Chapter 142 Countermeasures against Ghost City
Pulanda, the deputy leader of the Dragon Skeleton Mercenary Group, understood as soon as he saw the face of the messenger.
His face was a mixture of anxiety and desire for war.
The ranger, who has been officially promoted from a mercenary to the deputy commander of the garrison, is naturally qualified to know what happened.
So he ran in front of the courier and ran along the streets of Mokou Town towards the recruitment center of the Adventurer Guild.
Many eyes were fixed on him, wondering why he was hurrying on some important matter. Soon they knew his intention, he knew it, and therefore they all knew it.
The army of Ghost City is coming.
He passed by the temporary residence set up by the Lord for the Church of the God of Knowledge and saw that these temple knights and priests were ready.
Everything is put into place as much as possible within the time allowed.
Not far away, the captain of the Temple Knights and his priests were crouching and kneeling on the floor, stacking dozens of small medicine bottles of various kinds, preparing bandages, blankets, and treatment for wounds. Herbal ointment used.
Other knights and warriors wiped their weapons and armor, tried to draw long bows, and checked their full quivers.
Ranger Puranda subconsciously raised his head and glanced in the direction of the desert.
As a battle-hardened mercenary, he knew that these and more bandages and healing potions would be needed before the battle was over.
In fact, when he was a mercenary, he would personally prepare all these logistical supplies before each battle, but they would not be enough after each battle.
Well now, after joining the garrison, he no longer has to worry about this troublesome problem, he can just unleash his desire for battle.
Because as the general manager of Mokou Town, Graer will prepare any necessary supplies for them.
Five days ago, when he was finishing a battle against a medium-sized gnoll tribe outside the town, he discovered that you can really be willful if you have money.
Soon he arrived at the most lively place in Mokou Town: the Adventurers' Guild.
This place is like a noisy vegetable market. Chattering adventurers gather here, waiting for the staff to post the commissioned tasks. Then they go to the lobby to receive the tasks they want, and disappear in Enook Desert or Mokou Mountains.
Entering the gate of the Adventurer's Guild, he immediately saw his temporary assistant, Graal's son Lando, and the Purple Dragon Knight Alek of the Purple Dragon Legion. These two young men often traveled together. , standing on a high platform on the mission column, seemed to be making some remarks to the adventurers who were watching and joining in the fun.
At this time, Lando's sonorous and powerful speech has come to an end:
". Against the City of Shadows, we will either fight side by side or perish separately. Who wants to fight with Mokou Town?!"
As Prenda expected, no one responded to him with the same tone. On the contrary, there were bursts of mocking boos from the crowd.
If it were him, he would do the same.
After all, whether they are mercenaries or adventurers, most of them are a group that puts personal interests first. How could they be moved by such unnutritious words.
"I know what you are thinking. Choose neutrality? Indifference?"
The young purple dragon knight Alek looked at the crowd and raised his voice: "Yes, I am not only a member of the Kingdom of Cormyr The Purple Dragon Knight is also a paladin of the God of Truth. My duty is to protect the people from ogres, jackals and hobgoblins. Not only that, I must also protect the civilians from any kind of evil. "Injured by forces."
"Because the paladin must protect and save civilians from being hung on trees and pierced by swords and slowly bleeding to death, and protect beautiful girls from being tied up. On the wooden stake, I forcibly spread my legs to protect the children from being slaughtered, and then threw them into the well. Even the cats in the lit barn, who were about to be burned to death, were worthy of protection. That’s why I wanted to become a paladin, so I only got this sword to protect the people of the Kingdom of Cormyr, because they don’t have swords, don’t know magic, and no one has taught them how to fight against the invasion of evil creatures and ghosts.”
Although the impassioned speech of the paladin touched Puranda's heart a little, he knew that these words had no effect on these people.
What's more, they will treat them like clowns.
He pushed through the crowd and walked up to Alek, telling him to shut up immediately with a smile.
Then, he patted the frustrated paladin, took out a new bounty mission in front of the adventurers who were watching the excitement, and said to everyone neatly:
"The Lord has an order. The army of Yinhun City is about to invade Mokou Town. Here he guarantees all the participants who are willing to protect Mokou Town: Anyone who participates in this battle will receive double the reward. After the battle, regardless of life experience, Whether you are innocent or not, you can become a citizen of Mokou Town, obtain the ownership of houses and land, and if you are willing to join the garrison, you can also get a job as a guard.
Okay, I'll finish my words here. Therefore, those of you who want to finish the last vote and then quit, come and sign up, please line up in front of the staff and register.”
Whether you are an adventurer or a mercenary. , in fact, their lives are not as free and easy as the poets sang.
Because it's a dangerous job, and it's also an easy job to retire from.
As long as there is an accident in battle, you may be left with injuries that are difficult to recover from, and then your strength will be greatly reduced.
If you cannot afford the expensive magical treatment, it will become an endless cycle, and you are almost ready to retire.
After all, not everyone has the desire to take risks, and the risks are also borne by life.
If most people can have a secure source of income, enough to marry and have children, who would want to risk their lives to earn remuneration.
Puranda unconsciously recalled why she was forced to become a mercenary.
He was a commoner born in the commercial kingdom of Sambia.
In order to buy a beautiful bracelet for a girl he liked, when he was fourteen years old, he worked as a porter on the dock and saved up a full year of wages to get it together.
Unfortunately, when he saved enough money, the girl happened to die of illness.
He originally planned to buy the jewelry that he had not given away, just as a souvenir for himself.
Who would have thought that when he stepped into this store, he found that it was the same jewelry. Everyone else was getting 2 gold coins, but he had to charge 3 gold coins.
He asked the boss why?
The boss said it’s just because you are a lowly civilian, a dirty dock porter, that’s all.
Thinking back on my own bitterness, not only did it all come to nothing, but I was also so humiliated.
He gritted his teeth, pulled out a dagger without hesitation, stabbed the boss to death, and began his wandering and escape career.
Puranda came back to her senses and saw that her simple words were like a fireball falling into the crowd, suddenly exploding, and some people were already shouting, "stop after finishing the last vote." kind of discourse. He smiled slightly, said a few words to the two young and energetic guys beside him, Lando and Alek, and left quickly.
After all, there will be a battle with the army of Ghost City soon. Salo, the leader of the garrison, has already held a meeting in the conference hall of the Rock Bunker, and he naturally needs to be ready to go.
No matter what tasks are assigned to him, he is willing to fight for the future of Mokou Town.
In the meeting hall of the Rock Bunker, Brian walked in with Silver Wing, an ancient dragon dressed as a poet.
The hall was very quiet, and everyone's expressions were serious and dignified.
The old swordmaster Balerius, the leader of the garrison Salo, Graal and his cousin Zander, the purple dragon knight Obert and the battle mage Marek, as well as the members of the Church of the God of Knowledge Tysonde and Kalena from the Earth Mother Goddess Church are all here.
Seeing this, Brian suddenly realized that his subordinates seemed to be the kind of people who were not very talkative, and none of them had a funny role to liven up the atmosphere, so that the whole meeting seemed a bit boring.
He sat down on his own seat and immediately asked Yin Yi to report the intelligence he had detected to everyone in detail.
During the Silver Wing report, Brian frowned slightly as he thought about the opponent he was about to face.
In Silver Wing's intelligence, he learned that Hajhorna was making big moves.
In addition to the shadow mages and black knights from the City of Shadows, a group of about 500 desert nomads, the Bedai Barbarians, were also recruited.
At the same time, a lizardman army of nearly a thousand people from the distant sea swamps, led by a mature black dragon, was on its way to Mokou Town.
And under his special reminder, Silver Wing finally discovered a hobgoblin army ready to go in the Mokou Mountains, as well as many evil humanoids who had been driven away to establish five villages.
In Brian's opinion, if this army is led by Hajhorna, the Hand of the High King, it will have the power to attack Arabay City, let alone his Mokou Town.
Just as he thought, after Yin Yi reported the information in detail, everyone's expressions became ugly. Even Kalena, the only woman who always liked to smile, frowned in thought.
"Sir, in the face of this situation, I have a good suggestion." At this moment, the frail war mage Marik stood up first and expressed his opinion.
"Please speak." Brian looked at the battle mage and nodded slightly.
In fact, he already had a rough strategy in mind on how to deal with the army of Ghost City.
“I think it’s not the best choice for us to stick to Mokou Town like this.”
Marik said bluntly. Although his tone seemed weak, his eyes were extremely sharp, "I think we should take the initiative!"
"I don't think it is appropriate."
< br>Saluo, the commander of the garrison, objected, "The city wall is a barrier to protect the town. If we choose to fight the army of ghost city, which is mainly casters, outside the town, it is hard to imagine how heavy the losses will be. Moreover, Our hard power is not even close to that of our enemies, so how can we defeat them in a head-on confrontation?"
"Of course I know this," Marek continued:
" But don’t forget who our opponent is. It’s Hajhorna, the Hand of the High King. Not only is the opponent a legendary spellcaster, he also owns a shadow dragon that has reached the ancient dragon stage, and the one from the far sea swamp. The mature black dragon of the Dragon Worship Cult
No opponent here can be resisted by us. Relying on the city wall defense will undoubtedly become a fixed target for dragons and spell casters. Their magic can hit our town from a very long distance, but we have no counterattack. means of control. "
After listening to Marik's analysis, Salo, the commander of the garrison, frowned and fell into deep thought.
After others understood, they all nodded slightly, but when they thought of having to fight with anyone The enemies who had advantages in all aspects felt very troublesome after the battle outside the town.
Obviously, they had no confidence in defeating their opponents.
“I think Marek’s analysis was correct. Brian agreed with the battle mage's proposal and said to everyone, "So, I decided to fight the army of Ghost City outside the town." ”
Before anyone could speak, he continued, "Actually, Elend just said that the enemy's armies are not all concentrated together. This is the key to our victory."
"That's right!" The mage nodded, "The enemy's army is very scattered, but our people are all concentrated together. This is the only advantage we can take advantage of right now."
"I have already thought of how to deal with the enemy. "Seeing everyone nodding in agreement, Brian pointed to a valley on the map and ordered, "I have asked Mr. Ellender to help us scout. This valley is the only place where the nomadic cavalry of the Bedai barbarians must pass. Luo, you lead your troops and the adventurer mercenaries you recruited to ambush here. Your mission is to use your numerical advantage to trap this group of highly mobile nomadic cavalry and annihilate them all.”
"Zander, lead your men to station in Deep Stone Village, which is where the hobgoblin army must pass." Brian pointed to the Mokou Mountains on the map and gave the order again.
"But." Zander hesitated for a moment, then said, "Sir, the hobgoblin army is estimated to have more than 500 people, with just my few people"
He did not continue speaking, but everyone understood the meaning of his words.
"I understand your difficulty." Brian nodded slightly, "Don't worry, I have arranged a reinforcement force for you in the Mokou Mountains in advance that is larger than the hobgoblins to help you eliminate them. . ”
Hearing this, Zander looked at Graal and closed his mouth a little uneasily, saying nothing.
“Miss Kalena.”
Brian looked at the female pastor of the Mother Earth Church.
"Your Watcher troops are responsible for assisting the militia teams of the five villages to clean up humanoid creatures that may take advantage of the situation and protect the safety of the people. If there are too many enemies, I suggest you attract them to the five villages in the Emerald Garden. Then set a fire in a grove where druids live."
"No problem, just leave it to me." Kalina pursed her lips and nodded.
"The remaining people, the Purple Dragon Knight, the War Mage, and Mr. Tysonde's Temple Knights and Priests, all joined me at the junction of the plain and the desert outside the town to meet the spellcasters from the City of Shadows head-on. and the Black Knight."
Brian said to them with a slightly serious expression, "If there is no problem, let's all go back and prepare for the upcoming battle."
"Sir." Purple Dragon Knight Obert hesitated and couldn't help but ask: "Did we miss an enemy? How should we deal with the mature black dragon from the swamp of the distant sea?"
"This black dragon's nickname is 'Greedy'. He is both greedy and timid."
After Brian finished his evaluation, he said confidently, "I have prepared the most suitable opponent for him. Let his action be in vain.”
(End of this chapter)