What did you do with the dice?

Where had the surrounding knights ever seen such a fighting style? They were all stunned for a few seconds before they came to their senses and followed. Of course, they didn't dare let Rusalka go, but the duel wasn't over yet, and they couldn't intervene to stop him. They could only hope that the captured knight would escape, while hurriedly running to catch up.

It's just that there are no divided areas in this duel, which is actually a rule that is beneficial to them. After all, according to the common sense of traditional knight duels, when dealing with a very offensive guy like Rusalka, drawing a circle on the ground is equivalent to drawing a life and death line for yourself. Once there is no distance limit, you can fight and retreat all the time, which is not considered a passive response.

But now Rusalka has taken advantage of this rule and started a limited-time return sprint. If you say that he violated the honor of a knight and turned around to run away, that is not appropriate, because he was holding the enemy in his hand. It can be explained that this is the charge fighting skill of the great knight, which can continuously repel the opponent. Isn't it amazing?

Although this scene looked very strange and had lost the formality of the first duel, the knights could not figure out for a moment how Rusalka's behavior violated the rules.

Sanitta looked at Rusalka, who was about to reunite with his own infantry, and suddenly understood what was going on. He immediately ordered, "Those who have lost their shields, quickly move towards the position of the Pearl Tear Lord and follow him up the slope!"

The other party seemed to have sensed Rusalka's intentions, and slashed at Rusalka's body with his sword, but to no avail. He could only allow himself to be dragged around like a shield: "You bastard who tarnished the honor of a knight, let me down!"

"Little brother, I hung you up and beat you, how could I be the one tarnishing the honor of a knight? Come down on your own if you have the guts."

While humiliating the opponent with words, Rusalka found the right opportunity, saw a falling boulder, and quickly threw the opponent over there, and then kicked him.

Girard, who was standing on the roof, saw this scene and his face changed drastically. He quickly put down the telescope and cursed angrily: "Oh no! This damn Lord Pearl Tear is such a despicable guy!"

As expected, Rusalka and the other person were hit by the huge rock rolling down the slope at the same time. The other person was completely defenseless against such a heavy rock, which was thrown by Rusalka. He could only raise his arms to protect his head, but his arms were broken on the spot, blood gushed out, and he fell to the ground unconscious.

Rusalka performed a show of pushing the stone with her iron head, as if she had turned into the satellite Shining, and pushed the meteorite away fiercely, and it landed on the ground unharmed.

However, the moment she landed, Rusalka fell headfirst to the ground, rolling around and yelling, "Ah, my head! Grand Duke Oaks's men are truly a bunch of despicable villains. They actually dared to attack me in the middle of a sacred duel!"

Although everyone thought that Rusalka bumped into the opponent himself and that it was indeed a bit deliberate, no one dared to publicly question his match-fixing.

After all, from an objective point of view, the duel was indeed interrupted by the falling rock, and apart from the last act, Rusalka's other actions were nothing out of the ordinary. She was not passive or cowardly, nor did she send anyone to launch a sneak attack.

Even though this stone was dropped by Girard's army, it doesn't make sense to say that Rusalka used the enemy's foreign aid.

But Rusalka ran around all over the field and always found a stone that belonged to him. If the soldiers behind him were restricted by him and could easily climb the slope, then the meaning of the duel would be reversed.

Rusalka, who was lying down and pretending to be injured, rolled on the ground twice symbolically and then stood up again.

Having taken advantage, he decided to go through the motions to disgust his opponent. He ran over to the guy on the ground, who was unconscious from being hit by a stone and breathing more out than in, and put his hands together in a prayer gesture, putting on a face of deep sorrow and mourning. "Don't worry, although we may be enemies, we are both knights. I will never let go of the guy who tarnished your honor. Just go in peace, I will avenge you!"

After saying this, he dodged the flying white gloves without hesitation, and recklessly led his soldiers forward with his greatsword in hand. He shamelessly bypassed the group of knights who wanted to stop him and rushed towards the catapults and infantry phalanxes in the back, shouting as he ran: "How dare you attack me in a duel, a bunch of despicable people without the honor of a knight. I refuse to engage in a sacred knightly duel with you! Let us see who is the real winner on the battlefield! Soldiers, capture these assassins who want to kill me! Anyone who dares to resist will be killed without mercy!"

Sanita was stunned. Rushaka didn't learn many good skills, but she learned the 21st century's hit-and-run art to perfection. Except for the fact that her age was a little bit inconsistent, she had learned the essence of it and acted exactly the same.

Since Rusalka had spoken, the heavily armored infantry naturally rushed forward without any hesitation. Even though those knights were much stronger than ordinary soldiers, they did not have Rusalka's unparalleled ability after all, and they were no match for four hands with two fists.

The hunting tactics for heavy armored units taught by Sanita are very despicable. They simply hold up three shields to clamp the enemy in the middle, and then stab and slash randomly from the gap. If the opponent has no way to escape in time, then perhaps only an immortal like Rusalka can withstand such a rogue attack.

Not to mention, there is an even more dangerous elf archer Shana roaming on the battlefield. She is much more vicious than human soldiers. The bow and arrow in her hand are specifically aimed at those soft persimmons who have no time to defend themselves, especially those knights who have just burst out their energy and pushed away the soldiers, intending to escape with all their strength without leaving any room for maneuver. As a ranger, she naturally knows how to seize their weak period, and her arrows go straight to the vital points. She only has military exploits in her eyes, and her heart is all about the bracelet given to Sanita.

If Rusalka were to comment on this, he would probably say: If you have a man in your heart, you will naturally be able to draw the arrow like a god.

As for Phoenix, according to Hydra's idea, she was arranged near the Sani Tower and not on the front line. On the surface, it was to protect her, but in fact, it was because the Sani Tower was afraid that the dragons would suddenly attack him. In case Rusalka's position was not good and the king and rook were in a bad position, Phoenix could at least use the black ball to protect him and buy him some time to chant life-saving magic.

Chapter 238: Battle for the Calbes Stronghold (12)

Without any restraint, Rusalka rode his warhorse into the enemy army, snatched a heavy axe and tied a magic contract to it. Wherever the sharp blade passed, there was a bloody storm. The iron cavalry stepped on the land, adding several new souls to the battlefield.

The only threat to him were the heavy crossbows. However, under the protection of Hamlet's Shield, the monotonous means of attack seemed pale and powerless. Without the interference of magical power, Rushakayo, who maintained the talent of Double Armor Master++, was invulnerable to swords and guns.

Not to mention that after he had fought with the dragon, it was the three dragons that left the battlefield. In the eyes of the soldiers, this meant that Rusalka had repelled the dragon. So the enemy troops wherever he passed were terrified and fled. They did not dare to be an enemy of Rusalka, the "messenger of God", and could only hide around him.

Rusalka couldn't tell the direction and chased randomly all the way. In short, she ran to where there were more people, and took on rolling logs and falling rocks, all of which she dealt with with force. If she couldn't do it, she would just take it head-on, lose some blood to push away the obstacles, and then continue to rush upwards.

A lot of equipment was dismantled along the way, which greatly reduced the pressure on the friendly forces behind them. Seeing that the situation was not good, the enemy knew that the slope could not be defended, so they could only temporarily avoid the attack and sounded the retreat. A group of people were left behind to delay time, while the other soldiers transported the equipment that could be rescued back to the slope, and then fled back to the fortress, intending to hold it.

When they reached the range of the enemy's fortress wall, Sanita ordered the commander of the heavy infantry regiment to blow the retreat horn, thus completing the mission of attacking the slope.

As the retreat signal sounded and they retreated to the Kalbes slope, the surviving heavy infantry on Rusalka's side also breathed a sigh of relief. Climbing the slope was tiring in itself for the heavily armored units, and the long period of continuous fighting had already made them exhausted. If the Sani Iron Tower wanted to attack the city, they themselves didn't know if they still had the strength to climb the ladder.

According to military common sense, both sides should have withdrawn and rested at this time, and one round of fighting would have been over.

But Sanitta took a look at the battle situation and Rusalka's position, then glanced at Phoenix and the Star Knights who were protecting him, and decided to do the opposite: (Brother Xiao, I'll mobilize the infantry corps and siege equipment. We'll take a short rest first. After three hours, we'll have the army adjust its deployment and continue the attack overnight.)

Rusalka certainly won't use his life dice to recover health, but he definitely wants to continue fighting: (OK, recovering two rings is also a good thing.)

Next, the battlefield was officially taken over by the light infantry who had been recuperating in the back for a long time. The light infantry used their mobility to quickly spread out on a large scale on the slope that had been captured, find the enemy's garrisoned positions, and engage in battle with them.

The enemy's staff officer, having heard Rusalka's call to retreat, had thought he could finally breathe a sigh of relief. But the sight of the light infantry advancing uphill stunned him. He looked at the setting sun sinking behind the mountaintops and exclaimed in disbelief, "How is this possible? Are they planning a full-scale attack overnight for the first time? It's simply ridiculous! Knowing how many defenders were still inside our camp and our defensive configuration, how could they dare make such a decision? Even the last-placed student in the military academy would know that this type of attack is insane! Don't they value human life?"

Girard raised his hand and pressed it down, saying in a deep voice, "Accidents aren't necessarily bad things. This unprecedented decision by the other party is also our best opportunity. If they treat us as soft persimmons and want to swallow us up in one go, then let them see the fangs of us northern men. If they are ruthless, we must be even more ruthless than them.

"Pass the order down, all troops, extinguish the torches on the city walls, extinguish all light sources, defend the walls to the death, and do not retreat a single step!"

The messenger saluted and hurried away.

The staff knew that Girard had made up his mind. As if their souls had been drained out, they leaned against the wall and slowly sat down, muttering to themselves, "Fighting in the dark on the tower is a gamble of life and death. Commander, a chaotic fight in the dark without distinguishing between friend and foe will result in very, very heavy casualties for our soldiers."

Although low morale can lead to soldiers' rout during war, at special places and times, rout can also become a synonym for preserving strength and strategic retreat.

This is the current situation. Even if the Kalbes stronghold is lost, it will only be a headache for Grand Duke Yu Oaks in the North from a long-term strategic perspective.

In the short term, it would be impossible for the great Duke Gao De, or the defensive General Gao Hong who was stationed in Chaudhry City, to send troops directly from here to the north.

Therefore, the remaining troops retreating from Kalbes could also retreat northward to the fortified city to gather, and then regroup and regroup.

As long as the manpower can be preserved and the correct decisions are made, any strategic point can be fought back, and the Long March on Earth has proved this.

However, once they are dragged into a night battle, in the absence of light sources, it means that the soldiers have almost no long-range vision when fighting, cannot correctly judge the situation of the battle, and do not know when to retreat. This is almost equivalent to "fighting to the death."

If it were a teaching in a military academy, the best decision here would be to leave behind a group of suicide squads, pour all the city defense supplies into the fortress regardless of the loss, and use the terrain advantage of the small fortress of Kalbes and the fatigue of the Rusalka army from continuous fighting and the disadvantage of attacking at night to cause the greatest casualty ratio to the enemy's troops.

The others packed up their things, took their resources and retreated in an orderly manner to preserve their manpower.

As long as the battle line is extended, the morale of Rushaka's army will continue to be damaged due to casualties. Once the morale exceeds the limit, they will be forced to retreat to Chaudhry City or even return to his hometown of Silver City in the east.

In this way, the great Duke Gode, who also sent a large number of troops to attack Alice City, may not have enough personnel to take over the Calbes stronghold in a short period of time. From a strategic point of view, this can be regarded as a victory.

Girard certainly knew this common sense, and he was not unfamiliar with the strategic and tactical arrangements, but he still issued such an order.

He walked to the edge of the rooftop, looked at the gradually extinguishing lights on the city wall, took a deep breath, and stroked the hilt of the sword at his waist with his rough fingers. He exhaled slowly and said:

"I'll give you command of an infantry battalion. If the battle on the city wall is over before sunrise the next day, you can let them escort you away."

The staff officer understood what Girard meant, but he was a little confused. "Why? We still have time. The enemy army needs at least two or three hours to adjust their formation and transport their equipment and siege supplies from the camp. We can use those hours to gather the troops, assign tasks, pack up supplies, and retreat. Not to mention, there are three dragons here. They will definitely destroy this place. They are destined to be nothing but a burning ruin."

Gerald waved his hand, raised his head and looked up at the sky, muttering, "I was born a commoner. Throughout my life, I have fought in over 20 battles for the Oaks family. I have the honor of being a Grand Knight appointed by the kingdom and even command a baron-sized territory. Everyone thinks I am their family's favorite loyal dog, and some even believe that I will be reborn."

He turned around and picked up a dagger enclosed in an exquisite scabbard. It was engraved with the Blue Bull Medal of the Oaks Family. That was the honor bestowed upon him by the Oaks Family, the honor of representing the Oaks Family when he went out to fight. "But the reality is, even though I have no children and am alone, I was not sent to Alice City. Instead, I was left here."

The staff officer, who came from an aristocratic family, was stunned after hearing Gerald's words. He stood up and patted his dusty trousers. "Look at it from another perspective, this isn't such a bad thing. After all, the battle of Alice City was a life-or-death struggle. I heard that the strongest knight order next door, the Golden Blade, has arrived. Actually, as long as we don't rush in and rush in, we're still very safe. We have plenty of ways to retreat."

He lowered his voice and whispered, "Commander, let me be honest with you. We are not from the Oaks family. We are just working for them. To be honest, if Rusalka and his men insist on attacking, the number of defenders we are bluffing about will be unpredictable. With only 12,000 people left, including 5000 service soldiers, it is almost impossible for us to hold Calbes."

Besides, the teachers at the Military Academy often say that the only victors in war are those who survive. You are a favorite of the Oaks family and have a bright future. Even if you retreat here, you will surely achieve great things in the future."

Gerald glanced at him and laughed. He rarely showed any anger at the staff officer's conservative remarks. Instead, he walked over and patted him on the shoulder. "My premonition has allowed me to survive over twenty battles. It's always been accurate. I know that no matter how the Battle of Alice City, which will determine the future of the kingdom, ends, if I choose to retreat here, I'll be retired for life. I want to leave my name in the history books, not die in obscurity in the North."

The staff officer remained silent.

"By the way, do you think Lord Pearl Tear has a chance of becoming the winner? After all, he holds the Grand Prince in his hands. If he successfully supports Siloxis (the Grand Prince's honorific royal name) to ascend the throne, perhaps he too can become the new Grand Duke."

The staff officer thought for a moment and shook his head helplessly. "How is that possible? He's just a baron, the fourth son of an unofficial family. In fact, he hasn't even been canonized by the royal family to inherit the title. Even if he can use force to rally a contingent in the borderlands, he won't win the support of the central government. Without loyal vassals, how can he even be considered a Grand Duke?"

Gerald: "Haha, you're born with a limit, right? It's getting late, I have to go to the city walls to supervise the battle myself. Take this sign and go find the Hormones Infantry Battalion. Just do as I said."

......

The staff officer took the sign, was silent for a moment, looked at Girard's back as he left, and said, "Take care..."

Gerald waved his hand and slowly walked down the rooftop from the inner stairs.

----

Three hours later, the army in Rusalka's camp was ready and marched slowly up the slope under the night sky and the twinkling stars.

Of course they also turned off the lights. After all, if the besiegers kept torches lit during a night attack, it would be like telling the other side "Come, shoot here." To put it bluntly, they were just sitting ducks.

Sanita even teamed up with Alijie to apply a layer of the newly learned "Shadowless Forest" to the front-line infantry, and then advanced in disconnection with the troops behind.

In this way, even if there is no invisible army behind you that is discovered, it will give the opponent the illusion that "the opponent is still out of range", and you can quickly grab the flat part of the top of the slope to prevent them from throwing too many city defense props down from the top.

When it was quite dark for everyone, the most conspicuous person in the team was Rusalka. He rode a horse alone, holding a long, shining stick in his hand, and was as conspicuous as a torch in the dark.

This was because he used the warlock ring to cast a "Magic Weapon" spell on himself, adding a Holy Light enchantment to the weapon.

Although no one understood why Rusalka did this, Rusalka patted his chest and said that he could do a good job while attracting the opponent's firepower.

Since he had already revealed himself, Sanita had no choice but to let him leave the army and march ahead alone. This scene seemed very strange at first. Who would charge so far ahead? But when everyone remembered that this was, after all, the Pearl Tear Lord Rusalka, it seemed quite normal.

Sanitta knew that he couldn't beat him. Although he felt that Rusalka's behavior had no benefit at all, he thought that if there was no mage targeting him, it would be difficult for Rusalka to kill him, so he let him go.

So Rusalka rode over in all her glory, took out a loudspeaker and shouted to the top of the city wall: "Listen up, defenders on the top of the city wall! I am Rusalka, the Lord of Pearl Tears. I want to speak to your leader!"

Rusalka's behavior is a challenge, but the challenge in this world is different from that on ancient Earth. He has wizards and sharpshooters at his disposal, and he specifically asks the opponent's highest commander to speak. It is hard not to be afraid that after calling for an attack, the opponent will focus on him after exposing his position.

Trash talking feels good for a while, but it will make you go to the crematorium in seconds.

But now that the other party is here, if you don't show up and act like a coward, it will affect morale.

This move is very clever. As long as you muster up the courage and bet that the other party has martial ethics and will not kill you, you can immediately find the position of the other party's city defense commander. If the other party wants to hide, it will affect their morale.

Sanita looked at him with a new respect: (I didn't expect you to challenge others?)

But in fact, Rusalka didn't understand this either. He hadn't thought about this yet and thought his brother was teasing him: (Shut up! Don't rush to criticize me. I haven't started to exert my strength yet. Watch what I do next.)

After he answered like this, Sanita, who had originally thought he had some brilliant ideas, was about to start laughing.

Just as Gerald felt himself in a dilemma, surrounded by the soldiers' gazes, he heard the young aide's voice from a distance: "Well, I've heard a lot about the Great Knight of Pearl Tears. Since you've come alone to challenge me, as a token of my appreciation for your courage, I'll speak to you on behalf of my legion commander."

This voice made Girard a little stunned: Didn’t the young man leave?

The other party shouted with full of vigor and high spirits, but in fact he was hiding behind the shields of many soldiers on the innermost part of the city wall, and whispered: "Protect me, there are sharpshooters on the other side, don't lose focus, if I die, you will be buried with me, okay?"

The soldiers snickered and moved their shields closer to him.

Chapter 239: Battle for the Calbes Stronghold (13)

With the soldiers' protection, the staff suddenly gained courage: "Let me ask you, why did you raise an unknown army to invade our territory?"

Rusalka had no idea the other person was speaking for her. She put her left hand behind her back, extended two fingers, and made a knife-like motion. She then drew a line, signaling the two elves hiding nearby with dark vision to find the person speaking and then give him a black eye. "The eldest prince is the legitimate heir of the royal family, and you, Ox, have usurped Sneedi."

As he spoke, he felt something was not going smoothly. After complaining about the lack of rhythm in this Western name, he forced himself to say, "It's called Ao Zei Cansi. I'm ordered to fight this thief. How can I say it's nameless?"

As for whether the elves understood this gesture, which was basically a temporary creation of his, that was not within his consideration. Anyway, he also said in the PL channel that his brother was so powerful that he must be able to communicate with the elves.

Sanita obviously didn't know what Shana was doing. Alijie stood next to Phoenix, as if discussing something with her: (Dear, the mind communication is level 6.)

Rusalka: (You don't understand. Phoenix and I are so in tune with each other, there's no need for six rings. Hurry up and improve your favorability.)

Sanitita sneered: (Then do you know what she is doing now?)

Rusalka glanced at the sky and said without hesitation: (She is eating.)

Sanita took two steps away and glanced at Phoenix who was just blocked by Alijie. As a result, he saw that the two guys were actually sharing snacks leisurely. They were very disrespectful to the battlefield and there was no fighting atmosphere at all.

He understood the elves, but Phoenix really didn't understand. However, Rusalka quickly explained the confusion to her good brother.

Rusalka: (Other people "smoke a cigarette afterwards and feel like a living god," but she "eats peanuts afterwards and feels like a ghost." She's even developed a biological clock habit now. She feels uncomfortable if she doesn't eat peanuts at the right time. How could I not understand her? By the way, if you tell her to leave some for me, I'll feel uncomfortable if I don't eat peanuts now. The taste of peanuts in this world is very unique. It's really amazing.)

Sanita: (Okay, you're 6.)

Phoenix took out peanuts, but Alice was different. She had a small pocket that the elves gave to mages. This small pocket was originally used to hold non-magical spellcasting materials. Alice could just take out two wraps and a bottle of jam from it and have a snack with Phoenix.

The advisor laughed and said, "Haha, the divine will has changed, and the divine weapon has been replaced. The fourth prince also has the right to inherit. The throne of kingship belongs to the powerful. The strong prey on the weak, this is the law of nature."

Sanitieta always felt that this conversation was very familiar. It felt like Wu Hou and Wang Situ had said this before. His good brother must have been unable to hold back, but he didn't want to listen to Rusalka's long speech, so he blocked his position in advance: (I guess you will plagiarize again next.)

But Rusalka didn't play by the rules. Instead, she shouted, "Well said! I agree with you! I want to duel with you!"

Rusalka: (Brother, you are right, but unfortunately, classical Chinese is a bit difficult to memorize. Even the jokes are hard for me to memorize. And I think about it. Now my fists are stronger than my words. He has already said so, why not obey him?)

"Great Knight Pearl Tear, are you kidding me? The basic requirement of a knight's duel is to throw the white glove within reach. Are you trying to throw the glove from your side to mine?"

Rusalka was stunned: What? There are such rules?

In fact, he was inspired by the fact that he was controlled by someone with just one duel on the battlefield, so he planned to come here alone to pretend and shout at the opposing commander to start shooting.

For this purpose, he even lit up his weapons, which made us look like real heroes. In the dark, the glowing stick looked just like a Jedi's laser sword.

After the stick flashed through the opponent, it immediately canceled the luminous simulation and turned off the laser sword, and then the opponent slowly fell to the ground.

Rusalka had already imagined such a cool scene, but now she failed in the first step of calling people down for a one-on-one fight.

Now, I am standing here all alone with a glowing stick in my hand, not knowing what to say. I have truly become a "bachelor".

But even so, Rusalka still had one last ripple of her own. As she rode forward, she shouted, "Shut up! Shameless old thief, I've never seen anyone so shameless! Even if you hide behind a servant, I can find you!"

Obviously, he only remembered the beginning and the end, and forgot the whole middle part.