This heretic cannot be burned, he must be hung up and whipped!

"Go to the front! Go to the front! Go to the front! Fight to defend our homeland!"

"Today it's us, tomorrow it'll be you!"

Fight, people of God! The day of dedicating yourself to the Lord has arrived!

Can you hear the howling of heretics in the wilderness? Can you see the wrath of the Holy Father?

The heretics are closing in on you, trying to kill your wife and children and plunder your home!

So, take up arms, loyal people!

March forward, march forward bravely! Until the blood of the enemy soaks our land!

The whole of Europe has awakened in this desperate war. The flames of resistance have reached the front line and are burning fiercely on the land of Europe.

......

Slovenian border

"Archon Isaac, scouts have spotted the vanguard of the Crusaders."

"...It's finally here."

In this command center where even God's eyes could hardly see, Governor Isaac Keshi listened quietly to his adjutant's report.

After the outbreak of the war, Archon Isaac, who originally belonged to an army group in the third ring of Hell, led the 20th Legion and participated in the invasion of Europe with other troops under his command.

"...Your mission is to assist the offensive, launching an attack from the Slovenian-Austrian direction!

In order to contain the church's elite troops from Italy, the first phase of the plan was to launch a feint attack from Slovenia towards Graz or Klagenfurt, Austria, using tanks to break through the river valleys between local mountains, forcing the church's urgently recruited troops to disperse.

Although this is a feint, if you can capture it, it will be a great achievement! Although the terrain on the eastern slopes of the Alps is complex, if you can break through, you can threaten Munich or northern Italy, creating multi-front pressure. Contribute to the main force's encirclement of Budapest!

But plans cannot keep up with changes. The "trench cockroaches" that it has always looked down upon - the line-filling troops recruited by the church, showed unexpectedly tenacious resistance, which seriously frustrated Hell's battle plan.

Its troops attacked too quickly. It thought that the line-filling troops wandering in the occupied area without any supplies would be defeated without a fight, but it did not expect that it was these troops who stubbornly resisted in the rear that delayed its offensive and bought the church at least 72 hours to mobilize and assemble counterattack troops.

Following the orders of the Three Rings of Hell, Archon Isaac needs to lead his legion to move quickly to eastern Slovenia.

"The Lord of Hell has put my troops and I to so many tests..."

Although he had prayed to Lucifer, thanking him for giving him a chance to win and a chance to be reborn and enter the royal court, Archon Isaac never imagined that this war would end easily. Moreover, the current situation was far more serious than he had anticipated.

"Oh no! The church's troops have recaptured Trieste! Our southern part has been breached. We must retreat, otherwise if we are surrounded, we will be--"

There was a knock on the door of the command center, and a messenger from hell walked in, saluted it, and reported on the battle situation on the front line.

Governor Isaac looked at the map. Southern Slovenia had been recaptured by the church, and his few tanks had to be abandoned due to mechanical failure and lack of supplies. There were also a large number of conspicuous guerrillas active in the occupied area.

Their intention was clear - to cut off and encircle its forces and move north to rescue the main force of more than 400,000 in Budapest.

If the Church's forces succeed in encircling the enemy, at least one-third of the Heretic Legion's forces in the southwest will be destroyed, and the situation will completely collapse.

"We must not let that happen again! Even if it costs my life, I must stop it!"

"In fact, my dear Archon Isaac, if you fail you will lose your life," the wizard joked beside it.

"I know—listen up, scumbags!"

Under the wizard's puzzled gaze, Governor Isaac had already made up his mind. The three faces looked around at the generals and staff present and spoke in a deep voice.

The voice was steady and powerful, with an unshakable determination, causing all the heretic generals present to hold their breath and listen.

"The Crusaders are approaching, and they will stop at nothing to defend their homeland and annihilate our forces in Slovenia."

"..."

"If we can't thwart their plans, the Lord of Hell has already reserved a place for us in the Lake of Fire! Got it?!"

It also has no way out. Once it fails, it and all its generals will face the most cruel punishment, and death will even become a luxury.

"According to Hell's Messenger's reconnaissance, the first vanguard troops to attack our defenses consisted of two warbands—the Pilgrims of Suffering and the Procession of the Tenth Plague. I think everyone is familiar with the fighting style of these two warbands—complete madness! They have absolutely no fear of death!

The Church is determined to break through our defenses. They want to rescue the 400,000 troops trapped in Budapest. Our mission is no longer to expand the territory for the Lord of Hell, but to do everything possible to hold our ground! Leave enough time for the New Plague to annihilate the troops in Budapest!

So, scum, prepare for battle!!"

"Long live the Lord of Hell!"

The generals and staff of the 20th Legion shouted in unison, and even the cynical wizard put down the slate in his hand and saluted the gate of hell in the distance.

Soon after, on the eastern border of Slovenia, a bloody battle of desperate resistance and resolute advance officially began - the Crusaders vowed to break through the defense line, while the heretic legion must hold it.

...

“Boom! Boom!!” “Da da da da!!”

"Don't stop attacking! If we retreat here, our homes will be in danger, and the besieged troops in the north will be in danger! Let's treat today as the last day, and don't stop pouring bullets and shells until the enemy collapses from exhaustion!"

On January 2, 1915, the vanguard of the Tenth Plague Procession and the Pilgrims of Suffering met the heretic forces in the wilderness outside an unnamed town, and the battle had begun.

The wilderness shrouded in poisonous gas has lost its former tranquility and has now turned into a hellish battlefield where the fighting wills of both sides collide head-on.

The church took out its most valuable ammunition stocks, and sent shells and bullets to the front lines as if they were free. Even some second-line troops were given blessed shells with divine power buffs!

From all sides, artillery fire roared, the distinctive piercing crack of machine gunfire echoed endlessly. In this dark forest that aroused human instinctive fear, soldiers fell one after another, blood splattered, wailing everywhere.

"God's faithful warriors! The fate of Europe rests on our shoulders! Even if our bodies are torn apart by enemy fire, even if our insides are disemboweled by enemy bayonets, we will never retreat!

For the Lord! Attack! Attack! Attack!!"

"Stop them! You scum, we can't let the Crusaders break through our defenses!!"

The heretic soldiers who built simple shelters in the poisonous gas of the wilderness struggled to resist the desperate charge of the Tenth Plague Parade. These crazy believers did not even carry the most basic armor. They anointed themselves with the blood of the lamb and used their iron will instead of iron helmets to resist the temptation of hell.

Under the roar of Archon Isaac that sounded like vomiting blood, the heretic legion did not retreat. They pulled the triggers, threw grenades, and waved bayonets to repel wave after wave of Crusaders.

Even if the choirs who returned from hell shouted their voices hoarse, it had no effect on these fanatical believers of God. The poison gas and plague could not interfere with their attack. God's divine power was always bestowed upon these anointed ones.

"Damn tyrants! Damn the Anointed Ones! Are they crazy enough to use holy bombs in a place like this?"

Governor Isaac racked his brains but couldn't understand why the two regiments chose to fight to the death in this broken town instead of going somewhere else. It was as outrageous as if the body of Jesus was buried under the church here.

"Could it be that the tyrant descended to earth and was born in this shabby place?"

...

The poisonous gas-filled environment near this nameless town was already tricky enough, making it difficult to see the sky clearly, which made it impossible for the heretic legion to exert its air superiority, and large-scale artillery fire support and plague flies were also difficult to be effective.

On the other hand, the Crusaders brought in a large number of field artillery - 75mm field artillery developed by the French Academy of Sciences, which madly poured shells at the heretical trenches in the poisonous gas clouds.

Although field artillery is difficult to directly attack enemy trenches due to its low elevation angle, on the battlefield where indirect fire artillery is difficult to play a role, the relatively straight trajectory of field artillery is very suitable for dealing with heretical tanks in poison gas.

This is also the correct use of field artillery that the Crusaders discovered by accident - anti-tank.

"How is the battle going in rescuing the Dominican Sword Saint and the unknown saint? (I) Lingyi e Ni IkV5 Jue is Juba?"

"It doesn't look like it's going well."

In response to the chapter leader's inquiry, Riddle, the chief of staff of the Tenth Disaster Parade Chapter, replied.

The regiment encountered stubborn resistance from the heretics in this damn town.

Those heretics didn't know what was going on. They were fighting and retreating before, but now they were defending the trenches in this broken place, fighting a desperate battle with the Crusaders in the poison gas.

"The enemy is exhausted! Believe in yourself, grit your teeth and hold on!"

"The casualties are too high—we don't have adequate protection. If we enter that gas-filled town, my troops won't last long before they all perish!! This is a pointless sacrifice!"

"No! It will only make sense if we rescue the saints and the Dominican swordsmen. At this critical moment, the Pope needs the saints, we need the saints, and all of Europe needs the saints. Besides, after rescuing them, we can continue north to lift the siege of Budapest, which won't be meaningless."

"The casualties are too great!" the chief of staff insisted.

"I don't want casualty figures, I only want saints!" The chapter leader made the final decision.

"We can't devote any more of our elite troops to this problem. Wouldn't it be better to let the secondary troops slowly encircle them? Or we could send a commando team in to rescue them. We can't send the main force to rescue them, otherwise the heretics will easily guess our intentions—"

Give the best equipment and weapons to the mortal soldiers, mix in some veterans, and then we'll put the elite on the front battlefield to draw fire, and take off reconnaissance planes to conduct close reconnaissance and rescue as quickly as possible!"

"Okay! Let's do it!"

PS: Current Act: Early Mobilization - 220 Recommended Votes Next Update 4.5k...

Flames Rising: 1914: Chapter 23: I'm Coming to Kill You

The roar of artillery could be heard from the distant horizon. This was the second time Neos had heard the sound of artillery shells exploding since he came to this damn place.

"Finally, I heard some cannon fire. Otherwise, I would have thought our Crusaders were so poor that they only had rifles left."

Neos and two pilgrims stood on the tower of the Gothic church in the center of the town, gazing at the scene outside with frowns on their faces.

"Saint, we Crusaders actually have submachine guns, shotguns, and machine guns. It's just that due to the shortage of ammunition, you rarely see machine guns and cannons."

"Be more confident, Colin. Our company seems to have not even been issued guns. The new recruits are using trench clubs as weapons." Another pilgrim added.

"So—according to that telegram, when will our reinforcements arrive? The Dominicans can't hold out for long. Those gas masks only last thirty minutes."

Neos was terribly worried. When the gas canisters failed, everyone except Dominica would perish in the poisonous gas. He ordered, "Jostar, be smart! Go back to Dominica and see if the messenger was intercepted along the way. If not, have them come to the church quickly. The gas is less severe here."

"I will carry out your will, Monsieur Saint Neos."

The pilgrim named Joestar decisively put on his mask and iron helmet, took the telegram handed over by Neos, ran downstairs in a few steps, and disappeared in the thick poisonous fog.

"Why don't we evacuate with them?" asked the pilgrims who stayed behind.

"Look at this, the protective equipment won't last long, and we still have to be on guard against heretics. We won't be able to leave this place for a while."

Neos held up the gas mask and showed him the areas corroded by acid. The pilgrim took off the iron helmet and gas mask engraved with scriptures in confusion, and found that the objects in the saint's hands were much more severely corroded than his.

"You can use mine first. Mine can still last for a while." "Thank you." Neos sighed and exchanged protective equipment with the pilgrim.

He looked through the thick yellow-green poisonous gas cloud, trying to grasp any possible hope. However, all he saw was a deadly iron-gray sky and a desolate town shrouded in poisonous gas.

"Damned heretic!" Neos cursed in a low voice, and his right hand unconsciously clenched the cross hanging on his chest. A light blue light emanated from the cross, and it seemed that even the poisonous mist faded a little.

"Saint, how long do you think we can hold out?"

The pilgrim's voice came from behind, interrupting Neos's thoughts.

Neos turned around and saw that the pilgrim's face was full of fatigue and worry, and his eyes were shining with the desire for life.

"I don't know, Colin." Neos sighed, "But we must persevere. For the sake of humanity, for the sake of the country, for the sake of our families, Colin, you can't back down. In times of national crisis, someone has to stand up and suffer."

"saint."

"Ok?"

"I'm not afraid of death."

"Ah."

"But I'm afraid that everything we do is meaningless. Even though we have a saint like you leading the fight back, I'm still worried about my family, my friends, and my comrades. There are even more comrades trapped in Budapest. Our future... the future of the Crusaders, the future of this country, the future of this race—"

We have been fighting for over 800 years, Saint. I am so desperate. Every time we fight, we pray to God. But if God really loves us, why won't He end it all? We...

Is there really still hope for humanity?"

Yes, they had been trapped here for several days, with little food and water left, not to mention the gas canisters for their gas masks. But as a commander, as a saint, as the spiritual pillar that had supported these soldiers in fighting until now, he could not show the slightest weakness in front of them.

Neos stared at Colin, thought for a moment, and said softly:

"Don't think too much. The future and prospects are things that only the Pope and the King should think about. Just surviving here until now is already amazing—"

He paused for a few seconds, looked at the tip of his shoe, and made up his mind:

"If you really can't bear it anymore, just trust me, I will take it all on for you.

You must live tenaciously until the day the war ends, and spend more time with your family and friends. This cruel life does not belong to the working people. We all want to live happily in a future without war."

"What is that future called?" Colin opened his eyes wide, his eyes full of hope.

"Peace." "Peace?"

After more than 800 years of war, more than a dozen generations have never heard of the word "peace" from birth to death, and it has almost disappeared from the dictionary.

"Yes, there will be no more wars, no more bullshit gods or churches, no conscription, no damn trenches, poison gas, and barbed wire. This is a very beautiful future. Please believe me, I will take you to witness this future."

Neos tried to open his arms and embrace the 5'8" strong man, but he couldn't reach him after several attempts. Colin smiled and refused. A resolute look reappeared on the soldier's face. He suddenly thought of something and said:

"By the way, Saint, I haven't heard you complain in all these days. Although no one says it, we are all worried about you.

We all want to share some of your burden. Commander Valentine said you were often depressed because of our deaths. Actually, you don't have to feel pain or guilt for our sacrifice. You can use us as currency. All you have to do is not waste any of them.

Neos didn't reply. He knew Colin was telling the truth, but he couldn't get over the fact that people were being treated as currency instead of as human beings.