Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords.

Chapter 426 The calm before the storm

"Li Wei, everything is fine at Gaoyabao. You'll be very surprised when you come back."

"Almost all the tribes in the wilderness have joined High Cliff Fortress, and the infrastructure is being built very quickly..."

Across from the communication alchemy disk, Elder Tang Jin, a turtle-man model using the snowy landscape as a backdrop, was chatting animatedly with the lord about the recent situation at High Cliff Fortress.

The old man's exact age was unclear, but he was actually several hundred years old.

Seeing that the other party was still very talkative, the lord was relieved.

This means that the turtle elder is still in good health and could probably outlive several generations.

With nothing to do, Li Wei in Shilingbao used the Alchemy Communication Magic Disc to make video calls to Gaoyabao, which was thousands of miles away.

My original intention was to spend some time with Tina and Tiffany.

However, the first person to answer the call was the top official in charge of Gaoyabao's government.

"Li Wei, the sheep flock at Gaoyabao has given birth to a bunch of lambs, all of them healthy and strong. Next year, Gaoyabao will definitely not have to worry about mutton, and there will even be surplus to sell. And there's also the cattle herd..."

Elder Tang Jin was indeed very talkative. After finishing the more important things, he started to talk repeatedly about trivial matters, such as which sheep had given birth again, or which hen was a good egg-laying machine.

The person next to him seemed unable to bear it any longer and squeezed half of his head in, and only then did the turtle elder reluctantly give up his place.

Although the Alchemy Communication Magic Disc can be used repeatedly, it still consumes magic power. Once the magic power is depleted, it needs to be replenished, which takes several days. Otherwise, Tina wouldn't have been so rude as to push the elder aside.

"Darling, the elder talks a lot, but he's actually quite worried about you. Don't take it too personally." Tina's pretty face appeared in the projection of the communication disk.

"Actually, I quite enjoy chatting with the elders." Li Wei smiled.

Looking at Elder Tang Jin beside her, whose face was as bright as a chrysanthemum, Liya couldn't help but chuckle.

This elder usually maintained a calm demeanor even in the face of a collapsing mountain, but ultimately he still cared about Li Wei's opinion.

"Sister Tina, I also want to talk to Lord Li Wei." A girl's voice came from the side.

The projection shook for a moment, and soon a girl squeezed in.

"Aishiro, it's been a long time since I've seen you. You've grown so much taller." Li Wei praised the girl opposite him.

The girl who squeezed in was his fiancée, Princess Ashel Crassion of Derby.

It's said that girls change a lot as they grow up, but in reality, at Aishilu's age, she changes every day.

After half a year of fighting, the opponent's height was almost as tall as Tina's, and his development in all aspects amazed Li Wei.

"Is everything going well, Lord Li Wei?" Aishilu asked shyly, her voice barely audible after a long pause, under the lord's gaze.

"Everything is going well. If nothing unexpected happens, you'll be back before you come of age," the lord said with a smile.

If he remembered correctly, Aishilu was fifteen years old now. Even if the war in the Persian Gulf was slow, three years would be enough for the main forces of both sides to decide the outcome. As for how to deal with the small groups of rebels within the Persian Gulf Empire, that was no longer the Lord's concern.

Winning the war did not mean that the Persian Gulf Empire had been subdued. It would be almost impossible to completely wipe out this behemoth in less than a decade.

"By the way, what about Tiffany?" Levi asked.

“She’s training the Van Gogh brothers in the navy right now.” Leah slapped her forehead and chuckled foolishly. “I’m so stupid, I forgot to tell you, there’s a tribe of frogmen in the wilderness. After they joined us, Tiffany incorporated them into the navy.”

"After all, the navy of Gaoyabao is currently relying entirely on the more than 1,000 Demon Shark Knights and Sailfish Warriors under Master Fan to maintain its strength, so it is indeed necessary to increase manpower."

"Frogmen? Don't they live in lakes? Are they really okay as naval personnel? Won't they get sick from the change in environment?" The lord remained skeptical.

"Li Wei, you really should listen to my advice and seriously study 'The Genealogy of Races in the Middle Ages'. That way you won't say things that scholars would laugh at as illiteracy." Elder Tang Jin squeezed in again and said earnestly, "Frogmen are born with low-level water elemental magic, so they have no problem even in the sea, as long as they don't live in the sea all the time."

"Laugh at me? I am a duke, the only dragon knight. Who dares to laugh at me?" The lord's words silenced the elder, who remained speechless for a long time.

"Alright, darling, the elder is only doing this for your own good. You are now a duke and a dragon knight of Debe. You really should read more books to enrich yourself," the First Lady of High Cliff Fortress stepped in to smooth things over.

“Alright, you’re right.” The lord descended the steps that had been provided.

He actually wanted to say that he had recently finished studying several local books full of exotic flavor.

But he was afraid that if he spoke out, the turtle elder would point his finger at him and berate him for being immoral.

The lord held this true living fossil in high esteem.

Although the old man was a bit long-winded, he wasn't the kind of old man who acted arrogantly or was annoying.

“Then it’s settled. I’ll go and move all my books to Gaoyabao now, so you can read them when you return, Li Wei.” The turtle elder clapped his hands, and a childlike, smug smile finally appeared on his face: “Lord Li Wei, with your current status and position, your words are as immutable as mountains.”

When Li Wei saw the sly smile on Liya's face again, he instantly understood everything.

"Damn it, you two set me up, didn't you!" The lord said with a sorrowful expression, "The world is so cold and people's hearts have changed. Elder, I really didn't expect you to be such a coward."

This turtle elder had lived for hundreds of years and was a true scholar. It was unimaginable how many books he had collected; one could probably not finish reading them even in a lifetime.

“While I must admit that some of your ingenious ideas are indeed very advanced, Li Wei, I’ve found that you know no more about other things than even the barbarians.” Tang Jin also looked helpless: “Now when I ask the barbarians to learn to read, they all feel extremely justified, saying that their leader is also completely illiterate, and that they are learning from a role model.”

"So I have no choice but to start with you."

"Damn it, you all want to rebel while I'm not here, huh?" Li Wei rolled up his sleeves, one foot practically on the table, looking like he was about to travel through the projection to Gaoya Fortress and give those barbarians a good beating.

"Ahem, it's not that serious. In short, you need to set an example so that the commoners of Gaoyabao will be willing to go to school to learn." The turtle elder glanced at the group of barbarians beside him who were constantly begging for mercy, and then changed the subject.

They were all imposing men, each weighing a thousand pounds, capable of killing a tiger with a single punch, fearless and imposing, but when they encountered the Lord of Gaoyabao, they were like cats meeting a tiger.

The overwhelming power of wisdom made Elder Tang Jin smile proudly to himself. "You little brats," he thought, "I have plenty of ways to deal with you simple-minded barbarians. This is the power of knowledge."

Afterwards, Li Wei chatted with each of the other people in High Cliff Fortress, Hogg, Gus, Augura, etc., for a few minutes. Then the alchemical communication magic stone made two "buzzing" sounds, the projection started to flicker, and then the image disappeared with a "click".

"Damn it, this piece of junk magic disk, how come its battery drains so quickly!" The lord patted the magic disk, and seeing that there was no reaction, he helplessly put it on the table.

Fortunately, this thing isn't disposable; you just need to replenish the magic power afterwards. It's much better than disposable communication magic stones.

Overall, everything was peaceful and prosperous in Gaoyabao, and everything was developing in the right direction.

This secretly relieved Li Wei, as it seemed that even without him, Tina and the others could maintain Gaoyabao well.

……

The climate of the Persian Gulf Empire was indeed warm.

Even in December, the sun still shines brightly, and rays of sunlight pierce through the clouds, warming everything.

However, this ray of dawn could not soothe the chilling atmosphere.

In this twilight, Bernard rode a tall, black horse with glossy coat, his body swaying with the journey, calmly gazing at the horizon at the end of his vision.

Behind him were more than a dozen powerful generals from various countries, and a massive army that stretched like a black dragon to the horizon.

"How far are we from Wirtz?" Bernard asked.

After the Lord of High Cliff Fortress resolved the crisis in Fog City, he wanted to strike while the iron was hot and led his main force of 300,000 troops directly to Wirtz.

The goal was to seize control of this southern commercial center of the Persian Gulf empire.

This commercial city has a permanent population of nearly one million, and as the capital of the southern province, it gathers almost all the wealth of the entire southern province.

Taking it was of great significance, both in terms of its enormous wealth and its symbolic meaning, which were exactly what the expeditionary force desperately needed.

"General Debe, there are still seven days' journey ahead," said General Debe, who was a step behind.

In reality, if it were just one person on horseback, they could arrive in a day or two at most. However, they were an army of 300,000. The more people there were, the slower their marching speed would be. It was already quite fast for them to arrive within seven days.

Bernard nodded; the speed was pretty much what he had expected.

"Lord Bernard, why don't we, the Holy Sith Kingdom, take over this siege?" a voice rang out from the side.

Bernard's gaze swept over the Holy Sith general who had volunteered for battle—the old general Tokai, clad in bright silver plate armor with a holy emblem engraved on his breastplate.

The general, known for his fiery temper and bravery, had a calm look in his eyes. Taking the wealthy city of Wirtz was crucial to his personal reputation and the glory of the Holy Sith.

“General Tokai,” Bernard’s voice was steady, carrying the unique aura of a battlefield commander, “the walls of Wirtz are a full sixty-two meters high. Although the morale was dampened by the defeat at Fog City, according to intelligence, there are still over a hundred thousand defenders inside. Relying on the fortified city, the cost of attacking it will not be small.”

The other side had already proven its capabilities in the last naval battle, but considering that the other side was still an ally, Bernard had to make everything clear to avoid rumors that he had deliberately used Holy Sith soldiers as cannon fodder.

Raymond straightened his slightly hunched body, his silver armor gleaming in the sunlight: "Lord Bernard, the warriors of the Sith are fearless. We bring the finest siege weapons, as well as the alchemists' Zanpakuto. I think a single city cannot stop our advance."

The generals around him had different expressions.

Some felt that the Sith were eager to take credit, while others were happy to see the other side tackle this tough nut first and test their strength.

On the surface, the expeditionary force appeared to be united, but in reality, each member had their own ulterior motives.

Bernard tapped his fingers lightly on the saddle, weighing the pros and cons.

Sending the Sith to lead the charge would satisfy their desires, deplete the defenders' strength, and allow for observation of Wirtz's true defensive capabilities, providing room for adjustments to the deployment later.

Anyway, the Persian Gulf Empire is so large that Debe will have plenty of opportunities to make a move later. It wouldn't be bad to let the other side test the strength of the Persian Gulf Empire's main force.

“Alright.” Bernard finally nodded. “Then, General Tokai, let your Holy Sith Kingdom take the lead, and we will provide support from behind.”

So the veteran general turned his horse around, took several lieutenants, and left like a whirlwind to mobilize his hundreds of thousands of elite troops.

A silver dragon emerged from the vast army stretching to the horizon and advanced at full speed toward Wirtz.

……

Three days later, the magnificent outline of Wirtz's city walls appeared clearly on the horizon.

This megacity, known as the "Pearl of the South," is now shrouded in the shadow of war.

The massive city gates were tightly shut, banners fluttered on the city walls, the armor of the defenders reflected a cold gleam in the sunlight, and the outlines of crossbows and catapults were faintly visible behind the crenellations.

Tokai's 100,000-strong Sith army, like a silver tide, set up a continuous camp five miles from the city walls.

Banners fluttered in the breeze.

A true siege begins with the creation and deployment of siege equipment.

Behind the camp, a huge engineering camp was bustling with activity.

The sturdy oak was brought in by the Zai Dai Golem, and with the help of craftsmen and alchemists, it creaked and groaned, gradually transforming into a colossal object.

Tokai gazed calmly at the city wall not far away, but a clear hint of doubt appeared in his aged eyes.

Above Wirtz, dozens of black dots hovered back and forth with the air currents, always maintaining a safe altitude.

These black dots are the Eaglemen of the Sith, clearly conducting reconnaissance.

To Tokai’s surprise, the Golden Eagle Knights were conducting their reconnaissance so brazenly, yet the officers in Wirtz seemed completely oblivious, showing no reaction whatsoever.

This meant that it was no secret to Wirtzli how much wealth he possessed.

The defending army numbered over 100,000, equipped with the heavy defensive weapons expected of a provincial capital, along with countless oil slicks, catapults...

It can be said that this force was indeed very powerful. Logically speaking, it would be almost impossible for the Holy Sith Kingdom's 100,000 or so people to conquer this important city.

But this is just according to common sense.

Tokai rubbed the ring on his finger. Unfortunately, besides being a general, he was also a highly skilled alchemist. Even more unfortunately, the Holy Sith Kingdom's most advanced alchemical creations were in his possession.

(End of this chapter)