Dragon, choose cultural victory to make money

The army set out to fight.

The level of an army can usually be roughly judged from its appearance during marching.

The Sutton coalition was clearly not a team of high quality.

The marching troops were in great chaos, with soldiers from different regions crowded together. They had never trained together, and the training they had received was very different. They were just put together at the last minute, with basically no coordination at all.

Not to mention that there were many farmers who had never received any training and were simply conscripted into the army.

A procession of tens of thousands of people stretched for several kilometers along the road, accompanied by thick smoke and endless noise.

If it weren't for the armor they wore and the weapons they carried, it would be hard to tell the difference between them and a group of refugees.

However, this coalition force can indeed be considered elite in terms of traditional warfare.

All combatants wore armor, although most of them were relatively cheap leather armor and cloth-covered iron armor. However, compared to the legion where the armor rate was usually around 50%, this was already a fairly wealthy configuration.

Not to mention the knightly orders under the nobles, all of whom emptied out their family fortunes.

This is enough to show how much importance King Sutton VII attached to this war.

If he could take over the North, it would not only mean that he could sit firmly on the throne, but more importantly, he would be able to gain the North's industrial base.

The reason why these conscripted nobles were so enthusiastic about this war was for the right to plunder after victory.

I have heard about the wealth of Waterdeep.

Sir Willy rode on horseback, leading the knights loyal to him, at the front of the team.

A set of bright enchanted mithril plate armor reflects his confidence in walking in front of the team. Under the protection of this set of armor, there is only a gap left for the eyes.

Excellent materials, superior craftsmanship, and high-level enchantments make this armor powerful enough to defend against shooting from various firearms.

Unless you use something called a "sniper rifle" and shoot him in the face, it can pose some threat to him.

Even if someone really rushed towards him with a sniper rifle, he still had the last means of saving his life, the teleportation rune.

The location cannot be specified, but it can be teleported in a specific direction over a distance of several thousand meters. The key is that it does not require any spell guidance and crushing takes effect immediately.

Therefore, he dared to become a general who led by example.

It is crucial for generals to take the lead in the charge, which is crucial to boosting morale.

Marching is hard work, especially when you are marching in armor to prevent ambushes.

Sir Willy felt aches all over his body.

Actually, he was surprised that he didn't encounter any ambush along the way.

In his opinion, with such a huge disparity in military strength, an ambush was a wise choice, even though it was not honorable to the nobility.

But those rebels in the North have no honor at all.

But the scouts he sent out had already reached the expected battle site and found no signs of an ambush.

So these rebels have neither honor nor wisdom.

An opponent that is easier to deal with than expected.

This made him let down his guard.

I felt sore all over and drowsy.

Fortunately, there was constant noise in my ears, with dialects from all over the place mixed together, which was simply a mental attack.

I'm afraid this group of peasants who were temporarily recruited will never be able to learn what military discipline is.

But I didn't count on them.

The most they could do was to consume the strength of the civilian army in the North, carry baggage, and clean up the battlefield. If they could really kill one or two of them, it would be considered an extraordinary performance.

What he really relies on, besides the elite knights, is the teams of extraordinary people.

Although King Sutton VII did not provide too many troops to the coalition forces, he sent out the royal mage corps, which was more useful than tens of thousands of ordinary soldiers.

In addition, there are the warriors and barbarian teams at the front, the priests responsible for treatment, the rangers and rogues for harassment and long-range attacks, and the warlocks who can play a special role at critical moments.

Such a powerful army.

These people were dressed in neat armor or gorgeous robes, and looked particularly noble among the many ordinary soldiers.

Sir Willy smiled slightly. Even if the North was emptied, it would not be able to gather such strength.

---------

South of Waterdeep, the Northern Legion's defensive position had a complex network of trenches dug into the ground.

Because the Sutton coalition also has a certain number of firearms, trench shelters are still very important. And this thing is also very effective against cavalry.

Even if the first line of defense is breached, the cavalry's advance can be slowed down and they can retreat to the second line of defense for defense.

However, Drogo did not see any reason why this coalition force could break through the first line of defense.

But Figosin still maintained his usual rigorous attitude and set up three lines of defense.

The Northern soldiers in light armor shuttled through the dense and complex trenches, transporting ammunition and conveying orders. They were rigorous and efficient, like a precise machine.

Figesin trained her fighters well.

This orderly battlefield cured Drogo's obsessive-compulsive disorder when he came to watch the fun.

Comfortable.

There were no artillery deployed in the Waterdeep defense positions because the production was complicated and the production capacity could not be increased. Only a dozen or so cannons were produced and deployed in the north.

The main weapons on this position are machine guns, grenades, and several anti-aircraft machine guns placed in shooting bunkers to form a cross-fire network.

After waiting for a long time, finally, the coalition forces could be seen appearing on the high ground in the south from afar.

The dense crowds of people filled the entire high ground. Drogo could roughly see that they were forming a battle array.

To be honest, the formations listed are not as neat as those of high school students doing calisthenics during recess. You can barely tell that the different types of troops are assigned to different positions.

Of course, Drogo was not there just to watch the fun. After all, Waterdeep was his city, and it was somewhat embarrassing for him to rely entirely on Figithing's soldiers to guard it.

So he led a group of dragons, a regiment of orcs who were good at close combat, and devil warriors hired from Asmodeus who purely enjoyed fighting as a hobby, as backup.

Because Figxin's legion is not good at close combat, there are very few extraordinary people among them. Among two thousand people, there are only less than thirty extraordinary people. Their levels are not high, and they are mainly priests. Their main task is to serve as field doctors.

Just in case, Drogo meant just in case, if they were rushed into close range, the force he brought would be enough to stop the enemy, forcing Figosin's ordinary soldiers to retreat and regroup for defense.

Figosin was grateful for Drogo's support, but said seriously that it was impossible for the enemy to enter melee range.

According to her, when that group of haphazard coalition forces with no military qualities at all rushed down from the heights, the level of chaos was not much different from that of bandits. When they were covered by the crossfire network and a few extraordinary people fell like straw, the morale of the army would immediately collapse and they would flee in panic.

If you attack an army without any order, the escape will inevitably become even more chaotic, with crowds and trampling, and they will only become pitiful living targets.

This was consistent with Drogo's impression of the Pheariun army. Although he had never led a war, he had indeed faced small armies many times.

Mainly came to attack him.

Over the years, I have never seen anyone fighting to the death, I have only seen people being trampled to death by their own people during the rout.

So strictly speaking, the coalition forces claimed to have an army of 100,000, and the actual number was indeed close.

But the actual number of combatants was less than 30,000, and among these 30,000, only 4,000 or 5,000 were needed to be dealt with, and the rest would have basically no desire to fight.

On paper, it is two thousand versus one hundred thousand, but if you do the math, it is two thousand versus five thousand.

The gap is not that big.

On the high ground, the coalition forces had been lining up for more than an hour. Their marching team was too long, and after the head of the team arrived, it took a long time for the tail to arrive.

Drogo was getting anxious watching this. If the cannons were brought over, he could have fired a few shots at them. Maybe they wouldn't even need to charge and could just flee.

When they were finally ready, there was still no sign of an attack.

"What are they doing?" Drogo finally couldn't help but ask Figosin.

Figsin looked calm. She was very familiar with the traditional fighting style. "I am adjusting the order of the charge."

"what?"

"If I'm not mistaken, the noble commander-in-chief should have placed his knights in the second group at the beginning to minimize casualties. However, after arriving at the position, he found that our troops were so few and thought that this would be an easy victory. So now he has to transfer his knights to the first group in order to grab the first credit."

"..."

Drogo was speechless. What kind of coalition is this?

"Once they have adjusted themselves, it will probably take a while before the battle starts."

"It will take a while?"

"Yes, the commander-in-chief also has to give a pre-battle speech, which is usually written by the family's scribes. This is a very important part for the nobles, partly to boost morale and partly for reputation. Their speeches will appear word for word in the historical records of this war."

"Ghostwritten? I thought it was improvised before the battle." Drogo recalled the classic scene he had seen in the movie.

There were many inspiring pre-war speeches.

"Improvisation? There aren't that many nobles with outstanding literary talent, but there are indeed some who can memorize some common jokes. After the speech, their tactics should not be complicated, because complex coordination is impossible to complete."

Figosin seemed to have seen through the coalition forces completely. "The only thing they can think of is to try to drag us into close combat. So they have to reduce the accuracy of their shooting, probably with smoke or flash spells. Then the Mage Corps will give the cavalry a time-limited shield, probably magic resistance, because the guns we sell are spell guns, and then they will charge down all at once."

After listening, Drogo said, "If they fight like that, they will be defenseless."

It reduces accuracy, but for anti-aircraft fire, you don't need to aim, just sweep it. It has magic resistance protection, but anti-aircraft fire uses ultra-high temperature elemental flow, not spells.

"Believe me, they will do it," Figesin said confidently.

---------

On the high ground, Sir Willy wiped the sweat off his face and the formation was finally ready.

It took him a long time to move his knights to the front of the formation.

The enemy's troop strength was already very clear, at most two to three thousand, and with such a huge gap, victory was easier than he had imagined.

As a good lord, you should always think about fighting for the interests of those who are loyal to you.

Therefore, the great credit for first breaking through the position must go to his knights.

The army had rested once before forming up, so the soldiers were full of energy and even excited.

They could also see that this would definitely be a great victory, so they were all a little impatient.

The outline of Waterdeep could be seen in the distance, and the towering and exquisite buildings were the wealth they were about to plunder.

So tempting.

Excitement is a good thing, and Sir Willy is pleased with the current state of the Legion.

It's time for a rousing speech.

He quietly pulled out a piece of paper from the saddle. This was his cheat sheet. Although he had memorized it in advance, he was worried about making mistakes, so he reviewed it last.

He cleared his throat. It's not good to break your voice when giving a speech. Then he used amplification techniques. He could never give a speech while holding a microphone or speaker.

"People of Sutton, my brothers!

"I can see the same fear in your eyes as I do."

In fact, there was no fear at all, they just couldn't wait.

“But the enemy’s fear must be far greater than ours!
“They are cowardly traitors, and we are the bravest knights of Sutton!
"Go forward and bring them blood and terror!
"Go forward and bring them destruction and doom!
"Go forward, the glory of victory will eventually belong to us!"

After the passionate speech, the knights could no longer wait.

Glory and wealth are beckoning to them.

As the order to charge was given, tens of thousands of soldiers rushed down the heights like a flood.

Sir Willy had made thorough preparations to win this time.

The mage group cast magic resistance protection on the first batch of charging knights.

The firearms of the Drogo Group are all spell guns, and simple magic resistance can provide effective protection for the knights.

Immediately afterwards, the alchemist's smoke bomb was thrown towards the center of the battlefield.

According to previous research, the Drogo Cartel's firearms either have a limited rate of fire, requiring aiming, or are like shotguns, only able to attack at close range.

At close range, knights dominate.

As long as the smoke prevents the first wave of shooting from causing accurate damage, this time is enough for the knights to rush to the position.

Next, just hack and kill at will.

"What an easy victory." Riding on his warhorse, Sir Willy felt only joy.

He did not forget to continue shouting slogans: "Charge! Warriors of Sutton..."

Before he could finish his words, he felt a violent jolt and fell off his horse.

what happened?

He looked at his horse. Both of its legs were cut off. The cuts were black and smoking, and he could smell a burnt smell.

What kind of attack is this?
Before he had time to think, the warhorse hit him hard on the leg. Thanks to the protection of the plate armor, he did not suffer much damage, but he could not pull his leg out.

"Come and help me!" Sir Willy shouted at the top of his lungs.

However no one responded.

Purple-red light flashed everywhere in the smoke, like a net covering the entire battlefield.

Every knight who rushed into the net fell down with howling and screaming.

What about magical protection?
Sir Willy panicked.

The magic protection is still there, but, but...

Wherever the purple-red light reached, there was melted armor and severed limbs, without even a trace of blood.

There were only screams of pain and the sound of bodies hitting the ground.

The beam of light that harvested lives was so quiet, with only an almost inaudible whooshing sound.

I could vaguely see someone trying to open a magic barrier to block one attack, but there were still countless attacks to come.

Sutton's elite cavalry fell worthlessly like harvested wheat.

It was so horrifying. The smoke they had set up became a hell that trapped them. The flickering lights seemed to be the eyes of evil spirits.

I don't even know where to escape.

Teleporting rune, yes, teleporting rune.

Sir Willy finally thought of... (End of this chapter)