Your war hammer is too fake

Author's words: Second update

Chapter 436 A Difficult Decision

The atmosphere in the tent was extremely depressing.

After the Elion raiders reported that the Nehekhara army was approaching, the desert cavalry in the Arabi army and the mercenary light cavalry from Tyrell also reported the same thing, confirming the bad news. Upon hearing the news, all the leaders did not even have time to eat breakfast and hurriedly gathered in Soryak's tent.

The commanders did not have to wait too long, as more and worse news was delivered to the tent along with breakfast: the light cavalry alone had confirmed that the enemy numbered more than 100,000, and there were endless troops marching behind them, with a total strength that might very well reach 200,000. After yesterday's hard battle, the coalition forces had less than 30,000 soldiers left, even including the lightly wounded who could still go into battle.

The coalition forces were not only seriously short of manpower, but also short of supplies. They had enough food and water, but after a series of battles from the west coast of the Badlands, they had consumed a lot of gunpowder, lead bullets, shells, and arrows. Especially after the battles against Druz and Skaven, the remaining ammunition could no longer support a high-intensity battle, and these supplies could not be replenished on the spot. In addition, many weapons were damaged in the battle and needed urgent repair.

If all of the above were not a big deal, after all, the main force of the Tomb Raiders army was still some distance away from them, and they still had the opportunity to choose whether to retreat or fight, then the worst thing was that after paying such a heavy price, the coalition forces failed to obtain the floating city - Fuzrek's greatest creation is still controlled by the magic puppets. After the battle ended yesterday, the coalition forces really had no ability to continue fighting and could only choose to rest for a night.

The coalition originally planned to take advantage of the relatively sufficient supplies to rest for a few days, allowing the soldiers to recover before dealing with the magic puppets entrenched in the floating city. However, the floating city attracted not only the living, but also the Tomb Kings who ruled the Land of the Dead were also interested in wealth, glory, and conquest.

Fight, there is no way to fight. The enemy is just too numerous! Admittedly, the scouts reported that these skeletons had clearly experienced a fierce battle, perhaps more than one, and the undead were not in very good condition, but the seven-fold advantage in strength was enough to crush any resistance. At least the commanders of the coalition did not think they were capable of creating a miracle.

Retreat, unwillingly. The army has always been a money-burning machine, regardless of the era or country. The High Elves were fine, but the Arabs and the Tirells spent a huge price to organize this expedition, especially the Tirells. The ambitious "Besieger" Boggio wanted to build a powerful flying fleet so that he could control other Tirell city-states more deeply, rather than just the current martial arts leader-style rule.

This prince, who was known for his emphasis on new technologies and new tactics, knew that buying alone would not achieve his goal. No matter how powerful the purchased fleet was, it was just a floating duckweed without roots. A decisive defeat would expose this empty "power". For this reason, he tried to imitate the Imperials and build his own flying ship factory, which obviously required a huge amount of funds.

In the face of the sky-high price of one million gold crowns, the Tyrells can give up the floating city and the magic treasure. Based on his understanding of Boggio, the mercenary general Mortensen believes that compared to the floating city, the flying ship that can be produced by itself is obviously more appealing to the besiegers. However, the previously signed agreement clearly stipulates that the high elves and Arabs must have taken the floating city before they can pay. Otherwise, why should they be the scapegoats?

In order to make money, Poggio had previously sent an expeditionary force to the distant and mysterious continent of Lustria, trying to "pick up" some unwanted gold from the Lizardmen's homes; in addition to this, there was the current expedition to the Badlands.

As for asking for money? Unfortunately, no one is stupid. The original intention of Boggio to expand the flying fleet was to collect taxes from other Tyrell city-states, rather than the current model of symbolic tribute every year. In order to prevent unnecessary troubles in future taxation, the far-sighted Boggio had already issued a decree strictly prohibiting other Tyrell city-states from purchasing and owning flying ships.

Although there is no Hermann Meyer in this world, the principle is the same. No one in Tyrell or Estalia is willing to lend money to Poggio. After all, no one wants to experience the power of Meyer's economics. The political situation in Bretonnia is chaotic, and the Empire itself wants to borrow money (also to build a flying fleet). The Arabs are also worried that they may lack the ability to collect debts... After all the calculations, only the High Elves and Marienburg can lend money.

Forget about the high elves. Although Ulthuan is willing to lend money for diplomatic purposes, the delicate relationship between the toilet seat, Sanhe Prefecture and the Mountain Kingdom is well known. What's more, the technology of the flying ship comes from Sanhe Prefecture. If Boggio is not a fool, he will not make a mistake in such a matter.

Evelyn refused Poggio's request to borrow money without a second thought. She didn't mind borrowing money, but Poggio was unwilling to provide sufficient collateral and was only willing to use the wasteland outside Miragliano as collateral. The Knight knew that this was a so-called business strategy, to lower the price to the extreme in exchange for better final conditions, and it also contained the fluke mentality of "what if the other party is a fool and really agrees?", and she was not prepared to indulge this habit at all.

Just as Poggio received the news that Marienburg refused to lend him money and was too lazy to even negotiate, he received bad news from the first expeditionary force. After many twists and turns, the expeditionary force sent to Lustria had "picked up" a batch of gold from the Lizardmen, but was ambushed when it was about to leave Lustria. A group of Lizardmen, led by a strange giant lizard, almost killed all of Poggio's men.

The residents of the Old World who know something about the mysterious race of Lizardmen know that Lizardmen actually don't care about gold at all. In the eyes of these cold-blooded creatures, the shiny gold is just a material and does not have much value. On the contrary, if you dare to take some strange stone slabs engraved with runes, the Lizardmen will hunt you down to the end of the world.

The troops sent to Lustria were informed of this in advance, and Poggio issued a death order that no lizardman items with characters on them were allowed to be taken, no matter how valuable the item looked! The expeditionary force strictly followed this order, but they still died. Even though the expeditionary force discarded all the treasures they had robbed, the strange giant lizard still led the army to hunt them down, until the last member of the expeditionary force was smashed in the head by the obsidian war club.

The first expeditionary force not only failed to make money, but also lost money. The subsequent expenses such as pensions and replenishment of lost troops made Poggio even more anxious. But this money had to be spent. Poggio had to avoid other city-states thinking that his power had been weakened, and then have some unnecessary thoughts. Now, the besiegers put all their hopes on the second expeditionary force, which was why Mortensen agreed to Soryak's proposal so readily before, and chose the former without hesitation between money and the floating city.

The Tirells had their reasons for not being able to retreat, and the situation of the Arabs was similar. Saleh did not explain the reason, but said that the Arabs would never retreat, and even if the high elves and the Tirells chose to give up, the descendants of the desert people would fight to the last moment.

The commanders discussed for a while, but no one could come up with a reliable idea. The only consensus was that no one was willing to retreat. In the end, perhaps because he had observed enough places and fully confirmed the determination of everyone present, Soryak finally came up with a solution that was not a solution.

"The winds of magic are gathering towards the floating city, preparing to reshape the spell that allows it to soar above the nine heavens," the blind archmage sat in his seat, leaning on a slender staff as tall as a person in his right hand, "As long as I can enter the control center of the floating city, I will be able to seize this power and use it for myself. It is so powerful that it is enough to exile those who should have been sleeping forever."

Upon hearing this, the commanders began to whisper to each other.

"Just do it, Master," Saleh was the first to speak up in support, "We don't have any better solution anyway."

"Second," Mortensen said shortly afterward.

Lightbird opened his mouth but said nothing. For some reason, the half-bald man felt a little uneasy, but he couldn't tell where this uneasiness came from.

New orders were issued, and the coalition forces lost no time in mobilizing. They would immediately attack the floating city, escort Soryak into its control center, and then hold the floating city until the archmage completed his spell and banished the incoming undead army.

Before the battle began, Soryak quietly returned to his tent.

Chapter 437: T Family's Basic Operations

The curtain of the tent was lifted and Gustav was pushed from behind.

The former explorer, whose hands were tied, staggered and nearly fell to the ground. He spread his legs and barely stood up, trying to regain his sense of balance in this body that had experienced countless adventures in his youth.

"Hello, Mr. Gustav," the blind elf sitting on the chair said gently, "From the first time we met, I smelled the scent of secrets from you... and your secrets did not disappoint me. Oh, to be honest, I would actually be happy to have a good chat with you, but unfortunately there is a group of undead approaching outside, and neither you nor I have much time."

After a pause, Solyak stood up from his seat, leaning on his staff: "My servants told me that you serve the newly rising Elector Count. I am sure you know many useful secrets, but since the battle is about to begin, let us quickly solve these troubles - tell me, what is this thing?"

Archmage Asur raised his left hand, with a glass tube as thick as a finger pinched between his thumb and index finger. The transparent liquid inside swayed slightly in the container. "Tell me what this is and what it does, and I will let you live."

"'Live', ha, do you think I'm an idiot?" Gustav first glanced at the glass tube with an extremely resentful look, and then stared at the high elf in front of him: "This trick of wording has no effect on me, elf! Being turned into a half-dead monster by some weird witchcraft is still considered alive, right?"

"My Lord," the magic swordsman glanced at the former explorer, then said to the archmage, "I saw with my own eyes that he tried to drink the liquid inside. This is obviously some kind of magic potion. Maybe... we can find a test subject."

"That's a good suggestion." The archmage suddenly stretched his neck. This action looked very strange, especially when the person who made this action was an elf. "Go and call Sir Rodrick over."

Gustav's eyes widened. However, before he could react, Solyak glanced at him, and the former explorer suddenly lost control of his body, unable to even blink. He could only watch himself being moved to the corner of the tent, unable to divert his gaze to the center of the tent.

Then Solyak made another simple gesture, and large shadows appeared out of nowhere, wrapping Gustav tightly from bottom to top. The former explorer was still standing there, but his figure disappeared.

Gustav, unable to do anything, could only watch the magic swordsman lift the curtain and leave the tent. As for Solyak, the blind elf picked up a bottle of fine wine from Ulthuan from the table and poured some into each of the two silver wine glasses. Then, in front of the former explorer's bloodshot eyes, the archmage pulled out the cork of the glass tube, poured the transparent liquid inside into one of the wine glasses, and gently shook the silver cup.

After a while, Sir Rodrick, dressed in armor, was led to the tent.

"What can I do for you, Master?" Roderick asked. "The enemy is coming soon."

"I know you still have doubts in your heart, Holy Grail Knight," Solyak said, picking up the two wine glasses very naturally and handing the one with extra ingredients to Roderick, "You don't believe in magic, right?"

"...I have fought alongside many prophets and saints," Sir Rodrick took the wine glass and took a sip with mixed feelings. "My colleagues hate unclean witchcraft, and so do I. However, even the most powerful knights in Bretonnia cannot solve all the threats facing the kingdom with swords and courage alone. For this, we need the help of those noble ladies. I am not questioning anything. I know that prophets are different from wizards..."

"Magic is magic, and it is fundamentally different from divine magic," said Soryak. "No matter where the powers of the Bretonnian seeresses come from, they are actually using magic."

The Holy Grail Knight remained silent. He raised his head and took a big sip of wine.

"Well, I know you don't want to discuss this with me, an elf you've only met a few times. Perhaps at some point in the past, you got a glimpse of the reality of magic. That quick glimpse planted a seed of doubt in your heart, and you could feel your faith wavering, so you joined this expedition to retrieve the holy relic, and because of your identity as a Holy Grail Knight, you were elected as the commander of the expedition by your colleagues."

In Roderick's doubtful eyes, Solyak said quietly: "This is not an expedition, at least not for you. This is a pilgrimage to consolidate your faith. You are thirsty for the revelation of the lake god."

"Someone once told me that the elves that appeared before humans were all spies," the Holy Grail Knight said, "I always thought it was just a rumor, a malicious slander against a certain race."

"It is never shameful to collect intelligence. People have too many misunderstandings about this matter," Archmage Asur shook his head. "What really determines whether your behavior is just or evil lies in how you use the secrets you have collected." As he spoke, the blind elf fumbled to pick up the bottle of wine from the table and gestured to the Holy Grail Knight.

Sir Rodrick then drank the last bit of wine in the silver cup and took the bottle from Solyak. As the Holy Grail Knight poured himself a glass of wine, the Archmage continued, "You have a different view of magic than the general public, which makes you have deep doubts about my battle plan."

“No offense, Master,” Roderick frowned, “As long as I think that all hopes of defeating the enemy depend on magic, it is difficult for me to face the upcoming battle calmly.”

"You are right to be uneasy," Solyak said softly, "after all, you are about to die."

The Holy Grail Knight suddenly felt something was wrong. He took a step towards the Archmage, then stumbled and knocked over the small round table where the wine bottles were placed. "Poison..." Blood flowed from the corners of the Holy Grail Knight's mouth, the blood vessels on his face bulged, and his eyes almost turned red. "The wine is poisonous?! Why?"

"I don't know if it's poison or not," Solyak shrugged. "To be exact, I don't know what it is at all. I just asked you to try it out to see the effect... And why has no one ever doubted my name?"

The blind wizard sighed artificially and half-crouched down, looking at Sir Rodrick's almost purple face as if he were looking at some new species: "Try to read my name backwards."

"Soriak... Soriak... Kairos!!" Roderick spat out a mouthful of dirty blood mixed with organ fragments. He struggled and tried to pounce on the existence in front of him, but was easily avoided by the other party.

"My magic will indeed turn the tide of the battle," said Solyak, or Carlos the Fateweaver, the chief demon of Tzeentch. "It may not be able to reach full power in time, but the winds of magic that have gathered, combined with your sacrifices, are enough to create a permanent rift."

Ser Rodrick managed to raise his head. He could no longer speak, so he could only listen.

"Nothing can stop me from presenting this gift to the Lord of Change. Not even the so-called Immortal Emperor, not even you blind people with open eyes, not even someone as powerful as the Killer Whale God!" Carlos opened his arms as if to embrace something. "Compared to having a permanent rift next door to my house, the consequences of the collective assassination of the empire's electors are obviously more unacceptable, so He will definitely choose to go to Altdorf to deal with my poor colleague~"

At this point, the Lord of Change suddenly became depressed again. He waved his staff, and the shadow wind that covered Gustav's figure dissipated, and along with it, the terrible feeling of being out of control also disappeared.

"You will live, Gustav," said the great demon, "you will live as a messenger. My master has a message for you to pass on to your master..."

Gustav stared at the being in front of him nervously. From the corner of his eye, he saw that the Holy Grail Knight had already stopped moving.

"There are seven incubation pools on the surface of the Southland, each of which breeds three super-giant flying beasts called 'Plague Ark'. They are the countermeasures prepared by my master's brother, his most hated enemy, against your flying fleet." Carlos gently tapped Gustav's forehead with the tip of his staff: "Here are the coordinates."

“Only a fool would believe you,” the former explorer stammered.

"Whether you believe it or not is not up to you, but up to them," Carlos said, "It's almost time for you to leave. My servants will take you away from here."

After saying that, the magic swordsman came over and made a "please" gesture to Gustav.

The former explorer followed dutifully.

The author says:

Author's words: Reply to the reader "Always Glowing":

You also said that it is a fan work, so just take a look at its settings and don't take it seriously.

Chapter 438: The Gate of Hell (Part 1)

The floating city's supporting base is right next to the city ruins.

The upper part of the floating city of Fuzrek is made up of various buildings. Eight magic towers are arranged in a circle around the city center. Each magic tower corresponds to a magic wind. In the center of the city is the city hall and the flat square in front of the city hall. In terms of area, if the input of living water, food and other necessary materials can be guaranteed, the entire floating city can accommodate thousands of residents for a long time. This scale is not small in the old world (Note 1).

The lower part of the floating city is an inverted cone with an obtuse triangle cross section. When the floating city lands, the shape of the supporting base fits perfectly with the lower part of the floating city.

It is worth mentioning that the floating city has walls, although not high, but it does exist. Surrounding the outermost edge of the floating city, a four-meter-high stone wall constitutes the outer defense of the floating city. Because it was built when the empire was still in the cold weapon era, firearms had just begun to develop, and even the imperial army's iconic provincial infantry system had not yet been established, there were no artillery bases reserved on the walls of the floating city, only arrow towers and open platforms prepared for catapults.

When the coalition forces, determined to fight to the death, urgently mobilized and dispatched their most elite troops to approach the floating city, the first thing to greet them was the round stone bullets falling from the sky - the magic puppets in the floating city were not all combat models. When Fuzrek was designing his greatest work of his life, he had obviously considered that if the floating city wanted to maintain operation for a long time, it must have a complete maintenance mechanism.

In addition to combat golems that exist as warriors, the floating city also has a large number of engineering golems that exist as builders and craftsmen. In addition to maintaining the normal operation of urban facilities and repairing damaged buildings and the like, the latter are also responsible for managing the city's own defense system and making ammunition for ballistas and catapults.

There is nothing in the sky except gas, so whenever the floating city lands briefly to collect magical treasures, engineering golems will go out in groups to collect raw materials for the above purpose. If the floating city cannot produce new golems on its own, it is almost an imperial version of the temple city with golems replacing lizardmen.

For the coalition forces that launched the attack with a heavy heart, the good news was that the enemy's forces could not be replenished, and every loss was a loss. Engineering golems could only repair minor injuries, and the floating city had experienced countless battles during its thousands of years of wandering, so the number of combat golems was far less than when it first took off; the bad news was that the coalition's enemies were not a bunch of old, dilapidated ragtags, and they had an excessive amount of ammunition.

Carefully polished spherical stone bullets fell from the sky, smashing into the advancing ranks, crushing the warriors into a sticky red mark on the barren land. In response, the Tyrell artillery opened fire. Compared with the relatively uniform Imperial artillery, the Tyrell artillery was more like a firearms museum. Primitive stone cannons and advanced cannons often appeared together on the battlefield, even if the former had almost no other use except siege, the Tyrells still used them.

As for the Arabs, they also have artillery. To be exact, the Bretonnians are the only people in the Old World who do not use artillery. (Note 2) The Arabs have their own unique firearms technology. Their artillery will use a variety of artillery in combat, whether it is light artillery carried by camels or heavy siege guns. The Sultan's arsenal has everything.

Due to the nature of the mission, the Arabs did not bring heavy artillery on this expedition, but only a batch of camel cannons. These light artillery could not hit the walls of the floating city, so they were all reinforced to the blocking troops. As for the group responsible for attacking the floating city, they could only hope that the artillery skills of the Tyrells were as good as they boasted.

Amid the rumbling of cannons, three thousand elite soldiers selected from their respective teams began to advance towards the floating city. The stone bullets fired by the stone cannon hit the four-meter-high wall, blasting a shallow pit and bursting into countless pieces of rubble; at the same time, the counterweight catapults arranged on the wall swung their arms forward violently, and pieces of stone bullets flew towards the artillery positions of the Tileans, and the crossbows set in the arrow towers also opened fire at the same time, and the javelin-like arrows penetrated the attackers' ranks one after another with incredible accuracy, skewering several soldiers from front to back.

Both the catapults and the ballista were firing at their maximum rate, and the Tirells were limited by the lack of ammunition. Even though the Arabs gritted their teeth and gave them some gunpowder, the firing rate of the catapults was still intermittent. Fortunately, the firing rate of this primitive artillery was slow, which made this problem seem less serious.

As the war machines of both sides clashed, the first ladder was placed on the city wall. A team of Arabi guards, armed with small round steel shields and maces, wearing four-mirror armor and pointed helmets, shouted "Digene the Great!" (Note 3) as they rushed to the top of the city wall and fought with the combat golems.

Most of the golems guarding the floating city are made of rock, with only a few made of steel. These stone warriors are carved into the image of imperial soldiers of Fozrek's time, and are equipped with a mixture of halberds, hammers, and flails. They are slow to react but incredibly powerful, and every blow they throw is powerful and heavy, knocking the Arabi guards back again and again. Even though there is a thick lining under the armor to absorb the impact, many Arabis were still smashed to pieces.

The first batch of warriors who rushed up fell one after another during the siege. Several stone golems came over with push rods and pushed the ladders on the top of the city. However, the number of defenders was too small, and more ladders were put up. A centurion of Rimas wearing a horizontal crown and feather helmet was the first to rush to the top of the city, followed by more legion infantrymen.

The Remas people did not use their iconic Remas short swords, but instead used blunt weapons like the Arabs in front. In yesterday's battle, the coalition forces also had a small collision with the guards of the floating city when fighting against Druz and Skaven. This brief contact forced the coalition forces to desperately search for blunt weapons throughout the army before launching this attack. After all, it is obvious that swords and spears are meaningless to a group of moving granite.

The reality is not some total war. If you can't win, you can't win. There is no such thing as forced blood deduction.

Compared to the Arabs, who were the focus of attention, the Remas people held out longer. Their large shields could not withstand the heavy blows of the stone golems, but fortunately, as more and more ladders were placed on the top of the city walls, the stone golems, which were short of manpower, had to split up to fight back, which effectively reduced the pressure on the attackers.

In the chaos, a group of legion infantrymen swung hammers to knock down the last few stone golems in front of them, and then rushed into an arrow tower. After a moment, the remains of several engineering golems were thrown out from the firing port, and the arrow tower stopped firing. A red Remas flag stretched out from the firing port and waved at the friendly troops outside the city wall.

Seeing this, the attackers, with their morale boosted, increased their attack intensity. They occupied more and more space on the city wall, captured arrow tower after arrow tower, trebuchets placed on open platforms were ignited by torches, and the engineering golems responsible for operating these war machines were pushed off the city wall by the soldiers and smashed to pieces.

Just when the coalition army thought they could capture the city wall, the eight magic towers behind the circular city wall, surging with amazing magic power, responded. The mortals without magical senses were cheering the moment before, and the next second, the blazing white light filled the entire city wall. When the light faded, hundreds of soldiers disappeared, leaving only a few scorch marks and molten iron.

The sudden attack left the attackers at a loss. Before they could react, countless engineering golems holding various tools, surrounded by a few combat golems, rushed up the city wall and launched a counterattack on the scorching ground.

They had almost driven the attackers, who had suddenly suffered heavy losses, off the city wall. At the critical moment, Solyak appeared on the city wall, surrounded by a team of Hoth Swordmasters, and blew dozens of golems into pieces with a wave of his staff.

"Forward!" the blind elf shouted, "Do not be afraid of these heartless puppets!"

With the help of the Archmage's magic, the attackers regained their strength and withstood the defenders' counterattack. When the remaining combat golems were completely destroyed, it was easy for the coalition forces to deal with the remaining engineering golems.

When the large coalition forces responsible for organizing the blockade on the periphery completely collapsed under the pressure of the ancient tomb army, Soryak was escorted by the coalition soldiers to the city hall in the center of the city. Under the gaze of a pair of eyes mixed with anxiety and expectation, the archmage raised his head and walked into the building that controlled the entire floating city.

"Hold your ground," Solyak said as the door to the town hall slowly closed, "until I complete my spell!"

……

Note 1: According to the data given in the game book, except for the four major cities and Marienburg, which has long been independent, all the cities in the empire, even the provincial capitals, have a population of no more than . They are all in the thousands. This is obviously abnormal, so this book will appropriately increase the population of the empire's cities.

Note 2: This point has a setting conflict. In some materials, the Breton navy also uses artillery, but only the navy. Considering that this setting has never appeared in military books, and firearms do not fit the early medieval style of Bretonnia, this book assumes that Breton does not use firearms.

Note 3: Degeon is the Nehekhara god of death Degaf.

The author says:

Author's words: Reply to the reader "Always Glowing":

The links to the official military books were all destroyed N years ago. As for the fan fiction I wrote myself... I can only say that it is not convenient to show it to others, the company will be dead.

Chapter 439: The Gate of Hell (Part 2)

Altdorf, Aurora Embassy.

"...Based on the known intelligence, I can basically conclude that Tzeentch's plan is to use the floating city as a ready-made source of powerful magic power to hold a ceremony to tear a crack in the curtain," An Jiuyue said, "Too many factors have led to the current situation, and Tzeentch has successfully seized this opportunity without being able to use the prophecy on us."

"Well, it's not that I don't trust my group members. I just simply feel that relying on Atum alone is a bit too much..." Aiwen gestured with her hands opposite the governor, "Is the pressure on him too much?"

"Do you think he looks like he's under a lot of pressure?" An Jiyue asked. The governor waved his hand, and the War Canon projected a screenshot, which contained only a picture and a sentence that a certain priest king had sent to the chat group half an hour ago.

[Atum: Hehehe! <Screenshot of the chaos in the floating city> Today is my turn to make a fortune! Let me see your jealous expressions! ]

"...What if Atum fails to prevent the rift from opening?" was all the Elector could ask.