I, the prince in distress, send money

Chapter 442 Gratitude needs to be remembered, hatred needs to be condemned.

Naxi Fortress.

This magnificent fortress, located at the end of a limestone pass, is built against the mountainside, backed by the steep cliffs of the limestone mountains. The natural barrier means it only faces threats from the direction of the swamp.

The city wall, which is ten meters high, is as thick as a mountain. It is made of hard limestone and the blood and sweat of countless craftsmen. Its surface is covered with pits and scorch marks left by wind and rain and countless attacks and defenses.

The dark gray rocks, perpetually damp, are covered with a slippery, sickly dark green moss, like decaying skin.

As for this fortress, Xiao Dao felt that if he were to lead the current Holy Expeditionary Army to attack it, he wouldn't have many options.

Alternatively, they could bombard the city wall for several days with nearly a hundred field artillery pieces and a dozen heavy siege cannons, concentrating their firepower on a section of the wall to try and break it down, creating a gentle slope that people could climb, before launching a full-scale siege.

Either use artillery and rockets to provide fire support before the fortress guards have time to make full preparations, cover the demolition team to the city gate, and blow up the gate that is not yet blocked, so that the fearless player assault team can launch a surprise attack to capture the city.

Besides that, I can't think of many other good ways to stab someone in the buttocks with a knife.

However, this formidable pass in the gray rock pass before us, this Naxi fortress that was theoretically capable of inflicting heavy losses on any attacker, fell into the hands of the snake people in a single night in a manner that was almost shameful.

This fact, like a thorn, was deeply embedded in Xiaodao's understanding, leaving him completely baffled.

He stood on a relatively dry high ground several kilometers away from the fortress, holding a brass monocular telescope, repeatedly scanning the huge gray wall that stood silently under the bleak light.

The ten-meter-high city wall is built against the mountain and backed by an insurmountable cliff. It only needs to defend the front... In theory, even if the defenders were all pigs, even if their gunpowder was all wet and they could only use cold weapons, the snake people would still have to pile up into a mountain of corpses to climb up!
"Damn it, what did the Minisians do?"

Xiao Dao couldn't help but curse under his breath, put down the binoculars, and furrowed his brow into a tight knot.

His mind raced through various possibilities, trying to piece together the catastrophic night that led to the fall of the fortress.

Traitor?

typical?

Is there a plague and panic within the fortress?

Or did the snake-man use some unknown, extraordinary evil magic or sorcery?

There's too little information; Xiaodao can't deduce it.

In the end, he gave up on such a futile endeavor and began to think about how to lead the Overland Tigers to block the pass or try to take the Naxi Fortress occupied by the Snake People.

The early winter wind, like a knife covered in ice shards, swept across the gray rock pass.

It whipped up a thin layer of snow, mixed with gray-black rock fragments and withered moss, and lashed against my face; even through a gas mask, I could feel the biting cold.

A thin, fragile layer of ice had formed in the puddles at the edge of the swamp. Stepping on it would cause it to crack and break, revealing the still putrid, dark green mud beneath.

In the depths of the distant swamp, the fog was thinner than in summer, but it still shrouded everything in a gray haze. However, the fog seemed to contain a chill, no longer damp and sticky, but carrying a bone-chilling cold.

Xiao Dao stabbed himself in the buttocks, wrapped his thick fur coat tightly around his body, and his breath condensed into white frost on the cold brass telescope barrel, which was then quickly blown away by the cold wind.

He raised his binoculars again, his gaze sweeping over the Naxi fortress occupied by the snake people.

The fortress's massive, dark gray walls appeared even colder and more somber under the bleak light of early winter.

The dark green moss covering it had not completely withered; instead, in the damp and cold environment, it exhibited a deeper, almost black, oily sheen, like frozen pustules on a giant beast.

The fortress's outline stood out sharply in the cold wind, as did the serpent-men sentries who lazily roamed the walls.

It seems like there's an opportunity to take advantage of this.

Although the fortress gates were closed, given the current weather and the snake people's manual dexterity, Xiao Dao seriously suspected that they hadn't even used stones or wood to block them up.

As long as the city gate is not blocked, the rest is simply a matter of the amount of gunpowder in the siege spears and explosive charges.

The man stabbed himself in the buttocks and put down the binoculars. The lingering chill on the lenses made his vision a little blurry, but a near-mad flame ignited in his eyes.

Since it seems like a good idea, let's give it a try.

If Rem were there, or if he knew about the plan to stab someone in the butt, he would definitely have stopped the latter's idea. This wasn't just a matter of being crazy or not crazy; it was...

A complete and utter contempt for the cruelty of war and the laws of physics!
A suicidal act that throws players' lives and limited resources into a bottomless pit!

A disastrous decision stemming from the player's reckless mindset, completely ignoring the logic of the battlefield!
Unfortunately, Diu Ni Rem wasn't there, and Xiao Dao didn't intend to tell the former, who was behind, his thoughts.

Therefore, no one could stop the Little Knife Stabbing the Buttocks and the Over-the-Mountain Tiger Battle Group from fighting.

A gambler's glint flashed in Xiao Dao's eyes. Without further hesitation, he quickly left, heading towards the battle group gathered at the pass to find them and issue orders to the core members.

"Pass down the order: gather all our explosive charges and siege spears, and launch an attack on Naxi Fortress at midnight tonight. The demolition team is on the volunteer list, and the rest of you prepare to charge!"

Objective...blow up the fortress gates, then storm in and wipe out the snake people!

The players of the Overlord Tigers were ignited by the guild leader's fervor, and their suppressed excitement spread in the cold wind. They began to rub their hands together, preparing for this doomed opening operation.

However, the gears of fate were also quietly turning on the other side, unseen by anyone.

Behind the Naxi Fortress, in the shadow of the almost vertical cliffs of the gray rock mountains, a secluded mountain valley only a few kilometers away from the fortress, another team was also silently gathering, spying on that cold behemoth.

They did not have uniform dark gray military uniforms, and their equipment was a motley collection, including tattered Minisian Kingdom military breastplates, bloodstained leather armor, and even just thick cotton-padded coats.

Their weapons were a mixed bag, including old matchlock guns, rusty spears, logging axes, and hunting bows. Gas masks were a luxury for players, as most could only cover their mouths and noses with thick strips of cloth, or had nothing at all, relying on their lungs to withstand the stench from the snake people's pollution.

Their faces were etched with the marks of hardship, hunger, and deep-seated hatred; their eyes, though weary, burned with a flame of near despair.

A faded, tattered flag stubbornly fluttered in the cold wind. Embroidered on the blue background was a wounded eagle, yet still holding its head high, with a broken snake under its talons. It belonged to the Minisian Self-Salvation Army.

A tall, pale-faced man with his left arm braced in a simple splint was holding up a brass telescope with his only remaining right arm, staring intently at the steep, almost unguarded northern cliff of the Naxi Fortress.

He is none other than the leader of the Self-Salvation Army, former colonel of the Northern Legion of the Kingdom of Minicia... Marco Vigo.

"Colonel."

A scarred adjutant lowered his voice. "The scouts have confirmed that the snake people have concentrated almost all their defensive forces on the front wall facing the swamp. Apart from a few snake people half-frozen to death on the highest watchtower, the area behind it is practically undefended."

Vigo put down his binoculars, his eyes showing no excitement, only deep sorrow and resolute determination.

He looked around at his compatriots, who were dressed in rags but clutching their weapons.

Some of them were deserters who managed to escape when the Naxi Fortress fell, while others were survivors from nearby villages destroyed by the snake people, gathered together with a blood feud.

They lost their loved ones, their homes, and the glory of their army, leaving only an inextinguishable fire of revenge in their hearts and resentment towards the kingdom.

"Undefended?"

Vigo's voice was hoarse and heavy.

"That's because they know that humans can't climb up this cliff, just like we... initially thought no one could breach the Naxi Fortress."

He smiled bitterly; that humiliating night of defeat remained a thorn in his heart forever.

"But now we know that the fortress is not impregnable. If the snake people could take it, we can take it back from behind!"

The scarred adjutant's eyes gleamed with fanaticism.

"This is our last chance. If we take down the Naxi, we can use the fortress to cut off the snake people's retreat, gather more of our compatriots, and take revenge on those beasts, instead of hiding like rats in the mountains like we are now!"

Vigo’s gaze returned to the towering gray rock cliffs that seemed to pierce the clouds.

Yes, from a military perspective, it was practically suicide. The cliff was almost vertical, covered with ice and slippery moss, and the wind was biting cold.

Any large-scale climb is impossible.

But the self-rescue army had no choice. They had no heavy artillery, no explosives, and not even enough ropes. What they had was a deep-seated hatred, an endless attachment to the defiled land beneath their feet, and a familiarity with the internal structure of the fortress.

"The emergency repair passage on the back mountain before the fortress fell..."

Vigo said in a low voice, his gaze sharpening.

"Do you remember that almost forgotten narrow staircase carved into the rock that leads directly to the logistics warehouse area inside the fortress?"

The eyes of several veterans suddenly lit up.

That passage was originally dug for emergency repairs to prevent water seepage from the mountain. It was extremely hidden and narrow, barely allowing one person to pass through at a time, and was later almost abandoned.

The fortress fell in such chaos that the snake people were likely unaware of its existence.

"The snake people have occupied the fortress, but they don't know how to maintain it!"

The scarred adjutant excitedly chimed in.

"The entrance to that passage is well disguised, located behind those weathered rocks halfway up the cliff. The scouts will go to confirm that there are no signs of damage to the entrance!"

Vigo took a deep breath of the cold air, which was mixed with the dust of rocks and a glimmer of hope amidst despair.

"This is our door, as long as we can open it..."

A bold and equally risky plan took shape in his mind.

Climb the cliff at night! Select the most agile and familiar soldiers with the fortress terrain, preferably veterans with engineering backgrounds, to form an absolutely elite assault team.

They must be no more than ten people, and they will carry short axes, chisels, and as much rope as possible. Their target is the entrance to that hidden maintenance passage.

They would take advantage of the coldest time of night, when the snake-men sentries were most lax, and climb up the icy cliff like geckos.

Without fire or sound, use axes and chisels to create tiny footholds on the ice and rock, and use ropes to pull each other together. The goal is to open the camouflage stone slab at the entrance to the passage!
Once they infiltrated the passage and entered the fortress's internal logistics area, the assault team's mission was not to kill the enemy, but to create chaos, set fire to the warehouses, destroy the snake people's makeshift heated nests, open the small side door leading to the back mountain, and create maximum noise and fire to attract the attention of the snake people facing them.

When flames raged and chaos erupted inside the fortress, the main force of the Self-Salvation Army would launch a desperate charge from the front. Vigo did not expect them to breach the walls, but instead kept the snake-men defenders on the front walls firmly in place, drawing their attention.

Let the assault teams try to open or block the city gates from the inside... or at least create an opportunity for the main force to climb the front.

"The risk is very high..."

Vigo looked at the faces around him, twisted by hatred and hope.

"If the commando team fails, they will surely die."

A main force charge would be heavily damaged by the snake-men's firepower, resulting in severe casualties for the attacking troops; we might be completely annihilated.

Silence. Only the cold wind howled through the mountain valley.

An old soldier who had lost an eye stared intently at Vigo with his remaining eye and hissed.

"Colonel, we're long dead. From the day the fortress fell, we should have died on the walls! It's hatred that has kept us alive until now. Either we take back the fortress, or we die here! There is no third way!"

"Yes, take back the fortress!"

"For our deceased loved ones!"

"For Minicia..."

A suppressed yet resolute growl echoed among the self-rescue army.

Vigo looked at his soldiers, nodded heavily, and slammed his remaining right fist into the cold rock.

"Alright, for Minicia, for revenge, tonight, we go home!"

He looked up at the Naxi Fortress, its massive shadow standing like a tombstone in the twilight.

The Naxi Fortress, this colossal gray rock beast that has devoured countless lives, is about to face an incredibly long and bloody night. The snake-men dwell within, completely unaware that they are becoming the eye of the storm.

(End of this chapter)