Your war hammer is too fake

The author says:

Author's words: Answering the reader "Da Miao Command Type":

A Daemon Prince, not an Archdaemon. Don't confuse them. You're talking about Azazel, Sigmar's brother-in-law. His real name was Grein, and he tried to kill Sigmar with a poisoned sword at his wedding, but his sister, the bride of the wedding, Ravenna, rushed over to block it, and the blade pierced Ravenna's body and stabbed Sigmar. The end result was that Ravenna died, Sigmar survived after being unconscious for several days, and Grein fled to the north to join the Chaos. After killing a Chosen of Khorne named Artar, Grein ascended to become a Daemon Prince of Slaanesh and took a new name: Azazel. By the way, Sigmar never married again after that, and he had no children, and there is a statue of Ravenna in front of the Temple of Ulric in Altdorf.

Chapter 267: Armored Cavalry Raids the Camp

The cavalry gradually approached the Chaos army's camp.

The Chaos army came from the north, and naturally built a camp north of Middenheim. At this time, the Allied cavalry was located northeast of the Midden Sea, and was rapidly approaching the enemy camp from east to west. Along the way, small groups of enemies either fled after seeing them, or rushed up without knowing their own strength in order to win the favor of the gods, and then quickly disappeared in the crisp popping sounds of the muskets and the sound of the bowstrings of the Asrai longbows.

Camps built by the minions of the Dark Gods are generally a bit more complicated to describe. The slaves of a Chaos Warrior warband build their camps in the style of the gods the warband worships, under the supervision of their cruel masters. Aside from the hundreds of millions of skulls used as decorations, the camps of Khorne followers are generally in line with military principles, with strict structure and complete facilities. Even a small warband of just a few dozen Chaos Warriors will dig trenches, lay chevaux de frise, and erect walls in a very methodical manner.

At first glance, the camps of Tzeentch's followers have a dark gothic gypsy feel, with tents with mysterious patterns, blue flames that burn steadily even though there is no fuel, cloth strips full of chaos runes dancing in the wind, and the tricky location of the camp itself. The proportion of spellcasters in Tzeentch's followers is significantly higher than that of Nurgle and Slaanesh followers, which also means that the camps of Tzeentch's Chaos Warriors are often equipped with magic alarms and magic traps.

The camp of Nurgle's followers... There is no need to describe this. Any creature with a normal sense of smell can sense their existence from a long distance through their nose. As for the camp of Slaanesh's followers, it is always filled with overly strong perfumes, spices, and other pungent smells, and these luxury goods are often not produced in the mortal world (Note 1).

The Chaos Warriors' camps all had distinct characteristics and smells. In contrast, the mortal servants of unknown origin often simply erected some log walls or even fences from nowhere to enclose a small area as their own territory. Their tattered tents were densely packed together, clearly distinguishing them from the Chaos Warriors' camps.

The noble warriors of the gods are unwilling to let these despicable things get close to them.

When the coalition's light cavalry dispersed the last group of Chaos War Mastiffs that were charging over, a group of Chaos Knights holding human skin battle flags had already walked out of the continuous camp and formed up with their backs against the trenches with chevaux de frise inserted diagonally.

The sound of horns rang out from the ranks of the Allied Cavalry, and the light cavalry that had been clearing the way for the heavy cavalry turned their horses around and retreated. Now, there was only air standing between the Allied Heavy Cavalry and the Chaos Knights.

The battlefield was silent for a moment, leaving only the impatient snorting of horses and the sound of horseshoes digging the soil. This period of time was very short, perhaps only a dozen seconds. A team of five hundred Reik knights and one hundred wild cavalrymen confronted Chaos Knights, who were only a quarter of their number. Although the coalition had an absolute advantage in manpower, and the Reik team also had a small team of half-griffin knights, everyone knew that this was a battle of equal strength - Sir Almarik and the team of Ai's Holy Grails were not here, and An Jiyue ordered them to move with the main force.

On the one hand, the battle in Middenheim was more important. To be more precise, the Old Saints' portal under Middenheim was too important. On the other hand, it was also to minimize the chances of Sir Almarik and Marshal Rick meeting. Although the girl used magic to disguise the Sir, it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Why don't we just charge in at once?" asked Kurt Helberg.

Marshal Rick rode on an armored warhorse, the Thor Runefang in his hand gleaming. The Rick Knights who were out in full force were naturally led by their Knights' Grand Master, and Kurt's identity made him the third person in the coalition, although the old marshal himself did not care about these fancy titles.

"I'm waiting for support," An Jiyue, who was riding a unicorn given by Morgan, replied, "Oh, here they come."

Before Kurt could ask what was coming, he heard the loudest artillery sound he had ever heard in his life, which made his helmet vibrate. The old marshal looked in the direction of the sound and saw a large cloud of thick white smoke covering several towers and an entire section of the city wall above the city of Middenheim. Through the smoke, Kurt could vaguely see an incredibly large cannon and a four-story-tall figure next to the cannon.

"The Thunder of Ulric is the largest cannon in the entire Old World, bar none. Compared to it, the city defense artillery of the Rapid Pass is just a stunted dwarf," An Jiyue seemed to have anticipated what Kurt wanted to ask and spoke in advance, "Because of its huge size, it must be loaded by a giant named 'Thunder Ball'."

As the Jiedushi was speaking, a spherical cast-iron cannonball as big as a thatched hut dropped from the sky and smashed into the ranks of the Chaos Knights like a lead ball killing a group of ants. It then rolled out without slowing down, bouncing and flattening everything in its path, until it ran out for several miles before slowly running out of its kinetic energy and coming to a stop.

"I've heard of this thing," Kurt said. "These Midden Wolves are really..."

"The attack channel has been opened, it's time to charge, Marshal Rick!" An Jiyue interrupted the old marshal's sigh.

A loud horn sounded, and six hundred heavy cavalrymen began to charge. They drove their mounts to a trot at first, then gradually increased their speed, and finally turned into blunt and heavy arrows, pouring into the camp of the Chaos servants with unstoppable force.

The trenches and chevaux de frise were useless; An Jiyue used earth control to fill them up directly; dark witchcraft was useless; anyone who dared to use his third-rate tricks in front of the Jiedushi would either have a splitting headache or be confused; the mortal servants who hurriedly formed up under the whip of their leader were equally useless; the Rick Knights and the Wild Riders trampled over them mercilessly.

Six hundred heavy cavalrymen charged through the Chaos army's camp, constantly breaking down and defeating groups of unpredictable interceptors. An Jiyue used her magic in the process, constantly setting tents and other flammable materials on fire. It was not until a group of Norse warriors wearing beast fur and extremely strong physique appeared in front of them that the coalition heavy cavalry's offensive momentum slowed down slightly.

This group of northerners is the most elite force under Sasoril except for the Chaos Cans. Its origin can be traced back to the joint action of Reikland and Nordland to clean up the Norse pirates last year. At that time, the imperial army, with the assistance of the Heavenly Mage, ambushed in advance at the landing site scheduled by the Norsemen. Most of the Norse pirates were defeated by the imperial army. However, a group of Norsemen who believed in Tzeentch did not act with the main force, but deliberately fell behind.

While most of the Yankees were being beaten by the Imperials, this group bypassed the main battlefield, quietly landed at a slightly farther location, and then ran south without anyone noticing. In addition to scavenging food and water, they never plundered the Imperial settlements they passed by on the way, no matter how easy the target was. They would not stay in any place for more than a day, and just rushed south into the Midden Mountains, and played a vital role in the process of taking the Brass Fortress in Sasoril.

Now, it is their turn once again to turn the tide for their master.

Thousands of raider infantrymen, holding a heavy round shield that can cover most of their bodies in their left hands and holding axes or swords in their right hands, formed a thick shield wall on the road leading to the depths of the camp. Many races in the Warhammer world are famous for their shield wall tactics, such as dwarves, elves, and of course Norscans. Compared with the Kurgans who prefer heavy armor, Norscans, especially Norscan pirates, tend to rely more on their shields. This traditional Norscan armor is generally made of solid oak, and both the protective area and thickness are greater than the shields commonly used by the imperial swordsmen.

The coalition heavy cavalry, which had been gradually dispersing, regrouped at the sound of the horn. As they drove their armored warhorses and Kurnos deer (Note 2) toward the Norsemen, the plunderers standing in a loose formation in front of the shield wall threw javelins at the Imperials and Wood Elves, then immediately retreated along both sides and retreated behind the shield wall.

The heavy javelins sparked off the shining armor of the Reik knights without causing any hindrance. As for the wild cavalry who only wore light armor, the magic tattoos on their bodies were sometimes more effective than the heaviest armor.

The Norseman's long-range attack had no effect. The next moment, the coalition heavy cavalry crashed into the Yankee pile.

……

Note 1: The power of the Four Gods can sometimes be smelled: Khorne is the smell of blood, Tzeentch is the smell of burning flames, Nurgle is the "mellow" smell of decay, and Slaanesh is the strong smell of perfume.

Note 2: There are several kinds of deer used as military mounts on the battlefield. The one ridden by the Wild Riders is called the Kurnos Deer, the one ridden by the Sisters of Thorns is called the Isha Deer, and then there is the Giant Stag.

Chapter 268: Dismantle Your Cannon

It wasn't a fair fight, from the beginning.

Before the cavalry halberds and spears pierced the shields, these solid and heavy round shields were destroyed first, and in less than a deep breath, they quickly decayed, shattered, and disintegrated, and the weapons held by the Norscans suffered the same treatment. Except for the enchanted weapons in the hands of a few Yars (Note 1) granted by Sasoril, any ordinary iron rusted into a pile of iron slag at an incredibly fast speed, which fell all over the ground.

This was naturally the work of An Jiyue. With a large number of friendly units around to fight together, it was more efficient and safer to use powerful auxiliary spells than to attack the enemy directly with some cool spells. The Norscans, who were waiting in full battle array, didn't even have time to react. The heavy cavalry halberds and sharp spears used the momentum of the charge to cut through the fur and flesh, and chopped the hard bones without losing momentum, disintegrating the enemy's resistance in the shortest time and in the most effective way.

The Norsemen were all strong warriors, and the harsh living environment would ruthlessly eliminate all the weak. However, the Norsemen were not as strong as the Chaos Warriors, and unless they were blessed by the Dark Gods, the injuries that could kill the Short Man (Note 2) could also take the life of the bravest Norsemen.

The horses and Kurnos deer carried the riders into the enemy formation, trampling the unarmed Yankees with their iron hooves. The coalition heavy cavalry unilaterally slaughtered the enemies who had lost their shields and weapons. Even in this situation, these Norscans did not give up resistance, and still rushed forward with roars and fists, and then were stabbed to death and chopped down one after another. A few Yars with enchanted weapons tried to reorganize the situation, but they soon fell in the siege.

The followers of Tzeentch believed in the power of trickery and sorcery, but that didn't mean they lacked the courage to fight to the death in desperate situations. However, no matter what they did, it was in vain. Fists couldn't deal with steel armor, let alone the protective magic tattoos on the wild cavalry - at least mortal fists couldn't. When the casualties exceeded a certain limit, especially when the last Jarl was also split in the head by the cavalry halberd, these Norscans were defeated and fled in all directions.

Although this group of unfortunate Norscans did not hold out for long, they still bought time for something. When the Rick captains stopped their men's subconscious pursuit and reorganized their formation with loud roars, some hairy and wretched figures suddenly appeared from behind a trench, screaming shrilly and pulling the trigger.

The green bullets formed a dense fire net, attacking the coalition heavy cavalry who were assembling in formation with several intersecting trajectories. The attack came suddenly enough, at least the Rick people were completely unable to react. They could only look in front of them with a little surprise, watching those crystal-like bullets emitting ominous green light, "ding-dong-dong" hitting a transparent barrier.

Before the round of shooting was over, one of the four Ratlings suddenly jammed and exploded with a "boom". The two Skryre Rats responsible for operating this dangerous weapon were immediately sent to see the Horned Rat, and the Chaos mortal servants assigned to protect these expensive weapons were also thrown to the ground. It was not until this time that these dregs whose brains were burned by the power of Chaos realized why the other rats always stayed away from this group of weapons.

Amid the noisy roar of the engines, a team of Destroyer Flayers rushed over from the side, carelessly running over the cultists who were holding various weapons and shouting chaotic war cries and slowly approaching the coalition heavy cavalry. The spinning and flying sharp blades cut the soft flesh into several pieces in the blink of an eye. In terms of timing, the two groups of Skaven cooperated very well. The Destroyer Flayers rushed out just when the Ratlings finished a round of strafing, and took advantage of the opportunity when the coalition heavy cavalry briefly stayed in place to try to cut in from the side.

"Rick Guards!" Noticing these strange enemies he had never heard of, Kurt Helberg raised the Thor Rune Fang and shouted, "Stop them, don't let those weird devices rush over!"

Even though the knights were covered in blood, their armor was still shining. Just as they were about to respond, they heard An Jiyue's voice calmly saying, "Continue with the original mission. Those ragtag creatures can't get through."

Marshal Rick was about to ask more questions when he saw that the flat ground on the route of the Destroyer suddenly sank for no apparent reason, forming a trench half a meter deep and one meter wide. Amid a series of teeth-grinding metal cracking sounds, dull crashes, and horrified screams, more than twenty Destroyer machines were thrown overboard: the spherical machines themselves sank into the trench, and the Skaven standing on the platform behind the machines, operating the dangerous device, flew forward with the help of inertia, and then slapped the ground with a "smack".

As for the Skuri weapons team deployed in another direction, An Jiyue glanced in that direction, and a leaping lightning leaped across the trench. The dimensional stones that contained powerful energy and were extremely unstable in nature exploded under the stimulation of external forces. Whether it was Ratlin who was busy replacing ammunition or other weapons teams that had just arrived, they were all sent into the sky by their weapons.

The appearance of the ratmen surprised the governor a little, but only a little. Ratmen had not appeared in the previous battles. In order to avoid alerting the enemy, An Jiyue and Boris had not sent anyone to conduct close-range reconnaissance. The long-range observations of the forest scouts and the imperial hunters alone did not find any traces of these rodents.

Although she was surprised, since the girl had accepted the mission of raiding the enemy camp, she would not give up easily, at least not before the assault troops suffered too many casualties. After defeating the ratmen's attack, the coalition heavy cavalry continued to advance deep into the Chaos army's camp. At the same time, An Jiyue also used her mind to contact the two teams of falcon cavalry who had been on standby in the sky.

As they advanced further, especially after the enemy gradually reacted, the pressure on the coalition cavalry increased little by little. When the soldiers of the Order camp finally saw the target of this operation, a full ten Chaos Hell Cannons and the Chaos Dwarf Gunners responsible for operating these living war machines, the Chaos Warriors urgently transferred from the Middenheim underground battlefield finally appeared on the battlefield and moved towards the coalition cavalry from the outside.

If it is under field combat conditions, using infantry to surround cavalry is an almost impossible task. After all, not everyone is like Jin Wushu, who has the amazing wisdom to send away tens of thousands of armored cavalry at one time; but if the cavalry takes the initiative to rush into the enemy camp with a large number of defenders, this seemingly incredible thing is not really completely impossible.

Looking at the Chaos army slowly approaching from all directions, especially those weird "Beast Men" who looked like large rats walking upright and whose approaching posture was not as determined as the weakest mutants, Kurt took a deep breath, and his carefully maintained mustache twitched.

Their mission was accomplished. Although the fallen dwarves with short horns and protruding canine teeth on their foreheads put up a tenacious resistance, their numbers were too few. After the Chaos Dwarf gunners were dealt with, the Wild Riders put away their spears, rushed towards the Hell Cannons carrying leather water bags filled with some kind of liquid, and then threw the water bags with all their might. The impact of the collision with the cannon caused the water bags to burst one after another, and the turbid liquid inside, which looked like muddy water, poured onto the Hell Cannons. These evil machines that bound the demons in steel suddenly twitched violently like living things.

A moment later, the Hell Cannon, which had been soaked in the talisman water made by An Jiyue, literally cracked. The red-hot and white barrel returned to the original cold color of steel, and the entire cannon shattered like a piece of porcelain dropped on the ground.

These precious war machines, which posed a considerable threat to Middenheim's defense, were destroyed without a single one left. The coalition cavalry's mission had been completed, and now there was only one last question: how were they going to leave from here?

……

Note 1: Jarl is the tribal leader of the Vikings, equivalent to a lord.

Note 2: Warhammer does have the term "short men", but this is the name the Yankees use to refer to the Southern Order humans.

Chapter 269: Come and Go Freely

[Lord Arwen, we are in position.]

【Very good. Let’s get started.】

The loud eagle cry came from the sky with the air currents, followed by a rainstorm from the sky. Four wind knights (captains of the falcon cavalry) pulled out a specially marked enchanted arrow from their quivers and put it on the bowstrings, then pulled the Asrai longbow into a half full moon. After a short aim, the four wind knights released their fingers at the same time.

Four enchanted arrows from the arsenal of the Asrai royal court in the south left the bowstrings, and when they fell to a distance that could be seen clearly by mortals, they had already turned into a sudden downpour. No one could count how many arrows fell to the ground in those few seconds, and the rats who were chosen as targets looked up and saw only a dark cloud covering the sky above their heads.

No matter whether they were the most lowly slave rats or the storm rats that were born as the superior ones, they all died equally under the indiscriminate coverage of the Doomsday Hail Arrows. The thick defense line formed by dozens of Claw Groups (Note 1) became much sparser in the blink of an eye, and even the morale of the rats began to waver under this devastating blow.

The leaders of the Longfang and Claw were so angry that they jumped to their feet, but there was nothing they could do. The smell of fear that quickly spread in the air quickly overwhelmed the smell of battle. While these rat officers were still trying to reorganize their troops, the rat leaders with higher status and more battlefield experience just glanced at the human and elf stuff and immediately chose to run away.

When the arrow rain covered the Skaven positions, other Falcon Cavalrymen also shot arrows downwards, targeting the heavily armored Storm Rats without exception. After a round of dive shooting, the Falcon Cavalrymen quickly pulled up and left the scene, turning around and flying towards the city of Middenheim. An Jiyue's order to them was to support the fierce battle in the city and cooperate with the main force of the coalition forces to push the Chaos cubs back into the tunnel; as for the girl, the coalition cavalry no longer needed further help.

Although the coordination between them was not particularly good, mainly because the Reik Knights were somewhat hesitant to obey the command of a strange wood elf girl, the coalition heavy cavalry still achieved the tactical goal and rushed into the already severely loosened formation of the ratmen before they could reorganize their formation. The Chaos side realized that the coalition heavy cavalry was about to break out of the encirclement, but they were basically infantry and could only watch as the ratmen's position suddenly "collapsed" a large area, and then was blown away by the coalition heavy cavalry.

"My ten thousand points are well spent." Seeing how effective the Doomsday Hail Arrows were, An Jiyue knew that the [Shrinking the Earth into an Inch] that she had prepared as a backup plan would no longer be useful. "It seems that I have to buy more next time I go to Morgan's place..."

The Wood Elves are the branch that is best at ranged combat among the three elves. They have an advantage that neither of their cousins ​​has: enchanted arrows can be used by the entire army. From the woodland lord to the woodland guard, every Asrai warrior who enters the battlefield with a longbow can carry different types of enchanted arrows as needed to deal with different types of enemies.

Moonfire arrows that have bonus damage to the Order faction, Starfire arrows that have bonus damage to the Destruction faction, Cursed Awls tempered with extraordinary toxins, Wind Awls that can be fired quickly, Hit Awls that can automatically correct aiming, and Arcane Armor-Piercing Awls with arrowheads that are sharper than muskets and can penetrate Chaos Armor like a piece of paper. All of these fully functional enchanted arrows can be mass-produced and distributed to every Bloodborne Warband that needs them (Note 2).

In addition to these mass-produced arrows, the skilled Asrai archers can also equip the best archers in the tribe with some special enchanted arrows, such as the ten doomsday hail arrows that An Jiyue bought from Morgan with her points. As the name suggests, this kind of arrow is one when it is shot out, and it will become a pile when it falls on the enemy's head. It is much more powerful than ordinary arrows, and its lethality and penetration are not inferior to the lead bullets fired by flintlock rifles.

When An Jiyue first visited Tal Yu'er, she visited the Royal Court Armory and took the initiative to ask in the chat group to purchase a batch of enchanted arrows for her martial artists to try out. Since the Jiedushi didn't want much, Morgan originally wanted to give them directly as a gift, but the Lord of the Weavers' proposal was immediately rejected by An Jiyue in a very serious manner.

The governor said that even brothers would settle accounts clearly, let alone this group of idiot friends from all over the world who had never met each other in real life before crossing over? In the end, ten Doomsday Hail Arrows plus a bunch of miscellaneous mass-produced goods were sold together for 10,000 credits, and Dustan also started to think about importing enchanted arrows and then selling them to Ulthuan at a higher price.

Riding on the unicorn given by Morgan, An Jiyue summoned the war scripture that only she could see, and then turned to the page of income settlement with her mind. Based on this wave of arrow rain, the Jiedushi barely made a profit, and the duck-necked man who was shot dead only brought a net profit of more than 100 points. It can only be said that Shushu's life is really worthless; fortunately, the girl didn't expect to earn points from this, and the coalition heavy cavalry, which suffered very little loss, easily broke through Shushu's sparse position.

The Chaos minions behind him took two steps and gave up after chasing for a short distance. Only some red and gold "rabbit ears" decorated with skulls were still attached to the back, furiously looking at the coalition heavy cavalry that was gradually disappearing from sight.

There were no Marauder Cavalry in this Chaos army, and as soon as the Chaos War Mastiffs approached, they were quickly dispersed by the Woodland Cavalry and Outriders who stayed outside the camp. As for the Beastmen who surrendered to Sasthoril, they were not in Middenheim, but were arranged in a position further south, ready to ambush any reinforcements that Reikland might send.

Of course, even if the split-toed beasts were here, they would be useless. There were no centaurs among the beastmen under Sasoril. These four-legged creatures were not as common as ordinary horned beasts. Their physiological characteristics caused them to be distributed only in specific areas. As for the harpies, these vicious creatures were all attracted by the infantry and artillery commanded by Boris.

Those who could catch up could not be defeated, and those who could defeat could not be caught up. In the end, the Chaos army, which lacked highly mobile units, could only watch the Allied Cavalry troops carrying the bodies of the dead and rushing all the way to the overpass northeast of Middenheim. Because an Imperial captain on Pegasus had flown over in advance to convey the order, the Allied Cavalry had just finished dealing with the hundreds of Chaos scum blocking the bridgehead fortress, and the Imperial militia guarding the bridgehead fortress lowered the drawbridge and welcomed these friendly troops who had just experienced a fierce battle.

"Mission accomplished. From now on, you no longer need to follow my orders," An Jiyue rode a unicorn in front of the bridge fortress and turned her head to Marshal Rick beside her and said, "What are your plans next?"

"The battle is not over yet," Kurt Helberg glanced at the mysterious wood elf, "If you have any wise suggestions, for the sake of Sigmar and the Emperor, I'd like to hear them."

"The battle situation in the city is not ideal. The enemy's offensive is too swift, and the defenders are mostly improvised militiamen. They need the support of heavy-armed troops," An Jiyue said. "Boris...something unexpected happened. It's not a serious problem, and he can handle it, but it will take time."

"I don't seem to see the messenger. Did your witchcraft tell you these things?" asked Marshal Rick.

"It's hard to find a country in this world that is easier to infiltrate than you," the governor squinted at him, "even non-human races can easily do this, Marshal Rick."

The old man's face twitched a few times: "Are all wood elves as rude as you?"

"You and your people had better hurry up," An Jiyue didn't need to give any orders, and the unicorn under him walked towards the suspension bridge. "The militia can't hold on any longer, and my people are not good at fighting in this kind of environment. Of course, even so, we will still fight alongside you until these minions of the evil god are completely defeated."

As they were talking, the last group of coalition cavalry also stepped onto the bridge. When the two commanders at the back entered the fortress at the bridgehead, the drawbridge creaked up, hiding everything behind them.

"Your teacher once said that she was present when the Emperor's family was attacked outside Altdorf," Kurt said after a moment's silence, "but I don't remember seeing her."

"It was not the right time to meet, and the king who was still in his infancy was not the right person to meet," An Jiyue replied, "More importantly, the teacher cannot show up casually. In this world, many actions that you think are very secretive are as conspicuous as candlelight in the dark in the eyes of certain beings."

Marshal Rick pursed his lips, looking like he didn't quite believe this explanation.

"I'll go find Boris," the girl said without further explanation, "it's time for him to move."

……

Note 1: The Claw Regiment is a Skaven military unit, equivalent to the Empire's Company.

Note 2: The Kinship Warband is a military unit of the Wood Elves. Since it is formed on the basis of a family, the actual size may be from a platoon to a battalion. Only a few elite troops or standing armies such as the Eternal Guard will have a relatively fixed organization.

The author says:

Author's words: I didn't make it... and I still couldn't find the time to write the one I owed. I was supposed to take a break during the Chinese New Year, but my mother's credibility was as bad as ever, which was totally beyond my expectations.

Answer to the reader "Aurora's Little Soldier":

Green Chaos does not have any heavily armored units other than Dryads and Treants.

Chapter 270: The deadlock was broken

There are two battle areas in the city of Middenheim.

A dwarf community in the southeast corner of the city. The complex network of tunnels under Middenheim, which is worthy of being called an underground city, was originally built by the dwarves. The imperial dwarves living here have an ancient responsibility to supervise the tunnels dug by their ancestors, and the entrances and exits of the tunnels are naturally placed in the dwarf community.

When the defense line in the tunnel quickly collapsed under the impact of the organized Chaos Warriors, the fully mobilized Imperial Dwarves and the human militias who came to assist in the defense organized a defense line in the Dwarven community almost every second. The good news is that although it was reluctant, they did block the enemy's attack. The tenacious resistance of the Dwarves and Midden people, coupled with the overly solid houses in the Dwarven community, which were built with full consideration of the needs of street fighting, became a barrier to prevent the power of destruction from invading the city.

The bad news was that when the defenders had put almost all their efforts and made huge sacrifices to block more than a dozen Chaos Warriors gangs in the Dwarf community, hundreds of Chaos Warriors, leading thousands of cultists, suddenly appeared in the slums of Middenheim and raised their knives against the old, weak and sick who lived there.

This was a situation that was completely beyond the defenders' expectations. Although there were tunnels under Middenheim, all the entrances and exits within the city were concentrated in the dwarf community. No one knew how the minions of the Dark Gods managed to open a new tunnel to the slums without anyone noticing. This mystery was not solved until long after the battle ended.

Since Heinrich was poisoned and Stefan was about to go to More's garden, Katarina's status has skyrocketed. Everyone believes that the Elector will legitimize this illegitimate daughter because he has no other heirs. According to the imperial succession system, Katarina's husband will become the next Elector of Midden, and the rule of the Todbringer family will end after Boris' death.

Countless speculators flocked to her for power. They gathered around Katarina like a swarm of flies, making her lose herself in the atmosphere that made her the center of the world.

Of course, Katarina wanted more than just that. She cursed the empire's inheritance system in private more than once, using the most vicious and fierce words she could think of to curse this system that she thought was full of "male inferiority", "oppression of women", and "daddy taste". Under the instigation and guidance of a Tzeentch believer who disguised himself as a nobleman, Katarina formulated a set of plans to ascend to the throne that she thought was perfect, and also formed an alliance with Sasoril who claimed to be able to provide help.

Well, at least she herself considered herself worthy of being an ally of a great demon.

Although it was just a floating castle in the air, Katarina did gain some substantial power after Stefan fell ill. The suitors who surrounded Katarina, who she thought were just servants who could be ordered around at will, donated generously after Katarina pretended to be merciful and proposed to help the poor in the slums. Most of the money they donated was squandered by Katarina, and the remaining money was donated to the Church of Shalya by her with great reluctance.

Under the pretext of "helping the poor", the Tzeentch believers who were actually in charge of this matter successfully concealed their true purpose. While these cultists were sabotaging each other and fighting among themselves, they secretly brought a group of ratmen and dimensional drills from the Skryre clan into Middenheim with great efficiency. During this period, more than once, the witch hunters and the church who noticed some suspicious traces tried to investigate the matter, but without exception, they were forcibly suppressed by Katarina's power.

With the help of the Skryre mercenaries and their warpstone technology, a new and hidden tunnel was dug, connecting the slums of Middenheim on one end and a main tunnel deep underground on the other. However, it was not opened up, and the last few meters were deliberately left open to avoid being discovered by the local Imperial Dwarves.