heads taken, while fast battles were judged by the number of ears taken.

For example, in siege warfare or annihilation battles, the Green Pine has a significant advantage and can calmly deal with the situation on the battlefield. In that case, the enemy soldiers' heads can be cut off as proof of the kill.

The advantage is that they are easy to identify, but the disadvantage is that having a large number of human heads hanging on your waist, neck, and back makes continuous combat very inconvenient.

Therefore, in battles where the forces are evenly matched or even in dire situations, the method of cutting off ears is used.

Only the left ear is recognized; one ear counts as one person's head.

However, this also presents a problem. While you can roughly distinguish the sex and age of a person's head, you can't always tell the difference in their ears. The ears of a professional are no more special than those of a commoner.

As a result, killing innocent people to claim credit became almost inevitable, to the point that after a major battle, the number of enemy soldiers' left ears that soldiers had cut off and retrieved far exceeded the total number of enemy soldiers killed in that battle.

The military would not accept such a battle report, so the merits calculated based on hearsay had to be discounted, at least to below the total number of enemy troops.

In this situation where everyone is being penalized, soldiers who don't kill innocent people to claim credit will suffer huge losses. Even though they have real battlefield prisoners in their hands, a large portion of them will be inexplicably cut off. There's nothing they can do but try to accumulate more "battle merits" by listening to others.

This created a vicious cycle: the more discounts were offered, the more commoners had to be killed to make up the numbers, so the discounts became even more severe, and then even more commoners had to be killed to fill the gaps next time.

At its peak, this custom persisted for a long time in the areas surrounding the Green Pine Kingdom and even within the kingdom itself. For a significant period, children underwent an important coming-of-age ceremony by having their ears cut off.

If I cut it first, you won't have any left to cut, so you won't be accused of killing innocent people to claim credit.

In order to survive, ordinary people will give up nothing, let alone something as trivial as their ears.

Along the banks of the Crystal River, a nursery rhyme is sung everywhere.

The moonlight shines on the village.
When a baby cries, its mother panics.

The boy next door is just sixteen.
Their heads and ears were cut off.

……

The moonlight shines on the mountain ridge.
The official laughed, the soldier went wild.

Cut off an ear and get a silver bell.

They live longer without ears.

……

The moonlight shines on the dilapidated house.
Father gritted his teeth, Mother shed tears.

"My child, don't blame the knife for being too fast."

"If you don't cut off your ears, you'll die."

...At that time, in the Green Pine Court, a group of ministers jumped up and down, angrily denouncing these shameless scoundrels!

Outrageous!

Finally, the old king issued a decree that if the number of enemy casualties exceeded the number of enemy soldiers killed, the entire army would be punished and no merit would be counted.

In addition, the people over ten years old around the battlefield had lost their ears, and there was nothing left to cut them off, which barely managed to stop this evil trend.

In addition to the ears, there are teeth.

This was a unique record and accounting mark for the nobility.

Just as a horse's teeth can indicate its age and health, so too can human teeth.

Slaves, commoners, and nobles have different diets and maintenance habits from childhood, which is very evident in the wear and health of their teeth. Therefore, a mandible with intact teeth, white color, and fine tooth surface can basically be regarded as proof of killing an enemy noble.

The better the "quality" of the teeth, the higher the enemy's status, and the richer the reward.

All of these human body samples together constitute the military merit verification system of the Green Pine Kingdom.

Now, with just one "Tiger Brand" product, HanHai has solved all the troubles of the Green Pine Kingdom.

The crowd passed the exquisite little object around, and the atmosphere gradually became heated. The officers gripped their long swords tightly, and the soldiers let out a deafening roar.

Driven by the allure of titles and wealth, they are about to transform into hungry wolves lurking in the countryside.

A young noble officer trembled violently, stood up abruptly, and said in a trembling voice, "My lord! What about the little princess of Hanhai, that girl named Liushuang? What can we get in return for her?"

Harold squinted at him, looking at him with a half-smile.

"Frostfall?"

The Minister of Military Affairs spoke slowly, each word exceptionally clear.

"If you can kill her, not only the city lord—the entire Kedi Territory will be yours. Whoever kills Liushuang will be the new Earl of Kedi, no! The Marquis!"

These words were like pouring a bucket of cold water into a sauna.

Looking at the excited faces in the room, Secretary of War Harold gave a stern thumbs-up.

The dark gold Tiger brand soared high into the air, swirling and shining the early summer sunlight, which was just beginning to blaze, everywhere, creating a dazzling spectacle!
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Meanwhile, on the Han Hai side, with the collapse of the Liuli Valley defense line, Chen Mo finally issued the order for a full-scale attack.

The three armies, which had been waiting for a long time, moved in unison.

Everyone understood that the reason they had waited so long was because Han Hai wanted to convey a message to them: even without you, I can still win with Green Pine.

We're letting you in to have some soup now, so don't get any ideas!
Everyone understood!

As for what they really think behind the scenes... well, that depends on how the war unfolds.

The thirteen tribes of Xiyue assembled a fighting force of 80,000 men, plus 100,000 auxiliary troops, forming a massive legion.

As the caravan marched north from the Crimson Corridor, the elves parted to let them pass the ancient war trees and jungle monsters. The dust from the infantry's advance blotted out the sun, and the hoofbeats of the cavalry shook the earth. The rising dust could be seen several kilometers away.

They headed straight for "Looking Mountain City" on the southern border of Green Pine, a major town under the Zircon Territory and a vital passage between the north and south.

The elven army of 30,000 elite troops marched north from the Redwood Highlands of Silvermoon Forest, aiming for Redwood Fortress, a key town in the southwest of Greenpine Forest.

Although the number of people is relatively small, the fact that each person has cultivated for more than two hundred years is no joke.

The morale of the elven troops reached its peak as they approached Redwood Fortress. Once they broke through this fortress's barrier, the next stop would be the elven capital, Silvermoon City.

And of course, there's Mirror Lake.

This group was the most diverse—more than 60,000 people from hundreds of different mercenary groups, wearing all kinds of armor and carrying all kinds of weapons.

After undergoing a period of training by the Han Hai Army Corps, the Mirror Lake Legion finally began to resemble an army. They surged into the Purple Valley with great momentum and charged irresistibly towards the Green Pine Kingdom.

It's not that there's a difference in strength between the two sides; it's just that the terrain around Mirror Lake is too good, occupying a strategic location and commanding a high vantage point.

Why did this happen? Of course, it's because Mirror Lake was relentlessly attacked by Green Pine back then, losing all its indefensible land. It only survived thanks to the terrain of Purple Valley.

Now that they've turned the tables, they've gained a huge advantage.

Meanwhile, Han Hai's main force, after quickly clearing out Dongguanlingkou, began to advance westward.

Before the war began, Chen Mo made an unexpected decision: he released Winston, the foreign minister of Green Pine, as well as the leader of "Keki-ryo" (the territory Green Pine had brought as a bargaining chip).

Despite the rising anger in Ming Liushuang's eyes, she still let her traitorous brother go, leaving the Green Pine diplomatic corps somewhat bewildered.

Because they didn't accept our negotiations, all these bargaining chips, no matter how much we wanted them, were returned.

The thing on the other side is getting a little weird!

When Winston was carried out, he was wrapped in a thick blanket. His lower body was completely numb, and he could only be moved by his attendants carrying the stretcher.

The once spirited Foreign Minister looked ashen-faced, his eyes sunken, as if he had aged decades. As the stretcher passed the gate of the Hanhai camp, he struggled to lift his head, glanced at the military camp with its blue flags fluttering, his lips moved, but ultimately he said nothing.

Rukawa's situation is even worse.

This young noble lord has completely broken down mentally.

He huddled in the corner of the carriage, hugging his knees, staring blankly at the floor. Every bump as the carriage rolled over the stones sent a shiver through him.

And so, the carriage, carrying Winston, who was physically paralyzed from the waist down, and Rukawa, who was mentally completely paralyzed, creaked and groaned away from the Han Hai military camp.

Behind them, Deputy Commander Liushuang mounted her unicorn, which was so fat it no longer resembled a mount but rather a pampered beast. She donned the long-unseen Windwalker Feather Armor and twirled her lance slightly.

Da Bai was indeed too fat; its belly was about to fall to the ground. At one point, Han Hai thought that the guy had been ambushed and was pregnant by something. In the end, after repeated confirmation by the veterinarians, it turned out that it was just fat.

The food is so good...

Behind Liushuang was the Hanhai army, lined up in neat rows.

The closest force was the Elven Redemption Army, the Frostfire Royal Guard.

These guys held their heads high like swans' necks, riding shadow leopards with fierce eyes, wearing "Nature's Guardian" lightweight armor, carrying "Elven Heavy Cannon" composite bows, and their gazes, following their nostrils, were filled with undisguised killing intent.

This is the second-best level of physical strength in the Han Hai region, second only to Liu Shuang himself, without exception.

Following closely behind were the fire support groups, carefully selected from the field army.

Tank tracks rolled across the ground, leaving deep marks; self-propelled artillery barrels were raised high, pointing into the distance; trucks loaded with ammunition came one after another, in an endless stream.

Whether there's enough ammunition elsewhere doesn't matter, but here at Deputy Commander Liushuang's place, there must be enough ammunition. We can't let those guys with bows outdo us.

Behind them were the veterans of Skyfrost City led by Charles.

These remnants of the former White Goose Legion of Cloud Mist Territory fought their way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and after many twists and turns with their little princess, they have finally returned to this land they have longed for.

They were all quite old—the youngest was in his early thirties, and many had graying temples. Their armor and swords had been replaced several times, but their eyes remained largely unchanged from years ago.

At this moment, these men, who had never frowned despite being covered in wounds, were all in tears.

Finally, the outer perimeter was guarded by the meticulously organized cold weapon escort team of Hamon's Second Army of the National Defense Forces.

This "super mixed" force on the move may look like a chaotic mess, but only those within the ranks know that all combat members are in combat readiness and their morale is at its peak.

Are you kidding me? With so many troops operating together, if anyone loses face, even if they don't get torn apart by their own commander when they get back, they'll be ridiculed to death by their colleagues.

Liu Shuang's first objective in his personal campaign was "Ke Di City," which was formerly known as "Yunwu City."

Four years after leaving their homeland, the still young Emerald Princess, the Elf Prince, the Cloud Mist Lone Spear, the Unyielding Goddess, the Wrath of the Meteor, the Guardian of the North, and Frost Flow, have returned to this loyal territory.

When Liu Shuang saw this report, she was somewhat dazed.

"Do they still possess any loyalty?"

Chen Yuanfeng's voice came from the side, decisive and clear, enunciating each word:
"Of course, they must be loyal!!!"

(End of this chapter)