Four-Armed Divine Emperor

They also need preferential treatment in other places. Moreover, given the elite level of the Parthian Legion and its status in the empire, they naturally cannot be asked to do dirty work such as launching the first attack on a group of barbarians.

Therefore, when the battle report was delivered to the court, the prince now had only two choices:

Either he ignores it and orders a strong attack from the front, risking the casualties of ordinary soldiers to capture Helvetia;

The second is to activate the noble golden words and jade orders to let the holy witches take action.

167. Stumbling Block

Roland and his three brothers stood side by side, each holding a large Roman shield nearly as tall as a person in their left hands. They formed a shield wall and advanced side by side.

The Alan soldiers who were fortunate enough to have gone through this short but extremely difficult road of death from outside the city to climbing the city wall looked at the fully armed "monsters" in front of them in despair, slowly and firmly approaching them with an irresistible force.

Even if the descendants did not use the power of psychic energy and sorcerer spells, and just went into battle like an "ordinary" warrior, it would still be a one-sided massacre for mortal soldiers.

The descendants of Ai'er may have different potentials, but they are all united in their love of learning—unlike their father.

Not to mention their innate inherited talents, which allow any offspring, even those who have only been engaged in clerical work for a long time, to pick up weapons at any time and place, transform into a qualified soldier and commander, and go to the battlefield.

When the Alan soldiers who climbed onto the city wall found themselves facing a group of armored monsters whose weapons could not even penetrate the enemy's armor, and whose physical strength seemed to be inexhaustible and tireless, many of them lost morale after fighting in vain. If they were lucky enough to be alive, surrender would be their only option.

During this period of time, the cells in the Helveys Fortress have been filled with thousands of Alan soldiers captured during the siege.

Faced with insurmountable mountains, their only options were death or surrender.

Behind the sons of war, there are many elite soldiers. They don't actually need to participate too much in direct combat, but exist as auxiliary troops to help the sons, capture enemies, clean up corpses and other obstacles.

The four descendants advanced forward holding the reinforced, thickened and lengthened Roman shield from another time and space, holding spears between them. The soldiers who had climbed onto the city wall were trapped in a very small area. Archers from various watchtowers and guardhouses in the city kept shooting at them from above. Some of the arrows were extremely accurate and never missed the target.

This is naturally the role of the sons of war.

Under the condition that the spellcasting ability cannot be exposed too obviously, otherwise the psychic concealment will lose its effect, it is a good idea to let the offspring become extraordinary warriors. This can not only maximize their individual abilities without using spells, but also cover up everything by saying "the enemy's warriors are well-trained and extremely brave."

Rome might be poorer than the Alan Empire, and one country might not even be as rich as the other's province. But who knows?

Chapter 220

The rule says you can’t fight if you’re poor?

Soon, the descendants advancing on both sides trapped more than a hundred Alan soldiers in an extremely narrow area on the city wall. They were crowded together, holding spears, swords and shields, still maintaining a vigilant and alert posture towards the enemy, but their expressions and movements were a bit dazed.

They had fought for a long time, but still failed.

The route of retreat has been taken away by the enemy. Now they are a group of rootless duckweed. There is almost no third option except death or... being captured.

Roland and other descendants of war also stopped at the right time. They wanted to keep a certain distance as a buffer to give the enemy some space to think and make choices.

It can be said that, except for very few cases, the descendants of Ai'er and the Roman legions they led were examples of "leniency", "strict discipline" and "kindness to prisoners" in war.

During the War of Thurso, except for a few acts intended to retaliate or deter the enemy, the Normans at the time and the Romans later took the attitude of capturing as many prisoners as possible and not letting them die if they could.

The reason for this is naturally not that his descendants, who have no "empathy" towards mortals other than their own kind and servants, have all inherited their father's kindness, but that all carbon-based creatures on this continent, in theory, as long as they are "living", can be transformed into a member of the Four-Armed tribe.

That is, all prisoners captured on the battlefield are potential members of the ethnic group.

War is the fastest way to eliminate the enemy and strengthen yourself.

Theoretically speaking, putting aside the probability of death and collapse due to failed conversion, all captured targets can be "one hundred percent" transformed into Roman forces, becoming "local" guides, familiar with the enemy's weaknesses, and absolutely loyal and reliable "insiders."

Even if they do not use the power of blood, which is not suitable for large-scale use on mortals before the time is right, the descendants can quickly gain a group of loyal followers from the enemy country by using psychic energy to hypnotize and brainwash.

So if they can capture a prisoner, they will be willing to spend some time to subdue the other party.

Soon, the auxiliary soldiers began to shout to the small group of Alan's vanguard troops that were separated and surrounded on the city wall, bluntly describing the current situation between the enemy and us, and asking them to stop the "meaningless" resistance. The Helvetic Fortress would temporarily detain them and would not abuse them, and their fate would be arranged after the war.

Although the Romans had slaughtered scouts, skinned them and hanged them - this incident was widely circulated in the legion in order to arouse the soldiers' anger towards the enemy. From generals to soldiers, everyone wanted to "teach" these ignorant barbarians a lesson.

But that was after all... on someone else.

Besides, the scout class itself is indeed a high-risk job. Even the Alan people themselves have the bad habit of lynching small groups of prisoners. They can...

Even if you can't understand it, you have to understand it.

In desperate situations, if the only way to survive is unbearable, people will find reasons to convince themselves.

After all, most of them are soldiers who joined the army only for the purpose of plundering, making money, and climbing the social ladder. They are not the elite soldiers who have good treatment, glorious traditions, high morale, and can fight to the death and fight to the last man.

Driven by orders and the future, having the courage to climb the city wall and fight the enemy is the most they can do. If they persist any further, who will they be doing it for?

Not for themselves anyway.

Even the extremely harsh Alan military system, which often uses corporal punishment and torture and in which superiors have the power of life and death over their subordinates, would not blame soldiers who surrendered when they had no other choice.

On the contrary, deserters who successfully escape back are more likely to be punished in order to "deter rumors" and "pacify the military."

Soon, with the first sound of iron swords colliding with wall bricks, the Alan soldiers trapped on the city wall began to throw their weapons and shields down the wall. Then, at the request of the Romans, they squatted on the ground in a row, with the last person putting his hands on the shoulders of the person in front, and under the supervision of the soldiers, they began to "retreat" from the city wall in an orderly manner, and began to enter the cells prepared for them, where many "roommates" had already reported in advance.

Some soldiers had expressions of loneliness and frustration on their faces, as if they couldn't believe that they, as powerful and invincible imperial warriors, were captured by a group of barbarians whose names and existence they had never heard of before.

More people had a look of relief on their faces. Until the dust settled, this war had nothing to do with them for the time being.

Even if I go to the jail, at least... I don't have to climb that damn city wall anymore.

But when they passed by those "Roman warriors" who were not particularly tall and mighty, but who did possess great strength under their hard armor, they all looked at them with awe. They had been fighting until now, but had not yet succeeded in killing or even hurting such a powerful enemy warrior.

And with the failure of another siege.

There have been new changes in the siege camp outside the city.

A larger and more elite offensive force is gathering and preparing.

In a dimension that mortals, including mages, cannot perceive, some information quickly travels between the two armies inside and outside the city.

The commander of the Helvetic Fortress, Cyrus, and his descendants, including Roland, immediately learned a key piece of information:

The Alan people have decided to use their magic

Chapter 221

The division troops came to capture Helvetia in one fell swoop and flatten this overly stubborn "stumbling block" that blocked their advance route.

168: Beginning

This time, the enemy will not care about the casualties of Gu Xifan's soldiers.

If the mage corps cannot capture Helveys, even if they win in the end, it will be a shame for the huge Alan Empire.

The "sweeping the land" campaign against a group of barbarians with very few, or even "no" mages serving them should have been an unstoppable force, a simple "armed march".

Gazing out from the fortress wall, more than twenty huge phalanxes were distributed in an orderly manner in the east, west and south directions of the fortress, forming a crescent shape, overwhelming and pressing forward, as if to swallow up the entire Helvetica in one fell swoop.

After ten days of fierce fighting, the Alan army responsible for besieging the enemy's fortress was a little tired. The enemy was as hard as a huge stone turtle with a shell covered with spikes. Every time they approached the city wall during the siege, they suffered huge casualties. After finally climbing up the outer wall, which was not very high or steep, it was difficult to defeat the enemy's defenders led by brave and warlike barbarian warriors in close combat. Every time they suffered huge casualties and finally captured a position, it would soon be taken back by the enemy's counterattack.

Some commanders even began to oppose the rash attack on the city. The soldiers said that the elite "barbarian" warriors of the Romans were difficult to defeat. If they could not ensure the destruction of the enemy's city defense equipment and eliminate the defenders' long-range attack capabilities, and in turn suppress the defenders on the city walls, climbing the city walls would not mean victory, but would instead drag the soldiers to their deaths in vain.

Of course, this idea cannot dominate the mainstream, because the generals who are really in charge do not care about the casualties of their soldiers. As long as they can achieve victory, casualties are just a number that paves the way for their status, glory, and the title of "famous general."

Chapter 127: Ardabil (30)

But as the news came that the "advisors" were about to go into the battlefield, the Alan Legion, whose morale had been depressed due to the fruitless attack and heavy casualties, became excited.

The "Holy Witch" is here!

Is there any need to think about it? It must be the start of a general attack, immediately breaking the city!

From the beginning to the end, the defenders in the Helveys Fortress only displayed extraordinary power twice, that is, one or two wizards took action twice in total.

Once, an ice wall was used to block the road leading from the siege tower to the city wall, cutting off the support of the Alan soldiers who had already climbed onto the city wall. Another time, several fireballs were summoned to hit the Alan people on the city wall, causing about dozens of casualties. These were described by the soldiers who survived the front line. There was no other trace.

Judging from the situation, there is at least one wizard above the third ring level in the city of Helveys.

Even if this number is multiplied tenfold and all the mages in Rome are brought here, the mages of Helvetia will still have to face extraordinary people who are twenty times their number.

This made all the Alan people feel that it was a sure thing.

Of course, the "Holy Witch" is so noble that even if he participates in the war, he cannot be like the vanguard, rushing to the battlefield at the command of the commander.

They only sent eighty-three mages whose general level was around the third ring into the battlefield, including two fifth-ring and one fourth-ring mages leading the team.

This was completely sufficient in the eyes of the prince and other high-ranking commanders.

After all, as long as the mage uses his signature ability of [Element Control], he can shake the structure of ordinary city walls and fortress buildings, causing them to shake or even collapse.

Even if the opponent's defense is solid and tight, it is just a matter of spending a little more energy and time.

Eighty-three extraordinary people, as long as the Alan people can ensure that the defenders' heavy equipment such as crossbows and catapults are suppressed, the mages, under the protection of the mortal troops, approach the city wall and enter the casting range. With their joint efforts, they can quickly block the Alan people for ten days, causing casualties of tens of thousands, and the "indestructible" city wall that seems to mortals will collapse.

Without the protection of the city walls, even though they knew that the enemy army was quite powerful, with armored elite warriors who were generally close to the level of [High-level Knights], and archers who never missed their target, and whose fighting will and organizational ability were first-class, the Alan people were still confident that the Romans would never be their opponents!

So this time, by luck, they managed to save their lives and positions temporarily, and the prince commanders in the rear followed the traditional practice:

The war is going badly, so punishing and killing the "loser" generals will shock the army's morale!

The frontline commanders who were taken away for execution have made up their minds to use all the power in their hands to promote this offensive and must capture the city in one fell swoop!

In order to cooperate with the Holy Wizards in launching this offensive, the Alan Legion besieging the city mobilized all available troops and even mustered up the courage to "request" a batch of supplies from the prince's headquarters in the rear, mainly siege equipment. After all, the Alan people had come from a long expedition and a long march, and the difficulty of transporting and storing supplies was not on the same level as that of the local Romans.

After this period of siege, the consumption of equipment was also not small. Moreover, the Roman barbarians had no martial ethics and made many inventions and innovations in this type of heavy equipment that were obviously "contrary to international morality". The quality was even better than that of the Alan army. On the technical level, the Alan people rarely fell behind a group of "barbarians".

If we cannot destroy and suppress the opponent's long-range equipment, it is possible that things like catapults and crossbows will threaten the precious Saint Witch Lords. If any of them are seriously injured,

Chapter 222

Even if they captured Helvey, the commanders would have to sacrifice a few heads to appease the resentment of the extraordinary people.

The Alan Legion set up hundreds of various siege weapons of various sizes outside the city. They had basically everything that the Imperial Legion would be equipped with, and even a giant tower car that was taller than the walls of the Helvetic Fortress. Taking into account the Sersodo Mountains, if the enemy hid in a mountain fortress and held on, there would be only one way out. These giant machines were specially used to transport soldiers and protect the accompanying spellcasters close to the city walls. Only two of them were brought in total, and one was deployed now.

Crossbow bolts, slings, fire bombs...

When the first order was given, the Alan people launched an attack on Helveys who was surrounded by them from three directions, with two phalanxes in each section: front, middle and back.

If the front team is defeated, the middle team will go up, the middle team will retreat and be replaced by the back team, and the latter will go up to replace them in turn, determined to use the endless offensive to completely make the Romans unable to resist.

As long as the mages can safely reach the casting distance, they can destroy the enemy's defenses in less than ten minutes.

Alan's frontline commanders estimated the strength of this attack, and even had a feeling that perhaps this time, they could capture the city wall without the intervention of the Saint Witch Lords?

The defenders seemed to have sensed that the enemy's attack would be extraordinary this time. Of course, as long as they glanced outside the city, they could clearly see the preparations made by the Alan people for this.

Cyrus stood on a high tower in the middle of the fortress, looking at the Alan people's deployment outside the city. He lowered his head to look at the sand table, reached out and gently took away a chess piece that had penetrated deep into the rear of the Helvetic Fortress, and removed it from the sand table.

"here we go."

Chapter 169: Lord of War

No need to aim accurately.

The Alan people used all their strength in this attack - after all, this was a matter of great importance, concerning the lives and property of dozens of generals and commanders in charge of the front-line siege.

If the mages were dispatched and the Prince's headquarters were borrowed, but they still couldn't capture Helveys, which was guarded by only a group of mortals and "a few extraordinary people", the Prince would undoubtedly be angry.

Because no matter what the specific situation is, he is the commander-in-chief of the entire Northern Expedition Army. Even if he was far away in Iskhanfar when the Northern Expedition Army was completely wiped out, the world would inevitably cast critical glances and discussions on this commander who "lost the army and humiliated the country."

This was also a heavy blow to his prestige.

So he must make someone pay the price for this. The simplest way is to punish the front-line generals who "fight poorly" with severe punishments.

If they didn't break the city this time, but just delayed it a little, and there were more twists and turns, they might have lost their heads and let the prince take them as sacrifices.

Therefore, no one dared not to deal with it seriously. Even if eighty-three holy wizards were to take action, with the number of siege weapons that could already suppress the enemy, the situation would be completely crushing. When mortal technology was limited, equipment like the ballista, which could pose a certain personal threat to extraordinary people in the chaos of the army, would be subconsciously belittled and suppressed by the "sensible" mortal countries. It was not that the floating city would specifically seize on such mortal "little things" to make a fuss, but some mages would feel that as a superior person, if they were confused and killed by an arrow fired from a long distance by a mortal manipulating a stupid mechanical movement in a few seconds, it would be too...

They don't like it, and there is indeed a general threat to mages walking on the ground. Many countries are even simply worried that the vigorous development of this kind of technology will cause mages to be unhappy and have a bad impression of the country. If they don't come to them to "choose a job", they will issue an order to refuse to use crossbows.

In this situation.

The Extraordinary is undoubtedly the only "Lord of War".

A fledgling wizard, as long as the terrain is suitable, can just wave his hand to create a muddy area, a wall of earth, or thorns, and destroy a group of fully armed heavy cavalry that are launching a devastating charge towards the enemy.

However, building a group of precious heavy cavalry is extremely expensive, and it may be far less cost-effective to hire a transcendent who can "always" fight for your side as long as he has enough magic power and is not captured by the enemy.

So after Cyrus had been fighting with the Alan people for a while, he sent a message to Ai'er:

The Alan people are weak in military, and their soldiers, skills, and systems are all inferior to ours. Their technology is the only area where they have some merits, but it is not a cause for concern. We can look at the other countries on the mainland for this reason.

Such a reward.

Rome was founded less than three years ago. Although the descendants were very outstanding talents in terms of "loyalty, ability, and execution" from a mortal's perspective, they quickly supported the framework of all aspects of the country. The grassroots soldiers were also given multiple blessings in terms of treatment, training, and faith.

But the fact that they were able to build an army in such a short time that could compete with the regular army of the old empire and maintain the upper hand in defense was obviously not just because the Romans were "too strong", but more because of what Cyrus said:

"The Alan people are weak soldiers."