The adjutants all showed thoughtful expressions.
Before long, one adjutant spoke. "I remember Demacia's method of communication uses small magical beasts similar to our Bluewing Birds. Their speeds are almost the same. Given the distance between these two locations, key information can be passed between them in twelve hours at the fastest."
Another adjutant said, "In other words, for this to work, we have to reach the other Demacian army's position within twelve hours."
Another adjutant added, "But at that distance, even if we force-march at the fastest speed, it would probably take twenty hours."
"If it were a normal route, it would naturally take that long."
Demir knew his adjutants' concerns and had already made arrangements. "But don't forget where we are right now. Ahead of us, there is a river flowing from north to south."
As he spoke, Demir pointed at the map. "And here, Fissure Canyon is usually flooded by the river pouring down from above. However, every summer, there is a period when the water level does not submerge the canyon. Usually, it only reaches a person's knees. And for us, this is a shortcut Demacia could never know about."
His words immediately lifted the adjutants' spirits, and they all stood up and came to the map to examine it carefully.
As Noxians, their understanding of their homeland's terrain was naturally clearer than Demacia's.
And Demir had been born in this region. If he said it, then it was basically true.
"The canyon is roughly fifteen hundred meters long. For us Noxian men, is crossing this canyon difficult?"
Demir continued, "After passing through the shortcut, we only need to push forward another five to six kilometers to reach the Demacian army's position."
One adjutant thought seriously. "If that is the case, then it really is feasible. A normal march would require us to circle around the mountain, but if we cut straight through Fissure Canyon, we can reduce our army's travel time by at least ten hours."
This strategy had one problem.
Communication.
The two Demacian forces only needed twelve hours to pass messages between each other, while the army would need twenty hours to travel at top speed.
If they followed Demir's plan and sent their main force to launch a surprise attack on the other Demacian army, then they had to arrive before the prince's army discovered this and passed the message to the Demacian army.
This move relied entirely on an information gap. On the surface, the main army would be defending against the prince's army's attack, but in reality, the true main force would already have gone to ambush the other army.
This was Demir's confidence in his vision for war. He believed Demacia would absolutely fail to react in time.
Even if they discovered it as quickly as possible, their communication speed still could not match the speed of a forced march.
Even a one-hour gap was enough to affect the outcome of a war.
"The opportunity to wipe out the Demacian army in one stroke is right in front of us. For us, this is a risk, but it is also an incomparably precious opportunity."
Demir looked at his deputy and instructed, "Nashat, lead ninety thousand men and set out at once. Follow the route we decided on."
Hearing this, Nashat immediately stood up with a serious and solemn expression. "I will not disappoint you, General!"
One adjutant said with worry, "But in that case, Brue City..."
Demir took over and said, "Only ten thousand troops will remain in Brue City. Facing the prince's army's attack, it is only a matter of time before the city is breached. To prevent accidents, our mission is to delay them as much as possible. The seventy thousand prisoners exchanged today can wear helmets and armor to pad out the numbers. The later the prince's army sees through it, the better."
By comparison, Nashat's mission was actually somewhat easier.
Because what Demir faced was Demacia's main force, and his mission was to delay them. The risk was enormous.
This also made Nashat even more aware of the importance of his own mission.
Whether they could defeat the other Demacian army, and whether Demir's plan could be carried out, all depended on him.
There was no time to waste. Nashat soon led his troops out from the rear of the city. The army only brought the equipment needed to fight the enemy and carried nothing else.
Because in their eyes, this surprise attack had to succeed.
Once it succeeded, all the resources of the other Demacian army would belong to them.
The sky grew darker and darker.
Demir stood on the city wall and quietly looked in the direction of the prince's army, having made every preparation.
As time passed.
Cool wind blew from above. The flames on the torches flickered. The shadows of the distant mountains and forests shook constantly. Suddenly, faint tremors came from the ground.
First came a glimmer of firelight. Then more and more torches lit up across from them.
"They're here!"
Demir focused completely. Seeing this scene, he immediately shouted, "Everyone, prepare!"
His gaze continued looking ahead. The army led by the prince came in a vast formation, and at night, their momentum carried even more pressure. Rows upon rows of white-armored soldiers arranged themselves in neat military formations. Within those formations were cavalry, infantry, shield soldiers, war chariots, and military banners fluttering in the wind. Dozens of Silverwing Dragonbirds flew out from the heights of the mountain forest, letting out clear cries in the night that resounded above the clouds.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
As the army approached, the sound of their orderly steps striking the ground continued to spread, like drums beating against the heart.
Bwooooo!
Suddenly, a clear horn sounded from the prince's army. The eardrums trembled with the horn's call, and goosebumps rose along the arms.
Demir only felt that the momentum coiling above this army suddenly became even more vigorous.
"So this is Demacia's army."
Standing on the city wall, Demir unconsciously clenched his fists, his eyes fixed tightly on them.
Without exaggeration, the pressure brought by the Demacian army was stronger than that of any hostile army he had ever seen.
The sound of someone swallowing came from beside him. Demir understood. No matter who saw such a scene, the pressure would soar.
"Do not panic! Everyone hold your own position! This is our home field!"
Demir shouted loudly, then abruptly waved his hand. "Beat the drums!"
Hearing this, the soldiers standing before the giant drums immediately raised the mallets in their hands and struck hard.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The city wall was packed with black-armored soldiers. Deafening drumbeats rang out rhythmically from every direction, likewise forming an incomparably grand force, as if there were endless people there. In midair, it clashed first with the prince's army.
The nervousness of many soldiers eased considerably.
But as the distance between the two sides continued to shrink, the tense atmosphere still kept rising.
Finally, both sides' methods of boosting morale before the battle stopped, and all that remained was the sound of armies advancing.
As the prince's army pushed forward one war chariot after another, Demir gave the order without hesitation.
"Shoot!"
In an instant, tens of thousands of men raised their longbows. The sounds of bowstrings being drawn taut rang out, and a curtain of rain fell across the night sky.
Tens of thousands of arrows came whistling through the air. Yet at the same time, Demacia had already sent a shield formation forward, blocking the arrow rain.
And on each of those war chariots, there were also enormous shields for blocking arrows.
Of course, Demir did not expect archery to shoot the enemy dead. This was only to slow the prince's army's offensive.
However, he knew that the prince's army's true offensive had not yet begun.
As the war chariots advanced, they finally entered the cannons' firing range. One artillery platform after another was set up at extreme speed.
Demir, whose intuition was sharp, immediately shouted, "Everyone, prepare! Archers, shoot those things!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
A huge number of arrows were released.
However, their arrow rain was blocked by the anti-arrow devices set up on the artillery platforms. The platforms stood below, while the soldiers hid behind shields. There was no need to worry about being hit.
Bang!
The first cannonball fired with a tremendous sound, cutting through the night and flying straight toward the top of the city wall.
Demir watched the black cannonball draw closer and had already dodged in advance.
Boom!
The next second, a burst of fire exploded at that spot, devouring everything around it. A fierce heat wave surged outward, displaying terrifying power.
"Black powder!"
Even though Demir had been mentally prepared, he was still shocked.
Without a doubt, this was definitely black powder.
But it was far more powerful than what Noxus was currently developing, with longer range, and the safety issues had clearly been resolved as well.
He had not expected Demacia to quietly prepare such a major move.
Naturally, he already knew that Demacia had powerful weapons for this attack.
The cannonballs they fired were like terrifying magic. Yet at this moment, there were countless more of these cannonballs.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Every tremor of the eardrums represented a cannonball being fired. The prince's army's true bombardment had begun.
Bursts of fire erupted everywhere on the city wall. The smell of gunpowder spread across the battlefield. Noxian soldiers could only keep dodging, completely helpless.
Demir clenched his fists, a bad feeling rising in him.
If the prince's army's firepower was this fierce, they probably could not hold out for long.
As the Dragonbird Riders flew overhead, bombs were dropped precisely into the clusters of soldiers.
Demir shouted, "Where are the flyers? Stop them!"
However, the difficulty was great. One had to know that Demacia's dragonbirds were absolutely top-tier in strength.
If they had enough dragonbirds, their aerial power alone would be enough to make every enemy feel fear.
Right now, facing these incoming Dragonbird Riders, there was simply nothing that could stop them.
"General, if we keep defending like this, our casualties will be disastrous!"
An adjutant ran over to Demir through the gunpowder blasts that kept exploding.
Demir naturally also saw how bad the situation was. The prince's army had not yet lost a single soldier, yet they had already bombed his side until it could barely function.
There were many ransomed prisoners wearing armor on the city wall, but whether they were there or not made no difference at all.
The enemy did not care how many people were defending the city. Under this level of firepower, no matter how many people there were, it was useless.
If the enemy launched a real charge in a while, it would probably be too late.
"Give the order. Withdraw from Brue City!"
Demir did not hesitate and gave the order loudly.
His instincts for war were very sharp, so he knew that even if they stubbornly defended, they would only sacrifice more people without delaying the enemy for much longer.
The gap in firepower between the two sides was too overwhelming.
He simply had never expected that he would fail to hold out for even half an hour.
He glanced in Nashat's direction, then turned his horse and galloped away.
There was still time. Right now, he could only place his hopes on Nashat.
He had seen the flaw in these gunpowder artillery platforms. They were not suited for close-range combat. If they could ambush the enemy right in front of them and launch a close-quarters assault, then the gunpowder would be useless.
In other words, if the army led by Nashat launched a melee charge, they had a very good chance!
On the road retreating out of the city, Demir clenched his fists, his mind still filled with the scene of gunpowder explosions.
Gunpowder was truly a frightening thing. It could so easily overturn the direction of a battle.
It greatly widened the balance of combat.
But likewise, if he could possess weapons of this level...
Demir became increasingly aware of the importance of gunpowder. If they could seize Demacia's supplies this time, he would definitely study them carefully.
At the same time.
Within the Demacian army attacking the city.
Luke also sensed that something was wrong. He looked at the city wall, where the number of people had begun to thin, and spoke thoughtfully.
"The strength of this city's defense isn't quite enough."
One hundred thousand people defending a city would absolutely not look this difficult.
If he were the Noxian general, faced with this situation, there would be two choices.
The first would be to run immediately.
The second would be to attack directly, give up defending the city, and leave the city to meet the enemy.
Although they would have to endure a stretch of cannon fire, it was the only way to break the situation.
Once cannonballs were approached, they were not that easy to use.
Though under normal circumstances, they would not be approached easily.
At this moment, a Dragonbird Rider also flew back from the sky and reported to Luke, "Your Highness, the enemy's military strength in the city is probably only about one hundred thousand."
One sentence awakened him.
Luke sensed something and decisively gave the order. "Charge! Take the city!"
The gunpowder barrage stopped. The cavalry rushed out first, their horses galloping forward, followed by the vast army behind them.
Soon, the city gate was broken open with ease. It seemed that because the other side had no intention of defending the city, by the time they were about to arrive, Noxus had not even left a rear guard. They had all withdrawn.
The sturdy city gate, under the impact of the war chariots, only resisted stubbornly a few times before being smashed open.
Luke walked along the empty streets of Brue City. Quinn returned to report, "Your Highness, they withdrew directly. Should we pursue?"
Hearing this, Luke shook his head slightly. "No need. Inform the entire army to station themselves in Brue City."
The other side had clearly allowed the teams carrying resources to retreat first. The troops withdrawing afterward had no worries behind them. With one side fleeing and the other pursuing like this, Luke's side definitely could not catch up.
At this moment, he had already sensed what was wrong.
Noxus clearly could not have sent only this many troops to defend the city. And even more importantly, where had those prisoners of war gone?
It was impossible that they had all already withdrawn.
After thinking for a moment, Luke opened the Secret Key and edited a message to send to Lev.
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