I, who was eager to retire, became an Imperial General.

Chapter 231 Blockade and Fire Attack

"So, you've chosen to use the Spirit Heart Technique to try and behead me after all?"

Through the vision provided by the telepathic technique, he realized that Roxie had seen through his delaying tactics and intended to end the battle by decapitation.

John showed no surprise; instead, a slow smile appeared on his lips.

In fact, during the pre-battle tactical rehearsals, Roxie's decision to carry out a decapitation strike was also within his calculations.

In order to curb the opponent's actions, he had also prepared a backup plan in advance!
Thinking of this, John immediately stopped hesitating and used mental magic to give orders to the 10 mage soldiers waiting on the second battle line:
"All members of the No. 2 front, immediately begin sniping at the enemy as planned, activate the firefly decoys, and carry out the scheduled area strike mission. Once completed, immediately retreat to the coast through the escape tunnel. No mistakes allowed!"

"Yes, Commander!"

……

"Whoosh!"

Inside the jungle, as the azure threads encircling the Allied forces began to sway, everyone was immediately astonished to discover that their own weight, which had been resting on the ground, seemed to have been reduced by ninety percent.

Each step and jump far surpasses previous speeds.

Then, guided by the azure silk threads, everyone seemed to transform into enhanced kangaroos, leaping dozens of meters in the blink of an eye with each bound.

Is this the power of the Spirit Heart Technique?
It's simply miraculous!

Within the group, feeling the unique spell that enveloped him, making him more powerful than ever before, Will felt not only awe but also deep concern.

If John's ambush plan during the initial battle caused his side to suffer greatly, making him worry about his own survival...

Having truly experienced the power of the Spirit Mind Technique, he couldn't help but worry about whether John could survive.

Although the limitations imposed by landmines forced Roxie to abandon armored vehicles and heavy artillery vehicles, she opted instead to travel by deploying spells.

Ultimately, however, with the blessing of the Spirit Mind Technique, whether our side has armored vehicles and heavy artillery is not that important now.

Before setting off, Roxie specifically instructed the engineering corps to retrieve spare fuel.

It's highly likely that they plan to use this to launch a final fire attack in conjunction with fire mages once they reach the fire-resistant zone.

At that time, towering flames will approach from the front, while anti-air devices and anti-magic devices will restrain them from behind.

And it is highly likely that teleportation nodes have already been set up in advance behind them.

In this seemingly hopeless situation, Will couldn't imagine how John could possibly survive this targeted and deadly attack.

So, all that's left for him is to expose his identity and then try to help Commander John escape from Roxie's clutches?

While Will was pondering what would happen if John were defeated here and captured by Roxie.

How will he manage to rescue John safely and secretly send him to the Empire?

In the jungle, a sudden gunshot abruptly interrupted his thoughts:

"Oh!"

The orange-yellow bullet, entwined with blue magic, transformed into a golden lightning bolt, accompanied by a twisting spiral of air, and precisely struck the head of a soldier in the front row.

However, the anticipated scene of the soldier being shot through the head and dying instantly did not occur. The bullet was of a much higher specification than an ordinary bullet and strong enough to penetrate a 200mm steel plate on the spot.

Just before it was about to pierce the soldier's skull, it seemed to encounter an invisible barrier, instead exhibiting a strange floating state, making no progress whatsoever!

"!"

This bizarre sight stunned everyone, and just as everyone was marveling at what they had witnessed.

The next second, countless gunshots rang out simultaneously, accompanied by the sound of magic spells being activated.

Then, to everyone's chagrin, a barrage of spherical flames, stone spears, ice spikes, and a tiny number of orange bullets rained down from the surrounding tree trunks, seemingly ordinary rocks, and the tops of the tree canopy, all aimed at the group.

Using pre-engraved low-level spells and the magic soldiers' shots, they tried to deplete the magic power within me, thereby attempting to prematurely interrupt the duration of the Spirit Heart Spell.

And then bring this battle back to the delaying tactics you desire?
Good idea, but unfortunately...

John Maslow, have you forgotten that I can easily handle this kind of area-of-effect attack with just one person?
"..."

Roxie smiled slightly, then without hesitation manipulated the psionic threads to instantly push Liria to the front of the group.

Upon feeling the pull of the psionic core, Liria, who had cooperated with Roxie many times before, instantly understood her commander's intentions.

Without hesitation, he raised his hands to the sides and then fully activated the Silent Domain spell.

"The field expands!"

"Buzz!"

As gray and black magical runes emerged from Liria's palm, a gray, semi-transparent barrier began to expand rapidly outward from her own center, instantly enveloping the entire army.

Meanwhile, the attacks coming from all around began to slow down at a visible rate under the slowing effect of the Silence Domain.

And as Orion swung his magic book and tapped it rapidly in all directions, he unleashed a series of highly penetrating water jets.

These lower-level spells and bullets, which would have engulfed the entire Allied force, were instantly shattered, turning into countless wisps of smoke and dissipating.

Then, when the azure radiance reappeared from within, it was quickly dispersed by the magical winds it brought.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

Under Orion's control, with seven layers of magical arrays floating before him, sharp ice spears, each at least a meter long, shot out with incredible precision from the directions from which the bullets had come.

With lightning speed, it pierced through the canopies of the ten giant trees at varying distances from its own side, and shattered into countless wisps of cold ice mist the instant it hit.

In the blink of an eye, the entire giant tree it struck was transformed into a colossal ice sculpture!

"..."

However, Orion, who created such a terrifying scene, did not smile; instead, he frowned deeply.

Then, he shook his head at Roxie, who had been staring at him unnoticed, and said:
"I'm sorry, General, the enemy withdrew immediately after completing their attack. My 'Winter's Fang' spell failed to kill the ambushing enemy." "I understand..."

Upon learning the result, Roxie was not disappointed. Instead, he glanced thoughtfully at the tree trunk not far away, which had been split open by the power of the spell, revealing its hollow interior.

So, John Maslow, you took advantage of the fact that these ancient trees, hundreds of years old, possess anti-magic properties and can shield against conventional perception spells, which is why you thought of hiding your soldiers in the trunks and canopies, and using this to launch sniping attacks on our army from a concealed state.

So that you can delay my progress?
But similarly, this is completely useless for me!

Having seen through the other party's plan, Roxie immediately narrowed her eyes and then gave an order to Liria:

"Lyria, immediately arrange for the Silent Assassins to activate their thermal perception spells, focusing on sensing the interiors of the surrounding tree trunks and the locations of the tree canopies. Find all the enemy troops lying in ambush ahead!"

"Yes!"

……

Following the deployment of the thermal perception spell by the Silent Assassin unit, Roxie learned of the number of 'enemy troops' hiding in the nearby area through Liria's report.

"So, the results of the surgical procedure were for 1,600 people?"

Upon hearing this report, Roxie did not question whether there was a problem with their thermal perception technique.

Because she was very familiar with the capabilities of this unit that had served her since she became a brigadier general, she naturally understood that the thermal perception technique could not possibly be wrong.

"So, the root cause of this conclusion lies with you, John Maslow?"

Once again, you anticipated that I would use thermal sensing techniques to gather information, so you used a special method to pre-position a large number of objects on the surrounding tree trunks and canopies that could release heat on their own. Furthermore, you used an ingenious method that was hard for ordinary people to imagine to simulate the temperature of these baits as that of a human body.

This creates the illusion of a large ambush, and may even include soldiers or mid-level or higher mages, forcing me to abandon my quick attack plan and ultimately return to the protracted war you expect.

Looking at the seemingly calm jungle before them, which was actually likely hiding a large number of traps and a few ambushes.

Even Roxie couldn't help but show a hint of seriousness in her golden eyes at this moment.

Although the ambush area has been fully scouted and the traps are clear, the wisest and most efficient decision for our side is to bypass the enemy's ambush area and choose to advance towards the enemy's main camp via other routes.

But John Maslow could certainly have thought of the same scenarios that he could.

Therefore, the detour decision made based on the first level of prediction will most likely only result in the enemy's ambush at another location after the detour is completed.

Ultimately, the situation will still develop back to the state that the other side expects.

"Even before I arrived at this front, I knew that our confrontation would not be so simple."

"But after we actually clashed, I realized that you, at full power, were much more troublesome than I had anticipated."

Rather than killing you, I'd much rather capture you and trample this interesting fellow under my feet!

Roxie murmured to herself, but then a calm smile involuntarily appeared on her lips.

Then a series of new combat orders were issued:
"All members of the 1st Independent Battalion shall immediately divide into three companies according to their respective units. After collecting spare fuel, they shall proceed with the burning of the woodland in front of them in areas A1, A2, and A3 respectively."

"All water mages of the Silent Thorn Force can split into three groups to cooperate with the fire attack force to stop the fire from spreading. The remaining members of the Silent Thorn Force will also be divided into three groups. After casting the spell, they will rush to spread fuel along the designated burning area and immediately withdraw from the burning area after completion."

"Orion, begin continuous monitoring of the battlefield immediately. When the Silent Thorn troops lay fuel, be sure to locate the enemy ambush as soon as possible and launch an attack."

"Lyria is working alongside Orion to prevent an attack by the enemy's Black Hawk assassination squad."

"Everyone, execute the mission immediately, without fail!"

A cold glint flashed in Roxie's eyes as he issued all the instructions:
Since John Maslow intends to use a feint to restrict her movement, and it is currently unclear whether the other side has set up feints in other areas.

Compared to increasing the uncertainty of subsequent actions and the risk of time loss, this is a better option.

Using fire to burn down all the areas that might contain enemy troops and traps, and continuing to advance, is the best solution for our side to quickly resolve this battle.

Although the cost would also affect their own speed of advance, in Roxie's calculations, after she used the reserve fuel and launched a fire attack from three angles on the area suspected to be John Maslow's headquarters,

The towering flames that spread simultaneously on three fronts and eventually converge at the fire channels will burn for no more than ten minutes in total.

At that point, she would have at least ten minutes to lead the remaining troops straight to John Maslow's headquarters.

And with an irresistible force, capture it!

"So, how will you respond to my preemptive fire attack, and how will you deal with it, John Maslow?"

Looking at his own troops ahead, who were launching a fire attack with unprecedented efficiency thanks to the support of psionic threads, a playful smile appeared on Roxie's face.

……

"The fuel fire channel has been laid, and the Silent Assassin troops have withdrawn from the burning zone. Please ignite immediately!"

"boom!"

As the report from the communication device reached the other end, the fire attack force, which had been waiting for a long time, immediately and without hesitation unleashed fire magic on the tree trunks that were covered in fuel.

Accompanied by the ear-piercing howl of the raging flames and the crackling sound of the burning tree trunks, three orange-red flames, resembling claw marks, were imprinted on the central area of ​​the Cangyuan Ancient Tree Forest when viewed from above, ultimately converging at the same point.

The towering flames burned rapidly, engulfing the jungle and tree trunks that blocked their path. However, thanks to the icy mist deliberately released by the waiting water mage, the small fire was extinguished before it could spread to their side.

Meanwhile, the Allied forces, who were initially constrained by the traps, began to advance further, stepping on the still-warm, scorched ground.

However, just when everyone in the Allied forces thought that they would advance rapidly under General Roxie's three-pronged burning strategy, reach the enemy's headquarters, and end the battle.

The next second, a series of ear-piercing explosions suddenly rang out from the center of the three burning fire lines ahead. Then, in everyone's shrunken pupils, the fire, which had been under control, suddenly spread rapidly in a strange way, turning into a huge fire circle in the blink of an eye.

And with indescribable speed, they surrounded them!

"how come……"

Seeing the sudden change in the fire, the faces of the Allied soldiers were filled with disbelief, even Roxie was astonished!
……

(End of this chapter)