What's wrong with building a steel torrent in a dungeon?

"That's because the Holy Roman Empire is even weaker than the imperial power." Christina sighed and said, "Otherwise, how could a woman like me be in charge of such a huge Holy Roman Empire? But I think the entire Holy Roman Empire is like this, most of the important positions are controlled by men. It has been so many years since someone like you appeared.

They must be unwilling to see a heroine like her become the emperor, so it is normal for them to unite and take revenge."

"Humph! You're right!" Margaret said bitterly, "It's all my fault! I rushed to conquer the dungeon just for this little bit of military merit! In the end, I fell into the trap set by Huang Silang and those bastards."

As she spoke, she immediately summoned the guards and said, "Notify Wallenstein to come back!"

"As you command!"

Not long after, a hot blonde woman came to Margaret's central military camp.

"His Majesty!"

"I need you to gather an elite force! Go and rescue Count Tilly!" said Margaret.

"Do you think that Count Tilly has failed?" Wallenstein asked immediately after hearing this.

"Yes! The other city lord may have known our plan and set up an ambush on that path in advance." Margaret said, "You are smarter than Count Tilly. I want you to find out what's going on! Rescue him if possible!"

"Yes!" Wallenstein said, but there was a hint of reluctance in his eyes.

Christina, who was watching the show on the side, just smiled and said nothing.

Although Wallenstein was also Margaret's right-hand man, there were rumors that Margaret did not like her. In terms of battlefield command ability, Wallenstein could only be said to be very mediocre, far inferior to the invincible Count Tilly. Her strengths were in logistics and supplies.

However, Wallenstein, who was born into a merchant family, was too shrewd and was disliked by most nobles, including Margaret. This is why Wallenstein could only act as a feint and could not take the lead.

Chapter 45: Being Tricked

Wallenstein was extremely unwilling to be sent out.

You know this is a trap, but you still want me to go. Doesn't that mean I'm just sending you off? Earl Tilly commands your Margaret's most elite troops. Even he has failed. What use are my second-line troops?

But no matter how reluctant he was, Wallenstein still assembled his elite troops and marched towards the trail.

Seeing the intensity of the siege suddenly decrease, Fran immediately realized that Margaret realized something was wrong and that there would be further actions next, so she quickly gathered her manpower to prepare for an emergency. At the same time, she also received a pigeon secretly sent by Christina, and learned about Wallenstein's movements.

It was such a great pleasure to fight this battle with a spy inside the enemy country.

As Fran thought about this, she once again asked Catherine to gather the troops and set up an ambush at the Nameless Trail. This time, she would personally supervise the battle.

After everything was deployed, the sound of horse hooves could be heard again on the nameless path not long after. Knights riding tall horses were seen slowly marching on the nameless path.

Fran was overjoyed, and when the time was right, she immediately launched an attack on the large group of knights.

First, the artillery opened the way, and when the cavalry began to panic, the musketeers who were ambushing in the dark stood up and fired. After several rounds of musket fire were completed, the pikemen rushed towards the path from all directions.

They had already practiced this set of tactics once, so they were naturally familiar with it the second time.

It must be said that Wallenstein's troops were not as good as Count Tilly's. After a few rounds of artillery fire, they were completely panicked. After being hit by the muskets, they had already begun to scatter and collapse, without any courage to resist.

"Surrender your weapons! We in Orila City do not kill prisoners."

"Surrender your weapons! We in Orila City do not kill prisoners."

After a few familiar calls for surrender, the knights immediately dropped their weapons and fell to their knees on the ground.

"Oh, it's really easy." Fran looked at the messy battlefield and said with a smile: "I wanted to stretch my muscles, but the opponent fell down before we even put in any effort."

"Sir, before the battle is completely over, can you be quiet for a while?" Catherine said, "Have you forgotten your crow's mouth?"

Perhaps to prove what Catherine said, at this moment, the sound of war drums came from afar, and then Fran heard the sound of arrows piercing the air.

"Oh no!" Catherine shouted immediately, "Retreat! Retreat!"

But it seemed too late, as countless arrows flew from the air towards the spearmen on the path.

Fortunately, the path was pitch black, and without the guidance of light, the archers in the distance could only shoot arrows blindly, and the casualties were not too great. The spearmen immediately put down their weapons and hurriedly looked for cover around them.

However, just as the rain of arrows ended, two columns of cavalry appeared on the trail. They brandished sabers and galloped at high speed, slashing at the enemies on the trail.

Fran's soldiers had just been dodging arrows, and their formation had already been disrupted. The gunners were still waiting for the barrels to cool down, and were completely unable to provide support. In the end, they could only let the cavalry run wild.

The cavalry did not want to fight. They did not go deep into the trail. They just circled the battlefield and then rode away! When Fran's troops finally regrouped, they had already run away without a trace!

"Assholes! How despicable!" Fran looked at their receding backs and stamped her feet in anger, "I was tricked by that Wallenstein."

"I hope you won't be such a pessimist." Catherine rolled her eyes.

"It's all my fault! Alas!" Fran sighed deeply.

Seeing Fran's self-blaming expression, Catherine couldn't bear it, so she comforted her: "In fact, I am also responsible to a certain extent. Our first victory made us too arrogant! We didn't expect that Wallenstein would use bait to lure us into an ambush!"

"That's right!" Fran said in annoyance. "Since he knew we were going to ambush him, he definitely wouldn't be so foolish as to rush into our encirclement! In the end, it's all our own fault. Now the secret of the firearm can no longer be kept secret."

"Your Excellency, there is no need to be so depressed. We just failed in the ambush, not losing Thermopylae." Catherine said, "We just need to block this place with cement and send a small group of troops to patrol. Anyway, we have artillery, and Margaret will not attack rashly. If they continue to be in a stalemate, it will be very disadvantageous to them."

"You're right!" Fran nodded, and then said, "Let the Construction Corps block this place as soon as possible."

"it is good!"

"Wait a moment!"

Just as Catherine was about to leave, Fran called her again.

"What's the matter, sir?"

Fran looked at the messy trail and said, "Since the people of the Holy Roel Empire can attack us through this trail, why can't we use this trail to surprise them? I want to make a big news!"

In Margaret's main tent, several people stared at what Wallenstein brought.

"Is this the secret weapon you mentioned?" Margaret pointed at the rifle on the table.

"Not only that, there is also something that can make thunder from a long distance away." Wallenstein said, and recounted all his experiences.

Margaret frowned immediately after hearing this. She played with it for a long time, but no matter what she did, she couldn't feel any energy fluctuations on it. It was just a big iron lump with a wooden handle. Apart from its peculiar shape, there was nothing special about it.

Although Christina had heard of the secret weapon, the musket, from Fran, this was the first time she had seen one with her own eyes, and she was extremely curious about it.

How on earth could such a tough guy defeat Margaret's most elite cavalry?

"Keep this thing well, and go back and ask the alchemists at the Imperial Academy of Engineering to see if they can find out the secret." Margaret looked at it for a long time, but couldn't figure out anything, so she could only say helplessly.

"Your Majesty, shall we continue the siege?" Wallenstein asked tentatively.

"Stop it," Margaret waved her hand and said.

Christina saw the fatigue in Margaret's eyes, and she knew that her words had worked. At this time, Margaret already suspected that this was a complete conspiracy, and someone in the empire colluded with the Yellow Four Wolves to harm her, and might even kill her in this dark underground city.

Since this was a trap, there was no point in continuing the fight. Margaret was already thinking about whether to withdraw her troops.

However, if they retreated, not only would Margaret's reputation be ruined, but her number one general and that elite cavalry would also be completely destroyed!

"Your Majesty?" Wallenstein asked tentatively when he saw Margaret was lost in thought.

"how?"

"Do you have any other orders?"

Margaret thought for a while, then said, "Go back to Vienna. I need you to use all your intelligence networks to help me confirm one thing. Are the dukes around Vienna colluding with the Four Yellow Wolves?"

After listening to Margaret's description, Wallenstein's expression gradually became solemn. She nodded and then left the tent.

Christina saw everything and a barely perceptible smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.

Not long after, a carrier pigeon slowly flew up from the tent and headed towards Thermopylae in the distance.

Chapter 46 A Big Wave

The siege soon stopped.

Although there were not many troops actually involved in the siege, other troops had to be on alert and ready to go into the battlefield at any time. In addition, it was always pitch dark around them, and people coming in from the surface had no concept of day and night, which made the soldiers very uncomfortable.

After more than ten hours of siege, the entire team looked extremely tired.

So when the soldiers heard the news that the battle was over, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and hurried back to their camps to rest.

Christina took this opportunity to secretly observe how several troops were setting up camp.

Although Margaret lost Count Tilly and some of his direct troops, and morale was very low, the military discipline was still strict, and the barracks were stationed meticulously, with sentry posts and patrols.

In comparison, the private armies brought by the grand dukes are far inferior.

Due to the lack of unified control, their camps were in disarray, and they also had their own grievances, so they were secretly on guard against each other. If you didn't know, you would think this was some kind of camping activity for the upper class nobles.

However, the private armies of the Grand Dukes did not care about this. After all, their enemy was the city of Orila, and with their limited military strength, they could only defend the Hot Spring Pass for a while. Could they possibly rush out for a night attack?

Christina conveyed the situation in the camp to Fran word for word.

That night, the camp of the Holy Roll Empire fell into silence.

The soldiers fell into a deep sleep, trying their best to recover the strength consumed during the siege.

However, in the darkness that they do not know, danger is quietly approaching.

Fran's troops came out from the small path, quietly went around to the edge of the Duke's private army camp, and then launched an attack on them.

In order to achieve the best effect in the first place, Fran ordered the soldiers to carry several newly built cannons over and fix them in various ways, so that they could fire as many shots as possible! The other soldiers each held two muskets.

With the roar of artillery fire, the prelude to the raid began.

Several shells landed in the camp of the Duke's private army, instantly igniting a panic.

These people were originally sent by the higher-ups to gain military merit, so they were not elite troops. When they suddenly encountered danger, they panicked and ran around like headless flies. At this time, Fran's soldiers took advantage of the situation and rushed in. Three rows of people either knelt, bent or stood, and then pulled the trigger at the same time.

The sound of so many muskets firing bullets at the same time was like thunder, which directly crushed the last straw for those soldiers.

They had never seen such an attack before, and they only thought that Orila City had summoned countless magicians, so they fled in panic, trying to get away from these raiding troops. And the direction they fled was exactly Margaret's camp.

Fran still thought it was not enough, so she ordered the soldiers to chase after them and shoot again!

However, at this moment, a rain of arrows flew out from another direction, pouring towards the fleeing soldiers.

"What's going on?" Fran looked at the rain of arrows and immediately became alert. She asked Catherine beside her: "Are these archers our troops?"

"Of course not." Catherine said doubtfully, "How can our soldiers carry out such intensive and precise attacks?"

“Who are they?”

"At least they are not enemies." Catherine said as she watched the arrows continuously reaping the lives of the soldiers of the Holy Roll Empire.

The battle was still going on, and Fran had no time to think about it. She summoned her hammer and led her soldiers to rush towards the troops of the principality.

When the soldiers saw that the person coming was a little girl, they immediately underestimated the enemy, but the next moment the huge hammer smashed their bodies away.

No one dared to fight against Fran, and they all ran away.

The moment the artillery fire sounded, Margaret's troops responded immediately. However, when they were just preparing to fight back, they saw countless friendly troops running towards them, and they panicked.

What the hell happened?

The army of several thousand people collapsed, and the scene was like a flood that broke through the dam, extremely spectacular.

Fear spread like a plague.

At this time, arrows and guns began to fall into Margaret's tent.

Half of the soldiers brought by Margaret were regular soldiers of the empire. Although these people were also full-time soldiers, due to the long-term weakening of the imperial power, the disuse of military equipment and insufficient training, after seeing this wave of disintegration, they quickly followed suit and fled.

Margaret woke up from her dream and put on her armor immediately after seeing this scene. She rushed out with her guards to gather the troops, but the collapse of the 20,000-man army was not something that could be stopped by a thousand men under her command!

At this time, the gate of Thermopylae slowly opened, and the three thousand new soldiers who had been stationed inside, holding spears in their hands, formed a square formation and headed towards Margaret's tent.

Margaret could tell at a glance that the formations of these phalanxes were in disarray. She knew that they were all new recruits who had just been trained. As long as she led the army to charge, she would be able to disperse them.

Unfortunately, she had no cavalry capable of fighting. One of her two generals was sent back to Vienna, and the other's life or death was unknown. In desperation, she could only lead her own troops to retreat, trying her best to gather the scattered troops and save as much as possible.

Although Margaret could tell that these were new soldiers, the private armies of the Grand Dukes could not! They just thought that the main force of Orila City had rushed out to reap the battlefield, so they no longer had any thoughts of resistance. After hearing the shouts of persuasion to surrender, they cooperated very well and dropped their weapons and surrendered.

It must be said that they were very skilled at surrendering, worthy of being the troops of the Holy Roel Empire.

Fran did not stop just because she was ahead. Even though she had captured prisoners several times their number, she still led her troops to continue pursuing, which made the soldiers who had managed to escape behind her secretly groan.

However, at this critical moment, a beautiful figure like a goddess appeared behind the fleeing soldiers.

The visitor was none other than Saint Christina of the Shinra Church.

Christina only brought a hundred guards with her, but they were like a strong city wall.

"Run quickly, I'll cover your retreat!" Christina's tone was full of determination, and then she launched an attack in the direction of Fran.

Seeing this, the fleeing soldiers all had tears in their eyes and kept reciting words praising the saint, while their feet were of course not idle.

Christina, who was left behind, soon met Fran's pursuit troops. The two of them fought fiercely on the battlefield with tacit understanding. The fighting was so loud that they seemed afraid that others would not see it.