Chapter 532 Our War (XIV)
On August 10, 1033 in the new calendar of the alien world, the army of undead that was rampaging in the eastern territory of Kashmir suddenly turned and rushed towards the eastern city of Saint Kanega.
The airship reconnaissance unit monitoring from high altitude in the distance was confused and reported the movements of the Undead Army to King Barsalo in the royal capital and to Marshal Hunt, the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces who was preparing for war.
When Marshal Haus Plitt Hunt heard that the Undead Army did not head towards the royal capital after leaving Mashuu Territory but instead rushed towards the Port of Narasi, he realized that the Rhine troops were heading for the main force of the Allied Forces that was gathering troops in the eastern Gordon Plains. He immediately stopped the march and ordered the entire army to speed up the reinforcement of the garrison camp and arrange the battlefield, ready to prepare for the Undead Army to arrive.
I never expected that the undead army, which had already entered the Gordon Plains, would suddenly turn around and head towards Saint Kanega...
It is good news no matter how you look at it that the Undead Army did not attack the capital of Kashmir. If even the capital was ravaged by the Undead, and even King Barsalo was forced to sign a peace agreement like Archduke Lionel, then the Kashmir royal family would lose all face.
But it is not good news that the undead army turned to attack Saint Kanega.
First of all, Gordon Plains is less than two hundred miles away from Saint Canega in a straight line. Should we rescue them or not?
Go and rescue them... Given the Undead Army's astonishing marching speed and its ability to devour the Vanguard Army silently, it will be ineffective if we don't send all the elite cavalry regiments, which will greatly weaken the combat effectiveness of the large army.
Let's not rescue them... Unlike the sudden destruction of Mashu Territory and Narasi Port, this time the coalition forces had at least predicted the movements of the undead army several hours in advance. It would obviously not be appropriate to just sit back and watch Saint Kanega fall.
Marshal Hunt hesitated again and again, but finally gritted his teeth and decided to preserve the coalition forces' combat effectiveness and put all his hopes on the decisive battle with the undead army.
So, at 3:00 p.m. on August 10, when the army of the undead rushed to the city of San Canega, the federal army, which was only 200 miles away, did not send a single soldier to rescue, but only sent a symbolic warning telegram...
The ancient eastern city with a history of thousands of years and the most brilliant cultural capital of Kashmir suffered this disaster.
During the "battlefield activity opening" period, the number of players participating in the battle increased dramatically from 30,000 to 50,000 to over 100,000. In less than two hours, they broke through the dilapidated wall defenses of Saint Canega and poured into the city to start looting mode.
When the Rhine People's Army arrived at the gates of Saint Canega before it got dark, the open spaces inside and outside the city walls were already filled with disarmed prisoners, and some of the temporary player teams were even auctioning off their spoils...
Jerome, who had lost a lot of weight after following the Undead army for several days, wiped the dust off his face, arranged for people to set up camp, and asked people to quickly recruit "non-combat type" Undead warriors to help count the prisoners and spoils. He then took a thousand soldiers and hurried to the "quarantine zone" outside the city.
When the undead army broke through the defenses of Santa Canega with overwhelming force, Yang Qiu himself and Ms. Gloria's companions were not idle either.
While the players were still besieging the city, Yang Qiu rushed into the city's cathedral alone, killed the local diocesan bishop, and slaughtered more than a hundred monks and priests, leaving these clergy of the Storm Church no chance to stop the undead siege.
The Gallows Organization concentrated its forces on controlling the city's night watchmen and massacred the Monastery of St. Caneca - the "Isolation Zone for the Unclean" was the monastery's "property", and it would be difficult to eliminate the hatred in the hearts of these wild Kashmiri idealists unless these fat-headed guys were killed.
When the undead army broke through the city defenses, Yang Qiu took over the night watch for Gallows, while Gloria and others withdrew from the city and headed towards the quarantine zone that had lost the protection of the church.
When Jerome led a thousand soldiers along the city wall to the quarantine zone, the battle here had just ended.
Compared to the undead carnival in the city that has not yet stopped, this shantytown is more like a real battlefield.
As you step into the rammed earth square that was originally used to park horses and carriages, the heavy smell of blood mixed with the stench of sewage, garbage, and fireworks hits you in the face.
Large swathes of shacks near the square were destroyed, and thick smoke from incomplete burning could be seen in the distance. Mutilated corpses were stacked behind piles of debris with torches on them, and blood mixed with sewage, excrement, and vomit had almost dyed the mud of half the square dark black.
"Don't be nervous, we are one of you."
Gloria, who was resting on a wine barrel, saw the Rhine People's Army rushing over along the city wall. She stood up and told her companions to relax, and took the initiative to walk towards Jerome: "Good night, I'm Gloria ."
"Good night, ma'am."
Jerome nodded with an unpleasant expression, and quickly turned to yell at his soldiers: "Quick! Save them!!"
"Save someone?" Gloria, who sat back on the wine barrel, was stunned.
The members of the Gallows, who had just finished a fierce battle and were resting on the spot, cast unexpected glances over.
The People's Army soldiers had no time to explain to these wild idealists, and they automatically rushed into the shantytown in groups of squads and platoons.
Soon, the soldiers carried out hundreds of women and children who were crushed by collapsed huts and affected by the fighting.
The members of the Gallows, whose faces were flushed with joy due to their temporary victory and who were talking excitedly about how many enemies they had killed, gradually became quieter.
Gloria, who had a severe headache from consuming too much mental energy, gradually turned red.
The People's Army soldiers quickly moved the damaged carriages away, used their own shovels to clear the ground, laid tent cloths, and carefully laid the injured civilians who were either moaning or had lost consciousness on the tent cloths, poured alchemical potions, cleaned the wounds, and bandaged them...
More civilians were quickly transferred out of the dead silent shantytown by the People's Army soldiers...
More than 6,000 women and children were trapped in this largest "unclean isolation zone". Although the Gallows Organization did not target them when they broke in, they did not deliberately provide them with protection. In the melee, those who were smart enough to hide were fine, but those who were frightened and ran around, or those who happened to be "receiving customers" when the incident happened were inevitably affected.
Even the civilians who were not affected were not in much better condition... Jerome hugged two children with heavy, cheap makeup still on their faces from the half-collapsed shack. The two children, who were only in their teens, didn't even dare to cry.
In the shack that collapsed the most severely, the People's Army soldiers found the bodies of a mother and a daughter who were killed by the collapsed earth wall and were lying close to each other.
This was the first time that the Rhine People's Army had encountered such a tragic scene of a large number of civilians being dragged into the battle. The younger soldiers could not help but glare at those wild Kashmiri idealists.
"Don't stop, get down to business!"
The non-commissioned officers were able to control themselves and loudly urged the soldiers to speed up the search and rescue.
The activities of the members of the Gallows were mainly organized assassinations against high-ranking officials and nobles in Kashmir, and they had almost no experience in organizing sieges and street fighting. Single-line operations such as controlling night watchmen and massacring monasteries were fine, but work in a more complex execution environment could only be described as a mess - although the madams and thugs who ran the skin and meat business on behalf of the monastery were indeed caught in one fell swoop, the pimps who did not commit the death penalty and innocent women and children were also implicated to varying degrees.
The clients can still escape, but women and children who have been taking fattening drugs for a long time and are severely malnourished have neither the strength nor the courage to escape. The tragedy can be imagined.
The Kashmiri wild idealists, who originally did not think there was anything wrong with their behavior, gradually became embarrassed even though they were not questioned or accused.
"Go, let's all go and help." Gloria stood up with a blushing face and took the lead in the rescue.
By the second half of the night, the women and children who were scattered throughout the shantytown and those who had fled to the nearby wilderness in panic were found one by one.
An inventory was conducted based on the list of "unclean people" found in the residence of the monastery's thugs, and the result was... among the more than 6,000 civilians (excluding the gourds), 430 were slightly injured, 22 were seriously injured, 14 were killed, and 30 were missing.
Jerome held the statistical results in his hand and took a deep breath. He repeatedly reminded himself that these were "friendly forces" before he could barely control the urge to get angry.
The men on the gallows were also embarrassed, and several of the leaders could not even lift their heads.
"I'm... sorry." Gloria held it in for a long time, and could only utter this sentence out of shame.
Jerome tried his best to force a stiff smile and said reluctantly, "Thank you for your hard work, let's quickly settle the people."
The shantytowns must not be left, and the people locked in these lands by the shackles of “uncleanliness” must be liberated; how to accommodate so many women and children is obviously a big problem for the Gallows, a resistance organization that only knows how to destroy and knows nothing about construction.
Fortunately, Rhine can provide experience... So many luxury houses in the wealthy area of the city have just "lost" their owners and can be used as resettlement sites.
The Kashmiri wildlife dreamers, who had just experienced a fierce battle and stayed up all night to participate in the search and rescue, were too embarrassed to complain about the hardship and tiredness, and they honestly did the work of evacuating the people.
After finally evacuating and resettling more than 6,000 civilians, the members of the Gallows Organization had no energy to care whether the Rhine people had "usurped" the fruits of their victory. They were taken to a place where they could "sleep" by the People's Army soldiers in a daze, and lay down without moving.
At two o'clock in the afternoon on August 11, Bazel, one of the leaders of the gallows and the assassin, woke up from his sleep and was shocked to find that... he was sleeping on the side of the road.
Thousands of people were lying densely on the sidewalks on both sides of Second Avenue in Midtown; some were members of the Gallows, and some were wearing the uniforms of the People's Army.
"Why are you letting us sleep here?!" Seeing Operator Rhine coming to deliver food on a tricycle food cart, Assassin Basel jumped up angrily and demanded to be held accountable.
Operator Rhine explained in a good manner: "The City Hall, the Public Security Bureau, and the City Police Department are used to detain prisoners. The confiscated buildings in the central city are used to house civilians. The hotels in the city dare not open for business. We don't have time to find vacant houses. We can only temporarily inconvenience everyone."
The assassin Bazel's eyes almost popped out of his head - after all, we just fought for Saint Canega, and you guys won't even break down the door of the hotel to let us rest for a while? !
Operator Rhine didn't give the Gallows leader a chance to question him and directly handed him a lunch box. "Are you Mr. Bazel? Please eat first, and then go to the City Hall as soon as possible. Ms. Gloria and Mr. Yang are waiting for you."
Bazel, who was awakened by hunger, smelled the fragrance and hurriedly took the lunch box.
As soon as he started eating, more people were awakened by the smell of the food and ran over to get their meals, rubbing their sore arms and legs.
Twenty minutes later, after finding the other two leaders, Basel hurried to the City Hall. Ms. Gloria, Yang, the leader of the People's Army, Jerome, and several other people who looked like civil servants were already waiting for them.
Rhine, who was very particular about efficiency, still did not give the three gallows leaders of equal status a chance to gossip. Ms. Shirley directly stuffed several piles of classified documents over: "Mr. Bazel, Mr. Yale Zilling, Ms. Vincent, this is the list of prisoners we have counted, this is the preliminary list of confiscated property rights and deeds, and this is the list of local officials and feudal nobles who have abandoned the city and fled as far as we can confirm. To avoid trouble, please verify it as soon as possible."
Assassin Bazel and three other gallows leaders: "???"
Tattle Joe was also busy, handing over a thick document: "Among the thirty-two nobles of Saint Kanega, twenty-seven of them have land and property transfer contracts that are unconstitutional, excessive numbers of private soldiers, and large amounts of property that are of unknown origin. You three are more familiar with the Kashmir Constitution than we are, so please check as soon as possible to see if there are any omissions or misjudgments."
Bazel and the other three gallows leaders: “???”
Jerome didn't give them more stuff, but kindly reminded them, "We can only stay here for two days, and we have to leave on the morning of the 13th. For the sake of long-term stability, I suggest that you conduct proper trials for the captured criminals as soon as possible and establish the rudiments of order in the new Saint Canega."
Bazel and the other three gallows leaders: "..."
On the way to the City Hall, the three of them had just gone through a very rich inner drama in their minds - they were casually arranged to sleep on the street like ordinary soldiers, and their status was not respected at all. No matter how you look at it, it doesn't seem like the Rhine people will share the fruits of victory with them casually.
Only now did the three realize something was wrong - were there still so many things to do after taking over the city? Was there something wrong? !
Yang Qiu, who was sitting calmly at the side, spoke at this time: "Gallows has no experience in governance. Shirley, you arrange a few people to give them some lessons."
The four members of the Gallows blushed when they heard this... It's not just that their organization has no experience in governance!
Ms. Shirley readily agreed and immediately selected a few people to hand over to Basel.
"...Please wait a moment." The confused assassin finally reacted at this time and said in a hoarse voice, "Mr. Yang, do you want us to rule Saint Canega with the gallows?"
"What else?" Yang Qiu asked in surprise.
Bazel: “…(゜ロ゜)”
No - although we do have the ambition to build a base in Sankanega... but you just give us all the power?! You Rhine people don't want anything?
Yang Qiu explained considerately: "As I told Ms. Gloria yesterday, the purpose of our battle this time is only to defend and counterattack and capture the war criminals who invaded our homeland. We will retreat after achieving our goal, and Kashmir will still be the Kashmir of the Kashmiri people."
After saying that, Yang Qiu gave Ms. Shirley a look openly.
Ms. Shirley understood and added with a gentle smile: "In yesterday's battle, the Gallows eliminated many enemies of the Kashmiri people. This is your indelible contribution. To continue this contribution, we must establish a new and fairer order for the Kashmiris who have suffered for many years. At this moment, there is obviously no one more suitable to do this than you at the Gallows."
Killing people can be done by anyone who can lift an axe.
But construction is not something that everyone can do.
As for protecting the results of construction, it is a historical challenge that transcends dimensions!
Ms. Shirley did not say it explicitly, but these three wild idealists on the gallows were not so stupid as to fail to understand such a simple truth.
Bazel's lips trembled and he looked at Gloria for help.
Gloria understood the Rhine people's plan earlier than the three leaders who had been sleeping for half a day. She said firmly, "I was planning to discuss this with you, Bazel. If you have no objection, I think maybe we can try to contact Blood Eye and Lone Traveler."
The two names Gloria mentioned are also resistance organizations active in Kashmir.
The former has a large number of members and often operates in the eastern mountains; the latter takes a small and elite route, with a total of less than twenty members, all of whom are professional-level powerhouses who have crossed the second gate.
Basel and the other three gallows leaders looked at each other, and the uneasiness in their hearts was slightly reduced.
After all, these three have been wild idealists for many years, so they still have the most basic sense of the overall situation.
The 80,000-strong army in the Gordon Plains was wiped out, so if Kashmir wanted to find soldiers capable of fighting, it could only use the border defense forces that had already been withdrawn in a round of troops... The Kashmir royal family would not resort to such a bold move unless they wanted to be dismembered by other federal countries.
Not to mention that even if the Undead Army did not attack the capital after this battle , the face of the Kashmir royal family would not be saved, and the throne of King Barsalo would be in jeopardy...
Under this situation, there is still hope of preserving the base of Saint Canega by combining the strength of the three major resistance organizations in the country.
Gloria was relieved to see that her three companions did not have the kind of shallow plans that only considered "holding power" without considering the long-term, and she added: "In addition, Mr. Yang is willing to give us some additional help... If we Kashmiris do not object, the Rhine people are willing to provide us with construction guidance and assistance to assist us in building... well, a cadre team. If we are threatened by war, Mr. Yang is also willing to lend us the Tarantan Undead to defend the city."
"No, no, thank you so much!" Basel was so moved that he almost cried. If he wasn't one of the leaders of the Gallows, he would have wanted to kneel down on one knee on the spot and ask to become Yang's follower.
Yang Qiu smiled calmly.
Rhine is the Rhine of the Rhine people, Kashmir is the Kashmir of the Kashmir people, and he and his fellow earthlings have only provided some insignificant help, nothing wrong with that.
Yang Qiu said modestly, "Given the friendship between Ms. Gloria and the Rhine people, this is only natural. Later, your organization will choose a spacious place in the city center to set up the undead teleportation array, and our undead friends will help Saint Canega when necessary."
Given the Gallows' current poor organizational strength and unclear political demands, it can only help restore order and train a team of cadres. Undead governance and infrastructure assistance are not considered for the time being - if they are to be considered, it will have to be after the undead regime launches its second eastern expedition.
By then, it is possible that this group of wild idealists who have gained "autonomy" will also be within the attack range of the undead regime... Well, that is a matter for the future, we'll talk about it then.
Next... the undead army stayed obediently in Saint Kanega for two days.
Yang Qiu's method of retaining this group of wild and happy idiots was also very simple - he took out the backlog of cases of the local night watchmen and assigned tasks to this group of idiots.
The local bishop had been killed, even the church had been bloodbathed inside and out by Yang Qiu, and all the night watchmen were imprisoned. It was up to Yang Qiu's mood to decide how many exorcist badges of the Church of the Storm he wanted to issue...
As for whether this group of natural disasters would cause a stir in the future when they went to other places to take on night watch missions while waving the exorcist badges of the Church of the Storm, Yang Qiu didn't care...
Holding the reins of the natural scourges bought the Rhine People's Army two days of rest; it also allowed them to wait for the Kashmir royal family so that King Basaro could concentrate as much of his forces as possible.
Yang Qiu himself and the Chinese players with great martial virtues certainly don't care how long the war will last, but the Rhine People's Army and the logistics troops following behind the Undead Army really can't hold on... If the Undead Army continues to fight so wildly, let alone whether the Kashmir royal family will collapse, a group of people on our side will definitely be exhausted to death.
On August 13, the Rhine Army bid farewell to the Gallows Organization, which had barely managed to find a leadership team, and continued the Eastern Expedition with Ms. Gloria, who volunteered to act as a thug.
At eight o'clock in the morning on August 13, the undead army rushed into the Gordon Plains and found the coalition's central base.
The final battle that would determine the turning point in the fate of the Kingdom of Kashmir had begun.
This extremely important battle that could affect the fate of countless people... to be honest, it was not very exciting. It was roughly the same as the process of the destruction of the Allied Vanguard, with only differences in details - for example, the People's Army used more fire-fighting equipment to bombard spellcasters and priests of the Storm Church Inquisition.
Players are excited to play games with similar content, but not many people are willing to listen to stories with similar content; this is passed over in a Spring and Autumn style, and the focus is placed on another battle that is equally important, which also determines the fate of countless people, but is destined to be unknown to the public.
While the Undead Army and the Allied Forces were fighting fiercely on the Gordon Plains, Yang Qiu quietly left the People's Army camp, flew over the Gordon Plains, and headed east.
Four hours later, Yang Qiu flew to the central part of the Nosk Federation and hovered high in the sky.
At the end of the sight, you can see the Storm Holy Land, which occupies an entire basin and is larger than the urban area of Chengdu on Earth.
At this time, as the Earth plane entered the peak period of online players, the number of Earth players projected to this alien world in the form of anchor points has exceeded 200,000.
The legendary black magician holding 200,000 anchor points gave a mysterious and ambiguous smile to the land blessed by the Lord of Storms ahead.
"Compared to the fatalism of 'judgment', I prefer 'karma, reincarnation, retribution'... After all, I am Chinese."
"So, is there some kind of 'result' that can repay the 'cause'? In this plane where great power belongs to itself, is there any so-called 'heavenly way' or 'heavenly principle' that really exists in the dark, examining all living beings from a higher perspective and judging their fate?"
"What determines the war among gods that repeats itself every thousands of years? Are the so-called true gods and gods really 'gods', or are they just - ants at a higher level?"
"Well... this is not about being lost in the infinite pursuit of knowledge. It's just a little curiosity. Even if there is no result, I don't care."
Yang Qiu muttered a few words to himself happily, as if he was trying to convince himself, or as if he was talking to some unknown existence.
The invisible spiritual field spread around Yang Qiu, almost covering the entire world.
The surging spiritual power that could stir up the wind and clouds condensed into an ultra-giant magic array that covered the sky and the sun.
In the Holy Land of Storms, countless priests suddenly raised their heads and looked towards the western sky in astonishment.
"What is that?!"
Under the super giant magic circle, Yang Qiu, who was hovering high in the air, calmly took out a palm-sized wooden box.
Open the wooden box, take out the baby wooden carving seal, and throw it into the center of the magic circle.
The sealed object entered the center of the formation, and the huge magic formation covering the sky and the sun was immediately activated, with brilliant light flashing from the inside out.
Deep in the holy land, a legendary sky knight in golden armor rode a griffin into the air and flew towards the magic circle.
Yang Qiu ignored the Sky Knight who was approaching at high speed. He slowly raised his arms and chanted "Forbidden Magic: Requiem of the Dead".
"I call upon all the pure dead souls sleeping in this land."
"I call upon all the innocent souls who have lost their lives to the Stormlord's cruel teachings across this land."
"Please wake up from your long sleep."
"Please wake up from the darkness."
"Please wake up from the earth where your flesh and blood are buried."
"Please wake up from the endless nightmare of being forgotten."
The Sky Knight flew into the air and saw the black magician casting spells under the huge magic circle. He also heard the terrifying and creepy spell and roared and threw his spear.
The "Necromancer" cast by the legendary black magician did not require a long time to cast. After finishing the chant, Yang Qiu just moved to the side and dodged.
Yang Qiu, who had been looking up at the formation above, finally lowered his head and looked at the approaching Sky Knight.
The unscrupulous black magician showed a crazy, malicious smile to the legendary knight of the Storm Church: "Why worry? Over the past thousand years, how many innocent undead souls have been sacrificed and trampled on because of your church's need to strengthen its authority? Aren't you curious?"
No righteous god would mind the status, race, or gender of believers and exclude such believers - the Middle-earth man Atwood could become the cardinal of the Gold Coin Sect of the Eastern Church, and there were also female priests in high positions in the Church of the Storm.
The "custom" of the Nosk Federation to kill first-born baby girls was something that even a godless and rebellious person like Yang Qiu would not consider to be an oracle from the Lord of Storms.
Yes... Whether it is the "unclean" rules that can almost be seen as condoning private punishment by the people, or the disgust for first-born baby girls, they are just moves by the Storm Church to strengthen its authority.
The Norsk Federation has many states and its internal situation is far more complicated than that of the Kenyan Empire. How can a mere Storm Church always be superior to the states of the Federation? How can it make the King's Council, which is full of ambitious people, surrender?
Because the Storm Church possesses absolute authority that is unparalleled and almost unshakable.
Powerful civilians who can legally dominate the fate of the weak according to church rules and can send people to hell by simply and crudely accusing them of "uncleanliness" are naturally supporters of the church.
Male civilians who can gain a natural sense of superiority from the doctrine will not refuse this spiritual satisfaction that is difficult to find a substitute for, and will naturally defend the "correctness" of the doctrine.
This sounds ridiculous, but it is just as effective as the US's obsession with vertically dividing society and dividing its own lower-class citizens in order to save time in suppressing unruly people.
In the parishes of other denominations, if the Orthodox sect can have believers who account for 20% of the local residents, it can be considered that the parish bishop is good at preaching - most people do not disbelieve in the Orthodox God, but are limited by time, energy, life pressure or other reasons, and rarely go to church, so naturally they cannot be considered very pious.
In the vast diocese of the Norsk Federation, the Storm Church's authority is so strong and its believers account for such a high proportion that no one can match it.
