Chapter 455 Battle of Nabil Forest Castle
Anlong United Kingdom.
The capital of the Principality of Yaco, Netmoni.
In the magnificent palace, King Tihamoir was sitting on a high throne. He was stroking the armrests inlaid with gold and precious stones, but he was not at all in the relaxed and joyful mood of the past.
The beautiful queen on one side looked at her husband with worried eyes. During this period, her husband's hair became a lot grayer, and his face often showed signs of depression and despair inadvertently, which made the queen feel extremely uneasy.
"King, the Principality of Sherrol has surrendered, and they have sent envoys to persuade...to persuade you to surrender."
Under the throne, a courtier wearing a purple robe and a dark green melon cap bent his waist at 90 degrees and said in a deep voice.
"Shameless!"
"Shameless bastard!"
"Has the Petar royal family degenerated into lackeys of the empire?! When they first swore an alliance and established the United Kingdom, they were not this disgusting and groveling figure!"
"Drive their envoys back! Our territory cannot be contaminated by the breath of these guys, it is really disgusting!"
On both sides of the palace hall, many nobles scolded him.
They moved their hands and feet with great force, clenched their fists tightly, and looked ferocious, as if they were naturally expressing anger between fear and nervousness... I don't know whether they were angry at the betrayal of their allies, or because of the deep feelings in their hearts. Cowardly and angry.
King Yaco didn't answer. He grabbed the armrest so hard that his veins popped out, and his eyes calmly swept over the seat under his left hand, where there were five exquisite chairs.
These chairs are specially reserved for the saints enshrined by Yako Principality, but at this moment, there is only one figure sitting on them, and the rest are empty.
Tihamoir sighed secretly.
"Your Majesty Ibra, what is your opinion on the current situation of Yaco? I would like to hear your opinion..."
He tried to calm his tone so as not to let others see his nervousness.
Ibrahim wears pearl jewelry, and his light gray short hair looks quite mysterious and elegant under the decoration of these pearls. If Chen Lun were here, he would be able to recognize that the incarnation he had fought on the high wall of Hercule Bridgehead came from this saint.
He slowly turned his head, glanced at King Yako in the high position, and just shook his head.
"Your Majesty Tiha, forgive me for my inability to do anything."
As soon as these words came out, the king's heart sank suddenly.
Even though he had been mentally prepared, he still felt extremely lost at this moment.
All the nobles in the palace were silent for a moment. No matter how angry they were before, they were now filled with despair. The saint's calm words were like pronouncing the gloomiest ending to their future.
"The power of the Trisul Empire cannot be summed up in any words... From the beginning, going to war was a wrong decision. I have warned you before."
Ibrahim stood up from the chair and sighed softly.
"With all due respect, when the Red Apple Church collapsed, everything was already doomed, and even I couldn't reverse it... Even if there were no various border frictions, there would have been an 'assassination' drama directed and performed by the Prince of the Sun, and even The 'fuse' secretly lit by the Rose Royal Family... the Principality of Yako and even the United Kingdom of Anlong are too weak after all."
His words echoed gently in the hall, like an ice chisel, piercing everyone's hearts.
No one dared to refute Him, and perhaps, they silently agreed with these words.
Ibrahim looked around the palace, and finally looked at the high-ranking king and queen.
"Your Majesty Tiha, I am a little tired. I want to put down the burden related to the war... Thirteen years have passed before I know it, and the family's kindness has been repaid. I will leave after the war is over... But please don't worry, No matter what happens next, I will still fulfill my last promise and protect you and the direct bloodline of the royal family until the moment before I leave.”
"Under the sound of Ibra..."
King Yaco's expression tightened, and he even stood up from the throne as if reflexively.
This last life-saving straw will also leave, leaving him in deep despair.
Ibrahim stopped looking at him, dragged her long silver-white skirt, and walked towards the outside of the palace until her back disappeared.
King Tiha sat down on the throne in despair. The queen quickly came over and cared about her husband, but the king just shook his head and said nothing.
I don’t know how long this dead silence lasted.
A minister dressed in luxurious clothes suddenly ran up to the palace in a dusty manner and said to the king in surprise:
"Your Majesty, the request for help from the Kingdom of Beelzebub has been responded to! They even sent an envoy!"
King Yako suddenly raised his head, as if seeing the dawn, his eyes lit up.
"Invite the messenger to come! Hurry!"
When the minister who summoned him saw this, he quickly turned around and left without even having time to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
Not for a moment.
This man returned to the hall with a team of people.
This envoy group is small in number, only about a dozen people. The leader is a thin middle-aged man with a mustache and a dark red tight-fitting expensive cotton coat with some rose patterns printed on it.
The man came to the throne with his head held high and bowed gently.
When he spoke, he spoke in a strange ups and downs tone, slightly different from the common Trisul language, and seemed to have a different accent:
"King Yako, His Majesty Tihamoir, I am the leader of the Rose Envoys, Ulbert... At the behest of the Rose King, I am here to help you."
"Messenger Ulbert, welcome your arrival."
King Yako opened his arms with a smile on his face, showing no trace of the previous depression... Maybe he covered it up well, or maybe the arrival of the messenger gave him hope.
"On behalf of Yako and all the people of Anlong, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to King Rose!"
Ulbert raised his mustache and smiled.
Afterwards, King Yaco enthusiastically asked his attendants to bring chairs and let the envoys sit down. This was a treatment that even the nobles in the palace did not receive.
After a brief exchange between the two parties.
The king cautiously asked Messenger Ulbert about the reinforcements.
Unexpectedly, the messenger smiled faintly and said that the Beelzebub Kingdom had no intention of sending troops.
"No... no army?!"
King Yako was stunned.
He immediately guessed something, and there was a look of struggle on his face, but soon he let out a sigh of relief and said to the messenger in a hoarse voice:
"I understand...Messenger Ulbert, please convey to the great Rose King that the Principality of Yako is willing to surrender to the Kingdom of Beelzebub and become a part of the Rose Kingdom."
Everyone in the palace was startled, and then looked at the king in shock.
However, the king ignored these looks and just looked lonely. He knew that this was the only way out for the Principality of Yako... To be precise, it was the only way out for the royal family and the nobles present.
After all, becoming a vassal of the Beelzebub Kingdom might cost you your dignity, but it was better than turning into a withered skeleton under the trampling of the imperial army. Even if the whole country surrenders, the ones who will survive in the end will definitely not be the rulers like them.
"Well..."
However, the messenger raised his eyebrows, paused for a moment, and then said:
"Oh, His Majesty King Tiha, I think you seem to have misunderstood."
He glanced at everyone present with a half-smile.
"Although my king has no intention of sending troops, he has asked us to prepare some powerful means to help the Principality of Yako resist the attack of the imperial army."
"..."
King Tihar looked at the messenger quietly and fell into silence.
It was not awkward, but at this moment, he finally understood the intentions of the Rose Royal Family from the other party's words... The Beelzebub Kingdom would not accept their submission at all, but was only willing to provide some so-called "help" and use them as guns. Let's bring it to the table to fight a war of attrition with the empire.
The other party had no good intentions from the beginning. The Principality of Yako and even the entire United Kingdom of Anlong were just pawns in the game between the two great powers.
Tihamoir suppressed the grief and anger in his heart, squeezed out a smile and said:
"In this case, I am really grateful to His Majesty the Rose King for his mercy and willingness to support the Principality of Yaco..."
"Your Majesty Tiha, my king once said that Anlong is a neighbor of Beelzebub, and we should help each other to jointly resist the cruelty and cruelty of the Trisur Empire... Helping you is also helping ourselves."
The messenger is smiling.
I don't know if it was an illusion, but King Tiha always felt that there was hidden pride and sarcasm in this smile. But he had no choice but to bite his teeth and swallow it.
In the subsequent exchange, the envoys headed by Ulbert discussed the next strategic deployment with King Yaco... However, His Majesty the King seemed quite tired and weakly responded to various arrangements.
"...Your Majesty Tiha, the most critical fortress in the Principality of Yako is currently the Nabil Forest Castle. Once it is breached by the imperial army, the entire battle will be in vain..."
The strange accent of Messenger Ulbert echoed in the palace.
King Yako supported his head with his hands and spat out words from his throat:
"In the opinion of the envoy, what should we do?"
"Of course it depends on the means we bring..."
The messenger spoke of the plan in an understatement.
After King Yaco listened, he fell into a long silence, and all the nobles who were listening had complicated expressions on their faces.
Finally, the king nodded heavily and uttered one word:
"Okay..."
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A few days later.
The forest area is more than 700 kilometers away from the capital of Yaco, Netmoni.
In front of Nabil Forest Castle.
A shallow creek was filled with upturned tree stumps and some randomly thrown large rocks. Not far away, the Imperial Army's troops were approaching like clouds before heavy rain.
The Anlong defenders on the castle looked nervous, as if facing a formidable enemy. The recruits looked at the troops below the city, shaking violently as if they were sick, their legs were weak, and they held on to the protective wall to prevent them from falling to the ground. The veterans sat on the ground with their backs against wooden barrels or ammunition boxes, smoking cigarettes with their heads lowered. Only the hands that kept rubbing the butts of their rifles trembled slightly, revealing that they were not at peace in their hearts either.
Soon, it was evening.
As the sky gradually darkened, a loud horn sounded over the forest, startling a large number of birds.
Woo——
Immediately afterwards, there was a chorus of shouts that resounded throughout the world.
"Imperial Army, charge!!"
With sharp and rapid whistles, the Imperial Army began to charge. The deafening sound of the charge and the footsteps of thousands of galloping horses made the defenders on the castle seem to be hallucinating. The surrounding environment was like their own violently beating heart, constantly shaking.
I don't know how many castle defenders were stunned at this moment. The sounds in their ears seemed to be gradually getting away. It was like they were in a world of ice and snow, and their blood was frozen.
They were intimidated by the power of the Imperial Army and found it difficult to even have the slightest desire to resist.
The wheel is the wheel!
The heavy sound of rolling wheels sounded from behind the battlefield.
A giant catapult more than ten meters high was pushed to the front line by a small group of imperial troops. Its structure was full of beauty, with square iron sheets clinging to its surface, just like the scales on a cold-blooded animal. Its main parts were connected and supported by rivets and gears.
At the base, there are even steam boilers and giant spring blades, which look like retro siege equipment, combined with "modern" black technology.
Chen Lun had already got off the carriage and stood at the rear looking at such a catapult. He knew in his heart that the reason why the Empire Extraordinary Workshop chose to develop this old-fashioned siege equipment was because of a special cannonball!
Its raw material is a rare ore called "sun stone". Once burned, it will generate terrifying high temperatures and spread wantonly! A "sun stone" as big as a fist can burn for more than ten hours, and is powerful enough to burn several reinforced concrete buildings into ruins.
Conventional cannons cannot use cannonballs made of "sunstone" because even steel will begin to melt after being fired several times...Only equipment such as catapults can be disassembled and used frequently.
I saw groups of imperial troops carefully carrying sealed wooden boxes and taking out "golden-yellow" cannonballs wrapped in special oil paper. They had a gem-like luster on them, which was very eye-catching.
Under the command of the officer of the catapult brigade, in front of more than a dozen catapults, a soldier dropped some kind of gel liquid on the surface of the shells, and then asked the four soldiers operating the catapults to turn the rockers and switches.
Miso miso miso - bang!
There were only dull and loud noises, and golden fireballs filled the sky, falling like a swarm of meteorites onto the walls of the Nabil Forest Castle and into the castle.
Suddenly, a fierce fire lit up the sky.
Faint screams came and went, composing a purgatory-like tune. The stone city wall was gradually spread by the flames, and collapsed like weathered sand during the burning, forming huge pits.
The defenders were tainted with flames and instantly became moving pillars of fire. They struggled to fall down and turned into fly ash in just a few breaths, leaving an unquenchable flame and a puddle of black shadow in place.
"This is a one-sided massacre..."
Behind Chen Lun, all the men who witnessed this scene expressed emotion. Golov shook his head and muttered softly.
Chen Lun didn't speak, just looked into the distance calmly.
His eyes reflected the burning flames.
He had long known how powerful the Imperial Army was. Even in his previous life, defeats like the Battle of Hercule Bridgehead were only a handful of cases... The Western War was almost always a flat one.
"Don't take it lightly. This battle is not as simple as before. It is far from as simple as it seems..."
Chen Lun held his silver cane and said without looking back.
When the subordinates heard what the leader said, they couldn't help but look at each other.
Sure enough, a deafening thunder suddenly sounded above the head——
Boom!
Chen Lun's men and the soldiers on both sides of the battlefield were immediately attracted by the sound. They looked up and saw that at some point, a swirling dark red cloud had condensed over the Nabil Forest Castle, and a strange flash flashed inside. Blue-purple electric light.
Pattering...
Immediately afterwards, blood rained from the sky.
His vision was shrouded in red mist, and it felt like he was in purgatory.
In the originally burning castle, the everlasting fire thrown by those catapults went out strangely, but the countless screams did not stop. Instead, they became more intense, even more hysterical and full of madness...
"This rain is like the trick of the Red Apple Church."
Floy held up a black umbrella for Chen Lun and whispered behind him.
All the subordinates also held up umbrellas and looked at the leader's back with confusion, expecting him to answer for them and others.
"To be precise, it's the Rose Royal Family..."
Chen Lun spread his hands and stretched out the umbrella, followed by blood rain falling from the sky.
The squeaking sound was endless, blood rained on his hands, and green smoke actually came out, but his smooth and white palms were unscathed.
"It's like a ritual...a ritual that's even more intense than the Red Disaster."
Chen Lun's eyes narrowed slightly on his calm face. (End of chapter)