Chapter 478 Entering the Mountain Fortress
"But what? Do you want to despise Wang Qi and Her Royal Highness the Princess?"
Looking at the hesitating look of the scout captain, Bert's expression became stern and he said solemnly: "You are too courageous, aren't you?"
"Forgive me, General, but I never meant this!"
The scout captain quickly knelt down again and reported truthfully: "It's just that Mr. Bai, the old general, gave a death order three days ago, and no one is allowed to come near the area near the mountain fortress!"
After finishing speaking, the scout captain looked at Bert's stern eyes and added in a low voice: "And regardless of whether it is our enemy or our enemy, as soon as he is discovered, he will be shot directly. If we disobey, we will be severely punished."
"What? How could General Bai give such an order?"
The orange-white eyebrows frowned, and she said with a puzzled face: "Even if the situation is critical right now, we can't just treat everyone as the enemy indiscriminately, right?"
"This can indeed ensure the safety of the fortress to the greatest extent. Maybe General Bai has some difficulties. After all, this is an extraordinary moment."
Ariel thought for a moment and then said to the scout captain: "Take us there. I swear in the name of the fifth princess of Leng Yan that you will not be punished in any way."
"Yes! Your Highness, Princess."
The scout captain gritted his teeth and nodded, then ordered the surrounding soldiers to start notifying other nearby sentry troops and the inside of the fortress.
Next, under the guidance of the scout captain, Lei Xiao and his party started moving forward again.
As he moved forward, Lei Xiao recalled the conversation just now and nodded thoughtfully.
This old man Bai is still an extremely cautious person, or in other words, he seems to be a little too cautious.
Then, the long team walked for more than an hour, and then the scenery suddenly became clear.
Lei Xiao looked around and found that his group had passed through the dense forest in the mountains.
And between the two peaks hundreds of meters ahead, a majestic giant fortress stands solemnly, which is particularly eye-catching under the bright sunshine.
This giant fortress standing at the pass has a roughly square structure, with a cylindrical fortress on the left and right sides, and the middle part is composed of extremely thick walls, connecting the left and right cylindrical fortresses together.
At first glance, it looks like a stone giant sitting and lying between two mountains, on par with each other, which is extremely shocking.
"It is indeed a shocking giant peak."
In awe, Lei Xiao narrowed his eyes slightly and continued to observe.
On the towering walls of the fortress, red flags symbolizing the cold flames were fluttering in patches, and arrow towers and watchtowers were evenly distributed. The lowest point was at least 15 meters high, and the highest point was more than 20 meters high.
Outside the gate of the fortress, a giant metal suspension bridge has been hoisted high, and around the city gate, there are even sharp deer fences, which look extremely sharp.
All in all, the entire fortress is filled with an awe-inspiring aura of inviolability, giving people a sense of solemnity that can only be looked up at but insurmountable.
"I have to say that such a giant beast is indeed difficult to capture."
Lei Xiao raised his eyebrows, moved his gaze slowly, and began to observe the peaks on the left and right sides.
Just as Lin introduced, there were two obviously smaller fortresses standing on the mountainside on both sides.
These two small fortresses are on higher ground and have a commanding posture. They are at the horns of each other with the mountain fortress in the middle. The three fortresses complement each other and are indeed very easy to defend but difficult to attack.
"Especially since the two small fortresses are located halfway up the mountain, no matter how large the Holy Night Army is, they will not be able to launch a large-scale siege. It is almost equivalent to losing the numerical advantage."
"As for the mountain fortress in the middle, only the front can launch a full-scale attack, which restricts the movements of the Holy Night Army to a great extent."
Lei Xiao nodded thoughtfully while following the team.
"According to Lin's information, the garrison in the mountain fortress is mainly composed of the most powerful royal fortress regiment under Bai Lao's command, with a total of more than 12,000 people, while the other two small fortresses have nearly 10,000 people each. scale.”
"Such an evenly distributed soldier configuration can indeed support each other. No matter which fortress the Holy Night Army attacks, when the men and horses are exhausted, the other two fortresses will send troops at the same time. When they are waiting for work, the answer is obvious. ”
"In addition, even if the 80,000 Holy Night Army makes a desperate move and forcibly eats the 30,000 Cold Flame Army, it will undoubtedly be severely damaged and lose the power to continue marching forward."
Lei Xiao slowly took a deep breath, his eyes burning.
"This is probably the reason why the Holy Night Army, which has an obvious numerical advantage, has not launched a general offensive."
"After all, at this stage, the new king of Holy Night is still in a state of uncertainty, leaving almost no guarantee for subsequent reinforcements."
Just when Lei Xiao was thinking about this, the long team was getting closer to the mountain fortress.
I saw that there was a natural depression directly in front of the mountain fortress, which was very unfavorable for the formation, which undoubtedly further exacerbated the difficulty of siege.
"This is simply a natural defensive holy place."
Lei Xiao's eyes were piercing, and while thinking this, he nodded thoughtfully.
Not long after, when the long queue finally stopped in front of the fortress gate, everyone could not help but let out a long sigh of relief.
Especially those residents of Lengyan who had just escaped from the whirlpool of war, their faces were filled with vicissitudes of life, and they could not restrain their expressions of joy.
With the help of Her Royal Highness the Princess and the young man, they finally saw the dawn of hope after struggling for so many days in the darkness of life and death!
For a moment, pairs of heartfelt grateful glances began to be projected towards Ariel and Lei Xiao.
Lei Xiao himself was still observing calmly.
Looking up at the giant fortress in front of him, Lei Xiao noticed.
On the towering and thick city wall, there are faint and colorful magical lights flashing from time to time, which undoubtedly means that some kind of defensive magic barrier is obviously arranged.
"Lord, according to the information obtained by my subordinates, the mountain fortress has a buffer type defensive magic barrier, which significantly improves the strength of the fortress."
Hidden around the fortress, Lin's sassy introduction just happened to reach Lei Xiao's ears.
"A buffer type defensive barrier?"
Lei Xiao nodded slightly and nodded thoughtfully.
As I learn more about this world, I already know it.
In this world, there are many types of magic enchantments with different functions.
Just like detection enchantments, there are many types of defensive enchantments.
The buffering defensive barrier that Lin mentioned just now is one of them.
The barrier crystal "Fortress Wall" that I obtained when I was in the Eternal Ship is another type of absolutely defensive defensive barrier.
"Needless to say, an absolutely defensive barrier can completely block all physical attacks and magic attacks."
"Of course, the premise is that the magic power must be sufficient. Once the pressure caused by the enemy's attack is far greater than the magic power supplied, it will immediately collapse."
Lei Xiao continued to think in his mind while observing the fortress.
"The buffer type defensive barrier is like an invisible magic buffer zone, which can greatly reduce the strength of the enemy's physical attacks and magic attacks."
"Compared with the former, although it is impossible to achieve complete defense, it can still cause casualties to the defenders, but the consumption of magic power is much smaller, and each has its own merits."
Just when Lei Xiao thought of this, there was a crisp "crash" sound of violent friction between the metal chains.
The giant metal bridge hanging high in front of us began to slowly descend.
Not long after, there was a "boom" and the metal bridge fell heavily to the ground.
The dust was everywhere, completely covering the deep trenches outside the city.
Then, the giant city gate of the fortress slowly opened, and a commander of the Cold Flame Army in black armor, surrounded by a group of elite soldiers, quickly came forward.
I saw Commander Leng Yan who was not wearing a battle helmet. He was about forty years old and had a faint smile on his face.
Judging from the rather impressive aura around him, his strength is almost comparable to that of the two kingdom generals, Burt and Ju Bai, and he is also a senior powerhouse around the fourth and fifth levels.
"My subordinate, General Bai Lao and his deputy Augu, pay homage to Her Royal Highness the Princess!"
With the crisp sound of armor clashing, the deputy general named Ogu immediately knelt down on one knee and lowered his head respectfully to Ariel.
"There is no need to be polite, Vice Admiral Augu."
Ariel nodded slightly, nodded slightly and said: "It's hard work guarding the mountain fortress."
"Thank you, Princess, for your consideration. These are all things a subordinate should do."
After standing up again, Lieutenant General Ogu first saluted Ariel while caressing her chest.
Then, he nodded to Bert and Jubai who were standing next to Ariel: "Two generals of the kingdom, long time no see."
After saying that, Augu smiled warmly, his expression was like meeting a close friend he hadn't seen for a long time.
"Long time no see."
Bert and Jubai nodded politely. Judging from their indifferent expressions, it was obvious that they were not familiar with each other.
"Ogu? I have heard this name before."
Lei Xiao observed this calmly and slowly withdrew his gaze.
According to the information provided by Lin, there were two lieutenants beside Bai Lao. One was Ogu in front of him, and the other was killed by Japanese knotweed on the initial border battlefield.
"According to Lin, the deputy general who was killed by the tiger stick at that time did not have a good reputation within the Cold Flame Army. He was known for being cold and bloodthirsty. He would even draw a sword against his soldiers, and this Austrian Ancient, but exactly the opposite. ”
Lei Xiao looked at the smiling Lieutenant Leng Yan in front of him and continued to think.
"It is said that this person is very popular in the military. He is a versatile and all-around type, and he understands the rules among nobles very well."
"But they are not welcomed by Bert and Jubai. After all, Bert and Jubai are both newly promoted nobles who have climbed up from the bottom. They have straightforward and upright personalities. They hate the double-dealing and flattery among traditional nobles."< br>
Thinking of this, Lei Xiao shook his head helplessly, and said in his heart: "This must be one of the reasons why Bert and Jubai were ostracized by the traditional nobles."
"Where is Vice General Ogu and General Bai? Why can't he be seen?"
After a brief exchange of greetings, Ariel raised her eyebrows and directly expressed the questions in her heart.
"This..."
A trace of embarrassment suddenly appeared on Augu's smiling face.
After he pondered for a moment, he shook his head and responded: "To be honest with Her Royal Highness, General Bai started practicing in seclusion three days ago."
"Cultivation in seclusion? Does General Bai want to attack the fifth-level powerhouse?"
Bert's old face couldn't help but be full of doubts, and he said thoughtfully: "More than twenty years ago, General Bai's strength has indeed reached the peak of the fourth level. This is something everyone knows."
"But attacking a fifth-level powerhouse is an extremely difficult task. Even with complete preparations and ample time, it is almost a narrow escape."
When he said this, the doubts on Bert's face became more obvious, and he said again: "Why did General Bai choose to make a breakthrough at this critical moment?"
"That's right. Once the Holy Night Army gets the news and launches an attack at this time, the situation will be irreversible."
Ju Bai nodded and agreed with his eyebrows: "After all, being promoted to the fifth level of power is completely different from other lower levels. It takes an extremely long time to achieve."
"Once this process is forcibly interrupted, the result will be the same as failure to advance. It can range from a sharp reduction in strength and severe physical injuries to death directly on the spot. It is not impossible."
After hearing the puzzled words of the two kingdom generals, Lei Xiao pondered and nodded slightly.
In this world, it is indeed extremely difficult to advance to the fifth level of power.
You must know that among the ranks of fourth-level strong men who are famous enough to be famous, there is only one out of ten who can reach the fourth-level peak in his lifetime and have the most basic conditions to attack the fifth-level strong ones.
And among the experts at the peak level of the fourth level, only one out of ten succeeded in advancing to the fifth level.
In this process, the person's cultivation talent, hard training, willpower, and even understanding and state of mind are all indispensable. It can be said that it is extremely strict, so that many fourth-level peak experts simply do not dare to take this step at will. step.
After all, the human nations have almost no fifth-level magic potions that can assist fifth-level experts in their promotion.
Except for those with extraordinary talents who are rare to see in a hundred years, this is the reason why fifth-level experts are extremely rare in the human countries.
It is not difficult to see from this that it is indeed puzzling that Bai Lao chose to advance at this critical moment.
But if this is indeed the case, it can explain Bai Lao's previous order to shoot everyone.
"Perhaps the old general wanted to make the Holy Night Army die in one fell swoop."
Ogu sighed softly, shook his head and said: "He has been working too hard during this period of time."
After speaking, Ogu cheered up and bowed to Ariel again: "Your Highness, you must have been very tired along the way, right? It's dangerous here. It's better to follow the general into the fortress first."< br>
"That's fine."
Ariel almost didn't think about it, nodded slightly and said: "Just listen to you."
At this moment, Ogu's alert gaze fell on Lei Xiao and Ye Cang again, and he said in a deep voice: "These are..."
"These three are mercenaries I hired. Don't worry, they are all trustworthy."
Ariel responded calmly according to Lei Xiao's previous instructions.
"I understand. Since Her Royal Highness the Princess has spoken, there is no problem."
Augu's scrutinizing eyes stayed on Lei Xiao and others for a moment, and then he smiled and said: "Then please come with me."
"Your Excellency is welcome."
Lei Xiao responded with a faint smile and an understatement.
Currently, Lei Xiao and the others have taken off their illusion cloaks and put on dark green hoods, just like wandering mercenaries.
The wide hood can cover most of the face and is suitable for the current identity. It can be said to be the best of both worlds.
The reason why Lei Xiao took off the illusion cloak was naturally because the fourth-level strong man already had the ability to see through the illusion cloak. There was no need to attract the other party's attention at this point.
After that, under the guidance of Ogu's familiar road, the long team moved forward again, and they all entered the gate of this sturdy giant fortress. (End of chapter)