What did you do with the dice?

The most fatal point is that each Hobbit is very weak. Even most of them cannot grab an adult male and lift them into the air. When flying long distances, they can only carry light loads. They are actually unqualified as a logistics force.

In the case of encounters, the accuracy of objects thrown from high altitudes can only be described as appalling. When the Hobbits throw objects or shoot arrows in the air, the probability of hitting friendly forces and enemy forces is 22% respectively, and there is a 6% probability that the object will be blown away by air currents or something else.

In the case of landing or low-altitude raids, any person can kill these guys who cannot carry weapons, have no hands, and have little strength. Therefore, the appearance rate of the Hobbits in encounters is almost zero. "

Air forces are not uncommon in history, but before the popularization of radar, the most effective way for bombers to attack the ground was carpet bombing, which was based on the premise that an explosive missile weighed several hundred kilograms, allowing it to fall vertically in the air.

For example, when shooting a bow and arrow, the effects of wind resistance and airflow are enough to make every attack a lottery ceremony.

Sanita paused, stared into Marquis Banner's eyes, and said, "So, the Hobbits' greatest advantage is mobile harassment, and... siege."

Rusalka: (Siege?)

Sani Tower: (During sieges, the Hobbits can directly attack the defenders and equipment on the city walls. Their high mobility makes them difficult to target with military equipment, allowing them to repeatedly maneuver and harass. They can also reduce the firepower pressure on the infantry defending the city below, providing more opportunities to scale the walls during sieges.)

Seeing Sanita's vast knowledge, Marquis Banner realized his hidden plan to trick Rusalka into staying here permanently was no longer concealed, so he spoke frankly, "Yes, since they've brought so many hobbits with them, it means they don't plan to stay on this transport route for long. Perhaps they don't plan to return at all. The doctrine of the War God's followers is to fight to support the war. If they need supplies, they just need to capture a city with supplies."

Having said that, Rusalka probably guessed who the other party's target was.

At this moment, Rusalka could only suppress the small cheer in her heart and pretended to be Commander Yodo. "Hmm~ They ignored so many cities close to the front line and chose to attack this side. There must be some deeper reason."

Sanita: (A city like your Silver City, do you really deserve to be called one with supplies? If an army of tens of thousands were to attack, even if they took it, with trade routes cut off, you'd probably starve to death in a month or two. You simply wouldn't be able to sustain yourself. You deserted the military meeting last time, didn't you? Phoenix was listening intently, but you must have ignored her.)

Rusalka: (Whoever said that, I listened.)

Sanita: (Did you listen? Half of it?)

Rusalka: (Probably.)

Sanita sighed. "Let me explain again. Mingyue City is perfectly situated. Backed by mountains, it naturally boasts two north-south walls. The city connects east and west, and sits squarely on a crucial freight route from the southeastern region to the front lines. If you want to support the front lines, transport supplies or troops from here, and you want your convoy to travel safely and avoid detours, this city is practically a must-go."

After coming out of the mountains on the east side, there is a very good farming area. The nearby towns and baronies continuously supply the city with basic living supplies. After taking over this city, the food problem can also be solved.

And the most crucial thing is that although this is a large city, it is geographically far away from the front line. It takes a lot of time to provide support and return trips. Otherwise, there would be no need to send us specifically to transport goods to the front line. Therefore, if you attack the city with the intention of not returning, it is indeed more cost-effective to attack here than any other city on the front line.

Finally, we do have a lot of strategic supplies stored here that we intend to send to the front lines. Even if we can't use them ourselves, if they're all destroyed, it would be a significant loss for Grand Duke Delai.)

Marquis Banner said, "I have a complete supply system in the city, and a well-trained army. They're not really sure they can capture this place. I think they're trying to use this feint to force the front lines to retreat. After all, everyone on the front lines is also keeping an eye on this area. However, for the followers of the God of War, the possibility of a feint becoming a real attack is not impossible, and it's definitely not low."

The nobles along the way did not intercept us because they also felt that the other side would fight us to the death. They were a group of cowards who did not have the courage to intercept the army from the El Empire halfway, but they wanted to wait until I fought with them until both of us were exhausted and then beat them when they were down.

Although Mingyue City is almost impossible to fall, let's assume the worst-case scenario. If they capture this place, your troops won't be able to return, and they will most likely send pursuers to intercept and kill your baggage train."

Sanitieta knew what the Marquis had been hinting at, so he gave him a reassurance: "Don't worry, Marquis. Until the other party has a clear target, we will cooperate and stay here."

Rusalka nodded. In fact, in this situation, Sanitta's opinion was no longer important. Even if Sanitta wanted to leave, he would have to turn into a ruthless chewing gum and stick tightly to the wall of Mingyue City.

This touched the Marquis quite a bit. Rusalka, who had risked almost all of his belongings and even his life, loaded the goods without a word and fled home with his troops on the pretext of "protecting strategic materials" when he heard that the other side was likely to attack this side. Then he waited for the front to send troops to take back Mingyue City before returning to continue transporting the goods. That was the way orthodox nobles of Sinidi would do things.

His territory was close to Esdi and so remote that no matter how hard the support from the El Empire tried, it would be impossible for it to reach his home. This meant that he did not need to take the risk of using his own army to defend the city for Marquis Banner. If Mingyue City fell, it would be the front line that would have the headache, not him.

After all, this unit is alone and deep in the enemy's territory. With no way to retreat, they will definitely fight to the death.

Don't worry about the time of running away. From now on, turning back is not called desertion. Even if you are brave enough, you can go around this side and take a more difficult route to the front line.

The baggage here has not been loaded yet, which means that the army of the El Empire is not coming specifically for them.

Rusalka: "How many of them are there?"

Marquis Banner: "That's unclear for now. I'm afraid we'll have to wait for the report from the professional scouts after they gather military intelligence."

Rusalka: "Then I'll go inform the people on my side."

Marquis Banner: "No problem, Viscount Pearl Tear, please do as you please. Thank you very much for staying. I will definitely treat you well after this crisis is over."

There was no need for polite words, and Rusalka didn't mind being treated generously. In fact, he just wanted to ask if he could send another army to attack the city and defend it for him after the battle.

Sanita: (That's enough. Write a draft first before you brag. Don't let yourself get outnumbered and die on the battlefield.)

Rusalka: (It doesn't matter. I'll take Phoenix with me and run away.)

Well, he even had the mood to consider Phoenix.

Two days later, Marquis Banner, who was as anxious as Rusalka, finally received the report from the scouts.

Although the points of anxiety of the two are different.

This report, which was crumpled and even stained with dirt, hinted at how difficult this silent intelligence war was. According to the letter, only three of the eight scouts sent survived.

The reason is that there are many assassins of the Filin tribe and sentries of the Doug tribe in the enemy's army. After the El Empire unified all the tribes, different races can cooperate with each other to complement each other's strengths and weaknesses.

For example, after the Doug tribe used their keen sense of smell and perception to find the enemy's position, they sent assassins from the Filin tribe to assassinate the enemy. Even the most powerful scouts would find it difficult to take care of both counter-reconnaissance and combat at the same time.

This also made the difficulty of spying on intelligence qualitatively increased. In addition to being able to take advantage of the height advantage of the terrain, observe based on the number of tents and the corresponding race, and estimate a rough number of people, the scouts themselves did not dare to get close or sneak in to spy on military intelligence.

"The total number of troops is approximately 25,000, including 2000 Hobbits, 500 Flintlings, 500 Dogs, 20000 Skaven as a slack, and 2000 Wolfs as the core. The number of Fox Warlocks is unclear, but they are definitely there. As for the Rhine and Tiger tribes, who are at the top of the ruling class of the Aiel Empire, they should have also sent out personal guards, but the number is definitely not large, no more than 100. The remaining gap is unclear, and it may be due to errors in the number of people."

Rusalka: (I, Rat, am also a consumable item in this other world.)

Sanita: (Although your words are terrible, you will know it when you actually meet him. The endless enemies will make you annoyed.)

Rusalka: (But when you mention Wolf, meaning wolf, the first thing that comes to mind is the wolf cavalry charge, right? Since they're cavalry, as you mentioned before, they shouldn't pose much of a threat to targets protected by city walls, right?)

Sani Tieta: (The wolf tribe in this world is indeed mainly cavalry, but their infantry combat is definitely not weak. Their main type of troops is actually medium armor cavalry. Although it seems that the armor has only increased by two levels, in reality, the threat level of light cavalry is not as great as one of its horse legs. This is a race that truly rides cavalry on the ground and infantry on the ground.

Even their mounts, the Wolf Riders, are capable of climbing and fighting alone. Wolf Riders are truly the signature core of the Aiel Empire's military. In a skirmish on the plains, an equal number of Esidi knights would be no match. Warhorses, after all, are terrified of Wolf Riders. Fortunately, the enemy only brought 2000 of them this time, and we have the city walls to defend.

After listening to Sanita's description, Rusalka felt itchy in his heart. He had just been promoted before, and when he heard that he would soon meet such an exciting opponent, he immediately became itchy.

Rusalka: "So when will they arrive here?"

Marquis Banner looked at the location marked on the letter and circled it on the map. "Excluding the time it took to deliver the letter, we'll be able to see their flags clearly in the morning, just as the sun rises, five days from now. Standing on the city wall, we'll be able to use the dim light to make out the outlines of their flags. Of course, it could also be the shadows of the hobbits flying overhead."

Rusalka looked at the circled area. Although she wanted to attack sooner, she hadn't expected it to happen so soon. "They're traveling so fast? Don't they have siege engines?"

Sani Iron Tower: "This is the second greatest advantage of the Aiur Empire. Orcs never need siege engines when attacking cities. Only humans and dwarves are good at and enjoy using tools. Most races are naturally good at climbing, and city walls themselves cannot be built absolutely smooth."

Sanita: (That is to say, the pressure of hand-to-hand combat during our defense of the city will be very great. This is why Marquis Banner hopes that we can stay. In hand-to-hand combat, numbers are the greatest advantage.)

Rusalka: (If I use something like a magic barrier, how can they fight me? Scratch me with their claws?)

Sani Tower: (There are Fox Warlocks, Shamans of other races, and large siege beasts. If all else fails, you can use Burrower Worms. Spend some time going underground. There are so many ways to deal with a barrier. Just because someone doesn't bring one doesn't mean they don't have countermeasures.)

Rusalka: (Doesn't that make them invincible? They're simply an all-powerful war empire. This isn't fair, this is too shameless. No, no, report it.)

Sanita: (What do you think they believe in? Otherwise, why would they let you be the God of War?)

Yes, they believe in the God of War, so it is reasonable for them to be good at fighting.

Chapter 91: Mingyue City Defense (2)

The war was urgent, so the Marquis asked Rusalka to notify the others and accompany him to leave the Marquis's mansion and rush to their respective military camps to assemble troops and discuss matters related to defending the city.

So early in the morning, Rusalka ran excitedly to Sarolt's room and knocked on the door: "Sarolt, are you there? Get up and pack up, we are going back to the barracks."

Rusalka tried to open the door, but it seemed to be locked. He imitated flying on the grass and put his ear to the door to eavesdrop, but there was no sound from inside, only dead silence.

He thought about it and thought that there might be a soundproof barrier. To confirm, he knocked on the door again and found that he seemed to be able to hear the knocking sound, which meant that the sound of the door shaking was not absorbed.

Rusalka always liked to think of something unlucky. After hearing no sound for a long time, he suspected that Sarolt had been assassinated. So he took a breath and kicked the door open. In an instant, he heard the sound of rolling quilts.

Sarolt was standing by the bed with his chain mail pants half lifted up, staring blankly at the door that had been kicked to the ground and Rusalka who was standing at the door.

There was a rather noticeable bulge in the bedding on his bed, and judging by the fragments of equipment scattered nearby, if he had no interest in dressing up as a female priest, then the light leather armor and priest robes next to him should not be his.

"Good morning?" Rusalka stared at the bulge in the quilt, expressing her deep doubts in her heart by greeting him.

Sarolt was extremely embarrassed. "Uh, Lord Pearl Tear, good morning. Didn't you hear me just say just wait a moment?"

Rusalka was very shameless: "No, I couldn't hear anything outside. I broke in because I was worried that you might have had an accident. Now it seems that you are okay, that's good."

Rusalka stood there after he finished speaking. The reason why he stayed here was, on the one hand, because he really had something to inform Sarolt, and on the other hand, he couldn't seem to have kicked the goal wrong. We kicked the goal with reason and evidence, but these are secondary now.

The most important thing was that he wanted to see who was on the bed.

Sarolt seemed to have remembered something and replied with a mixture of laughter and tears: "Oh, it was my negligence. I placed a one-way soundproofing spell on the wall of my room last night, but I forgot to remove it before going to bed."

Rusalka: (How could it be before bed? She must have forgotten to take it off after sleeping. Hurry up and let me see which maid is inside. You are so good, Sarolt. You look like a gentleman on weekdays, but I didn’t expect you to secretly sleep with the Marquis’s maid, and without me!)

Sanitita: (Your mind is full of maids, right? Based on your description of the battlefield environment, isn't that person here obviously a chaplain accompanying the army?)

Rusalka: (Oh, it seems so. Then I forgive him for not taking me with him. By the way, who is this? I feel the same joy as when I fought the Scarlet Monastery bitch. I can just jump and interrupt their casting.)

Sanitta: (You have such a bad taste. Enough of that. Isn't it obvious that it's either Nicea or Lola? If I had to choose between the two, I think it should be Nicea. She and Sarolt are childhood sweethearts.)

I don't know where the brother got the information, but since Sanita has already announced the answer, Rusalka, who is only interested in eating melons but not peeking at other people's girlfriends, can only leave regretfully in advance, leaving Sarolt with a sentence: "Okay, then I won't bother you anymore. I'll tell you after breakfast."

Before he left, he propped the door up and leaned it against the door frame, but after a few steps, the door fell down with a bang, leaving Sarolt in the room with mixed feelings: Since you could have talked about it during breakfast, why did you come to knock on the door in advance?

----

The atmosphere at breakfast was indeed a little awkward. Everyone ate with their heads down. The Marquis assumed this was just pre-war repression and didn't question it. But Rusalka was different. He was more direct: "Sarolt, why is there a tooth mark on your neck? Why don't you ask Pastor Nicia to treat it?"

After hearing this, Sarolt smiled bitterly, not knowing how to respond. Nicea beside him had already flushed red in the face. She lowered her head and rubbed the empty spoon with small sips, looking like she wanted to crawl under the table.

Sarolt then said, "My Lord, this is actually an incurable curse that will follow me for the rest of my life. There is only one person in the world who can cure it."

Rusalka: (Wow, this guy is quite romantic, and a love savvy.)

Sanita: (I think you are the one who can ask this question.)

Rusalka contentedly entertained the duo and then immediately jumped back to the point: "Everyone is here, Marquis Banner. Could you please repeat your words? Or should I?"

Since it was about his own family affairs, the Marquis did not mind repeating to Sarolt what he had said to Rusalka in the morning.

Rusalka: (So why tell me in advance?)

Sanitta: (Is it possible that they're trying to test your resolve? If not, they'll try to convince you individually. If they reveal the enemy's numbers, they're worried you'll discuss this with Sarolt and be influenced by his opinion.)

Rusalka: (You don’t believe me that much?)

Sanita: (When it comes to risking your life, there is no such thing as the most cautious, only more cautious.)

Sarolt frowned after hearing this: "I didn't expect the El Empire to cooperate with the Church of the Seven Sins."

Rusalka thought: You guys in Esdi are not much better. Theresa said in the meeting before that Esdi is secretly aiding the Dwarf United Kingdom. So it is reasonable for the El Empire to help Esdi's enemies.

Everyone stop arguing and listen to me, we are all just as bad.jpg.

----

A bunch of idiots sat together in the middle of summer, making the originally spacious strategic meeting room seem extremely crowded. As soon as Rusalka entered the door, she felt that this large room had a familiar feel - exactly like those non-air-conditioned gyms on Earth.

The officers of the city defense army, Marquis Banner, Lord Pearl Tear, Paladin Esdi, and some local forces in the castle who volunteered to lead troops to fight, all gathered in this conference room.

The commander of the city defense army, a bald man with a long beard, pulled out a thick roll of defense maps from his chest and spread them out on the table. He pointed to the western city wall and said, "Mingyue City is backed by mountain walls to the north and south. Unless they plan to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff, their bodies might fall into our city. Therefore, if they want to attack, they can only assault this city wall. Our defense only needs to focus here."

Following his finger, I saw that the western wall was deliberately built very long in order to connect the north and south mountain ranges. According to the caliper ratio on this map, the wall is 7.4 kilometers long. It would take half a day to walk from south to north.

Moreover, the west side has a total of three city gates, just like the east side, namely the northwest gate, the west gate, and the southwest gate. The three gates are 3 kilometers apart and need to be garrisoned. This is obviously not a battle line that can be taken care of by one army alone, and division of labor and cooperation are necessary.

The bearded man placed a sentry chess piece on the table against the east wall. "As for the east wall, we can't rule out the possibility of a surprise attack from over the mountain, but considering that attacking there is of little significance and there's no chance of the two sides joining forces, we only need to deploy a small number of sentry posts equipped with sufficient light sources to prevent assassins from the Filin tribe from sneaking in from the east at night."

When talking about the assassin of the Filin clan, everyone's eyes involuntarily focused on Phoenix, who was sitting next to Rusalka and eating peanuts.

Phoenix was still cracking peanuts without saying a word. It seemed that the city defense map in front of her was not as tempting as the peanuts on display. It could also be that Rusalka's family did not buy cooked peanuts, and she happened to be eating them for the first time or had not eaten them for a long time, so she liked them.

This kind of thing is an inferior commodity that no noble family would take out, and on the battlefield it is a luxury item specially paired with wine. Ordinary people would not share it. For Phoenix, there is really no chance to eat it except when he goes to Pearl Tears Town to buy things.

But when shopping in Zhulei Town, she would not think of buying peanuts specifically. It was just a wonderful snack that she would naturally pick up and eat if it was placed in front of her, but she would not think of buying it actively because she would not be alive without it.

Rusalka also experienced the joy of cracking peanuts (melon seeds) as a spectator while listening to things that had nothing to do with her.

But Rusalka herself was the protagonist here, after all. She understood that at this moment, she could take advantage of everyone's attention to say something, such as a morale-boosting speech: "My Phoenix is ​​a rare species with a high racial value. It can easily defeat six enemies. Why are you all making such a fuss? Have you ever caught a Shiny Filin?"

The implication is that the Filin people here are more powerful than the common people on the other side.

It's a pity that there are five paragraphs in total, but everyone can only understand the fourth paragraph, which is a sentence that you can't tell whether it is a question or a rhetorical question. It's really amazing.

But because Rusalka now has the highest status in the whole place, and even in this war, his status is higher than that of the Marquis (because he volunteered to stay and support, so he must be coaxed), so no one questioned his nonsense. Everyone nodded with an expression of "I understand" and "I've been taught", and turned their heads away and stopped looking at Phoenix.

Sanita said a few serious words: "According to this strategic layout, guarding the main gate is the most stressful, followed by the other two gates. The east wall must be more heavily guarded at night than during the day."

The bearded man nodded. "Well, just as you said, Chief Pearl Tear, we will be responsible for guarding the main gate and the area south of it. The others who come to assist will only be responsible for the area near and north of the north gate. How about the mercenaries guarding the east gate?"

The mercenary leaders naturally had no objection. The East Gate sounded like a good location far away from the front line, where they could live a leisurely life and earn money without any danger. As for things like night watch and preventing night attacks, these were also jobs that mercenaries who had been in the wild for a long time were very good at.

The assassins of the Filin tribe were indeed well-known, but there were only 500 of them at most. With the city walls to defend and the lights on, how could the assassins exposed in the open be a match for the regular combatants?

If Rusalka had known what they were thinking, she would have sent Phoenix to give them the whole job.

Since everyone thought that the army led by Rusalka was a "professional" baggage transport unit, in addition to cooperating with other local nobles who came to support to defend the city, he was also assigned the task of transporting supply lines - that is, transporting consumables from the warehouses and collection areas in the city to the military area near the city wall.

Because the city wall is very long, the enemy's attack line cannot be evenly distributed. There are always places with high pressure and consumables are used up quickly. Therefore, material dispatch is also a very important part of the city defense. Sani Iron Tower, who originally felt that those militiamen would become a burden to morale, was happy to let Patriarch Lola take the knight sent by Baron Whitemy and the three people of Caster to lead the miscellaneous militiamen who followed to be responsible for the transportation line.

Custer is the most useful all-purpose hero unit in the territory. Rusalka can take him with him to gain experience in small battles (if Custer also has experience points), but when a big battle breaks out, he is afraid that Custer will really die, and then he will have no one to use, so he tries his best to arrange him to a safe place.