Free Web NovelChapter 147: Chapter 139: War Preparations
Viscount Di Man arrived at the destination early. He practically watched as the Beastmen’s Magic Bridge slowly materialized out of thin air.
Although he was anxious, there was nothing he could do. He currently only had one hundred Extraordinary Cavalry; the main force hadn’t caught up at all.
Viscount Di Man suddenly felt a pang of regret. ’It seems I’ve arrived a bit too early. I can’t even make camp.’ A group of Extraordinary Knights, used to being waited on, had never heard of doing such chores themselves.
Viscount Di Man had thought this situation would last for a while; he even figured he might have to sleep out in the open tonight.
Unexpectedly, in the early hours of the morning, his Personal Guard suddenly ran over, saying they had seen the light of torches.
’Torches?!’ Viscount Di Man thought it was enemy flying cavalry airdropping Soldiers to seize this territory in advance.
In fact, the Beastmen had tried to do just that, but Viscount Di Man and his men had driven them away.
The enemy on the other side had been Gray Dwarves. Most of the combat-effective Extraordinary units of the Gray Dwarves wore heavy armor; to expect a Thunderhawk to carry one of them was overestimating the creature.
Viscount Di Man had intended to lead his men over to drive away that group of enemies again, but after cresting a small hill, he realized what his Personal Guard had meant by "the light of torches."
It was indeed the light of torches, scattered like stars across the mountains and plains, forming a long, serpentine line that snaked out from the distant hills.
’The enemy is attacking?!’ That was Viscount Di Man’s first thought, but after a moment’s consideration, he found it too absurd.
Although the Human Race’s air power was weaker than the Beastmen’s overall, they were still capable of reconnaissance.
For the enemy to dispatch a force of this size, they would have had to magically construct a bridge somewhere else.
The Magic Power fluctuations from such a large-scale casting would be felt for dozens of miles, making it impossible to conceal.
Viscount Di Man suddenly had a thought. ’Could this be that Baron’s army?’
.....
"Baron Robson, it really is you! I didn’t expect you to be so fast..."
Viscount Di Man, acting on a hunch, had dispatched a few scouts to gather intelligence on Robson’s army. Only after receiving confirmation did he ride to Robson’s side.
Robson was leading a group of nobles from Qimo Fortress at the head of the army. A cloth bearing the insignia of a ginkgo flower was draped over his armor.
That’s right, the nobles from Qimo Fortress had come along as well. It wasn’t that Robson had specifically requested them; rather, Earl Wei Man had been too rushed when assigning tasks and hadn’t had time to specify who would serve under whom.
Furthermore, Robson’s strength and character had earned him the deep trust of the Qimo Fortress nobles. So, without Robson even needing to ask, they had funded their own expenses to follow him.
"Is the whole army here?" Viscount Di Man asked, saluting Robson.
"Viscount Di Man." Robson returned the salute first.
"The soldiers of the First Regiment are here, along with some Mage Corps units the Earl lent me. Another four thousand men are still on the way," Robson replied.
Hearing this, Viscount Di Man felt deeply embarrassed.
The situation was a bit of a slap in the face. He had looked down on the man before, yet despite rushing ahead with his Extraordinary Knights, he hadn’t been much faster.
In the past, Viscount Di Man had only heard about Robson’s elite troops from others. He could only sigh with emotion; hearing about it a hundred times was not as good as seeing it once.
’It’s a good thing we didn’t come into conflict earlier,’ Viscount Di Man thought with some emotion. ’In this situation, it’s not yet certain who will be helping whom.’
"Baron, do you plan to continue making camp for the night? I suggest we first deal with those Beastmen. The matter of setting up camp can be finished after my army arrives," Viscount Di Man suggested.
He quickly added a sentence, lest Robson misunderstand.
"When the Beastmen attack tomorrow, I can lead my Knight Order alongside the Baron’s troops. freeweɓnøvel.com
"It’s too late now. The Warriors need their rest more," Viscount Di Man advised.
Robson couldn’t help but feel that strength was truly a wonderful thing.
Previously, Viscount Di Man wouldn’t even give him a second glance. Later, though he showed respect on the surface, it was actually for Valentino’s sake.
He never would have thought that after just one forced march, once Viscount Di Man saw the true strength of his army, his attitude would do a complete 180. Based on the Viscount’s previous behavior, he didn’t seem like the type to proactively discuss matters with him.
What Viscount Di Man said wasn’t without reason; in fact, this was what Robson had been planning all along.
"Rest assured, Viscount, I’ve already made preparations. Don’t worry about making camp; I can have the troops in the rear take care of it.
"They’re all experts at setting up camp."
.....
After speaking with Viscount Di Man for a while, Robson went back to his duties.
He hadn’t executed a forced march simply to show off his military might.
The main reason was that Magic was a strange thing. They said the bridge wouldn’t be operational until tomorrow night.
But with this kind of thing, it was perfectly normal for the schedule to be moved up or pushed back, especially since the Magic was cast by the enemy.
To be on the safe side, Robson had chosen to set out under the cover of night.
Robson’s main units now had a high percentage of Tier Three soldiers, and Tier Four was the minimum requirement to even join the First Regiment. They were perfectly capable of keeping up during a forced march.
The only real concern was whether Valentino’s side could keep the supply lines running on time.
Conveniently, Robson also wanted his troops to get used to handling mules and horses sooner, so he used this opportunity to let the soldiers and the animals get acclimated to each other.
They set out directly, carrying several days’ worth of rations.
As it turned out, Robson’s thinking was correct. He estimated that even the Magic Crystal Cannons would arrive by tomorrow morning.
Since they had arrived early, Robson naturally had to make good use of the time. On the battlefield, time waits for no one.
The Soldiers of the First Regiment definitely needed to rest, just as Viscount Di Man had said. They would be needed for the likely fierce battle tomorrow.
There was certainly no time to set up tents, but fortunately, Robson’s Tier Four Soldiers could sleep anywhere. As long as they had time, they could rest.
For Robson, the most important thing was to put his batch of Magic Crystal Cannons to use.
This kind of terrain was a rare and ideal battlefield for the Magic Crystal Cannons.
On the other hand, he also needed to block the Magic Bridge with a wall.
A massive project like this would be impossible for ordinary people to complete overnight, but fortunately, Robson had a Mage Corps that had been training under Falan for a long time.
Robson had complex feelings about Falan. He had initially taken him in simply because the "old man in the ring" trope felt novel, and besides, Robson genuinely felt the guy had some real skills.
As for Falan’s grand pronouncements, Robson hadn’t taken many of his words to heart.
’How many who study Magic aren’t a little crazy? It’s perfectly normal.’ The King of the Tilia Kingdom, for example, was often unhinged and was internationally ridiculed as the Mad King.
But gradually, Robson was starting to believe that Falan might really be an old relic from a prehistoric civilization.
After all, Falan’s Magic clearly had its own system, the core of which was to make the magical process as simple and fast as possible.
In the eyes of others, this might just seem like a slight difference in casting methods, but to Robson, the matter was far from being so superficial.
The Magic of the Human Race today originated from the Forest Elves of the south. Back then, humans still lived in city-states and were dominated by warriors, and the Forest Elves had not yet been wiped out by the burgeoning Human Race.
All Elven Magic, regardless of the branch, originated from the Ancient Elves. Little is known about the Ancient Elves now; no one knows their specific classifications. The "Ancient Elves" are merely a historical concept, though perhaps the Elf Race has records of them.
The greatest characteristics of the Ancient Elven magic system were that it was time-consuming, powerful, and focused on the pursuit of individual strength.
In fact, all Magic on the continent was like this. In Robson’s eyes, this was a complete waste.
Magic Power, this cheap source of energy, was ubiquitous, pervading the entire world and incredibly easy to extract—one simply had to gather it from the air.
For an energy source comparable to nuclear power to be bound solely to individuals—this was nothing short of a disaster for civilization as a whole.
But Falan was different. Behind Falan was clearly a system of Magic completely different from that of modern humans, or rather, different from that of the Ancient Elves.
Although Falan himself might not have realized it, Robson saw something advanced in his Magic.
An emphasis on simplicity, a division of labor, and a focus on social application.
It was obvious that Falan’s Magic was the kind truly suited for the development of a civilization.
Unfortunately, even Falan couldn’t enable commoners to wield Magic Energy. However, Robson had some of his own ideas on that front. It wasn’t yet time to put them into practice, but that time was not far off.
By convention, after Robson withdrew from the Western Front, the kingdom would organize the next batch of nobles for defense, and those nobles who had served with merit would be enfeoffed and rewarded.
Of course, none of this was important to the current situation. freёwebnovel.com
What was important was that under Falan’s tutelage, Robson’s Mage Corps was also showing signs of developing in that direction!
After Robson assigned the task, Falan led the Mages and constructed a magic turret in less than half an hour.
Taking Robson’s requirements into account, the magic turret even had a roof, and it was surrounded by numerous Arrow Towers for Archers to use against enemy flying units.
After all, since they didn’t have air superiority, Robson could only resort to this kind of passive defense to provide some basic protection for his precious Magic Crystal Cannons.
