Volume 3: Artifacts Chapter 87: The Headhunters' General Attack
Emerald Court.
Under the active coordination of Emerald Lake and the Golden Shield Empire's envoys, the first batch of support materials from the Golden Shield Empire were properly handled immediately after arriving at Emerald Port. The Royal Court patrol set up multiple material distribution points on the city roads, and refugees who escaped from the forest lined up to receive daily necessities.
Blankets, clothes, coal stoves, pots, buckets...
Some coal and oats, potatoes, dehydrated vegetables.
Children can get extra cheese and canned meat.
The refugees waiting to receive supplies were anxiously awaiting distribution while carefully looking at the sky and their surroundings.
The sky was a chaotic battlefield. The headhunters relied on their large number of flying mantises to gain air superiority. The fearless hunters frequently rode flying mantises to carry out suicide attacks. They attacked from the outer edge of the city in groups, and at the cost of most of the losses, some of the hunters were sent into the city.
The Emerald King's Court set up simple magic towers and arrow towers on the tall buildings in the city, using magic, bows and arrows, and muskets to eliminate invading hunters. In addition, some of the King's Court patrol soldiers were set up as mobile forces in the city, using eagle eyes and hounds to search for hunters who escaped the net.
Magic, arrows, and bullets formed a network in the air, and hunters and mantises fell like rain.
But even with such tight defenses, some residents still died at the hands of invading hunters, especially those particularly powerful hunters, and it would take considerable losses for the Royal Court patrols to eliminate them.
Hunger forces refugees to risk leaving their shelters. They just want to get their food as quickly as possible and then go back to hide.
During this period, the Royal Court patrol also sent more soldiers to guard the high ground to cover the distribution of supplies. Owls flew low, hounds patrolled every corner of the secluded streets and alleys, and griffins and Pegasus knights tried their best to protect the sky above the port and the city.
Every elf was fighting desperately, and many humans and residents of other races also joined in the defense of the Emerald Court.
The arrival of aid materials from the Golden Shield Empire brought them hope of survival when they were already in despair.
Outside the city, the headhunters have already surrounded the Emerald King's Court from land.
The fire that King Sanye ordered against all odds bought the forest elves the most precious time. The elven wizards used the gained time to build a thorn wall outside the city and hundreds of small fortresses.
It was these defense facilities that allowed the forest elves to use the open areas created by the fire to withstand the initial attacks of the headhunters. Although the headhunters' reinforcements increased, the defense of the Emerald King's Court also became more and more complete.
Now all the factories in the Emerald King's Court have been put under wartime management. Alchemical puppets are being assembled and deployed in large numbers on the battlefield, greatly alleviating the pressure on the patrol soldiers.
The ships that had been seized at the beginning of the war were continuously rescuing forest elves from the coast and returning to the Emerald King's Court. Adult elves were recruited, and patrol troops were training as fast as possible.
The headhunters missed the best opportunity to break into the Emerald Court.
As the commander of the headhunters responsible for attacking the Emerald King's Court, the hunting king Niltye was very angry.
Inside a Hunter's Shell on the front lines, Niltje and several other Hunting Lords discuss how to attack the Emerald Court. The Hunting Lords include two elves, a unicorn, and a forest anaconda, all of whom are in awe of Niltje, the Hunting Angel, who has regained the Queen's favor.
Niltye asked the forest anaconda, " Can't we open the tunnel leading to the inner part of the royal court?"
The forest anaconda coiled up and replied, "The forest elves have very accurate underground detection methods. Once the tunnel we dug is discovered, it will be attacked by earthquake magic. Many of my subordinates died, but the queen was unwilling to give birth to new subordinates with me."
The forest anaconda was full of resentment. Ever since the queen had a unicorn, she rarely touched him. Later, when the angel came, she drove him out of the nest. Now that so many of his subordinates have died and there is no replacement, he has lost his status even more.
Niltye said proudly: "Facing the Emerald Royal Court, a strong city with sufficient manpower and defense system, your hunters with mediocre strength... It's a bit of a waste to act as cannon fodder, and it's useless to act as the main force.
Only my hunting angels are qualified to fight for Her Majesty the Queen!
Training hunting angels is quite exhausting for your majesty, but fortunately I have been serving your majesty day and night, and have bred a new batch of hunting angels. This time I brought them all here, and I will definitely help your majesty conquer the Emerald King's Court and occupy the entire Emerald Forest."
Niltye didn't know why the body of the elf Qingkong, which he personally sent to the Queen, suddenly disappeared, but it was an indisputable fact that he regained the Queen's favor. In the past few days, he served the Queen every day to reproduce, which really made the other hunting kings jealous.
At this moment, Neiltye's expression was just about to say "You are all garbage!"
Niltye's pride caused dissatisfaction among the other hunting kings, but none of them dared to show it.
A hunting king elf said at this time: "King Niltye... After our aerial reconnaissance, we found that a fleet of the Golden Shield Empire arrived at Emerald Harbor. The fleet brought a lot of supplies, which greatly improved the combat effectiveness and morale of the forest elves.
If we don't launch a decisive attack soon, the Jade Court will become increasingly difficult to defeat."
Niltye finally turned his attention back to the war.
"Even if you don't tell me, I know that the aid from the Golden Shield Empire has arrived at the Emerald King's Court. That's why I rushed here from the Queen's Lair." Niltye waved his hand, and magic illuminated the map of the Emerald King's Court. There are five attack points around the Emerald King's Court. The front attack group has angel standards, and the other four attack groups from left to right are elves, elves, unicorns, and forest anacondas. Niltye said like pointing out the mountains and rivers: "After the meeting, you will immediately take your subordinates to the attack position. The hunter army assigned to you has already assembled there. Tomorrow morning, you will launch a full-scale attack on the Emerald King's Court defense line from four directions, and try to attract the defensive forces to your side.
At noon... I will lead the Hunting Angels to break through the depth of the Emerald Court under the cover of the Scythers. As long as the Hunting Angels break through the frontal defense and enter the city, it will be our hunting ground.
Your mission is to contain the main force of the Emerald Court and prevent them from turning back to rescue the city.
Do you understand? "
The four hunting kings all widened their eyes.
I understand. I understand very much!
Aren't we just sending ourselves to die, and you want to take credit for it from Her Majesty the Queen?
But what can we do?
He is now the king of favors!
However, the forest anaconda could not help but complain for himself: "King Niltye, why is my attack zone next to the Emerald Magic Academy? If I attack the Emerald King's Court with all my strength, the Emerald Magic Academy can attack my flank."
"You are a low-level creature that has just gained a little intelligence and doesn't even have a name. Do you have the qualifications to question my command?" Niltye stared at the forest anaconda and said angrily: "Putting you in any direction will not bring positive improvement to the battle situation. Only here is the best for you. Keep an eye on the Emerald Magic Academy and don't let it mess up the decisive battle. This is your only remaining value in this war!"
"Yes, yes, I will follow your orders, King Niltye." The forest anaconda shrank its neck in fear, not daring to make any complaints.
Niltye looked at the forest anaconda with disdain, and then looked at the other hunting kings with the same look: "Do you have any objections?"
"No, King Niltye."
…
The next day, Emerald Harbor Pier.
Rossetti Owen was originally the garrison officer of the Crusader Iron Caltrop Armor Factory, and was later recruited by Luke to Raging Waves City to serve as the war machine commander of the Secret Service Rangers. When the Raging Waves City Armored Assault Division was formed, the war machine special operations team "Iron Ambition" was established with Owen as the leader.
Throughout the Northern War, Owen performed extremely well, fully utilizing his talent in driving war machines. The Iron Ambition Team's dominance on the battlefield also showed Owen's side as an excellent war machine commander.
The Northern War was temporarily suspended, and the Raging Storm Armored Assault Division returned to Raging Storm to rest. Owen was immediately entrusted with an important task by Luke to form the Assault Division's Magic Titan Squadron based on the "Iron Ambition Team".
However, since the research and development of the Magic Titan has not been completed, they can only use the Steam Titan for transition.
Owen is also the instructor of the Steam Titan Training Brigade of the Royal First Magic Legion and the Royal Second Magic Legion, and is the commander of the Steam Titan Regiment that is supporting the Emerald King's Court.
The Steam Titans' mission is to protect the Gold Shield Empire's ships entering Emerald Harbor and to guard the supplies that have not yet been handed over to the forest elves.
These tall steam titans have been pointed at and criticized by all parties since the moment they landed on the Emerald Harbor dock.
The mighty one is absolutely mighty.
The five-meter-high steel machinery gave off a strong sense of oppression when it stood there, not to mention the sound it made when it moved, and the vibration it caused to the ground.
As for the combat effectiveness of this big guy, many elf patrolmen doubt it.
Anyone who has seen a war machine can tell that this is a fully enclosed war machine. The thickened armor provides reliable protection for the driver, but it is a huge burden on the entire power system.
If it can't run in a war, it is a living coffin, and the enemy has plenty of ways to kill the driver behind the armor.
In the eyes of the elves, war machines are not flexible weapons, let alone things that are taller and thicker.
It's more for viewing than for practical use.
This is the elves' first impression of the Steam Titan.
Rossetti Owen did not let his subordinates perform maneuvers to show his strength to the elves. Once such a heavy thing started running, it would cause too much damage to the ground. If the entire dock was trampled into potholes, it would affect the speed of subsequent transportation of materials and personnel.
The members of the Steam Titan Regiment stayed firmly at the dock, trying not to move around as much as possible, and spent their free time after work watching the battle in the sky.
The flying mantises of the headhunters flew in like a cloud, harvesting them layer by layer with the firepower net formed by magic, arrows and bullets on the ground. Sometimes the royal court patrols would release a large group of alchemical flying objects to rush the flying mantis formation. If the headhunters approached the dock, the Pegasus and griffins guarding the dock would immediately take off and desperately block them under the cover of ground firepower.
Generally speaking, it is difficult for headhunters to threaten ports.
Occasionally, a lucky one would fly in, or some stealth hunters would come close to cause trouble, but they would be quickly eliminated by the royal patrol soldiers guarding here.
Owen had been in Emerald Harbor for four days and had only killed one headhunter, a stealth creature that thought it had escaped the patrol's eagle eyes and hounds, but was nowhere to be found in the Steam Titan's doppelganger vision.
The poor guy sneaked up to the steam titan driven by Owen, then was cut into two pieces by Owen with a knife and kicked into the sea.
I don’t know if I will meet another unlucky person today.
Owen was driving a steam titan in front of a docked cargo ship, looking up at the sky not far away.
The headhunters attacked very fiercely today, probably because they had received reinforcements.
It can be clearly seen from the ground that a flying mantis not only has one hunter on its back, but also three or four hunters hanging under its claws. Such a heavy load makes the flying mantis fly very low, and also increases the chances of survival of the falling hunter.
A group of Sly Mantises were destroyed, and another group flew in like a dark cloud covering the sky.
The hunters were fearless of death and loss, and they rushed forward like a tide . Gradually, the defenders' magic energy reserves, arrows, and ammunition were exhausted, and the headhunters' attack moved closer and closer to the city.
The number of hunters appearing near the port increased rapidly, and the royal court patrols guarding the port rushed around to provide relief.
Alarms sounded in the city, and then alarms sounded in more and more directions.
Thick smoke from the fire rose from all directions, as if the Emerald King's Court had fallen.
"Captain Owen!" The experimental communicator sent the voice of his subordinates to Owen's cockpit. "It looks bad inside the Emerald Court. Should we attack to support the patrol soldiers?"
Owen collected as much external information as possible through the Steam Titan's sensory system, and replied to his subordinates: "We know too little about the situation inside the Emerald Court, and Lady Michelle's duty to us is to guard the empire's ships. If the Emerald Court is really breached by the Headhunters, we must receive Lady Michelle's envoys and our crew to leave safely.
As imperial soldiers, we have not received any war participation notice from the Empire, so we should not participate in a war that does not belong to us.
Keep your positions and protect our crew members aboard the ship to avoid... Soldiers!"
"Yes, Captain Owen!"
The crew members of the Golden Shield Empire ran towards their respective ships, some of which were leaving the dock and heading out of the port area.
Owen looked into the distance through the eyes of the Steam Titan. With a high field of vision, he could see more. He saw the hunters attacking the port, and the elf patrols fighting them. Many forest elves who had met but never spoken died just like that. Their heads were chopped off and tied around the waists of the hunters.
I really want to kill my way out!
In the silent communication channel, Owen could feel the voices of everyone wanting to fight.
"Colonel Rossetti Owen, this is the super-heavy steam airship 'Kirov', please reply!"
"Kirov" super heavy steam airship!
Owen immediately replied: "I am Colonel Rossetti Owen. May I ask if the Prime Minister is here?"
Meteorite's voice appeared on the communication channel: "Owen, I see that the Emerald Court is under fierce attack. Some headhunters have entered the city. What's the situation over there?"
"Hello, Prime Minister!" Owen turned around and saw a steam airship spewing white smoke and heading towards the Emerald King's Court at full speed. He immediately reported to Luke happily: "The Steam Titan Training Corps of Fury City is carrying out the task of protecting the imperial ships from evacuating the port area. The training corps has a total of 625 Steam Titans, of which 150 are stationed on ships, 32 are under repair, and 443 Steam Titans are all guarding the docks."
"Have the Steam Titans stationed on the ships go ashore to take over the garrison. You will immediately lead the Steam Titan Training Corps to provide support at a direction 20 degrees east by south, with a width of 300 meters in front and 600 meters in the back. I see some Angel Hunters appearing over there. Fight them back. The Kirov will provide you air cover."
"Yes, Prime Minister." Owen was very happy to receive the order to attack. Looking up at the sky, the Kirov airship was coming very fast, and the shark pattern on the bow was clearly visible. Owen switched to the regiment command channel: "Raging Steam Titan Discipline Regiment, listen to the order!"
"Yes! Captain Rossetti Owen!"
"Following the order from the Prime Minister of the Empire, Lord Meteor! The Steam Titan Training Corps of Raging Waves City will immediately join the battle to defend the Emerald King's Court. The personnel on the ship will disembark and take over the defense. Other combat-capable personnel will follow me into the city to join the battle!
The Steam Titan Training Group of Raging Waves City...
Attack! "
Owen's Steam Titan drew his sword from behind, and all the Steam Titans on the shore drew their swords together. The steam engine increased its power and emitted white smoke. The mechanical legs crushed the bricks under their feet, and the Steam Titans ran together. They knocked away the cargo boxes blocking the way, knocked down the high walls blocking the way, and rushed into the city on the shaking ground.
